stellachiara
9th July 2009, 05:14 PM
Well, we packed up the house, left the 42C heat in Northern California and arrived in the cold rain of Dunedin on Saturday the 4th! We have been told that this is the coldest and driest winter they have had here in some people's lifetimes.
The first day was a bit of a letdown, as the uni postgraduate residence hall we had rented was, um, how to say, not very much as advertised or pictured on the website. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, as far as residence halls go -- it's simply not the shiny amazing wonderful thing advertised on the website. We took a walk to city centre that night, and it was wet and dark and no one on the street, and it felt like a ghosttown.
We tried the residence hall food for a few days, and decided that it wasn't going to work for us. So, we decided we would find a place on our own. On Monday we rented a car and set out to explore Dunedin and get to know all the parts of town, so that we would know what we were reading when we looked at the rental ads. We drove up and down the peninsula, down to Mosgiel, Brighton, and all the way up to Seacliff. By the time we came back into Dunedin, and had seen it and driven through it in the sunshine, we had fallen in love with it.
On Tuesday we looked at some more rental ads, and drove around to a few places. We actually saw a place in Roslyn, a very lovely part of town that gets a lot of sun. It was located in a splendid area right on the greenbelt, but when we were taken inside the thing had obviously not been painted for years. The wallpaper was warped from moisture, I assume, and the kitchen was quite rundown. It also had too many bedrooms, for which we have no furniture, and which we would have to heat. Still and all, it was tempting simply because of the location, but we weren't ready to say yes until we had seen some more places.
We absconded with our laptops to Starbucks to do some more searching, and on TradeMe I found another flat in Roslyn, furnished, and at the right price. An hour later we were looking at it, and talking to the lovely Australian lady who owned the place, and a half hour after that, we were the new renters! Phew!
Now we only have 9 more days to stay in this residence hall, and then we get to move to our pretty little place on the hill with the wonderful view and northern exposure! Yay!
So far, things feel good. We did some shopping, and figured out that we could probably do as well as we did back home, if we looked for the bargains and shopped carefully. People have been quite nice, and although we have been ribbed a couple times for being American, DH and I just mildly agree and make a joke about it, and then it seems that the person has got it out of their system and things can proceed as normal. I understand why people feel the need (or indulge the desire) to do this, and like I said, once we've let them have their say things seem to proceed merrily, so I don't feel particularly victimized by it. We have encountered some very kind people who went out of their way to help us out, and so far haven't really encountered any negative people, knock on wood.
We have found we can buy cheap and delicious ethnic food here with impunity -- it is heaven for those who love Indian and other Asian foods!
So, I start my papers at Uni on Monday, and so far, so good. The sun has been out all day and it is the most white, blinding sun I have ever seen, and the moon is also the most bright, blinding moon I have ever seen. It feels wonderful to see the sun, but I think I have already got used to the weather changing on a dime from sun/rain/frost/wind/ etc.
Right now we feel we have done the right thing, and we're very happy to be here. We'll see how things turn out as time goes on!
The first day was a bit of a letdown, as the uni postgraduate residence hall we had rented was, um, how to say, not very much as advertised or pictured on the website. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, as far as residence halls go -- it's simply not the shiny amazing wonderful thing advertised on the website. We took a walk to city centre that night, and it was wet and dark and no one on the street, and it felt like a ghosttown.
We tried the residence hall food for a few days, and decided that it wasn't going to work for us. So, we decided we would find a place on our own. On Monday we rented a car and set out to explore Dunedin and get to know all the parts of town, so that we would know what we were reading when we looked at the rental ads. We drove up and down the peninsula, down to Mosgiel, Brighton, and all the way up to Seacliff. By the time we came back into Dunedin, and had seen it and driven through it in the sunshine, we had fallen in love with it.
On Tuesday we looked at some more rental ads, and drove around to a few places. We actually saw a place in Roslyn, a very lovely part of town that gets a lot of sun. It was located in a splendid area right on the greenbelt, but when we were taken inside the thing had obviously not been painted for years. The wallpaper was warped from moisture, I assume, and the kitchen was quite rundown. It also had too many bedrooms, for which we have no furniture, and which we would have to heat. Still and all, it was tempting simply because of the location, but we weren't ready to say yes until we had seen some more places.
We absconded with our laptops to Starbucks to do some more searching, and on TradeMe I found another flat in Roslyn, furnished, and at the right price. An hour later we were looking at it, and talking to the lovely Australian lady who owned the place, and a half hour after that, we were the new renters! Phew!
Now we only have 9 more days to stay in this residence hall, and then we get to move to our pretty little place on the hill with the wonderful view and northern exposure! Yay!
So far, things feel good. We did some shopping, and figured out that we could probably do as well as we did back home, if we looked for the bargains and shopped carefully. People have been quite nice, and although we have been ribbed a couple times for being American, DH and I just mildly agree and make a joke about it, and then it seems that the person has got it out of their system and things can proceed as normal. I understand why people feel the need (or indulge the desire) to do this, and like I said, once we've let them have their say things seem to proceed merrily, so I don't feel particularly victimized by it. We have encountered some very kind people who went out of their way to help us out, and so far haven't really encountered any negative people, knock on wood.
We have found we can buy cheap and delicious ethnic food here with impunity -- it is heaven for those who love Indian and other Asian foods!
So, I start my papers at Uni on Monday, and so far, so good. The sun has been out all day and it is the most white, blinding sun I have ever seen, and the moon is also the most bright, blinding moon I have ever seen. It feels wonderful to see the sun, but I think I have already got used to the weather changing on a dime from sun/rain/frost/wind/ etc.
Right now we feel we have done the right thing, and we're very happy to be here. We'll see how things turn out as time goes on!