The main things I wish I did while preparing for studying abroad and while being abroad are:
Do pre-departure things in advance
Manage time wisely
Do not think keep thinking 4-5 months is a long time
Make the best of your free time
Do activities before semester starts
Do activities before it gets too cold
Do things even on school days if you can
Come with more checked in luggages
Cheaper than mailing your things
I wish I did my pre-departure things more in advance. However, I am quite understanding that I wasn’t able to do them too much in advance mainly because of a lot of uncertainties, such as if the courses I needed to take were going to be available, decisions if I wanted to take extra courses in the summer if the courses I needed weren’t available, and if I was willing to study abroad with that sacrifice. However, if you are set on studying abroad without much worry on uncertainties, getting things done as soon as possible is recommended. It is just good to not have to stress. I recommend to really pace yourself so that you are completely ready and calm when the time comes to go abroad. It can be easy to postpone these actions since it can be quite intimidating, but since you are eventually going to have to deal with it, you might as well deal with it in the best way possible, early.
Along with my uncertainties, I was also incredibly busy with my Etsy shop orders. Etsy has things scheduled to be shipped out by certain times, and majority of my days everyday were just packing orders and sending them out. If you happen to have a platform or place where you have to consistently do work for, it is best to maybe pause it once you are set on studying abroad, so that you can make time to properly prepare since it does take quite some time. I had kept my shop open for as long as I was in Hawaii (meaning even until the day before departure), but I felt it could have been better if temporarily closed it earlier since it just kept building daily to-dos and taking up most of my time. I had postponed many of my pre-departure duties last minute due to continuously working on Etsy. Though I was luckily able to fulfill my duties with the note of urgency, I do not recommend it. It was a stressful and anxious experience.
In addition, that also includes packing. Do not pack last minute. I am guilty of this since I was actually still working on Etsy orders until the day before departure. However, I did make a checkbox list (Google Keep makes it really easy to create checkbox lists) of every single thing to bring which does help in packing more efficiently, but I did manage to forget one specific item(s). My individual plug adapters. It’s really not that bad since I had brought my bigger plug adapters with multiple slots, so I was able to still charge things. However, I had also bought individual plug adapters for times I would possibly have to charge my things in public and not have my huge multiple slot adapter take up the whole outlet space. For these individual plugs, I recommend the Amazon’s brand of plug adapters (different type of plugs also available), pack of 3 for around $11. Though I had left this back home, I ended up buying it again and having it shipped to my place in South Korea. Amazon does work in South Korea. However, prime membership does not apply, item selection is limited to only things that shops allow to be shipped to South Korea, and you have to pay shipping (with prime membership shipped within the US, it would have been free shipping).
Manage time wisely. It can be easy to think 4-5 months is a long time. I knew many people were saying to to me as well but I, too, didn’t think too deeply about it. I think many of us go through this, in various occasions, thinking time went by fast in high school, or thinking that time went by fast in sport seasons, it can be easy in the beginning months of being abroad to take everyday as it comes. As someone who did indeed “take things easy or slow”, I recommend you just make the most of your free time. School can take up a lot of your time, maybe even limiting full free days to just your weekends if you have school everyday. Every weekday, 5 days a week, I had class, and I basically always ended up spending almost the entire day to being in school. I didn’t do much before or after the class except maybe eat with friends. However, I knew that the hours before and after class was enough for me to do activities. I could have biked in a park before class or even visit a tourist attraction after class while still making it in time to eat (even with friends). I recommend you to make your normal days much more fulfilling than having the entire day’s main activity just going to 1 or 2 classes. If you have no homework to do and there’s time that exist before or after class, you can do something to explore South Korea! I always think that I could have done the few more extra activities that I had in the back in my mind if I took those spaces before and after class.
In addition to that, it may also be better to do these things early in the semester (if studying abroad during fall), when you can move more freely and stay outside longer. It can be a little more tedious and difficult to do activities during the winter, such being having to wear bigger and thicker clothing, possible icey ground (that can cause slipping), and just in general getting cold more easily. In addition, in the beginning of the semester, you don’t deal with midterm and finals just yet. It may be even better to come a few weeks prior the start of the semester and have many full free days to do activities.
I used to be very intimidated about bringing more than 1 check in luggage. I rarely travel, and when I did, I only always brought just 1 check-in luggage and 1 carry on. For Hawaiian Airlines, you get 2 free check-in luggages. I left with 1 check-in luggage but came back with 3 check-ins. I wish I told my past self that it really isn’t as bad as I thought having to bring “so much”. There are carts in the Honolulu airport and Incheon airport. Most of the time you are just pushing them with a cart and you don’t even have it for that long since you do basically just drop it off sometime after you arrive.
With that being said, I recommend just bringing more check-in luggage than mailing your things if they can’t fit or end up heavier. Having the addition check-in is cheaper compared to mailing with the weight in mind. I also chose the cheapest mailing carrier (regular Korea post office) and it was still more expensive. However, it is only beneficial if the additional check-in weight is close to the maximum weight. If you only have 2 pairs of shoes that cannot fit, then it is better to mail. Remember additional check-in is just a fixed price. The fixed price for 50 lbs check-in is cheaper than the shipping cost of mailing 50 lbs. Also, it is good to note that the Korea post office is only open on weekdays and they do sell different sized boxes.
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