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Doctor Malaver posted:Oh come on! Heh, well i wasnt trying to be insulting trust me. Just thought i might as well ask. People are always saying munich is really conservative and stuff so... Anyway, im from philadelphia so i guess the attitudes should be comparable. Thanks
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Nov 26, 2010 18:31
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This is the funniest question so far. Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris... are among the most modern, urban and forward-thinking cities in the world. If you're not from New York, you're probably coming from a less open-minded place. You don't have to worry about Prague and Zurich either.
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Limastock posted:Flights into and out of zurich were about ~$200 less than anywhere else. I would have loved to fly into berlin or frankfurt but it was a $700 ticket VS a $1000 ticket. $1000 in the winter? Dang. I paid $520 flying into Paris and out of Frankfurt last winter. Amsterdam could be ok. I was in Amsterdam around christmas last year (like the 20-22) and I wish I would have skipped it. It was really cold and rainy/snowy. I enjoyed it much more during the spring/summer. I agree with the other poster and I suggest skipping it. This will allow for more time in Paris and Berlin. I think Paris would be a lot better during Christmas but it really won't work with flow of your trip. Are you staying in hostels or hotels? One thing to consider is that most hotels and hostels won't let you check-in until like 4pm so you'll have to stash you stuff. They'll have a place for you to do it but you won't be able to shower/unpack during those days where you arrive early in the morning.
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Nov 26, 2010 18:40
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Omits-Bagels posted:Are you staying in hostels or hotels? One thing to consider is that most hotels and hostels won't let you check-in until like 4pm so you'll have to stash you stuff. They'll have a place for you to do it but you won't be able to shower/unpack during those days where you arrive early in the morning. Ill keep the amsterdam advice in mind however my wife and I are pretty set on seeing it and we love the cold snowy/rainy weather so we will most likely still spend some time there. We will be staying in hostels and I didnt consider the check in time being so late so im glad you warned me about that. One other question - Are the hostels crowded this time of year? It seems the summer would be much worse.
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Nov 26, 2010 18:53
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Limastock posted:Ill keep the amsterdam advice in mind however my wife and I are pretty set on seeing it and we love the cold snowy/rainy weather so we will most likely still spend some time there. The hostels will have plenty of people in them. Not as many as during the summer but you'll still want to book your room a few days in advance. But yeah, the cold usually doesn't bother me but after being out for 8 hours it starts to get old. But, I was also in Europe during a cold spell so it was regularly in the low 20s for most of the day. Or it could be in the 40s. Just make sure you have the right clothes.
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Nov 26, 2010 19:06
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I'm going to be in Porto, Portugal from December 23- January 4th. Any goons wanna give some advice? I pretty much know what I'm going to go see, but does anything cool go on around Christmas? I have family to stay with for Christmas. I'll also be going to Lisbon and Barcelona while I'm there. I have an apartment for the 2 weeks as it was the best value.
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Nov 27, 2010 05:06
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I'm studying abroad in Spain for around five months, and I was wondering if there was a phone provider you guys would recommend? I've heard good things about Vodafone. Is pay-as-you-go the standard?
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Nov 27, 2010 11:02
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If your in Amsterdam (or anywhere else in The Netherlands, can't speak for other countries) on Christmas, you might want to make some dinner reservations in advance. Just to be sure. I used to work in a restaurant and it was always fully booked on christmas.
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Nov 27, 2010 13:58
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Limastock posted:Heh, well i wasnt trying to be insulting trust me. Just thought i might as well ask. People are always saying munich is really conservative and stuff so... The English Garden in Munich has naked people wobbling around. Admittedly it's mostly old blokes. You'll be fine. (You should go, it's one of the great urban parks of the world, up there with the London ones and Central Park in NYC.) TheHoodedClaw fucked around with this message at 15:42 on Nov 27, 2010 |
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Nov 27, 2010 15:39
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TheHoodedClaw posted:The English Garden in Munich has naked people wobbling around. Admittedly it's mostly old blokes. You'll be fine. My plan to go hiking and camping on some snowy mountain in Europe for my Christmas break is out due to lack of interest from my friends. So, where is a good place for a few guys to go visit and have fun sometime in late December/early January? The cheaper, the better, but we want to have a great time too.
