by Liam Pauli
In deciding to come to Bremen for the fall semester, I thought a lot about the chance to live in a Wohngemeinschaft (WG), a shared flat with other German students. It was an opportunity that I felt I could not refuse, but I assumed that since I was leaving Germany in January, it would be hard to make that living situation work. It was not until this past June when Ms. Mertz, our Dickinson-in-Bremen program coordinator, emailed us recommending that we try to live in a WG. I thought it would be a good idea, so I pursued it. From the links she provided us (here below), I chose to apply through wg-gesucht.de. From approximately 15 WG applications, I got six replies, with one being my final choice. And it was probably the best decision I have made in Bremen so far. My WG is near the University of Bremen in the Studentenwohnheim on Vorstraße, which is a great location to commute from by bike to the university (and my bike was left to me by the former occupant of my room). The guy who used to live in my room is studying abroad as well, which made it very easy for me to live in his room while he is away (these types of rooms are called “zur Zwischenmiete”). The 6 tram line is a 5 minute walk from my WG, which gets me directly downtown in approximately 15 minutes. I have five flatmates, four of which are German, and they speak German with me every day and correct me when needed. It’s great to have other people around too, but it’s also really nice to have my own furnished (möbliert) room and space. Our WG gets along really well and we have a chore list that we rotate through each week. Every week on Sundays, a different person cooks for everyone to have a Sunday “family” dinner. WG life really gets you immersed in the German culture by seeing how Germans, and specifically German students, live, eat, speak, and go about their daily lives. I would highly recommend living in a WG to anyone considering living in one.
https://www.wg-gesucht.de/wg-zimmer-in-Bremen.17.0.1.0.html
https://www.studenten-wg.de/angebote_lesen.html?detailsuche=aus&stadt=Bremen&fuer=Zimmer+in+WG
http://schwarzesbrett.bremen.de/verkauf-angebote/rubrik/wohngemeinschaftsangebote-verkauf.html
https://www.stw-bremen.de/de/wohnanlagen-bremen/wohnanlage-horn-lehe (scroll to the end to find free rooms)
https://www.stw-bremen.de/de/wohnanlagen-bremen/wohnanlage-weidedamm (scroll to the end to find free rooms)
https://www.stw-bremen.de/de/wohnanlagen-bremen/wohnpark-am-fleetspittaler-stra%C3%9Fe (scroll to the end to find free rooms)
https://www.stw-bremen.de/de/wohnanlagen-bremen/wohnpark-am-fleetvorstra%C3%9Fe (scroll to the end to find free rooms)
https://www.stw-bremen.de/de/wohnanlagen-bremen/wohnpark-luisental-28-29 (scroll to the end to find free rooms)”