Disagree about opening a local bank account- with online banking and all the instant money transfer options it’s really not necessary.
Agree completely with the ‘do you really need that?’ advice. Even my complete minimalist collegekid found that she took way more ‘stuff’ than she needed- as did my collegekid who went to university in a different country with just what the two of us could manage in checked luggage! . There is a tendency to try and think of every possible need, and most of them either don’t come up, or can be improvised- and if not, there is always local shops & Amazon.