It is a good idea to carry your recent medical examination certificates. This is important especially if you have any prior medical condition. Visit your dentist, eye doctor, and your physician and perform a complete checkup if possible.

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Shopping

Clothing

Shoes

Electrical

Utensils

Masala

Stationary

Toiletries

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• Carry the medicines along with the doctor's subscription. This may be required during airport security checkup.
• Carry few 1 or 2 euro coins for the trolleys at the airport.Ready to eat stuff like maggie, puliogare powder etc. will be of great help during initial few days.
• Use name stickers on homemade masala powders. This will help for airport security checkup.
• In general, you are not allowed to carry any food items or water bottle with you in the cabin bag. So put it all in the check-in bags.
• Biometric passport size photos are expensive in Germany. Bring few additional copies from India.
• Your living place is likely to have only yellow lights. If you prefer white light, you can bring 25W CFL bulbs.
• Take enough masalas to support yourself for at least 6 months. Depending on your city, you may or may not have an Indian store nearby. Even if you do, masalas are expensive.
• If you are interested in sports, you can carry sportswear, cricket bat etc.
• If you have a medical condition, do not forget to take specific medicines with you. Also, consult your physician about the alternate medicine which you can purchase in Germany.
• If you wear spectacles, bring an additional pair. This is again expensive in Germany.

One of the most common mistakes at this stage is overspending on your shopping. It happens with all of us. You buy things which are unnecessary and not use them the whole time you are in Germany.Remember, you will save a lot of money and space for important stuff if you could shop smartly.

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Travel Bags

There are 3 things you should be looking in your travel bags,

• Good quality : The last thing you want to see is your bag break down during your journey.
• Light weight : So that you can carry more useful stuff.
• Dimensions: Make sure that the dimensions match with the prescription of the airlines.

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The Final Packing

Pack and weigh your bags to make sure that they do not exceed the weight limit. Leave an identity mark on each bag.

Lastly, make sure that all your valuables, important documents, your passport, and your air-ticket are kept in your hand luggage. Additionally, take care of the below points.

• Do have your haircut done before you leave. It is quite expensive in Germany 😉
• Leave out a copy of all your original documents at home.
• Write down or keep a copy of important phone numbers (including your senior's/university phone no.) and the directions to your accommodation.
• Inform your university's International Student's Office about your date and time of arrival (few days in advance). Ask for the availability of the airport pickup service.