The Intensive Programme can seem daunting to new Euroculture students, but it doesn’t have to! Jodie van ‘t Hoff talks us through the IP preparation phase, paper writing process, and how the (online) IP in 2021 went for her. While Jodie’s Euroculture experience has been almost entirely online due to the ongoing pandemic, she is making full use of the programme’s mobility. Having started in Groningen then attending Olomouc online, Jodie moved to Göttingen for her third semester and is currently preparing to spend her fourth semester in Olomouc (in person this time!).
Euroculture Magazine: Would you mind giving us a small introduction about yourself? Where are you from, what are your universities, and how did you find out about the Euroculture programme?
Jodie van ’t Hoff: I’m Jodie van ’t Hoff, I’m half Dutch/half German, and I am currently in my third Euroculture semester doing a research track at the University of Göttingen. My first semester was in Groningen, my second in the Czech Republic. During my Bachelor’s programme, which I also completed in Groningen, I learned about the Euroculture master. In the end, I applied because the subjects seemed a great continuation of my Bachelor and the mobility aspect to me was a real selling point.
The Netherlands has four major supermarket chains that can be found all over any city: Albert Heijn and Jumbo are the two largest, followed by Aldi and Lidl as slightly more affordable chain counterparts. Here and there you might also find a Coop or a Spar as alternatives, and while chain supermarkets tend to be close by and convenient, you pay for that convenience in both price and plastic.
According to Business Insider Nederland, all six of the aforementioned supermarkets have average or high prices for basic goods – average prices can still be high on a student budget, and this does not take into account higher costs for non-basic and international products which can be both hard to find on chain supermarket shelves and expensive once you come across them.
Plastic packaging in major chain supermarkets is another issue: a stroll in some of these stores will show individually packed paprikas and cling-wrapped cucumbers, beside rows and rows of prechopped, plastic-encased fruits and vegetables. In 2019, supermarket chains in the Netherlands and elsewhere agreed to reduce their use of packaging materials – and there have been some improvements, like some stores opting for paper bags in bakery and fresh produce sections. However, watchdogs say that the fine print of the Sustainable Packaging Sector Plan 2019-2022 targets only the chain supermarkets’ home brands and focuses recyclability of plastic use rather than reduction.
So, what can you do? There are indeed options for getting groceries and avoiding the chains, and wonderful Groningen is bursting with alternatives. Here you’ll find some suggestions and information on fresh markets in the city, as well as some lesser-known yet excellent (and affordable!) grocers that specialise in international products and ingredients.
To the Market!
Markt
What: produce market When: Tuesday, Friday & Saturday Where: Vismarkt
Three times a week, the Vismarkt of Groningen becomes home to a bustling market of fresh groceries. Here you’ll find fruit and vegetables (minimal plastic in sight), bakery stalls that understand the needs and budgets of the city’s students, and even a stand dedicated to herbs, spices, and loose-leaf tea. Among the amazing variety, you’ll also come across flowers, cheese, eggs, and fresh snacks like stroopwafels and Belgian fries. Buying in bulk is always penny-smart, but avoiding waste is also important – consider buying fresh produce together with friends for the best deal! And don’t forget to bring your own bags!
This link has more information about this and other markets in Groningen, so be sure to plan your week around visiting these great options.
Insider tip: while many of the stalls are the same every market day of the week, the bakeries change each time. Tuesday is great for cheap buns, snacks, and sweets, while Friday and Saturday’s bakeries trade in deluxe loaves and cakes that’ll last you all week.
Home & Abroad
If you’re on the hunt for international products and ingredients, for something you’re missing from home, or you just want to try something new from non-chain supermarket, here are five fantastic stores to support in Groningen:
Basarz
Basarz
What: Italian products and ingredients When: 7 days Where: Vismarkt 34
Basarz is where you can fill all your Italian delicatessen needs, from pasta and pesto to Parma ham, olives to oils to tiramisu, and everything in between. The staff are knowledgeable, friendly, and always happy to help. You can also order hot meals (dinner) on a weekly basis, or pop in for a quick lunch to take away or eat on their lovely little Vismarkt terrace. Bonus: keep an eye out for the Basarz stall at the market too, for all your antipasti needs!
