Room to Write
25 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in Daily Encounters, Inspiration Tags: advice, Stephen King
My desk was in the darkest corner of my bedroom. It hadn’t bothered me in a year and a half because I was living away from home while I studied abroad in Wales and worked as an RA at UMBC. Since coming back home, I’ve avoided my desk because of the looming towers of binders and books, and that it’s practically draped in gloom.
Today I moved the furniture around. The new energy flow motivates me to sit in my chair, the same chair I’ve leaned back in since fifth grade, and write. Now in the opposite corner, my desk is bathed in light that floods in from the wide windows, which face north. This is abundantly convenient because whether it’s sunrise, midday, or sunset, there is always sunlight streaming in when the curtains are pulled apart.
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll begin a routine of writing daily for half an hour and reading for at least an hour. I don’t have professors to assign me homework anymore, so I have to develop the self-discipline to be more than just an English major, but a writer.
This summer I began reading Stephen King’s book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, and here’s what he has to say about having the perfect workspace:
For years I dreamed of having the sort of massive oak desk slab that would dominate a room–no more child’s desk in a trailer laundry-closet, no more cramped kneehole in a rented house. In 1981 I got the one I wanted and placed it in the middle of a spacious, skylighted study… For six years I sat behind that desk either drunk or wrecked out of my mind, like a ship’s captain in charge of a voyage to nowhere.
A year or two after I sobered up, I got rid of that monstrosity and put in a living-room suite where it had been… I got another desk–it’s handmade, beautiful, and half the size of the T. rex desk. I put it at the far west end of the office, in a corner under the eave… and now I’m going to tell you as much as I can about [writing]…
It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down to write, remind yourself why it isn’t in the middle of the room. Life isn’t a support system for art. It’s the other way around.
Study Abroad Packing
16 Feb 2010 2 Comments
in Study Abroad Tags: advice, friends
I’ve put together my own Tips on Packing for Study Abroad. I know it will be helpful for anyone who plans to spend a semester abroad in the future.
A Special Thanks to Nikki, Maria, Tim, Stephanie, Ben, and Jason for helping me prepare for my trip! =)
General Tips
- Practice packing two weeks in advance. You will end up taking only 1/4 of what you originally intended to pack. Packing in advance will show you how much you can realistically take and what you still need to gather.
- Don’t try to take more than two suitcases and a backpack. You will have to lug everything to your destination, with the aide of your two arms and your back. Usually, one plane ride won’t get you to your university. A connect flight, trains, buses, or taxis may be required. Not only will you be incredibly sore by the end of the travel, but you will desperately wish you didn’t own so much stuff.
- Check your airline’s luggage allowance/fees and weigh your bags before you go to the airport.
- If it’s cheaper to buy it before you go, do that. If it’s cheaper to buy it overseas, save the suitcase space for other things.
- If you can borrow it from someone while studying abroad, save the money and ask them.
- Say goodbye to everyone and don’t leave any loose ends.
A Comprehensive List
- Reusable water bottle
- Camera, memory card, battery charger, any necessary wires
- Big, reusable canvas bag for grocery shopping (In Wales, some shops require you to pay for plastic bags. Depending on how far away you live from the stores, carrying full plastic bags that can rip is problematic anyway.)
- First aid kit, cortisone cream
- Flashlight (You may or may not need one, depending on where you’re studying. If you’re going to a place like Egypt where the power goes out periodically, take one.)
- Outlet converters
- Ziplock bags
- Small traveling pouch that can hold your passport and some money and will stay on you at all times
- Traveling alarm clock
- Collapsable bag/basket to carry laundry in
- Pillow (You may not need this if you’re the type of person who can sleep on anything. I’m not and had to buy one when I got here because I consistently woke up with headaches when I used the university pillow.)
- Blanket that will fit in your suitcase
- Over the counter medicine: Dayquil, Nyquil, cough drops, etc. (It sucks being sick in another country. So be prepared to take care of yourself and get through it as smoothly as possible.)
