By Anna Drysdale
My first day in Kiel, Germany, I got caught in a rainstorm that swept the rubber ballet flats I was wearing away and permanently transferred the purple dye on my Christian Albrechts Universität orientation bag onto my shirt.
When my guest mom opened the door (I had a key but was no good at using it for the first few days — German doors open backwards), she saw a drowned mouse with a stained shirt, carrying her shoes pitifully.
It was not the impression I had in mind after declaring that I could “ja, selbstverständlich” find my way home on a bus and walk the block and a half down Grüffkamp Strasse to their house.
If you’re about to head out on a study abroad, I can promise you that you are in for the time of your life. You might get homesick, you might be scared out of your mind at the thought of talking to complete strangers in a language you don’t speak, but you’re going to love every second of it, and when you come home, you will be so in love with your second home and miss it so greatly that it will be hard to breathe. You will probably catch yourself checking airline prices at all hours of the night. You will crave foods you never thought you would like, and you will feel like you left a part of yourself abroad, because you found yourself there.
You’ll get there a lot faster if you pack the right things (as opposed to the things you think you need and really, really won’t).
An umbrella: Seriously. Get a pop-up one so that you can stash it in a purse or bag and avoid ending up looking like a drowned rat when you arrive at a party. You’ll need a raincoat too, but no one in Europe is silly enough to get caught in the wet without an umbrella.
A warm sweater: I brought wool cardigans to both Germany and the UK because they were both comfy and fashionable.
Waterproof shoes: Noticing a theme here? I brought rubber flats, but some people just put lacquer on their shoes to make them hold up. Soggy feet are not very fun.
A little black dress (ladies) or a suit (men): Just so that you don’t look like a slob and so that you can fit in. And pretend you’re Audrey Hepburn (or Cary Grant. Whatever).
Heels: Ladies, no one under 80, and I mean no one wears flats after 8 p.m. in London. Don’t be an old lady.
Some nice trousers (Men, no shorts): Jeans are a thing in Europe now, but you blend in especially nicely if you’re not wearing them. Men, wearing shorts will isolate you from anyone worth talking to who isn’t also American. Just don’t.
By Niki Harris
You’ve got your bags packed, your suitcases zipped up as tight as they’ll go, airplane or road snacks in hand. You triple check: wallet, phone, sunglasses. All present and accounted for. You step on the plane (or train, or bus, or car) and you’re off on a grand adventure.
And then you realize. You forgot deodorant.
We’ve all been there — whether it’s a road trip for the weekend, a two-week family vacation, or a six-month stay in an international location. There’s always those few items that somehow we misplace — we were told to bring them, but somehow they slipped our minds — and man, does that suck.
When I went off to spend a semester in Granada, Spain, I was told one thing: the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plains. And I was heading to the south of Spain, the land of warm, sunny weather where the accent was the thickest and the Andalucian “th” was most pronounced.
Oh, how wrong I was.
Not only did it snow in Granada one day — which my host mom told me hadn’t happened for nearly 60 years — it proceeded to rain for almost an entire month straight. And guess who didn’t pack an umbrella? You guessed it. I was utterly unprepared for the cold, wet rain. I had packed for spring in Spain, for heaven’s sake! Sundresses and skirts and scarves and stilettos! I ruined my one good pair of boots as well as two of my host mom’s umbrellas in the unexpected maelstrom of rain I sloshed through heading to class in the morning.
OK, OK, so it wasn’t that bad. But regardless of where you’re going, pack warm socks and a bumbershoot. You’ll thank me later, I promise.
If you’re going to head off to enjoy your summer in a new, exotic location as part of a study abroad, you’re in for the time of your life. It’s a magical, transformative experience, and there is nothing like it. I can’t promise that you won’t miss your family, or that it won’t be difficult, because it might, and you will. But it was absolutely the best thing of your life. You’re going to fall in love with your second home and you will want nothing more than to stay there forever. Once you return, you’ll miss it like you’ve never missed anything else. You’ll be struck by how odd the U.S. seems, and how much you’re willing to pay to ship Principe cookies overseas. But I promise: It will be worth it.
So, if you’re packing up to run far, far away, here’s a few other things you might want to tuck away in your bags before you jet off.
Scarves: Simply everyone in Europe wears scarves. They’re perfect for layering when the weather gets unpredictable, and can spice up your outfit if you’re feeling a little too bland. But don’t worry if you don’t have a lot — stock up while you’re there. It’s a perfect souvenir, and you’ll always love it.
Tights: Another Euro craze I adore — tights under shorts. It’s brilliant. You don’t have to wear jeans every day, and you can mix and match crazy colors with a simple pair of denim or white shorts. You can wear them under skirts as well.
A little black dress (ladies) or a suit (men): You will stick out like a sore thumb if you don’t, because everyone dresses to the nines. No backwards baseball caps and ragged shorts for you, sir.
Deodorant: This may seem weird, but in Spain, they didn’t have stick deodorant. It was a huge problem.