Day 9 - Friendly Strangers.

Day 9 – 290913

Free Wifi Zone of AO Hostel

Day 9 and still no apartment. But that's not what today's entry is about. In the past few days I have come to a certain realisation. That while I have been telling everyone that I'm generally carefree, and that “everything will work out in the end”, I realised that I have been actually complacent. I had been taking God's will for granted. I had been taking His plans for granted. I always assumed that God will take care of me and hence had little worries, without making any real conscious effort to listen to and follow God's will. These few days I have been praying more and asking God for help.

One of my friends told me that this uncertainty is part and parcel of life overseas. It's this gripping feeling of uncertainty, that tomorrow I might not have a place to stay; or that tomorrow I might not be able to sleep in a room; or that I might be completely lost in an area with no help. This inability to find a place to stay in, strangely, has not really seriously worried me over the past few days. Yes, it's frustrating. Yes, it's tiring. But ultimately, I think things will work out somehow. I'm not completely sure why I am so confident, but I am.

Today was most interesting because of the kindness extended by complete strangers. In the morning, I formally introduced myself to the church that I attended last Sunday. I went early and handed them my commendation letter. This made all the difference as I was introduced to the assembly as well, and many of them came forward to welcome me and ask me a few questions about myself. It was fairly interesting and when I mentioned my difficulty in looking for an apartment, they all readily accepted and promised that they would ask around for anyone with a spare room. Unfortunately, I couldn't really understand the sermon as I still am unable to understand enough of what is said. Nevertheless, the singing of hymns and prayer still feels a bit like home. I had a nice lunch of Carbonara at Pizzeria Centrale at Sophienstraße before cycling back to the Hostel.

After church, I went to see a room at Am Künstlerhaus 21. When I arrived, there was one other guy (whom I had met a few days before at another apartment) there. When we went up to see the house, there were another 2 who had come to see the place. Quite promptly, both of them did not want to rent the place. Admittedly, it wasn't very clean, and the smell of weed was kinda strong. But it was a big room, and really quite close to the university. I readily said that I would want to rent the room and he, too, wanted to rent it out to me. It wasn't until I left the place and checked out the place around that I found a huge problem: the place was right next to a red light district, where there were a number of brothels. Well. I did not really expect that. So, right now, I have a serious dilemma. The pros and cons are pretty clear. Pros: big place, near to university. Cons: Shady area, Price. I'm still undecided, though I'd take it as a last resort. Again, this is with the dubious assumption that he would probably rent it out to me.

In the evening, I went out again in search of another apartment in the Hagsfeld area, northeast of Karlsruhe. After reaching there, I realised that I did not have the house number and had no way of contacting the tenant except via email. I decided, instead, to ask around for help. There was a father-son pair who were cycling around, presumably home. I asked them if they knew of any nearby WGs that had a spare room. What I did not expect, however, was the extent to which they were willing to go to help me. They went around knocking on the doors of those they believed to be WGs. When unsuccessful, we went further down to check out another place. We found a group of young people who were having a BBQ. When asked if they were a WG (which they weren't), they offered to ask around if their friends had free rooms. Long story short, I left my number with them and they promised to call if anything cropped up. I was genuinely touched by how unbelievably helpful they were.

So far, I'd say that my stay in Germany has not been what I expected, both in a good way and bad. I never realised how difficult it would be to find a place here, or how bad the housing situation here was. I really should have taken Vincent's offer a month back, when he had a friend with a room to rent. Still, I have come into contact with Singaporeans here I haven't even met perseonally who are willing to ask around for me. Jared said he would ask a taiwanese friend for me, if I could rent one of their rooms. The experience here has also been good, in that I've come to know a few Chinese friends, as well as find out what I am like in a foreign country with a group of foreign people who speak a foreign language. The conclusion: really quiet unless approached. Naturally I would like to be sociable, but when you're given a handicap as massive as a language, it's really hard to be yourself.

Still, it's only been 9 days. Here's to many more years.