What To Pack As An Exchange Student & What To Leave At Home | Exchange Student Tips USA
Summary
TLDRThis video offers essential tips for exchange students on what to pack for their year abroad. It advises against bringing clothes that don't fit dress codes, bulky items, electrical appliances, and school materials. Instead, students should bring electric adapters, modest clothing, sports gear, small gifts for their host family, a diary, personal items for their room, and some cash for initial expenses.
Takeaways
- 🧳 Do not bring clothes that do not fit the dress code, especially sheer, revealing, or overly short clothing, as these may not be allowed in schools or conservative areas.
- 👗 Avoid bringing bulky items like large jackets or pillows, as they take up valuable luggage space and can often be easily purchased at the destination.
- 🔌 Don't bring electrical appliances like hair straighteners or blow dryers due to different voltage and plug requirements; focus on bringing charging cables and adapters instead.
- 📚 Leave behind excessive school supplies, as these can be readily purchased at local stores like Walmart upon arrival.
- 🎵 Consider leaving behind items that could annoy your host family, such as Bluetooth speakers, and opt for headphones to respect shared living spaces.
- 🔌 Essential to bring are electric adapters to accommodate different plug types in the host country.
- 👟 If joining a sports team, bring a favorite pair of sports trainers as practices may start immediately after school begins.
- 👕 Pack modest clothing that covers shoulders and knees, and avoid items like crop tops, spaghetti strap tops, and short dresses.
- 🎁 Bring small gifts for your host family as a gesture of appreciation and to initiate cultural exchange.
- 📓 Consider bringing a diary or a camera to document and remember your exchange year experiences.
- 💵 Carry some cash, around $400, for initial expenses and emergencies, and have a credit card for additional financial security.
Q & A
What is the main focus of the video?
-The video provides guidance on what to pack and what to leave at home when preparing for an exchange year, focusing on practical tips for exchange students.
Why is it important not to bring clothes that don't fit the dress code?
-Many schools have strict dress codes, especially in conservative areas, which may not allow sheer or revealing clothing. It's better to adhere to these rules to avoid any issues.
What advice does the video give about packing bulky items?
-The video advises against bringing bulky items like pillows and heavy winter jackets, as they take up valuable space. It's often easier to purchase such items after arriving in the host country.
Why should electrical appliances be left at home?
-Electrical appliances such as hair straighteners or blow dryers may not work properly due to voltage differences and could be heavy and bulky. It's recommended to buy them locally to avoid compatibility issues.
What is recommended instead of bringing school supplies from home?
-School supplies should be purchased in the host country, as the formats may differ, and it's usually easy to find what you need at local stores like Walmart or Target.
How should one handle music and speakers in a host family's home?
-Bringing headphones instead of Bluetooth speakers is advised, as loud music can be disruptive and some music might be considered inappropriate by the host family.
What should be brought for sports activities?
-Bring your favorite pair of sports trainers and some appropriate sports clothing that fits the dress code, as school sports practices often start right away.
Why are modest clothes recommended for an exchange year?
-Modest clothing is suggested because many schools have dress codes that prohibit revealing outfits, and it's important to adhere to cultural norms, especially in conservative areas.
What types of gifts are recommended for host families?
-Small gifts such as chocolates or sweets from your home country are recommended to show appreciation and serve as conversation starters about your culture.
Why is it suggested to bring cash, and how much should you bring?
-Bringing at least $400 in cash is advised to cover initial expenses and emergencies, ensuring you have enough money until you can access your funds in the host country.
What personal items can help with homesickness during the exchange year?
-Personal items like photos, small decorations, and sentimental objects can make your room feel more like home and help alleviate feelings of homesickness.
What role does a diary play during an exchange year?
-Keeping a diary helps document experiences, making it easier to remember details about the exchange year. It's recommended to write entries daily or weekly.
Why should you bring multiple electrical adapters?
-Bringing multiple electrical adapters is recommended to accommodate different devices like phones and laptops, as plug types vary between countries.
Outlines
🧳 Exchange Student Packing Essentials
The video script discusses the essentials for exchange students preparing for their year abroad. It emphasizes the importance of packing wisely, focusing on items that are necessary and leaving behind those that are not. The speaker advises against bringing clothes that don't fit the dress code, bulky items like pillows or heavy winter jackets, and electrical appliances due to voltage differences. Instead, they suggest bringing charging cables and an adapter, as well as considering the cultural and climate differences of the host country.
