Tips on what to expect (first visit)

Hi All,

I am very excited about my first visit to the UK in October to visit my boyfriend (he's British). I was hoping that perhaps you could pass on tips for everything from where to visit, to finding a flat (I'll be in either Chester or West Kirby), making new friends...pretty much anything you can think of to make a first-time visitors trip as smooth as possible.

Thanks!
Allison

Hi Alison,
as my first visit to the UK was over 10 years ago it is hard for me to remember but I will try.
Firstly the doors- remember your key because most doors lock automatically behind you in the UK.
As for making friends, I guess if your boyfriend is in the UK he might have friends to introduce you to? Its like Canada, I don't think there is a standard place to go, you can make friends at school/work or something. Probably the same places you would go to in Canada?
Oh, be a where that sizes in the UK are smaller-fridges, freezers. washing machines ect all smaller than you may be used too, that took some getting used to.
Thats all I can think of for now
republican

Life here can be very expensive compared to Canada. Whenever I return to Canada to visit my parents (in Peterborough!) I bring an empty suitcase and buy clothes, CDs etc... back home.

Setting that aside, if you are a student you can save a bit of money with a student railcard that will allow you to travel around more cheaply.

From Chester I would highly recommend:
- North Wales (particularly Snowdonia)
- The Lake District
- The Yorkshire Dales
- Shrewsbury

The first three of these are not very straightforward on public transport. It may be best to rent a car to make the most of it....

It's EXPENSIVE. I brought $200 cash with me and got £85 back at Heathrow Airport, and that barely covered the cab ride when the school placement agency that was supposed to pick me up at the airport, didn't show up. In spite of that, don't even THINK about getting a job to make up for that unless you have a second citizenship, European Union country's passport and use that to enter the country instead of your Canadian one. And if you have to do that, make sure to register with the High Commissioner's office in London or Birmingham or Glasgow. A Canadian without either a UK Ancestry Visa, Working Holiday visa, or a European Union passport here has NO RIGHTS to do anything other than visit. And these polite Englishpeople will never stop reminding you of that fact. Only they will never admit outright that that's why they keep telling you to "go back to Canada." They come across like they hate us, when it's really the Americans they hate but they will automatically call you an "American" when you have like one word out of your mouth no matter how many Maple Leaves you are wearing. Even if you glue a big one to your forehead. They hate America and take it out on us.

Or maybe it's just ME that these things are happening to! I just want to warn any other Canadians who haven't been here before, the way I wish I had been warned. As long as you come here fully realising that they are hell-bent on treating us like "Americans," then you won't be in for as much of a nasty culture shock. Deal with it however - I wish I'd brought plenty of hockey sticks.

Whoa. London is just not your place. You might enjoy your time in the UK more if you came north. Scotland is in need of teachers, just check out the times Ed at www.tesjobs.com .

You have to apply to the GTC for scotland, have your degrees assessed by UK Naric, and have an enhanced disclosure carried out (police check) by Disclosure Scotland, this can take 2 months.

Think about it.

It is a real shame you're experiencing such negativity while over here pkennedy .... in the four plus years I've been here I've not had one person show any negativity towards me for being Canadian at all - and I'm in London on a regular basis visiting my boyfriend and other friends. In fact, I've had many people say they much prefer Canadians to Americans - that we seem to be more like the Brits in many ways.

I think you are right Kirsten. I also have never experienced any negativity from people, at least no more than anywhere else.
Pkennedy seems to have issues that go way deeper than this particular thing. Basically it seem that every single thing she posts is negative and often angry and even hate filled.
It's just my humble opinion that she makes the giant chip on her shoulder very obvious which of course elicits a negative response from people.
I especially find it very interesting that someone who claims to have been such a victim of racism on so many occassions can post such hateful messages about other large groups of the population i.e. anyone and anything American or British.
Frankly, I for one am tired of it. We all have bad times and difficulty adjusting to new cultures, but they will continue to be bad unless you move on and take some responsibility for the way you live your own life. What goes around, comes around.