Try as you might:

You will never pack everything you need.

This brings me to my first regret: bringing two suitcases.  I do not however regret bringing my own bedding, that was smart.  However, I should have packed 1 dressy dress, 1 sundress, a few T-shirts, a few pairs of jeans, and like 3 pairs of shoes.  Why did I bring WAY more than this?

"England is SOOOOO expensive!!!" they told me.  They, were wrong.  Although the pound(£) is worth much more than the US Dollar($), almost double actually, things in Leeds are very cheap.

Let me give you an example today we went to Primark (REMEMBER THIS NAME), which is a department store downtown, and my flatmate bought a bra & underwear set for £2.50.  £2.50!! That's approximately $3.89.  Where in the US can you find that?! Or I bought 7 pairs of socks (I forgot I was here during the winter) for £2.  This place even beats WalMart and there's no controversy about it. I saw cute dresses for £5, it's like forever 21, but WAY bigger and more variety.

Honestly, pack 1 suitcase- you'll thank me later.

Primark isn't the only place like this, but it is the biggest one you'll hear about. If I would have known this I would have saved the extra money I paid for the second bag & bought some stuff here.  In addition to this the entire time you are here you can NOT think of £1 as $2.  You will drive yourself insane and never buy anything you need to think. I have X-amount of £, what is a good budget.  You will figure out your own budget within the first week.

And in case you're bad at self-budgeting *shyly raises hand* they have a great office (Specifically for Internationals!) that will help you figure out a budget with you.  They are the "Money Assistants" and they can be found in the study abroad office.

In addition to clothes being cheap as far as produce goes the Leeds Market is the best, local (most organic) produce for impossible prices you would never see at home.  I came home with almost 4lbs (2Kg) worth of produce for £2.  You can also bargain with the little shop keepers as well. ;)

If you're not into the market scene or don't care if your produce is local you can also check out Morrison's.  It's a huge grocery store and my oh my is it cheap.  For an entire weeks worth of meals I've probably spent around £35 and that's including Wine to go with cheese.

I currently live in St. Marks Residences, they are supposed tearing it down in Feb. but to give you can idea of what laundry costs:

£3 for 1 wash cycle (yikes!)
£0.00 for tumble dry (yay!)

Basically, laundry is pretty compare to Juniata.

So if you are incredibly worried about how much (or how little, for that matter) money you have, don't sweat.  Leeds Uni. has people here to help.  When budgeting also remember your first week you will spend more money than you would any other week because you will need to buy pots, pans, soap, toilet paper, dish towels, etc. all that stuff your parents would normally have for you.

 My best recommendations:

1. Go in on cookware with flatmates (splitting the cost 5-6 ways = Super Cheap!)

2. You do NOT need more than 1 set of dishes (I have 1 mug, 1 bowl, 1 plate, 1 fork, 1 spoon, & 1 knife.  I have made tumbler glasses out of glass nutella jars)

3. Keep a running list (You will forget that thing you so desperately needed)

4. Go in on food with your flatmates (I mean is it really necessary to have more than 1 salt?)

5. Have a communal jar where every week every person in your flat puts in £1 so all of you are contributing to toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc.

6. Check Pound Stores FIRST! (In the St. John Centre & Merrion Centre downtown) Here are some of the names I remember of them: PoundLand (like DollarTree), Pound Stretcher, and UK Discounts.

You'll pick up on money saving things really quick, it's just like Juniata- all college students are poor, whether you live in Europe or not.

Let Us Begin At The Beginning

First, everyone was right- this is THE LONGEST DAY of my ENTIRE life.

At 9am I woke up, so I could complete packing my carry on and have plenty of time to see people before I left.  While the packing of my carry on went very smoothly, meeting up with people didn’t quite happen.  The hours in the day either flew by or felt like they were taking forever to pass. 

Some Guidelines for Packing:

Take clothes for colder weather while it was 85º when I got to the airport, it was 66º when I landed in London. 

You do not need every sentimental item ever- a few will be good enough

I took 1 of every category of shoe: sneaker, flat, high-heel, flip-flop, snow boots, rain boots, etc. That way I’m set, and I know I will probably use at least 1 pair of each anyway.

Buy a cheap bathroom scale and weigh your luggage, seriously this did wonders.  I found out I was a few pounds over and was able to adjust everything before getting to the airport.  An estimation is better than none.  (One of mine ended up being lighter than 50lbs & the other right at 50lbs).

MEASURE YOUR CARRY ON (can you tell by the fact it’s in all CAPS I didn’t do it?)

I went to drop my baggage the guy behind the counter suggested to see if my little carry on suitcase fit in the model, it didn’t.  But he let me check it for free! =) However, because I had to do this I didn’t have my books, ipod, or camera the entire flight. =( boo…

The flight went very smoothly from there on out, I even met a Brit who was doing business in DC and he lives right out side London.  He was a great plane buddy. =)

For dinner they had pasta or chicken curry, unfortunately by the time they got to me they only had curry. =/ It wasn’t bad I just don’t like curry.  It also came with salad, dinner roll, and a really delicious slice of Raspberry Cheesecake. nom, nom.

They had a pretty decent selection of entertainment including Movies, TV, & Radio.  I watch Something Borrowed (nice mellow chick-flick to zone out on) and then I tried to sleep….

Everyone, told me to sleep on the plane so that way my day wouldn’t feel so long, but guess what I can’t sleep on planes, ta-dah! I literally woke myself several times through the night it was ridiculous. I shouldn't complain too much however since I met some international students who took 18 hours worth of plane riding to get here. Yikes!! 

After I landed I spent about an hour in line going through customs...no fun.  The customs people aren't super nice, but they let you into the country so whatever.  Make sure to have all of your letters from both your home University and your UK University- they'll want to see them. 

Do not, I repeat DO NOT call anyone from the airport pay phone, it will cost you a fortune.  Your best bet is to wait until you find a place with free WiFi and call from Google Voice for 1¢/ min. 

In addition to this do not, DO NOT attempt to take the train if you have more than one piece of luggage. Trust me.  Elevators are not required in all London train stations - it will be bad.  I opted to take the Coach it was a 4 hour bus ride, but it was totally worth it.  Plus, you can sleep & see some of the beautiful countryside of England.  

Finally around 7:30pm I made it to Leeds I took a taxi for £6.00 to my University Accommodations.  I could have walked, but I was so tired it was worth the £6. To make everyone's life easier- pay your accommodation deposit online BEFORE you get to Leeds, why I didn't do this escapes me, but trust me it makes you & the site accommodation's people's lives easier. 

Around 8pm I was in my flat unpacking a bit.  I was welcomed with a wonderful little welcome care package with carmex lip balm, snacks, gum, and a campus map (YAY!).  I met one of my flatmates- who is from Australia.  She came with a few people from her home university to grab a bit to eat.  I wasn't very hungry so I just had some rice.  BAD IDEA. 

It is 8pm in Leeds, that means it's 3pm on the East Coast.  If you don't eat when you're supposed to you will wake up at 11pm (Leeds Time, 6pm EST) with hunger pains because your body thinks it's dinner time.  So, I had a little snack from my care box and luckily fell asleep somewhere around 2am (stupid jet lag).  

Highlights: 

Bus not Train

Weigh Luggage

Measure Carry On

Eat on Time 

Don't make call in Airport

Expect things to not go as planned

Sorry, I don't have any pictures from the first day- it's because my camera got stowed away!