Felix in Imperial

Some of you have asked me about the people here in Imperial, while some about the Muslims here in the college. As a reply I have decided to attach an article from the local student’s news paper called Felix. I don’t have a clue for the origin of the newspaper’s name, probably it was named for our famous friend! Anyway, this paper is published once a week to cover all the news of the university.

This article "Halal Food Debate" is a bit hard to read, but it will give you a full picture. Enjoy ;-)

before and after

This photo was done two days before I left to England ....




and this one two weeks after being here ... :-)




it was so good in Israel, and here, see the lest photo ... British women ;-)
so don’t be jealous … ITS NOT SO NICE HERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

embarrassing failure

Yesterday, It was one of the embarrassing and funniest moments of my life. Some guys from the institute have decided to go to pub, so I have joined them.

At some point, we had started to argue, that half of the people at this pub are British.

by the way, it is very boring to tell everybody the same story for the last three weeks, that I am from blia blia blia and I was born ... blia blia blia .... so just for fun, I have decided to change my origin. I have picked a new place to live ... Macedonia ... because almost nobody knows where is that ..... :-)

To make my point at the argue, I come to three guys which I was sure that they are British and I start to chat with them.

You wouldn’t believe, but as I have tolled them that I am from Macedonia, they suddenly started to speak Macedonian Language !!!!!!!!!! oh no ...

Apparently, there were around something like 60-70 people and everybody were from diffrent countries. Brisitsh ? I have counted something like 3 or 4. Thats all.

The Places I am

Note: the places are not exact, dont try looking me there ;-)

Oil prices

For anybody who complains for the oil prices ... here it is more expensive !

1 Litre of Gasoline - 1.7$
1 Litre of Diesel - 1.76$

anybody still complains ?

The Harrods

I have been yesterday to the most expensive and the biggest shop in London - the Harrods. Here some people call it a "Corner Shop", "Have you been already to the Corner Shop ?"

Its called a corner shop, as I got it, because it is square building, so it has 4 corners ... as simple as that ...

It is as big as Maysis in NewYork, but I have a feeling that it’s a bit more expensive … for example a hand made toy for the Christmas tree …. Can be found there for a simple price of 700$ … of course you can find a smaller and cheaper ones, 6$ a part.

To tell you the truth, I couldn’t say wow … it was nice … that’s all ….

http://www.harrods.com/

water problems !

I need help ! (before I forget about it)

I just don’t understand it, here in Britain, they have two faucets: One for cold water and one for hot water. In my case, very hot water comes from one and very cold one comes from the other …..

And if I need a warm water, what should I do ????

the million dollar page

I am starting to appreciate Imperial ... for example they have invited Alex Tew who is the founder of milliondollarhomepage.com to give a lecture about his idea. He gave a great talk, it was really nice to be there !

SQUATTING IS STILL LEGAL

Finally I am starting to realize the situation with accommodation, and I starting to be sorry for the many years I was paying rent !!!!

As you probably know from my previous posts, I am renting a place from some guy named Yuriy. Yesterday during a phone talk with him, he has invited me to see the new place he has just received to keep. "... some hospital .... old squatting place".

Without having any plans to do, I decided to go and see everything myself.

By the way, "squatting" means occupying empty property to live. Squatters have the same basic rights as anyone else, and can not be evicted without the owners carrying out certain civil legal proceedings first.

It took me around forty minutes to get to this hospital by tube and a bus. When I arrived to the place, I saw a two floors building with something like ten rooms on each floor. The house was a hospital for many years. After it was closed, it was standing empty for some period of time. During that time a group of young people (around 20) squatted inside and started living. They were living there for whole year till the court has decided to take them out and the police have made them out.
As I have entered inside, I was amazed that somebody was living there …. It was total mess inside. Huge amount of old things, many of them were broken. All the walls were painted with strange colours. A lot of sentences were written everywhere … nobody cleaned it for months …. It looked very scary …..

Yuriy and his friend Gint (Lithuanian guy) have made a very nice dinner; potatoes, mushrooms, chicken …. A bottle of Jack Daniels … nice people … :-)

What they do for living, is living in the empty houses. They are asked to live there and to keep so nobody gets inside to live.

