Business Promotion and Marketing Services
Social Media Marketing
Translation and Editing Services
Video and Media Production
EDUCARE's Study Abroad Advice
Make a Better First Impression
What to Bring on Your Overseas Adventure!
How to Save Money Abroad
Hints for Successful Study Abroad
Are You an International Person? See our checklist!
Improve Your TOEFL Score with Educare's Advice
Educare TOEIC Strategy Guide
Hints for Improving Your English!
Secret English
Education Services
Web Design
Asia is Outside My Window

WHAT TO BRING ON YOUR STUDY ABROAD ADVENTURE Credit Card: When you go abroad, you donft need to bring a lot of cash with you. Cash can get lost or stolen easily. Carry only a little of it. For more expensive things, use a credit card. Credit cards are safe and easy. If you lose it, you can call the credit card company, cancel the card, and get it replaced. If you lose cash, you canft cancel it or replace it. Itfs gone forever. Also, many credit cards give you insurance on the things you buy. This means that if your suitcase gets lost on the airplane and everything you bought disappears, the credit card company can make sure that you get your money back! Wow! Check with your credit card company about this. The best credit cards to carry overseas are Visa and MasterCard. Photos of Daily Life: Your new friends abroad would love to see photos that show your life back home. It is a great conversation starter! Bring photos of your family, your house, your pets, your school, your food and your neighborhood. Even if you donft feel like your English is very good, you can communicate a lot about yourself with photos and other items from your home country. People love pictures! Comfortable Clothes and Shoes: Bring some clothes that you feel comfortable in and that you can wear almost anywhere. If you bring clothes that are fashionable and hard to wear, you may look good at a party, but you will have a lot of trouble in most normal situations. For example, if you wear high heels too often, people might think you are foolish. Bring clothes that you can relax in. This doesnft mean they have to be completely unfashionable. Gifts: Bring some gifts from your home country for your new friends or your host family. It doesnft have to be expensive! Find something cute or interesting, something that they have never seen before or have only heard of. You can even make the gifts yourself if you want to! You could probably find something that your new friends would treasure at a 100-yen shop. You might think it is cheap, but they might want to keep it for many years! There is an interesting phrase in English: gItfs the thought that counts.h This means that your feeling when you give a gift is more important than the gift itself. Vitamins and Medicine: You might want to bring vitamins and medicine that you canft get in your new country, but donft overdo it! Often, the vitamins, medicines, shampoos, toothpastes, and soaps you will find in your new country are as good or better than what you are used to. Try things and see how they work! Youfll probably be surprised. Books in your Native Language Therefs nothing wrong with continuing to enjoy your free time with materials in your native language while youfre learning English and living abroad. Give yourself a break! Learning English and studying abroad doesn't have to be difficult. You arenft expected to endure. Relax with a book in your native language every once in a while. If you do, you will probably have more energy and motivation to study English later. A Notebook (Laptop) Computer: This is essential! A laptop computer lets you do research of every kind; English research, town research, food research, society research, neighborhood research, school research, shopping research, news research, hobby researchc A notebook computer is the resource of resources! However, it is not only for studying. Computers are also the best place to store your photos, videos, music and study materials. They are also wonderful communication tools that can save you A LOT of time and money (e-mail, skype, Internet shopping, etc.). If you are going abroad for more than a month, we highly recommend you bring one! Camera / Video Camera: Take some cameras and record some memories! Donft forget the charger and cables. Make a visual diary. The best things you will get on your overseas adventure are memories and experiences. A camera will help you keep those memories safe for many many years! Trading photos with your new friends and host family is also a great way to build communication. If you have time, it may also be a good idea to keep a blog, youtube, or photo account. That way, you can post pictures or movies on the internet every day and your friends back home can learn about your wonderful new life. Theyfll be soooooo jealous!!!! Business Cards: Business cards might be useful, but it is good to remember that in English-speaking countries they are not considered as important as they are in Japan. The main purpose of a business card is to help people remember you (try putting your picture on it) and to provide them with your contact information. Of course, a business card is no replacement for real communication! Health Insurance: Though you will probably not have many problems, it is important to have proper insurance when traveling abroad. Because you never know what might happen, it is best to protect yourself. This is especially important in a country like America, where there is no national insurance plan. THINGS YOU SHOULDNfT BRING Foods from Your Own Country: When you leave your countryc leave the food behind. Unless it is a gift, you donft need to bring it to your new country. Becoming a successful student abroad means adjusting to your new culture | and this includes food. Stereotypical Photos of Japan Bring photos of your real life, not photos of Mt. Fuji or Kinkakuji. These places donft say anything about you and what you are like. Most people in English speaking countries already know about Mt. Fuji and other stereotypical Japanese things. They want to learn something new. If you have a video of yourself breakdancing on Mt. Fuji, thatfs great! But a photo of people standing around on the mountaintop with nothing to do isnft very interesting. Stereotypical things, unless you can make them interesting, will only teach people in other countries that Japan is boring and predictable. You, personally, are one of the most interesting things about Japan. Be yourself! Be unpredictable! Too much Clothing: Donft bring too much! Many people who study abroad pack too many clothes. In English-speaking countries, it is not normal to have a different outfit everyday. Also, the styles in other countries will be different. When students see this, they often buy new clothes. This will probably happen to you too! Donft worry about not being able to find your size. They have sizes that will fit you perfectly in English speaking countries. Only bring clothes that are essential for you! Think more about comfort than about impressing people. What is cool in Japan may not be cool when you go abroad. Luxury Goods, Brands: Don't bring expensive luxury goods, brand-name handbags, or items that would make you look rich or fashionable. A common stereotype about Asian people is that they like brand-name goods too much and foolishly believe that it will make them look more attractive or successful. Thatfs not true. Itfs more important to show what your personal unique taste and style is. If you try to show off by wearing and carrying brand-name luxury goods, the reaction you get will often be negative. Leave them at home!