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Interview with Sébastien and Csaba about the International Club Cork, a multicultural community of people living in the Rebel City!
- Hi, can you introduce yourself?
Hi, I’m Sébastien. I’m from Normandy in France, between the D-Day beaches and the Mt Saint Michel. I’ve been living in Cork for 4 years. I work as a Senior Advisor in Apple’s technical support department. Before I came to live in Ireland, I studied English and Computer Science. I like traveling, taking pictures, singing and playing the guitar, and swimming. I enjoy learning things by myself, like Spanish or Web Design for example.
My name is Csaba, I’m originally from Hungary. I studied Economics and Tourism and I have been in Ireland for 5 years now. I work for QUMAS, an Irish software company based in Cork. I’m a Sales Account Executive for German speaking territories. In my free time I love traveling, learning languages and organizing social events. My passion is soccer, but I also like cycling, swimming and bowling.
- What is International Club Cork?
ICC is a multicultural community open to people living in Cork: Foreign and Irish people, students, au pairs, and young professionals all come to our meetings. We founded ICC in 2009 and it is now Cork’s biggest international community.
- Why should someone coming to Cork contact ICC?
It is great for people who learn a new language or who want to improve a foreign language because we provide them the opportunity to practice with natives, or at least with some people who already have a very good level.
ICC is also a great place to meet new people and make friends. When you arrive from your home country, you have to find your landmarks by yourself. And it is good to know that there’s a place where you can very easily make new contacts. We have a great team of volunteers (Kashif, Carly, Sam and Mélanie) who make sure that you will not be left alone. We also have regular Irish members, which can be a great help if you need some info about the city.
- How did you have this idea?
We realized that many foreigners who arrive in Cork tend to spend a lot of time among themselves (The French with the French, the Spanish with the Spanish, etc.), which makes it more difficult to integrate with local people. Once you’ve made your circle of friends, it’s not always easy to get out of it and push yourself to make new contacts. Once you make the effort to open yourself up to meeting new people, you realize how enriching and dynamic your social life can be.
We wanted to connect people : locals with foreigners, students with workers, etc. Regardless of age, sex, origin, nationality; we are the same, we have similar needs and common interests. We wanted to create a place where we can make new connections very easily in a friendly and fun environment.
- Do you like this experience?
Yes, I love it. It’s a great social and multicultural experience. It’s so easy to meet new people within our group, and I think that’s where we make the difference. It’s great for the newcomers, and also it’s not rare to see some people who have been living in Cork for a few years now and who join our group because they want to live a new experience, they want to get out of their usual circle of friends and see the world around them.
We organized more than 200 events in the past 3 and a half years and had a very positive experience. We met plenty of people and made a lot of new friends.
- Do you have new ideas for the future?
We have plenty of ideas and projects. Our team is growing and we have started to make partnerships. We have new events coming soon. And also we are going to improve our website : www.internationalclubcork.com
- What’s the best thing about living in Cork?
I enjoy living in Cork because there are plenty of places where you can listen to live music and go out dancing. And also if you want to enjoy nice food you can go to the English Market.
Luca Cattaneo
