I recently moved cross-country on short notice to start a new job. They wanted me to start in two weeks, but I decided to go a week early so that I could start adjusting to the time change and have a chance to look around the area. I could have stayed in a hotel, but that wasn’t a long term solution (and expensive!). Although I looked at places to rent online, I had no idea about the local neighborhoods, and wouldn’t be able to move my stuff that quickly.
My new boss told me about a furnished residential short term stay ‘hotel’, but even factoring in the cost of included utilities, it wouldn’t leave much in my budget for other things, like food.
I had almost decided to make a hotel reservation, when I remembered that sometimes rentals are posted on Craig’s List. I looked, and saw a few rooms for rent in private homes. Not my ideal situation, but it was more affordable than a hotel, and I could cook, so I wouldn’t have to eat out all the time. I found one that said it was close to the university (walking distance!) and sent a note to the homeowner.
After some texting and a long phone call, she had me send her a deposit. I was relieved to have a place to stay while I looked for an apartment.
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This wasn’t the first time I had to rent a room for a new job in a new place. A few years after college, I had been speaking with one of my Japanese friends. She told me that our former classmate had started a juku after returning home to Japan. He was looking for native speakers to come teach and she suggested that I contact him, since I had been tutoring international students (including her) as part of my work-study. I had had several Japanese students and they always encouraged me to visit their country, so I thought this could be my chance.
I contacted our classmate, and sent him my resume. It took a while, since this was before email, but he offered me a job! I started packing and made my plane reservation.
When I arrived, I stayed in my new boss’s spare room and ate meals with his family. In between meeting my new students and learning my way around, he helped me look at apartments. Most were too expensive, and many had traditional toilets, which are a hole in the floor. One was smaller than my college dorm room!!
After a frustrating few weeks, he told me that his colleague, who also owned a juku, could get me a room in his mother’s house. She was a widow living alone, so having me move in with her would give her a small income, as well as the security of having someone with her in the house. I met with her and viewed the room. It was a big house in a quiet neighborhood and the room was huge. And most importantly, there was a western toilet with a heated seat! I moved in right away and stayed there the rest of my time in Japan.
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I also rented a room during my Junior term abroad in college. My school had overseas campuses in several European countries, so there was no need to transfer credits since it was the same school, just in another location. At that time they didn’t have dorms yet, and it was very difficult to get into one of the private dorms in Vienna. So, the school found me a room in a house. It was owned by a widowed Countess and was three stories tall. She also had renters living in a private apartment on one of the floors. It was in the 18th district, across from Turkenschanz park, so I had a long commute every day to the university, which was downtown on the Ringstrasse. I only had bathroom privileges, but I doubt I would have cooked anything in the kitchen even if I could have done so. I was having too much fun with my new international friends between going to school and doing homework.
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Looking back, it’s interesting to see the similarities across cultures. All three homeowners had lost their husbands and lived in very nice homes. They each had decided to rent out a room for extra income. The overseas landlords treated me like a tenant and left me alone, but the American one treated me like a roommate. Each one gave me a safe place to live when I needed it, and I am grateful they shared their homes with me.
robinstl 