And I am sorry that I was paying rent because squatting is very legal action in many countries, including Israel. If you find an empty house, you can break in and live there. It can take months or years till the court decide to take you out ! In case the owner cuts off the electricity or water, you can even suit him !

For more details read this :
squatting guide

without title

"Если зарабатывать на черную икру, то есть ее будет просто некогда. А если работать мало, то икры не будет."

some notes ...

First of all thank all who wrote me congratulations for the new apartments, its really nice of you ! On the other hand, I must tell that it’s very boring to live in a place with many rooms and toilets. I don’t understand the reach people who have houses with many rooms … its really boring … and a little scary ….

… but probably it’s a way of getting used to it….

….. by the way, I have decided to try to go to a different bathroom or toilet each time I need it … I will update you with the results of the test :-)

Second of all, finally, I have received my computer! And from now on, I have two places to be:
The first one is the laboratory in mechanical engineering department; there all the robots are built. This place is a bit noisy because many people sit there and work there. I suppose to get my computer there in a week.
The second working place is in the next building, Institute of BioMedical Engineering. Here I have got my desk and the computer which I use now. It’s a new built building and everything is new here. Most of the ph.d and ms.c students are sit in a big room and everybody has his own desk.


You know what is the interesting part ? That in the lab I can tell that I went to the institute, and in the institute I can tell that I am in the lab … and by myself I can go home :-)

Gidi, using your advice, I went to try the hand pumped beer yesterday. It’s the first time I saw it, and I don’t remember its name. You know what, I did not like it ! I think that Goldstar /Hoegarden are the best beers for me !!!

unbelievable but true

listen to this story …. from today, I am living in a hotel, I have around 15 rooms (for my self) ... around 10 toilets (for my self) ...15 minutes from the university, and a Ferrari shop across the road ... all of this ... for 60pounds per week .... (120$ per week)

its not for long .... but its just unbelievable ....



and the real story at the background is that this is an old building, which was a hostel, and they have decided to close it and rebuild it ... till they start the rebuilding ... they asked from somebody to live there and to keep the place ...

is it believable ?

no more Cockney in London ....

First of all to the people who doesnot know what is Cockney dialect :
---------------------
To be a true Londoner - A Cockney, you have to be born within hearing distance of the bells of St. Mary Le Bow, Cheapside, in the City of London 'Cockney' or 'cock's egg' was a 14th Century term applied contemptuously by rural people to native Londoners who lived rather by their wits than their muscle. Today's natives of London, especially its East End use the term with pride - 'Cockney Pride'.
--------------------

Janik, sorry to dissapoint you but I have talked about it to my landlord who is a news redactor at BBC and he tolled me that there are very few people left who actually use this dialect. Cockney dialect is very difficult to understand and is almost forgotten. He has tolled me about some other dialect which is famous now in London ... I will write about it next time ...

and this what I found in wikipedia about it :
----------------------------------------------------------------
Today, the traditional form of Cockney rhyming slang seems to be dying out amongst young people, as it is being replaced with slang and patois brought to London by Afro-Caribbean immigrants, many of whom reside in the East End. However, some terms such as 'rabbit' (rabbit and pork = talk) are still in common usage.

mc donald

ok last time about the food ... promise :-)

McDonalds meal ... 4.5 pounds .... 9$ ....
in Imperial "Menza" plate of only spagetti - 1.5 pounds

hmm .... not cheap ....

Cockney and Antilopos

Yep I am starting to get the Cockney dialect, but it will take some additional time
to polish my prononsiation ... a week or two maybe ....


And for Gidi, there is no Antilopos Restaurant here in London ... really,
all I saw around .. nothing .... you are welcome to open one ;-)

and we will probably go to pub.... later about it ....

funeral

Have you ever seen a nice name to the Funeral House ?

so, I am going around pretty much, and suddenly I saw a Funeral House named Heaven ...

WTF ????

I saw a couple of additional interesting names but I don't remember them now ....
if I see them again I will let you know !

wine and food and wine and food

I dont know if it will be through all the year here, but I enjoy it at this moment !

So I am talking about seminars and freshes ball ....

