Auf Deutsch leben

The last week was busy, because I have moved into my new flat (finally!). What does it have in common with the German language? Surprisingly, quite a lot - I hardly ever used an English word during the last week. And what for a week it was!

Freitag

Umzug nach der neue Wohnung

Friday was the day, when I planned to move into the new flat. But arranging a meeting with the landlord was difficult, even though I managed to catch him on the phone.

•  Making a formal phone call in German  P

He just told me that he will let me know. Thursday evening came, and I still didn’t get any message from the landlord, let alone the contract. I have to say at this point that my new flatmate is a psychologist. My favorite message from her is “Kein Stress. Alles wird gut.” So I moved into the flat on Friday morning, without having any contract and just hoping that this time it really will be “alles gut”.

When I came, there were just a few pieces of furniture in the room: a blue cabinet, a small wardrobe, and a bed – but without any mattress. And half of the room was stacked with stuff belonging to the previous inhabitant of the room, and was to be picked up on Sunday. (I didn’t feel like taking a picture of the situation which I’m kind of regretting now.)

Moving from one flat to another, luckily just a few blocks away, was followed by a rushed visit to Ikea. (No, I didn’t go there for cheap furniture, only for a few smaller things like a duvet or a pillow.) During that, the landlord eventually answered, and we met in the afternoon. The contract for the flat was signed, and I have finally got the document required for registering at the town hall.

Umzug von einem riesigen Schreibtisch

As I have mentioned, my room lacked some essential pieces of furniture. It is actually quite easy to buy some used furniture here, because there is a webpage (Ebay Kleinanzeigen) where you can find almost everything selling by locals. The only downside is that you usually have to pick it up on yourself.

I have found an advert selling a desk; the place was not far from the new flat, and a friend from the old flat came to help me. The pick-up place was in the 4th floor of a house without a lift, but with a narrow staircase; the desk fit there just right (I guess we added some scratches both to the table and to the walls). The desk was bigger and heavier than I’ve expected, so I was really glad that the friend arrived with a (small) cart. We drove the desk on the cart to my new flat, sometimes using the whole width of the pathway, but quite often forced to use the street, because the desk was wider than the pathway. The biggest fun was still ahead. My new flat is in the 4th floor as well (no lift, narrow staircase), and this time we have to carry it up, not down. I am not completely sure how, but we managed to do it , and I have survived with just a few nice yellow-blue bruises.

By the way, have I mentioned that the guy helping me is a German, and we were arranging everything in German?

• Navigate through a narrow space in German while carrying a big piece of furniture P

Freitag Abend

After moving the desk, I still had to pick up one last piece of luggage from the old flat. But after that, I was completely done, just looking for laying down in a bed… But wait, there is no mattress on the bed. Ok, let me at least sit down to my new desk – oh no, I do not have any chair!

Samstag

Do not worry, I came prepared; I brought a sleeping bag and a groundsheet from home. I knew from my Erasmus experience that these two things might become handy at any time.

Rabatte verhandeln

The goal for Saturday was clear: to get as much of essential furniture as possible. First, I had a meeting in the morning to pick up some boxes. They are meant to be used together with a regal from Ikea, but they can serve just as well on their own. And they are easy to move. I do not know why, but the woman gave them to me for a lower price than it was presented in the ad. She said something about splotches, but I couldn’t find any.

On the way back, I went around a supermarket which is nowhere close to the flat. Incidentally, I found there a bag of buckwheat for basically the same price as in the Czech Republic! That pleased me a lot, because I really like buckwheat, and my experience was that it is rare and expensive goods in Germany.

As the next step, I went to a secondhand store. I spotted there a usable chair, but I found 15 Euro for a used and chipped chair too much. I wanted to let it be, but I asked for a possibility of a delivery of a washing machine, as I saw that they sell some (we didn’t have any in the flat, but more about that later). Showing an interest for other goods, the chair was suddenly 5 Euro cheaper. So I bought the chair immediately, pack it bare-handed, and left the slightly surprised seller behind.

What was left was to take care about the mattress. I had already ordered one in a shop a few days before, but I still had to go there to pay for it and to give them the new address. Unfortunately, there was a different shop assistant than the last time, and she was obviously in a bad mood. Who would want to deal with a customer on Saturday at 5 pm (the shop is open till 6 pm) who in addition does not speak German properly? At the beginning, she kept telling me that I came too late, and the mattress cannot be delivered on Monday, and that the delivery costs 25 Euro. But I was promised a few days before that the mattress will be delivered for free on Monday, and all I have to do is to come in advance and pay for it. I am not sure if I was so persuasive or if the shop assistant wanted so desperately to get rid of me. But at the end she gave me a “discount” for the delivery (so I got it for free), and made some phone calls to find out if the mattress is on the way already.

