What to pack for Warwick: part two
This article is part two of a series on what to pack to go to university. If you would like to know clothes to pack and luggage tips, take a look here!
Kitchen essentials
When it comes to food and kitchen-related things, my top tip is not to take crockery with you. It would take a lot of space in your suitcase and it’s very possible that it could break, given the lovely handling suitcases get at airports. Coventry is home to its own IKEA, where you can get 3 pots for £8 and there are lots of very affordable deals in various shops for cutlery, mugs, and plates- just make sure you get very distinctive ones if you don’t want to end up with one single spoon by the end of term 1. If you’re worried you won’t have time to go shopping for the first few days, you can take a few sets of paper plates and plastic cutlery with you (but please recycle them).
Similarly, please don’t bring any appliances with you. Unless you come from a Commonwealth country, you’ll have to use an adaptor and, quite frankly, you won’t really need them. Most things you need are provided in your halls and will most probably be provided in your 2ndand 3rdyear houses. From my own experience, I know the blender my mother made me take with me (under the impression that the UK is some weird land of no blenders) has been more of an obstacle than a tool.
Food
Local food can remind you of home and make you feel a little better on days when you feel homesick. However, I would advise against taking (a lot of) it, as food is usually pretty heavy. Of course, if you’re sure it will be good for your mental health, go for it, but make sure you take things that won’t expire in your first fortnight at university. You can always find shops selling these products in Birmingham or London- and even the supermarket, if you’re willing to compromise the quality.
Bedding
Don’t take a duvet or pillow with you, both will be provided and you can always get them for really cheap at Wilko’s in Cannon Park. Bedsheets is a different story; as you may know the UK has its own unique single bed sizes. You can take your European-size bedsheets, but they will be somewhat large. If you don’t, you can find many good deals if you don’t want to use the bedsheets provided by your halls. In terms of towels, make sure you pack them in a vacuum storage bag so that they don’t take up too much space, if you decide to bring some with you!
School notes and books
Nope. Just nope. Even if you’ve studied your course before, you’ll see that university is really different to school. You’ll look at things from different angles and probably study the item much deeper. Even if you need something you had in those notes, you can find it on the internet anyway, and you can always ask your family to send you some pictures if it’s something more specialised. When it comes to books, I would recommend only bringing a few that you love going back to- there’s no point in bringing all 7 Harry Potter books if you’re not going to look at them. And don’t make the mistake of taking a dictionary, it’s just unnecessary weight and chances are you’ll never use it when you can just google what you’re looking for.
Decorations
Stripping your room at home to take everything to your uni room is probably superfluous. While applying for halls you probably realised you won’t have much space, so you wouldn’t want decorations cramming all the space. However, little things that remind you of home can really make your new room into a home. Pictures and small items of sentimental value can do the trick, just remember that you’re not allowed to make any holes in your walls.
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