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Nov 27, 2010 17:39
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TheHoodedClaw posted:The English Garden in Munich has naked people wobbling around. Admittedly it's mostly old blokes. You'll be fine. Yeah I saw a video on munich recently and it said the park is clothing optional? I thought they were exaggerating as the idea of an entire urban park being nudist friendly is almost unthinkable. Rojkir posted:If your in Amsterdam (or anywhere else in The Netherlands, can't speak for other countries) on Christmas, you might want to make some dinner reservations in advance. Just to be sure. I used to work in a restaurant and it was always fully booked on christmas. Hmm, didnt take that into consideration. Thanks.
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Nov 27, 2010 17:52
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Limastock posted:Yeah I saw a video on munich recently and it said the park is clothing optional? I thought they were exaggerating as the idea of an entire urban park being nudist friendly is almost unthinkable. I was there in the spring and there were about 5 old guys walking around naked so its not like you get to see a bunch of hot german chicks.
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Nov 27, 2010 18:16
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Paramour posted:I'm studying abroad in Spain for around five months, and I was wondering if there was a phone provider you guys would recommend? I've heard good things about Vodafone. Is pay-as-you-go the standard? If you're only there for 5 months then just come with an unlocked phone (or get it unlocked there) and get a pay as you go with whoever works out cheapest for what you want to do (text, call, internet, whatever). Everybody knows that skype is the cheapest way to make international calls but I use Rebtel because on my cell plan I get free local calls so I can call my folks in the states (or they can call my mobile) for 5 cents/minute (or for free if I make them do the hang up and call me back while I stay on the line thing). It's just really convenient for people to be able to call your phone and not your computer.
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Nov 27, 2010 18:20
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The only place I've heard could potentially have some issues is Berlin outside of the Ring (there's a large ring that the S-Bahns travel around) could be trouble if you look "punk" - but I lived there for a couple of months and didn't experience anything like that, and besides, there's zero reason to go outside of the ring as a tourist.quote:Yeah I saw a video on munich recently and it said the park is clothing optional? I thought they were exaggerating as the idea of an entire urban park being nudist friendly is almost unthinkable. Maybe it's a general German thing? I do know I saw a surprising amount of naked old people in the Tiergarten in Berlin (not TONS, I'd be surprised if you ran into one visiting once, but if you're there daily for a month you'll probably run into a couple) Regarding Christmas markets, Nuremburg is the typical choice for that, but honestly you can get pretty much the same experience in Vienna (which has multiple really excellent Christmas markets). I wouldn't be surprised to hear Munich has a good one too, but I wasn't there around Christmas. Personally, my experience regarding hostels in the winter was that they were far less busy, and outside of the absolute top-ranked must-go places it was pretty easy to book same day or one day in advance. If you're picky about your particular hostel it's probably worth planning in advance, but otherwise it may make sense to keep flexibility in your schedule and book the day before you leave for your next city. We got burned exactly once for this - for a hostel that holds rooms for people scheduled to check out that day in case they want to stay longer - and even then, we got into a place a block away that was still insanely well reviewed without issue (and IIRC, that was on St. Nicholas day, which would be the biggest "Christmas" day in Germany / Austria) enki42 fucked around with this message at 02:53 on Nov 28, 2010 |
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Nov 28, 2010 02:49
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OK, I managed to book at least the first two legs of my trip, because I was getting a little panicky about how the "low-cost" airfares were jumping up in price every day. So, Dublin or Munich hostel suggestions?
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Nov 29, 2010 16:22
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I just left Munich two days ago, and can't say enough good things about [url=http://www.wombats-hostels.com/de/wombats/ ]Wombat's Hostel[/url] . If you do decide to go there, take the walking tour of town with Ozzie. One of the highlights of my trip so far.
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Nov 29, 2010 20:46
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smackfu posted:OK, I managed to book at least the first two legs of my trip, because I was getting a little panicky about how the "low-cost" airfares were jumping up in price every day. Dublin Bunkhouse. Seconding Wombat's!
