TexMexpatriats: Scoring an Apartment in Munich #2

This is part 2 of the story of how Roxana and I found our new apartment in Munich. As you read, you may notice a Usain-Bolt-worthy coat of arrogance over the story’s substance. I imagine you’ll want a barf bag handy in case the eye rolling makes you dizzy.

Ryan’s Tuesday Afternoon

2:30 PM, I opened an e-mail from Roxana that says something like “OOOOOMG, you won’t believe the appointment we just got!” It would bring us to a room that’s only a few blocks away from the temp room we’re in, now. It’s in an amazingly central part of Munich.

I smiled and enjoyed a moment of excitement. A moment was all it was, though; I keep hearing about how hard it is to find a place in Munich. For instance, a friend estimates that she viewed 100 or so rooms before another friend finally pulled some strings with an agent to get her selected. Another friend is bunking at someone else’s place months after he started looking for a room of his own. Living in Munich is competitive.

******

5:30 PM, I arrived home from what amounted to a Metro tour of Munich with a new guitar amp. I plugged it in and started to play around. 15 minutes in, Roxana gets home and she’s pumped.

“Holaaaaaa, mi vidaaaaaaa!” Her mouth touched both of her ears and her eyes were buttons.

“Hola, corazon!”

After some small talk, we hit business. Since I’m from Texas, the idea of competing for apartments blows my mind, so I had questions. The appointment would take place the next day at 3pm, just down the street. I’ll need to make copies of a packet of info the agent will need to select us for the room–passports, employment contracts, insurance statements, bank statements, blah blah. He’ll need this document for that reason, this other one for that other reason, and he’ll probably want to see them in this order. He’ll probably ask this question, but just give him that answer. I should stay longer than everyone else (most appointments involve like, 20 other applicants) so that I can make small talk–and a good impression–with the agent. Oh, and Roxana has a meeting at work at 3pm, so I’ll have to go on my own.

Stress is fuel, and at this point I had enough to launch a continent into space. Let’s do this.