Studying Abroad in London

[south carmain]

would be cool to have a shenmue rape-up "cough" I mean meetup in London, I know a nice little alleyway where we could meet if you guys are up for it

[MiTT3NZ]

Manchester > London

[Yokosuka Martian]

Headlines : Missing Chicago Native. Last seen in the London area wearing brown hoodie. Strange infatuation with sailors, black cars, and cats.

[south carmain]

nah blud, don't listen to mittz he's on some hype, London > rest of Europe (unless if you enjoy nice weather)

[Crimson Ryan]

Elderly woman as only witness 'did not see the Chicago man, did see cat'..

[MiTT3NZ]

Lies. Manchester has quality over quantity. Not far from seaside, not far from nice views/walks in hills or woods, greatest football club in England, bangin music scene, brilliant hang out spots, plenty of variety in shopping, massive regeneration scheme going on, and all London's main companies are movin here because they know Manchester's the place to be right now.

[Yokosuka Martian]

I love me some story weather. The more the reason to wear that Shenmue hoodie. One of my day trips during classes is a trip to Manchester. I also have to do a study tour of JRR Tolkien. Just thought I'd throw that in randomly

[Spokane]

The Tolkien tour sounds really interesting.

[mue 26]

I wouldn't worry too much about trying to avoid the whole of south or east London. London's a funny city and there are slummy and rough areas literally 2 minutes down the road from rich/posh/trendy areas, so while the south and east often have the worst reputation, this is true right throughout the entire city, in North (Tottenham, Finsbury park, Hornsey, Wood green, ect) North West/West (Harlesden, Willeseden, Neasden, Kilburn, Stone Bridge, some bits of Acton, ect) there are crime ridden areas, not just East and South. Nowadays even in seemingly quiet suburban areas there are small council estates where murders actually take place. So I don't think there's much point just trying to completely avoid south and east.

Don't let this scare you though, as if your not directly involved in the gangs or drugs the crime will rarely spill over and effect outsiders. Just have a bit of common sense and don't appear like a complete victim (i.e, trying to buy drugs off some random guy whose offering, or seeing gang of boys and obviously changing your direction out of fear) and you'll more than likely be safe in any part of London, even the rougher parts. There's plenty to see and fun to be had in east,south,north and west so don't worry too much!

Eating out in London is expensive unfortunately, but that card SC is recommending sounds good (I might have to get one!) and there's many great places to go eat. There are some good value gems of places to eat at, but it depends on what food you like. London has possibly the widest range of restaurants you could imagine! But yeah, for the best value go to any big supermaket, stock up and cook at home!

There are shops that sell second hand games, but I wouldn't bother getting your hopes up about finding Shenmue 2, it won't happen. Ebay is your best bet.

But most of all, just enjoy the city! It has so much offer, no matter what your interests are there's something for you in London. I think London is one of the best melting pots of culture, people and ideas in the world. If you have any specific interests let me know, and I'll see if I can recommend anything.

avoid cheap deep fried chicken places

What!? And miss out on the JUNIOR SPESH!!? Your trip to London would be incomplete:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6pbZLiLt30[/youtube]

Need I provide any more evidence of the lovelyness of our city

[MiTT3NZ]

Let me know when you're in Manchester, I'll take you to the best spot imaginable... The Etihad Stadium.

[Yokosuka Martian]

Only problem is that I'm the one who has to guide the tour for a grade. I'd have to research him before I leave Chicago. Ah yes that reminds me, for my independent study project I'm doing a paper on British comedy and how it goes past certain boundaries that other comedians don't cross with some exceptions. Three case studies I figured I'd do would be Eddie Izzard, Ricky Gervais, and Tim Minchin, but I don't think they'd have any shows when I'm there. Are there any comedy clubs that I can visit for more research? And Mitt i might take you up on that offer lol

[Yokosuka Martian]

They recommend Wagamama's. Any good?

[south carmain]

Lies. Manchester has quality over quantity. Not far from seaside, not far from nice views/walks in hills or woods, greatest football club in England, bangin music scene, brilliant hang out spots, plenty of variety in shopping, massive regeneration scheme going on, and all London's main companies are movin here because they know Manchester's the place to be right now.

don't listen to the manc he is selling you lies so that you will be repeatedly mugged and then raped by gay gangsters
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Noonan
also it's full of gingers and even if it's close to the sea and countryside it hasn't seen sunlight since april 23rd 1863, it rains 24/7 and you will think the city is sponsored by adidas, also London is the most multicultural city in the word meaning whatever your taste in women, food, activities you can easily find here while manchester is the deep fried capital of England (I would say the UK but glasgow wins that) for a better look at Manchester watch this
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IhXHQ7cM98[/youtube]
it is 100% true and represents the average life of an upper class manc

@mue well that depends what you look like, around here there are gangs who actively go round at night looking for easy targets, it was the same when I used to live in lambeth as well so for tourists I would always recommend to avoid these areas as they have a high amount of council estates which are the worst in the city for violent crime and there isn't that many special things either

[Yokosuka Martian]

Baha, I'll be sure to watch this accurate 'documentary'

[MiTT3NZ]

The BBC left London so it could have it's HQ in Manchester.