🏠 Adapting to Host Country Norms and Practical Tips
This paragraph delves into the specifics of what not to bring, such as inappropriate clothing and electrical items, and the importance of adapting to the host country's norms. The speaker shares personal experiences and offers advice on school dress codes, especially in conservative areas, and the types of clothing to avoid. They also mention the unsuitability of bringing school supplies and the ease of purchasing them locally. Additionally, they caution against bringing items that could annoy the host family, like Bluetooth speakers, and recommend bringing headphones and modest clothing instead.
🎁 Recommended Items for Exchange Students
The speaker outlines recommended items for exchange students, starting with electric adapters to accommodate different plug types. They suggest bringing sports trainers and a few athletic wear pieces that comply with school dress codes. The importance of modest clothing is reiterated, with a focus on items like jeans and T-shirts. The paragraph also highlights the value of bringing small gifts for the host family as a gesture of appreciation and cultural exchange. Lastly, the speaker recommends bringing a diary or camera to document the exchange experience and personal items to decorate the room and alleviate homesickness.
💵 Financial Preparations and Additional Advice
In the final paragraph, the speaker stresses the importance of financial preparedness for exchange students. They recommend bringing a certain amount of cash for initial expenses and a credit card for ongoing financial support. The paragraph also serves as a reminder to consider personal needs and the specific requirements of the host country. The speaker invites viewers to share their thoughts on the video and request additional content, emphasizing the value of community and shared experiences in the exchange process.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Exchange Students
💡Dress Code
💡Cultural Rules
💡Bulky Items
💡Electrical Items
💡School Materials
💡Host Family
💡Electric Adapters
💡Athleisure Wear
💡Modest Clothing
💡Personal Items
💡Cash
Highlights
Packing essentials for an exchange year includes items you'll need immediately and leaving behind what's not necessary.
Avoid bringing clothes that don't fit the dress code, especially sheer or revealing attire, as it may not be acceptable in conservative areas.
Consider local cultural norms and dress codes when selecting clothing to pack for an exchange in the United States or other countries.
Bulky items like pillows and large winter jackets are not recommended due to space constraints in luggage.
Electrical appliances may not be suitable due to differences in voltage and plugs, so it's better to purchase them locally.
School materials are easily accessible and should not be packed in advance to save space.
Avoid bringing items that could annoy your host family, such as loud Bluetooth speakers.
Headphones are recommended to maintain a considerate environment within the host family's home.
Electric adapters are essential due to differences in plug types and voltage between countries.
Bringing a favorite pair of sports shoes is advised for immediate use upon joining a sports team.
Athleisure wear should be selected carefully to comply with school dress codes and cultural norms.
Modest clothing that covers shoulders and knees is recommended for school and church visits.
Small gifts for the host family, such as chocolate or sweets, are a thoughtful gesture to show appreciation.
A diary or journal is useful for documenting experiences and memories throughout the exchange year.
Personal items for room decoration can help alleviate homesickness and personalize your living space.
Bringing a small amount of cash and a credit card ensures financial security and ease during the initial settling period.
Engaging with the host culture and being open to sharing your own can foster a positive exchange experience.
The video offers additional content on school dress codes and cultural norms for exchange students in the American South.
Transcripts
hi guys and welcome to my newest video
today
we are going to be talking about all
things exchange students
need to know and about all things
exchange
year particularly we are going to talk
about the things you need to bring
and the ones that you should leave at
home when trying to pack for your
exchange year
now obviously it is pretty much
impossible to fit all that you will need
for six months 10 months an entire year
into one suitcase one carry-on and a
backpack
but today i would like to help you out
by telling you what things you should
definitely bring because you're
definitely going to need them and which
things you can leave at home because
you're not going to have any use for
them anyway
so without further ado let's get right
on into this video
so i am going to start off with the
things you do
not need to bring to the united states
or anywhere else in the world if you're
going to be an exchange student in a
different country because you are not
gonna have any use for them or because
it's much easier to get them
once you have arrived the first thing i
will mention
is do not bring any sort of clothes that
will not fit the dress code
i have two things to say about that one
i'm thinking about making a video
about school code school dress codes and
anything like that
and also there is going to be a video
about if you're going to be
an exchange student in the south of the
us i will tell you all about the
cultural rules this also applies to any
small town basically in the us because
the whole like set of rules there in
rather conservative areas
is quite different and there are
definitely a lot of things you need to
know
clothing is a really big part of it so
look out for those videos because i'm
going to
specify this topic and talk a lot more
about this in those videos
but to give you a quick glimpse into it
usually
anything sheer or see-through anything
that shows the shoulders or
any short skirts any short dresses
are not allowed usually schools won't
allow you to wear
anything that shows your knees or your
shoulders or too much
you know cleavage so leave any of those
