What to bring?
Contact Indian Student Association for temporary accommodation and ask them about arrival on the campus. (On Kansas City International Airport you have to pay 1.5 $ in the form of cents for taking cart which will carry your luggage. So keep change in the form of cents with you or you can get from the shops inside the airport terminal).
1. If you intend to cook Indian food then we would suggest you to bring a pressure cooker and any flat-bottomed vessels that you would feel comfortable using. Bring atleast one microwavable plate, spoons, glass, and microwavable mug for milk and katori. You will get some items at the grocery store but it would be a bit expensive. A complete list of kitchen items is given below.
2. Here, we usually wash clothes in Laundromats (maybe once in 10-15 days) so get Clothes that would suit our washing conditions, as usually they are rough and Tough. More number of denims recommended
3. Get at least 10 to 12 sets of under garments, socks (usually you get better ones here but you can get some to get started). (A detailed document on clothing requirement is also provided below).
4. Get a good alarm clock.
5. Get a notebook, pen, some stationary items.
6. You should buy a good pair of sneakers, as you have to walk a lot here(initially)
7. Avoid bringing electronic items which run specifically on 220v Alternating Current as the voltage here is much lower than in India
8. A good school bag, a Visa folder (to hold cards), a wallet/ purses (leather goods are usually expensive here)
9. Get some medicines which you think you might require often depending upon your health requirements. Common health medicines like the ones for stomach ache, indigestion, fever etc. is always recommended (Do not forget to get a medical prescription from the doctor for all the medicines that you are carrying along with you).
10. You could get along some Indian music CDs etc that you enjoy.
Baggage specifications:
Bag specifications: Note: the specifications may be different for different countries/airlines. 2 pieces of baggage with total linear dimension (l+b+h) not exceeding 270cm (106"). Moreover the total linear dimension of each piece should not be over 158 cms (62"). The weight of each bag should not exceed 23kg (50 lb) [note: This information may vary airline to airline. Thus its always recommended to check all these details from the airlines which you choose to travel].
Carry on/cabin baggage: In addition to the 2 check-in bags, you can carry a bag with linear dimension not exceeding 115 cms (45") onboard (fits beneath the seat). Put a copy of the documents you are carrying in each piece of your luggage. Do not carry any sharp things along with you, either in person or in your cabin baggage as they are usually detected as weapons. (Note: you might want to keep a pair of clothes and few necessary things in your cabin baggage. The reason being, just in case your baggage doesn’t show up when you arrive in US, you would at least have something to wear till the moment your lost baggage is found and delivered to you by the airport authorities ).
Books are the first priority. The list of books, being huge, is not provided here. Select the courses you are planning to take and find the corresponding books for those courses. If you don't find the books corresponding to the courses that you intend to take then you may request some of the Indian students from your dept. for help. Please do not ask ISA about courses you may take.
Note: what to do in case of baggage lost?
The best thing to do in this case would be to go the office of the airlines by which you have traveled and tell them that you would like to file for baggage loss. They will give you a form which you will have to fill. In that form there will be a column where you will have to mention the address at which you would want your bags to be delivered, here you will have to put the address of the person who is going to be your host initially. Thus you might want to have his/her detailed address along with the phone number and name. Make sure you have all these details with you.
List of personal items and clothing
(Numbers mentioned here are not standards which you might want to follow, it’s just the estimated number and list of items you would like to bring. The list can be edited as per your personal choice.) Close to 95% of all the items listed below are available for purchase in Manhattan (Wal-Mart super center), but to save time and money bring along as many items as you can.
- Undergarments (up to 18)
- Thermal wear (1 Pair)
- Handkerchiefs (12)
- Short pants (4)
- Formal Shirts (2)
- T shirts (6-7)
- Formal Pants (2-3)
- Jean Pants (4-5)
- Ties 2-3
- Belts 2/3
- Pillow cover (2) -------------BIG SIZE
- Bed Sheets (2) ---------------BIGGEST SIZE AVAILABLE
- Blankets (1)
- Formal Leather shoes (1)
- Sports Shoes (1)
- Sandals (1)
- Hawai Chappals (1)
- Socks ---------MIN 10 PAIRS ----------MIN 2 BLACK
- Tooth Brush (3)
- Tooth Paste
- Comb
- Shaving Items (To be in check-in luggage not in cabin luggage)
- Small Towels-2
- Big Towels –2
- Nail Cutter (To be in check-in luggage not in cabin luggage)
- Bath Soap
- All Original Documents
- Stationery such as (Pen, Pencil, Eraser, Stapler, Fevicol/gum-paste, Calculator etc.)
