Archaeological Adventures: Wales Edition

[brigdh]

I don't think I've yet mentioned this here, but this year I will not be traveling to the nice warm deserts of the Middle East, but instead will be spending the fall in cold, rainy Britain, specifically Wales, specifically Cardiff. Um, at least it's an English-speaking country?

Okay, so, mostly I'm kidding and I'm sure it will be quite awesome to live for a while in the U.K. I'll be working with some people from the University of Cardiff to do stuff with microscopes and various technologies, so at least I don't have to trudge around digging in fields while it is cold and rainy. But because of that, I'm on my own to find accommodations and deal with money/culture shock/traveling arrangements. So I come to you for help, o LJ! Where am I supposed to find sublets in Cardiff? I've been searching Gumtree (since apparently craigslist isn't very popular, wtf wales), but let me know if there's a different way I should be going about this. Also, what is reasonably cheap rent? And why do you charge by the week, that's so confusing.

Also tell me what books I should read set in Cardiff and/or Wales and/or England (why not), and other random facts I should know. I did get to spend a day in Cardiff when I was in London in April, but I didn't really pick up that much in such a short time. I will be there from late September to late December, if it matters.

Comments

[threewalls]

I'm afraid I don't know much about Cardiff, having never been, but general useful UK websites:

For travelling anywhere in the UK, I recommend searching via: http://www.transportdirect.info/web2/

If you buy a month or so in advance, train is usually cheaper than coach (and nearly always faster).

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com - is pretty good for points about how to do absolutely anything in Britain cheaper than you might otherwise. Probably has advice about renting, but that's not something I've looked into.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I, sadly, discovered just what a difference timing makes in train prices when I was in London in April. Train prices don't change that way here, so it never occurred to me that waiting to buy until the night before might be a bad idea.

And that money saving website looks really useful! Thanks so much!

[threewalls]

The prices changing so much in advance was news to me, too-- but buying even the night before is still sometimes cheaper than buying at the station immediately before travel (though if you have a debitcard/creditcard, you can pre-order and collect the tickets from the station immediately before travel if the station has the right sort of ticket machine).

I check that money saving website about so much. I hope you find it as useful as I do.

[threewalls]

And I hope it goes without saying that if you're thinking of coming up North-West, I'd be happy to show you around.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I definitely planning to take advantage of being in the UK by traveling all over, but I haven't settled any details yet. I'd love to meet up with you!

[kalichan.livejournal.com]

YA Books That Made Me Love Wales:

The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper (specifically the 4th one, The Grey King, which has in one of its chapters the best welsh language pronunciation guide ever!, and the fifth & last one, Silver on the Tree which also takes place in Wales.)
A String in the Harp by Nancy Bond
The Mabinogion by Evangeline Walton
Boy by Roald Dahl
The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander
The Owl Service by Alan Garner

Also Welsh triads, and the Book of Taliesin.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Dude, AWESOME. I haven't read any of these, so now I have a nice list. (And thank you super much for the books at the picnic, by the way!)

[seaskystone.livejournal.com]

We don't really do Craigslist in the UK full-stop, to be honest. However I can make suggestions! www.findaproperty.com and www.propertyfinder.com are useful flat-hunting sites, although I don't know how they are on shorter sublets. However they do also list house shares if you would prefer to go down that route. Classifieds in local newspapers might also be good: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/buy-and-sell/

It might well be worth getting in touch with Cardiff University and asking about academic or visiting lets - I know in Oxford there are a good few shorter lets available which are advertised internally more than they are externally. If you're going to be working with people there, using them as contacts might be a plan, since they can check if there are any notices up on campus or in bulletins (now is probably a good time, since all the students wanting year lets will have already arranged them, and there may be shorter term offers coming up).

People don't usually charge rent weekly, so I'm not sure why some sites/agencies prefer to display it per week rather than per month. Possibly it's to allow for student budgeting by the week? Even places that give a per week figure will be charging monthly, though, at least in my experience. I don't know what Cardiff prices are like - in Oxford (which is London rate, basically) I would expect to pay £300-£330pcm for a decent room in a shared house with 3-4 people (excluding bills). The rent on my one bedroom flat is £645 pcm (excluding bills). I would expect Cardiff to be considerably cheaper but I could be wrong.

YOU SHOULD COME TO OXFORD BY THE WAY.

Also digging around in a field sounds awesome. What are you looking for?

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Oh, thanks so much for the website! It's been hard to figure out what the good sites are.

I AM TOTALLY PLANNING ON TRAVELING ALL OVER, SO YES, OXFORD SHOULD VERY MUCH BE A STOP. We should hang out!

[zahrawithaz.livejournal.com]

Not sure how useful this will be, but about 12 years ago I did some undergraduate archaeological research at Wales--nowhere near Cardiff, in the rural SW mountains, which is worlds away culturally. My own project didn't progress as planned, but I vividly remember being randomly pressed into a wacky reconstructive attempt to demonstrate a method of moving the bluestones from that area to Stonehenge. It took ten of us several hours of hard labor to move one of the stones a few feet with levers, rope, and rollers made from gigantic trees. Those rocks weigh tons.

