Erasmus in Southampton, United Kingdom

Why did you choose to go to Southampton, United Kingdom?

I put down 16 options when filling out the forms, and it was my 7th option, as it wasn't really my dream destination... although what surprised me more than the place was that the experience was really good. My university was Southampton Solent.

How long did the scholarship last? How much money did you receive as help?

From the 2nd of September to the 25th of May, although the classes started on the 24th of September and by the start of April, they had finished. I received 300 euros a month, which was paid to me each semester.

What is the student lifestyle like in Southampton?

Well as I said before, the course started on the 24th September and therefore, between your arrival in the city and the start of the course, Solent University organise two weeks of activities called Freshers Week (like a welcome); in which they hold small talks about English culture, paperwork, etc.

In my case, we went on a trip on the second day to Portsmouth, a port city which is located half an hour away from Southampton, quite pretty for those who are fans of the sea. We also did an activity where they gave us a piece of paper with tourist attractions in the city, for us to visit and take photos of, with the best ones winning a university competition. Another day they offered free mini-golf and the activity that I would say was most important was the day with the societies in a tent. On this day you could sign up to societies like, for example: Christian society, football, basketball, psychology, tourism, volunteering, anime and videogames amongst others, although they don't have as many in comparison to the University of Southampton (which is a really good uni).

Also this week, you could go to Oceana, which I think was cheaper to get into than normal. It is a club and lots of people from Erasmus and Solent University go there.

Would you recommend the city and the University of Southampton to other students?

I don't think that most people chose this university as their first choice, but if you end up here, make the most out of it by visiting nearby places. This city doesn't have many tourist attractions, but it is quite convenient to live in because it has everything more or less nearby - and you don't have to go to other cities unless you want to go and explore, or fly home (Southampton has an airport, but it is more expensive than London Gatwick).

What is the food like there?

You'll miss a few products from Spain, such as Serrano ham (they have Parma ham which is similar) and a few other traditional foodstuffs from your country, but you won't notice if you cook for yourself, you have everything. Besides, there are restaurants such as tapas barcelona and la regata, if you are really missing Spanish cuisine.

I strongly recommend a restaurant called Tangs (a Chinese restaurant) which is located in between Switch and KFC, 50 meters from the university. A menu consisting of two dishes and water is £6. 50 It is perfect to go to between classes when you don't have time to go home and cook.

I'd say my favourite restaurant was casa Brasil, a meat buffet, you can eat Brazilian starters, dessert, and all kinds of meat cooked fresh for £14. In the evening, the price goes up and it's not worth going to. For meat, there is another Portuguese restaurant called Diego's, who make a good Iberico Pork Secreto.

For pizzerias, I recommend Franco Manca which has a very affordable menu for £6. 50 Then, there is another quite popular one in the city called l'osteria where you can eat well, but I don't recommend having a celebration there as there are a lot of problems.

For Mexican food, Wahaca is a franchise from here, I recommend it but it is a bit expensive.

Cosmos, in the West Quay, is a typical serve yourself buffet which is cheap and big to fill yourself up on, also recommended.

You have to visit 'the Jetty', the views and the quality of the food are both exceptional and it is not as expensive as it seems.

Solent deal: In the Spitfire restaurant in front of Solent, during the first month they offer a hamburger and chips for £2 and beers for £1. 50. I don't know if this promotion is still going on, but if not, it's not worth going there as Wetherspoons is cheaper.

Wetherspoons: Wetherspoons is the place that the English go to most often to have a drink, it is a franchise (the owner is pro-Brexit), the alcoholic drinks there are have the best prices, especially the beer. (I'm not a big fan but I recommend hooch, which is like a lemon shandy but with lots of lemon). You can eat here quite cheaply, and the nachos and wings here are very good and tasty. There are different kinds of hamburgers to choose from, costing between £5 and £7 and typical Cesar salads. They also have offers depending on which day of the week it is, for example on Thursdays they have an offer on their Indian food, other days on steaks, other days fish and chips, etc...

There are also quite a few Burger Kings, that I would definitely say have the best coffee in the city even though that sounds like a lie, and if you are looking for work they might take you on.

Japanese cuisine: From those that I've heard of, I only went to Nara, and in front of that there was another one that I didn't go to. By all means, they are a bit expensive, but that is like most of these kinds of restaurants.

