Ich will ein Hamburger (werden)!!! (I want (to be) a Hamburger!)

So at long last, the promised post on my search for an apartment/room in the greater Hamburg/Lübeck area! But first things first, I am happy to say that I got a call from the Deutsche Bank today, telling me that my account has been opened and is ready to go! Now all I need to do is put money in it... and wait for my EC card and PIN to show up^^
Anyway, I started my search in earnest before I left the States, trying desperately to find a place on the internet. Had a few contacts, but it soon became very clear that I would need to be in the area and come by before anything was really going to happen. Upon arriving here, I visited one apartment in Lübeck, which I would be sharing with a nice guy named Lars who was studying in Lübeck as well. He and I got along great, and I'm pretty sure he will offer me the room at the end of the week when he makes his decision. Although this place is not furnished, there have been quite a few listings in the local papers for free furniture if you come pick it up, so I'm not too worried about that.

The thing is, I'm not sure I want to live in Lübeck. It is a nice town and all, but there isn't that much going on there. Hamburg is really the center of everything around here, so much so that even the trains from Deutsche Bahn, become trains of the Hamburg Transit Authority (HVV) for the time that they are in the greater metropolitan Hamburg area. (Bad Oldesloe included!) So I started to look around in Hamburg, and after a multitude of e-mails and phone calls, finally got two appointments to look at rooms. I spent all day yesterday in Hamburg, figuring out the HVV, getting lost, and visiting these apartments. The first one is in the typical student district of Eppendorf. The apartment is in a very old building, but itself is pretty nice. There are actually two rooms being rented out for the period that one roommate is studying abroad in Spain. One is really tiny, only big enough for a bed and nightstand, the other is set up as a living room/office. She is leaving all of here furniture, and (upon request) would leave her whole library on the bookshelf too! The other roommate, Helian is a nice guy, works at IKEA, studies Geography, seems like he would be pretty easy to get along with. So had a nice chat with those two for about 30mins, then it was off to a) find something to eat and b) figure out how in the world to get to my next appointment.
Wandering about in Eppendorf, I stumbled upon my favorite German supermarket, LIDL, so I popped in and bought some dinner. While there, I noticed they were selling Astra, one of the local beers, so I figured I'd try that out too. It's pretty good!
I found my way to the S-bahn and headed out to my next appointment in Wilhelmsburg. (Wouldn't that be funny, moving from Williamsburg, to Wilhelmsburg?) I thought for sure I was at the wrong house when I saw it, as there was scaffolding all around it, but I was indeed at the right place. (They're just getting the place repainted.) Another guy who was looking at the place was there at the same time, so we all ended up sitting in the backyard talking about...well for most of the time, anything but the rooms! It felt like a really great fit, not only with the couple who would be living upstairs, but with the other guy looking for a room. As there would be two rooms opening up, there wasn't any kind of competitive feeling, and it made for an enjoyable conversation for all. I think we must have sat there for at least an hour! Afterwards, as I was about to buy a ticket back to Oldesloe, a guy came up to me and asked if I wanted travel on his group ticket. This is one of my favorite ways to travel, because you always meet interesting folks and you almost always save money off the the regular ticket price. Even though it was only a .70c bargain this time, the trip to Oldesloe went by surprisingly fast with a fun group and a bottle of Astra!

So, I feel like I have made a pretty good start, and I will know by Friday whether any of the places panned out. I am trying to find out if I need to be around here after the decision is made, to sign a contract or whatever. If I don't I will be switching Bads tomorrow, heading to Kreuznach to start my vacation off with a bang, namely the Summer Breeze Festival in Dinkelsbühl, with my friends Jan, Andy and Flo. I am already getting antsy about it, because I hate making plans that depend on other people's schedules, especially people I a) barely know, and b) who I am trying to rent an apartment from/with. So keep your fingers crossed!
Until then,
Seacrest, Out!
(sorry, I just always wanted to say that...)