Dancers' Survival Kit for London

Here are some useful tips based on my experiences over the last 2 years I've been living in London (since April 2004). Things may have changed, so please keep this in mind. Everything here is based on my personal experience and may not apply to you. And my personal opinion is scattered all over this article. If anything here offends please let me know and I will edit. If anything seems out of date, or if you'd like to add stuff, please feel free to do so! I want to try to keep this as useful as possible for everyone.

A little about my background-
Just so you know where I'm coming from- The main reason why I moved here was for to get the type of professional work experience (Embedded Software Development) I could not find at home (Melbourne, Australia).

Back in Melbourne during the 2006 Commonwealth Games:


This is why I've been here longer than most Aussies- to make a decent career stint out of it. Don't get me wrong- also high on my reasons for being here are:

• Experience of living in LONDON
• Travel to other parts of Europe
• Making new friends with different backgrounds
• Swing Dancing (I started in Melbourne for 2 months before leaving for London)

A place to live-
I've moved 4 times in the last 2 years, so you may need to be prepared to be quite mobile. My reasons for moving mainly revolve around change of job and wanting to move closer to the centre of London. I started off in Reading, then moved to Staines innit, then Brentford and now Putney. If you want to dance, ensure you are within the reach of the Night Bus network, otherwise you'll be paying lots of mula for taxis, or even hotels- definitely avoid Reading and Staines innit, they are nice places but way to far from central London.

Caversham Bridge, over the Thames in Reading:


A first-class site for accommodation, as well as almost everything else you need to settle in London. Gumtree is -ace-

www.gumtree.com

These are also good but more commercially-orientated:

www.Loot.com
www.flatshare.com


Dealing with Estate Agents-
Try to make sure you have a contract IN WRITING. This is especially important if you want your bond back. Even if you do have a contract in writing, this doesn't cover you from further agent dodginess.

My Estate Agent in Reading would not give 100% of my bond back because they insisted we should have to pay for steam-cleaning of the carpets. I thought this was unjustified (oh let me say it- COMPLETE BOLLOCKS)- surely a reasonable amount of wear and tear is acceptable.


Money-
Get a National Insurance (NI) Number if you don't want to be paying the top rate of tax. You can leave this till later, as it involves taking a day off work to visit a Job Centre. I left it for a year, then had to fill in a tax claim form to claim back the tax I had been overcharged. If you are tight on the money, get it done earlier. Ensure you have all the relevant bits and pieces before you rock up to the Job Centre, otherwise you will have to make another trip which is just more hassle- queues in London are HORRIBLE. Bureaucracy in the UK- don't get me started!

ISAs-
If you're staying for over a year and serious about saving some Pounds, consider opening an ISA as soon as you get your NI. ISA interest rates I've seen are relatively high (around 5%). ISAs are free from Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.

Bank Account and Debit Card-
You need a bank account if you want to get PAID. You might be lucky enough to have your company apply for one for you, or you could pay about 30 quid to a mob like First Contact to get them to apply. The difficulty in getting a Bank Account when you first arrive is that you have no fixed address and no job. So companies like First Contact will vouch for you to the bank.

I saved a lot of hassle by getting my own A MONTH BEFORE leaving Australia. See:

http://www.lloydstsb-offshore.com/non+uk+nationals/

Other banks probably have something similar to these 'Worldwide Service' accounts. It was completely free of charge to apply for and use. Avoid Visa Electron debit cards. They are not accepted in many places, even major supermarkets like Waitrose didn't take them! A right pain in the backside that was.


Credit Card-
It took me 3 months to get my Credit Card approval through HSBC. They had to put my application through their global offices in India to cross-check my details with their global terrorist who's-who database to ensure I wasn't funding any extremist groups.

As an aside, I hear funny stories about people who have come across dodgy deals like this. A friend of mine who's currently selling a house was offered his asking price without the potential buyer even wanting to view the place. Only in London.

Finding Work-
This depends of course on what you're after. One of the cushiest temp-work positions I've heard of is being a hospital admin assistant- well-paid and not too stressful.

If you're after professional work, I recommend doing your own networking as well as dealing with that necessary evil- those Recruitment Agents (yes, I have a thing against ALL agents in this world). Ideas for networking- use chat boards revolving around your professional interest areas- you can start this while still in your home country. I was able to get a job offer this way after have a couple of overseas phone interviews.

Most importantly, DANCING-
You can dance almost every night in London! I recommend trying out ALL the clubs while you're here, just to get a good overview of what London dancing is like.

The madness that is The Honey Pot Dance Battle:


The below is by no means an exhaustive list. The closest London has to a summary of what's happening (and she does a FANTASTIC job of this) is Judy's List, which is emailed about every couple of weeks. It also summarises Workshops and Exchanges around the world, concentrating on Europe and the US. You can ask Judy to subscribe you to her List:

judy AT dancer42 DOT freeserve DOT co DOT uk

-(replace to above ATs and DOTs with the appropriate symbols)

Mondays-
http://www.the100club.co.uk/

Not my regular haunt, but like I said you have to try it out for yourself. A lot of London's jazz history centres around this joint.

