Kingston University

Best pub? Kingston Mill on Monday nights (£1 drinks). Very cozy. Kings Tun (Wetherspoon's) is a chain pub, by the way. Best club? They're all the same, but Oceania was the least skanky of all. Restaurant? Frango's Chicken. A word of advice: Get the (really crappy) student newspaper, SUblime. Sometimes they have free tickets for the Odeon cinema (Friday and Saturday late-night showings only). Be careful on the high street around 9 p.m., but especially after 11 p.m. when the pubs let out. Somerfield's grocery is overpriced. Use Sainsbury's. Dine, at least once, on the river.

On-campus housing is very nice...if your flatmates aren't messy in the kitchen and toilet. But it is very difficult to get on-campus housing, and recently the university lost its bid for some land on which they were going to build a new student community. Off-campus housing required a lot of hassle with landlords and landladies, and the amenities vary wildly even though the cost is uniform (about £75 per week). The public transportation is great, but can really get to you if you need to get somewhere quickly or if you're light on cash. Housing is luck of the draw when you're an international student. I was scheduled to live in a private residence, but that fell through. I was homeless for about 4 hours, until the two managers of the programme found a place on campus and one of them personally drove me to the buildling after business hours.

English is not English everywhere in the world. There are some British phrases that are different than American ones. I visited family in Italy, and when they asked me how to say something in English, I started to get confused myself. Londoners are tight-lipped and do not care to speak to strangers, so becoming friends is rare. They also like to schedule a lot, so do not expect a "yes" when you randomly invite them to dinner or a movie. Most of my friends were American, and most of our British friends...we couldn't read too well whether they enjoyed our company or not. But after a few months, you can feel them out. The worst is the "British face" (that's my word for the expression they give when they are disgusted with something). It's the face someone gives when they pull a huge bowl of molded leftovers out of their refridgerator. It just...ouch...it's a look that will sting you because they when they give it, they are giving it in response to YOU. It...oh gosh...it hurts! To this day, I don't know how to respond when they give that look.

When you go shopping for yourself (and you will have to because British students cook for themselves most of the time), plan out your meals for the week and buy those ingredients. It saves you money and ensures that you won't waste anything. Buy in bulk if possible, but be careful because, remember, you need to CARRY HOME your items. If you live in the residence halls, keep the place clean! They check the flat for damages and hygiene, so if it's dirty, they'll charge you £11 each time. Choose your public tranportation pass WISELY; there are STUDENT DISCOUNTS on public transportation (One is for the trains only, the other is for ALL TRANSPORT, be careful which one you use).

Bring an umbrella.