Zameer Abbas: My first time in the UK!

This is the second blog in series of blogs by our new 2012/12 Chevening scholars from Pakistan. In this edition, Zameer Abbas, who is studying at the University of Sussex, tells us about his first time in the UK.

My first time in UK!

I landed at London Heathrow Airport on Sunday 25th September 2011, on an Emirates flight with a short stopover in Dubai International Airport from Islamabad.

In Islamabad International Airport, boarding and getting through the immigration desk wasn’t a problem unlike the agony anecdotes I had heard of passengers being grilled hard by cold immigration and custom officials.

So all the officer asked me was my Passport and NOC (Non-Objection Certificate) from Government of Pakistan about my travelling to UK which was quite understandable. In hindsight, I think the best practice is to keep your all original documents side by side with a photo copy of them for all practical purposes. 

Nearly a dozen airliners operate from Pakistan to UK. September is the busiest in terms of passenger traffic as most of the UK universities start their sessions and receive a deluge of international students. All the airliners have at least one stopover before landing at Heathrow except Pakistani International Airlines. The latter airlines’ flight goes directly from major cities Islamabad and Karachi to Manchester and Heathrow taking roughly six hours.

All said and done, I think Emirates’ (especially its Business Class) is the best travel experience unlike my Economy-Class travel which was so-so.

Over Europe, the cold was palpable and a small Emirates’ blanket helped. Though hard-pressed in the narrow seat, I managed to put together a bad sleep while headphones on! I had been expecting a view of the outside world from plane windows but couldn’t either from Islamabad to Dubai and then onwards to Heathrow. This gave me enough time to fiddle and figure the in-flight touch-screen entertainment system.

Finally we touched down at Heathrow. The pilot told us in advance about a delayed landing, for Heathrow is world’s third busiest airport after Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in US and Beijing Capital International Airport in China. Further on to terminal 3 (My university had sent instructions and I had booked a free coach from Heathrow to Sussex). The welcoming staff had been actually waiting for a long time due to my flight delay. But I chose to go with my friend who was there to receive me after, of course, informing the varsity officials.

Next I was shown around London by my friend who is a UK national.  We drove to Brighton and it took almost an hour from London. Thanks to all the perfect email correspondence I had all the documents were ready and I got the keys of my rented room in East Slope of Students’ residence area. It’s my third day here in the UK and the experience is amazing. I hope to meet students from around the world and enrich my horizons of thought and perception besides seeing some of the historical places in this flamboyant country.

I will be back next week with a description of on-campus residence and how I am grappling with everything from cooking to knowing coins in the UK.