Latest on MJJC

Going To London To Study

TheChosenOne

Proud Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2011
Messages
2,629
Points
63
Hi

I will be studying for my MA at Goldsmiths, University of London come September this year.

I have lived in a tropical climate all my life and I am terrified of the cold. Any advice about living and studying in London would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks muchly.

Nancii

PS Am I the only person who thinks that Tucker Carlson is a right royal pr*ck???
 
by loads of jumpers and wooley hats for the winter and save up as london is rip off central
 
Last edited:
You're going to have so much fun in London! It's an awesome city! It is expensive though lol, but the place is worth it. The winters are cold, but not THAT cold - it doesn't normally snow and it's much warmer than continental Europe (or other parts of the UK). So you'll be fine with a good coat :)
 
hi and hope you have fun here. Im currently living in London so feel free to ask me questions

right now, june, july and august is the hottest most humid time. tempertures in London average 24/25 degrees C. from september onwards it starts to get cooler in the evenings. November is usully very wet and cold but the coldest part of the year is from late december to the end of january.

the temperatures rarely go further than minus 2 or 3 but as the winters are wet and windy it feels alot colder. Layers are best for the cold and you should make sure you have a scarf, warm hat and gloves and an umbrella. Dont bother about getting an expensive umbrella as 1. every umbrella will eventually get turned inside out and broken by the wind 2. you are most likely to leave it on public transport, in a shop etc. also it is much better to have a small umbrella that fits in your bag as the weather in th UK /London is very unpredictable and sudden rain showers happen all the time, day or night, winter or summer.
 
Thanks alot everyone for sharing your advice.

EM - I am really worried about how expensive London will be. The currency conversion is: 1 pound sterling = 4.03118 Barbadian dollars!!! And that is on a good day. So when I buy things I have to multiply by 4 to get an idea of what it is really costing me, and therefore if it is worth it.

In Barbados if we dip to 18 degrees celsius, everybody complains about the cold!! So I know that adjusting to the weather in London is going to be a big challenge for me.

I will definitely go for the layers ideas.

Where is the best place to shop for good but economical autumn/winter clothing? (I like to plan ahead).
 
:eek: you are coming from Barbados to live in London? I have just visited your country and it was so beautiful :wub:
Good luck over here with everything :)
 
TheChosenOne said:
Hi

I will be studying for my MA at Goldsmiths, University of London come September this year.

I have lived in a tropical climate all my life and I am terrified of the cold. Any advice about living and studying in London would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks muchly.

Nancii

PS Am I the only person who thinks that Tucker Carlson is a right royal pr*ck???
Click to expand...

I did a BA (Hons) at Goldsmiths in Design Studies, it's in an area called New Cross.

I've lived in London all my life, so I guess I'm used to the cold weather in the winter. When you arrive in September it should still be hot. From early October the weather is ranges from warm to mild, but you can get quite hot heatwaves during that time. Mid October to the end of November is cold (not freezing) to mild. December to mid Feb ranges from freezing to cold, the the weather slowly gets warmer in March with it mainly being mild until end of May, June when the hot weather starts though it can still rain a lot as it has done over the last 5 summers.

What you will find is that London isn't as freezing in the winter as you may think it might be. The weather is rarely freezing in the artic sense.

For traveling on the tube (subway for you Americans) and buses it's best to by an Oyster Card form your local tube station. This will save you a lot of time and money. Have a look at the London Transport site http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

Also read the main London paper The Evening Standard http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/, to read up on what's happening in London. I'm sure you'll enjoy your time here, as there is always something cool happening in London. It's the greatest city in the world.
 
Last edited:
You can get a student card from your university which will get you a LOT of discounts....cinemas, restaraunts (20%0ff at pizza hut), clothes shops, music shops. Theres also the safety aspect, unfotunately there is a lot of crime in London, our uni advised us to stay in groups when we go out late etc etc. Perhaps you will need house insurance just incase you get burgaled. If your going foodshopping go to a supermarket, eg tesco, sainsburys, morrisons as you will get all your food cheaply here (also they have websites you can order your food online and get it delivered if you want to, eg tesco.com). Weatherwise buy a coat with a hood, cause when it rains its usually windy as well, and in winter it may snow/sleet. Id also advise gloves and a scarf too :)
 
as you are a student, probally on a limited budget here is a list of supermarkets in order of price. the cheapest are first and the most expensive are last

ALDI
LYDAL
ICELAND
SAFEWAY
ASDA
MORRISONS
SAINSBURYS
TESCO
MARKS AND SPENSERS
WAITROSE

clothes shopping wise, the UK has one of the most varied and affordable clothes shops. The main shopping areas of towns and cities are called "high streets" and clothes shops are divided into designer clothes shops and high street clothes shops.

