Trish's Tips

View down the Thames

Advice from a "Londoner" Learn what one program participant has to say about her experience...

So. You've got your luggage. You've got your passport, your plane tickets, your classes and you've worked hard to save up the money you're going to be eager to spend on whatever you most want, (travel, clothes, music, shoes, concerts, etc), as soon as you get off the plane and put your feet on British soil. You're going to be tired, excited and maybe just a little nervous (though you wouldn't let anyone know that). You'll get to Regent's College and unpack, and then you'll decide to take a walk around, get used to the area.

And then you're going to realize: London is huge. And people live there. A lot of people. People who, as of your arrival, include you. London is now your city. Your home. And there's a lot of history and culture you're going to need to get out there and see before you can truly call it your home. Trouble is, it can be hard to figure out what's where, when and how to get there. The pages of your A to Z Guide to London will not suddenly spring to life with arrows and a helpful, cheery British voice. You are on your own, and I hope you've got a good sense of direction.

And me. You do have me. So don't forget to use me. When I went to London I was in the same boat as you are right now. You've got your Orientation Packet and you're curling the edges you're so excited to just get on that plane and be there already. I was. But it was difficult the first week or so because the city was so big. The first time you're in Piccadilly Circus you feel absolutely disoriented. Every single degree of the circle you'll turn in has about five things to look at, and they're all interesting. So it can be difficult to decide just what to see so you get a sense of what London life and culture -and British life and culture, in general, are like (because you will learn soon enough that the two are quite different). I'm here to help. I've compiled a list of things you've got to do at least once, even if it's not 'your thing'. Because the thing about 'your thing' is, it wasn't 'your thing' until you did it for the first time. So I don't care if you don't like the theatre. You should go once. I don't care if punk isn't your style and for some ungodly reason, you think the Sex Pistols were lame. Go to Camden.

I've also made a list of ways to cut corners in terms of your spending. It's not much -fifty pence here, a pound there- but when that's between one and two dollars, it adds up faster than you'd think. By the end of a couple weeks, it's the difference between affording that concert or theatre show or day trip to Brighton or Dover at the very end of the trip that you've been dying to get to, and not being able to go at all. I missed out on a concert and a theatre production because I didn't know some of these things until a month or so in, and that doesn't seem like much time, but it's about a third of your time there.

So do read through this somewhat lengthy list. You'll be glad you did.

Cheers! Trish Nesti :)

Things You Should Do:

--The Museums: I loved them because they were mostly free entry, and honestly, you can't pass that up, I don't care how cool you think you are. The Natural History Museum had a room that simulated an earthquake, for example, and the Tate Modern had a slide exhibit when I was there. You'd go to the top floor and slide all the way down to the bottom. Everyone needs to be six again for five minutes once in awhile. And just seeing the art and exhibits in every museum makes you feel so much more cultured, even if you were just making a slightly off-colour remark about a painting.

--The Historic Sights: If you don't go see every tourist-y thing there is to see in London you should regret it. Big Ben, Trafalgar, Piccadilly, the Tower, the Roman Wall just before the 'official' start of East London, The Tower Bridge, Westminster, the London Eye (it's only 14 pounds and so worth it; I could see it from my bedroom in London, for the record, haha). You have to go.

--The Markets: Portobello, Camden, Spitalfields, Petticoat. Any of them. They're fun and it's a kind of culture we don't really have over here in the States. It's fun to learn how to haggle and walk away having saved ten or twenty pounds. And you can find some of the coolest stuff, not to mention the markets house a kind of bohemian/punk/etc. feel you won't really get elsewhere in such a metropolitan city. They're much more reminiscent of places like Cambridge to me because it's much more of a small, close-knit community you don't see much of in a city like London.

--The Theatre: You can't walk outside of Wang Theatre in Boston and meet the actors you just saw perform and possibly grab a pint with them across the street if they think you're cool enough. You can in London. I met Daniel Radcliffe like ..six times (much to the envy of my little sister). Even if you're not really into the theatre, you will be when you leave, because it's sort of like going to the movies there. But better. One of the guys who went the semester I did was never into classical music and hadn't thought twice about it, but he took a class on it in London and he misses the accessibility of the theatre we had there. It opens your eyes to things you hadn't thought you'd ever like before, and it really contributes to how you learn about yourself and change while you're there.

--The People: Putting yourself a little out of your comfort zone at Regent's will do you a world of good. I'm very into music and I collect concert t-shirts. Needless to say, I have a lot of them. One of the few Brits at the school was in a class of mine and would always mention something like 'I know them' or "I saw them at this venue.' And we got to talking because of it and we got to be good friends. I got invited out to the local pub by his flat in zone three. A place you wouldn't get access to as a tourist and I experienced a football/pub culture you don't get in the center of the city. So getting out of your comfort zone and talking to the people who aren't Americans in your classes is important because you can meet some of the most amazing people.

