#studyaboad

I am very complicated when it comes to food. I think it must be something related with me studying nutrition and trying to eat as healthy as possible. However, sometimes It’s hard for me to find something to eat and I get frustrated. It has been really hard here in Hong Kong as they do not eat enough vegetables. If you see their Food Pyramid, they have fruits as vegetables above rice, pasta and starchy carbohydrates. Yes, that means they eat more rice than vegetables. These past few days I have been struggling, but today I finally decided that I was going to make my own way to any restaurant that serves salad. And I found one. It feels so great to eat vegetables when you have not done it in a while.

We just arrived and we wanted to spend every single minute on visiting the city.

As the second semester approaches and my days at home are numbered, I thought I would share with you some useful tips I learned from my past semester abroad. In case any of you are stressed packing and preparing for your trips, I hope that this list might relieve some stress.*

1. Clothes! Yes, for each college semester we tend pack everything in our closets at home in case we might want to wear it one time for dinner. However, I would try to pack minimally for your semester abroad. Less options can sometimes be better and gives some of us a reason to shop internationally. A couple heavy sweaters, long sleeves, jeans, leggings, a bathing suit or two, and some outfits for the warmer months should be sufficient for your time abroad.

2. Shoes! That was such a difficulty for me considering my love for shoes - stilettos, boots, sandals and all. For Italy in particular, do not bring wedges of any kind unless you enjoy falling to the ground; do bring converse for casual days as these are a necessary shoe for Italians. I would also bring about six other shoes including booties, boots (brown/black), sandals, and flipflops.

3. Copies! Make sure you have two copies of your important documents. One of those copies your school organization will most likely take for their records and the other copies you should keep with you for your travels abroad.

4. Phones! Personally, I used TIM phone services on a cheap flip phone equivalent. With that phone, you just have to pay about nine euros a month for texts and calls so you can talk to people in Europe. Apart from that phone, I just used an app call Google Hangouts along with iMessaging and Facetime to talk to those across the pond! I know some people use a sim card in their iPhones, however, the flip phone is nice for going out purposes, decreasing the risk of people stealing your phones.

5.School Supplies! For those studying in Florence, I would go to this cute store called Tilly’s. It has everything you wouldn’t think you would need in one store including school notebooks for under three euros.

6.Credit Cards! There are many credit cards and such that you can use while traveling abroad such as Capital One, however, I have found that the Bank of America’s Student Rewards card is one of the best to use. It doesn’t charge the extra 3% conversion fee that is normally charged when you’re abroad, which is extremely beneficial. Apart from Bank of America, you can open an Italian bank account, if you are up for a fight with the Italian bank tellers, and only pay a starting fee to transfer your money over.

7. Money! Try to get money out before you go to the airport, preferably from your bank or a bank in the US - around two hundred euros. Also, try to never use the exchange kiosks at the airports or in shops around Europe - they have an additional fee added to the exchange so the shops can make a profit off of us. Ask your home banks if they have a sister bank abroad that you can use to wave extra fees in your transactions as well.

8. Maps! Get used to using paper-maps for the first couple of days in the city that you’re studying in. You’ll probably use paper-maps for your weekend trips as well. As for another little tip about maps while living on wifi abroad, there is a way you can use the maps app on the iPhone while walking through your city! As long as you open the map app on wifi, the blue dot that marks where you are will track your steps to the destination you desire even after you leave the house!

9. Apps! Some of the best apps to get would be SkyScanner for cheap international flights, SeatGuru for the best seats on long flights, GoogleTranslate that allows you to use your camera to translate items at the grocery store, and Currency to show you the conversion rate between different countries currency.

10. Enjoy! Don’t be too nervous about going abroad. It may take a little time to get used to your surroundings, however, with an open mind you will find yourself having the time of your life over the upcoming semester.

*Note: This is more of an opinion blog on what tips I believe will prepare you the most for your studies abroad! Thank you for reading everyone.