Tuesdays-
CJam- http://www.swingland.com/

My weekly Lindy fix. Good music, nice venue, great floor and top dancers! Awesome live bands every few weeks. The lead in one of these bands is the husband of one of the Swingland teachers, so the band has dancer influence. Swingland does nights on Sundays and Thursdays as well.

Wednesdays-
www.jitterbugs.co.uk

Beautiful big ballroom. Floor is inconsistent, last time I was there it was sticky and in desperate need of a clean. Really nice teachers. Generally older crowd. Because it's a big place, classes are huge- not a place to learn technique. But you must see place at least once. Monthly live bands, but none that have really hooked me yet.

Thursdays-
www.cottonclubbers.com

In my opinion, currently one of the few weekly class where you will be taught how to dance. Musicality, lead-follow technique, Angela definitely has the goods. She also teaches beginner's classes on different nights. I'm a regular at Angela's.

Fridays-
www.lindycircle.com

Dan Guest is an awesome teacher- he provides very clear instruction. The venue has a fantastic fast-ish floor. This night is mostly dedicated to Bal, but there are Lindy classes too. I'd say about 70-80% of the music more suited to Bal than Lindy.

Ron does monthly marathon classes (7.30-11pm-ish) which are really good value. He also provides excellent technique teaching. To find out more, subscribe to his update list by emailing:
tom DOT kerwin AT gmail DOT com

I'm usually at one of the above on Fridays.


Saturdays-
Approximately every second Saturday (and some Sundays) is the Rhythm Lounge-

http://www.swingdanceuk.com/rhythm_lounge/index.htm

Top-notch venue, nice-ish floor, good mix of people. Music is sometimes a bit non-Swing but this is definitely a must-go. I'm usually here too.

Sundays-
Brooks- www.swingland.com

A smaller venue in Hammersmith, in London's West. Beaut floor, good music and great dancers. Has really good bands every few weeks. Also my regular.




Travel-
So many people tell me the best thing about London is not London itself, but its proximity and the ease of access it provides to other European cities. This, I have to agree with kinda guiltily. I feel bad bagging London like this, but well this is my opinion. Sorry Londoners, no offence meant. So the upshot from this is if you're visiting London, then you should make an effort to visit places outside London too!

Europe-
I try to visit a different city on the continent at least once every couple of months. So far, my success rate hasn't been so high, as you can imagine there are other commitments such as birthdays, dancing, work, friends visiting London, dancing and dancing. Since being here, I've visited Barcelona (twice), Venice, Hamburg, Munich, Amsterdam, Stockholm (twice), Herrang, Paris, Rouen, The Swiss Alps (Jung Frau, Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken), Madeira Island, Brussels. This year I intend to do Florence, Dublin, Vienna, Toulouse, Florence and hopefully Krakow and Prague.

Brunch on the Swiss Alps:


The funny thing is I've visited only two of the above palces in a strictly-tourist capacity- Venice and well, actually just Venice! Every other place had tourism as a secondary aim. I was there for either work, dancing, or visiting friends. Which works out quite well- I think it's so much more fun to be part of a city rather than take a fish-bowl other-side-of-the-glass tourist's approach.

Cheap Flights to Europe-
Keep in mind that the money you save on the cheaper airlines can be blown on transport fares getting to the smaller airports these airlines typically fly from. This is especially important when booking some dirt-cheap flights which have you departing at crazy-o'clock from some tiny airport out in whoop-whoop. Depending on where you live in London, this may mean getting a taxi to the aiport which can be very very pricey. If a flight departs at 6am, then you'll have to be at the aiport by 4.30am- and not much public transport runs then!

I learnt this lesson returning to Luton (or was it Stansted?) aiport at 11pm from Venice. Because it's such a small airport, there were only two immigration officers, one for the EU citizens and another for us. EU citizens are asked fewer questions and don't need their passports stamped so naturally the queue goes quicker for them. Now get this, after their line finished up, the immigration officer walks off! Wouldn't it make sense for him to stay on and help out our line? Customer service at it's best. And it didn't help that our officer was busy chatting up the gaggle of Japanese girls ahead of us. An hour later, I get to join my EU friends. Only problem is, we've just missed the last train back to London! You get the picture. Yes it still makes me fume.

Here are some airlines I've used or heard of for European flights:

www.ba.com
www.aerlingus.com
www.germanwings.com
www.easyjet.com
www.ryanair.com
www.flybmi.com

www.expedia.com is quite a good website for searching for cheap fares across multiple airlines.

