One benefit of the cold room...it drove me in desperation to the office at the university which has marginally more heat, and I have managed to finish one section of the chapter I was working on! Hooray!!!

As for the heating, it turns out indeed, I was missing out on something obvious--seems that there was a switch that needed to be switched in order to activate the heater, cunningly hidden under the bed...now I have heat galore, in fact, it gets so hot I turn it off and sleep with the window open!!!

I have met but one flat mate, she is also not from the UK, and she was sooooo helpful in showing me how to work the heating, how to turn on the hot water heater!!! and other mysteries in the flat, and cleared out a shelf for me in the fridge AND shared a meal of her traditional food!!!!

The other flatmates might as well be poltergeists--you never see them, but hear them banging doors, moving chairs, taking a shower, etc. One of them apparently has lived there for years, and I think feels a bit of "ownership" of the place, given the disproportionate amount of room she takes up in the common areas.

So, what is the normal way that flatmates do or do not acknowledge each other? I think its soooooo odd to be sharing common living space and to not even bother to say hello. But the two poltergeist flatmates do not appear to be at all interested in even that much. Is this the way it is done? Or does this depend based on the living circumstances, and so forth? I can see not becoming best friends, but it seems weird to pretend that no one else is living there.

These poltergeist peeps sound like your average Londoner. Unless it's in your face (demanding your wallet) or you can't avoid it, it isn't really there... So ignore "it". "it" might go away but under no circumstances must you make ete contact. *Gasp* - that means "conversation".

Thanks for the explanation, Hypothesis. I did sort of get the image that it was like the Tube...where you might be armpit to armpit with 150 other people crammed like sardines into a train car, but everyone acts as if no one else is there, and they have their own solitary journey on the Tube.

What brings about this sort of (lack of) interaction? Is it due to the high population density? I come from a more rural place where everyone talks to everyone, and if you beep your car horn at someone, they wave hello--because that is what that means!!!

I don't know what causes it but I think it's so sad I noticed that when I was in london a couple of months ago, it's as if everyone on the tube is trying really really hard to pretend that they're on their own. It's shocking to me that people can't even acknowledge each other, especially living in the same apartment!!! But probably that's because where I'm from is a small town where everybody still says hello to each other on the street even if they don't know each other

london can be a bit wwierd, try talking to someone on the tube and they'll probably get off at the next stop! I move to the north to do my UG and I hate to perpetuate the whole north south divide but you couldn't get on the bus without someone starting up a conversation!

As for your flatmates they sound a bit odd, but i have no idea whether that's normal postgrad halls behaviour as i only lived in them as a first year undergrad when everyone goes out of their way to make friends with everyone.

Bit of a disservice to Londoners there. Being crammed into a train 'armpit to armpit' isn't really conducive to striking up a nice little chat is it, unless you really want to inhale someone's noxious odours, or risk talking to someone who'll stare at your boobs, dribble, or has the distinct possibility of being an axe murderer. Most people just keep to themselves to avoid weirdos, and not randomly chatting to strangers isn't weird, people just have places to get to and don't want to be held up shooting the breeze with someone they don't even know. As for the poor manners of your flatmates, it could be plain rudeness, or it could be their insecurities, lack of social skills or they are neck-deep in deadlines (you did say one of them had been there for years...) that keeps them at bay. Why don't you leave a note in the kitchen scheduling a flat meeting to break the ice, and get a bottle of wine in? Then you can make your judgements.

Lack of London interaction explanation: Too many freaks/weirdos/juvenile delinquents/armed muggers/one-armed former sea captains high on exotic plant life...you get the idea.
I'm in London, walking about with a smile on my face (getting looks that say "what the hell is that disease disfiguring his face") and usually the only people who want to talk to me are beggars.
WELCOME TO LONDON FOLKS!!

Some shared places in London can be like that - I think it depends on how they are set up and how big they are. I had some great shared places in London (was there 7 years) - but some more than others and I think the big difference is that I had a choice and got to visit first. Having one reasonable friend in the place can make all the difference though. If you think you will be there long enough to make it worthwhile, you could look for somewhere else with a more friendly set-up.

This place looks like a tower block built by the Soviet Union in the 1960's. Several tower blocks actually that were built by the Soviet Union in the 1960's--that sort of bleak, bland, brick look. It might be worth looking about for another place to live...on the other hand, the proximity to the university is nice, the price is not bad, and there could be worse things than living with poltergeists, such as having very noisy flatmates that partied until the wee hours.

Perhaps I should phone "Most Haunted" and see if they want to come and do a show about the poltergeists.

What would cause the lights to go out and shower to turn off abruptly??!!! Besides the obvious answer of poltergeists at play?? Every day a new adventure in my student accommodation...

This house of yours sounds much more fun than the fasionable number crunching I'm currently doing. Can I come over and sit in the corner with a sheet over my head going: "WWwwWooOOOooOOOOoooOOoo"? Set the ambience?