Erasmus Essentials

nervousftb_3

quick answer to your question - take as little as possible! I did an Erasmus year in Paris and I was lucky enough to have my dad drive me over as he was going on holiday at the same time (he had to time another holiday in with picking me up too!!). i took loads of stuff and most of it i didn't need/wish i'd bought once i arrived.

main things are:

clothes and make-up - i would use most of the space for this

hairdryer and straighteners (if you're going for a long period I would actually buy these over there, saves the problem of adaptors/devices giving up after a few months/straighteners never getting hot enough because of adaptor etc!)

laptop (good advice given above about scanning books etc onto laptop and installing skype)

mobile phone - i took my unlocked mobile handset and bought a french contract once i was there, but you could just get a cheap PAYG sim and use that, definitely much cheaper than using a British phone and you can call mates in France much cheaper too

chocolate and Polos - the only things I really missed when I was over there and I used to be and plead for people to send them to me! Cadbury's choc is really hard to find and Polos just don't seem to exist i don't how they survive without them :rotfl:

books - i found the libraries at french universities to really rubbish, so you may want to take the odd essential book if you can fit it in

DVDs - I found that most French students love anything English and so will happily sit and watch DVDs in English for hours, so this is a good way to make friends! and you can put the french subtitles on too so you can feel like you're learning a bit of french at the same time!

cooking equipment - will your flat have any plates, cutlery etc? if not, take one set and maybe one small saucepan to keep you going when you first arrive, and then buy more when you get settled.

other than that, you don't really need much, and you'll be surprised how little you can manage with! good luck, hope you have a great time!

Tete_en_l'Air

3plus1 wrote: »

How long are you staying for? Just a term? Longer? From experience, run a UK appliance off an adapter for six months and it will explode.

I've lived in France and in Spain and this has never happened to me. The only thing is that your hairdryer might cut out for a couple of minutes if it overheats, but that happens to me in England anyway! On the same subject though, when I went away to Spain I took adaptors, but one of the English friends I made out there had had the genius idea of taking one adaptor and a four socket, three pin extension lead so he didn't have to keep swapping and changing like I did - he didn't have any problems with anything exploding either.

in_limbo_jimbo wrote: »

Tea bags (apparently quite hard to source the genuine 'made for uk' type industrial tea bags out in france according to my friends)

I used to drink Tetley's English Breakfast over there - just like normal Tetleys here and widely available in supermarkets and cafes. Ask for 'the anglais' in cafes if you want milk in it!

in_limbo_jimbo wrote: »

Bring small versions of toiletries to get you through a few days - you can buy the rest when you arrive. Otherwise it's just unnecessary weight.

I agree with whoever said they found it hard to find cheap toiletries - if you're used to buying shampoo from the pound shop as I was when I was a student, you'll find essentials like that expensive over there, even in supermarkets.

in_limbo_jimbo wrote: »

However, do stock up on any prescription drugs you're on and also pack a 'first aid kit' of basics like plasters, pain killers, etc.

Agreed - they don't sell painkillers in supermarkets like we do, everything's named brands from the pharmacie and will cost at least 5 euros. Don't forget your EHIC card.

The only other thing I'd add is to take a pocket dictionary with you - I only took my monster one, but had to buy a little one a couple of days in - there are so many words that you just won't have learnt - it saved me from eating a few dodgy things in restaurants I can tell you!

Also those aged 12-25 get an automatic discount on train tickets (25% I think) so make the most of it and see a bit of the country while you're there!

Enjoy it, you'll have the time of your life! Where are you going?

Fliparoo

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm going to Nice, the big day is only two weeks away now so I'm hoping the snow in England has cleared so there are no delays to my journey.

I signed up for Skype last month, I'm currently teaching my mum some basic computer/internet skills so I shall sign her up too and hope for the best!

My new EHIC card came through the post yesterday :-)

I will be getting a French phone and SIM as I've got to spend a total of 18months in France. My first six months is a semester in a Business School, before spending a year working, I think this will be in Paris.

I like the idea of the lead with the four plugs, as long as it doesn't blow up my laptop, it likes to turn itself off from time to time already!

I will be going over in my Ski jacket, mainly due to the weather here and because there may be a chance of skiing... although I'm not sure how I'll finance that at the minute.