Desserts: Sprinkles is an ice-cream shop and they have every kind of dessert, it is affordable, recommendable, and there are two of them in the city. It looks like the typical ice-cream place from American TV series in the '80s.

Did it cost you to find your accommodation in Southampton?

I went to the only one that the university offered me, the Lucia Foster Welsh, this is where they send all of the Erasmus students by default, but you can ask them by e-mail to be put into a different one. There are better ones, it's not bad but for the price it could be a bit better, at £100 a week. Rooms in a flat are cheaper but well, I personally prefer to be in halls because of the security they give you, and if anything happens they will solve it for you, and there is also a better atmosphere. The biggest problem you might find in halls is in the kitchen if you are very organised, but it can also happen in a flat; which is only having one fridge to share between 10 people - it's very tedious.

How much does it cost to live in Southampton?

Accommodation £400 euros and food for £200 euros, so the grant is not enough, or help from your parents, or savings... or working here is quite a feasible option, because the classes aren't that hard for the majority of degrees at Solent University and there's a lot of free time.

I recommend doing your food shops in Lidl because it is quite good, then there is Asda which is like Carrefour, quite big and it has everything that Lidl might not have. Tesco and the Coop are the most expensive ones as they are small but on the other hand, there are lots of them, and they are nearby to where you live. The Sainsburys are good but I don't go to them really as there are none close by.

Is the language easy to get to grips with? Are there language courses available at the University?

I had a good grip on the language beforehand (nothing extraordinary). When you go to sign the arrival papers in Solent (they will give you an appointment) and confirm your subjects whilst talking with the secretary, if she sees that you are struggling with the language, she will sign you up to the class that instant. However, you can tell her no and it doesn't matter, or even in the (rare) case that you are told you have to go; you don't actually have to go, as this subject isn't in your learning agreement between your home and host university.

Personally I recommend it, firstly because they teach you how to do the assignments, (although in the end, I ended up understanding better through watching Youtube videos), you can also make friends with a lot of Erasmus students like you, as the classes are very practical and the teacher will get you to talk to everyone, and it is quite likely that you will get along well with someone from there by the end. Also, as most of us are not used to being given classes in English at first, this can help you to get better for your real degree classes there.

What's the easiest or most economical way to travel to Southampton from your city?

A flight to Gatwick and then a bus to Southampton with National Express (I recommend getting the National Express Card). The buses leave more or less every hour and cost around £7 or £8, so quite cheap. For some people it will work out better to fly to Bournemouth but well, in my case being from Alicante, it was better to fly to Gatwick with Ryanair. It costs £80 with a suitcase and it is even cheaper if you book it beforehand.

Important: if you are coming as a Solent student they offer you a meet and greet service at Gatwick and Heathrow airports, so use it if you can, as it will be the first time that you can make friends on your Erasmus experience. The meet and greet is a specific day and they bring us to our halls from the airport if you are from Solent, and if not, they will leave you till the end and then take you to where you need to be.

Where would you recommend to go on a night out in Southampton?

The biggest club in Southampton is Oceana, it is mainly young people there, the older people prefer other places. It has three rooms, the first is a dancefloor with smoke and a DJ above playing house music, EDM and remixes. Then up the stairs is a room with urban music, (although it is good and has a good atmosphere, it is smaller than the number of people there so you will be crammed in) and finally one that plays music that sounds like its from a European prom, such as High School Musical songs and music from the '80s. It's important to note that you can't get in with a coat on, you have to pay £1 or £2 to leave it in the cloakroom.

Orange Rooms (just on Wednesdays) is when they have Latin Music, the other days' people don't come here. Go here at least once even if it isn't your type of place, you will meet interesting people and have a good time.

Cuba Revolution: Here they have salsa workshops, and in the evening it's lively with Latin music. In MedBar they also do salsa, and it is the same kind of style, although not every day.

For lovers of techno and EDM, it will be Switch and Rebel. And also Cafe Parfait.

They say that Jesters, which is in the North of the city, is really good. It's good if you prefer bars to clubs. It's the same thing with Vodka Revolution, which is a UK chain, a part of it is a bar and the other part is a club.

If you are from Lucia Foster or you live close-by to Ocean Village, I recommend Mango (only the last Friday of each month), which has Latin Music and is 10 metres from the halls. The entry costs 5 euros. I think that with all of these you will have enough options, even though there are some more...

