For most, the best choice would probably be to opt for
halls of residence, which cater to all your requirements, and then hope that
you get good flat mates to provide a congenial atmosphere. From an
international student’s perspective, I would say that it would be by far the
best choice to secure a place in the halls of residence to avoid the hassles of
chasing property agents and signing loads of deeds and agreements upon your
arrival in a new city. However, despite the know-how of the scheme of things
here, I somehow had missed out in applying on time for halls last year. Also, I
did require a studio apartment, to cater for my wife and daughter, in case they
joined me a couple of months later. Therefore, I had to look for a private
rented accommodation. Now sitting back in India, it was an uphill task to look
for a house here in Southampton…. so began the arduous circle of hours spent
over the internet viewing matching profiles for suitable houses followed by
numerous emails sent to the agents/landlords and occasional phone calls to have
a conversation. When I look back in retrospect, I realise that way back in
September last year, I was quite tense and worried about the state of things. I
am naturally quite organised and planned and hate doing things at the last
moment. However, blame it on Murphy’s Law, I always find myself in this precarious
situation every now and then. So, I had my plate full as September approached
with no news of my Tier-4 visa, no offer of accommodation and not even my
onward flight tickets. My visa came as
late as the first week of September and I knew I was in serious trouble if I
did not finalise a place to stay in Southampton as soon as possible.
One sultry afternoon in Delhi, after a hearty meal, I
resumed my search for a prospective house suiting my taste and budget. Was it
the unprecedented heat of September or the exasperation of my efforts turning
out to be futile? Whatever it might be, I decided to look for some B&Bs in
Southampton for the first week of my stay here till I zeroed in on some private
rented accommodation. “Ramsay’s Retreat”….the name sounded convincing and even
more convincing was the price. Soon enough, I found myself emailing the owner
of the B&B for a rate for one week of stay on my arrival and wound up my
search, disillusioned and disheartened.
I got a reply the next day and the owner offered to
rent one of the rooms in the house to me and keep the other for himself, for a
decent price. I had seen the pictures of the house and it looked good and I was
rather tempted to grab the offer. But Nooooo……'Think from your head and not
your heart'….I heard these words of wisdom ringing in my ears. I decided to
speak to the owner in person. A young guy of 25 (well, he sounded at least 45
over the phone… mature and seasoned), the owner had completed his degree from
the University of Swansea and was running the B&B and had landed a job in
Lloyds Register. Thus, he wanted to rent his place. A brief chat with him and I
knew that the deal was struck. He sounded convincing and I was dying to be
convinced, tired of my search. The only issue was the distance to the
university. Well, Google map said that the distance to the University was 2.9
miles, and I was wondering how feasibile it would be to travel 6 miles up and
down daily. However, beggars can’t be choosers… so that was it.
View from my balcony
As I entered the house when I arrived here, I knew I
had made a good choice. The house seemed to have been done up recently and with
a lot of care and caution. It was a fully furnished house and the arrangement
of it all suggested it to be a brainchild of some very meticulous and
conscientious mind. I was truly impressed as I could see a little bit of me in
the house already. My bedroom was cosy with a huge window overlooking the trees
behind. It had a huge lounge and a very tidy kitchen. Well, that was all I
wanted.
Sunday lunch with friends
It was ‘love at first sight’ with the house and
despite the commuting time of around 2 hours to and fro from the University, I
never wanted to leave the place. The place has so much positive energy and is
away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Over the months, many of my
friends were curious about my choice of stay particularly due to the travel
time. However, upon their visit to my place, I found them to be its most ardent
fans. And thus, we have had many barbecue afternoons and dinners at my place. It
has been my sanctuary for the last ten months and I shall definitely miss this
place once I go back home. This house in Edelvale Road shall always have a special place
in my heart!
Rohit
Thanks for this post!
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