Money:
When you arrive in a new place, the first thing you should do is find out where you can get food. I made the mistake of not doing this and ended up not eating real food for two days. Money helps actually getting the food once you find it. Toilet paper and a blanket are also nice. I used my peacoat as a blanket for four nights.
Umbrella:
The weather really is as crappy as everyone says English weather is. The sky is perpetually gray, and it is either raining, about to rain, or just rained. I might be developing a vitamin D deficiency as I write.
Backpack with chest and hip buckle:
To get anywhere requires a 20-45 minute walk. A backpack of any weight kills the shoulders and arches the back after your second 30-minute walk in the past two hours. Chest and hip buckles transfer that weight to your hips and allows you to walk upright. Plus, you feel like you on an adventure, always a plus.
Leather hiking boots:
Keeping your feet dry, toasty, and supported during those long, wet walks. Word to the wise, break the boots in before trekking. Again, something that I did not do.
Clothes:
Not fun being naked when cold and rainy outside. Plus, England and I don’t know each other that well yet.
Cajun spice:
Cajun spice should have its own cooking show and shove salt and pepper off tables worldwide. There is no meal plan in my accommodation (yes, it is called “accommodation” here, not “housing”), so I have to cook all my own meals. Cajun spice makes everything addictive. I swear the ingredients list lies and it is really just orange crack. Also, the spice warms the body.
Skype:
Landing in a strange land and being able to talk to family and friends from home AND see their faces? Priceless.
Day Planner (What the English call a diary):
It’s like carrying sanity in your pocket even when you have lost your mind.
Prayer beads:
It is something solid to hold onto when clenching my fists in anger, throwing them up in euphoria, or reaching them out in loneliness—three emotions I have gotten to know very well this week.
Knowing that people at home love me:
I had never been out the USA until Saturday, and within a few hours, I was very far away from home and everyone I knew. There is no one here who genuinely knows me or cares about me. Knowing that family and friends back home love me pulls me through. Plus, if I made friends at BSC, then I should be able to make friends here at UB. Right?
You'll do great, Anna Rose! I was about your age when I went to England to study (just a summer, alas), and I was nervous, too. But it turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. You'll look back and be amazed at how strong you are. Take care!
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