As it currently stands, when I touch down in Leipzig in September, I will be homeless. Lovely.
Of course I will be stopping in a hostel, just until I sort a place out to live. How easy does that sound? 'Until I sort a place out to live.' Ha. The prospect of searching online, reaching out to established students who are looking for housemates and organising house viewings is not one I relish. In fact, I'm bloody terrified.
For those of you who aren't aware, the German academic cycle is different to ours; from what I've been told, and from what I have gathered, the length of your degree varies according to the subject of your degree, and that someone could live in a WG (Wohngemeinschaft, or 'shared flat') for three semesters or one. As an Erasmus student I will be needing a place for the full academic year.
There seems to be plenty of rooms on offer (from what I can see online at least) but still, I feel daunted at finding my new home under such fraught conditions. What if I have a terrible lapse in judgement and end up in a place I don't feel comfortable in, or, because I lack local knowledge, what if I end up in the Red Light district or local drug hotspot?! Even worse, what if I can't find a room at all, and have nowhere to go? Oh the agony!
Still, every year thousands of Erasmus students all over Europe manage to find a place to live. This is a comfort. I'm sensible and organised enough, which means I should be o.k. Speaking of organised, I had better start emailing prospective flatmates... I don't want to land and not have any viewings booked.
(House prices in Leipzig are a pleasant surprise! It looks like
I could pay less rent than the last academic year and get a nicer place
to live in. Bonus!)
PS: The best place to look for a WG in Germany is this site. It's in German, but if you open it in Google Chrome it should be automatically translated into English.
-Rae
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