Le Souk
What: North African, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean (+ more) products and ingredients When: 7 days Where: Folkingestraat 21
Left: Le Souk interior; right: Le Souk from outside
Le Souk is a gem of Groningen, with a magnificent range of fresh produce, herbs, breads, olives, sweets, and salads. Be sure to pop into their store for all sorts of international spices, flavour-makers, dates, and grains: their small extension at the market three times a week is but a taste of the range of products they carry! Bonus: Le Souk sells cous-cous, lentils, beans, pasta, and other grains by weight – this means when appropriately measured, you can bring your own containers and avoid packaging entirely for these (and more) products
Toko Hendrik
3. Toko Hendrik
What: Indonesian, Surinamese, Latin American, Caribbean (+ more) products and ingredients When: 6 days (closed Sunday) Where: Korreweg 26
Toko Hendrik is a classic and welcoming toko (from Indonesia, Malay word for ‘shop’) with products from across the globe: think Indian drinks, Central American canned goods, Surinamese ice pops, Dominican seasonings, North American cereals, Mexican snacks – this local store’s range is ever changing and always delightful. You can also find some fresh produce here, even aloe vera if you’re lucky! Bonus: Sita’s Roti & Broodjes, a homely take-away lunchspot, can be found inside Toko Hendrik serving Surinamese comfort food in the form of delicious sandwiches and generous roti meals.
4. Nazar
What: Middle Eastern, Arabic, Turkish (+ more) products and ingredients When: 7 days Where: Boterdiep 49
Nazar
Nazar is a supermarket but far from a chain: this local store stocks over 6,000 international products and plenty of fresh produce (with minimal plastic!). Once you know your way around, it’ll fast become a staple of your grocery shopping schedule for its diverse range of kitchen necessities like tea, coffee, herbs and spices, drinks and whatever of the many other new or traditional items that catch your eye. The prices are great and the staff is always helpful and friendly! Bonus: Nazar operates as a halal supermarket in Groningen.
Amazing Oriental
5. Amazing Oriental
What: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese (+ more) products and ingredients When: 7 days Where: Korreweg 51
Amazing Oriental could be considered a chain supermarket since growing to have 24 stores across the Netherlands, but as the only one north of Amsterdam, I consider Groningen’s branch to be a non-major supermarket in the city – and definitely worth checking out! In this large store they have just about everything: fresh Asian fruits and vegetables are stocked regularly, alongside fresh and dried noodles, as well as frozen delicacies to make and enjoy at home. Also very popular is the plentiful range of vegetarian and vegan products, as well as all the ingredients you’d need to cook an authentic and delicious meal. Not to mention, Amazing Oriental is very student-budget friendly! Bonus: if you’ve made the mistake of grocery shopping while hungry (or just can’t wait to try some of the amazing ingredients you’ve come across instore) Amazing Oriental Groningen has a food corner where you can take a fresh full meal home for less than ten euros, or grab a bubble tea to go!
Honourable Mentions:
Leuk & Lekker (Grote Kromme Elleboog 8): a self-proclaimed culinary giftshop, here you’ll find a huge variety of oils, vinegars, rice and pastas, salts, chutneys and much more, from Europe and beyond.
Ariola (Folkingestraat 54): everything homemade and authentically Italian! Ariola is a must for a pasta lunch or dinner, or to pick up classic Italian ingredients for doing it yourself.
Polski Smak (Nieuwe Ebbingestraat 84): the only Polish store in Groningen, Polski Smak is well equipped to supply all kinds of Polish goods: breads, sweets, beer and much more.
First-semester students don’t have a lot of information yet about Eurocompetence II in the second semester. To give first-semester students insight into what they can expect from their second semester, the SOS Eurocompetence II series introduces students who have done the subject already. This interview is held with Alessandra Pantanosas (nickname: Sandi), a current third-semester Euroculture student. She did her first semester in Strasbourg, and her second semester – and with that Eurocompetence II – in Groningen. It has to be noted that the semester from January 2021 till June 2021 was fully online due to Corona.
Interview by Laila M. Lange.
What did you know about Eurocompetence II before starting the course in Groningen?
I only had a vague idea about it. I was aware that the course focuses on project management, but I didn’t know how it would be taught or approached, especially knowing that it would be held online. I couldn’t imagine implementing a project from behind a screen and being graded for it.
Could you shortly outline what Eurocompetence II entailed in your second semester?
Eurocompetence II wasn’t like our other classes or research seminars. We didn’t meet as a class often. It was more focused on meeting with our groupmates in our own time. There was, however, a class after every “milestone” (or big submission). These few classes were great opportunities to share ideas and gather input from our other classmates. However, these classes weren’t like typical sit-down lectures. They were more like sessions to give progress reports and peer reviews.