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Nov 30, 2010 01:45
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Does anyone have any tips/advice on someone who is looking to visit western Europe alone? Is it recommended? I have a huge desire to spend a 1-2 months traveling to Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, Paris, London, and anywhere in between. The issue is the fact that none of my friends have the desire (or money) to take a trip like this. Should I even bother trying?
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Nov 30, 2010 07:27
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Corbet posted:Does anyone have any tips/advice on someone who is looking to visit western Europe alone? Is it recommended? I have a huge desire to spend a 1-2 months traveling to Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, Paris, London, and anywhere in between. The issue is the fact that none of my friends have the desire (or money) to take a trip like this. Alone > with friends. You meet people easier, you have total freedom of what you're doing, and you have no one to bicker with but your inner monologue. I always travel alone.
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Nov 30, 2010 08:17
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Liface posted:Alone > with friends. I completely agree with this one. I'm living in Europe right now and my friends want to go to Paris in January and I'm having a hard time deciding if I want to go with them.
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Nov 30, 2010 09:24
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Corbet posted:Does anyone have any tips/advice on someone who is looking to visit western Europe alone? Is it recommended? I have a huge desire to spend a 1-2 months traveling to Berlin, Vienna, Amsterdam, Paris, London, and anywhere in between. The issue is the fact that none of my friends have the desire (or money) to take a trip like this. This is a personality thing much more than a travel thing. If you function well alone, if you make friends easily and you're independent, then go ahead. If not, I bet you will want to cut the trip shorter. I'm surprised how easily the previous posters discard companionship. Things happen during travel and you want to share them with people close to you. What will you do, post on Facebook? Who will you turn to when you get bored, depressed or sick? It wouldn't be an issue if you traveled a week, but two months is a long time. It would be ideal to mix it up. Stay in hostels, make friends, travel with them for a while. Or invite your friends to come for just a part of the trip and return to States after two weeks. When I traveled through Spain for a couple of weeks, I went along with two guys who I met online on a travel site. It turned out they were dull and a huge burden on me so after a few days I ditched them. I felt great then and enjoyed my new freedom... but after a week I started getting lonely. Then I heard some girls speaking my language in Prado and made friends with them and traveled together for the rest of the trip.
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Nov 30, 2010 10:05
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Doctor Malaver posted:It turned out [my companions] were dull and a huge burden on me so after a few days I ditched them. I felt great then and enjoyed my new freedom... but after a week I started getting lonely. Then I heard some girls speaking my language in Prado and made friends with them and traveled together for the rest of the trip. This is pretty much how travel has been for me. I don't like travelling solo for more than even just a weekend. I've also found, at least for me, it's harder to meet people as a traveller in Europe than elsewhere, but that might be because I can't just go up to any foreign-looking person on the street and say in English: "hi, you are also a foreign traveller, let's grab a drink" like I can in Asia or Africa. Now I just save up my money and vacation for times I can go with someone I know I want to be with. YMMV as Dr. Malaver said. It's definitely worth trying out solo travel; some people love it.
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Nov 30, 2010 13:13
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One thing I've found when travelling solo is that your choice of hostel makes a much bigger difference on how much you'll enjoy a place. If you're with friends, and your hostel is the quiet type of place that everyone just uses as a place to sleep, it's not really that big a deal. If you're relying on your hostel to have a place to meet and chat with people, it can make for a pretty boring night. You definitely want to err on the side of "party hostel", even if you're not looking to get shitfaced with Australian teenagers every night. Because typically even the biggest party hostels will have a lot more friendly chill, non-crazy drinkers than the HI-type places. If you're going for 2 months, you should definitely not fix your schedule in pretty much any way. Book hostels the day before you leave the city you're currently in. Flexibility is probably worth some hassle / cost, particularly if you're alone.
