picture this.
You log onto this website. Select Karlsruhe, then Flatshare. You stare at a long list of entries and click pretty much every entry located in the actual city, read the descriptions and hop to emailing. Some furnished. Some not. Some mixed gender. Some 5 bedroom, some 2. Some updated kitchens. Some look like they survived WWII. The sad thing is, you don’t care because it’s WG hunting in Karlsruhe.
You wander down a residential street, surrounded by unfamiliar buildings. Old and up to 5 stories high, one of these could be your new home. You recheck your notes for the address number and find the correct door. Upon arriving at the door, you scan for the last names of people you have never met. These people may well be your new roommates. You ring the bell and wait to be buzzed. Once again, you don’t know where to go until you walk up stairs and some more stairs until encountering the curious face of your host at the door. Your first thoughts, well hello, we could be living together for a looooong time.
This is what I’ve been going through the past few days and boy am I glad it’s only been a few days because I can’t do this daily. It takes a lot of energy to work all day and then go through this routine of trying to make a wicked awesome first impression so people will want you to live with them. Let’s just say I was a WG Search All-Star and got super lucky and was offered the room in the first WG I visited. I will be living with all Germans, 2 dudes and a girl, all older than me, in an unbelievable flat. It’s also unbelievably rough to get to, as it’s the top floor of the building and elevator-less. This is really exciting though as I now have the best opportunity ever to vastly improve my German.
I ambitiously packed all my extra warm stuff first thinking I won’t need it. I call this wishful thinking. This is also about 1/3 of the crap I have to transport.
This whole living-with-random-people concept is so foreign to me. Sure, I’ve had roommates, but you bet you’re butt we picked eachother, picked our empty apartment and decorated it all by selectfully pitching in items. I am oddly stoked about it though. Europe has totally open my mind to things like this and I love the random situations and great people that the past 16 months on this continent have brought me.
If you’re still with me here, be sure to check out my Texas frand in France’s blog today. I posted a fun little travel blog game for everyone to play. And howdy to everyone who is stopping by from Sara’s blog.
Click the button to play along!
Congratulations! I am glad everything turned out great! I hate apartment searching! It is so exhausting! I hope you will have a wonderful time in your new WG with your new Mitbewohner!
Danke! I am very excited to live in the city with younger people and about the awesome opportuntiy to improve my German!
Just saying hi! I found your blog from your post on Sara in Le Petit Village! I live in Germany too. I’m in Kaiserslautern!
Gut Nacht!
ah yay thanks for stopping by, I love finding other bloggers in Germany!
Congrats on the apartment!
When I moved to Orlando to go to college, I wound up in an apartment with three people I didn’t know, and it really made a sort of instant social life. Between the roommates and their friends, significant others, and so forth, I met a lot of people I wouldn’t otherwise have met.
Thanks! I’m really pumped to have the WG experience and meet some new people!
Here, here & congratulations! Some pic’s of the new place would have been nice. Still anxiously awaiting the blog entry re your employment, employer and assignments!
Love you,
Proud of you,
Happy for you,
Miss you,
What a great life you have built.
Love always,
Daddio
Thanks Dad. The job stuff will come eventually…
This is most exciting. Karlsruhe is so close to where my boy lives. In fact it was where we had our last Gerglish blogger meet-up. We might be there again in October. What takes you there?
Is Gerglish like Denglish? haha I live here and have for a year – would love to be a part of the next meet up!
Congratulations on finding a new home! I ended up sharing an apartment with a guy I didn’t know for two years and we ended up being great friends.
Spectacular, that is what I’m hoping for!
Woo-hoo! Congrats on the new place! What a weight off your shoulders.
Now I just need to do that whole moving thing – but beyond excited!
Glad you found a Wohnung!!
Vielen Dank! It’s such a relief. The process was comical at times, but I guess that’s all part of living abroad!
I hated “WG-finding” – it’s like a blind date with financial strings attached. Did you know that some WGs even play question-answer games with their “candidates”? So you’re really lucky =) I hope living with them will be fun!
yay for a new job and a new apartment!! I totally understand how not so fun it can be searching for places in Germany, but I think finding a WG might be even more difficult than just finding a flat! Hope your trip to Munich is great and you celebrate all your new beginnings!