hamburg rewind
Lets take it back to when I first moved to Hamburg. I rented a car with my buddy Ruppert and we put it to the test as we drove up the autobahn from Reutlingen, in the bottom of Germany, to the top, here in Hamburg. I was moving to Hamburg to begin my internship in Business Development with XING. 
I moved into a WG (shared apartment) courtesy of XING. Because of how nice the apartment was, the people at work always refered to it as “Melrose Place” The apt was in in Eppendorf, a wealthier and and in some areas rather stuck up. The apt itself was very impressive, old construction, crazy high ceilings, and a modern kitchen. I lived in what was referred to as “the aquarium” a small room meant to be a garden room with large windows on all sides…not much privacy but great natural light. I lived at Melrose for about 2 months while I tried to land a place of mine own. I quickly learned getting a good apartment in a nice area in hamburg is much harder, than one would think. People are constantly moving apartments, the supply and demand are both good but the market moves fast. I eventually moved into the apartment I am living in now. A great place that I was able to land with the help of a boss of mine at work. Im living with 2 twin brothers and their father. A very laid back apartment.
I lucked out again with the beautiful Hamburg old construction. My room is the largest in the apartment (about 25ft by 15 ft), boasting a king size bed, a chandelier, an antique furnace, and two huge windows. I felt more comfortable in this apartment within the first week than i did at the end of the two months at Melrose. The atmosphere is much more inviting here. Not long after moving to this apartment I bought my first boat. Well it is actually more of a raft. I bought the raft in Mallorca…
Let me sidetrack quickly to explain why I was in Mallorca. Mallorca (the small island off the coast of spain) was home this year to IBWE. IBWE is short for international business weekend, an annual weekend where each of the partner schools that my international business program works with, meet up for spirit and sport contests as well as a couple great parties. This was my second IBWE, I also attended IBWE in Skaggnis, England as a freshman. It was a very different experience being 3 years older, having lived abroad, being able to speak german, and knowing people form both germany as well as my northeastern friends. In short it was one of the greatest party weekends of my life ;)
Back to hamburg…so I bought the raft in mallorca and brought it back to hamburg to take it on the lake in the middle of the city, the alster. I have yet to take it on the main alster but I have taken it through the canals that spread through hamburg including across the street from my apartment. The raft didn’t come with oars, so I ventured out to make some. And I bought some bamboo broom sticks, trimmed them down with a saw and bagged and taped the bristly part so they would be firm and water proof. The oars didn’t work sooo great. A couple weekends later, I went to a nearby flea market. To my surprise I saw some oars that would be perfect for my raft. I picked up the new oars and a large painting of a Spanish matador, oil on canvas for the ombo bargain price of 8 euro. The painting now stands proudly in my room.
I spend my weekends exploring all hamburg has to offer, which is a lot. The reeperbahn, is our redlight district but it also offers lots of wholesome opportunities for a good time. Good bars, clubs and dance clubs. But you wouldn’t start the night off there, we normally start off in Sternschanze, an area popular with students, liberals, artists, hippies, punks, and ultra leftists. It makes for a nice scene. When I say “we” go out, im referencing a small tight group of friends that I have made in hamburg. Mostly students from my university in Reutlingen that are also doing internships in hamburg. Namely: Achoo, Zone, Import, Jojo, and guest appearances by Deuce. And of course we randomly meet up with people that we have come to meet here in the city or other places. thats a good overview of life in the Burg, but of course i have not included any of the numerous anectdotes that make life interesting. ill get some more stories out soon…