If you're fortunate enough to have lots of time on your hands, consider getting around Europe by train or bus instead of plane. It's generally a lot cheaper, and much better for the environment- using jet fuel is very inefficient! And you get to see where you're going on the way!

USA-

Some people visit the East Coast of The States, mostly Florida, NYC, Boston. I think it's too pricey, especially since I haven't visited half the European cities much closer to London! I have planned my long-haul flight back to Oz to stop off in San Fran though. For dancing of course. :-)

Don't forget the UK!

Don't forget to do all the touristy things in London and the UK. In addition to all the galleries and museum, I recommend climbing Ben Nevis in Scotland, the UK's tallest mountain (it ain't that tall) , it's got some breath-taking views from the top and the climb is quite an easy walk. If you're a hard-core hiker, try scaling the mountain from its backside, along an arete. Bloody scary stuff. Unlike us, make sure you go prepared for the weather, we were trudging through snow near the top and fighting through torrential rain, even though it was mild at the bottom. Six hours later we ended up in a nice cosy curry house. Climbing Ben Nevis from the arete is one of those experiences which I'm glad to have done, but would never have even considered if I had known what I was really in for. My clothes were soaked by the time we got to the top and I was shivering violently. Trudging in wet shoes through snow didn't help either. But I'm glad I got through it.

The arete leading up to the peak of Ben Nevis:

Other places I've been to and recommend visiting are Cornwall, Brecon Beacons, (The Lakes District, The Peaks District), Mount Snowdon, Oxford, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Windsor Castle, Stone Henge, Edinburgh.

Lindy Exchanges and Workshops-
You might be surprised to know that my favourite European camp is Barswingona (www.barswingona.org). Last year watching the Barswingona J&J comp inspired me so much that I became totally hooked on Lindy and signed up for as many European camps as I could for the rest of the year. It was here that I discovered the calibre of the Catalan, French and Russian dancers- simply amazing. This year, I've just come back from Barswingona 2006 and I'm equally inspired.

Made it into the Barcelona newspaper!-


Herrang is good, it's a great experience to be somewhere which you can dance pretty much 7 days a week non-stop for a month, but I found it crowded and quite overwhelming.

Other camps I recommend:

• www.waterkantjam.de (Hamburg has some awesome local dancers!)
• www.munichlindyexchange.com (during Oktoberfest!!)
• www.londonlindyexchange.com

And I will try the Studio Hop Summer Camp coming up in August this year:

http://bernard.cavasa.free.fr/en/

London Food-
You have to pay decent money for decent food here, unless you cook your own. Also, avoid the late-night kebab stores unless you have a stomach of iron. Oh how I miss the late-night cafes on Lygon!

If you're after some classic English food, try Pork Pies and Scotch Eggs, which can be bought from any major supermarket.

For the serious Foodie, if you're loaded try the 'Fat Duck' restaurant, just outside London. They serve stuff like bacon and egg ice-cream and charge you a limb for it. Not my thing.

Indian is BIG in the UK. And I think it's much better quality than the Indian in Oz. Real Naan cooked in real ovens. Avoid Nepalese in Edinburgh- I got chocolate rush from that place.

I recommend cooking at home- it's healthier, and cheaper especially if you can take turns cooking with your housemates.

Health-
You need to register with a local doctor before you can be seen:

http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/LocalServices/LocalServices.aspx

Most clinics require you to be in the country for a minimum of 3 months before you can register! If you need a doctor in this inital 3-month period, you can pay an up-front premium (about 20 quid?) to see a doctor at a walk-in clinic.

Try not to dance if you have anything more than a sore throat- you're body's telling you it needs to rest, and your partners wouldn't appreciate your germy hands.

I was unfortunate enough to see the inside of a hospital a year ago- it was filthy. Litter was everywhere, there were stains on the walls and floors. Look after yourself so you don't have to ever see the inside of a hospital here!

Mates-
I found it much easier to get to know other ex-pats. In general, locals already have established friendship groups, so aren't as open to making new friends. This is not to say that you shouldn't try- just be prepared to try harder with them.

Be open and adventurous- accept as many invitations to go out as you can. You have to be around to be part of it! After all, you're in a new city so you should be living it!

Some general thoughts about London-

Remember that London is simply OLD and BUSY. This explains a lot of things, like why strangers seem to be so unfriendly, and why the transport system seems to be falling apart. It also explains the existence of excessive paperwork and queues. This is just the way London is- if you arrive with this expectation in mind, your stay here will be much more pleasant. On the positive side, there are always things to do in London. Being able to dance almost every night is of course a big plus!

Admiralty Arch:

The Tube is very efficient when it's working (it's usually fine for me as I only catch it during off-peak hours). But it's smelly and dirty. Blowing your nose after catching the Tube results in lots of black soot in your tissue- that can't be healthy. I try to catch the bus or overland trains around Central London nowadays. During Winter, catching the Tube means catching a cold, because the spaces in the Underground are just so cramped.