By Mohamad Kanjo, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France.
It was on Thursday, 5 September, 2024. I woke up at 3 am to prepare for my journey from Lyon, France, to my new home in Manchester. Although it wasn’t University of Manchester accommodation, it looked ideal to me: a big, nice bedroom; another room with an office; a low rent with everything included; 10 minutes away from the hospital where I was allocated for my one-year exchange as a third-year medical student…
Just for context, I’m a medical student in Lyon, France, spending my third year in Manchester, which mainly consists in/of internships at the hospital : we hardly ever go to the University/main campus. This is why I found my own accommodation instead of going into student halls.
The reflex of checking my phone after waking up didn’t fail me that morning. There was only one notification for a message on WhatsApp, sent by… my private landlord: his mother, living in another continent, had just passed away, so he booked the first flight available and left England. Reading that he would stay away for more than a week was about to make me furious, when I noticed that his problem was way, way more serious than mine… I couldn’t blame him, especially when he sincerely apologised. ‘OK,’ I thought, ‘in the worst case scenario, I might sleep in a hotel. I still have 4 days before the year begins.’
Dear reader, whilst it’s incredibly rare for something like this to happen, I have gathered a few, valuable tips for you below:
1) Networking
Do get at least one – good – contact in the destination you are going to. Networking in life, and more particularly when travelling, is crucial. How to grow it?
- First of all, by speaking: Once you are accepted for an abroad study program, tell your family members, your friends, your neighbours… This is actually what saved me: My father informed his colleagues during summer, and one of them mentioned that he had a cousin living in Manchester. So, this man was the first person we thought of on that day. Not only did he kindly suggest to house me, but he also was driving me to visit potential permanent rooms! And that is how, on Sunday, 8 September, I ended up finding my current accommodation!
- Another way of networking consists in using social media: as a Syrian who has been living in France for the last seven years, I could join Facebook groups like ‘The Syrians / Arabs / French in Manchester / England / the UK’. Instagram is a good option as well, especially with accounts related to the University of Manchester. For instance, you can contact the internationalsociety, or the uomxchangesociety.
- Finally, don’t forget to get in touch with previous students from your university or your country in general, who went through the same adventure, and who should have plenty of useful contacts there. For example, they may be in a group chat and share your inquiry, after which, one of the members can let you know that found an accommodation and was looking for a roommate to share it with them.
Tip about networking
For your life, in general, networking is truly invaluable. Create a mind map (for example online, using MindMeister, or offline, with XMind) and put all the people you meet with a brief description of how you knew each other, what they do and what they like. For example: ‘Mohamad Kanjo, met at UoM, studies medicine (third-year), comes from Syria but lives in Lyon, France’. You never know! Maybe you will visit Lyon one day, or want to learn Arabic or improve your level! Imagine if you did this for every person you know 😉
Source of the idea: Brilliant Networking by Steven D’Souza.
2) University Accommodation
I would really recommend that you consider University Accommodation, rather than finding housing privately. Of course, for some students (including me, because my programme was a non-standard length), private housing is the common option. University housing has the following benefits:
- More secure: You won’t experience last-minute cancellations or scams;
- More social: You will meet people with approximately a similar age to you, and potentially studying the same course as you. Additionally, from time to time, I was told that there were some events within each site;
- Closer: By this, I don’t just mean closer to your classes, but also closer to the city centre, and most importantly, closer to all the events that will be organised during the whole year, mainly by students’ societies (board games, linguistics, new encounters, meeting places for trips, etc.).
I advise you to look for testimonials about this option. Do not hesitate at any time to get in touch with the University of Manchester team; they will always guide you, provided that you contact them soon.
3) Stay positive!
Believe me, it is extremely hard to, but your mental health prevails! I was looking forward to opening my luggage in a permanent, personal room. I couldn’t help but think that it was a sign for me to give up on that accommodation, although it had been a dream for months… I have always been taught not to blame myself for something I can’t control. Do your best, and wait for the results, without being mad, nor sad: just keep the smile!
4) If you choose private housing:
Last but not least, when choosing private housing, NEVER pay before receiving the keys! Use a reputable provider such as Manchester Student Homes (I opted to use SpareRoom, which allows you to pay some pounds to upgrade your profile). By doing that, you will be able to contact landlords with verified accounts, who tend to be more serious and sure.
To finish with, despite thinking my dream was going to be a nightmare… it actually became a wonderful, insightful reality after all!
Me studying abroad, I’ve always looked at this
As a great adventure… and it was… and it is!
The next post will cover numerous examples of the uncountable things one can do in Manchester!
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