Not Burning the House Down: Adventures from a first apartment

Week 1: Tips for move-in day / the first few weeks

Back from my first co-op term, it's time to move into my apartment. Of course residence has readied me for this moment... right?

This term, I'm living off campus in a "real" apartment (real as opposed to student housing/a room in a house) with a male friend (yes, just friend).

So, I'm hoping to offer some advice for any 4-stream frosh for this term, 8-stream frosh for next term, or anyone who would like to laugh at my misfourtunes. Again. A new column; here we go!

1) Communicate with the person you are replacing

If you do know who you are replacing in your future dwelling, make sure that you don't assume the communication is taking place between a mutual friend. It's imperitive in most cases for you to have room to put your stuff down at your new place before your ride leaves. To ensure this, put a one day gap between you and the former inhabitant. Especially if you are working around the holidays.

2) Pack so that unpacking makes sense

Don't put your egg poacher on the top. Pack kitchen stuff with dishes and cutlery closer to the top and gadgets closer to the bottom. You can heat up quick things for the first few days this way.

Meanwhile, pack a few days changes the top of your clothes instead of facing twelve pairs of socks but no pants on your first morning.

Along this theme, label boxes. Trust me. Then, if friends want to help you unpack your kitchen stuff, you can conveniently not pass them a box full of unmentionables by accident.

3) Plan to eat out for the first three nights

You won't get all settled into your kitchen in the first day or even two or three, especially if you have to wash everything before using it. So make sure you've located good restaurants within walking distance of your apartment, and that you have some sort of cash or credit handy to pay an arm and a leg for it.

4) Make sure you get your free meal with your parents

Along the lines of the above point, your parents will probably buy you a meal (either dinner or breakfast, or if you are lucky enough, both) if they help move you in. Make sure you remember to drop a hint before they leave town again.

5) If you want a clean apartment, start right away.

This only applies if you care about the state of your apartment.

Once classes start, you won't really care about scrubbing the place down. So in those first couple of days, do really deep cleaning right away. After this first deep clean you can do lighter jobs every week - eg, hand scrub the kitchen floor once, mop every week after that.

With hardly any ongoing effort you can have a really nice home to show off should Mom and Dad come to visit.

6) Don't overdo stocking the fridge.

Sure, it's a great idea to have all kinds of things stocked in the fridge to facilitate cooking for yourself (which will save so much money). And it's even better if you buy the makings of lunch stuffs, you'll be rolling in the saved dough.

But keep space in mind, especially if you share a fridge with someone. Freezers are never as big as they look, no matter how cheap ground beef is this week.

I've written a tonne of words this week, so I'd best lay off. Besides, the food is here.

- Half-pint, at home on the third floor again, reaquiring the taste for campus pizza

Due to a miscommunication, this was not printed in the first issue of mathNEWS [Our apologies... sometimes the system doesn't accept articles; that's why it sends out confirmation emails when articles are recieved — BeatleEd]. If interested, seek out Week 2 ALSO IN THIS ISSUE.