So I've got somewhere to live...

Good morning everyone!

And so the end of the working week has arrived. All over the UK offices are filled with relieved workers all waiting for 5pm to come.

More interestingly for me, I get some time to file through some of things that have arrived for me over the week.

Things have been quite quiet on the Erasmus pages, so here's some of the bits and pieces to sort out for me:

Firstly, I can plug that SIM card in for the first time and get my phone number (one does not simply have it written down...)

I can also get that little green slip sent off which says I've actually used the SIM.

There are a few emails to send off with regards to my Erasmus grant - just confirming what else I need to do to make sure it gets paid on time. I've been in close contact with my home university to check the details of my placement, I would always encourage people to do the same.

Home insurance - for those of you who don't know, students in France need household insurance in order to move in. I'll probably do a blog post on that at the weekend; it's quite a broad topic!

And then of course, there's the small matter of American Football. While I'm away, I'll be playing for the Grenoble Centaurs - very exciting stuff!

Naturally, there's paperwork to fill out for it and a payment to send to the board that represents teams and committees in Europe. A move has been in the pipeline for several months now, time to make the move official!

Think it's beginning to dawn on me now, as I stare out of the bus window as I type. It's three weeks now. Everything's coming together and I'm getting organised (no small hand to my parents there) but I think nothing is going to prepare me for coming off the Eurotunnel into France.

Exciting, yes. Slightly terrifying, absolutely. 

The MailBag: Episode 1

Hello everybody!


Right, it's time for the first of my Mailbag series.  Basically, I scour through the best of the questions, comments and messages that I've found/received over the last few days and I let you all know what's what.

1. A lot of people seem to be moving into Grenoble pretty early - many before their tenancies are due to start!   - This is fair enough, many seem to be wanting to get into Grenoble promptly to settle in and get to know the area before they get hit with work.  Going too early, however, can result in you having nowhere to live for those first few days.
   A few people have mentioned finding houses or flats.  Personally, I reckon that we aren't talking about a huge amount of time between getting there and moving in.  May I suggest a Youth Hostel to you? 
   The only Youth Hostel anywhere near Grenoble (without a 10 mile walk into town) is the Hostel Grenoble located 10 Avenue du Gresivaudan.  Its somewhere around EUR20 per person per night so it's always worth a look if you want something near town.
   
2. A few people missed the CROUS deadline for student accommodation - OK, firstly don't panic - there will likely be something you can do fairly easily.
   Because you missed the deadline, you'll have to wait until the 1st September to find out where you're living for the first semester.  Panic not though - I would still rate your chances as pretty good of getting some CROUS living.  If you're going to wait until three days before people start moving in I can't see them turning around so close to the start of the course and saying "sorry, nowhere for you!"  How are you meant to find something in such a short space of time?  My money is on you getting somewhere :)  Obviously I don't take any responsibility if you don't!
3. What about Internet connections? - I don't know how anyone can survive without a good internet connection... Thankfully, the CROUS team have kindly provided us with the name of the company that they like to use.  Neoservices is the one that is frequently mentioned across the accommodation guides.  I would believe that you'll get some details when you move in. 
   There are some blocks where I am lead to believe that you have to find your own deal with an ISP.  Shop around and look for the best deal for your needs, I am no French ISP expert!
4. And finally, some sound advice from a Brit - Thanks to Ifan Williams (University College London) I can report that Grenoble is more expensive than London!  I'm sure this'll bring up good old debates about budgeting.
   Ifan would also like to stress that there are nearly no buses running late at night - I would like to stress that I do not condone his suggestion of drunken cycling home at the end of a night out.

Well, there's a few of my top questions from the day.  Hopefully there'll be a nice load of them over the next coming days.  Any more questions, feel free to comment and I'll add them in!

Mike :)