Leaving for the UK? Don't miss these tips

With departure dates rapidly approaching, Indian students are booking tickets and preparing to leave for international universities.

Today, we offer something different -- tips from a current UK resident. Here is the opinion of Vinod Salian, who has lived and worked in the UK since 2001.

I have read about experiences of the many students published in Rediff. After going through that I personally feel that students who came here were ill prepared for the situation. May be they were naïve and never thought about it in advance. On the other hand they attempt to save money by quitting the available accommodation even before finding a new one. What we need to do is prepare them for the situation before they land in UK.

I came to UK in 2001 on work permit thankfully there were few smart people in my team and I never had to worry about accommodation and stuff. But I guess my situation was different as I had a full time job and good income so never really worried about my finance. I am a British citizen now, I want to give everyone some tip about how to save money and easier ways to live in UK.

First and important choice that you have to make is the university that you are going to study in. Although choosing university is your personal choice but you may consider few things if given the option. Please always check which is the closest international airport and the distance of the airport from the University. You can check the distance by inputting the start postcode and end postcode at the following site:

http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/planner_main.jsp

As soon as you reach the Airport the one thing in your mind is to inform home that you have reached safely. If you buy a calling card for the airport it will cost you a fortune.

If you don't want to buy the card in advance then you can ring through access no. 08715702929 from any BT payphone and then dial your India no. directly. The charge will be slightly more but it is not a rip off and  most reliable in emergency situation.  It is best if you have BT landline phone at your disposal.

There is no Int. airport in the North of England so if you have joined the university from North remember you may have to travel as long as 6-8 hours to reach the university from the London Heathrow Airport.

Universities are usually very helpful. Please feel free to talk to your supervisor regarding anything you want to know about the university rules, discounts and other support. Students get 10% discount at most of the places including cinemas. Get your ID cards from day one.

First few days will be really exciting. As all the courses start in September the weather is usually ok but it gets worse in October and continues to be horrible till April-May it. People from South of India should be especially beware as you would not have experienced such weather. 

Apart from the cold you should also be aware that majority of shops close by 5 pm so you wont be able to buy anything after that. Having said that the big superstores like ASDA, Tescos, Sainsbury etc are open till 10 pm at selective locations.

If you miss Indian food then the option is expensive Indian restaurants or should I say so called  Indian restaurants as mostly they were run by a Bangladeshis. The cheap alternative for this would be the frozen Indian food from ASDA and believe me it the best frozen Indian food in UK. Tesco has whole lot of Indian section where you can buy food stuff like idli, Masala dosa, dokla etc. It's all frozen but the quality is good.

Travelling from India

There are many Airlines option, best one is Jet Airways. Book in advance go to Jet airways online website and you can see several options. You could also do with Air India if you get cheaper ticket- I must warn you about the rudest crew members and ground staff.

Travelling from Heathrow

One of the best airports in the world. All information are easily available giving directions towards tains, undergrounds, coaches and cabs. The cheapest option is long distance is Coach which goes almost all place in UK with utmost convenience to the traveller. You can book this coach in India itself by going online on:

http://www.nationalexpress.com/home/hp.cfm. Taking web print ticket is even more cheaper but always buy open tickets just in case if your flight gets delayed. For London areas travel by tube beware of the peak time though. Otherwise take a taxi from the taxi stand only.Travelling in tube at late night is not advisable.

Accommodation

Be aware of rules and regulation in UK. It is usually a 6 month contract and if you don't finish it you have to pay for full. You also pay damage deposit which is sealed not only in the case of damage but also in the case when you leave carpet, kitchen, and bathroom unclean.

Going for unfurnished house will save you some money and you can buy the old furniture from near by open market. Ask any local to find out where open market is or you can go to http://www.friday-ad.co.uk/. You can also find cheap furniture on www.argos.co.uk. Please note you have legal right for safety –make sure everything is safe and heating is up to the standard if not then please talk to the landlord.

Rules and regulation

All rules and regulations of  UK can be found at the government website on : http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/

Finding someone in UK

If you want to find someone in UK who has got a landline you can find him on following web site: http://www.thephonebook.bt.com/publisha.content/en/index.publisha

For any business number you can do a search on:
www.yell.co.uk

Making calls to India

Dial through BT landline on access no. 08715702929.

I hope the above article has helped you. I would like to raise a very important point that please don't be under the impression that the UK is the safest place.

It  is always advisable that you take care of yourself and don't venture into unknown locations. Sometimes, it seems as if every person living in London has been mugged in the metro at some point of time so please don't travel alone in night, especially in London tubes.

The emergency tel. no, in UK is 999 from any phone, even the phone without any credit can make this call. All the best!

Regards,

Vinod Salian