OK we've crunched the numbers for London..

[wanderlusting]

The only thing that worries me is that her debit card (with pin attached to her bank account) didn't always work in the US when we were there last summer. She had enough money in her account but it just didn't 'take'.
The lady at the bank said to try out her card in the UK beforehand just to be on the safe side. (As it happens dh has to be in London tomorrow so he can try it out.) I have had the same problem myself too, but I have a credit card that I can use in this case, she doesn't.

Would it be handy for her to have a credit card do you think?
(just thinking out loud here).

I had issues with my American debit cards in the UK as well. I finally figured out that if my debit card was Visa, Mastercard, etc, I could just have the cashier swipe it as credit and the money still came out of my checking account.

[Dutchie]

I wondered about the £18 /month ,I only ever use the tube in London , would the bus be cheaper?

I understand that the oyster card is for the bus too.

The great thing about having a friend who has just done this
placement thing in London is that she is passing on some things, she has emailed her application for the oyster card to Fiori so that she only has to change some particulars for herself.

[Dutchie]

I had issues with my American debit cards in the UK as well. I finally figured out that if my debit card was Visa, Mastercard, etc, I could just have the cashier swipe it as credit and the money still came out of my checking account.

Fiori's card isn't either of the above, it is just a bank account debit card.
Didi mentioned that she had the same bank card as Fiori with the same problems.
Fiori is going to apply for a new bank card quite soon and then we will 'test' it when we go to London to check things out for her accommodation.
Didi also said that when she was in the UK she also had a credit card with her. We are leaning towards doing the same thing for Fiori 'just in case'. We know her well enough to know that she would never mis-use it.

[Siebrie]

Let her make a cv in English, it will be a good exercise for her, and send it to the agencies in advance. The agencies have the same name as in NL. She can make all the appointments via email before she even goes there. That way, she will have her first days there filled, gets to see something of Londen, will learn to make her way around.

The agency I found really useful and well-paying is languagematters co uk They do a lot of translation work and just require a thorough knowledge of Dutch. Sometimes they even have nightshifts, where they pay around 25 GBP per hour. They will give a small test at the interview (translation of a simple letter from English to Dutch), so make sure she knows what phrases are used in an English business letter.

Maybe she can stay at a Bed and Breakfast for the first month? Google bed and breakfast London and look at the websites of the intermediary organisations. Some are very expensive, but some are very reasonable.

If you do decide to stay at a bnb, book for one or two nights through the agency. They will then give you the address details of the bnb. Then you can contact the bnb about a longer stay, cutting out the agency. Maybe not fair on the agency, but I have found that the bnb owners are only to happy to oblige.

[Dutchie]

Let her make a cv in English, it will be a good exercise for her, and send it to the agencies in advance. The agencies have the same name as in NL. She can make all the appointments via email before she even goes there. That way, she will have her first days there filled, gets to see something of Londen, will learn to make her way around.

The agency I found really useful and well-paying is languagematters co uk They do a lot of translation work and just require a thorough knowledge of Dutch. Sometimes they even have nightshifts, where they pay around 25 GBP per hour. They will give a small test at the interview (translation of a simple letter from English to Dutch), so make sure she knows what phrases are used in an English business letter.

Maybe she can stay at a Bed and Breakfast for the first month? Google bed and breakfast London and look at the websites of the intermediary organisations. Some are very expensive, but some are very reasonable.

If you do decide to stay at a bnb, book for one or two nights through the agency. They will then give you the address details of the bnb. Then you can contact the bnb about a longer stay, cutting out the agency. Maybe not fair on the agency, but I have found that the bnb owners are only to happy to oblige.

Thanks for your input Siebrie and sorry for not posting before now.

Things are moving quite quickly with everything.

My cousin lives in Chelmsford and has given us some idea of the best location for her to live so that she is reasonably close to the office where she will be doing her placement.

We will be going with her to London at some point at the end of July./beg. of August to get things sorted out incl. looking at the various accomm. addresses. Also she will be going to stay with my cousin at the beg. of July for a few days. My cousin is 70 and no longer works so is really looking forward to helping her find her way round during these few days.

I will def. give her the link to the website so that she can maybe make some extra cash while she is there. She is almost completely bi-lingual so the language shouldn't be a problem for her.

Thanks again.