Manchester fresher's guide 2008
Other Manchester guides
Manchester fresher's week guide
Welcome to Manchester! For the next few years the capital of the North will be your home from home, and although within time you will feel like you own the city, right about now you probably feel like a small fish in a very big pond. Let skiddle help you then, with our essential welcome to student life in Manchester...
Highlights for Freshers Week
Freshers Fair, run by Manchester University, is on the 23rd, 24th and 25th of September. Don't miss it - it's a great chance to get some freebies from all the companies attending!
There are will be loads of events running over Fresher's week - check out our Fresher's Week Event Roundup here!
On Saturday night, check out the Fresher's Ball with Kylie and Robbie tributes and loads more attractions! for the full UMSU timestable, check out their website
Student Accomodation
More often than not, if you are a student in Manchester you will be living in a place called Fallowfield. Think of it as an Olympic Village for students, with the majority of exercise taking place in the bedroom. It is absolutely chocka with students, and as such caters very well for you. All the main student halls are within a stones throw of Fallowfield, and when you reach second year you will probably end up renting a house from a local who wishes to pay their mortgage with your student loan. However, you can worry about that next year, for now Fallowfied is (most likely) your eating, drinking, sleeping, partying capital of your existence - and it has everything you could ever ask for to keep you there. You will find Fallowfield to the south of the city centre, off Oxford Road, with the Universities located in between.
Transport
To put things simply, Manchester is massive. I moved here after living in a small hut in rural Cumbria and my eyes opened wider than Jo Brand in a Greggs - ah yes Greggs, we'll get to that in a minute. Luckily for you, Manchester has a plethora of ways to get from A - B via C, with Fallowfield sitting on one of the busiest bus routes in Europe. This means competition is stiff, which for the punter translates to lots of buses, and about 60p into the city centre. Of course the buses are busy, and smell a bit, but come on get over it, your're a student now and mummy isn't going to hold your hand. Just remember to smile, say thank you and hold on tight, which even if the bus driver doesn't understand English, it should get you somewhere. The Magic Bus operates the cheapest service. We've got a slightly more concise guide to transport around Manchester here.
Where to go out in Manchester
You may/may not have noticed that we at skiddle.com, specialise in going out. We never tell you where to go, simply advise you on the best places to go to suit your tastes. If you want a weekly roundup in your inbox of what's on next week based on what you like, then you can register here.
We've also put together a page of all the events we are aware of over your first couple of weeks in Manchester, before you realise that your not going to get anywhere with that particular lady, and you should get back to what you love instead of chasing skirt over music. There are THOUSANDS of beatiful people in Manchester, so with that in mind, you are sure to find one at the type of event that you actually like going to. Therefore, here is the quickest but most useful guide of where to head on your nights out. Feel free to print out the following table and if you ever find yourself having a word with yourself about your behaviour, at least we can say I TOLD YOU SO.
- Pop Tart? - Printworks/Student Unions
- Poser? - Deansgate Locks
- Live Music Lover? - Northern Qtr/Manchester Academy's
- Underground House Hero? - Sankeys/Warehouse Project
- Commercial Dance - Printworks
- Soul Shakin Disco Funk - One Central St
- Rock God - Jillys/Music Box
- Indie Individual - 42nd Street/Fifth Avenue
- Hard and Loud - Goodgreef
Like we said, stick to that guide and you'll go far. You could go as far to make the presumptions that certain types of people go to certain types of places, or even worse listen to someone in second year that has an opinion on everything but doesn't actually know anything. No, give it all a try, and you'll soon find your feet. The printworks for example, isn't my cup of musical tea - but it does have a MASSIVE 3D IMAX screen in the Odeon, and couple of rather nice places to eat before you head out elsewhere on the town.
A final note on the nightlife, their are an extraordinary number of homegrown nights and gigs in Manchester so please please check them out as well as the big places that are going to swarm you with marketing. There are some real musical gems in Manchester hidden, some that you won't find by looking, instead just stumbling upon after finding a flyer stuck to a cash machine. It's nights like these that make University magical. A great example of this in September would be theOh My God 1st Birthday @ The Urbis, Manchester City Centre. It's one of the biggest nights of Drum and Bass/Jungle/Dubstep/Hip-Hop and Breakbeat, and tickets are on sale now with skiddle
Shopping
Well I have trundled on loads about where to go, but no doubt you want to spend a large quantity of your student loan on looking and feeling good.Once again Manchester will not fail you with this, with a massive out of town shopping centre - The Trafford Centre - having everything you could ever ask for - honestly, take your mum, she'll love it. In town is The Arndale Centre which is high street heaven, leading to King Street which none of you will be able to afford but it's always nice to look in the window at a Louis Vitton bag.The northen qtr up by Piccadilly Railway station end of town offers a huge number of eclectic boutique esq type places, including Afflecks Palace which could be described as The Camden Market of the North.
Honestly I could go on but I really couldn't do shopping in Manchester much justice. Trust us though, if you can't find it here, you'll struggle to find it anywhere.
Eating Out
Lots and Lots and Lots of places to eat in Manchester, from very nice restaurants to pokey little kebab houses. You can read all about eating in Manchester here, and can also book tables online. If your travelling from Manchester back to Fallowfield you will pass through Rusholme, the golden 'curry' mile, with more kebab houses per sqm than anywhere in the world. A lot of these places also allow you to take your own drink, which is an added bonus. For kebab houses we reccomend Abduls, you will find a few of them around the city. A kebab, is not just a kebab.
Health & Fitness
Now any other website would accuse students of binge drinking and living off takeaways. We don't want to make that judgement of you, and it's up to you how you lead your life. The only advice I could ever pass on is make sure you eat breakfast in the morning, it will ensure you get through whatever the day throws at you.
Strangely enough, you will find yourself feeling fitter at University because you'll be walking everywhere. University will be offering a whole host of Clubs and Societies which you could also join to enjoy anything from football to formula one. You'll learn all about that at The Freshers Fayre. Outside of University you could join a Gym with the nearest one to Fallowfield being the Platt Lane Complex on Yew Tree Road, you can call them on 0161 248 6610 for more information.
Keeping healthy is up to you - the whole world and his dog will tell you something different. Common sense is the best advice - drinking 10 pints a night isn't especially good for you, but I would be a hypocrite if I said I haven't done it. Eat well - i'm sure you have all seen the example to feed your family for a fiver - and there is a great big Sainsbury's in Fallowfield, so why not get a house/flat kitty on the go.
If you have a something your not sure of, then you can call NHS Direct on 0845 4647 for advice, or in an emergency, regardless of the circumstances or consequences if somebody needs urgent medical attention then please call an ambulance. I offer that little bit of advice because sometimes people get carried away, accidents happen, and people aren't seen to quick enough because someone thinks they might get in trouble. Just a thought.
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