My Apartment in Germany

Sunday 24 January 2010
1930

Today was an excellent day. I went for a long hike up the Heiligenberg on the north side of the Neckar River. It felt great to get out in the open, but that story will have to wait a few days as I’m still behind in my updates. Today’s entry will be a description of my living quarters here.

As I indicated in my earlier entry, my choices for government-furnished quarters here were not ideal. Since I am not authorized to live off post at government expense, my original intent had been to take the government-furnished quarters temporarily and then move off post into an apartment on the economy at my own expense. This was a pleasant fantasy until I got here and was confronted by reality.

The fact is that living here is very expensive. Even a moderate apartment that met my needs would be likely to cost around 800 Euros or so (about $1200 per month). Once I saw my BOQ, it just didn’t seem to make sense to spend all that money when I have an adequate living space for free. I may change my mind later, as there are definitely some drawbacks. But for now this will have to do.

I am living in a place called Patrick Henry Village, which is a dedicated US housing area about three miles southwest of Heidelberg. It is a completely self-contained community about a mile long by a half mile wide (almost exactly the size of the base I was on in Qatar). It contains a large number and variety of housing units, plus a variety of community service activities. It has the commissary (grocery store), a Shoppette (small PX like a 7-11), a coffee shop, bar & grill, theater, bowling alley and entertainment center, Burger King, elementary school, middle school, high school, youth activity center, workout center, guest house, and community center. There’s probably more that I haven’t seen yet. But it is definitely “little America”. You have to leave to get to the main PX and most of the administrative type activities (housing, finance, etc.), but by and large it’s pretty self-contained.

My building looks pretty much like all the other buildings here. In the picture of me and my Jeep, my windows are the third and fourth ones down (on both floors). I have a two story apartment, with a kitchen and living room on the first floor and a bedroom and bathroom on the second floor, with a spiral staircase at one end. Here are some pictures.

When you first walk in the door and look to the left, you see my living room:

The entrance to the kitchen is directly in front of the door, and to the right of the door is the staircase. This is the view back towards the kitchen and stairs from the far end of the living room:

The kitchen is pretty tiny. This is one of the main drawbacks of staying here, although I think I can make it work OK once I get my stuff here. I plan to set up my kitchen shelves outside the door in the living room to sort of extend the space a bit. Not much room to work, though!

When you climb the stairs, you see the bedroom. The closets at the end are pretty roomy, but they are all the storage space I have in the entire apartment!




You can’t see it, but the bathroom is right at the top of the stairs. I plan to put the desk in front of the upstairs door where the box is, and a bookshelf in front of the railing:

The spiral staircase is kind of a novelty, so I had to play with it a little:

I am starting to get settled in a bit, although I will have a lot of work to do when my household goods get here. There is not much room, and hardly any storage at all. I didn’t send any furniture except a small desk that will go upstairs in the bedroom. But there is just a ton of stuff anyway. It will probably be OK once I get the boxes unpacked. But it will still be tight – things like backpacking equipment, bicycle, toolboxes, etc just don’t have anyplace to go!

I do have a collapsible closet/wardrobe thing that I sent over and plan to put just inside the front door to the right. That will give me a place for coats, shoes, and PT clothes, which are currently just strewn around everywhere. Today I ordered a bicycle cover, because I think the bike will just have to stay outside all the time. Not ideal, but I don't have much choice.

I wanted to rent a storage place nearby, but they are not nearly as common here as they are in the USA. I finally found one in Mannheim. It’s about ten miles door to door, so it’s not too bad. That’s where I will put the empty boxes I want to keep (like from the television and stereo), as well as excess stuff I don’t need like footlockers full of field gear, and whatever else I can’t fit into the apartment. The back seat to my Jeep has been taken out and stored there already. I think I am going to just drive it with no back seat in it all the time. I can’t see any reason to have it in there, and I kind of like it without. There’s certainly more room for stuff in the back, and it feels more “Jeep-like”.

Besides the tiny kitchen and lack of storage, there are two major drawbacks to this living arrangement. One is that I am not out in German society – I can’t just walk out the door and be in Germany among Germans. I am perfectly able to get in the car and go places, and when it’s nice I’ll be able to bike everywhere with no problem, but it’s not the same as having to neighbors to get to know. It just doesn’t feel the same as it does to walk out the door and be in a neighborhood. Many Americans prefer the “little America” environment because it’s familiar. But it’ not at all what I wanted. I am really enjoying being in Germany, but I already feel the “apartness” of living in PHV. Perhaps over time I’ll come to see this as a bigger problem and decide to move off post after all – we’ll see.

The other drawback is the lack of a second bedroom for visitors. I promised my kids a “base of operations” should they choose to come and spend some time here. I anticipated that this would mean a dedicated guest room. As you can see, I don’t have that. However, I did arrange the living room with this situation in mind. My idea is to put up some sort of divider or curtain between the back of the couch and the table, to create a private space in the living room for the duration of a visit. It will be a bit cozy, but nothing we can’t live with.

As I described earlier, the distance away from town changes the texture of life a bit, but it’s an easy bike ride so I figure I’ll just buy a second bicycle this spring for my kids to use when they come. Riding around Heidelberg on a bike will be pretty cool, anyway. That seems to be how a lot of people get around – it’s easier than finding a place to park the car and you can go just about anyplace.

There are also some upsides to this arrangement. The major one is that I don’t have to worry about security. All the US facilities are secured now, and you have to show ID to get in and out. So unlike when I was here in the 1980’s, I won’t have to go out and inspect my car every morning with a flashlight looking for bombs before I get in and drive to work. This will also be an advantage during an extended visit by any of my kids. Should I be called away on temporary duty for a few days while they are here, I won’t have to be concerned about anything as they will be in a secure area surrounded by US facilities and resources, with the freedom to come and go off post – the best of both worlds.

So, that’s my apartment in Germany. Not as big as what I was used to at home, but quite a step up from my 7 ½’ x 11’ room in Kuwait and my 8’ x 20’ shipping container in Qatar! I think I’ll be comfortable here.

Mood: Content
Music: Christoph Eschenbach, Mozart Piano Sonatas