<p>My nephew is going to Germany for a study abroad stint–probably a full year. His mom is starting to panic! He will come home for the Christmas holidays, but she’s realizing that he’ll be really far away from home so she’s trying to think about what he will need. Is there something he will absolutely need, other than the ordinary things any college kid will need?</p>
<p>One of the best things about study abroad is the limited amount students are able to take.
Much of what he needs, should be bought there. The program he is following will probably point this out. If he is mature enough to study abroad, he is mature enough to buy the basics.</p>
<p>A debit or credit card with a chip in it that he can use until he opens a bank account in Germany (JP Morgan/Chase offers one). A 90-day supply of any prescription medications he takes, so he has time to figure out the medical system before he has to get a refill. He needs to make sure that his computer charger will work in Europe. Anything else he needs can be purchased there.</p>
<p>Check with his study abroad program-I bet it provides extensive “predeparture” information.</p>
<p>Any particular OTC medicine. I know that the post in Italy was very strict on what they allowed to be mailed. My sister used that list of no-send items on the web site to determine what had to go over with my niece.</p>
<p>Europe in general tends to be a little more conservative/formal than the US in clothing. So I’d just be sure he has some dress up clothes. (But he should also be prepared for nude sunbathing in the parks of Germany. ) 
Though apparently there are fewer now than when I lived in Germany: [Fatter</a> and fewer German nudists as numbers dwindle | Reuters](<a href=“http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/20/us-germany-nudists-idUSTRE76J3KW20110720]Fatter”>http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/20/us-germany-nudists-idUSTRE76J3KW20110720) </p>
<p>In general he can get anything there that you can get here. The only exceptions I can remember were Oreo cookies and pecans.</p>
<p>Skype accounts for him and his parents ( and relatives)</p>
<p>Thanks for your input. He is planning to travel very lightly, buy bedding, etc. there. Wants to take his backpack and a lightweight sleeping bag for traveling, hostels, etc. Do you think he needs a sport coat/blazer? Ties/dress shirt don’t take up much room, but a jacket might be a hassle. Bet that’s not on his ‘list’.</p>
<p>Marinmom, I don’t know that he is planning to open a German bank account. He has a credit card and will do his banking online, as he does here. Is it necessary to open an acct. there? Could you offer more info on the ‘chip’ option in cards?</p>
<p>Our son went to London, so I don’t know if his experience is analogous.</p>
<p>Your nephew will want to research the charges associated with taking cash out at ATMs. There will be transaction fees if he is getting euros in Germany from a US acct.</p>
<p>He should check into his cell phone and the terms. Our son got a pay-as-you-go phone in England, because all calls on his US World phone would be billed as roaming. Most of his calls were to others in England. We used skype for transatlantic conversations. He could have used his phone to call home if he had needed to; it just would have cost more.</p>
<p>Remind him to call his credit card provider to tell them that he will be out of the country. I forgot to do that before my last trip (just to Canada) and my card was rejected until I called.</p>
<p>Yes he should bring a jacket and tie. You never know when you might need it. Skype worked well when our son was in Jordan this summer. He had a local cell phone he got there for local calling.</p>
<p>At least two electric plug adapters. With the number of electronics that now require constant charging, one may not be enough!!!</p>
<p>H and S are there right now! Take an I-Touch for internet access whereever you travel and get T-mobile.</p>
<p>In Europe the smart chip is much more widely used than the mag stripe. Most European cc’s have both. My d went to a grad school interview in the Netherlands this spring, and the lack of a chip caused her a good deal of inconvenience. She’s going to Zurich for grad school, and she can’t open an account there until she gets her residency permit, so we applied for the JP Morgan cc and got two, one for my h and one for her. We figured that this would give her a back-up card to use when she first gets there and in case of emergency, and it would give us a card with a chip for when we go to visit her. The card also offers some other benefits, including a flexible mileage reward plan and no fees on foreign transactions. It costs $95/year but they waive the fee for the first year. We figure that by the time we have to start paying for the card there will be lots of other cards available, including through our bank.</p>
<p>I don’t know about Germany, but in Switzerland there are very generous banking terms for students. Free checking, enhanced interest rate for savings, free debit and credit card. I’m recommending to my d that she put as much money into chf as she thinks she’ll need for the first year. That way she won’t be at the mercy of exchange rate fluctuation. Sort of like buying currency futures. Of course if she’s inherited our impeccable sense of timing she’ll transfer the funds when the chf is at its peak.</p>
<p>About phones - My d is going to get a Swiss phone when she gets there. Don’t know if she’ll sign up for a plan or go with pay as you go. Using a US plan in Europe is prohibitively expensive. We’ll encourage her to get a smart phone so she has internet access and GPS.</p>
