Living Abroad

Former Member

I'm moving to Vienna in September for 5 months as part of my course (then to Bordeaux for 5 months again), and I'll be living in halls of residence so its not so much accomodation I'm worrying about but all the other bits and pieces. How am I gonna take my duvet out there? What do I do about mobile phones? General questions really, so I was wondering who has lived abroad, experiences of this and such information. Ta

Former Member

For a duvet, buy one out there. Thats what I did. Bought a cheapie & am probs gonna donate it to charity when I leave.

Cell phones - see if yours is supposed to be able to work out there, though what they tell you in the store isnt always what happens (don't ask :grump:) if yours can get reception out there, take it with you & get a pay-as-you-go sim card. if it doesn't, buy a cheapie out there & get pay-as-you-go (contracts are evil :mad:) if you get a cheapie, you should be able to find somewhere to donate it to charity at the end of the year.

camera: take a good one! & take opportunities to see & travel as much as you can esp. in the beginning of the year (less schoolwork).

homesickness: might happen, might not. either way, you'll be ok. i wasn't homesick, but i know other people who were quite badly homesick, but they made friends, settled down & were fine after a while.

get skype or another online free telephone (& get your family/friends to get it) so you can call people for free.

um... cant think of any other issues, but if you have any more questions about living abroad, just give us a shout. I've never been to Vienna or Bordeaux, but have done the living-abroad-at-university thing, so can hopefully help you out there.

otherwise, have an awesome time, oh, & be aware that you might enjoy yourself so much that you don't want to go home at the end of it! :thumb:

Former Member

My friend moved to Vienna about a year and a half ago from Iceland to study in a uni called Webster, I'm sure she'd be willing to answer some questions for you if you want.

My friend loves Vienna, she went there on a three month trip one summer and as a result decided to move there after we graduated from College.

Main thing is to enjoy the experience!

Former Member

Put your duvet in one of those vacuum bag things and suck all the air out with a hairdryer then put it in the bottom of your suitcase!