We didn’t have any exams. Instead, we had to submit a project plan and a few other group papers to show our progress every few weeks. All the deadlines were given at the beginning of the semester, so there were no surprises throughout the semester. As for workload, we had control over this, to an extent, because we defined the scope and limitations of our projects.
In addition, the deadlines for the papers were fairly spread throughout the semester. It’s completely manageable. Our groups also got to decide the implementation dates for our respective projects. The only condition was they fell within a range of dates, but the range was quite large. So, we pretty much made our own deadlines.
In this edition of the Euroculturer City Guides, Luca Gentile (Luxembourgish) shares his experiences of Groningen, where he did both his BA and his first semester of the Euroculture MA at the University of Groningen. After this, he moved to Bilbao to study at the University of Deusto.
The City Guide Project is led by Paola Gosio and Felix Lengers.
Euroculturer Magazine (EM): Why did you choose to study and live in this particular city?
Luca Gentile (LG): Having initially completed my bachelor’s in Groningen I was already used to living in the Netherlands, but the choice of staying in ‘Grunn’ for another semester was made easy by the city itself. It is one of the biggest student cities in the Netherlands and you will most certainly feel welcome here. It is quite small and boasts an even smaller city centre but I assure you it has everything you need! From bars to clubs, the RUG library to Forum, music venues and theatre places, and parks such as Noorderplantsoen which gets filled with Dutch students as soon as a ray of sun comes out. Generally, Groningen has a lot to offer, and the student vibe is definitely worth experiencing.
EM: What are the aspects you appreciate the most about the city and which ones are those that you like less?
LG: The fact that it is a small city is quite a great aspect, as everyone uses their bikes as their main means of transport. Therefore, you are most likely to be only a short bike ride away from your friend’s place. Biking in general is quite a Dutch thing, but in Groningen they take it to another level as the city quite literally belongs to cyclists. Another great aspect is ACLO, a huge student sports organisation that offers access to a variety of sports for a relatively low price! Bars, clubs, and nightlife in general are an obvious positive aspect of the city.
On the other hand, if you are looking for sunny weather, this city might not offer that much of it over the year, but as soon as there is sun the city really bustles with life! Also, the city is quite isolated from the rest of the Netherlands so a trip to Amsterdam will still take 2h by train for example.
Choosing, starting, and managing a project often are daunting tasks. The Euroculturer conducted a series of short interviews to showcase some of the many projects Euroculture students came up with in the Eurocompetence II course. These interviews were designed to give current and future students an idea of what has already been done and to learn from previous experience.
We asked each student the same three questions: What was your Eurocompetence II project? Did you put it into practice? How was your experience?Here are their testimonials:
Virginia Stuart-Taylor – Uppsala 2017 – War on Truth
Our class in Uppsala 2017 decided to plan, fund, and run the ‘War on Truth’ international conference on the topic of fake news, bringing students and locals into contact with leading figures from academia, think tanks, the media, and start-ups from across Sweden and the Netherlands. Held in May 2017, only months after Trump’s 2016 election, misinformation and fake news were crucial issues, making the conference well-attended and a big success.
The hardest part of working together on the project was the ideation phase and picking a feasible, realistic, and sufficiently stretching project. We looked to examples of previous Eurocompetence II projects for inspiration and scope but also scoped out our own skills, interests, available resources, and pressing issues it would be worthwhile to address. Once we settled on running a conference, the division of roles within the team and execution of our individual responsibilities was easier, and regular meetings helped us make decisions, keep on track and manage the project. Overall it was satisfying to complete such a tangible project as a conference, with our post-conference report being a good physical outcome.
Choosing, starting, and managing a project often are daunting tasks. The Euroculturer conducted a series of short interviews to showcase some of the many projects Euroculture students came up with in the Eurocompetence II course. These interviews were designed to give current and future students an idea of what has already been done and to learn from previous experience.
We asked each student the same three questions: What was your Eurocompetence II project? Did you put it into practice? How was your experience?Here are their testimonials:
Arianna Rizzi – Groningen – 2018 – EU4Groningen
My Eurocompetence II project was named EU4Groningen, an initiative aimed at spreading EU literacy and raising awareness on what the EU does for the residents of Groningen, with the final aim of motivating the locals to go and vote in the European Parliament’s elections of 2019.
The project, which received funding from Europe Direct, mainly consisted of a digital communication campaign – on Instagram and Facebook – and a physical event in the context of Groningen’s European Village during the Liberation Day Festival.