--Churches: Even if you're not religious, and, especially, if you are, there are tons of gorgeous Churches and Cathedrals in London (and England in general -not to mention abroad). You are free to visit and worship at any Church or Cathedral you please, you won't be turned away. Right down the street from campus, in fact, across from York Gate on Marylebone Road is the St. Marylebone Parish Church. So if you like attending services, that's a local place to do so. But, even if not, they have lovely classical music concerts on Sundays that are free (so long as you don't mind attending part of the service). St. Paul's Cathedral, for example, is stunning, and there are stories abound as to how it survived the Blitz in WWII. Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, England is one of the most famous in the country, and deservedly so, it's one of the most beautiful. (Though certainly not the largest, the Abbey/Cathedral in York is absolutely huge and quite the sight. So. Go see that, too). It does cost to tour many Cathedrals, like St. Paul's, but others simply ask for a donation should you be feeling charitable. However, there is a way around the entrance fee. (Am I going to Hell for this?) If you attend a service at St. Paul's (or Canterbury Cathedral), entrance is free, because you're worshipping, not being a tourist. So. If you're comfortable sitting in on a church service whether you follow the religion or not, it's a great way to see a stunning piece of architecture and history for free. If you get in trouble with The Big Guy when you die for doing it, tell whoever he or she is that it's my fault.

--Athletics: You won't run out of things to do in London. I promise. There's plenty of sights to see, but if you're more outdoorsy, the parks are for you. In Regent's on the weekends the fields are full of football (soccer) teams practicing, and there's plenty of space for you and whoever else feels like hanging out outside to start a game of your own (and they won't get mad if you play American Football, though they may find it a bit girly compared to the rugby they play over there.) Regent's Park has a massive amount of space. My friends and I would go for a walk everyday after class, and we never walked the same route twice. Hyde Park has a similar amount of space, and you can rollerblade, skateboard, walk, run and horseback ride til your little heart's content. Regent's itself has a small gym that opened up when I was studying there, and it's quite nice. There's weight machines, rowing machines, treadmills, I think some ellipticals (but don't quote me, the closest I get to using a gym is walking past it.) But one of my friends went a bunch and he loved it. There's also a bunch of intramural sports that the college runs. Men and women's and co-ed teams for ..all kinds of stuff. Did I mention there are tennis courts just across the street from campus? You can rent rackets if you don't have one, but aside from that, all you really need to do is reserve a time to play. The gym on campus and the tennis courts do cost a small fee, but if you'll use them three or four times a week, it could be worth it. If it's too pricey for you, there are plenty of gyms around. I wouldn't know where, but it's a simple Google search away (or, actually, just ask William at the Reid Hall reception desk, he knows everything. Really really.). And running around outside is the best way to enjoy England's mild weather. Or, I should say, Southern England's mild weather.

--Piccadilly: No real Londoner goes to Piccadilly, unless it's nighttime. The nightlife is fantastic (if a bit expensive), but it's something to experience at least once. There's a million clubs, and you'll see some really famous faces depending on where you go. The Virgin Megastore is also a place I would spend hours. There are artists there people have never even heard of in the States (and bands I've been a fan of and had been forced to import CDs from. I admit I spent a bit too much money on music there because it was finally right there and not an ocean away). Some music you should take a listen to because you probably haven't heard of them and they are steeped in the British music culture of the last thirty years: Placebo, Manic Street Preachers, The Stone Roses (they taught Oasis everything they know), Ian Brown. There's obviously many, many more, but I'll let you discover them yourselves.

--The Parks: Regent's Park is by far the most gorgeous (though I may be biased). But you can rent horses and ride through Hyde Park. Or rollerblade/skateboard, a huge pastime there. Or picnic. We did that constantly. Grab lunch at Tesco or Quiznos (cheap and a bit healthier than McDonalds) and sit out on the grass on a blanket with our work. The best way to be lazy but still somewhat productive. We usually did it on Fridays or Saturdays we were staying in England.

--Tours of London: The bus tours can be expensive and you can really see all the sights on foot, but check out walks.com, it has a ton of London walks you can do: Jack the Ripper (so much fun), Harry Potter, Haunted London Pub Crawl -tons of stuff and a great way to learn about the city and see little nooks and crannies you'd otherwise miss both geographically and historically.

