11.7.07

More preparations

Hey all,

Here I am, 8 days from the beginning of my year in Germany. There's still a lot left to do before I go, but I just thought I'd drop a quick update about how everything is going.

I opened a student account with Bank of America (no fees, not too many restrictions) and they have this thing called the Global ATM Alliance which will basically allow me to withdraw Euros in Germany at any Deutsche Bank with no ATM fee and no conversion fee. They've got the same deal in the UK, France, China, Mexico, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand with various banks, all in the local currency. So that's pretty convenient for traveling.

I also ordered 200 Euros to have before I leave. The exchange rate is absolutely killing me right now.

In the next several days I've got to figure out what all I am taking in two bags and a backpack for a whole year. And I'll need extra room for all the stuff I get while I'm over there. I heard that a lot of people give away/sell off their American clothes right before they come back to make room.

Any advice or questions? Leave a comment or email me! Until next time...

2 comments:

Winn said...

Puj, glad I found this blog. Be sure to have fun, and maybe do some soul-searching?

And if there's anything I've learned from Eurotrip, it's that the exchange rate in Eastern Europe is, to the contrary, very much in your favor. (Actually not sure of the validity of that but it was a good movie.)

Unknown said...

Dude, you're gonna have so much fun. If there's one thing I learned about money in Germany, it's that you have to make sure to hold onto and use all your coins. Because with all those one and two euro coins, change starts to add up to a lot of money really fast.

And I learned in Montreal that alcohol starts to get really expensive really quickly. So lay off the Jägermeister if you can resist it. But what you lose in alcohol you can make up in ice cream. The gelatto is amazing and dirt cheap.