• Negotiate in German  P

Party!

A quiet evening? Not at all. I was invited to a party. Not that I would know any of the hosts; I was invited as a member of the friendly WG (my “old” WG). I am not a party person, but I have decided that I do not know enough people here in Dortmund to decline the invitation. When I arrived to the party place, already a bit late, I realized that I made a mistake. I hadn’t asked the friends of mine when they were planning to arrive. The thing I would usually do in such a situation is to wait outside till someone known arrive. But it was dark already, and I didn’t feel safe enough in the neighborhood to be sitting there alone. So I went inside. (It may seem like a normal thing to do, but it was quite awkward situation for me.)

Long story short: after some time I realized that no one will come to save me, and I started a conversation with another woman there who was sitting next to me and looking just as lonely as me. And with some other people later on. As all the conversations were in German, I can add another check-up to my list:

• Start a conversation with strangers in a loud environment in German  P

Sonntag

Nothing really worth mentioning happened on Sunday; I have spent most of the day in the office at the university by trying to catch up with whatever I was supposed to do on Friday (but actually I was just too tired to do anything useful).

Montag

As much as Sunday was boring, Monday was full of actions.

Einwohnermeldeamt

After a month and half in Germany, I have finally registered at the town hall (“Einwohnermeldeamt”). I have heard that people are waiting there in a queue from 5 am. Maybe it is a different for people outside EU, but it took me about 2 minutes to make an appointment online for a given time, and I have to wait there only about 15 minutes.

This wasn’t really any challenge for my language skills (though the registration was in German), but I have waited for that quite a long time. Without the registration, you can’t do almost anything regarding the German bureaucracy. For example, you can’t set up a bank account, and, as a result, you can’t get your salary. So it is another check-up for me:

• Get an official address in Germany  P

Eintrag von der Betrug an der Polizei Präsidium

As the registration took me less time than I have expected, I had some time left. I have realized that I am not far away from the main police station here in Dortmund. Reporting the scam on me was still on my to-do list.

At the police station, I asked for someone to lead the report with me in English. It was pointless; the interview was in German anyway. Necessary to say that the police officer was nice to me, and he was patient with my slow expression. Nevertheless, the situation would be new and uncomfortable for me even in my mother tongue.

• Make a report at a police station in German  P

Lieferung von der Matraze

The delivery service called me that they were standing in front of the house with my new mattress. It was about an hour earlier than I had expected, and so I wasn’t at home. Luckily no troubles there, we agreed that they come again later. Anyway:

• Handle with an unexpected situation per phone in German  P

Zwei Frauen gegen eine Waschmaschine

As I have mentioned, there wasn’t any washing machine in the flat. Well, there used to be one, but the previous inhabitant took it with her. So, together with my new flatmate, we were standing in front of the question, where to get another washing machine. We agreed that we do not need a new one, a used one would be just as good. Again as with my furniture, the question wasn’t really where to buy it, but how to get it to our place without paying high charges for the delivery.

My flatmate found a second hand shop close to our flat, which in addition offers a 6 months guaranty – another one than the one where I got a discounted chair. We arranged a 2-hours window in our schedules on Monday afternoon. But thanks to a prolonged lunch break of the shop assistant, we were left with only 30 minutes. There was not much to choose form, anyway, as they have two similar washing machines for similar price. We bought one of them, and borrowed a cart from the shop. Once again, I was co-driving a weird and heavy cart. And once again, the biggest challenge was waiting at the end. Stairs. Luckily, the washing machines are placed in the cellar, and thus we had to get the washing machine just one floor down, instead of four floors up. But you know, the staircase to the cellar is even narrower than the staircase leading to the flats – actually, the staircase to the cellar is not much wider than the washing machine. At some point, we became helpless; but there was no way back. And we won! We managed to buy a washing machine, and to move it on our own.  (And it looks that it is really working!)

At a stressful moment, I tried to switch to English. But my attempt was ignored, although my flatmate speaks English very well (most probably better than me). She just doesn’t let me to use English, which is great!

• Coordinating a moving of a washing machine in German  P

Zusammenfassung

I can’t say that my German skills have improved dramatically. But I have managed to get along with them even in some weird situations. I just wasn’t given another chance than handling with all of these situations in German.