Hunting for Accommodation - Mammoths Would Be Easier!

Well, it's been a rather busy time of hunting for accommodation in Davis since I got back from SA.

The day after I got back, I saw a very nice flat attached to the back of someone's house (the appointment was set up before I went back to SA). That was ideal in many ways, but I was pipped to it. Thereafter I started combing the internet, the local Davis newspaper, email lists for international students and staff, etc., etc. and following up a stack of leads. On Monday I went through to Davis on the train (there is a very good commuter service from North of Sacramento right through to San Francisco). For most of the day, I literally pounded the pavements (only they call them sidewalks here - pavement is the stuff you drive your car on in the USA! Somewhere I once read a lovely quote along the lines of America and Britain being two countries divided by a common language) looking for flats. I walked for miles and the only place I found that was available was over $1100 per month, which is well beyond my budget. The basic problem is that accommodation in Davis is subject to the same sorts of factors as Grahamstown: too many students chasing too little accommodation, chasing up prices and making short-term rentals difficult to find.

On Tuesday I spent a day on the phones and internet again, and set up some viewings for Wednesday. That turned up one good lead: a very nice apartment, but expensive (over $1000 per month) and far from campus, but with a lease ending at the end of June 2009 (most Davis leases run through to the end of August, which is not ideal for my sabbatical). One visit to a potentially promising place fell through, which was rather frustrating.

Anyway, today (Thursday) I managed to reschedule Wednesday's missed appointment for later in the afternoon and set up a new one (someone who had contacted me after a friend of theirs passed on my name following an unsuccessful contact). And Bingo! The second place turned out to be a really nice setup - a room in a house, sharing with a great young couple (and their kitten) with a stunning view of the currently-uninhabited part of the Davis cemetery - i.e. a lovely view of a small stream and a rolling green grassy area, populated by (live!) wild turkeys and guinea fowl! They gave me a set of keys on the spot (despite the fact that I will only be able to get the first month's rent to them next week) and were just very easy-going about the whole arrangement. In many ways it is a very similar set-up to my own in Grahamstown (just a little strange to be the tenant rather than the landlord!). It's fairly close to the University (about 2 miles - easy cycling distance), and to shops, etc. However, I trust that the proximity to the Davis cemetery won't be of any use! :-)

It has been amazing to have been able to use Colin and Janet's home here as a base while house-hunting (leaving them is going to be difficult when I move down to Davis!). They have been incredibly generous in providing a roof over my head, meals and the loan of a car for the numerous trips to Davis (including a considerable rearrangement of their own and the kids schedules and routines to free up a vehicle - usually the boys' Ford Focus).

Anyway, I've given myself permission to take it easy on the research front until the Davis term starts (around 22-25 September) so I'm not in a great hurry to move down to Davis yet! I'll probably leave it for later next week, but it's great to have finally found a place to stay for the year.

This weekend is a long, holiday weekend here, as Monday is Labour, sorry, Labor Day! Then Tuesday is Bryn and Jared's birthday. So there's lots to celebrate at the moment.