Home from Home - April 4th 2009
I have now been in Munich 3 months. A lot has happened. Most of it good, although some could have been better, but let's not dwell on negativity. I'm here and I'm having a lot of fun.
Still, I needed a space of my own; somewhere I could go and feel at home.I looked at a lot of apartments. Some were nasty, some were nice. None of them made me feel like they could be 'home'. Over here, you count the square meterage, and a two-room apartment does not have two bedrooms. Unfurnished means that it has walls, a floor, a ceiling, and that's about it.There is also the question of deposit, which can be as much as three months, plus a 'Makler' which is the fee to the agent, ie another month's rent. Then you have to factor in if it is 'Warm' or 'Kalt', ie does it include bills. It's a minefield, really, it's a bloody nightmare. Just to move in to an apartment, I would need to find about 6,000€!
Fortunately, a colleague, Karl, put me onto a website called toytowngermany.com. This is for all us displaced non-Teutonic types and has small ads, advice and generally useful info on how to survive in The Fatherland. I responded to a couple of ads for apartments and found one that was in a nice area, looked different, and was within my price range.
I arranged to go and see it and was met by Johannes, whose apartment it was. I instantly liked the place and got on with Johannes. He had had several people look around but he wanted to let it to someone he felt would appreciate it and look after his stuff and we struck a deal, pretty much there and then. Now, it is quite expensive just to move in to a place here and It pretty much wiped me out financially for a month, but I moved in at the beginning of April. Thanks to my mate here in Munich, Rob, who put me up for a few nights and helped me move my stuff, without whom etc.
My landlord, Johannes, is the singer in a popular German Goth band called Big Boy and he was off to the USA with his band to make a reality TV show about being a German band in LA. He left me his CD collection, his HiFi, his widescreen TV, semi-automatic rifle, and even took me out for a meal cos the internet connection wouldn't be connected for three weeks. He's a cool guy and one of my Farcebook friends.
I like my apartment and moving in made me feel a lot better about being away from my girls, Dad, friends and everyone who matters to me. I even started to feel settled. Having a place you can call home, with your shit around you makes a big difference to settling down. Of course, once the internet was hooked up, it got even better, and I didn't just have to rely on my German mobile phone for contact with everyone back in the UK. Modern technology can be wonderful.
Click here for the next bit
Still, I needed a space of my own; somewhere I could go and feel at home.I looked at a lot of apartments. Some were nasty, some were nice. None of them made me feel like they could be 'home'. Over here, you count the square meterage, and a two-room apartment does not have two bedrooms. Unfurnished means that it has walls, a floor, a ceiling, and that's about it.There is also the question of deposit, which can be as much as three months, plus a 'Makler' which is the fee to the agent, ie another month's rent. Then you have to factor in if it is 'Warm' or 'Kalt', ie does it include bills. It's a minefield, really, it's a bloody nightmare. Just to move in to an apartment, I would need to find about 6,000€!
Fortunately, a colleague, Karl, put me onto a website called toytowngermany.com. This is for all us displaced non-Teutonic types and has small ads, advice and generally useful info on how to survive in The Fatherland. I responded to a couple of ads for apartments and found one that was in a nice area, looked different, and was within my price range.
I arranged to go and see it and was met by Johannes, whose apartment it was. I instantly liked the place and got on with Johannes. He had had several people look around but he wanted to let it to someone he felt would appreciate it and look after his stuff and we struck a deal, pretty much there and then. Now, it is quite expensive just to move in to a place here and It pretty much wiped me out financially for a month, but I moved in at the beginning of April. Thanks to my mate here in Munich, Rob, who put me up for a few nights and helped me move my stuff, without whom etc.
My landlord, Johannes, is the singer in a popular German Goth band called Big Boy and he was off to the USA with his band to make a reality TV show about being a German band in LA. He left me his CD collection, his HiFi, his widescreen TV, semi-automatic rifle, and even took me out for a meal cos the internet connection wouldn't be connected for three weeks. He's a cool guy and one of my Farcebook friends.
I like my apartment and moving in made me feel a lot better about being away from my girls, Dad, friends and everyone who matters to me. I even started to feel settled. Having a place you can call home, with your shit around you makes a big difference to settling down. Of course, once the internet was hooked up, it got even better, and I didn't just have to rely on my German mobile phone for contact with everyone back in the UK. Modern technology can be wonderful.
Click here for the next bit