By Ayah Al-Sharari & Hope Palalay, University of Limerick International Students from the USA

We have officially been at the University of Limerick for three months now and have been comfortably settled into our cozy dorm rooms in Plassey and Thomond Village. Throughout orientation week, we gradually unpacked our luggage and amazed ourselves at the amount of things we forgot! So luckily for you, we’ve created a “Top 10 Things You Forgot to Pack” list when coming to the University of Limerick!

An Umbrella

A small umbrella will definitely come in handy, as Ireland is one of the rainiest countries in the world! I can count on one hand the amount of days it has been sunny with no rain at all. However, the sunny days are so beautiful, it is 100% worth the rain the rest of the time!

Tennis Shoes

(or runners as you could call them in Ireland): Upon our arrival, all the international students were taken on a tour of the University campus. One of our stops on the tour was the gym, which was equipped with everything you could possibly imagine, such as: workout machines, basketball courts, workout classes, and even an Olympic size pool!

Towels

One of the first things I wanted to do when I arrived in Limerick was take a nice hot shower after spending more than 19 hours in airports and airplanes. Unfortunately for me, I forgot to bring a set of towels with me so I spent my first two days using multiple t-shirts to dry off…

Hiking boots

If you’re into hiking, caving and or climbing make sure to bring your hiking boots. There is a club on campus called Outdoor Pursuits Club that organizes trips to some of the most beautiful places in Ireland that require a lot of trucking through the mud!

Vitamin D

If you are lucky you’ll catch some rays here and there, so make sure you bring some multivitamins with you for times you don’t get sun, especially vitamin D.

Adaptors

You can buy cheap adaptors at home to use for charging your laptop and heating up hair appliances. You can purchase your converter at any convenience store or at this link: http://www.voltageconverters.com Here’s a tip, bring a multi adapter from your home country, that way you can charge all of your own devices on one Irish adapter.

Gift for your new housemates

If you plan on living on campus, it would be nice to surprise your new housemates with a little gift from back home. In my case, I brought over coffee mugs decorated with the Canadian flag, my home country – for my new roommates to use and remember me by.

Mac n Cheese

We suggest bringing mac n cheese, or any snack that remind you of home. We have searched high and low but haven’t been successful in finding the perfect mac n cheese here.

Currency

If you plan on traveling a lot it can get pretty expensive to change the currency at the airport or bank, so plan ahead and keep an eye out on the exchange rates, which you can do on the app called XE.

Space in your suitcase

Last but not least, space in your suitcase! Ireland has a lot of great shopping so instead of having to buy another suitcase to bring all your goodies home, plan ahead and leave extra space in your suitcase.

If you do forget these items, don’t sweat it too much. Shopping centers are very easy to get to, whether you’re walking or just taking a bus into the city center!

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