High Street Clothes shops
these shops are nationwide chains and depending on the shop may have very simialr clothes to designer shops, at affordable prices. here is a list, again in order of price, cheapest at the top, most expensive at the bottom

PRIMARK
MK ONE
PEACOCKS
NEW LOOK
TOPSHOP
DOROTHY PERKINS
URBAN OUTFITTERS
WAREHOUSE
RIVER ISLAND
MONSOON
DEBENHAMS
BHS
MARKS AND SPENSERS

Designer shops
SELFRIDGES
HARVEY NICHOLAS
HARRODS
 
Travel in London is very easy, despite what you may hear from locals!! London is devided into 6 travel zones, in circles radiating outwards from the centre. Zone 1 is central London, tourist areas, main shopping areas, theatreland, financial district etc. The most cheapest way to travel in London is to get an oyster card https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do this is a plastic card similar in size to a credit card card. It can be used 2 ways, load it with money and use it as pay as you go or for a fixed sum get a weekly / monthly /yearly travel card on it. Travel cards cover travel on all london transport, buses, tubes and trams.

London rush hour occurs between 7.30 and 9.30 am and 5 to 7 pm. tube stations get extremmly crowded and people will be crammed like sardines in the trains, and buses. At busy tube stations, they even close the gates for 10 mis at a time to stop over crowding! If buses are full, they will not stop and you have to wait for the next one.
 
Do you have any family in London? Are you staying in student accomodation/halls or are you renting your own place?

Buy a decent Umbrella, that is essential, because it rains like anything every other day over here.

You can do all your grocery shopping at:

Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Somerfield and the first two stores also sell cheap clothing.

moonstreet, made a good list of places to shop for clothes as well. Another one to add to the list is NEXT.

I find Debenhams, BHS and the Dunelm Mill Shop are usually good for all your soft and home furnishings (duvets, blankets, cushions, lamps, curtains etc.).

Curry's, Argos and The Co-op for electricals.
 
Last edited:
Buy a mini atlas of the city you can put in your pocket, i have a mini 'a to z of london' its very useful cause while your out walking it is easy to get a bit disorientated.
 
Thanks everybody for all the advice!!

StarTrader I will be staying on campus.

benscarr - what was Goldsmiths like?
 
TheChosenOne said:
Thanks everybody for all the advice!!

StarTrader I will be staying on campus.

benscarr - what was Goldsmiths like?
Click to expand...

Everyone has a different experience at University. I personally hated my time there, and had a very low opinion of the content and structure of BA(Hons) course I was on, plus I thought my tutors were pretentious and had no idea what they were teaching. But my course obviously is the representation of the whole college. Basically I was on the wrong course and wrong college environment, so I dropped out and did an MA and other University a few years later and had a much better time.

My experience doesn't mean you will have a bad one, so don't be put off. Goldsmiths is a beautiful looking college, and it has a really great state of the art Hi-Tech Library. Goldsmith has a really good social scene within the college. Lot's of great up and coming bands play concerts at Goldsmiths, plus the band Blur (lead singer Damon Albarn who created the cartoon band Gorillaz) formed at Goldsmiths.

I found the students on my course and throughout Goldsmiths to be very nice and friendly. I'm from London, so I never lived on the Campus. But from what I saw and heard, the students on the campus had a really good time. The campus is right next to Goldsmiths, and it looks very impressive from the outside (I never went in the the campus). Some students on my course who lived on campus became very good friends, and moved out of campus whilst still on the course, and rented a house/appartment in the local New Cross and Lewisham areas. If your doing a course that's suits what your seeking to learn, then I'm sure you will have a great time at Goldsmiths because a lot of people do.
 
Last edited:
Hmm. I thought I had responded to your comments last night, benscarr.

Sorry.

I am studying something that is perfectly suited to me and my professional needs, so I am quite excited about it!

MJslady, I would love to hear about your experiences in Barbados!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top