<p>When DS did his term abroad, he was told to bring enough prescription medication for the WHOLE term (we were able to get a RX refill override from our insurance to get him a 6 month supply of what he needed). He was NOT able to fill prescriptions where he was.</p>
<p>Adapters…very important. </p>
<p>Check with your bank for ATM usage in the country. Our son had B of A, and there was some bank in London where he could use his ATM card with no fee. A HUGE plus…and be sure to let your bank and credit card holders know the kid will be abroad or they will freeze the account.</p>
<p>Phones…get your cell phone in the country where he will be studying. Most countries outside the US have “go phone” types of phones you can easily get…and then you just recharge them with minutes as needed.</p>
<p>daughter is finishing a summer study stint in France today, she is on the way home.</p>
<p>I urge you to get a world cell phone which will take sim chips. you can buy one cheaply here used for $10-15 on ebay. over here we call it “unlocked” GSM phone. In Europe any go phone is going to cost you three times more. When he gets there, goto any cell phone place to buy a sim card and pay as you go for around 15 euro. make sure the phone you are buying will support the frequency both in europe and US as they have different standars. so, when he returns, he can also use it in the USA.</p>
<p>You can get electrical converters/adapter kits on ebay cheaply, but in the kit, there is only one of each kind, so bring a power strip or two, our plug configuration is different from Europe.</p>
<p>Laptop chargers should take either 110v or 220v, however, make sure the one you brought is good, my daughter had to buy one there as the one she brought broke. not only her computer is out of commission for 10 days but also costs a lot in europe to buy one.</p>
<p>Since the weak dollar and high inflation, those stuff in Europe became very expensive. I could get a power strip here at “big lot” for $3 whereas in Europe costs 15 eruo. </p>
<p>You can follow my thread entitled “why so expensive in Switzerland?” here in the cafe.</p>
<p>^^^I am glad that worked. Our pretty darn tech savvy son bought an 'unlocked phone" off ebay and got to Europe to discover that it did not work. Hoping that this is an exception.</p>
<p>My son traveled to the UK last summer for an athletic competition. We were advised to bring a large supply of antibiotic ointment, such as Neosporin as the antibiotic ointments were not available OTC in the UK.</p>
<p>also, make sure the flights to and from is landing or taking off at the time when public transportation is available. DD had to take a private car service in 4 am to the airport for a 7 or 8am flight, cost-180 euro…</p>
<p>We had to get a hotel with free airport schuttle for a next day flight in Geneva for about $500US. We were unlucky that day, since all cheaper hotels have been booked.</p>
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<p>small but important point: ‘Converters’ convert the voltage out of the plug and are expensive. We have never needed this in Europe although I bought one unknowingly. ‘Adapter’ just changes the configuration of the plug in so that it fits in the socket. These are much cheaper that ‘converters’ and should be all he needs.</p>
<p>Beil1959- My daughter is going to school in Germany for her degree, and will be starting her 2nd year in a few weeks. A few things she found:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Over the counter medicine doesn’t really exist. She says the only things the sell at the drug store without a perscription are lip balm, sugar free lozenges, condoms, and saline. Its also not possible to ship OTC medicines into Germany, so perhaps a bottle of robitussin, some airborne, et al is advisabe.</p></li>
<li><p>She said they really don’t do cheap school supplies such at notebooks, pens, pencils, etc. so if there is room he might want to grab some things from staples.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>3.Bring 6 or 8 passport photos for things like rail passes, permits, visas and the like.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I don’t know how they handle health insurance for the study abroad kids, but it is mandatory for all students to have some sort of insurance. My daughter has hers through TK (their forms are in english). It costs about 800 euros/yr. </p></li>
<li><p>He’ll probably find it a lot easier to open a bank account if he’s there a whole year. Things like the health insurance and any other standing charges are normally done by an automated draft from a german bank account (TK doesn’t take a credit card). Where will he be studying? Deutsche Bank has branches all over Germany but sometimes the more local banks have offices that are closer to campus. It all depends.</p></li>
<li><p>Depending on where he will be, there is likely to be an IKEA close by so he could get things like sheets, other necessities and the like there.</p></li>
<li><p>A few little American Flags, something from his home state, etc for the invariable “themed parties”. </p></li>
<li><p>A rain jacket (depending on where he will be, its going to be wet).</p></li>
<li><p>I’d agree about a sports jacket and dress shoes. Its much more likely these will be needed in Europe than it would be in the US. Certain things such as convocation, dinners, or even presentations would mandate a more formal dress sense. Depending on his size, he might be able to borrow the jacket but def. take along a pair of shoes. Perhaps something like Rockports or other similar shoes that could be either dressy or casual.</p></li>
<li><p>Scan and email copies of his passport, and once he’s there is ameldung/residency permit. It’s a lot easier to replace these with the copies.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you have any specific questions just let me know.</p>