Diary of Asa: Temporary Housing
...the continuation of Diary of Asa: Looking for A Second Home in Minneapolis ^0^
Once I decided to stay in the university residence hall, a couple other questions came up in my head. "When could I move-in? If I could not move-in by the time I arrive in Minneapolis, what am I supposed to do? Where should I live temporarily before I move-in to my permanent house?"
For your information, most of apartments start their lease really late in August or early in September. Therefore, most of international students (including me ^^) had to find a temporary housing where we could stay before moving in to our permanent one.
Here are some options that you could try to find a temporary housing:
1. Off campus temporary housing. Complete information on address, contact info, facilities, and rate are available at: http://www.housing.umn.edu/offcampus/temp.shtml
2. Hotels and motels around campus. http://www.housing.umn.edu/movein/hotel.shtml
3. Contact a student organization. Since I'm from Indonesia, I contacted the president and vice president of the Indonesian Student Association at the University of Minnesota. Some international student groups (including the Indonesian Student Association) help the incoming international students to arrange their transportation from the airport to campus, temporary housing, move-in process from the temporary housing to permanent one, etc. Here is a link to our student groups list: http://www.sua.umn.edu/groups/directory/index.php?group_by=name
4. If you cannot find a student group that represents your home country, you could try to contact Minnesota International Student Association (http://www.sua.umn.edu/groups/directory/show.php?id=184).
5. The university actually has a temporary housing option for international students. It is usually called International Reception Center. However, its sites are no longer available on-line. If you have a question, please send an e-mail to housing@umn.edu or call 1-612-624-2994. Their office hours are 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM CST from Monday - Friday.
6. Email us at passport@umn.edu with your concerns about housing and we'll try our best to help you with those questions.
..to be continued to the fifth part (stay tune) ^0^
Salam,
-asa-