things at home
additionally if you are going to go to
church
with your host parents make sure that
you only bring
dresses that cover your knees and
your arms and again the cleavage thing
don't show too much you know of your
goods
so definitely do not bring really really
short or see-through clothes or anything
like that even if you're going to a
really hot state i went to texas which
is super super hot but first of all
the ac the air conditioning is going to
make you know any inside of
like the school or your home or a car so
so cold so you're not going to
want to wear anything too short anyway
and culturally it's just not appropriate
to wear you know quite revealing clothes
so
leave all of those you know summer cute
short summer dresses or tops at home
you do not need those also i would
advise you to leave
any sort of bulky items at home do not
try to bring pillows no try to bring
huge winter jackets or anything like
that anything that takes up
a lot of space you really have to think
about because you really
only have this one suitcase and you know
the smaller carry-on items so be
very aware anything that is big or bulky
or really heavy
just really think about whether it might
not be a better idea to buy
any of those you know in your host
country and then
it's much easier to figure out whether
you actually need those things like you
might potentially not even need a winter
jacket depending on the state that you
go to
also another thing you do not need to
bring is
electrical items any hair straighteners
or blow dryers or anything like that you
really don't need to bring because the
voltage and the plugs in the us are
going to be
so so different what you should bring
obviously is charging cables for like
your phone
and you are going to need an adapter
which i'm going to
talk about more when i talk about the
things that you should bring but any
actual appliances that require a certain
voltage
you shouldn't really bring because first
of all they're usually heavy and bulky
so that goes to my last point but also
you know you can get hair dryers if
you're going to the us you just go to
walmart they're not that expensive and
you really don't need to bring them
because they might actually explode in
your hands
if the voltage isn't right so just don't
bring those other stuff you don't need
is
school materials for example don't try
and get like loads of school binders or
like bring
all of your favorite pens and pencils
from home it is really not
necessary it takes up so much space and
you can just go to walmart even if you
arrive
like on a saturday and school starts on
a monday you can still go to walmart you
can still
get all of your school supplies there
there is no need to bring it it's really
unnecessary the prices will most likely
be the same as you would
have them at home so just don't worry
about these things and also the format
is like super different where i'm from
in germany we
have this like certain measurement of
paper
and there's like four you know holes in
or two
to you know put it into binders in the
us the binders in the paper are smaller
and it only has three holes so all the
paper i brought didn't actually fit into
the binder so that was super unnecessary
so
just make sure when you get there you
hit walmart or target or anything and
you get your stuff there
do not stuff all of that in your
suitcase one thing i would also advise
you
not to bring is anything that could
potentially be
super annoying to your host family so if
you're thinking about
bringing a bluetooth box for example
like bluetooth
speakers i personally would advise you
to
leave those at home because you are
probably gonna get off on the wrong foot
with your host family if you're blasting
you know music throughout the house it's
really annoying to them
and also i'm also gonna touch on that in
my
what to you know know when you're going
to the american south
some music is not considered cool for
your host family
and actually really inappropriate and
something that you shouldn't be
listening to
so that could create a lot of conflicts
i would actually advise you to bring
headphones
so you make sure that you know you're
just being very aware that other people
are living in the house and that this is
not
you know your natural family who can
just forgive you anything and
just be kind of conscious about that
fact and leave those things at home
now moving on to the things that you
should bring because that is probably
more of the practical side of this video
the first thing that i've already
touched on a little bit is
electric adapters because as i said the
plugs will
be super different so none of my you
know electrical items would have
fit in the us plugs because the plug
sockets are just
they have a different form i think it's
like the three plug so what i would
advise you
no matter which country you're coming
from amazon usually
offers you know little adapters that
actually have like a lot of options so
you will have
an adapter with like the german plug and
the you know grey burton plug and the us
plug and
stuff like that so maybe type in like
electric adapter and then your country
and the us
and it will usually give you pretty
cheap options i can
try to link you the one that i had down
in the description box below
but definitely just look those up on
amazon you will probably find one that
is pretty cheap that you can use
i would actually advise you to bring
more than one just because
if you have a laptop for example and
your phone that's already two chargers
that you are going to be needing you
might even want a third one for another
electrical item i'm pretty sure i had at
least
two that's what i would advise you to
bring but these are definitely a staple
do not
leave without getting one at least or
maybe even two or three of those
if you are planning to join a sports
team i would also
advise you to bring your favorite pair
of sports trainers because
more likely than not school is going to
start very soon after your
arrival and you are going to be joining
a team which
the practice usually starts on the first
day of school so you are going to be
needing those shoes right away i'm not
saying that you should bring like all of
