Tips on how to find a private room in Germany for International Students

I concluded from my experience that it is common that you can't find a room especially you are international student plus you can't speak German. I am one of them and I also met some International Students who faced the same problem. So I hope this blog is helpful to you and somehow, give you some hope in looking for a room. 

I was very excited when I received the admission letter from University of Goettingen. And obviously the next steps for me were looking for a room, booking for visa application, opening Blocked account and other necessary preparation...

At first, I thought it's very easy to settle my accommodation. Just apply with the Studentenwohnheim(Student Resident) and they will have a room for me. P/s: different universities have their own system, please check ASAP because some take long waiting time. 

Tip #1: Check the procedure for the hostel application even before you register for the course if possible or as soon as you decided to go. In some cases, you can register for a student hostel even before you register for the course in the university.

But I WAS SO SO SO WRONG!! It's not as easy as I thought to get a room in Goettingen because the university has about 30 000 students and the Studentenwohnheim can only accommodate for 4000-5000 students. And my turn for a room was two years. Which mean by the time i got a room, I already finish my course. So it's pointless. 

The funny part is they have reserved room for exchange students for 1-2 semester but they don't have reserved room for international students who will be studying for at least 2-3 years. If you are bringing your family along, they might have apartment for you and your family. You need to ask.

 So, I started to look for private room outside the university. 

This is a very good and helpful website, at least for me, to start with your accommodation. http://www.wg-gesucht.de/

WG is the short form for Wohngemeinschaft, which mean flat sharing. You can choose how many people you want to live in a flat and your budget per month, furnished or unfurnished, and other details in the website. Normally people who are looking for a flatmate, they will describe who they are, what kind of people they are looking for, details and photos for the flat and many more.

I started the room searching since June 2016 till September 2016 and I gave up because no reply and I was not in Germany. So, I decided to look again after I am physically in Germany. 

Tip#2: If you can't find a room before your arrival, look for a youth hostel which is cheaper than hotel or Airbnb, because you wouldn't know when you can get a private room and it's possible to take up to months until you get a room. The accommodation in Germany can be really expensive, depends which city you are living.

The reason I gave up looking for room is because the potential future flatmates require interview and I was still back in Malaysia. It's a good news if you are called for but remember that you are not the only one. Normally they will call for a few before making a decision.

I stayed in the hostel for 2 weeks before I managed to get a room. I considered myself very lucky.

So, how to increase your chance for getting an interview? 

Tip#3: If you are already in Germany, obviously the chance will be higher because you are able to go for the interview.

Tip#4: You need to write an email to describe yourself. Not briefly but as details as you can. Your name, age, gender, where you come from, how long are you staying for your study, which course, your personalities, your hobbies and what languages you are able to converse.

This is very crucial because you don't know them and they don't know you. You are stranger to them and they are strangers to you. So this email will speak for you. So if they like your email, higher chances you will be short listed for the interview.

Try to imagine that you guys have to live under the same roof and I can understand it is easy to compromise when you are desperately looking for a room. But try not to because from my personal experience, shifting stuff can be a huge project if you have furniture.

Tip#5: If your email is in both English and German, might have higher chance. This is a tip given by a German lady whom I met in hostel. Basically if you meet students in the hostel, they are in the same boat as you, still looking for a room. 

Tip#6: Some will put their mobile contact number in the website. You can try to contact them through Whatsapp. But for me, it doesn't work at all.

I sent more than 20 emails per day. So for me, my statistic: more than 60% no replies, 30% replied but they already found someone. less than 10% replied and asking for interview. So it's a 50 50 for me, either got the interview or no.

If you are called for an interview, Congratulation! You are half way there. Happy and worried at the same time because you will try to imagine who you will meet, what kind of questions will be asked, how's the living conditions and etc.

I would say don't worry too much for the interview, it's just they will invite you to their flat and have a small chat around 1 hour, more or less. Just try to know each others.

Then how can you prepare for the interview?

Tip#7: Be punctual for the appointment time. Look for the location before hand. It's not good to be late on the first meeting. It gives bad impression unless you have solid reason.

Tip#8: Be friendly, honest, try not to be shy and open up yourself for self introduction. 99% you will be asked what are your hobbies. So prepare for this.

After the interview, should you stop the searching for room?

My answer is NO! After the interview, doesn't mean you already get the room. 

Tip#9: So, continue your search while waiting for reply. The moment you can stop the search is when you sign the rental contract and get the key. Another tip given by one of the tenants.

So wish you all the best if you are looking for a room. Don't feel discourage. You will find one eventually.

"WOW! You can SPEAK MANDARIN??"

Hello, I don't know whether will anyone ever read my blog but before I start, I just want to say thank you for reading my blog. :) 

Just a simple introduction from me. I am currently studying in Germany and probably most of the stuff i will be writing are about things happen to me in Germany and maybe some useful guideline on how to apply university, blocked account or visa to Germany... and some other blah blah blah stuff... 

It has been a month in Germany and i have met a lot of people from different parts of the world. Normally, when I meet a new friend, I will introduce my name and where I come from. Well, is normal procedure i guess...and we use international language, English to communicate. So yeah, it's all fine and well. But not so well when they overheard I speak in Mandarin.

