Ricky V the V.I.P. (Very Insubstantial Poster)

After just under a month in Dresden, I have a place to live! This is the big news. After an age of looking for somewhere and seeing a host of flats that would fall at the final curtain (hidden costs, weird issues, etc.), it is nice to be able to finally be sorted. From the 50-year old lady with 4 children under the age of 10, who was looking for economic and emotional support during a ‘financial crisis’ enduced by her Husband running off with another woman by letting out a room illegally (talk about a depressing flat - bless her, though, I wish her the best), to the countless rooms that classified a ‘bed’ as a mattress on a floor, I’m ridiculously pleased that the hunt is over and I appear to have landed on my feet.

My new flat is in the trendy ‘Neustadt’ - home of parties, bars, culture and parties - living with three German people who speak the national language “German”. I am hoping to pick up some ‘German’ in the time that I live there, so this is a definite positive. As is their brilliant English. Another definite positive is just how damn cheap everything is - my room is a good size (in true efficiency you never describe a room descriptively - it is a quantified metre squared measure - mine is 14m²) and also includes, furniture, internet and all bills for just €188 a month (£165.29  on today’s - 28.10.2011 - exchange rate). Pretty crazy, especially for the centre of town.

However, my room is pretty bare as the furniture is yet to arrive:

Kinda resembles a prison cell, with a gay-pride carpet at the moment. The provided furniture is arriving in the nest few days - *phew*. And you may spot the ladder to the left - that’s for my BUNK BED. Yep, it’s kinda the norm here to have an elevated bed (elevated well above my height so at least 2m high - that’s proper elevation) and every night I play the dice with death that is climbing the stairs and trying not to fall out of the barrier-lacking sides of my bunk bed. It’s pretty novel and a childish thrill now, but ask me how I feel after 4 months and a lot of bruises. Hopefully I can keep landing on my feet…

I will miss my hostel for both it’s inspiring architecture…

rman

and it’s painted shed outside which inexplicably has Roger Federer and Jim’s dad from American Pie on them. Oh and I’ll miss Business Deal.

But apart from that, it is nice to be out of that hostel. I’m tired of sharing rooms with men in pants or men without pants. For now, it’s time to make home sweet home, my home.