Andrea

the London stuff

Ok, here we go. The good, the bad and the ugly, whether you are a visiting tourist or planning to spend some time like I did. So I'll start off with the generic stuff first, and those seeking abode can continue on after that, throwing in some of my own vast (ha ha) experience while residing there for over a year.....I'll add some links and stuff later.

Firstly, getting there - most international air traffic arrives at Heathrow Airport - I've a lovely little page in my passport full of these stamps. Getting out of there is pretty easy and straightforward - tons of signage, and the choices basically being the tube, the express train, or a taxi. The latter will run you a fare that could be comparable to your airfare, depending on where you are coming from and which currency you carry. To central London expect about 30 - 35GBP. The express is really nice(10 GBP) - and only 15 minutes - by comparison, to get to relatively the same area on the Piccadilly line could be up to 3x that long...so depends on your priorities really...

Finding a place to stay shouldn't be a problem, but as with anywhere else, staying in the centre will cost more than the other areas. In the case of this place though, there are a number of good places outside of zone 1, and with good transport, it will only take a few extra minutes to get to all that central stuff anyhow. TravelInns are good - all rooms are 55GBP. I stayed at many places upon my arrival, and after paying upwards of 40GBP per night for a single room in a hostel surrounded by noisy teenagers - splurge on the extra 15 for a good proper hotel room. Putney Bridge is good, the tube is right there and high street across the bridge.

The sights - well, don't expect to conquer the place - much like Rome, Paris or Tokyo, you'll never run out of things to do - check my small description on the travel stuff.

And now, a few small survival tips:

Travelcards - Unless you're sure you've only the one trip for the day, get one of these. If you'll be a week or longer you'll need a photo for these, and get a free tube map - but well worth it, as it is unlimited travel, and valid on night buses and Britrail trains within that zone. Sold as daily, weekly, monthly and even yearly(!). Take advantage..

Phonecards - get one. At some point, you will likely have to make a phone call - there are some booths that only take cards and not coins. There are tons out there, and depending on where you call will decide which ones will be the best. They are sold at newsagents, check their advertisements and ask which one is good for where you're calling. The standard BT ones charge like anything, so try to avoid those.

Food - If you can, avoid train stations and anywhere near them - generally more expensive, or so I found. I also found South London to be cheaper than other areas - Clapham and Putney are nice (Northern and District lines respectively). Belsize Park, Hampstead and Golders Green offer a lot of variety for restaurants. The latter is quite far out and fairly residential - Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Turkish and many others are within easy access of the station (Northern Line). Ciaccio's, on Warwick St. near Victoria station sells pasta by the container, which you can eat there or take away - very reasonable! And very small, so watch carefully for it.

Theatre - You'll probably not be there for more than 48 hours without discovering this - the half - price ticket booth for the theatre shows at Leicester square. Mind you, I was though. but now you know. Show up on the day of and they sell between 1.30 pm and 6.30 or so.

Shopping - Oxford Street is a nightmare. Less so in the winter (save Christmas), but there is a good collection of shops for the die hards who want to fight the crowds. Otherwise, try markets and high streets. Putney's is fairly good, Kensington's is expensive (quel surprise), and Golder's Green doesn't have much, but Brent Cross Shopping centre is your typical suburban shopping centre (It felt like home, ahhh) that offers many of the same labels as Oxford Street without Oxford Street crowds. Take the tube to Brent Cross station, then walk or catch bus 210. Camden is cool, but add that crowd thing in again(ugh!). Oh, and for you risque fare dodgers out there, this is one that is ALWAYS checked on the weekends...can't say I didn't tell ya! You'll need for zone 2.

Moving on to residing....

Never mind the bad pun, I didn't even realize until after I'd written it. This is some additional stuff for those on working holidays, or anyone planning to take up any sort of residence in the big bad city. Now, I went through quite a time trying to 'settle in'. I can't write the whole spiel here, my homestead is only so large. So at the suggestion of others, a book might come out soon! Ha ha! Anyway, I guess the nutshell version of starts with lost little me finding her way from Heathrow to hell hostel #1 - yes, 40GBP, with peace and quiet for a single room in mind only to have my so called peace assaulted by some very loud Norwegian teenagers. Not what one needs after a transatlantic flight and lugging my backpack (aka 'the beast') for 1 and 1/2 hours on the tube. Anyway, welcome to Bayswater. I don't recommend it! Peace and quiet when you first arrive will be more likely found at a place OUTSIDE zone 1. Oh ya, for those who are totally green, the zones refer to the travel zones set by London transport - there are 6.

From there is a long overdrawn progression with numerous moves, desperation for a 'quick quid' (aka the slave labor pub), dodgy and dodging (literally ducking into mews to get away from) Landlords, hellish commutes, flatmates - good, bad, ugly and ever changing to the 'I can't take it anymore!' culmination that landed me back home over a year later. Ok, it's not really that bad!

Anyway, first things first - Employment. Now, I was rather fortunate, and found something decent. Ok, it took me six weeks due to misplaced messages and my extreme transience at that time...but the end result was the same so... From what I gathered, office work is a good bet and lively market (guess what kind of job I had!!). Temp agencies are plentiful. There are free magazines that are good for this - TNT, which comes out every Monday. Although it is aimed at an antipodean readership, there are job postings and agencies. The travel section in here is good as well. Others come out on a weekly basis - GAT, Ms. London, etc, post these types of jobs as well. Pubs and catering I would avoid if you can - they pay is very low, and for all you yanks and canucks out there expecting lucrative tips - not gonna happen. It isn't customary out there in the pubs. I guess this is good for some, and it really depends on where you end up. I had a 2 week stint (only paid for one I might add) at what I call the slave labor pub in the middle of nowhere, Oxfordshire. Perhaps it is because I am very much a city person and working at the only service there was not on. Or having it run by the gluttonous Mr. & Mrs. Hitler may have had something to do with it...

Anyway, the strategy? Pretty much the same as here (North America that is) - Newspapers, word of mouth....I was on a student exchange called 'BUNAC' - which has various equivalents in other countries, the Canadian being 'SWAP'. So I found my job here, rather than any other resource. But I hear agencies are a good way to go.

Now that you've got your new job, a place to live. Do the former first - a number of reasons, including your work may come with accommodation, and you don't want to live on the other end of town - trust me! So this was the really fun part for me(sarcasm). The adventure starts after 6 weeks of 'living on the road', when I played the typical young foreigner sucked into living in Kensington. Ok, the area is really central, but it's also ripoff central. An idea? How about 110GBP per week for a shared room in a basement, no lounge, and to boot, with the most annoying and self centered person to ever exist. And with these landlords that only take cash? For the bond, fine, but for all rent payments??? Of course, they SEEM nice off the start, and tell you all sorts of stories that this is the ONLY safe place to live in London - bollocks. These particular Landlords were called the Antonios, of Bina Gardens. DO NOT rent from them - they broke a lease agreement that I'd signed on WITHOUT my consent, causing me to lose a total of 220GBP (see annoying and self centered person above). As well, a room shared 3 ways with shared bathroom (between at least 20 people) was 70GBP each - the same rate charged to the poor fellows downstairs who even had a 4th crammed in...hmmm. Well, at least this shared room was with some cool people (yes, this is you Cara, Steph and Nikki), as well as a couple of the chaps downstairs - Frank and Steve. Now, I heard this after, but apparently there is some sort of impartial rent agency, who will check the property to see how much rent should be charged, as well as a citizen's advice bureau. Look into this if you think you are being ripped off.

So moving on from there (after claiming my retribution for the lost funds in a subtle way - hence the hiding down mews, etc), I wind up in South London (Putney, to be exact), thinking I've hit the jackpot. Well, not exactly. The area was lovely, and the peace was nice, but really disconnected. Enter the hellish commute. 1.5 hours each way. And not like my rent had gone down any - still 70GBP - and still sharing a room. At least this was a proper flat, but as winter months started to set in, and I realized (shock, shock, horror, horror) that there was no heating. And contrary to the beliefs of some, central heating IS readily available in London residences. So not really worth it for me, working in the City and all. To make a long story short, I packed it in and set out on my own to find what was far and away the best place I lived in. Now, some may have referred to it as a 'shithole residence' - but that's what you can expect of an ingrate dosser who didn't realize how lucky he was to not have to find his own accom elsewhere amidst the hustle and bustle of the holiday season - only due to the kindness of some other flatmates falling into the 'good' section (Chris and Julia, and later Jessica, take your credit where due! Ditto for Stuart, albeit short lived). No, it wasn't Buckingham Palace, but after 7 months of living in much worse, I didn't mind. Well, until the toilet flooded and killed my week's supply of groceries. Though I believe the first instance was my own fault...oops!

This was my final and longest residence in that lovely northern area called Golder's green. I was just happy at cutting my commute time in half. Now, when you look at the underground map, do not be deceived. The distances are quite a bit longer once one is out of zone 1. Not to mention the nearby conveniences of the 24 hour Tesco, Brent Cross shopping centre, and although on an extremely erratic 'schedule', 2 bus routes. Tesco is cool - aisles and aisles of food, but like most supermarkets there, practise your bagging skills, b/c unlike N. America, they don't do it for you!

