<p>Well, I can't believe it, but my departure date has crept up on me. I'm heading off to U of Edinburgh on Tuesday for 5 months.</p>
<p>I'm just looking for any last minute tips from anybody who's studied abroad in the past, or just has a useful piece of knowledge. Anything you wish you had brought, not brought?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Thermal underwear.</p>
<p>The UK is suffering it's coldest winter for 30 years.</p>
<p>Case-
Have a great time and post here with info or PM me.
Let me know how warm a jacket my son needs!! Just ordered some waterproof type shoes for daily wear.
Where did you buy your converters/adapters. No good ones found on Amazon.
What did you do about the phone? Skype? Need info, email me and my son can check it out for us. We are getting closer too.</p>
<p>Did you ship anything?
Banking? Just a debit/credit card? Separate credit card?</p>
<p>Have a great time!!!!!!</p>
<p>crazed - it is probably easier to get adpators/convertors in the UK. People in the US don't travel very much so if you go into a store and ask for these things they will probably have no idea. But in the UK it is easy to get these things in stores such as Boots or Argos. If you go in and ask, they will know what you need (Boots at Heathrow airport has a stock of about 1000 different adaptors in fact)</p>
<p>If you need adaptors for cheap things like hairdryers, don't bother. It would be cheaper to buy a new hairdryer in the UK. Such things often blow up if you try to use convertors anyway.</p>
<p>haha, thanks for the response, cupcake- Luckily i go to school in Cleveland, so the cold isn't exactly new to me.</p>
<p>Crazed,
For Scotland, the waterproof shoes are a great idea. I just bought myself a nice pair for walking (especially through the highlands). Fortunately, I noticed a great travel store while I was walking through the mall, and they had the converters; they were cheap, too!</p>
<p>For international calls to the US, I will be using skype. It only costs $2.95/month, and I have unlimited calls to the US. I'll be renting a pay-as-you-go phone for local calls once I get to the UK. I honestly have no clue how to go about that, but I'm positive that plenty other students will be looking for the same thing.</p>
<p>I'll just be using a regular debit card for my banking, along with a credit card for emergencies. I opened an account with bank of america because they have that partnership with Barclay. This way, I won't have to deal with fees everytime i make a withdrawal. Good luck getting your son set up, let me know if you have any more questions.</p>
<p>Case: HAVE FUN. And don't worry too much, you'll have a great time.</p>
<p>Crazed: I studied in Poland and Germany, which are both different from the UK, but if you wanted the opinion from someone who studied abroad, here are answers to your questions. Adaptors were cheaper in DE and PL than in the US. I bought one for DE while in the US and I think it cost around $20 or so for the cheapest, and it was big and bulky. Whereas, when I was in PL, I bought one (from a store called Saturn, I don't know if they have those in the UK but probably) for 17zl. (around $6) and it was much smaller. For a laptop, a converter shouldn't be needed, because most have a converter on the little cord that plugs into the wall -- you can check there the amount of input/output, but for DE and PL I didn't use a converter. Converters are needed for hairdryers, etc. though. My phone also didn't need a converter because of it's plug, but I had to unlock my phone to be able to use a DE or PL SIM card.</p>
<p>Skype is the cheapest. I recommend it. In DE they have cheap numbers that make the call cost less, but I didn't hear about that in PL, plus it changes with if you are calling a landline or mobile. Skype occasionally drops calls, but it's free, so worth it in the end. Plus, there's video, which you cannot get through the phone alone ;)</p>
<p>When I came home from Germany, I shipped stuff and left a lot of stuff. Poland, I didn't ship anything. Shipping is pretty pricey and I even did the one where it cost the least... one package arrived two weeks before I did, whereas one sent on the same day arrived two weeks AFTER I did. I don't really trust the mail... ;)</p>
<p>Both times I had a debit card, where my family or I could put money onto my account as needed. That way I wasn't spending like a psycho and I could withdraw money and charge money as I pleased. It's a good idea to let your bank know beforehand that you (or your son) will be abroad so that they don't charge you for the ATM charges. My bank is local and they would've charged me $2 for each ATM withdrawal unless I had told them. I had no problems with credit cards, but I do NOT recommend traveler's checks. In DE I had a bank account, because I had brought traveler's checks, but the debit card is just easier, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Make sure to notify the bank (for your debit card/credit card) and have them flag the period you'll be abroad. Otherwise, they might freeze your account because of suspicious purchases or withdrawals made from outside the country. Not something you want to deal with, I'm sure!</p>
<p>Thanks all</p>
<p>Will be checking this site often as my son is headed to Scotland the first week of Feb. so we have a bit of time.</p>
<p>Case- write when you can!!</p>
<p>My D did a study-abroad summer session in Scotland (Cambridge and U of Glasgow) and liked the country so much she talked us into taking a family vacation to Scotland afterwards. We enjoyed it as well.</p>
<p>Enjoy your time there!</p>
<p>Thanks for the tips, everyone!</p>
<p>I'll definitely be sure to let my bank know i'll be using the card abroad.</p>
<p>make sure you get your brush and toothpaste with you.. i forgot once (horrible, horrible experience and they didn't have a freakin brush in the entire airport</p>