I have only two bits of advice, which may be heavily dated: Watch Welsh-language soap operas if you can, because they are hilarious and provide you with very fun vocab. And don't drink the milk.

When I was there, unpasteurized milk was legal in Wales and Scotland (though not in England), and without realizing it, I had some on my cereal. I came down with the worst food poisoning of my life--I was delirious and literally unable to walk for a week--while others around me were fine, because of course coming from the US I lacked local exposure. Obviously things may have changed in the last decade, and this would be less likely to happen in a city anyway. But I would proceed with caution.

Also, the NIH was amazing--paying house calls to the middle of nowhere, providing two different doctors, checking up on me afterward--better than any health care I've had in the US. And despite all my frantic and delirious babbling about not having insurance, it was free!

Here via <lj user="rm">

[penguineggs.livejournal.com]

"Green top", raw or unpasteurised milk has to bear a warning label and can only be bought from farmers' markets or direct from the producers, not in High Streets or supermarkets, so I would suggest that the chance of getting some unexpectedly are extremely low,at present, in Cardiff.

I second the suggestion of going via the university accommodation office for suggestions on short lets, or the small ads of the local newspaper.

Re: Here via <lj user="rm">

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That is very helpful information.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a great tip, thank you! It never would have occurred to me to check.

I am so jealous of other countries' nationalized health service. I got pneumonia in Oman last year, and ended up spending six days in the hospital, and I'm so glad I wasn't in the US, because I can't imagine how expensive it would have been.

[veleda-k.livejournal.com]

For books set in England, I am currently in love with the Oscar Wilde Mysteries, which answer the most deep and vital question of our age: What if Oscar Wilde, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Robert Sherard had fought crime?

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

DUDE. That sounds AMAZING.

[veleda-k.livejournal.com]

It is! Gyles Brandreth (the author) really manages to capture the voices of the characters, something that I'd never even dare try.

In order:

Oscar Wilde and the Candlelight Murders (UK title)/Oscar Wilde and a Death of No Importance (US title)

Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death (UK title)/Oscar Wilde and a Game Called Murder (US title)

Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile (Seems to have the same title on both sides of the Atlantic)

Oscar Wilde and the Nest of Vipers is set to come out in October. I'm very excited.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I will definitely be looking these up.

[veleda-k.livejournal.com]

I could send you the first one, if you'd like. I ordered The Candlelight Murders not knowing that it was the same as A Death of No Importance, so I have a copy I don't need.

[thought-ribbons.livejournal.com]

Are you looking for your own place or a flat share? Several of my friends have used http://www.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/?posttown_id=15 (that's the Cardiff link)to find decent flat shares. Lots of places near the university, they're usually furnished, and often include bills. Alot are advertised for the beginning of September so now is a good time to start looking.

Most are listed pcm= Pounds per month, (so your monthly cost), some are listed pw= Pounds weekly. Not all include bills, but some do. Most places require a deposit. From talking with my friends over there the average cost (of a flat share) is around £325-350pcm, for a really nice place, higher or lower depending on where you live. As cheap as £200pcm

IDK if that's any help or not, but enjoy your time over there. I'm excited to be visiting in October :)!

ps here via [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com]


Edit: You can also search by "short lets" or any other category, I just pulled this one HERE (http://www.spareroom.co.uk/flatshare/flatshare_detail.pl?flatshare_id=1163486&flatshare_type=offered&search_id=34074265&search_results=/flatshare/%3Fsearch_id%3D34074265%26&city_id=&alert_id=&alert_type=&) as an example.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I'm looking for the cheapest possible, so almost certainly a flat share. Thanks for the link! That looks like a really useful website.

[i-bananas.livejournal.com]

Here with another website suggestion for rentals, Rightmove lists rental prices pcm so it should make sense to you. Apparently prices in Cardiff are approaching London levels so it's not as cheap as it used to be...
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/
I don't live in London but to rent my 1 bedroom flat would cost £650 pcm (I'm paying a mortgage not renting) and it's likely that Cardiff prices are similar.
Here's a possible one right on the university's doorstep - http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-16639776.html

I was going to suggest taking a look at http://www.visitcardiff.com, as it's got info on transport etc but then I realised that they had a link to this site http://whycardiff.com/work-in-cardiff.html which has info for people relocating to work in Cardiff.

(I came here via rm, I only just discovered her LJ!)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for the links! They look really useful.

[i-bananas.livejournal.com]

No problem :)

After a visit to Cardiff last weekend I'm back there again on Friday and I think one of the people I'm seeing works at the Uni (she seems to normally be doing 20 things at the same time so it's not easy keeping track!). If I get the chance I'll see if I can get a better idea of rental prices and other useful tips :)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

That would be fantastic! Thanks so much!

[i-bananas.livejournal.com]

I was able to check on rental prices for you. The average for a 1 bedroom apartment/flat is £600 per month excluding bills, whereas renting a room in a house will cost between £200 and £300 (£300 generally includes all bills).

If I hear anything more that seems as though it'll be useful to you I'll comment here :)