My life in London

For me, London was a very great experience, regarding my english level, my professional knowledge and my circle of friends.

My Job

During this trip, I worked, as a comis, in a French restaurant, where customers can eat all day long between 8am and 11pm. I had never worked in a restaurant before, so at the beginning, i just made coffees, cut the bread and cleaned the floor.I found this job after have been made doors to doors. After hard working one month and half, i began to serve customers but i could not take the orders. It was more interresting for me because i i could speak with customers and so improve my English. (I say again for people who would have forgotten, it is the goal of this trip ! )
The staff of this restaurant was Spanish, Italian, Portuguese or Polish. So it was very interesting to meet people from different cultures.
The clientele was rich, so sometimes, I could see some famous people as Lucy liu or Sol Campbell.

This job was useful for me, because I learned how manage my time and work under the pressure.

My Flat

Before leaving, the EFREI BDE give me a paper to fill in, in order to get in touch with a residential letting specialist. I chose "London Solution". I shared my room with two other EFREI students, so I paid 80£ per week. For a double room, you have to pay 105£ and 130£ for a single room.
It is a little bit expensive but we had a nice flat in a quiet area (Fulham) and I was near my job (South Kensington). We were seven living in the flat and the whole building was owned by "London Solution", so we could meet foreigners and speak English.

UCL

University College of London
Between October and December, you will have one day course per week, in this university. UCL is at Euston Square station in the north of London.
During the morning, you will have some English courses, to improve your pronunciation and a lot of other useful things. To test your English knowledge, you will have to present a rapport about your society as well as a presentation about a new product.
After lunch, you will have lesson in order to build a website. So you will learn HTML, PHP and MySQL languages. Of course a test will wait for you at the end of November. And to finish with this student day, you will have a management lecture. The English level of this course is well adapted, so you will understand all.

My point of view

As I already told you, this London experience is a very good thing, and i hope that EFREI will never stop the ELSE program
An other good point is the security. You will see by yourself, London is full of policemen and security video cameras. London is a really beautiful and rich city where you can enjoy yourself, if you have money. Indeed you will spend a lot of money when you will want to do something or going out. For me, people are more open-minded than in France. In the underground you can speak with somebody you don't know at all . This situation never happens to me in France.

Last point

You will be in a foreign country, so phoning in France can be very expensive. To call cheaper, there is a solution : buying European calling card, or others that you can find here.