<p>
[quote]
crazed - it is probably easier to get adpators/convertors in the UK. People in the US don't travel very much so if you go into a store and ask for these things they will probably have no idea.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not really true. I picked up some adapters from target the other day. They're not at all hard to find and sales people know what you're talking about.</p>
<p>There probably are more in a major city like London or New York, though.</p>
<p>That's awesome that you're going to Edinburgh! Have fun! </p>
<p>What exactly are you planning on studying while there? Is it a program specific to your own school or is it one of their own exchange deals? I'd really appreciate hearing how your stay goes because I'm thinking I might like to either study abroad there too or maybe even try grad school there eventually!</p>
<p>Enjoy your trip!!!</p>
<p>Hi letranger,</p>
<p>The program i'm going through is not specific to my school; I'm going through IFSA Butler university (a program similar to Arcadia, if you've heard of that), so I'll be with a collection of students from colleges around the states. I'll be sure to post here when i get the opportunity to let you know how it's going. But for now, time to make sure I havn't forgotten anything, as i'm heading off to scotland tomorrow morning.</p>
<p>CASE- HOW ARE YOU?????? Tell us everything!</p>
<p>I just found this post...My son is also going to Stirling U. on Feb 6. We're still trying to solve the cell phone issue. Has anyone gone with the recommended phone company or are you waiting until he gets there? My son applied for the Student VISA (longer than 6months) and when it was returned it has an expiry date of June 7. This is one week after his semester ends. he did this for the possibility of extending for a summer session but will cost $$$. Has anyone encountered this situation? Is it because Stirling only authorizes students for the exact time of semester? Ditto with "crazed" ...my feelings exactly right now, however we've been to Stirling before, and it's beautiful.</p>
<p>wvsinger- aonther Stirling U student!!
Son is leaving on Feb 6 also.</p>
<p>I'll PM you...</p>
<p>Hey everyone/anyone who cares, I don't have time to write a very detailed account of my time spent thus far, but I just thought i'd post my first impressions. I've been stuck in orientation, so I havn't had the opportunity to really walk around the city, but from what i've seen so far (a bus tour, and random wanderings), Edinburgh is absolutely amazing. Its far more beautiful than any other city i've seen, and the people tend to be very friendly.</p>
<p>Everyone in my program has stayed in a hotel for orientation over the past few days, right in the old part of the city. When i look out the front door of the hotel, I see the Edinburgh castle perched on top of a huge crag- It's really an indescribable site. The "new" part of town was built in the 1700's, while the old part goes back to medieval times. To be honest, the city reminds me of some giant Harry Potter land.</p>
<p>I'll also comment on social/night life around here, which has been VERY different than my experiences in the US. Granted, I've only hung out with other American students since school hasn't started, but its pretty easy to pick up on. Every single night so far, i've gone pub-crawling, which has been a blast. There are so many different places to go around here that it doesn't seem like it could ever get old, and there are always plenty of people around, no matter what night of the week. Never thought i'd drink so much beer in a week (btw, its true- this place is NOT cheap).</p>
<p>Oh, and i'm doing a host family visit for a weekend in Stirling later this month, which i'm really excited about. </p>
<p>I'll post again soon!</p>
<p>ADD: It's really easy to pick up a pay as you go phone around here. There are plenty of stores, and I got a phone for about 5 pounds. Then you just pick whatever plan you want (depending on whether or not you like to text, etc.), and put some money in or "top up" whenever you like. Incoming calls/texts are free, which is nice. Definitely don't stress over it before you go abroad. I still recommend skype for international calls, though.</p>
<p>CASE-
Great to hear from you and that you seem so happy and adjusting.</p>
<p>How's your phone reception? What plan (company) did you purchase?</p>
<p>Will anxiously await your updates and curious about your Stirling visit. </p>
<p>See above post by WVSinger... Glad someone else is going to Stirling!</p>
<p>Classes started today, although I only had my German class. I'm finally starting to find my way around, although I know I look ridiculous when I have to stop on the side of the road and pull out a map.</p>
<p>One thing i've noticed around here is how nice the people are. Those who know the area are always willing to help me out when i'm lost. Also, the other students in my dorm have been extremely welcoming. I just met them all yesterday (moved in on sat.) and they took me out to a pub and then a club afterwards (going out the night before the start of classes was certainly a bit of a culture shock, but definitely one I was okay with).</p>
<p>I definitely experienced my first bout of culture shock on my first saturday night in the city center. I'm sure some US cities get a little rowdy, but I never even knew that so much craziness could exist at a single time. It seemed like the streets were just filled with students and older folks alike just hopping from bar to bar and club to club (all of them very drunk).</p>
<p>To answer your question crazed,</p>
<p>I got the orange network, and my reception for local calls has been perfect. I wouldn't recommend using this network for international calls, as the rate is over 1 pound/minute- definitely not worth it.</p>