When I first arrived in Berlin, I was immediately thrown into independence like never before: purchasing my own bus and U-Bahn tickets (Berlin’s subway system) and navigating my way through the city to my homestay, alone, while carrying all of my luggage. When I finally reached the apartment, I was warmly greeted by my host—although her cat kept his distance. I remember falling asleep that night feeling anxious and emotional—not the feelings I’d expected, seeing as I’ve dreamed of going to Berlin for years.

I’m a month into studying abroad, the chaos has somewhat subsided, and my life has finally developed into some semblance of a routine. Along with that, I’ve started to notice several trends in my day to day life that reallyyy would have been awesome to know during my first week here. Without further ado, here’s my advice to my past self: