Questions about life in Britain

[lecter]

I'd like some information from the Brits on this forum about life there, mainly in London. I'm still two years away from finishing my bachelor's degree here in Thailand, but they have a joint master's program that I'm seriously considering. It's at South Bank University in London, in the same field as my current degree (Telecom. Science).

Now, a few facts about my life here: it's not too difficult to make a living as an English teacher at a language center...basically if you look foreign and speak good English, it's dead-easy to make 6-700$/month, which is what I'm making at the moment. Now, I realize that if I'd move to England this (main) source of income would be gone, so I'd have to look for a job that uses one of my other skills. The point is, I'd like to stick around either there or somewhere else in Western Europe after I finish the masters, so a decent job is a must. I have a MCP for Windows 2000 and I could go so far as to get a MCSE for Windows 2003 if necessary...I could work somewhere as a network admin, or a tech support rep or even a hardware repairman at some service center. I'm not good with web design (but I can make a functional webpage) and I'm proficient enough in using all flavors of Windows, MacOS and (to the extent where recompiling crap is not required) Linux. With the knowledge I'll be getting with this bachelor's degree, I could also probably work in a (mobile) phone company.

My English is fine, without even a cheesy Eastern European accent (i've lived in the US for a few years when I was a kid). I can also speak decent French.

The other skill I have is related to journalism...basically, I love writing product reviews, movie/music reviews, editorials and even short stories. I even built a magazine from scratch...true, it only comes out in 500 copies every month, but it's not too shabby considering that there's only me and two others running it.

So, these are more or less my skills...in pure practical terms, do I have the possibility of making a living in Britain off this stuff? I have no problem with commuting, either, considering the excellent transportation system...here it takes me 75 minutes to get to work anyway, and it's in the same damn city

Any opinions or facts would be greatly appreciated...any move is still awhile away, but I'd like to get some facts straight before I consider things.

[Wombat]

Maybe some kind of consulting firm? You're multilingual, and apparently proficient in written presentations as well. These kind of communication abilities would be valued by a firm that has to do their job, explain it to the customers, and document it as well.

[lecter]

You know, I never thought about that...and it's been presentations that have saved my ass through many a course in uni Point definitely taken, thanks!

[The PIT]

Personally I'd go elsewhere Germanys nice last time I was there.

Biggest problem is house prices which are still rising as banks etc are lending six times your earnings.

Renting is another way but Landlords are catching onto that and thats getting expensive as well.

Don't forget about the congestion charges in London which I believe the Mayor wants to expand as it's a nice earner.

Living outside London is better but then communiting becomes a problem. The Government hasn't put enougth effort into improving transport and the future doesn't look any better. Rather they're going to bring in charges and still not provide any reliable alternative.

Leyton Buzzard is a good place at the moment people are friendly and you can walk around at night without being subconcously worried about your saftey. As town grows this will change however. Sadly it's on the wrong side of London if you want to work in the south.

[lecter]

Well, Germany's not really an option on account of the fact that I don't speak German, the uni would be in German, etc. France or somewhere in the Benelux would be sweet but I'd be going into the unknown, whereas this joint masters program is a clear option given by my university. Obviously buying an apartment/house is not an option, I don't even remotely have the finances for something like that. How much is the rent for a studio flat in a more or less decent area of London? I noticed that the accomodation the uni would provide is about 90 pounds/week.

What are congestion charges? You mention that Leyton Buzzard is on the wrong side of London...well, I figure a subway is a subway, would it take me more than 30-45 minutes to get from there to the south part?

[Ribbit]

Congestion charge = "fee" for driving within central London between 8am-6pm on weekdays. I think it's £5 per day. I doubt it will affect you, since you probably won't be owning a car.

I don't know what public transport is like in Bangkok, but ours is probably the worst in western Europe. The tube (subway) is horribly packed in the rush hour, and the consistent lateness of the trains is a longstanding national joke.

Questions about rent etc. - well I've never lived in central London, so I can't really help you there. I bet GNEP can though

As for jobs - I'm sure there are jobs out here for someone with your skills, but the stupid employment system seems bent on collecting people's CVs rather than putting them in jobs that can use them (Been looking for a job for a while now)

[az]

There are a few english speaking unis in germany. I would have suggested Berlin because it is a beautiful city and has GREAT public transport (8 minutes from the periphery to central Berlin, if you're near the right station. Of course there is no central Berlin, really.). But one problem you could face is that unis in Berlin are very very short on money at the moment, as is the whole city (in debt up to its ears), so it may be hard to find a place to study. On the other hand, living is cheap and free flats are plentiful, if you don't mind living in an area that doesn't look so nice. I don't think you would have to pay to study in germany, though I also don't think you would apply to err... "money the state gives you so you don't need to work while you study" (as all german students without rich parents get).

AZ

[TransformX]

As far as I've heard, the Germans (unlike the way they're portrayed in most movies) are among the coolest people in Europe.

[GNEP]

Right. Probably need some input from J1NG as AFAIK he studied at South Bank Uni.

I really don't know too much about IT sector employment in London, but there are plenty of employment agencies who can sort you out with something. Have a look on the web - http://www.monster.co.uk/ or http://fish4.co.uk/jobs/index.html or something similar (google will no doubt provide more - these were just the first that came to mind not necessarily a recommendation). This should at least give you an idea of what is available at the moment. Presume work permits etc are not an issue?

Living in London is not cheap - in fact I generally recommend against being a student in London to those that are thinking of it in this country as (a) it's expensive and (b) the students tend to be quite spread out so it's not the social whirl that other universties are .

Rent-wise, expect to pay £4-500 per month for a room - cheapest in a shared house/flat rather than on your own even in a studio flat. Perhaps in the cheaper areas a bit less - when I first came to london we had 4 in a house paying 50 quid a week each . £90 pw for the student accomodation might not be such a bad idea.

Also one thing that quite often catches people out is the need for a hefty deposit when you start renting - usually at least 6 weeks' worth so expect to be shelling out a thousand for the deposit and the first month's rent - before you are even living there! The rental market does move very quickly however so you can look one weekend and be in the next if you have everything sorted. Credit checks etc might be more of an issue though if you are coming in from abroad (and setting up a bank account might be tricky - to get one you need an address, and to get a place to live you need a bank account). Even more reason to go with university accomodation .

If you have friends/relatives already here, that can be a great help.

Might add some more thoughts later.

[J1NG]

Well, I just had a quick gander back at the locales where you might be. And with the only campus now dealing with anything related to your area being the one located at the Elephant and Castle area. (Southwark campus, the one I went to). So unless something happens and they move to another campus in the next two years, that should be where you are heading.

Getting to this campus shouldn't be too much of a problem, depending on where you'll be living. Had a friend living quite far out (Bromley, I think), manages to get in using the trains (overground trains not underground) and only missing some early starts. And that's saying something. Good amount of public transport locations on and around the campus. Most in about a maximum of 15 minutes walking distance. So getting to the campus should not be a problem where-ever you are in (or out of) London. Though I still won't recommend living too far away. The UK has a habit of having really strange weather that can screw with transport.

If you aren't sure of income, the Uni accomidations are probably a safe way to go. Most of the accomidations are also within 5 minutes walk from the main entrance. I think there are also discounts on stuff/services they provide. Like insurance of your stuff, etc. And of course, you get to meet even more people. Can be bad, can be good. Luck of the draw here.

Uh, that's about all I can remember at the moment. I'll post more as I remember them concerning London and South Bank Uni. But I think most stuff has been said.

J1NG

[Sasq]

@AZ in Australia we call it Austudy - but a good name for it - maybe not perfect but understandable would be a 'student pension'

[az]

Yeah in germany it's called BAFöG. (Bundes-Ausbildungs-Förderungs-[Geld|Gesetz])

AZ

[lecter]

I see...this doesn't sound very encouraging at the moment, but then again life rarely is I guess I'll just have to make myself a budget estimate based on what you guys have mentioned and see what can be done.

az, Germany is soo tempting but I doubt English-language universities are cheap (or related to my field of study) and there is no way I can learn German well enough to study in it.

Unfortunately I don't know anyone in London, so this might be a pretty hefty step into the unknown.

I'll take everything into careful consideration as time goes by...thanks for the input, guys!