Radolfzell Host Family

And now, for the moment you have all been waiting for. This is the post about my living conditions for the first 2 months of my year in Germany. As I have said before, all the CBYX participants stay with one host family for the first 2 months of the program while they attend intensive language school. For me, this host family lives in Radolfzell. Okay, I have to tell you the best part of my living arrangements first. I live literally one block away from language school where I have to go every morning. One block! Most of the other participants have to take a train or bus to the city. I am so lucky. The Carl Duisberg Centren (CDC) here in Radolfzell is a well know part of the city (because the city is so small) and a lot of the host families have hosted students before. My family is no different. they basically host one student after another. They are an older couple and are really nice. They speak no english which is really good for my German language progression. I live in a 100 year old house on the 3rd floor. As I said before, the couple takes in one CDC student after another. The door to my room even has CDC inscribed on it to denote that this is where the CDC student stays. My set of keys also has CDC written on it. This is not to say that they don't value me since I am one of many students that they have hosted. They treat me very well but I am well aware that I am not the first or last student they will host. They have been hosting for at least 15 (if not 20) years. I have asked them why they decided to host so many students. They said they do it for the culture and experience. I think that that is very nice of them to accommodate so many students.

I have my own room at this hosts house. It is pretty big. I have a bed, two desks, a sofa and my own attached bathroom with sink and shower. My Toilette is just down the hall. Germans often have separate rooms for showers and toilets. Although the Toilette is not attached to my room, I am pretty sure that I am the only person who uses it. I also have a kitchen area! They turned the room into a sort of dorm for the person who stays in it. I have cupboards, a counter, a countertop burner, and a mini fridge! I also have my own set of silverware in my room. My host mother sets my breakfast outside of my door every morning at 7:30 so that when I wake up, I just open my door and eat it in my "dorm" room. She is also very generous with her breakfasts. I always get yogurt, lots of bread, Nutella, cheese, and deli meat. I am stuffed when I walk to school.

My sofa

My bed (don't hate on the wood paneling)

Desk #1 (although it might help my German, I have not watched one bit of TV since I got here. There is so much else to do!)

My kitchen area

View from my sofa window

View from my sofa window

Desk #2 (I usually eat breakfast here)

View from my Desk #2 window

Die Toilette

My attached shower

Disclaimer!!!!!! Although my room is nice here in Germany, it still doesn't hold a candle to the room that I call home back in the US. So there you have it, my home for the first 2 months in Germany.