Black Cat Bone

I'm moving there.
What do I have to look forward to?
Where should I live?
Is it good?

hippopotamus wrote:I'm moving there.
What do I have to look forward to?
Where should I live?
Is it good?

I loved it, even though I've only spent a weekend there.
Griff or Kid P are yer go to guys for these questions.

K wrote:No.
Move to Manchester. It's not that far.

The applied for the job in Manchester because I love Manchester. The powers that be decided there was no Manchester job, only Liverpool.

I'm excited about the job.
On my way to the interview the train stopped one stop before I was to get off. They asked if there was a doctor on board. It was 8am and a woman had passed out, intoxicated and they had to make sure she was still responsive before letting her out.
One of the catering staff talked my ear off for the rest of the time we were on the train.... then as we got out and then kept chatting for a good 10 minutes until he realised he was going a different direction.

Because of the delay I was arriving late at the hospital site where my interview was held. I had been given no specific details where to go... so I assumed it would be straightforward when I got there. After getting vague suggestions on where would be a potential location of my interview... I found myself in a distant car park, far from any likely looking place, 5 minutes before the time I was to start.

Slightly distressed I went into the first building I could find, to ask for help from the first person I could find. Turns out people who work in bereavement centres are very nice. Or maybe it's just liverpuddlians.
She made it her business to find where I needed to be. Explained to the family with whom she had her first appointment about my predicament and all of them nodded and said "Oh! Of course!".

Eventually we found the right place because the only name I had as a point of contact happened to be the mother of her son's friend. She insisted on delivering me there in person so she could make sure I got there, and tell off this lady for not giving me more helpful information. Of course everyone there was as lovely as can be.

I walked out of the interview wishing I had got the job because every single person involved in every stage had been almost suspiciously kind and helpful.
I had meant to take in the city a little when I was there, but I had a deadline for another application submission later that day.
So I found a cafe near the station and started working on my laptop. This elderly lady sat next to me, and just started talking. She didn't stop. She was not going to. So I sent my thing off and we discussed how she had started ballet lessons when she turned 70. She was lovely. Everyone was lovely.

I didn't get to see the cathedral or the tate. But there was a museum near the station. And it was incredible . I told myself I had to come back to the city, even if i don't get the job.


So this is everything I know about the city. And the Beatles museum.

It's a fabulous place, very similar to Glasgow as far as the feel of the place goes, very lively and very friendly.
And there's tons of Everton fans which only makes it better.
Good luck!

A former girlfriend of mine lived in the Aigburth/Sefton Park area, which I liked. Lots of big 19th and early 20th century town houses, many subdivided into flats, which were reasonably priced to rent.

She had a couple of flats during the couple of years we were dating, both within walking distance of Lark Lane, which has evolved into a mini high street, complete with some pretty decent pubs, bars and restaurants (caveat, at least that's how it was the last time I was there, circa 2011 - it may have changed now). It's similar to high streets in trendy areas of London like Clapham, or Chorlton in Manchester.

It's easy to commute from there into the city centre, about 15-20 minutes by bus or Merseylink train, or about 10 minutes by taxi. Handy for the airport too, as Aigburth's on the eastern side of the city.

I spent a fair bit of time there between 2010-11, and have been back many times since, for gigs, JUs, pub crawls, visits to the Tate etc. I like the city, it's got a nice spirit to it, and I've always found the people friendly. Not sure I'd want to live there, but it's easy to travel from Manchester, and now that we have Tate membership we'll probably be going even more often.

The Belvedere, just around the corner from the Philharmonic Hall, has seen several ace JU gatherings. Lovely old proper pub, and they do fantastic massive gin & tonics in there.

I've got an interview with Kaplan next Tuesday.

Looks like I'll either end up in Liverpool or Edinburgh...

Go to Liverpool John!
We'll take you to the football and let you throw up at Kip P's walls!

I'll let you know how I get on. I've always preferred the city to Manchester, but admittedly this is based on a handful of brief visits to both places.

**NOW PLAYING** wrote:I've got an interview with Kaplan next Tuesday.

Looks like I'll either end up in Liverpool or Edinburgh...

I do a fair bit of work with some of the people at the Kaplan Liverpool study centre, they seem like a nice bunch.

**NOW PLAYING** wrote:I've always preferred the city to Manchester.

I'm slightly the reverse, but that's probably just down to living in Manchester.

I'd eagerly pick Edinburgh over either though, given the choice.

Nick wrote:

**NOW PLAYING** wrote:I've got an interview with Kaplan next Tuesday.

Looks like I'll either end up in Liverpool or Edinburgh...

I do a fair bit of work with some of the people at the Kaplan Liverpool study centre, they seem like a nice bunch.

I've heard nothing but bad things about Kaplan. Another colleague this morning pulled a face when I mentioned the company.

I'll go for the interview but really want to have enough time to see Mendips before getting the train back.

BLACK FELLA wrote:I've heard nothing but bad things about Kaplan. Another colleague this morning pulled a face when I mentioned the company.

Oh I wouldn't work for them, nor any of the other private providers doing the same sort of thing, like Navitas, Study Group, INTO and so on. I've heard very bad things about all of them, at least on the marketing side. Teaching English for them might be different though.

It was teaching English for them that they were complaining about! They said they were money obsessed, badly managed, and that they expected teachers to be present from 9 to 5 even if they weren't teaching.

Anyway - Edinburgh i/view shortly. Will report back.

BLACK FELLA wrote:It was teaching English for them that they were complaining about! They said they were money obsessed, badly managed, and that they expected teachers to be present from 9 to 5 even if they weren't teaching.

The money obsessed bit rings very true - these companies are very sharp and aggressive operators, run purely for profit.

BLACK FELLA wrote:Anyway - Edinburgh i/view shortly. Will report back.

Best of luck!

Thanks Nick!

It's a company called i-to-i, they're going to start running intensive weekend teacher-training courses in Edinburgh (and other cities in Scotland) and they're considering me for work. The trouble is, it's not regular (depends on demand) and they want me to watch a whole weekend course soon as training (and I guess to assess my suitability) - and it's unpaid.

It's really difficult to get year-round TEFL work in the UK.

Anyway - sorry to derail...

If you had three or four hours to kill in Liverpool before getting the train, what would you do? what would you see?

Kid P

BLACK FELLA wrote:Anyway - sorry to derail...

If you had three or four hours to kill in Liverpool before getting the train, what would you do? what would you see?

Visit:
The Central Library, St. Georges Hall, they currently have a Adrian Henri/Liverpool poets exhibition on.
TheWalker Art Gallery has an Alphonse Mucha exhibition.
If you have time to spare check out a trip on the ferry (an hour round trip)

If I'm free when you're here I could always be available for a cuppa.

Let me know.

BLACK FELLA wrote:Thanks Nick!

It's a company called i-to-i, they're going to start running intensive weekend teacher-training courses in Edinburgh (and other cities in Scotland) and they're considering me for work. The trouble is, it's not regular (depends on demand) and they want me to watch a whole weekend course soon as training (and I guess to assess my suitability) - and it's unpaid.

It's really difficult to get year-round TEFL work in the UK.

I've only visited Liverpool once, for a wedding, but I liked it.

When do you find out?