Shenmue Dojo

Well, in about 3 weeks time I'll be leaving Chicago and going on a plane to London where I'll be studying for 4 months. Does anyone have any advice they could give for me while I'm there? (Places to visit, culture, how to act etc.)

Avoid most of East and south London, all museums are free so if you're interested in that kind of stuff pick up any tourist guide and see which ones apply to you, as for specific recommendations London is a huge city with nearly anything you want, you can eat south asian food and smoke shisha on brick lane, go shopping in westfield the biggest European shopping center in stratford, go see some musicals in the west end, go shopping on oxford street, take a tour of the south bank and see all the street performers, visit trendy camdem town in north london and much much more, it would be easier for me to recommend you where to go if you told me the kind of things you like

oh and don't forget to buy an oyster card for travel, you will save a lot of money this way, you can probably get a student discount one as well so don't forget to ask about that

as for how to act just don't be a dick and you'll be fine

Knowing me, if I ever visited a country in Europe, even if I was Canadian, I would sew an American flag on my bag for spite.

Americans are ghey.

I always feel sorry for the people with the last name Gay.

Thankfully I know none.

In reply to the original poster anyway I think you'll be fine living in London so long as you stay out of the rough areas ( Of which there are many.) But there's also lots of great places as SC mentioned, lots of history and entertainments all around. Oh and yeah just don't act like an American douche and you'll be fine, shouting "USA, USA" will result in a trip to A&E

OH I'm quite sure I'll blend in just fine, I don't act like the stereotypical American. Quite intelligent if I say so myself. One of the projects I have to do is to do 170 contacts, so it can range from meeting people, places, buildings, etc. I did get an Oyster card, I'm just hoping it won't be confusing finding where I'm supposed to go. And what's wrong with east and south London?

Sailors? wrote:Thankfully I know none.

I know you wouldn't know him personally, but it also sounds like you've never heard of Tyson Gay, America's fastest sprinter ever...

Probably have at some point but not cared enough to remember.

shenmuekidsx wrote:OH I'm quite sure I'll blend in just fine, I don't act like the stereotypical American. Quite intelligent if I say so myself. One of the projects I have to do is to do 170 contacts, so it can range from meeting people, places, buildings, etc. I did get an Oyster card, I'm just hoping it won't be confusing finding where I'm supposed to go. And what's wrong with east and south London?

if you're a student you might be able to apply for a student one which is an extra 25-50% off I think (you will save a lot of money as transport costs a ton here) for planning journeys use this
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/
the official london transport website, it has a journey planner on the side

East and south London are where most of the "hoods" are, well the worst ones, plan your trip carefully going to those areas as they do have some trendy areas but after a certain hour if you look out of place you are almost certain to be mugged or assaulted, I live in East london and in my borough alone there is an average of 35 stabbings a day, but these Areas are pretty slummy anyway you will probably spend most of your time in north/west/central London

Well.. that's enlightening lol. They told me that there's quite a high rate of pick-pocketing, so I guess I should be on the lookout for that too. I'll be living in housing by Acorn and most of their flats/apartments will be central London (zone 1) area. The Oyster Card I already applied for and I believe it was the student discount, since I was applying through my school. Well I figured if I'm going to be there I might as well stop by Insert Coin clothing. Have you ever been there yourself?

They told me that there's quite a high rate of pick-pocketing

I don't know why people think we have an obsession with pickpocketing, oliver twist was a long time ago, nowadays they'll just threaten you with a knife and make you empty your pockets

well zone 1 has some bad areas south of the river (black prince road, ethlered, borough, elephant and castle) but yeah most of it is filmed 24/7 with a load of security so you should be more than fine

I didn't even know insertcoinclothing had a store, I thought they were just an online retail business

Insert Coin Ltd
23 Clarence Road
Southend-on-Sea
Essex SS1 1AN
UK <---- apparently that's their address. Unless it's just there offices. But it does say opening hours right under it

And yeah they said pick-pocketing haha. But I'm gonna guess that they were just using euphemisms and didn't want to bring up the knife part. Ah well, I'll use my Kung-Fu on his/her ass