One thing that I haven’t
learned about living in Germany is seeking for an apartment. When I did my Masters, there is an officer in
the study program’s organization who assists the students for finding
apartment. So although I had a problem with living place but I never really looked for an
apartment. But now I have to do it. I have applied to the student apartment
offices (private and public) but I only enlisted in a waiting list.
German’s Apartment-seeking Websites
So I have to look from other
sources. I looked at some websites like
wg-gesucht, wg-cast, studenten wg, and blackboard in Bremen.de. The problem was, I am in Berlin and I can’t
just go to Bremen to see the room. And
especially if the apartment is a shared one, the person who lives there wants
to meet the new renter, to ensure they have good chemistry for living
together. So it’s tough, but I realized
I had to make a trip to Bremen to check the apartment before decided to rent
it.
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So I made a schedule, I would
go to Bremen on September 15th, two weeks before I move out from
Berlin. I started look for apartment on
the last week of August. Surprisingly,
nobody wants to have an appointment for September 15th although his
or her apartments were only available in October 1st. They, who replied my request, said that
whomever comes first would be served, they didn’t want to wait too long. So from last week of August until first week
of September, I kept getting rejections or even no replies at all. But entering the second week of September, I
got some replies. But still, not all
matched with my schedule. I think, out
of around 30 requests I only got 10 replies.
In the end, for my visit on
September 15th, I got four potential candidates. But when I checked it in the map, I realized
that one of the candidates located very far from public transportation
area. The apartment is located 1.3 km
away from the last tram stop. This is
too far especially if I carry something heavy after shopping. Also walking 1.3 km to the stop during winter
would be so painful. So I decided to
drop this one and cancelled it.
Hunting Day
On September 15th
I started my day early, going to Berlin train station at 6 AM and traveling to
Bremen. I was so excited that finally I
got a chance to see three apartments and would decided in the end of the
day. I already confused whether to have
single room apartment or the shared ones, I tried to list all the positives and
negatives from both sides…
When I went to my first
appointment, I was a bit late because I couldn’t find small money to buy the
tram ticket from the machine. So I
called the landlady that I would be a little late. But then, the nightmare started, she said
that the apartment had been taken!
What?! And she said nothing to me
previously???!!! She said she e-mailed
me, but I didn’t receive anything. Maybe
she typed the wrong e-mail address or so…
Sigh… I was so down… How could she did that to me… But I tried to calm myself, I still have two
more options. So I waited for my second
appointment at my friend’s place. But
again, the nightmare got even worst. I
got SMS from my second appointment, telling that the apartment isn’t available
anymore!!! OMG… Now I only have one last shot…
Of course I started feeling stressful. How if my trip to Bremen was a waste of time
and money… I kept looking at my
Blackberry, afraid that there would be e-mail from my fourth appointment,
telling me the bad news. I also started
to think so many possibilities: will I come again to Bremen next week? Or should I just stay at Indonesian people’s
apartment and look for my own?
Fortunately, until the time
when I had to go to my fourth, and last, appointment, nothing came up. So I went to the place with fully submissive
feeling. Maybe when I arrived, the
landlord would just say that the apartment is no longer available. But that was not happened, thank God! The landlord was there and the apartment was
still available.
The apartment is 25m2,
bigger than my previous apartment which only 16m2. However the composition of the kitchen and
bathroom, I found it odd. They are too
small and I think I would bump the wall during cooking. But I am ok with the bathroom, it is small
and sufficient for me. In my first
impression, I don’t really fond of the apartment. But hey, I don’t have a choice. If I don’t take it, I don’t know what kind of
adventures that I have to face until I get an apartment. So I took it right away. I signed the contract.
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My Apartment Building.
|
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| The main room. The furnitures will come later. |
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| Small bathroom and kitchen. |
So there I was, going back to
Berlin with a result: target accomplished.
I thought that I would look for another once I am in Bremen. But then, looking for apartment will make me
tired emotionally. While if I decide to
stay and start decorating, it will make me tired physically but not emotionally. So I still don’t know…
There’re two advantages with
this apartment, though. First, the
landlord/ caretaker lives in the building also, so if I need something urgently
I could just go to his room. This never
happened before, even now in Berlin.
Contacting the landlord/ caretaker needs to be done in specific time and
of course only in working days, not weekend.
Second, the apartment is located near my old apartment. So I am so familiar with the area, I feel
like coming home already.
Oh well, whatever… I will
decide everything once I am in Bremen.
