I moved into my new apartment over a month ago. It was my first day in Saarbrücken. I had no idea how to get around town, much less find my address and meet my landlady to get my key. Luckily, one of the other American teaching assistants in town was getting picked up from the train station by her mentor teacher, and we were on the same bus. Her mentor teacher, a woman I had never met before, took it upon herself to drive me to my apartment so that I did not have to wander around with my suitcase, lost and confused as I surely would have been. My sense of direction is notoriously bad.
Shortly after moving in, I found out that the apartment did not have Internet - an amenity I thought was included in the rent. Well, at least I had a bed to sleep in. Most apartments in Germany do not come furnished. This one did, and I probably would have chosen it even if I had known that there was no Internet. Sleep is a precious thing!
I was also shocked to find out that most of my roommates were Russian. Most of them speak German or English in addition to Russian, and we get along well. Actually, the guy who speaks the least German and English is one of my best friends in the apartment. It is sometimes difficult to communicate with each other, but we find ways to make it work. It has turned into a sort of game for us.
