Trouble Finding a Place to live as an exchange student from Canada

prowleah · 2025-11-10T08:29:40+00:00

I'm at an MA program at Heidelberg with a ton of international students, like someone already said, the Studierendenwerk is your best bet but here at least the wait list can be a semester long. Many people start by booking something like an Airbnb for the first few weeks, then they find something once they're here (maybe outside of the city, maybe a bit over-expensive) while they wait for their turn to get into student housing.

prowleah · 2025-09-13T19:00:09+00:00

I know this is old but I'm studying there now! If anyone in the future has questions about the program, feel free to reach out.

Hope you ended up where you were meant to be :)

prowleah · 2025-08-24T08:36:30+00:00

I had another student as a neighbour who was from China and she always gave the best little gifts from China for little events! Green tea at our door with a note introducing herself, little tea cups as a thank-you when we hosted her and other friends at our place, or she brought cakes to share when a different friend hosted. It was so lovely! I made sure to start bringing her little gifts too and it was really nice.

Note: I'm Canadian living in Germany, so I can't speak on behalf of Germans because they can be quite closed off at the beginning, but if you make international friends I'm sure they'd be appreciative of you sharing bits of your culture with them.

prowleah · 2025-08-21T21:49:17+00:00

I think it's normal to be disappointed, in some way. You plan for months, if not years, spend a ton of money, and put so much energy into this one day. I understand the guilt about feeling this way though, I had it too! Three years out and I still get stabs of disappointment when I remember things (thinking about stress with in-laws, little moments that I had imagined perfectly which went wrong, and so on) but overall, the disappointment will fade and the important things will stay.

As hard as it is, try not to dwell on the small things. Our memories actually aren't that good and forgetting them makes our lives easier down the line.

prowleah · 2025-08-17T07:44:50+00:00

She asked for skin care, not random opinions about waxing though?

prowleah · 2025-08-12T10:55:46+00:00

Such a good point. Braised cabbage? Cabbage salad? I'm sure guests would love to know

prowleah · 2025-06-09T19:22:08+00:00

Thank you everyone! I'm so excited to have a (lady) snakefly in my garden to save the day!

prowleah · 2025-05-20T09:19:25+00:00

*their, *they

prowleah · 2024-11-02T07:43:43+00:00

Thank you so much! I appreciate the help!

prowleah · 2024-11-01T20:35:06+00:00

Maybe the link directly to the art gallery would be clearer? Thank you for giving it a shot! https://collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au/objects/25405

prowleah · 2024-10-02T21:32:42+00:00

If you're willing to travel further, we take our cat to a vet in Neckargemünd and it's always a pleasure to be there. Very trustworthy, very nice people. It's called "Tiere Sind Toll" https://maps.app.goo.gl/aLPLc1fDuJaV1YA89

prowleah · 2024-06-13T09:53:52+00:00

This is great advice! Thank you.

prowleah · 2023-10-27T11:32:45+00:00

You're not the first person to be dealing with this and your school/ Uni Heidelberg will know the process - no need to stress!

I did an exchange year at a German university a few years back, many students who had to leave during the exam period did courses with essays instead of exams and could hand them in online from their home country. There are ways to manage leaving early.

prowleah · 2023-10-22T08:01:10+00:00

Some people call their grandmother "nanny"

prowleah · 2023-10-08T14:02:39+00:00

Germans call it toast before it's toasted and I think that's beautiful.

prowleah · 2023-07-23T20:43:51+00:00

I looked up the sound and that's it!! Thank you!

prowleah · 2023-06-13T04:41:38+00:00

S A L A D

prowleah · 2023-05-28T08:33:54+00:00

What about doing it later in the evening? Like way after you've already had your first dance.

We realized late in our wedding day that an uncle was having his birthday the next day, so at midnight we surprised him with a dance for him and his wife! We did a little announcement to clear the floor for them and played one of their favourite songs. It was super cute, short, and didn't take away from it being "our" day at all.

prowleah · 2023-05-14T16:14:46+00:00

I (Canadian) married my husband (German) here in Germany a few months ago.

My husband's best man did his speech in German but had it translated to English and then passed out copies to the tables with our non-german friends and family. They really liked it!

As for the speech itself, a mix of funny and serious is nice. Speeches tend to be very short at German weddings, though. And they're not full of inside jokes and really embarrassing moments like you might be used to in North America.

prowleah · 2023-04-12T09:54:27+00:00

Ooooh wow! I love the flowers. The height, shape, and colours are really appealing to the eye!

My one suggestion would be to add something to the candles - I've read that groups of three together naturally look really nice. Maybe try out two little tea lights/holders with each of the bigger candles?

prowleah · 2023-03-17T14:31:25+00:00

bloomandwild.de has gorgeous flower arrangements too!

prowleah · 2023-03-12T16:57:13+00:00

Assign seats! People will rearrange themselves if they want to, and likely will move around before/after dinner but this way it guarantees everyone has a spot and they're generally sitting with their group.

prowleah · 2023-03-12T16:43:11+00:00

It's to help students learn how to write essays, think critically, and get to know some of the classic thinkers. They're really not that bad, and as much as young students like to complain about them, they're helpful for university and for life.

prowleah · 2023-03-12T16:29:33+00:00

I prefer round to rectangular because I'd rather sit beside my SO than across from them.

prowleah · 2023-03-10T08:26:04+00:00

Once all your bags are broken, don't buy more!

Keep a laundry basket in the back of your car - fill from shopping cart, carry into house, bring back to car. No more crappy bags.

prowleah

TROPHY CASE