And what about cultural visits?

Southampton is not a very touristic city, baring in mind that it is a port city and it was very affected by the Second World War, but it is still quite picturesque. It's not a marvel, but it has its charm. However, nobody goes to the UK to see Southampton unless you are a student or you have family there.

Places of interest: In first place is West Quay, which is quite a big shopping centre with lots of shops. This is next to Showcase, which is a cinema which also has restaurants and some arcades on the lower floor. You have to go to this cinema because it has really comfortable chairs that recline and you sink down into them.

The city has a big avenue where you can see the classic photo of the mural that comes up on google when you search "Above Street". Oxford Street is also very pretty which is located nearby the Lucia Foster halls and it's where you can find Medbar, as well as numerous restaurants.

I don't recommend going to the Titanic Museum but if it intrigues you and the story fascinates you then go, but don't expect much more than a few uniforms and very few objects. As a way of documenting the event, it is good.

The town hall which is next to the faculty isn't bad, you will go there sometime because Solent organises things in that area.

The city has a lot of parks, of which the best is located in the North of the City called Common Park, and for those who like to run early in the morning on Saturdays, they organise races. The park is quite pretty and very big.

For the footballers, currently Southampton has a team in the Premier League, so you can go to matches for a discounted price if you are a student. It isn't as expensive as in Spain, and you have the chance to see world-class players up close. It's an experience that I think you should live, for the atmosphere, and aside from that, the fact that it is a very English thing as they invented football, and they have a lot of passion for the sport.

For book worms, I recommend Waterstones, which is a bookshop where you can find every kind of book and read whilst drinking a coffee.

What to visit outside of Southampton:

-Bournemouth (half an hour on the train, with a beach)

-Netley Abbey (40 minutes from Southampton on foot, it is a monastery and a coastal village.

-Winchester (half an hour away on bus)

-Bath - Bristol - Cardiff --> if you do them one after the other it's better, and having one or two nights there is a good idea depending on the place, and they are easy to get to via train.

- Durdle Door (beautiful cliffs and beach, you have to rent a car to get there so it's a bit difficult, but worthwhile).

-Brighton (takes around about 2 hours on bus, it is a very pretty coastal city, 2 or 3 days).

- London: (I don't have to tell you that)

- Ireland (cheap flights from Gatwick).

- Edinburgh/Glasgow (you can go there by bus and I recommend travelling at night, the bus is £40 but it takes 8 hours).

Manchester, Liverpool and York even though they are quite far away like Edinburgh

What is the student lifestyle like in Southampton?

Well personally I found it hard to make friends with British people, but well there are lots of different kinds of people, in general, most of them are quite friendly. They are very polite, and they are also saying thank you and saying sorry, but there is also a minority of people who are a bit stuck-up, although I suppose that it's like this in a lot of places.

At uni, if you ask for help, the teachers and students would help you out, I have no doubt about this. Another thing, the first-year students are a lot more friendly than those in their second or third year, as they still haven't made a group of friends at university. If your English isn't very good it will be difficult for you to make friends with British people, but you won't have any problems with people like you who have come as part of Erasmus.

First shop?

For your initial shop, you can go to the Primark on Above street, and there is also an Ikea to buy pans and those kinds of things.

Work?

It is very important when you come that, if you want to work you obtain the NIN (National Insurance Number). For more information look at this website http://www.diariodeunlondinense.com/; if you put your mind to it you can work in the UK without any more problems, although the process to obtain your NIN is tedious.

Do you have any advice for students heading to Southampton in the future?

The best advice would be to sign up to all the activities that you can, to get to know more people and have a better time.

If you need anything or want to get to know more people, I recommend the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/spanishinsouthampton/, you can post what you need and someone will help you or give you advice.

To play football, I also recommend the centre Goals, which is a kind of football room with walls and grass, although you have to pay £5 each time you go.

If you are going to the University of Southampton, I'll tell you that the academic level is perhaps more demanding than that in Solent, but you will have a good time with all its facilities and the huge amount of societies that it has.

If you want to sign up to the gym, there is a franchise called 'the gym group' which costs £15 a month and although a lot of people go, it is quite big.

If you have any questions then send me a message and I will try to help you in whatever way I can!

Best wishes!