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Nov 30, 2010 13:31
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There are pros and cons to traveling alone, and traveling with a perfect companion would certainly be better, but the people I've actually traveled with were certainly not perfect and some of them really made the trip less fun. It can really show you a side of people you don't see in normal everyday life, like how well they deal with uncertainty. Tips: Talk to everyone. Don't feel obligated to do stuff with people. You just met them, you have no duty. Hostels with bars are good. The "fun" rating on HostelWorld reviews is a good indicator. You probably won't sleep too well though. Do the bar crawls and walking tours. Sometimes people mix in guided tours to get to places that are out of the way or would need a car, which is a good way to meet people too.
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Nov 30, 2010 15:58
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When I say I prefer to travel alone I don't mean that I'm going to go with a mindset of "gently caress everybody I'm on my own 24/7." I meant that there are very few people I'd want to travel with for x days/weeks. The traveling alone experience for me is meeting people from all corners of the world at my destination and going from there. For example, when I went to Berlin two summers ago I flew in by myself and met some cool people at my hostel. They'd been there longer than I was so they knew of some cool places I didn't think about, and they were more of the partying type than me so in the day I went sightseeing on my own and at night went out to whichever club they were going out to. One of the people I met there was from Zurich and was in Berlin on holidays and wanted to go back home soon and I somehow talked her into going to Barcelona with me for a few days. I made a friend for life and had somewhere free to stay when I visited Switzerland later in the summer. Another time I flew to NYC almost on a lark after an exam and my original plans were to stay at a hostel I found for the entirety of it. I got there and met some people at a soccer bar who started talking to me cause of my university's t-shirt. Some small talk later and some beers they invited me to a party to show me the real NYC. Had a blast partying with them, but I still always prefer to go sight seeing alone so that's what I did. But now I had a contact in NYC to call which turned out nice cause I met a nice British girl who complained that the bars she went to sucked. These are things you don't get traveling with your friends with definite set plans because you can't really do what you want to do, you need to do what the group wants to do. I won't deny that some people make perfect travel companions, but most people don't. Sometimes I did get lonely because I didn't have anyone close to me to share everything with, but that became less and less as I became comfortable traveling by myself. If you're not an outgoing person and don't feel comfortable talking to strangers and feel lost all the time then I guess it's better if you traveled with someone else. If you noticed from my writing, I just hate sightseeing with people because I want to see and do what I want, drat it, which is what most of my traveling is for. But I would never go to a rollercoaster park alone and I prefer going to clubs/bars with at least one other person.
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Nov 30, 2010 18:22
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Doctor Malaver posted:Things happen during travel and you want to share them with people close to you. What will you do, post on Facebook? Who will you turn to when you get bored, depressed or sick? It wouldn't be an issue if you traveled a week, but two months is a long time. This is a good point, but personally I don't feel like I have to share my experiences with someone to revel in them. That's why I'm not constantly updating my Facebook status for approval, I guess. I don't feel like I need to take advantage of another person just because I'm feeling bored, depressed, or sick. Overall, your assessment that it is a personality issue is bang on. I'm an only child, that probably has a lot to do with it.  enki42 posted:One thing I've found when travelling solo is that your choice of hostel makes a much bigger difference on how much you'll enjoy a place. If you're with friends, and your hostel is the quiet type of place that everyone just uses as a place to sleep, it's not really that big a deal. If you're relying on your hostel to have a place to meet and chat with people, it can make for a pretty boring night. Seconding this. Sterile hostels are really lame when traveling alone.
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Nov 30, 2010 21:03
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It's also worth mentioning, Corbet, that you've chosen 5 kick rear end cities with tons of poo poo to do, incredible culture as well as night life, in central locations with great transport hubs and very popular for travelers so you should have absolutely no problems meeting people (including locals). Do it and have a great time, you'll be a legend in your friends' eyes.
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Nov 30, 2010 23:10
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I'm thinking of going to NY alone for a week or so. I have friends who want to go too, but they're not interested in shopping or exploring, more going clubbing every night. And they mainly want to go to LA but maybe spend a few days in NY. Rather than compromise and go with them, even though I would enjoy their company and have fun, I think I'd rather go it alone and actually do what I want to do, in my own time. When I went to Japan last year I spent a couple of days going it alone apart from my friends and I had no problem. Should be fine, right?
