i'm feeling bummed because the temp place doesn't have anything just yet. it's a bit of a low season for them. also the places i saw today were dormitory style, overcramped and overpriced. i still haven't heard back from the couple that prefers a "tidy vegetarian". i have an appointment to see another place tonight. i know i've only been here 4 days but running around town, trying to figure out bus schedules isn't exactly my idea of fun. i would love to have my own place where i could take a bath or something. oh well. i guess this is called roughing it!

view of highway from symonds street overbridge

what sucks about a lot of the places we've been to:
1. they're not exactly what you would call tidy
2. they're not exactly in a geographically desirable place
3. too many people per bathroom/kitchen ratio
4. i don't want to share pots/pans with meat-eaters

it seems that there's a big market here for language students. that is, foreigners who come to new zealand to study english. in turn, it has caused some foreigners here to rent out apartments with dormitory-like conditions. i'm serious. it's pretty bad. i've seen a few houses like that too. you have roughly 20 people living in a place, sharing several toilets and showers, but only 1 kitchen and 1 common area (living room sort of place to hang out). mostly guys living this way. it's just not for me! a lot of these 'flatmates wanted' sound great, then you get there and it's a dorm type thing and you have to pay for laundry and internet. it's like they have a laundrette and cafe built into the apartment. fucking ridiculous! especially at the price they are asking. no thank you!