House Hunting, Holidays and Heidelberg

It has now been around 7 weeks since I arrived in Heidelberg and this is my first post. A lot has happened. This could be a long one.

March was spent in a daze of househunting alleviated by a month-long German course. The course was fabulous. It was a great way to refresh my German knowledge and to make some good friends. It was also an added bonus that there was a free breakfast every morning. I am not sure I will ever tire of German baked goods.

House hunting, on the other hand, was less of a dream. Kat and I had booked an Airbnb for a week right in the centre of the Old Town. We arrived like cats who had got the cream to a stunning apartment we were excited to stay in. However, this joy was shortlived, after the reality of finding a room had started to sink in. We spent copious amounts of time trawling WG-Gesucht in the hope of a room to rent. We thought a week would be sufficient. We were wrong. By the end of the first week, we realized we would have to book another Airbnb for another two weeks. This Airbnb was nowhere near as swanky as the first and required us to share a double bed. By this time I think we had begun to give up hope of living together. We searched separately, however this actually led us to find two rooms available in one building! This was a great day. We stayed in more temporary accommodation until the 1st of April when we could move in.

Moving in was fun and we took a trip to Ikea to stock up on the essentials and then Kat headed home for Varsity in Cardiff. The second day of living in the flat created a new issue of its own. Just about to head out to meet friends, I heard a knock at the door. Long story short, there was an issue over ownership of one of the rooms which resulted in me having to speak German to two German police officers who came to my flat. Luckily this ended well and everyone was happy, but nevertheless it was a bit of a shock to the system on my second day in my new flat!

Just days after we moved into our new place, I flew to Barcelona to spend the weekend with Lucy. It was amazing. It was such a treat and lovely to be back in Spain for a few days. Unfortunately, Luce wasn’t feeling too well, but we didn’t let that stop us and were still laughing when we found ourselves in Spanish A and E. It’s always a good time with Lucy Fowke. She’s a good one.

On the way back to Germany I managed to miss two coaches in one day and spent about 6 hours trying to get back to Heidelberg from Frankfurt when it should have taken about an hour. Luckily Ellie was on hand to send me bus times and train timetables or else I still might be wandering aimlessly around Frankfurt Airport! Grateful for her.

Back in Germany, we had some more time off for Easter. So we planned a spontaneous trip to Berlin. This was amazing. I have been to Berlin once before however, this trip simply reinforced how much I love it there. There were a few issues during the trip. The main one being that I left one of my bags on the coach. A mistake which can be added to the list of stupid things I have done in Germany, alongside the coach incident and falling asleep on a tram. My Dad has told me it is all just life experience. So hey ho.Back from Berlin, we had to start thinking about actually attending Uni! So this week has been spent trying out some classes and getting organised. I’m feeling optimistic about the semester ahead. I’ve met some amazing people here and I have a good feeling about the next few months. Woo!

Bis bald,
Chloe