Category: UK/Ireland

A Guide to Shopping In Cork

Published on by Nico ClappLeave a comment

You just arrived in a brand new country with nothing but whatever could fit in your suitcases. It’s likely you’ve never been the one in charge of feeding yourself, previously dependent on your parents or the DU dining hall. It’s weird, it’s overwhelming, and it’s one of the first big challenges of study abroad. I’m here to help guide you through it.

Here’s a rundown of my usage of the stores I’ve been to the most:

  • The best place to go on your first shopping expedition is the Tesco Superstore (not the Tesco Express, which only carries food). It’s a one-stop shop for all kinds of things, the perfect place to get what you need and couldn’t bring with you from home (I got towels, soap, a trash can, cleaning supplies, etc from there). Tesco is also the best place for groceries if you prioritize variety (and often quality) over cheap prices.
  • Lidl is the best place to get lower cost food. I’ve gone there every grocery shopping expedition after the first one. It doesn’t have the variety of Tesco, but it’s decent enough and better for saving money. Just be careful or you’ll end up like me: with armpits stained from the Lidl shopping bag (beware of dye transfer).
https://www.tumblr.com/duinucc/830028250132709376/beware-of-the-bags
  • Normal is a good place for any personal products. It has a huge variety of soaps, shampoos, shaving equipment, makeup – anything to do with taking care of yourself, and at a pretty good price.
  • Dealz and and Mr Price are both good for affordable household goods. Mr Price has more food options than Dealz and Dealz has more clothing items than Mr Price.
  • Centras are everywhere and there will almost definitely be one next to where you’re staying. They’re very good for ready meals and things you need quickly, but they’re overpriced. I use my local Centra when I need to, but I do all of my primary shopping elsewhere.

You will probably be shopping a lot, since you get very little fridge space to store perishable items in the student accommodations. That being said, Cork is super walkable; I can get to basically any of the stores I listed in a 20-30 minute walk, and a very pleasant walk at that (Cork city is awesome for pedestrians).

https://www.tumblr.com/duinucc/830028497916428288/my-groceries-from-today-i-never-get-too-many-at

Confessions of a Typical Tourist

Published on by Haylee GriffithLeave a comment

One of the biggest appeals of studying abroad for me was the idea that I technically wouldn’t be considered a tourist. Your stereotypical tourist is annoying, and the idea of being one of them is something I constantly fear when I’m anywhere new. The idea, then, that I would be living in Glasgow was all I needed to hear. 

Living around locals, going to school with them, and eating at the restaurants they go to makes me feel fully immersed in this culture. So when I go to Edinburgh, for example, I am nothing but a tourist sightseeing and standing in everyone’s way like the rest of them. 

Edinburgh is packed every day of the week at any time to the point where I can’t ever get those nice, aesthetic Instagram photos everyone else seems to have no trouble with. I know their secret is more likely than not just Photoshop, but my point still stands. I hate feeling like a tourist. 

In Glasgow, I feel like I belong. I know where all the grocery stores are and all the best places to eat near me. I even know the pattern of the stop lights at this point. I live here and I feel like a local. 

Sometimes, admittedly, I forget that I’m not. 

The other weekend, my friend and I took a weekend trip to Dublin, and this fact hit me in the face. We were walking around like chickens with their heads cut off because we didn’t know anything, and I hate not knowing anything. No amount of watching TikToks or reading Google reviews will ever prepare you enough to just plant yourself in another country. 

This is the fun of the experience, just trying to figure things out, but it makes me feel like the tourists that always get on my nerves when they just stand around not knowing anything. And so I choose to wear my heart on my sleeve when I confess that, I too, am an annoying tourist at times. Nobody is safe from the stereotype, I fear, but it’s okay. 

Yes, I took pictures of all the landmarks, bought postcards, and went on a Guinness tour. I fell into every tourist trap, and I absolutely loved every second of it. These experiences and landmarks are popular for a reason: they’re fun! 

My advice to anyone fighting the tourist label like myself is to just embrace it. Feeling like a local is fun, it’s my favorite part, but it is just as fun sometimes to take a corny selfie in front of the Guinness factory like everyone else. 

Since we’re being fully honest here, I am also typing this whilst currently wearing a sweater I bought from the Guinness Store. Was it ten times more expensive than it should have been? Of course. But do I regret it? Of course not. 

Fashion has no price tag in my mind. And while walking around the airport decked out in Guinness made me embarrassed at first, I was only one of a dozen others. This is my version of embracing my tourist tendencies, slowly but surely.