(no subject)

[elly427]

I don't wish to be crude here, but seriously, Vancouver, I am sick and tried of all of this motherfuckin' rain in my motherfuckin' city.

I mean, it rains here. Make all the jokes you want (and suffer the same fate as David Duchovny, but I digress) but this is absurd and now I have to boil my water? Man. Man.

At least I have electricity. And yet, more rain the rest of the week. Oy.

*kvetches*

Comments

[aj.livejournal.com]

Dude I need to email you! You went to UBC, right? I am applying there and need advice. Is there parking? Should I apply for housing? *confused*

[elly427.livejournal.com]

OMG, I went to UBC's rival school (SFU.) BUT! I can likely still answer your questions because I've been there lots and have many friends who went there.

From what I know, there's a fair amount of parking, but transit is pretty good too. Tuition includes an all-you-can-use bus pass. Rez is nice - there's lots of options for undergrads. I'm not so sure about grad students (which you would be, yes?). However, UBC is in a lovely part of Vancouver, so close off campus housing is not a bad option.

Anyways, email away (ellylj at gmail dot com) and I'll do my best to answer any of your questions. :)

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

My cat has turned up his nose at the boiled-then-cooled water I put in his bowl. I have no idea what he plans to drink, but he's not fond of the fancified water.

Is it safe to, you know, shower with and everything? Half the people I heard from were saying don't touch the water at all, and the other half were saying just don't drink it.

P.S.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Important additional note:

Do NOT depend on the Translink online trip planner when trying to figure out transit routes. It's demented. So is the automated phone system. Call the trip planning number and say "Operator," and the computer voice program will put you through to an actual human. Please note that "Operator" is not actually listed as an option in the automated phone system. They want to encourage people to do it online or with the phone system, but the fact that both are completely hopeless at providing transit directions makes that impossible. I'm not kidding. Every so often I check the website or use the phone system because I don't want to be stuck on hold for an operator, and every time the fucking computer comes up with some completely bizarre route that bears no relation to the actual transit you need to take. It's a nightmare, and repeated complaints from half the city don't seem to do any good.

[jadengreen36.livejournal.com]

Montreal has totally been Vancouver the last 2 months with all the rain we've gotten. They printed in the Gazette just yesterday that we've had the rainiest fall season on record. I feel your pain; I'm not into the damp and wet.

The skier in me looks around - mid November - seeing the lack of snow, and bemoans the fact there won't be decent spring skiing in March/April of the coming year. The mother in me is quite happy that snow hasn't yet brought forth boots and winter parkas and parking woes and insane rush hour traffic.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

I went there, and UBC parking is hellishly expensive. And much of it is in lots far away from the buildings where the actual classes take place. You want to park somewhere convenient, you have to pay even MORE than to park in one of the cheaper lots and then hike. [penniless liberal arts major] Mind you, I understand the cheaper lots are marginally closer to the science and engineering ghettos than they are to the buildings where actual learning takes place. [/penniless liberal arts major]

Also, every UBC student gets issued a U-Pass automatically, which means you can ride transit for free. It's a massive saving compared with buying a regular monthly pass,a nd they take it out of your student fees whether you use it or not, so you might as well. Transit out there is very crowded particularly at peak times, but there are a lot of buses. Some of them are express buses that only stop at major points and are therefore a good bit faster. However, driving on the West Side is pretty chance-y, and so is bussing. Every so often shit happens and all the buses and cars just sit there instead of actually moving.

There are no plans right now for a light rail link out to UBC, which is annoying, as Skytrain and similar are less subject to traffic snarls than buses. So yeah, the buses are crowded, but there are lots of them and usually fairly reliable. Usually, not always. But when it's total gridlock, everybody's late. I remember when I was living off campus, sweating bullets because I had a midterm in an early class. Got to class almost fifteen minutes late and arrived before the prof did!

The campus is large and spread out (the rumours of cougars in the wilderness areas who eat drunken frat boys are just rumours. Or so they say. The coyotes, however, are real. They're nocturnal and stay away from humans, but don't be surprised to see them come out of the wilderness parts to hunt in the built-up parts at night. They keep the squirrel population down. Well, there are still tons of squirrels, but there'd probably be even more if there weren't coyotes). Cell phone reception can be poor in parts of campus, although that's improved a lot over the past few years. A lot of people who live on campus or just off campus use bicycles to get around because it's so spread out, and the express buses actually have bike racks on the front of the bus for people who bike 'n' ride. The first time your 60-year-old prof shows up to class in his cycling gear it's weird, but you get used to it soon enough. There are lots of bike racks outside all the buildings, but invest in a really good lock, because bike theft is rampant.

The bad news. Point Grey (very nearest neighbourhood), Kitsilano, and Kerrisdale are hellaciously expensive. Not much rental housing available, and you pay for the location. They're mostly quite wealthy areas. There's not much in the way of affordable stores in the vicinity, either.

Most students can't afford rental apartments near campus, and either live in apartments on campus (marginally subsidised, so slightly cheaper, but long wait lists. Apply early. There's a small fee, but if you're reasonably confident you'll probably get in, you're better off putting your name down now and just swallowing the deposit if you end up going elsewhere) or have a bedroom in a shared house off-campus. There are private landlords who rent out houses in the area, generally to students, but you'll have quite a few roommates, and the houses are often not in terrific condition. It's the closest to cheap you'll find within easy distance, but it's also the closest to dorm life, only without the resident advisor to kick people's asses when they don't do their chores. If you can cope with shared housing, it's a good option. It'd drive me stir-crazy, but some people like it.