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Nov 30, 2010 23:39
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Reverse Jesus posted:I'm thinking of going to NY alone for a week or so. I have friends who want to go too, but they're not interested in shopping or exploring, more going clubbing every night. And they mainly want to go to LA but maybe spend a few days in NY. I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. You'll manage. Also LA and NY are about as far away as Lisbon and Moscow. I really agree with Ziir a couple posts above. I love spending days by myself (or with a girlfriend/very close friend) and not with "other people," but at nights it's great to meet up with, or meet, casual acquaintances. I would never plan more than a weekend trip with someone I hadn't either spent time living with or travelled with before; you really do see a different side of people. Also don't tell people about your travels unless they ask. No one likes someone who talks about their travels all the goddamn time (this forum notwithstanding, since we all come here specifically to hear or ask about other people's experiences).
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Nov 30, 2010 23:51
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Reverse Jesus posted:I'm thinking of going to NY alone for a week or so. I have friends who want to go too, but they're not interested in shopping or exploring, more going clubbing every night. And they mainly want to go to LA but maybe spend a few days in NY. If you can't entertain yourself in NYC for a week (daytime or nighttime) then I just don't even know what to tell you.
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Dec 1, 2010 10:47
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Saladman posted:Also don't tell people about your travels unless they ask. No one likes someone who talks about their travels all the goddamn time (this forum notwithstanding, since we all come here specifically to hear or ask about other people's experiences). Also don't be that guy who tells everybody, in English, that they've been to Roma and Firenze and just Italia in general. The only people who do this are pretentious snobs who think they're so cool and cultured because they know how to write Florence in Italian.
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Dec 1, 2010 14:44
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I'm an Aussie that's pretty set on doing some kind of work program in the UK next year. I've been to the UK before and hold an Irish passport so the whole visa thing is not an issue. But I have a friend who has just moved over there with his girlfriend to live and work for awhile and is struggling already with trying to get a decent job and hasn't got any real accomodation yet so it's costing him a fortune into his savings already. So I was thinking about doing one of those live-in type deals where you work in a pub (for poo poo pay I know) but you have it ready to go by the time you arrive. Thinking of doing a Europe tour first and then finishing up in the UK. I've found a couple of websites and just wondered if anyone has either used any of these before or could reccomend anything different? http://www.londonpub.com.au/ http://www.owh.com.au/uk.cfm?product=151 and this one from the same site seems a little different, they look to set you up in a share house with other people of the same program but you do temping jobs close to the house, things like furtniture fitting it says, not too detailed on the jobs themselves - http://www.owh.com.au/uk.cfm?product=146 I figure doing this for a few months gives me a better way to scope out other jobs or living arrangements rather than arriving to nothing. They all look sort of the same so it's hard to know what the real pro's and con's are between them.
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Dec 2, 2010 09:57
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I'm not sure if they have exactly that kind of thing, but you should check out Gumtree for this kind of thing as well! Hope that helps.
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Dec 2, 2010 12:31
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thepokey posted:I'm an Aussie that's pretty set on doing some kind of work program in the UK next year. I've been to the UK before and hold an Irish passport so the whole visa thing is not an issue. But I have a friend who has just moved over there with his girlfriend to live and work for awhile and is struggling already with trying to get a decent job and hasn't got any real accomodation yet so it's costing him a fortune into his savings already. The golden rule of employment scams is to never, ever, ever, under any circumstances ever, give money up front in return for the promise of a job. Ever. And I really do mean never ever. This company aren't going to take your money and run, but they will only accept you if they know they can get you a job (i.e. if you're a nurse or teacher or something). If they do get you a job the employer will be paying them a commission, so they'll be making money off you straight away AND you're giving them $595 for the privilege! Their accommodation "deals" are a joke, there are no savings there. There "assistance" with setting up a bank account and getting an NI number is bullshit; all this must be done by yourself anyway and isn't exactly difficult. And their "free money transfer service" will no doubt be done at whatever lovely exchange rate they decide to give you. It also says at the bottom you will spend £2500 in your first ten weeks, on "rent and living costs", but they can provide you with all this for only $595!!! It is perhaps unfortunate that the £2500 includes food and the $595 doesn't. Perhaps they expect you to forage? To contribute, though... The best thing you can do if you're going to a foreign country is go with a plan. Ask yourself loads of questions and know all the answers. Just some examples: What kind of work can I do? Am I qualified or experienced? Do I have contacts? Can I GET contacts before I go? What kind of work is available, even if I don't want to do it? How do I get this work? How long will it take to get paid? How much will it cost to feed myself? Where can I get cheap food? How do I meet girls? Doing this, and talking to as many people as you can about it (people who have done it, mainly) will be far more useful than paying someone close to six hundred bucks to tell you where the bank is.
