What I wish I had got from home!!!

Hey,

was just wondering if I ought to tell you all about how bad my journey was when I was getting here.... but it was just the weather and my luck I guess! So I'm going to desist putting up stuff thats absolutely useless to you! I am going to put down a few things here that I wish I had done before leaving. Let me begin with a description of my packing status (which is just what you should not do!!!)

I began packing my bags 3 days before my date of departure.... sorry... let me rephrase that - I went out to buy my bags at that time, and then I began actual packing! I did buy a few clothes, woolens and so on before that, but I wasn't adequately prepared with other very useful stuff. My mom got me a lot of dals and tea and so on... a lot of cookbooks... many utensils and cutlery. In fact there was so much of stuff for cooking that I must have looked like I was going to major in Culinary Studies or something! Well, to make a really long and hectic story short I had too much to carry here!

Heres what I wish I had done:
i) Arranged with the people who were to be my room-mates (atleast the one's I had arranged to stay with) to make sure that we wouldn't have too many utensils of the same type. We have 4 pressure cookers at my place here... and we hardly use even one!
ii) Packed more books! Its been my experience that I require quite a few of those basic math books. I had to ask my parents to courier them over.... at a heavy price! Books are much more expensive here than utensils! A microwave is about $20, while a book will usually cost $40-$100.
iii) More undergarments and socks! The laundromats have plenty of space in them, while you will find that the week dosen't have enough time to warrant too many trips to the laundry! So get as much as you can fit!
iv) When packing prepare a list which contains contents of each bag. This will be very useful, since it becomes very difficult to find stuff when you first get here! Moreover, its easier to know if something has been missed when you have it on the list. Then put the list in your cabin baggage.... (You don't want to carry another paper which says where to find the item list!)
v)Don't exceed the maximum weight limit by too large an amount. The Indian Carrier "Air India" is by far the most lenient. However 15Kgs extra can really get the attendants worked up! They may make you reduce your weight or pay heavily for excess baggage.... so be aware of that.... You don't want to unpack stuff in a hurry and forget something important at the airport.

There is a lot more to write about... Just - I don't have the time right now. I'll get back and improve upon this later.

Just one more thing.... Life is tough here! Its not going to be a bed of roses.... but the professors are so good... I think its worth the pains!!!