 "WOW! You can speak Mandarin?" *with the surprised face and blink blink eyes*

 "Your Mandarin is so good and I didn't expect that!"

 "Erm...Malay language is your mother tongue, uh-huh?? or maybe I got it wrong?" *?? popping out* "People in Malaysia only speak Malay and English, right?? In your case, I don't think so.." *scratching the head* 

Well, I took it as a compliment in the beginning because it is a compliment, right?? But as time passed, the same thing happened to me and sometimes it happened a few times in a day. So, this is also why I started my very first blog and I hope I don't need to explain much in future if they read this blog. XD Then I slowly think that maybe it is not a compliment at all. (well, like i care?hahahaha..)

Slowly, I start to think is it very weird or surprised that as a Malaysian Chinese, most of us are able to speak fluent in Mandarin? Yes, I am a Malaysian. 

To be more specific, a Malaysian Chinese. 

Question number 1: So are you a Malay or Chinese? 

Most people will misunderstand and think that we migrate from China to Malaysia. It is true but is our ancestor migrated from China to Malaysia, not us. We are born and grew up in Malaysia. So here,I am referring to a race, not a nationality.

Question number 2: Then why you can speak Mandarin? 

Erm...To be honest, it's a very awkward question to answer. Well, at least for me. Normally I will answer "Because Mandarin is my mother tongue?" "Because my parents speak Mandarin with me since young?" "Because my parents sent me to a Chinese school?" 

Question number 3: Do other Malaysian Chinese speak Mandarin as fluent as you? 

I would say mostly but it depends. I do have some Malaysian Chinese friends who cannot speak Mandarin at all or some maybe a little bit. In Malaysia, we(the Malaysian Chinese who can speak Mandarin) will call them banana or ABC. Some might feel it is racist but some will take it as a compliment. So again, it depends. 

Question number 3.1: Why banana?Why ABC? 

Because banana's skin is yellow and inside is white. Chinese has yellow skin and according to our older generation, English is the mother tongue of the Caucasian who has white/fair skin. So as a Chinese, you have yellow skin but speak English, isn't just like a banana?? and ABC in full is America(n) Born Chinese. (p/s: I am not sure is American or America. Sorry about it.) 

It has the same meaning as Banana. So, please don't think we are not discriminating or what. Some of the Bananas are proud to be a Banana because they can speak English fluently and some of the non-Bananas are envy of the Bananas. 

Question number 4: Do other Malaysian Chinese speak Mandarin at home too?

 This depends on our parents and own family background. If they speak Mandarin with us then of course we will learn how to speak in Mandarin. If they speak in English then we speak in English. But in general, we normally speak more than a language at home such as Malay, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka and some other Chinese dialects. 

 Question number 5: Then how do you learn how to write and read Chinese characters? 

Some Malaysian Chinese can only speak and listen and some can read and write. I am able to speak, write, listen and read in Mandarin because I am Chinese educated, it means I went to Chinese school for my education. In Malaysia, there are 3 major races: Malay, Chinese and Indian. Of course not to forget our Indigenous friends, mostly from Sabah and Sarawak.

You may refer here for the statistic data: http://www.livepopulation.com/country/malaysia.html or just google it for more. 

 So once upon a time, each race wanted to preserve their own mother tongue and so today, we have three types of primary school in Malaysia: 

Sekolah Kebangsaan(SK) - taught in *Malay and English

Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina(SJKC) - taught in *Mandarin, Malay and English 

Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil(SJKT) - taught in *Tamil, Malay and English 

* indicates the main language the school uses.

So that's how we are able to learn how to write and read in our own mother tongue. And you might be curious why all have to learn Malay language and English. Well, this is because Malay language is the official language in Malaysia. 

As a citizen of Malaysia and regardless which race you are, you are ought to learn and know the official language. Kindly exclude those older generation. Here, I am referring to the younger generation who are born and grew up in Malaysia. English is the international language and so yeah, we have to learn it too. 

So basically, average a Malaysian can speak in at least 3 languages. 

Question number 6: What is the common language Malaysian speak when they meet? 

In my personal opinion, the common language that we, Malaysian speak when we see each other is Bahasa Rojak. Rojak is a traditional mixture dish of fruit and vegetable in Malaysia. In Malay language, Rojak simply means mixture and Bahasa means language. 

 In general we communicate by mixing all the languages we know. Sometime we will suddenly change into another language, from Malay into English, then English into Mandarin, then Mandarin into Malay and etc. It is our culture. But of course we are able to converse in one language too just that we embrace our Bahasa Rojak too well and personally i enjoy it very much. 

So if you plan to visit Malaysia one day, don't worry about language because we speak English too and Malaysian are helpful. And in order to understand a Malaysian conversation, you need to know at least 2 languages or more. The major languages are Malay and English, and maybe some Mandarin/Hokkien/Cantonese? Because sometime we will mix some Mandarin, Hokkien and Cantonese into our conversation too. 

I guess that's all from me. Hope you enjoy reading it and know a bit more about Malaysia and Malaysian. Feel free to comment or write email to me if it is not clear or anything mistake I had made.

Have a nice weekend. p/s: Sorry that I am long winded.