I will never forget my first evening in Hamburg. I still have this image burned into my brain:

I had booked a room at the youth hostel at the harbor for a night or two around my audition day for the conservatory. The hostel is perched on a little hill directly at Landungsbrücken, the main S-bahn train stop for harbor visitors. As I sat eating my dinner while gazing out over the harbor from the floor-to-ceiling hostel dining room windows, it was (what I later would learn to be) a typical Hamburg spring evening. But still, it was my first one in town and something magical seemed to be in the air. I know, that sounds cheesy, but it was – the sun was glistening through scattered dark rainy clouds, reflecting off of puddles and creating beautiful contrasts of color and lights on the boats in the harbor and the clouds in the pink and orange sky. It made the city seem so fresh and pristine, full of new opportunities and all things interesting! Maybe that’s what love at first sight is. At any rate, I just felt like this is where I need to be.

Of course, it was the beginning of July, the main tourist season, so I was only able to book a room at that hostel for one night. The next night, the one directly before my audition, was at another one called InstaSleep, located in the Schanze district, an alternative area of town with lots of hot spots for students to grab a drink or a bite to eat. Later that night, while trying to sleep with tissues shoved in my ears, I would wonder if the name was meant ironically, since it was more like insta-awake starting at around 11pm when I realized my bed was directly over a bar one floor below.

Nevertheless, as fate would have it, I played fine and eventually ended up getting a spot! Hurray! I had 2 other yes’s but the choice for me was clear – Hamburg or bust!

I got a temporary room in a shared apartment with 3 other students for a month when I moved into town to get paperwork done (like setting up a bank account, necessary to do almost anything else) and look for a more permanent place to live. And even more excitingly, to explore my new home! That room was on Grindelallee, right in the middle of the student area at the university, not far from the music school.

Not being able to work yet and not having much money, I bought my first big possession, a used bike that I found online, to get around town until I got my public transport ticket from the conservatory (included in tuition, which was basically only a fee to file your paperwork, so like 270€/semester). This transaction was done in cash at a train stop, which gave it sort of a shady, underground feel, but I felt accomplished and proud to have my first real belonging in town. A 55€ bike, which seemed (and was) like a lot to me back then.

Being mobile, I was up for exploring my new home and getting to know the ins and outs of town. I looked around the university area, walked at the harbor, etc., and started to settle in before the semester began. I found an Asian place around the corner that I got take-out from on the weekends, read Into Thin Air and My Story of Experiments with Truth, both borrowed from my roommate’s seemingly immense book collection in our living room, and got tips about what to do around town while wondering what on earth my roommates were cooking.

I road around town, scheduling appointments to look at room after room, which felt a bit like I imagine speed dating would. Size up the potential roommate’s voice on the phone, get to their place to look at the room to find out there are 5 others there doing the same, have a quick get-to-know-you chat for 5 minutes, try to size up both the roommate (friendly? stand off-ish? too tidy? smokes inside? too clean-cut or alternative?) and the apartment (clean? loud? private?), wait for call to see if you got the room or not. Finally, I got a match – a Brazilian about 4 years older than me, studying to be a physician’s assistant, who earned money for rent by samba dancing at a rodizio all-you-can-eat Brazilian restaurant in town.

The apartment was only about 15 minutes by bike from the music school and although the room was quite small (115 ft² or 11m²), I didn’t mind because the price was right and my new roommie seemed quite friendly! My room also had a desk and a wardrobe (no closets over here) so all I needed to get was a mattress and I was set (hurray for IKEA)! Brazilian Roommie even lent me a TV and the place had a washer.

I was all set to buckle down and start the semester!

During this exciting time, one unexpected element set in that wasn’t so exciting: the rain and gray, and gray and rain…quite a change from the crisp and sunny fall days I was accustomed to. I thought it would stop, and it did – in like March of the following year. But, after weeks of at least a drizzle daily, I eventually found a way to not let the gray affect my mood (readjust my normal state), appreciate even just a few moments of sun, and look forward to what Hamburg had in store for me!

Stay tuned for more in the series In the Beginning.