Moving In is Fun!

Lately I've been living with people from AIESEC, and all has been well.  But as of May 1 I could move in to my own apartment so I did as soon as possible!  The trip involved going over the Rhine, which was pretty cool, and then going again over half of the Rhine to get on the island.

A is the University of Koblenz, B is home.  This is by car.  Not bus.

When I got to my place I met my flatmate, and he seems like a pretty nice guy.  His name is Wolf Kolb, and he is doing his PhD at the private university in Vallendar, which is literally on the other side of the bridge from Niederwerth.  He is close to his university...I am not.  It's ok, though.  I have simply had to learn the bus system at Koblenz really well.

The only big problem with this whole "using the bus system" thing was that buses here are DAMN expensive.  2.50 Euro per bus ride is not something I was prepared for.  And I shouldn't have to because I should have had my student ID by now, but I didn't because of some problems that had to do with AIESEC.  A bit frustrating, if I say so myself, but something that I managed.  But I will tell you that I was a bit fed up with it and went on a couple of buses without paying.

Let's stop here for a second...

Riding a bus without paying, or "black riding" as the locals call it, is really scary, yet there shouldn't be that much to worry about.  Local buses are VERY RARELY checked (unlike buses to travel between cities and trains) and most students just get on, so I simply joined the mass of students getting on and prayed to the Lord that no one would check.  Turns out it worked and I saved myself quite a decent amount of Euro, but seriously...that scared feeling is not something I want to try again.  If you know me well enough you know I hate cheating the system most times, but if not I was gonna go broke.  And that would have been worse.  So...I saved some cash and now I have my student ID and all is well.

Now let's go back to the original story...

Main view of the room from the door

Main view of the room from the window

View from the window

View from the window to the right.  That's the Rhine right there.

Das Badezimmer

My apartment is awesome!  It is on the 3rd floor of the place (floor 2 for Germans...cause they insist of the main floor being E, then 1, 2 and so forth...) and when you enter the door you step into a hallway to your right and left, at the ends of which are both rooms, and halfway to my room is the bathroom, and halfway to Wolf's room is the kitchen.  Decently sized, and I really like it.

I'm quite happy with everything here except for the fact that it's far from everything else.  But whatevs...I'll live with it.  It is a very nice island and I can't complain.  Next post will be all about work, as I try to explain what it is I'm going to be doing.