Till now, at the end of the seminar, we get a full table with red wine bottles and
a table with food ...

And at the freshes meeting, its even more interesting, for example the undergraduate
students got around 50 pizaz and a lot of beer.

Us, a ph.d and masters students have got very lovely food with wine ....
And all of this is just to know each other and to meet each other ....

By the way, this year has started at our department (Mechanical Engineering)
18 ph.d students and around 28 ms.c students .....

relations in the lab

you know, after almost a week here I start to see some bad things ....

for example, people here are very polite, smile and nice to talk,
but at the morning or during the evening, nobody says hello ...

if somebody from the lab, one of the team, enters the lab in the morning,
he just gets to his computer, sits and starts typing without even simple hello !!!!!!1

I have collected some stories here, that people sit one near the other, for one year
and they never talked !!! if they need something from each other, they just send an
email .....


Max, you right .. Barbarian country ;-)

the prices for the accommodation (part2)

today's topic will be the prices for living .... accommodation ...

price for single room in a shared flat is from 70-180pounds per week (x2 in dollars) 180 is somewhere around the college (South Kensington) and 70 is 30 minutes and more by tube.

this price usually includes everything ... (electricity, water, tax ... Internet ;-)

the double room in a shared flat can be from 90 to 250 pounds per week ....

so usually if you count the time from door to door ... its relatively long ...
10 minutes to tube, time in tube ... and 10 minutes from tube to office ...

aaa ... one more thing, the price for tube is 70pounds per month for a student
which covers areas 1 to 3 ....

so if I want to take room which will be 10 minutes by tube, it will cost
me around 120 pw and it will be 30 minutes door to door ...

and if I take 20 minutes tube journey, it will cost me 90 pound per week and 40 minutes door to door ....

as you probably remember I cannot afford my self more than 100 per week including the transportation, that means that I need a room for around 80 pw ... so I will be starting to look for a place which will be around 30 minutes by tube ... and around a hour door to door ..... respectively ....

car outlet

lets talk about pollution ...

for everybody who is not fammilliar at the subject of the air pollution in UK i will explain :
- the car is driving at the left side .....
- the cars outlet (the gases out) is also at the left side of he car if you look behind ....

now think of me, as a normal person, going to the tube ... at this time it takes me around
15 minutes to get till the station ...

the time I go, is around 7:30 ... so its the hard time, everybody in a traffic jam (do i call it right ?)
so there is a long qoue of cars ... every body is standing ...

and I am breathing their gases !!!!!!!!! YES EVERY CAR HAS AN OUTLET TO THE WALKING
PATHWAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What do you have to say about this ????

swiss sandwich

ok, I am in shock ...

one of the guys here was eating chocolate sandwich !!!
can you imagine two slices of bread and a blocks of chocolate between them ???

I was explain later that he is Swiss .. and that they like chocolate ...

its reasonable to eat chocolate ... but to eat it for the lunch ???
with bread ???????????????????

accommodation

for the questions if I had found any accommodation ... so no I have found none ... :-(

I have been to plenty of places, and looked a lot of flats, but I didnot find anything for one person (single room)

on the other hand, from yesterday, I live in a friends->friends->friends house .... the house owner is living there by himself, he has a free room and he has accepted to host me for a week till I find something .... really great :-)

he lives in a jewish area, and it takes me about one hour to get to the college by tube, but I am fine with that ...

the shops, eating, lounch

OK, the things are getting better ...

---------- the bad thing :
first of all, just to update you, I am out of food.
yep, yesterday I have finished everything which I had from home,
it included : kolbasa, hleb, tushenka ... etc ...

so today I was planning to go first time to shop to buy anything ...

----------the good thing :

but, I had a free KOSHER lounch in SUKA :-)
There is a jewesh community here in the imperial, so they are organaizing a 2 pounds meals every day. Its really nice !

So I had a great meal with a glass of wine, and because its the fist day of the year, they made it for free.

By the way, its really hidden, you will never find this place by your self !!!

