Dorm Life

Dormitories in Germany also differ quite a bit from those in the United States, but in a fairly positive way. German dorms offer much higher quality of living for relatively the same amount of money. My room is a two person apartment with kitchen and bathroom, which, with a single room alone, would be a great improvement over pretty much anything Umass has to offer. Of course this does come with a couple caveats, namely maturity and less socializing. While my dorm did attempt to make a couple efforts at socializing for the most part you do not get nearly the kinds of parties or socializing you find at an American dorm. Along with this, German dorms are much more adult oriented, so if you are like me that means learning how to cook (if canned goods counts) and cleaning up after yourself as well. Personally I would much rather the quietness and the cleaning over a lot of the stresses you get in a dorm, especially since now I have a whole room to myself (more spacious too!).

I guess I should mention my dorm does come with its own bar open a couple nights a week with pretty cheap drinks, something I can not imagine ever being allowed back in the states.

Naturally I have found some amenities that do not quite compare to back home. My “stove” for example is really just two hot plates, which makes cooking a bit more difficult for a complete novice like me.  Another thing is that the washroom for clothes is not actually even in my building, but instead is a little cellar room you have to go outside to get to (not exactly fun in the winter). And then once you get in you only have four washers to work with for the whole dorm (I have given up on trying to use the dryers and just air dry clothes in my room). If all four are working (which is rare) they are also smaller and more expensive than their American counterparts, making laundry more of a task. Germany, being much more forward environmentally and having considerably less space also has instituted some fairly strict rules when it comes to throwing out trash, which means more sorting between things and more things that can be recycled. Although if you are a bit more conscious about the environment than being able to actually recycle things beyond paper and bottles is a big step up over UMass’s system. 

Living arrangements tend to go hand in hand with transport, so in a nutshell you pretty much have three choices: on foot, by bike, or public transit (buses, trams, and trains). If you are like me and do not mind a little exercise than just walking everywhere is not a terribly big problem in Heidelberg and if you do the math you are not really saving any time compared to the people who have to wait around for a bus and then for that bus to get to its destination. Bikes are definitely the fastest way to get around and still pretty easy to use in the winter, due to the lack of serious snow accumulation. With public transport you get the obvious comforts, but you do have to pay, such as a semester ticket which is about 140 euro (I think I never bothered to get one). Mathematically speaking though, it is not really worth it in my experience, but you can figure that out for yourself.