- Vitamins
- Allergy medicine (You don’t know how your body may react to the new environment and climate, so be prepared for that as well.)
- Glasses and case, sufficient supply of contact lenses and solution
- Office supplies: scissors, tape, stapler, glue, reusable adhesive for decorating dorm walls, sticky notes, post-it tabs, thumbtacks, alligator clips, paper clips
- Recipes, favorite seasonings
- Laptop, charger
- Mp3 player and earphones
- Slippers to wear in the dorms/bathroom/kitchen
- Umbrella
- 1 travel guide (But they can be expensive. You may not really need one because there are pamphlets and maps for tourists everywhere you go, and the host university might even give you a travel guide.)
- Journal!!!
Hygiene
- Pocket-size hand sanitizer
- Travel-size shampoo, conditioner, and body wash
- Lint roller
- Perfume/cologne
- Two towels
- Face wash
- Acne cream
- Toothpaste and toothbrush
- Hair products
Appropriate Clothing
- Find out what the weather is like and bring what’s necessary.
- Find out what the culture is like to be prepared. You don’t want to be walking around in a mini skirt in a country that dresses conservatively.
- To avoid over-packing clothes, choose pieces that can be layered to create multiple outfits.
- The style will be different wherever you go and you’ll want to go shopping. Only pack your ultimate favorite pieces, and leave behind everything else.
- Bring plenty of underwear and socks.
- Take shoes that you will wear consistently, or know you will need for the everyday, traveling, nightlife, and weather.
Girls
- Whatever gets you through your time of the month
- Blowdryers and hair-straighteners have to be international and require a certain voltage to work overseas.
- Make up and make up remover
- Nail polish and nail polish remover
- Favorite chapstick and lotion (They don’t have Burt’s Bees in Wales!)
- Small purse
- Tote bag or something similar
- A few pieces of jewelry you will wear consistently and a box to keep them safe
Treatments for Homesickness
- 1 or 2 books, bookmark
- Cards from family and friends
- Pictures!!!
- Small memorabilia
- Comfort food and snacks
- Things you enjoy listening to
- Make a list of everyone’s addresses so that you can send letters, postcards, or souvenirs/gifts
What You Can Buy When You Get There
- Closet hangers
- Cooking supplies and utensils
- Toiletries
- Tupperware
- Clorox/Cleansing wipes
- Normal-size bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash
- School supplies (The size of paper and the way they hole-punch it might be different. For example, both white paper and loose-leaf paper are about an inch longer in Wales. I can’t use the folder that I brought from home. I had to buy a binder here that fits their paper. I also had to buy a unique hole-puncher.)
Staying in Touch
- Skype
- MagicJack (You need to take an RJ-11 cable, or a standard telephone wire, with you because the outlets are different in other countries)
- ooVoo (You can have group video chats)
- Google Talk (I hear it is more reliable than Skype and doesn’t crash as often)
- Buy a pay-as-you-go phone to use locally in your host country
Money
- Call your credit card companies and let them know you’re going abroad so they don’t freeze your cards for suspicious activity when you use them
- Use more than one source of money: cash, at least 2 different cards, traveler’s cheques
- I recommend getting a http://www.travelex.com/us/ Travelex Card. It carries the local currency on the card, it’s free to add money onto it, and it’s free to withdraw from an ATM. (The ATM itself will usually have it’s own service charge though.) You can keep track of your activity online, but you can only add money over the phone. (My parents do it for me from inside the US.)
- Compare the exchange rates at different banks, AAA, the airport, etc and use the cheapest service. It’s a good idea to have local currency on you when you land.
Important Documents
- Copies of your passport
- 6 passport photos
- Copy of your eye prescription (glasses and contact lenses)
- Copy of your medical records
- Copy of your flight details
- Contact information for your home and host university’s study abroad offices
- Carry your acceptance letter to show it and get through customs
It’s a good idea to leave copies of all this information with your parents as well.
Links
Real Simple magazine has some Smart Travel Tips, which helped me pack.
~Salma