(dont ask me, I have no idea for the real price for the food here in Imperial, I will check for it tommorow ... )

bank account

ok, for everybody who doesnot know ... you cannot open a bank account if you dont have a permanent address in UK.

second, you need a stamped document that you live in some place ....

so, the university provides you the letter to the bank that you do live in some place ...
it takes 2 weeks to get the letter ....

then, bank opens the account, it takes addition week ...

total : 3 weeks without bank account !!!!!!

ufffffffffffffffffffffff !!!

the prices for the accommodation

ok, finally I have understood the prices for the accommodation and the way it goes ...

all prices are high, and there are two reasons :

first, if its far from the tube, so you know, its a good and guiet area, so the price is high
second, if its close to the tube, so the price is high because its close to the tube !!!

-------------

and I have discovered another way to look for a room ... just travel to the area you would
like to live in, and start going around looking for the newspapers shops.
on the front window of the shops, you can find small notes which offer almost everything ...

so today I went to the Hammersmith area, went around and understood that its a Polish area ... everything is in Polish ... even the notes on the windows, are in Polish ...

it was hard to understand, but understandible ;-)

I was reading it, calling some numbers ... but nothing .... yet nothing ....

Weather

who the hell told that London is very rainy city ?

the weather is great ... really ... a little cloudy ... a little rainy ... sometimes sunny .. but very nice :-)

Real Estate Investment

ok, I have got an idea yesterday ... to buy a flat here :-)

it is simple, the flats price is going up every year .... so it is promising invesment ...

how this can be done ? ok, it can be received around 85-90% funding from the bank and the rest should be own invested ...

so I am looking for sponsor who wants to buy a flat, I will keep it clean and organized, and after I finish here (4 years) it will be sold for a higher price ....

I get a free accommodation and you get a good investment :-)

ofcourse if it will be a multi beds flat, I will rent the rooms to others .... like a landlord ;-)

anybody interested ?

The college

Ok, as promised, the college ...

Its really cool, our laboratory is very nice with a lot of machinery and around 8 ph.d students ...
The team in the laboratory is very warm, and they thied to help me with the accommodation ...

This year many people leaving (finishing) and as I counted there are 4 newcomers including me.
I didnot get their origin yet, but overall in the college so many international students that I have a feeling that I didnot see any Original British student.

any questions ?

the college

.. hmm ... I will write about it tommorow ... :-)

the first 3 days of going around

OK, its actually the third day today of my stay in London ...

its hard ... very expensive ... and a little cold ...

as I have arrived (6.am), I put my luggage in a locker at the Victoria station
and started to go around, looking for a place ...

-------------------------
Accommodation office of Imperial has told me that they don't have anything ...
"come to check in a few days, maybe there will be something"

From the Private Housing service I have received an address at zone 3 for a room.

went there ... Acton Town Station .... nice room on the third floor in a house .. but the landlord ( the lady) is talking too much, living in a house and she has many rules for the guests.
like - don't stay in a kitchen, eat at your room ... and the rent is 100pounds per week ...
she wanted a long contract ... around one year ...

so it will be additional 20 pounds per week for a transportation ....

later I saw that in this area, the single room can be found for a 70 pounds per week ...
so I refused her offer ...
----------------

the interesting thing is that the Piccadilly line is going really fast because it connects the Heatrow airport with the city ... so I counted ... 30 minutes door to door from Acton Town
to Imperial College (South Kensington)

-------------------
by the way, I have counted my budget ... 10,000 pound per a year ... /52 weeks ... its 190 pound per week .... so I think that my accommodation should be around 80pounds per week ....
-----------------

later I went to a BBC hotel which was arranged to me by a lovely family. Their phone number I have received from my father. I had a nice small room for a 35pound per night ... and after one night I have decided to leave it ...

and to move to the hostel ... 15poinds per night ... with 4 people in a room ...

-------------------------------------

aaa one more thing ... I went to some dormitories, to see around and ask ...
so the price for a graduate student (me) cheapest ... 120 pw/140pw/180pw ...

and its around 30-40 minutes from college ...

dont ask ... no places available ....
------------------------


still looking for an accommodation ... as I was said by Albanian guy, it takes around a week to find something . ..... we will see ... :-)

preffered places are www.gumtree.com and a local LOOT news paper ...