EU4Groningen was my first, true project management experience – little did I know that I would end up working in this domain! Anyways, from planning through implementation to evaluation, the teamwork experience I had within EU4Groningen taught me that negotiation is fundamental to make an idea come true in a reasonable (and feasible) way: project management is indeed a very democratic process.
Thinking back at Eurocompetence II at my second university, I am glad that our teachers invested so much time in detailing every step of how to kickstart, manage and evaluate a project. I have quite a lot of lessons-learned that I still bear in mind and try to apply in my job as a soon-to-be Project Manager.
Richard Blais (2018-2020) spent his first semester in Olomouc and continued his Euroculture studies in Groningen. He applied for the master because he wanted to have the opportunity to travel throughout Europe while learning more about European sciences. Therefore, Euroculture seemed to be the perfect fit for this ambition. During the third semester, Richard went abroad to Edmonton (Canada) to do an internship at the Alliance française. He graduated from Euroculture in August 2020 and is currently working as an intern in Brussels at the European Association for the Storage of Energy.
Euroculturer Magazine: What were your expectations when you applied for the Euroculture MA and did it match the reality? Richard Blais: I was expecting more rigid classes based on my own personal experience in the French university system! I was very pleasantly surprised by the “serious-yet-laidback” atmosphere of this degree which corresponds well to the students—autonomous young travelling adults.
Euroculturer Magazine: You are currently doing a Schuman Traineeship at the EPLO in Budapest. Why did you choose this organisation? Dorottya Kósa: On the one hand, I felt I was getting comfortable with academia and research in general, and in order to move out from my comfort-zone I wanted to try my luck in the professional field as well. On the other hand, after spending many years abroad in various European countries, this time I wanted to make use of my knowledge in my home country. I just felt like working as a Schuman Trainee at the EPLO in Budapest was really my call. I perceived it as a perfect opportunity to incorporate my international experience into the local context, as well as a great chance to get involved in the vital work of the European Parliament.
Clara Citra Mutiarasari (2019-2021) is Indonesian and studied Euroculture at Uppsala University in Sweden and the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in the Netherlands. Before starting the Master, she studied German Studies at the University of Indonesia. She decided to apply for Euroculture because she felt she would gain more knowledge on the topic of migration and migrant integration. She would also like to work in this field in the future. Currently, she is doing the research track at Uppsala University for her third semester.
Euroculture Magazine: What were your expectations when you applied for/started the Euroculture MA and does it match the reality at the moment?
Clara Citra Mutiarasari: There are certainly some things that matched well with my expectation. I expected to meet many inspiring international friends and I did. I also had some fun cultural exchange moments and knowledge- enriching discussion with them. The program also fulfilled my expectation of studying Europe from a multidisciplinary perspective. As expected, I also had the opportunity to experience more independent and egalitarian studying culture in Sweden and the Netherlands; both are completely different from my country. Continue reading “My Third Semester: Research track at Uppsala University”→
Elena Subashka (2018-2020) is Bulgarian and studied Euroculture at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, and the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Before starting the MA, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Hungarian Studies at the Sofia University in Bulgaria. She applied for Euroculture because of its interdisciplinary approach and the opportunity to study in different European countries. Furthermore, she was excited about the possibility to do the professional track and worked as an intern at the European Movement International in Brussels during the third semester. Elena recently graduated from Euroculture and is currently doing a marketing internship in Emmen, the Netherlands.
EM: What were your expectations when you applied/started the Euroculture MA and does it match the reality at the moment? ES: I was very excited to go abroad and to experience studying in different countries. I expected differences in the university systems which turned out to be true. The first semester at University of Groningen was the busiest and the most difficult in relation to studying, preparing for classes, group assignments, etc. To be honest, I did not know what to expect prior to starting the programme, maybe I only wanted to be happy with my choice and to learn a lot of new things. Two years later, as I have just finished Euroculture I can say I don’t regret my choice and it was an amazing experience.
EM: Can you tell us more about your IP paper and the overall topic of the IP 2019/2020? How did you manage to find a suitable topic? ES: The topic of the IP 2019 was “Inequality & Solidarity”. This includes different aspects – social, economic, political inequality and solidarity. My paper was on the topic of gender inequality and more specifically- gender inequality in high management positions in the fashion industry. In my paper I compared two fashion brands, Stella McCartney and the conglomerate LVMH, their attempts at introducing a gender-balanced work environment and how they help women progress in the working hierarchy. Finding a topic was not an easy task. The “Methodology Seminar” during the second semester in Krakow played a big role in helping me choose a suitable topic. We spent a lot of time discussing ideas and the professors really helped me narrow down my topic.
The Euroculturer 