Hello after  a long hiatus! The last couple of months have been a busy busy time for most of us haven´t they? Except for those of you making last minute university applications, accommodation bookings and visa applications must be well underway? Just another month to go! I hope I´ve been able to answer some of the questions you´ve had about studying and living in the UK and I hope my posts and my e-book have made things a little easier and comfortable for you. I wish all those of you flying to the UK next month, a very happy countdown to departure!

This post, by the way, is not for you! It´s for those of you who haven´t been able to make it to the universities of your choice, and are looking for a second chance.

Read on…

We’re well into May, and those of you with offers are probably looking into accommodation options now? Read the Uni vs Private Accommodation post to figure out which one is for you! If you’ve decided on uni accomm, life becomes much simpler because you simply have to study the brochure and the website, shortlist a couple of places you’re keen on and make an application! But if you’ve decided to go down the private accommodation road, things become a little confusing. How do you look for a place sitting seven seas away? What does bedsit mean? And what do bills include? And what’s a detached house? And also, where do you search for rooms and flatmates?

I’m going to try and tackle these worries one step at a time. How about we begin by figuring out where to look first? Read on…

Just back from a lovely afternoon get-together, happy on tiramisu and carrot cake and rasberry meringue and all kinds of salads! I’m one of those folks who can’t enjoy a party unless there’s good food (no matter how fabulous the music is or how brilliant the company is or how much alcohol is flowing!), and so am feeling very content because there was a bit of it all! I made my two penny bit of contribution to the snack bar as well (and hope it made some stomachs happy!), and that brings me to party food recipe no 2! Read recipe 1 here.

Roasted vegetable and pesto salad

Read on…

What is a summer internship?

A summer internship is an opportunity to work in an organisation as a member of the team for a certain period of time in the holidays so as to gain valuable work experience in an industry of your choice!

Am I eligible to apply for an internship?

Summer internships are usually for penultimate year students (students in their second last year of university) and graduates. However each organisation has it’s own criteria, so it’s best to get in touch with them to enquire if you are eligible (incase the information on the website is not clear)

How long does it last?

Summer internships usually last for about 4-10 weeks. Some could be slightly shorter or longer.

Do you get paid?

Read on…

And we complete 3 months of MTG!

I’ve added a few new features to the website:

- There’s a twitter widget in the right-hand sidebar with my latest tweets – so if you aren’t already following MTG on twitter, that widget will keep you informed of most student-news updates. The widget doesn’t display retweets, however, so you could follow MTG for the whole deal!

- There’s an Amazon widget in the right-hand sidebar that you can use to shop for books, cds, dvds, gadgets, and anything else you fancy on Amazon

- What all you prospective students would find most useful is the Student Talk feature recently introduced. It’s a collection of interviews with alumni and current students from various universities across UK.  The project is still in its infancy, and you can help it grow by contributing! Click here

- There’s a new testimonials page. I’m so glad MTG is being appreciated! Click here

-  There’s a Flickr widget in the right-hand sidebar that streams photos of interesting places I’ve been to and have blogged about in the UK!

Some other updates:

- MTG now has over a 100 Facebook fans! Hurrah! Become one too – click here!

- The Orkut community has over a 180 members! Join in!

Thanks everyone for all the support and appreciation! A special thank you to everyone who helped with the Student Talk section – thanks for taking the time out

A lot of you are probably in your final year at university now, beginning to think about where life is going to take you once you graduate.  A lot of you are perhaps still confused about whether you want to study further or take a year off or find a job.

But many of you perhaps already have a goal in mind and are working towards it. Those of you who are keen to work in the UK are perhaps not entirely sure what to do next? Where do you hunt for jobs? How do you apply? How do you tackle interviews? Etc etc?

What I’m going to do is break each of these issues down and then address them in what I’d like to call Focus Weeks. What that means is that I’ll set aside a particular week to focus on a particular concern.

The first Focus Week begins today, under the Mission: Employment UK category. And I’ll focus on searching for a job in the UK. How and where to look!

Check back at 1 pm GMT for the first in this series of posts! Or follow me on Twitter/ subscribe to the RSS feed, to access it as soon as it’s up.

By the way, a focus week doesn’t mean I won’t be writing on any other interesting things; it simply means that I’ll focus on a particular issue and therefore a large chunk of my posts would relate to that concern!

Read Mission: Employment UK [Job Search - Part 1]

I just discovered this website that I wish I’d known of earlier! It’s called My Voucher Codes, and as the name suggests it’s stuffed to the brim with some fabulous discount vouchers and codes.

And it’s very easy to use. You simply search for what you’re looking for, and you get a list of offers. You then find an offer that interests you, get the voucher code for it, and use that code when you shop. The only thing that needs to be remembered is that most vouchers are only valid for ONLINE shopping.

Apart from voucher codes, the website has also put together a list of deals available at various retailers. Read on…

A few days ago I visited Chennai  Dosa on a friend’s recommendation (and this friend, let me add, takes the train to Reading every weekend for this). South Indian spicy fare. Everything from the staple dosa and idli to an elaborate buffet. They even have Chole Bhature (with bhature the size of footballs!) Was starved, and the buffet looked yum and very reasonably priced for what it promised to be, so decided to pile on.

Vegetarian for £4.99 and Non-vegetarian for £5.99   Not bad, eh?
Read on…

A pack of sandwiches, a bag of crisps, and a bottle of water – all for just £2 ! Not bad, I say!

Everyone knows Britain is synonymous with fish and chips. But really, what’s all the fuss about?

Listen up! NOBODY makes fish and chips like the local Brit fishery does! Some like it, some don’t, but you’ve got to try it to know it!
Read on…

Carry a one pound coin with you at all times! Very useful. Especially when you’re in the supermarket with a shopping list a mile long, and you realise that you can’t have a trolley because you don’t have the pound coin to unlock one.

If you find something else (I found a tiny McDonalds token) that’s the same size, it’ll work too!