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Dec 2, 2010 13:30
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duckmaster posted:The golden rule of employment scams is to never, ever, ever, under any circumstances ever, give money up front in return for the promise of a job. Ever. And I really do mean never ever. Good advice, I'm trying to look in at the moment to find people who have done similar things, but unfortunatly most of the people I know that have gone overseas have just gone on holiday, the guy that's already over there is finding it hard so I'm trying to avoid what he's done or just learn from his mistakes. Just looking now for a forum or something where people have done these things. I guess what works against me is not really having qualifications as such except for just your average work/customer service history. To be honest things like setting up the bank acount and NI number I'm not too concerned about, as you said that's the easy stuff. I wouldn't really factor that in as part of a package or value for money or anything. I figured maybe seeing as one of those sites is funded by a major travel agent and the other has been around for a long time they should at least be reputable, they talk about no experience required for the jobs they find for you like bar work or what have you. So that would mean that they're probably pretty poo poo eating jobs I'd be guessing. The pay is a concern though, it just seems like such a ridiculously small wage to take home, I worked out that is seems to average at about $500AU a fortnight with most of these places which is about what you get on standard unemployment benefits here. Is the 95 quid a week for a single room in a share house the norm over there? Less/More expensive? I think that I was thinking more that this would be a stepping stone while I look for other jobs and accomodation. It's hard to look at stuff from over here because if you find it you're not in a position to apply yet and browsing UK job websites I've come across makes the unemployment over there seem terrible, it feels kind of daunting to go over without something in the pipeline. I would be guessing that arriving and looking for somewhere to rent and a job will require references so I figured that would be easier to supply with a few months history having lived/worked for someone over there already. I'd still be interested to hear if someone else has done something like this.
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Dec 2, 2010 14:48
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thepokey posted:Good advice, I'm trying to look in at the moment to find people who have done similar things, but unfortunatly most of the people I know that have gone overseas have just gone on holiday, the guy that's already over there is finding it hard so I'm trying to avoid what he's done or just learn from his mistakes. Just looking now for a forum or something where people have done these things. It was hard for me when I went to Australia and it was hard when I went to London. Part of the fun is the challenge! All you can do is plan it, plan it, plan it and plan it.. then go, and watch your plans fall apart. The really difficult bit is putting them back together again. thepokey posted:I guess what works against me is not really having qualifications as such except for just your average work/customer service history. A solid work history is a qualification in itself. thepokey posted:I figured maybe seeing as one of those sites is funded by a major travel agent and the other has been around for a long time they should at least be reputable, they talk about no experience required for the jobs they find for you like bar work or what have you. So that would mean that they're probably pretty poo poo eating jobs I'd be guessing. They may well be reputable but paying someone to give you a job is absolute madness. I went to London and got a live-in job in a pub earning £180 a week (after all deductions - tax, rent, 2 meals a day) within a week. There are 7000 of them; it's really just a case of picking up the phone. thepokey posted:The pay is a concern though, it just seems like such a ridiculously small wage to take home, I worked out that is seems to average at about $500AU a fortnight with most of these places which is about what you get on standard unemployment benefits here. Every single Australian who has ever worked in the UK has spent the first week coughing and spluttering about the cost of living and the low wages etc etc etc. They generally get over this when they start taking drugs. And they all take drugs. Seriously, all of them. So get ready for that! thepokey posted:Is the 95 quid a week for a single room in a share house the norm over there? Less/More expensive? https://www.gumtree.com Search for rooms in London. £100 is about average, but it depends where you are. Also remember that Sydney has a population of 4 million spread over an area of 4,600 square miles; London has a population of 9 million spread over an area of 600 square miles. There's twice as many people but eight times less space.. so don't expect a huge room. thepokey posted:I think that I was thinking more that this would be a stepping stone while I look for other jobs and accomodation. It's hard to look at stuff from over here because if you find it you're not in a position to apply yet and browsing UK job websites I've come across makes the unemployment over there seem terrible, it feels kind of daunting to go over without something in the pipeline. I would be guessing that