Before students participating in the AJY Heidelberg program arrive in Germany, we are given five housing options to choose from. While the most commonly-chosen option is a dormitory/apartment-style situation, two other Americans and I opted to live in a large house (called a Wohnheim in German) shared by 27 students. For us, this living situation meant an excellent location in the city, a lot of new housemates (and friends!), a sense of community, and plenty of opportunity to practice our German skills in social contexts. 

The house itself consists of three stories in addition to having a large basement. Each person has their own bedroom, and there are two bathrooms per floor. The kitchen, refrigerator room, laundry room, living room, study room, and patio are shared spaces open to all. 

Sharing space with so many people means that there are, of course, rules and expectations to be upheld. For instance, two people each week are assigned to kitchen duty. This entails completing a list of chores at the end of the day such as taking out the trash, wiping down countertops, etc. A schedule is posted so that everyone knows when they are responsible for kitchen duty, and this system keeps the kitchen clean and in working order. 

Naturally, there are other expectations, too. In order to reserve the television for watching shows, movies, or playing games, one must declare “dibs” for a certain time in the house’s Whatsapp group chat. When doing laundry, one is expected to leave a laundry basket in the room, so that, if someone is waiting for the machine (we only have one washer and dryer to share among 27 people), and a load finishes, they can remove the finished laundry and start the next load. If something is placed and left in the middle of the kitchen table, that is considered “Tischmitte” and is available for anyone to take. Everyone is expected to wash and put away their own dishes as well as generally clean up after themselves. And so on and so forth. 

For me, the most convincing factor for choosing this house over an apartment-style accommodation was the opportunity to engage with more people and to practice using German outside of classroom settings. One only needs to walk into the kitchen at nearly any moment of any day, and someone else will be there. As a result, I have not only vastly improved my language skills, but I have also made good friends. Of course, there are challenges that come with living in such a large house, too. If there is a large group in which a lot of people are speaking, I often find it difficult to follow or understand the conversation, which makes it harder to participate or contribute. On top of that, I am already generally a bit more shy when speaking German when compared to English, and it can just be difficult to start even one-on-one conversations sometimes. That being said, my housemates are friendly, patient, and welcoming. 

The house also really is a community. There are frequent events such as movie or game nights, a halloween party, holiday baking, secret santa, and much more. Aside from that, people are always willing to help one another, whether that be picking up groceries for a sick housemate, lending someone a hair straightener, or assisting when the 7-foot-tall door on a dresser falls off its hinges (yes, that last one really happened to me personally. Two of my housemates came immediately with a tool box to help fix it.) All in all, I am incredibly happy with my choice to live in this Wohnheim and look forward to the friendships I will continue to form during the rest of my time here.