--Traveling England: It's so easy to do from London because of National Rail, and really fairly affordable. People tend to forget England is just as gorgeous as Italy or France and never spend time seeing it. But Dover is something to recommend. Go to the Castle and get entry to the Wartime Tunnels included, and walking the white cliffs and collecting enough chalk to make a elementary school teacher die happy is an amazing experience. They're gorgeous. Liverpool. Even if you're not a Beatles fan you should go, cause you know someone's gonna ask if you went. Brighton, a place I never got to, but wanted to, has always been described to me as a mini, sea-side London. I'll get there someday! Cambridge is a must, and not just cause I lived there for two months, haha. Punting is amazing and it's just such a different feel from London. Go to Oxford, I guess. Cambridge is better, haha. Cornwall I wanted to get to as well, because it's supposed to be just amazing. Stratford-Upon-Avon I feel like I don't even have to mention because if you go to England, you have to go there. Or Haworth, everyone needs to feel a little Wuthering Heights at least once. And if you take a coach you can see the Angel of the North on the way, and that's pretty fantastic.

Tips:

London/England is so affordable for students -anyone, really, if you know where to look.

• The Tube: After a certain amount of money is spent on your pass in one day, it stops deducting. I think it's around 6 pounds 50, but I'm not sure, but I know the Transport for London site will have it. Though take the bus. You can see the city, and it's cheaper than the Tube by about fifty pence, which really adds up after a while, especially with the exchange rate as it is. But the point is: don't save a trip somewhere in the city for another day because you've already been on the Tube a lot one day. Rather than have to spend the money both days, go on the same day as a lot of travel in the city can end up saving you money.
• Traveling by National Rail: Do it in even-numbered groups if you can, because some of the lines have a 2-for-1 deal they constantly run. You have to travel to the destination and back all together, but ..if you're going with a group, chances are you will anyway. But always ask for it. And always take the time to actually go to King's Cross or wherever there's a National Rail office, to book the trip with an agent, because you won't get the deal online (the site for which is Nationalrail.co.uk)
• Traveling by Coach: There's a 'Fun Fare' deal runs, where you can get places (Cambridge, for example), for a pound one way. There are stipulations, of course, the main one I'm sure has to be you can't travel during peak hours (always more expensive than off-peak hours), and I think you have to be able to prove you're a student. (This you can check out on the Transport/NationalExpress.com site as well, and this deal IS available online).
• Do NOT go to the discount theatre ticket booths, you'll get ripped off. An hour before a show, go to the box office, they release tickets they haven't sold at a cheaper price, and if you're a student, they're often at most twenty pounds and you can be in the stalls. Pretty awesome. Popular West End shows you may want to book in advance, but I would always try the box office of the theatre you're going to before you go to discount booths.
• In terms of nightlife, those pesky people with clipboards in the streets trying to get your attention are your friends. They'll get you in at a discount and sometimes you may even get to jump the queue. Always try to go before ten because that's when queues get long and prices (entry and drinks) get more expensive. Don't forget to check out when a club/pub will have special nights where entry/drinks are less expensive.
• Take the London Lite. I know it's annoying when it's thrust in your face every ten seconds, but it's a good way to get involved in what's going on in the country and a great way to find out what's going on that week in terms of theatre/concerts/etc. And it's free. I kept all of mine (I took one just about every day) and at the end of the trip I cut them up and used the clippings I kept in a scrapbook I made of my time there. Also, there's a great magazine called Time Out. It's always available in the Regent's Library, and online, (a subscription is a bit pricey) and it tells you about all kinds of upcoming events (concerts, theatre productions, exhibits, etc.)
• Haggle at the markets and flash your International Student ID Card at every store you go into or every place you go to book a coach/train trip. You probably won't get more than 10% off if they even take it as a discount card, but you can use that ten percent later on, and like the Tube/Bus savings, it adds up.
• Eat at Tesco. I know it's a supermarket, but they have fantastic to-go salads and sandwiches pretty cheap (or a small loaf of bread and brie was a lunch I always enjoyed) on the days you can't eat at the Refectory. The same goes for when you're abroad. In Paris and Italy, I really barely ate. I mean, we went to restaurants to get a sense of the food culture, but a lot of the time we'd grab a crepe or gelato or pastry. You get a sense of the local food offered, and it's not expensive (Portobello around noon has face-sized croissants and sandwiches for as little as a pound fifty). Also, on Sundays, right behind the Waitrose on Marylebone High Street is the Farmer's Market: amazing local food and crafts, and inexpensive. It's a great way to enjoy lunch in a pretty little park right next to Regent's and get some of the local flavor (no pun intended), that you don't get much of in the center of the city.
• Traveling outside the country can be very inexpensive. Ryanair, Easyjet (and skyscanner.net is a wonderful site to check out) are the best. Who cares if you get delayed three hours in a terminal the size of a classroom? It's a great story to have and the flights aren't very expensive. You have to walk across the tarmac/get shuttled to the plane, but at least they don't have to wind it up. And the staff is always entertaining. And stay in hostels, they're really not that bad (roughing it for me is going to Holiday Inn, so.) Hostelworld.com is fantastic, you can see the places, read reviews from other students and see what it has and what you have to bring with you (linens/towels or not, for example).
• Your Regent's Student ID -- Aside from being your pass into and out of the school and having your meal plan, your Regent's student ID has money on it for printing services. So you don't need to worry about having a printer, and the money isn't some extra fee you have to pay --you paid for it when you paid your tuition. The card has about 50 pounds designated for printing. An amount you will not need all of by far. (10p for black and white per page and ..I think maybe 15p - 20p for color per page). Most, if not all of you, will not use 50 pounds for printing what you need for your classes, and you cannot transfer that money to your meal plan or get it in cash come the end of the semester. So what to do with it if you won't get back the fifty pounds you paid for if you don't use it? Well, I for one used it to print off color photos. I wasn't getting back the thirty-five pounds or so that I hadn't used, and I had uploaded a bunch of photos to Snapfish and Facebook. They may not be professional style prints you get out of the printers, but they're hard-copy photos you can put in a scrapbook or hang up in your room at home or your dorm that are already paid for. So think about doing that. As soon as you get home, people are going to want to see photos, and you're going to want to get over jetlag before you worry about printing photos, so having a stack you printed off at Regent's could be just the thing to calm the masses (and leave you alone while you sleep.)