your athleisure wear because again there
is a dress code involved and
a lot of your like athleisure wear that
you brought from home probably won't fit
that dress code but maybe bring
a couple of you know athleisure pieces
just because you are
going to have to be working out right
away and especially the shoes because
finding a good pair of workout shoes
isn't as easy just so that you don't
stress out as much
trying to find like a really good
workout shoe that is going to get you
through
five days a week four hours a day of
like workouts
so probably bring those from home you
know what i would also advise you to do
if you do decide to bring some
athleisure wear take t-shirts no tank
tops because chances are they're not
going to be
allowed in your school and also do not
bring like
leggings because at least in my
opinion or in my you know what i
experienced is that nobody in the us
actually wears like leggings when
they're workout they all wear like
the shorts so like somewhat baggy like
nike shorts or you know any brand most
people wear nike actually i'm going to
link you
an example of one of the shorts down
below that's what everybody wears and
you're going to want to fit in so
you know don't bother with all the
leggings unless you want to just wear
them in your free time another thing
which i've also touched on before
do bring modest clothing so just you
know
bring stuff that covers the shoulders
covers the knees it's best for school to
bring
jeans so no leggings but actual jeans
that have a zipper and a pocket
that have no ribs do not bring anything
that
shows your belly so no crop tops no lacy
tops no
spaghetti strap tops none of that no
short dresses i've already mentioned
that before
so you can just google modest clothing
and what
shows up is probably right for you
another thing that you should also bring
just because
it's really really nice is a few small
gifts for your host family now i'm not
talking about
anything super pricey most of the time i
find that if you bring them some
chocolate for example or
other types of sweets or that you can
just share with them that is
not expensive at all is super super nice
just so that
you show that you're super appreciative
that you show that
you know you want to not only get to
know their culture but that you're open
for them to get to know your culture and
so that they can ask you questions about
it and it's just a nice conversation
starter
for the beginning so that's always a
nice thing to bring
another thing that you should definitely
bring is a diary
because you are going to want to
remember
a lot about your exchange year but you
know your brain has limited capacity so
i find that it is
super useful to just write down anything
you experience if you can do it daily
that's great
you might not have enough time for that
a weekly you know entry would definitely
be enough you could also bring a camera
i think that's super good i mean most
people take pictures on their iphones
now but what i also love
is having like video clips for example
if you take a trip it's super nice to
you know make a short video out of that
because moving
image is just a little bit different a
bit more personal i find
so yeah if you have a camera a small one
bring it what i would also
advise you to do is to bring a few small
personal items to decorate your room
with just because your room
is going to be probably super bare in
the beginning
which could make you feel a lot more
homesick so i find that it is nice to
have you know a couple of pictures and
picture frames or some that you can hang
up maybe
you have you know your favorite book
with you maybe you have something like a
craft that you made at home or you know
gifts from your friends before you left
or anything like that i think
anything of that sort is super super
helpful because your room will look less
empty and you will have something that
is personal that means something to you
and it's going to make your room just
feel more like
yours and it could definitely help you
with homesickness so you know choose a
few
lights and small items to bring with you
for that one lastly
probably one of the most important
things is i would advise you to
bring a bit of cash just because in case
you have a few
issues with your money especially in the
first month you are going to need
a bit of cash just to buy all of this
stuff that did not fit in your suitcase
so i would advise you to bring at least
400 dollars in cash they are going to
ask you how much cash you have
to support yourself once you get off the
plane and it is always good if you can
answer
truthfully that you have a couple
hundred dollars just you know to support
you over the first like two or three
weeks or so
and also definitely bring something like
a mastercard which is what i used
to make sure that you have money supply
throughout the year
that you can obviously revert back to if
you you know
need some money and want to buy you some
stuff so so that's definitely
really important those are all of the
things that i could think of that are
super super important obviously it
depends on where you're going and where
you come from and your
you know personal needs what you're
actually going to need to bring but
those are definitely things that you
should keep in mind
when trying to pack your suitcase please
let me know down in the comments below
if that video was helpful to you and
whether you have anything in mind that i
forgot to mention just so that other
people can check out the comments as
well and you know remember to bring
this thing that i forgot to mention also
if you would like me to do
any more exchange student content or if
you have any sort of questions please
leave them down in the comments below
i'll be so happy
to make videos about your requests as
well and just thank you guys so much for
watching this video
if you would like to not miss out on any
of my future content make sure to
hit the notification bell as well as the
subscribe button you can also stay in
closer touch with me by following me on
my instagram
and yeah i just wanna thank you guys so
so much for watching
see you very very soon goodbye
[Music]
you
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