Never did get the hang of Tuesdays
Nov. 8th, 2005 06:17 pmTuesday 8 Nov
Thought today was Wednesday. Oops.
Vocabulary Words:
Flat - Apartment
Mobile - Cell Phone / Cellular
We now have a residence!!! XD XD Lease is for three months, with the option extend it later. It's tucked way back from the street, a tiny two bedroom place surrounded by tall trees and lots of vegetation. The main room, kitchen and laundry are the first floor, then you go up a tiny spiral staircase to the second floor with the bedrooms and bath. The toilet is in a separate room next to the shower and the sink.
It's also already furnished (yeah, wanna see you try to shove the furniture up -that- staircase *snicker*), so we don't hafta spend so much getting it outfitted. Price is decent too.
Interesting note: You pay rent by the week, not the month. o_O Also, when you pay the lease, instead of paying first and last month's rent, you have to have about four weeks worth of rent ready to pay down. Depending on who you rent from, either 2 or 3 weeks worth go down into a bond, which is sent to a third party to hold on to and the rest is the deposit. That way, when renter moves out, there's a neutral party to mediate if there's trouble and the owner can't just keep the money saying that the renter trashed the place.
It's also close to the central part of the city (we're in Christchurch, BTW) and the local stadium, in case we wanna catch a Rugby game. ^__^ hee hee.
David is off with his Dad looking at cars while I unpack and try to make the place feel more lived in. He was explaining that cars used to be really expensive down here, until some bright bloke got the idea to get the 3-4 year old cars that don't pass the emission tests in Japan, but still run good, and ship them down to NZ and auction them off.
They still have car dealerships, but every Tuesday and Thursday the big auction house auctions cars off. So we can pick up a car for a couple of thousand, drive it around for a year or so, then if we end up leaving the country, drop it off at the auction house and they'll sell it off and deposit the money on our account afterwards. ^___^ No problems!!!
Mobile phones are also different. For one thing, if you have a cell phone, it's an automatic 021 number at the front of it that the land lines don't have.
The other interesting thing is that it looks like most of them charge per phone call, not per minute. I don't know if there's a time limit or anything like that on them.
It kinda dawned on me that while I'm kinda teaching and explaining 'normal' life in NZ to people in the States (and else where, but most people are know are in the States), the reverse can also be true. People who live in NZ can find out what is 'normal' in the States at the same time. Um... does that make sense? *scratches head*
Anyway, I'm hungry, there's no food in the flat, so I'm gonna head out and see if we can find food and a net cafe to post this...
Thought today was Wednesday. Oops.
Vocabulary Words:
Flat - Apartment
Mobile - Cell Phone / Cellular
We now have a residence!!! XD XD Lease is for three months, with the option extend it later. It's tucked way back from the street, a tiny two bedroom place surrounded by tall trees and lots of vegetation. The main room, kitchen and laundry are the first floor, then you go up a tiny spiral staircase to the second floor with the bedrooms and bath. The toilet is in a separate room next to the shower and the sink.
It's also already furnished (yeah, wanna see you try to shove the furniture up -that- staircase *snicker*), so we don't hafta spend so much getting it outfitted. Price is decent too.
Interesting note: You pay rent by the week, not the month. o_O Also, when you pay the lease, instead of paying first and last month's rent, you have to have about four weeks worth of rent ready to pay down. Depending on who you rent from, either 2 or 3 weeks worth go down into a bond, which is sent to a third party to hold on to and the rest is the deposit. That way, when renter moves out, there's a neutral party to mediate if there's trouble and the owner can't just keep the money saying that the renter trashed the place.
It's also close to the central part of the city (we're in Christchurch, BTW) and the local stadium, in case we wanna catch a Rugby game. ^__^ hee hee.
David is off with his Dad looking at cars while I unpack and try to make the place feel more lived in. He was explaining that cars used to be really expensive down here, until some bright bloke got the idea to get the 3-4 year old cars that don't pass the emission tests in Japan, but still run good, and ship them down to NZ and auction them off.
They still have car dealerships, but every Tuesday and Thursday the big auction house auctions cars off. So we can pick up a car for a couple of thousand, drive it around for a year or so, then if we end up leaving the country, drop it off at the auction house and they'll sell it off and deposit the money on our account afterwards. ^___^ No problems!!!
Mobile phones are also different. For one thing, if you have a cell phone, it's an automatic 021 number at the front of it that the land lines don't have.
The other interesting thing is that it looks like most of them charge per phone call, not per minute. I don't know if there's a time limit or anything like that on them.
It kinda dawned on me that while I'm kinda teaching and explaining 'normal' life in NZ to people in the States (and else where, but most people are know are in the States), the reverse can also be true. People who live in NZ can find out what is 'normal' in the States at the same time. Um... does that make sense? *scratches head*
Anyway, I'm hungry, there's no food in the flat, so I'm gonna head out and see if we can find food and a net cafe to post this...
no subject
Date: 2005-11-08 05:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-08 05:27 am (UTC)so dark and 1412 met fell in love traveled back in time to turn of the century casablanca and had Rei who eventually became Noir and got to be REALLY GAY for his second cousin who lives in paris??
o_o
no subject
Date: 2005-11-08 05:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-08 06:09 am (UTC)You might want to check out the 'Motormouth' deal with Vodafone here, apparently it's pretty good. I'm on prepay because I hardly use the darn thing, but that can get pricey if you do lots of calls. :)
no subject
Date: 2005-11-08 07:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-08 07:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-08 12:00 pm (UTC)Oh, good good good! Icka & Kiwi made it okay. Wonderful news. Glad you found a house. It sounds wonderful.
Got that package. *huggles* Such wonderful stuff you give me. Thank you thank you thank you!
no subject
Date: 2005-11-08 11:44 pm (UTC)Good luck on the unpacking and setting up and keep updating!
oh...hugs to the kiwi.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-09 01:59 am (UTC)glomps all around!
Date: 2005-11-09 02:02 am (UTC)I'm thrilled it all worked out for you finding a place so fast. Keep us updated and definitely keep including the vocabulary list. *grins*
I just keep vicariously visiting the world with you... snicker. Okay, enjoy the newness and be careful not to cause any rugby riots if you go to the game... I hear they can get scarey in some places. So far, I have been informed that we can insult local football/baseball players all we want but you have to be respectful to the mascot... else you might get mobbed. Not a good thing to discover after the fact in situ. So have fun & take care.
no subject
Date: 2005-11-09 04:55 pm (UTC)Miss you much already. *huggles* Luv and Happy Plunnies!!
~Becky
no subject
Date: 2005-11-09 07:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-10 05:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-10 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-10 01:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-11-16 05:28 am (UTC)Also, if yes, google "google talk" and install it on computer. Let me know when you've done that, and if you cannot find a mic for the equivalent of $15, let me know. That way you can talk For Free via Google Talk to myself, Morgan, and if not Ysabet - Ysabet, see me and I'll get you an account! ETC...
*hugs* I've used Google Talk internationally, and it is pretty darn good.