- Reference Books
- Scotch bite (for washing utensils)
- Perfumes/ deodorants
- Alarm clock
- Hair-Oil
- Woolen Sweaters (2)
- Shawls (1)
- Makadtopi (Woolen head cap)
- Mafalar
- Woolen Hand gloves (Leather style if possible)
- Safety-pins
- Blades (Such as Topaz) (To be in check in luggage not in cabin luggage)
- Caps
- Air Mail cards and blank envelops (If you are going to write letters back home.)
- Wristwatch
- Boot Polish
- Torch
- Swimwear
- Umbrella
- Stitching Kit.
- Shampoo
- Hangers
- Recipe Books
- Calendar in local language
- Mirror
- Candles and match box
- Cassettes, Gift Items etc.
List of utensils
(From past experience we expect that most students begin by sharing apartments with 3-4 other students. So, when you select the size or number of each cooking utensil, make sure that it will be enough to serve a minimum of 4)
- Pressure cooker (5-7 liters)
- Mug (For drinking tea 4 Nos.) (Get microwavable)
- Small Spoons for regular purpose (6-12)
- Bring 3-4 utensils for making vegetables, dals, curry etc. (Flat Bottom)
- Tava (flat bottom)
- Knife---2 (For Cutting Vegetables etc)
- Plastic Bowls
- Plastic dishes
- Filter/seive for Tea(1-3)
- Instrument for scrapping/peeling outer skin of vegetables such as potato etc
- A Plastic dabba for storing everyday masala items
- Utensils for pouring edible oil. (Preferably Tupperware)
- Frying pan (Big one which can cook food for around 4 - 5 people)
- Some plastic Dabbas for storing grocery (Actually you can collect plastic Dabbas of Yogurts etc. after coming to US.)
- Microwavable utensils. (Dishes, bowls etc)
- All Big Spoons(ladle) Like Spoon for stirring vegetables, Dal etc
- Polpat latne (for making chapattis??????)
- Ravi (For making buttermilk)
Food Items
Try to bring food items which will see you through the first 1 or 2 weeks of life in U.S. Most of the items listed below are available in Manhattan (International Food Store) but are relatively expensive.
- Sambar Masala, Goda Masala and Pavbhaji Masala as mush as possible (Minimum 0.5 kg)
- Chat Masala
- Hing (Asafetida)
- Masala Items (Small quantity) Cloves, Red Chilly Powder, Jira, Ova, Mustard seeds, Turmeric Powder etc.
- Rice (0.5-1kg)
- Small quantities of dals (Toor dal, mug dal)
- Tea (1 small packet)
- Coffee (1 Small Packet)
- Pickle Bottles (Sealed containers)
- Papads (2-3 pack small)
- Poha
- Rava
- Shengadana Kut (Roasted and grated groundnut)
Stationery
- Ball pens and refills
- Backpack for school
- Scientific calculator
- Reference books/ textbooks etc
- Lead pencils (0.5 mm) 2-3 in number with lead boxes.
- Eraser
- Stapler with pins.
Some of the things such as SOP, résumé etc can be stored on CDs or floppies and you can bring those CDs. Prepare a book containing addresses, telephone Nos. and e-Mail IDs of friends and relatives from both India & USA.
All these personal items, utensils and food items can be adjusted according to space available in the bag and you can delete some items, you can purchase after coming here.
Things to be kept in Hand Bag/Cabin bag (which is with passenger in the flight)
- Regular medicines (Avomin, diegene)
- Books for reading.
- Full sweater.
- Folders containing original documents.
- Money (Cash, Traveler checks, DD)
- Book Containing addresses of relatives and friends.
- Contact details of persons who are going to pick you up or the telephone number of roadrunner or Bus Company, which are taking you to campus. Toll free number of KCI roadrunner is 1 800-826-8294
- Passport size photograph.
- Two Sets of clothes if bag is misplaced in the journey.
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