I’m staring at the ceiling.
The clock, it won’t stop ticking.
I feel like I’ve been sleeping for too long now
Going Going Gone by Maddie Poppe
The time has come! This is the week that I will be saying goodbye to close ones, but at the same time, I will be saying hello to a new culture.
I would have never thought that I will be studying abroad. Yet, here I’m bursting with joy and anxiety about my upcoming adventures in Cyprus! For those who might be considering studying abroad or just like to read a good old blog, I will try my best to document my time! For this week, given that it’s the first week, I will be talking about packing information and potential worries.
For some, packing is like second nature, while others come with anxiety. Packing is a simple, complicated idea with one basic principle of putting away clothes and having many variables (e.g. different types of clothes) to deal with. Based on my experience, I will be giving some of the pointers that I learned over the years. Also, I will tell you some things that I learned over that past few months.
For starter, when I travel, I pack very conservatively. What I mean is that I will pack at least 2 weeks worth of clothes for this study abroad. However, you may be asking why so little? The short answer is that I’m a very simple person. The long answer is that I want to have enough space for any additional items that I will need to bring (e.g. electronics, shoes, etc.) and maybe any items that I want to bring back.
An additional tip that I can think of is packing strategically. Strategically in a sense of rolling up any jeans or squeezing as many clothes as possible to conserve space.
The last tip that I can think of is to make yourself feel comfortable while in transit. Personally, when I travel I don’t care about how I look, I just want to feel comfortable by wearing loose-fitting clothes and playing my music to the loudest. Side note, I might occasionally add some song/ modern reference here and there.
As much considered myself experienced in traveling there were some things that I didn’t know and will have probably been stressing out while traveling. The first big thing for me were travel documents. For most travelers, when traveling abroad for prolonged periods, you will need a travel visa. Luckily for me, my program takes care of my visa and any additional travel documents. If I didn’t attend this program, I would have taken time out of my schedule to get a travel visa at my closest host country embassy, which could be as far as few minutes to a few hours. Just food for through, if you’re considering going abroad.
One surprising thing that I learned were power outlets. Cyprus doesn’t use your traditional power outlet. In the US, we used the type A and B power outlets. In Europe, most of them used the type C and F power outlet. What power outlet do you think Cyprus uses?
Type C? Nope.
Type F? Nope.
As a matter of fact, Cyprus uses the type G power outlet. The only countries that use the type G power outlet are former British colonies or Britain.
In conjunction with power outlets, some additional things that I learned were from previous students studying abroad experience. I would like to personally thank Hannah, Priscilla, and Cheyenne for giving me an insightful view of Cyprus! Prior to hearing their stories, I basically didn’t know anything about Cyprus. Now I feel more confident in going to Cyprus!
Overall, I do feel excited about going to Cyprus! Yet, there still will be some lingering anxiety that I will have to face. Some of my main anxieties are making new friends, embracing a new culture, getting accustomed to Cypriot clothes standards, and cooking. The whole purpose of going abroad is to immerse yourself into another culture. What’s the purpose of going abroad without taking a chance to embrace another culture? As a result, I will try to do my very best to immerse myself it, even if it makes me feel slightly uncomfortable.
Anyways, this is the end of my first entry, I hope you will follow my blog and come back next time on my TANGible adventures in Cyprus! Also, to my family and friends Gung Hay Fat Choy!
Tangible Adventures 