Flat Frustration

Ugh.

That’s how I feel right now in regards to my living situation. Where to begin?

Well I’ve been looking for a flat for the last two and a half months, but ultimately it has been completely unsuccessful, and technically I’m still homeless. I’ve been camping it out at Carolyn’s since September 30th, and all of our efforts to look for a place to live have fallen apart.

Back in October Alasdair and I decided it would be cool to share a place together, and started our Great Flat Search 2006 with the help of our good friend Ivana. We naively thought that in just a week or two we’d be able to secure something, but this proved to be quite delusional. We were searching for a furnished, 2-bedroom flat somewhere relatively close to the city centre, either in Vinohrady, Zizkov, or Vrsovice ideally, but apparently these don’t exist. We searched and searched and searched, and either places would claim to be 2-bedroom but what they actually meant was that one person would have a bedroom and another would live in the living room (forget that!), or weren’t furnished, or were way out in the sticks far from the city centre, or were way out of our price range.

And then, by a miracle of all miracles, a place that met our criteria would magically appear, only we’d phone to find out that it had already been taken. Or, we’d set up an appointment to view a place, and then on the day of, or merely a few hours before our viewing time, they’d phone us back and say it was just taken! Ultimate rage! Since neither Al nor I speak Czech, poor Ivana has been acting as our devoted middle man and making all our phonecalls and arrangements. Having the Czech connection has helped a lot, but even she has become frustrated with the whole process.

Well this game went on for about two months until December rolled around, and we reached a breaking point. Nearing desperation, Al and I decided that maybe, in addition to continuing looking for 2-bedroom flats, we’d also look for places where we’d be living in our own, and whatever came along first, we’d take. We were saddened at the thought of us good buddies being separated, but I guess at this point beggars can’t be choosers, right?

And then, in the last week or so, things started to look up for us. Ivana had been working hard with a new agent to line-up some new flats, and then, the ultimate flat appeared. It was a studio/bachelor (or 1+1 in Czech terms), furnished, in a nice neighbourhood not too far out from the city centre, on a tram/night-tram line, and within my price range! I checked out some photos of it online and it appeared to be a clean, cute, charming flat. Wow! Just what I’ve been looking for!! We made an appointment to view it the next day and I crossed my fingers. Things just felt right with this flat, and I had confidence that it was going to work out.

And then, with only a few hours left before viewing time, Ivana phoned to tell me that our appointment had been cancelled. Apparently the flat is owned by an old lady who doesn’t own a cell phone, and the real estate agent lady had been trying for two days to get a hold of her to set up the viewing, and hadn’t had any luck at all. BUT, another flat had come up, and this one was a 2-bedroom (called 3+1 in CzechLand) and we could check it out that day. Hooray!

Al and I met up with Eva and Anna (two other Czech friends who have been total sweethearts by acting as our translators during our views) to go and see this new possibility. Turned out that the flat was in a rather dodgy neighbourhood, but we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.

We went inside and the flat was pretty much a dive. It was old and ugly, and nearly completely devoid of furniture anyway. One bedroom had nothing but a floor and four walls, and the other was filled with FUGLY Communist shelving built into the walls. It even had a bed built into the shelf. The bathroom was alright, and so was the kitchen, but the living room didn’t have nary a sofa, table, or chair in sight. Empty. The only thing cool about the flat was that it had quite a nice view of the city from it’s 7th floor balcony, but you can’t move into a crap apartment just cause you like the view from the balcony! We turned it down immediately, but I emphasized to the agent that I’d *really* like to view the first flat, and that if she got a hold of the mysteriously disappearing old lady to please let me know ASAP.

The weekend went by and still no word on the old lady, or any new flats. Then Ivana phoned with some news that another 1+1 had come up! It wasn’t in the best location, and was a bit out of my price range, but I thought I’d go and look at it anyway. Who knows, maybe it’s like this secret gorgeous luxurious penthouse suite overlooking the castle and river with built-in jacuzzi and cabana boy? I guess we’ll see…

The appointment was for quite early in the morning, on a day when I didn’t have to wake up early for classes. I woke up, got showered and dressed, and was just about to head out the door when… Yes, you guessed it… We found out that flat had already been taken… FUCK FUCK FUCK! Somebody got to the cabana boy before I did? DAMMIT!

And yes, still no word on the old lady. Surely at this point she must be dead. I mean no one’s away from their land-line phone for *that* long! I told Ivana to tell the agent that if the old lady had kicked the bucket I’d still take the flat. Nothing that a little Febreze can’t take care of! ;-)

In the meantime, Alasdair started his own solo-flat search. Well guess what? He got the first place he looked at. The first bloody flat!!! WTF? I’ve been searching high and low for weeks now and no luck, and he finds a home in a day. Man, I just don’t get it. Granted, his is shared accommodation with two Finnish girls, and I’m looking to live alone (selfish Scotty), but still….give this Canadian a break!!

So here I am, mid-December, and still sans-flat. I’m frustrated and feeling deflated, but will continue on. I mean, really, what other choice do I have? All I can say is thank god for Ivana who’s been my real estate saviour here…otherwise I would’ve gone mad ages ago.

Well it’s almost Christmas, and the weather has turned cold, but I’ve since turned my gaze to Charles Bridge… Surely there must be some cubby-hole under the bridge that I can move into? At least with living there I would indeed have fab views of the river and castle… And hey who knows, maybe there’s some homeless lonely cabana boy also taking shelter under the bridge? Hmmm…things are looking up? ;-)