arriving and looking for somewhere to rent and a job will require references so I figured that would be easier to supply with a few months history having lived/worked for someone over there already. You won't need references to rent unless you're renting an entire flat, which you won't be because you can't afford it. Some jobs will require references although obtaining them has become easier recently. Only a few years ago if an employer wanted a reference on an Australian he would have to send a message with the next steamer to Darwin, which, weather permitting, could take years. Nowadays we use morse code and telegrams, which cuts the time down to only a few weeks! Apparently there's this new-fangled system called "email" which will cut it down to only a few days, but we haven't got that yet. Totally serious advice: call centres. They're easy to get into, it's easy money, you sit in a warm office all day and there will almost certainly be girls. If you can't land in London and have a job in a call centre within a week you are too stupid to be breathing. Have fun!
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Dec 2, 2010 16:39
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haha you do make some valid points there! I think something like a call centre is in some ways what I would prefer ... well not prefer because that makes it sound like it's good work, but I'm sure the pay is better, it's warmer and girls. Girls are everywhere apparently in London, confirm/deny? I would assume that they could do reference checks overseas, but I've heard a few companies I've worked for here won't accept them for certain roles because they believe its too easy to fake an email reference so I guess I was affraid of a similar sort of response. I think I got a little discouraged on when looking at a few UK job search websites for office/call centre jobs and barely anything turned up. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, but I'd have assumed central London would have been stacked with them. And when I mean not many jobs, I don't mean not many that I would actually like, but as in 2 or less results. I'll check out the gumtree site there, cheers for that. Yeah as you said I certainly wouldn't be expecting luxory or major space. Just a chill out little room to myself to sleep in and the rest I'd be easy with. It seems like you're pretty anti-job program. I'm curious, I know you spelled out your reasons, but have you actually heard any horror stories of it all going to poo poo or is it just based on the "you could just as easily do it yourself and save $600" ? Or put it this way, pretend this program was 100% free but offered the exact same things, do you think starting off for 3-4 months doing something like this would be better/worse than going it alone from the get-go?
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Dec 2, 2010 17:43
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Girls are everywhere, it's unreal. The job boards won't have any ads on them because there are thousands of people looking for work in London. Agencies get dozens of CVs every day, thousands of phone calls and hundreds of people walking in the door. When a job comes up for them to fill they don't need to advertise it, they just give it to the "most qualified person" - and that is usually the person who is just about qualified and phones them all the bloody time and they just want to get rid of him. The actual "most qualified person" won't be offered the job if they haven't heard from him in 24 hours (which is virtually a lifetime in recruitment agency terms). This is why you need to be there, on the ground, to get a job through an agency. I don't agree with job programs because they're a rip-off (I am admittedly cautious about using the word 'scam'). Put it like this: Let's say you pay your AU$595 (£372 according to google) to this company and they promise to find you a job. Let's assume they find you a job, and you agree to be paid £200 a week after tax, minus £100 in rent. Your take-home is £100. You decide you're going to do this job for 3/4 months, then go traveling. See Stonehenge or something, you Australians love that poo poo (god only knows why, it's a pile of rocks?). To do this, you know you need to save some money. Unfortunately you also want to have a good time. You want to drink and be merry, etc etc. This costs £50 a week. The food at the place you're staying is poo poo so sometimes you eat out. This costs £20 a week. You save the other £30. After thirteen weeks (approx three months) you have saved £390. Minus the expenditure in actually getting the job, and in three months you have actually saved a grand total of... £18. This is why I don't agree with it. This sort of program is, in my eyes, for the people who want to take drugs and have sex but not look for a job. If that's you, go for it, but if you go to London with the precise intention of getting a job you can easily do it by yourself. If it was free I'd do it, but it wouldn't actually be free - someone would be taking a cut out of my wages, and I wouldn't work like that. If you just want to land in the UK and have a job I'd look outside London. The rest of the country is a different beast, and you'll be amazed how completely different it is. There's a hotel near me (Loch Lomond, Scotland) staffed almost entirely by Australians and New Zealanders, and they certainly aren't employed through some shady agency; they just landed and rang up asking for a job. And there are hundreds of weird little places like that all over the country.