I'm currently looking for a flat with two other friends (we found one but someone's not keen on the price, it's expensive, but it's Nice!)

I've got some mini toiletries as presents for birthdays/Christmas recently so I'll take those.

A massive thank you again to everyone that's commented :-D

amy_lou_4

Tete_en_l'Air wrote: »

Also those aged 12-25 get an automatic discount on train tickets (25% I think) so make the most of it and see a bit of the country while you're there!

Enjoy it, you'll have the time of your life! Where are you going?

Yes you do get an automatic discount, you can also buy a Carte 12-25 from SNCF for €50 which gets you 50% off for a year- if you buy it when you are doing a long journey (ie I went from Quimper to Gent in my first month there) it pays for itself.
http://www.12-25-sncf.com/accueil/
I will be getting a new one when I move back to France in a few weeks time.
I was a language assistant in Brittany for my year abroad, and I'm moving back a bit further east to Normandy this time.

I am glad of this thread because I had been meaning to "evaluate" what I took with me for my year abroad and what I'm going to take this time! Thankfully I get uniform provided in my new job so I have less worries about clothes. It has also reminded me to sort my prescription out, cheers

I always end up taking my favourite toiletries as I have problem skin and *need* my usual products, as well as my contact lens solution etc...
I took my own straighteners and hairdryer with adapters and they worked fine (for 8 months at least)
I also took Rooibos tea with me, not sure if they have got it over there yet!

I agree about DVDs, if you have one those CD holders that takes loads without needing to take the cases that is brill. I too found DVDs a really good "bonding tool" with people I knew of different nationalities showing their favourite films (for instance I discovered some really good German films I would never have seen)

I bought quite a lot of clothes while I was in France, during the frequent "soldes" and things I knew noone would have in the UK. But I took my own favourite bits of jewellery and didn't buy much of that (no Accessorize!)

I bought a PAYG rubbish phone for €15 on Orange and found it good, when you bought €15 credit you got €5 extra free (I think it was that, it's been another year and a half now!), and more free as you got more, going up. Only thing was, for the first few weeks you had to buy vouchers from the newsagents, before they allowed you to top up by card over the phone- but they did bring in topping up by txt while I was there, which was very convenient. I also think the SIM is only valid for a year after you stop using it (iyswim) so it won't work anymore and I will have to get a new one.

I got all my homey/kitcheny bits from Monoprix and Carrefour, and Eurodif for pretty things- it is sad but I am looking forward to going in there again!

I took my dad with me in order to have another suitcase as well. I am so glad as it meant I could take so much more with me, and he could rent a car for us to get from the airport to my town, and stock up at the supermarket for me and the other people I ended up living with. I try to be "minimalist" and I know I will be better this time, but I wore and used everything I took with me so it was worth it.

It sounds like you are going to the most expensive spots in France! Nice will be so great with the weather though, and Paris has so many opportunities for work.
I will add more if I think of it!

charliecheese

Make sure you bring some home comforts, your favourite chocolate bars etc. You will really appreciate this if you have a bad day.

Another thing that I was told about before I went was to take only one adaptor, but an English multi-plug, so you can plug in four or more English items with only one European adaptor.

Avoid taking toiletries, you can stock up when you get there. I would say take whatever makes you feel homely. For me that was my own duvet cover, and I can tell you it really helped to have the feel of home. Another consideration might be to take some basic medical supplies. By this I mean what you usually use to conquer a cold/flu, because the French equivalent might not be as good and it could be a bit difficult to communicate it in a pharmacy.

It can be very lonely to begin with, but good luck, persevere, get involved and you'll have a blast!

amy_lou_4

The French equivalent for cold medicine is definitely as good for me- the miracle of Actifed Rhume tablets was so good I actually ended up bringing a couple of boxes of that home with me! I did want my own Lemsips though.

charliecheese

amy_lou wrote: »

The French equivalent for cold medicine is definitely as good for me- the miracle of Actifed Rhume tablets was so good I actually ended up bringing a couple of boxes of that home with me! I did want my own Lemsips though.

I wasn't saying it definitely wouldn't be, I just meant that some stuff works for some people. I for example would be lost without Covonia, whereas some think it's useless The complications when explaining you've got a chesty cough can also be pretty complex if your vocabulary isn't up to scratch!