Reply #5: London can be nice for internships

[sweetheart]

London and the southeast suffer because the british government has
made some stupid economic decisions. They have pushed for a very high
percentage of home ownership, which is correlatec, economically with
an impoverished economy. This because people can't find rental housing
near where their skills can be best used, so workers tend to settle
for jobs that are not using them to the fullest degree. The results
are a mediocre economic performance and very expensive living.

The "should", in their london economic plan, create a massive area
of rental housing, so that the labour force in the rest of the UK might
have a way to commute-by-the-week to the southeast (which is what london
and its surrounding area is called). London's got 4 major airports,
1 at 11 oclock (luton), one at 2 oclock (stanstead), 9 oclock (heathrow)
and 6 oclock (gatwick). Between them, you can get to anywhere in the
world in short order.

London is great for all the reasons many say, and my complaints are
the cost of rent, that taxis' are now so dear with the livingston
charges that they're really a luxury for the rich, the tube sucks,
especially if you have to commute on it. The crowds are massive, like
in NYC, except there is no air-conditioning, and the carriages are low
headroom... the tube is a great place to catch whatever illness is
going in the public common. They say that 1 trip on the underground
is the equivalent of smoking 5 cigarettes... indeed!

London has grown west from the square mile or "the city" which is
the original roman-walled town, "Londonium" on the north side of
the Thames by the tower. (between tower bridge and london bridge).
The open spaces in the city are actually a bit spartan, as most of
the city is a few storys tall with no green spaces. This inspires
many folks to head out to the outer reaches of the city for some
green, but, as with NYC, the commuting trains are costly, and crowded
as well.

The city is often described by postal codes, such as SW7, EC2, W9,
more so than the names of the areas. Beware of council tax when
renting, it is a property tax that is levied on the RENTER, not the
land ownner and can up your rent by a few hundred pound. As well
rents are generally quoted "by the week" which makes them sound
reasonable when you think "by the month"... then multiply by 4 and
choke.

It is a great city for a young person without pets, or a rich
investment banker person, as both parties tend to be very flexible.
Of the local folks, i find most people i know who grew up in london
have moved out to other parts of britain as the city has transformed
over the years. There are 300 languages in london and it is easily
the most cosmopolitan city in the world... more so than New York,
and the financial district is the primary capital center in europe.

Were I you, i would apply to a UK Ph.D. programme at a university
around london, and the university will take care of you as a new
immigrant... with housing and stuff that otherwise make moving over
very expensive indeed.

Another option, if you can get over "london" is to pursue the scottish
option mentioned on another thread in this forum.
Any person who completes schooling
in scotland can stay on and become a citizen. It is the path
am on myself. Scotland rules the UK. Many in the cabinet and the
prime minister is from there, as with brown, and others. Edinburgh
is kinda like boston, a huge college town, where many british youths
go for their university, and then head down england way for their
professional careers.

What else... you might check out the cities west of london along
the thames river up to oxford (river is called the ISIS up there...
don't know why). The thames cities all are decent places to live
generally, whereas its not such a sure bet away from the river.
Croydon and SW1 can be a bit dodgey... if it looks dreary and
not inviting, it probably isn't a good place to live.

Another option is the "home counties" i suspect named that people
can keep their "homes" there whilst working in london. This would
be essex, suffolk, hertforshire, bedforshire, and some others in
a circle around london. Wimbledon is a nice town... you can find
out really quick by simply checking the rental prices of an area
whether its in your reach.

London, in some areas has terribly high incidences of athsma, that
myself having had athsma as a youth in california, but having no
symptoms for many years, suddenly needed medication to breathe when
living in W9. Fortunately, doctors are more available than in the
US. What else.... There is a book "Life in the United Kingodm
A journey to citizenship" published by the home office (same as the
INS in this regard)... and it explains the whole nitty gritty for
anyone considering your position:

http://www.tso.co.uk/bookshop/bookstore.asp?action=searchresults

It will even give you a full british history lesson (leaving out
the peasant revolt of 1381 entirely!!! Blunkett!! what were you
thinking.. "labour!!")

For scotland, its all on the web at www.scotland.gov.uk ... check
the skilled workers link to find out about immigration.