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Dec 2, 2010 18:34
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That's the other thing I guess, I'm not 100% married to the idea of it has to be London, there are a couple of other places (or even just outside London) that I wouldn't mind looking into. I imagine the lifestyle and competition for jobs would be a lot less hectic. I think it's just the fear of walking into what my friend has. He has been doing temping stuff in London where he can get it but the accomodation seems to be the harder thing to nail down and it's costing him a lot more than it should. Maybe he's finding it harder because there are 2 of them (his girlfriend), so I assume a single person would find it easier getting a room somewhere. If I were to go it alone without any sort of program assistance I'd say my plan of attack would be picking an area I want first and organising hostel accomodation with them and working out with them if there is a limit to how long i could stay (pending on other bookings and such). Then from there doing the job searching/bank/NI set up. Then I imagine once securing a job I'd have to work and live out of the hostel for awhile whilst doing house searching. (or pending on where the job is meaning that I'd have to move hostels). So in all I guess if you do it alone I imagine for the first few weeks possibly a month or more there could be quite a lot of living out of a hostel I imagine? Also from poking around online a few FAQ places seem to mention http://www.livein-jobs.co.uk/free.html as a good option. They all mention that the website looks incredibly dodgey and poo poo (which is most certainly does) but that it is infact quite legit. I can't say I wouldn't have my doubts about it but if you don't pay anything and they're working off commissions from employers then I don't see what they'd have to gain by being dodgey. Has anyone had any dealings with this or something similar? Or if there are similar things to this that you know of which would you reccomend? I wouldn't mind building a little contact book of decent sounding agency places like this to have as many options as possible. Also any thoughts on something like this - http://www.1stcontactkickstart.com/?utm_source=uk-group-site&utm_medium=screenshot&utm_campaign=kickstart ... price wise is a hell of a lot cheaper than any of the programs and seems like a bit of a helper to someone starting out on their own? thepokey fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Dec 3, 2010 |
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Dec 3, 2010 06:03
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I lived and worked in Jersey (the old Jersey, in the Channel Islands) for 6 months and that was live-in. I emailed approx thirty five hotels, had seven phone interviews and was offered three jobs. I accepted the best and off I went! The holiday season in the Channel Islands starts in March/April and lasts till September/October so you're unlikely to get a job in the winter. They aren't in the European Union but anyone from the EU can live and work there with no restrictions. The tax rate is lower (mine was 3%, compared to 20% in the UK) and France is an hour and a half away by ferry - and you can get duty free cigs and booze on it! I don't see anything particularly dodgy about https://www.livein-jobs.co.uk. It looks like they'll find you a job and the employer will pay them a commission (or give them a flat fee), without you forking out any cash - exactly the way it should be. Remember they're an agency though. If you register and talk to them once, don't expect them to call you three weeks later with some great job they've found you; they'll give the jobs they've got to people who are in regular contact with them. Going with something like that isn't a bad idea, but doing some work yourself as well would do the trick.
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Dec 4, 2010 01:13
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This thread has helped a lot in planning my trip. The only thing I'm missing is a rough recommendation of how long each city is worth. The major ones will be Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Belgrade, Sarajevo, Split and Zadar - how much should I give each one in an essentially unlimited schedule?
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Dec 4, 2010 03:00
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