I’ve been in Germany for a week so far, and I have been having the best time of my life. This is my first time studying abroad and my first time being in another country. It’s been a very exciting experience, but I have been learning a lot about international travel. For this blog post, I wanted to share some tips for people who are considering studying abroad or will be studying abroad soon.

Tip 1: Prepare and pack… but always be prepared for the unexpected

The night before my first ever international flight, I was all packed and ready to go. Then I got an email from Lufthansa saying the flight was going to be pretty full and they wanted people to check carry-on luggage to free up space. This led to my mom and I trying to find something that would be small enough to fit in the personal item category, yet still hold the things I absolutely needed. Once repacking, I was ready to go, with everything I needed to travel, and I could just buy the missing items in Germany.

Here are the things I packed and what I would recommend packing if you have limited space in a carry on or personal item:

• Passport/wallet/boarding pass/phone (for the airport). What I did was keep this on my body in my pockets so I always had it on me. Have multiple different ways to get to your boarding pass. For Lufthansa, I had a printed boarding pass, one in the app, one in my email, and one saved to my Google wallet.
• Power bank
• Laptop if your program needs it
• Disinfectant wipes/hand sanitizer
• Medicine (Either over-the-counter medicine that isn’t available in your country or prescription medication you need. Double check laws about medication for your host country.)
• Gum/plane earplugs
• Chargers/travel adapter
• Travel pillow
• Change of clothes
• Deodorant

My flight was St. Louis to Frankfurt, and then Frankfurt to Berlin. My layover in Frankfurt was an hour, which I thought was just enough time to walk through the airport, get through border control, and then get to the gate for my connecting flight. Unfortunately, the EU just started using a new Entry-Exit System, which led to long lines in the airport that would move very slowly. I spent most of time in my planned layover waiting in line. Once informed by an employee that there was a shorter line, I ran over there, but I had already missed my connecting flight. My mom had thought to buy travel insurance, so once I was through border control, I headed to the service center to get rebooked onto a flight or train that would take me to Berlin.

Thankfully, Lufthansa was awesome, and they rebooked me onto a flight that left at 3:30 p.m. for Berlin. I did have to spend several hours in the Frankfurt airport, which was not a lot of fun because it is massive, busy and I had gotten bored by three hours into the layover. But I still made it to Berlin on the same day. A lot of people in my group had flight delays due to bad weather back in the U.S., so we came in staggered arrivals.

Just being calm and realizing I would get to Berlin, somehow, helped me a lot when I was going through the purgatory that is Frankfurt airport. Especially in Germany, there’s many mass transit systems that exist, and Europe has a lot of international airports.

Tip 2: Be familiar with transportation

Different countries have different forms of transportation. In Germany, I have taken planes, taxis, subways, buses and various kinds of trains. Most people use public transport to get to where they need to go. (I have heard people will haul IKEA furniture on the subway, and one of the subway ads I saw was a furniture delivery service for people who couldn’t fit their purchases in the subway.)

I have mostly been on the subway in Berlin, also known as the U-Bahn or Untergrundbahn. However, it’s not always underground, partly due to engineering challenges in Berlin. The city is built on a swamp, so it’s hard to dig underground without having to pump out a lot of water. The Museumsinsel station is located right near the River Spree, and its recent opening was marked by construction delays.

Another way to get around the whole city is the S-Bahn or Stadtbahn. It’s a series of faster trains that have North-South and West-East routes, as well as a big train that surrounds the city. They’re great for getting all the way around the city, and some of the routes stretch into neighboring towns. When I went out to Oranienburg to visit the site of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, I took the S-Bahn for 45 minutes to get there and to get back. Most S-Bahn lines are above ground, but some of the larger stations have lines running underground.

According to my Berlin tour guide, Katharina, real Berliners take the bus. However, the bus lines aren’t in a nice paper map like they are for the U-Bahn and S-Bahn. There are timetables and route information available at the bus stops, but the buses are pretty quick and let you sightsee without having to walk around a lot.

The trains are super nice. I’m writing this part of the post while taking a type of train called the ICE to Leipzig. It goes over 100 miles per hour to connect major cities in Germany. It is super smooth  and the seats are nice and comfortable. A lot of people use the ICE to travel, so they have luggage racks built into the train.

In Leipzig, there are mostly streetcars, which follow a set track on the street. It’s a lot of fun and the hostel is right next to a streetcar stop, so I can go pretty much anywhere in the city and get there fast.

The different kinds of transport have been super interesting to see, and I think it has helped me understand cultural differences between Germany and the U.S., and it has been a lot of fun. I took a U-Bahn in Berlin on a longer route so I could see more stations.

Tip 3: Try different kinds of local food

Berlin and Leipzig are big cities with a lot of different cuisines. In addition to regular German food, there are so many different types of food: Turkish, Vietnamese, Greek, Italian.

Even the street food is exciting. You could go out and get a sausage and a roll, or you could enjoy currywurst (sausage with curry ketchup) or döner (shaved shawarma with vegetables and sauce on bread). I absolutely love both dishes. Street food actually is significantly cheaper than a sit-down restaurant. Sometimes, it’s cheaper than the price of a drink. If there’s a lot of Germans at a street food place, it’s probably a good place.

The food in Germany is different than in the U.S., and if you’re in a place with lots of different cuisines, you should explore all those cuisines. Even if there’s one main cuisine in a place, it’s often going to be a lot better than what you might find in your local area in the U.S.

So, try the food and see what you think. You might even be like me and fall in love with döner. I am going to miss it when I return to the U.S.

Tip 4: Have fun!!!

Studying abroad is supposed to be fun. Even if you’re learning or doing service, you should still take some time to enjoy yourself. Going out and doing things during your free time is always a great idea. One of the things I had to do on my program was make Instagram posts about things I did that weren’t on the syllabus. I got to do a lot of amazing things, like go out to Potsdam and see Schloss Sanssouci, as well as go to Halle and see the Moritzburg art museum, which is located in a literal castle. I have been having the best time of my life in Germany. The most important part is to have fun. Even if you have a hard time getting there, it’s going to be an amazing time on the program, and you should cherish every moment.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: World History on the German Stage