Flat-hunting in Germany: Scenes from Die Fetten Jahren Sind Vorbei

So I have sadly proved my self horribly right by forgetting to update this blog until nearly 2 weeks after returning but hopefully I'll get more in the habit after a while.

So as mentioned before I went to Trier to visit some WGs (Wohngemeinschaft, which basically means a shared flat/house and are very common in Germany, and not just amongst students) that were in the right area and right price and *sounded* nice. Follows is an account of my visits:

Flat 1:

This flat had been found for my by my ex-A-level teacher's- godmother's-book club friend's- friend (confusingly) and was an attic apartment on the river. The apartment itself was teeny but cosy and the two girls I met (one of whom was going on her own year abroad) seemed nice. Sadly though she'd already rented the room until October 1st, whereas I kinda need somewhere to live for from September 1st, so in the end I decided it would be too much extra stress and had to say thank you but no.

Flat 2:

Sounded great on paper. Not so much in real life. I walk in and am hit by a strong smell of weed. The guy (name forgotten) who turned out not to be a student as advertised led me through a dirty, cluttered flat with, no joke, anti capitalist messages daubed ALL over the walls. It was like a scene from Was Tun Wenn's Brennt or something like that. He took me to a room which was roughly half the size it was advertised to be, had no furniture (again, in contrast to advertisement) and had a broken window  and electrical wires dangling from the ceiling. I stood awkwardly as he pointed out the plus points to the room, the highlight being a washing line traversing the room, yippee, and answered my polite questions. The answer to the whereabouts of the other 2 roommates was the most entertaining (by this time I was more there for entertainment purposes, having decided after about 20 seconds I didn't want to live there).

Me: So where are the other two, and where do they come from?

Man: Um one comes from Hungary...he doesn't speak any German...or English, and the other comes from....can't remember, but she doesn't speak much either....infact, I haven't seen them in a couple of weeks, not sure they still live here...

After that I beat a hasty exit to the door, but not before he seriously informed me that interest in the room was high and that my chances of being chosen for it were slim. I stifled a giggle, said "ja, verstehe" and ran for it. 

Lesson learnt.

Flat 3:

Didn't bother to turn up. Though the front door was wide open and there was evidence on the communal balcony of someone having recently been there, so not sure what happened there, presumably they filled the room already.

Flat 4:

This was more like it. Lovely flatmates, though all quite a bit older. Flat was fine and they even had a dog, which was really sweet. Slight issue that they smoked constantly inside, but by this time I'd realised I would be incredibly lucky to find a WG with non smokers, so I was prepared to overlook this. Despite the annoyance of being interviewed at the same time as a Colombian guy who talked so much I could barely get a word in edgeways, I felt I'd made a decent impression and left in high hopes, having only one more flat to look at, that I'd found one I could happily live in.

Flat 5: 

The final flat, and what a flat. Firstly it was SO nice inside, huge bathroom, nice kitchen, separate loo, place for bikes and the two rooms on offer were both lush. Remaining flatmates (there were 3 of them) were hilarious, they were all 19 or 20 themselves and had devised a list of entertaining questions to ask, ranging from sensible ones to "do you like to party?" (when I said yes they grinned and explained that Moritz works in one of the best clubs in Trier and so all flatmates get free drinks).

The deal clencher though was the garden. The flat was in 2 big houses joined together with a huge shared garden. So they took me outside and the garden was full of students, drinking and BBQing in the sun; everyone was really friendly and immediately I felt at home. I told them on the spot I wanted to live there and they were really keen, but they said they couldn't say yes straight away as I was they only person I'd interviewed so far, so they'd tell me by the 19th of August. This was aaaages away, but I never take risks and this flat seemed a risk worth taking so I went for it. Its a week til the 19th now so soon I will find out. If they don't choose me, then I'm back to square one and panic will set in but we'll cross that bridge if necessary.

So that was my flat hunting experience in Germany. Hopefully I won't have to repeat it but if flat #5 falls through I have arranged to stay with a teacher at the school until I find somewhere to live. 

Next on the agenda: lesson planning, because I'm terrified of turning up without anything planned to teach in 3 weeks time!