Housing

I was quite impressed with the housing complex I lived in, although not very tidy the space was ample, facilities functioning (for the most part), and the people overall friendly. The UMass students are housed in the Studenten Siedlung, or more commonly referred to as “StuSie,” which is located in the Landwasser district, in the western part of Freiburg. The Service Point is a building in StuSie that services all of StuSie’s inhabitants, selling and renting items such as laundry coins, grills, guest mattresses, prints and copies, and much more. Two bars, StuSie Bar and Rio Café/Bar, are located in the Service Point building as well. The Seepark, a gorgeous lake, is located in StuSie’s backyard. The Seepark is frequented by sunbathers and is the perfect spot for a barbeque. There is a Japanese garden, beautiful pathways, a Biergarten, and an observation tower with an amazing view. The only disappointing aspect is that the lake is not suitable for swimming due to some sort of parasite that can give you a rash. But despite this fact, the Seepark is still one of my favorite places to visit on a beautiful day.

Bridge crossing the lake at the Seepark

Seepark

View of StuSie from the Seepark

StuSie is conveniently located at the tram stop "Am Bischofskreuz". StuSie is well known and one of the largest student housing areas in Freiburg. The Hauptbahnhof (main train station) is only 7 minutes away and the stop "Stadttheater" where most university buildings are found is only around 10 minutes away.

There are at least two grocery stores within walking distance from StuSie. There is also a convenience/CVS-type store called Schlecker nearby.

There is a laundry room in my building (I believe most buildings either have one inside the building or very close nearby) which is nowhere near as competitive as it is at UMass, partially because Germans don't often use dryers but instead use drying racks. There are also many bike garages that can only be accessed with a key from StuSie, meaning that your bike is safer than being locked up outside the cage/garage. I managed to find a flyer for a Fahrradmarkt (bike fair) at which I found an adequate bike for about €65. On especially nice days I enjoy biking to class.

I share my apartment/dorm with a mix of Germans and other foreign exchange students. Since the apartment is divided into two halves (sharing a kitchen, balcony, and living room/dining table) with two hallways, all of the Germans lived on one side and the exchange students on the other. I am not sure what my German roommates actually ate for dinner because I hardly ever saw them using the kitchen. My side has 3 bathrooms (2 with toilets, 1 with a shower), which is shared amongst the 4 people living on that side. We have a bathroom cleaning schedule set up so that the bathrooms do not get too dirty. I have an American roommate who is practically invisible (he moved in in May, so I don't know him very well at all), an Italian roommate who is sometimes around, and a Brazilian roommate, who is a close friend of mine. We never seem to get in each other's way because we have so much space to share. The kitchen is rather large and we share the pots and pans we inherited from previous tenants. The single that I live in is more than adequate space for me (much bigger than any single or even some doubles at UMass) and has plenty of furniture including a large desk, two chairs, twin bed, closet, shelves, and a sort of filing cabinet.

View of StuSie from my window

I do a lot of my own cooking, and since I usually have a lunch break I tend to come back to StuSie to make lunch.  Unfortunately there was a deadly E. coli outbreak during my time in Freiburg, which really changed my diet. I tend to munch on lettuce alone, and eat salads at least once a day, but since we were warned against eating lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes I had to resort to eating only frozen vegetables.

For the duration of the pre-semester language course in March, I lived on the 9^th floor (out of 10) in a suite-style room in a nearby building in StuSie. There were 2 single bedrooms, a small but impressive kitchen, and a very tiny bathroom. My flatmate ended up leaving for an internship for the entire month, so I had the place to myself. The dorms in StuSie are very different from UMass in that there is much variation among rooms, such as furniture and layout. Students are also allowed to paint the walls.