A slightly long but important note for both you and your parents:

Safety-- You are not in Kansas anymore. In fact, you're not even in the United States anymore. Act accordingly. As soon as you open your mouth, it is clear you are not from around London or the UK in general. This is typically not a problem, as most people are friendly. London is particularly safe. If you don't believe me, here's a fun fact: the average person is photographed an average of 300 times a day. If something happens to you, it will be known; ah, the wonders of CCTV. I have lived a ten minute drive from Logan Airport my whole life, and I felt safer in London than I ever have in parts of Boston.

But, as in any city, some people are not so friendly and some areas are not so safe. Some people target foreigners because they are foreigners; they don't know where they are, they don't know the customs and in the case of Britain, they don't know which direction the cars are coming from. My advice to you: use common sense. It may not be fair that someone doesn't like you because you're an American, but that's the way it is. It's their country and they're entitled to their opinion. This is not to say I don't support everyone getting along and singing Kumbaya around a campfire, it just means I'm being realistic. If you wouldn't do something in Boston or New York City, don't do it in London. Simple as that. If you absolutely insist on walking alone at night, don't have your earphones on loud --or, better yet, don't have them on at all. Mind the Gap. Seriously. If you wouldn't hold a door for someone you don't know at UNH, don't do it at Regent's.

Sign yourself in and out of the Travel Book at William's desk. I know it's a pain and you're an adult; but continue to be an adult and do as you're told. Sign yourself in and out. Should there be an emergency, you will be very sorry if you scare the on-site director and your parents half to death and annoy Scotland Yard when your mother sends them out after you. Another note on traveling abroad: if you get to a city or hostel and it's not quite the Club Med you were expecting, do something about it, but for God's sake, DO NOT call your mother, tell her about it, and then be unreachable for the next couple of days. You will cause an international crisis. Instead, cancel the reservation, deal with being out that money, find a better place, and then call home and tell them the funny story about how you originally ended up someplace sketchy, but now all is well. Everyone will appreciate this.

Look both ways before you cross the street. I'm not kidding. You will be amazed at how many people you see almost get hit by a car or a taxi or a bus everyday. If you're unsure as to which direction the traffic is coming from, look down. The crosswalks are marked with 'Look Left' or 'Look Right'. This is for a reason. Honor these lost souls by doing as they did not. And always have your mobile on you. This may sound ridiculous to have to say, but, there it is. Have it on you, have it charged, have money on it. End of story. And let's make a deal to not go into East London on our onesies, or even at all, okay? Okay.

Don't be afraid of London, however. It's beautiful and diverse and bustling all the time. Just be aware. Be smart. Look before you step and think before you speak. Keep your eyes open and your mind alert and you'll be fine. I know this all seems like a spiel about things you already know, but you would be surprised how many people don't think at all about these things I've mentioned about your safety. So don't blow it off. We won't be friends anymore if you do.

Last, but most certainly not least:

Enjoy yourselves! You'll get this chance once, I know everyone says it, but it's true. I envy you, so I hope you appreciate that and do everything you can. And some things you can't. Like taking pictures of yourself in the Tube Stations.