When packing for your year abroad, there’s inevitably going to be a few things you do not realise you need until you find yourself out there waking up with half an hour before a lecture, greasy hair and no dry shampoo! As exciting as it is being in a new country for a year, taking advantage of the whole isle of different cheeses in my local corner shop even though it’s the same size of Pennsylvania Rd Co-Op, there are still some homely things you cannot live without (fresh milk in said shop is a rarity…)
- Dry Shampoo
My number one essential for HCX girls on their year abroad. I do not know how girls live without it. Time saver and volume giver!
- Dairy Milk/Galaxy/Green & Blacks chocolate
…Delete where appropriate (or bring all three if you’re feeling naughty!) There will be time on your year away from home that you are feeling a bit homesick, have period self-pity or just want a relaxing night in watching DVD’s away from all things French/Italian/Spanish etc. These chocolates will be your knights in shining armour when the time comes, and their foreign equivalent just doesn’t cut it.[pagebreak]
- A mini dictionary/notepad or the App equivalent
For those of you studying languages on your year abroad, these two come in extremely handy when trying to decipher if the person behind you in the supermarket queue really said that he had ‘devenu chêvre’. Literally French for ‘to become a goat‘; idiomatically – to get very angry!
- Proper teabags
English Breakfast tea with milk is virtually unheard of on the continent. Yes, you will be able to find various other special, delicious teas, but I for one cannot function until I have had my cup of Twinings English Breakfast in the morning. I would be lying to say that English Breakfast is not available in most supermarkets, but for you tea-addicts, your morning cuppa may have you feeling a little bit disappointed! [pagebreak]
- Suitable clothes
This one may make me sound like your Mum but, believe me, you need all that suitcase space filled with clothes that you will actually wear. At the beginning of my year in Nice, without thinking, I packed outfits that you would usually see me wearing in the Cellar Door in Exeter… Amidst cultures where skinny jeans or trousers and blazers are standard going out wear, if emerging yourself in your adoptive country’s culture is your aim, it’s best to tone down the more flamboyant style we have in the UK.
- ‘Foreseeable actvities’ clothes!
Consider the region that you will be living in and pack according to any potential sports or events that you may undertake. Take you ski stuff if the Alps are only an hour or two away and/or pack that gown if your new university is known for its glamorous balls! [pagebreak]
- A grammar book/phrase book
Again, it may seem obvious but the type of language you use on your year abroad will be significantly different to what you have been writing about during second year. You will pick up on common idioms and colloquialisms, however a simple colloquial French phrasebook will give you confidence in the few weeks after you arrive. It can be daunting hearing people use sentence structures and phrases unknown to you but that seem the ‘correct’, most common use of language.
- Plenty of adaptor plugs and multi-plugs
[do we all agree that a photo of this is not only boring but completely unnecessary – you know what we mean!]
It may be an obvious one but so many people (myself included!) forgot multi plugs/extension leads and adaptors. You always need more than you think! I also recommend buying reverse adaptors (i.e. the sort of adaptor someone from Europe would buy when coming to England) for the electrical applicances already there, so you can then plug those into the extension leads. It will come in handy when you want to charge your laptop and keep the bedside lamp on. Oh and charge your phone and use your hair straighteners, all at the same time…
So there you have the perfect list of what not to forget when planning and/or packing for your year abroad… You’ll be all good to go with all these packed!
Photo credits: –
http://keepmeinmindxx.tumblr.com/
http://great-odinsraven.tumblr.com/
http://limaesphotographie.tumblr.com/
http://over-crowded.tumblr.com/
http://modellove.co.uk/post/27087080246
http://www.123rf.com/photo_7007616_sun-over-a-winterly-landscape-in-the-alps.html