But unless you are a millionaire (didn't quite make it onto Chris Tarrant's version of the show), you can't have it all. Now, one would think that since they are an actual company - though maybe just a front, anyone can let office space - that they would have some scruples. NOT! Turning what could have been easy process into a nightmare upon Chris & Julia's departure. They call themselves 'Moreland', and although C&J terminated tenancy in Feb '98, and were ultimately replaced (i.e., legal), at time of writing (late Sept '98), they have yet to receive the 800GBP owing to them. So be careful, especially when signing a collective rent agreement. With these, the responsibility for the whole house could fall into your hands. And when you have a landlord called 'Satan' (or as he was aptly named by Chris), the probability of a loss on your part is very high. I was lucky to live with honorable people who accepted more than their share of responsibility, but this will not always be the case. Especially when they set virtually impossible standards and turn away numerous would - be tenants. Fortunately I, after a number of headaches, searches, floods and the like, did receive what was owed to me. But only because I was awarded the privilege of being there in person while the other owe-ees on the list were stuck on the other end of the globe.

Now, I would like to think that my experience with flats is not the norm - I met others who sailed through the process like anything. I guess part of it depends on how long you will be there and what your financial situation is. The actual flat hunting part can be a process within itself - my first flats were found at BUNAC - which if you are on the program, can be good, as the staff can advise you of good areas and whatnot, and post a list of landlords that have been problematic for others. takes a bit of risk out of it. but for the rest - probably the most well known search tool is a free-ads paper called 'The Loot', which comes out 5x per week. advertising a room in here is free - to buy the paper is 1.30 GBP. With these ads, the good ones go like free beer would to students. get it first thing, and phone right away. try their website as well. Other places that are good to check include 'To Let', 'Evening Standard' and the TNT - advertising in there will cost you, but the response rate is also rather high. As it is aimed at an antipodean contingent, that is generally who the roomies are and who will respond. If your work has a board for this, give it a go as well, and go to areas that you would like to live in and check the sweetshop boards. And of course, word of mouth is always handy - let people know if you are looking for a room, or have one to let.

Entertainment and Travel - Now we've passed the formalities! Although the first bit can be a tad nightmarish, there is a lot of fun to be had here as well. Pubs are everywhere. Same with the restaurants, avoid those close to the station for lower prices - as well, the ones further out tend to be less touristy (stands to reason). While I lived in North London, I was lead by word of mouth to a place called 'The Claddaugh Ring' on Church road, NW10. It is a rather large place, and they have live music, which allows them to circumvent that English pub law of closing at 11pm. The tended to stay open anywhere from 1am to 3am, so a cheap and closer alternative to a club. Clubs and bars can vary by a fair bit, and you can find pretty much anything you're after. Clubs also vary from night to night, so check a magazine called 'Time Out' for the latest listings. Most of the mega - ones are south of the Thames, and the area can be a bit dodgy at night, so go in groups - don't wait for night buses alone. There are some good ones in the central areas as well - I spend New Year's eve at the Astoria, Charing Cross Rd. - it was good, but not worth blowing my entire entertainment budget for the month of January on. Could've gone to Hogmanay in Edinburgh..d'oh! If you're on a strict budget as I was, bars may be a good alternative to this as well. As most clubs will charge upwards of 15GBP to enter, bars are usually around 5GBP, and the rates are often different for females than males (which is a discriminatory pricing practice I don't agree with, even though I am of the benefiting gender), and before/after 11 (brought on by mandatory pub closing times). Zoobar in Leicester square and Freedom Bar in Soho were a couple of favorites.

If you want to travel, it is a good base. London is a major hub, and as such, deals to the continent and elsewhere are always there for the taking. My first 4 months there I could barely even afford to take the train to work, let alone to go on some lofty holiday. Trains can be expensive, but purchasing APEX fares, at least 2 weeks in advance, can save you 50%. TravelInns are throughout all of the UK, and outside London, a room for 38GBP is a pretty good deal. Train services to airports are also good - for some flight deals on line, check this out. When you live in London, you need to get out every so often - even if it is just to cleanse yourself of the highly polluted air (you'll notice this if you take the tube enough - blowing your nose and it's black, or the black spots on your clothes afterwards..yum!). There are many tour companies operating as well - 2 that I did and enjoyed were En route's bank holiday weekend in Bruges/Ghent (Belgium) and Harry Hog's May day bank holiday to Wales. Wales is a beautiful country, as is Scotland, and highly recommended.

Well, that about concludes that! For all you N. Americans out there (and others), the Brits really do speak a different language at times, so a few words and whatnot below. Otherwise, comments, questions, additions, stories, etc, please get in touch with the little pencil =>

cheers!

And that's the first one....

Garbage = rubbish, toilet = loo, divided highway = dual carriageway, trunk of a car = boot, hood of a car = bonnet, gas = petrol, motorhome = caravan, air mattress = lie-low, pants = underwear, trousers = pants, vest = waistcoat, sweater = jumper, light bulb = globes, mailman = postman (although you have the Royal Mail.). TV = telly.

You don't 'pick up' someone at the airport, you fetch them or collect them. You don't 'pick up' someone at a bar, you 'pull' them....anything else I'm missing?

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