Freshman year can be daunting, exciting and overwhelming all at the same time. But people have lived, and survived, through it already. Here’s some tips to help you get started at NYU Shanghai:

Sleep.

Eat. Eat in the cafeteria. Eat at regular intervals. And drink water. Always drink water.

All-nighters instantly become less of a good idea as soon as you start one.

Talk to people. They aren’t that scary. Well maybe they are, but they’re probably scared of you too.

Speak Chinese (if you aren’t Chinese) or English (if you are) as much as possible. It helps.

Call home if you miss them. It might be hard, but your family and friends will want to support you.

Carry an umbrella. The weather in Shanghai is forever unpredictable.

Related: The temperature inside and the temperature outside never match. Prepare accordingly.

Try something new. Go out of your comfort zone. It’s college.

Ask questions. Professors want to hear from you.

8:15am lectures are a special kind of horrible. But go to 8:15am Chinese.

If you’re not sure what you just ate, it might be beneficial that you don’t know.

Be careful on the roads. A green man is not necessarily an indicator that pedestrians are safe to cross.

Take advantage of the laundry exchange. Fresh linen is beautiful.

Shanghai is full of exciting stuff to do. If you don’t leave the campus, you won’t get to see it.

Travel. Travel. Travel.

Losing your student ID is very annoying.

The freshman fifteen is real. Too real.

Be true to yourself. People will respect you for it.

Install WeChat. WeChat is the only way.

Take the stairs. At least once.

The Bund is a bit of a cliche, but it is impressive.

You can go from iPhone to no iPhone in under three seconds. Hold on to them.

Being aggressively pushed on the metro is part of the experience.

As brilliant as Sherpa is, it is an unsustainable dinner option every night.

However, noodles and dumplings are very sustainable.

Shanghai isn’t the only city in China. Take a flight, train

You will find people you like.

Take care of yourself. If laying in bed watching Netflix for a while is what you wanna do, it’s what you gotta do.

But going out is also good. Do what makes you happy in the moment.

GAFs are awesome. Go and see them.

Professors are equally awesome. Go to see them. Office hours are meant to be utilized.

Air conditioning has saved many lives.

So have naps. The third nap of the day is always the most satisfying.

Push yourself. You’ll achieve more than you think you can.

Make time for your friends. You need them as much as they need you.

They sell cookies in the second floor cafe. They have chocolate in them.

Pollution is sometimes a problem, so no shame in wearing a face mask.

Take a deep breath and don’t sweat the small stuff.

On Century Avenue is the best. Write for them.

This article was written by Editorial Staff. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: NYUSH