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Without a couch in London
Have you been unexpectedly left in the deep end with no job or home on your arrival in the United Kingdom?
By Shannon Gillies
HAVE you been unexpectedly left in the deep end with no job or home on your arrival in the United Kingdom?
Exhausted after your long-haul flight to London, you survey the crowds of people at the arrival gate for the familiar face who promised to pick you up?
There is your friend of almost 10 years, tapping their finger on their watch exasperated at how long they had to wait for you while you declared everything in your bag to customs. They scowl at you and you gesture towards the two customs officials put on duty to process four plane loads of people. There is a warm embrace and an exchange of friendly banter.
On arriving in the United Kingdom, you usually have up to two years to make it in your chosen career or find the love of your life who will marry you just so you can stay longer. However that first initial night in London, you’re simply reflecting on what an amazing journey it has been just getting to this side of the planet. As you curl up on the inflatable airbed on your friend’s lounge floor you cannot help but feel you are destined for big things.
Unfortunately though, your “guaranteed” bed has made other plans without telling you. That makeshift bed that made you feel so safe the night you first arrived can do nothing to help you now as you face the reality of a douche mate and the prospect of no home.
What happens when you no longer have your guaranteed base to help you establish yourself in the UK?
I discovered via Facebook that my home was to be no more. My mate’s UK friends started congratulating them on finding a flat for her and her partner. I did not know that my temporary bed was so temporary. Thanks to the heads up from Facebook, I knew I had about a month to get out. My ‘friend’ never did tell me what was happening but acted a little too happy when on my third day of staying with her I was able to announce I would be out in two weeks.
Thankfully I had found the ‘British Universities North America Club’ – BUNAC. With their induction programme, I was able to find a job and a place to stay so quickly. Not wanting to be an unexpected burden on other friends and also dreading their reaction when I told them what happened, I hit the wonderful world of the internet with guidance from BUNAC. This is what I did and what I recommend to fellow travellers who suddenly find themselves cut adrift:
Get in touch with the agency or company that might have helped you with your visa. While I did not tell BUNAC what my situation was, I did point out that I needed a job quickly and preferably with a house. I was given a raft of websites to check. My saviour in the end was a site called Work About: Workabout.uk.com/home.aspx. It is a website set up for hospitality employers to get new workers. There are a surprisingly large amount of jobs attached to houses which is very helpful. The website Gumtree can also be of help or try Dee Coopers (Livein-jobs.co.uk). The internet is amazing in circumstances like these. If you need an out, there are always possibilities available.
I also found that I had to get over my ego very quickly in regards to what work I’d do while in the United Kingdom. This helped me settle into the work scene quicker than if I had been stubborn and picky. Needless to say I survived my sudden close call with homelessness. And now I am happily living the UK expat life!
Have you had a similar experience? Tell us about it below:
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1 Comments
Ms Monypenny
I just read your article and have to say, it has irritated me a little bit!
I moved to LOndon on my lonesome, and didn’t have any good mates here. There was a friend of a friend whom I contacted and asked to crash at hers, as I felt it would be nice to turn up to someone rather than no-one. What I turned up to was a nightmare. This girl lived above a pub, with at least 10 people. I was given a ripped and rotting leather couch, no pillow, no blanket, no towel. There was no heating in the room and it was January. I had nowhere to keep my belongings and the room I slept in was a thouroughfare! There was even a rat running around… it was at this point I freaked out asking myself why had I come all this way, left my family and friends, a good job and a nice flat to be in this cold miserable place, with no-one to phone for help…. But then I got it together and realised that coming here was something I wanted to do… It was MY choice, my dream, my plan… it was not this girls responsibility to put me up and make me feel ok, or help me get sorted. She had her own life to sort out, her own path and my time here, me finding a place to live and a job and everything was up to me. I moved into a hostel the saem week and was there for almost 2 months!
There was LOTS of other people in the hostel in the same boat, who had come from Aus and not known people to stay with. They stayed there for quite awhile too. I began working while I was in the hostel and I was sleeping in a room with 9 other girls. It was HARD! Setting up here was hard. That’s the reality, for most of us! Work here is different, we have to take pay cuts and yes our egos get a bashing… but we chose to come here and its part of the whole experience.
Your mate is not a douche. She put you up didn’t she? But she had to come here and do it hard herself, get set up, find a job, make friends… London is hard at times! We cant be there to make it all okay for our mates, they have to get themselves set up.. we have to just keep our own lives here going!
I have had two different ‘mates’ come from home..(not at the same time months apart) they have both slept on my ‘blow up mattress’ which I especially went and bought with my hard earned money here, for them to use. I bought sheets, towels, pillows and even food for them to eat when they arrrived. I got keys cut for them to use. I didn’t ask them for anymoney and neither of them really contributed anything to the household. I made them as comfortable as I could. I gave them my a-z, wrote out tips for them, showed them how to get places, gave them advice on banks, work, NI numbers, what mobile providers to use, how to look for a place to live..EVERYTHING that I had to work out all on my own.. I introduced them to all the friends I had made, included them in the life that I had to work hard to build for myself here… I had to make time for them as my houseguests, even when I was exhausted from long shitty days at work and commutes home… I still have times where settling in here for me is hard…
To be honest, I cant say either of these girls were concerned about MY life, my struggles I had when I arrived, how I was feeling, how I was adjusting, cant say either of them kept much contact with me after I came here, except when they were making thier own plans to come and then of course wanted somewhere to stay…
One of them now has her own place, job and boyfriend. She is always ‘busy’ when I invite her to anything. The other is still here, and most of time I feel she has better things to do than hang with me, I am just a place for her to stay while she sets her own life up.. I feel very used. I should have felt happy to see some friendly faces, a person from home when yes at times I have found it hard here… but no, its been all about them and what I can do for them..
It was not your mates responsilbilty to make it all ok and easy for you. She has her own life here too, and perhaps you shoudl put yourself in her shoes and see it all for what it is. You are a grown up. Big enough to make the desicion to come here. You should have saved enough money to support yourself for somewhere to stay if you needed to, like the hostel I stayed in, while you found your feet. She is not your Mum, she should not have to provide you with a roof and security. Yes, in an ideal world, maybe even back home, it may seem that simple… over here we don’t earn so great, we are paying huge rent and bills, and we are trying to make the most of our own experiences. Financially and emotionally we may not be able to provide that for our friends like we could back home. We are trying to all have this experience. Remember that. And then grow up a bit and take some responsibilty..