S.I.P Survival Guide.

Waldhäuser Ost

As you will soon discover German dormitories are vastly different from American dormitories. In America the majority of dorm residents are under twenty years of age.

For this reason American dormitries have on site resident assistants who have the task of keeping the residents safe and under control. This means they not only organize events and outings for there residentes but they also rome the halls enforcing noise curfews, university housing regulations, and U.S. laws concerning the use of alcoholic beverages.

This is not the case in German dormitories. German dormitory residents tend to be between the ages of 22-25. Not only are the German students older, they are expected to be more self-efficient and this philosophy is reflected in their having situation. In WHO there are no resident assistants.&nbsp The only on site body of authority lies in that of the Hausmeister who lives on the ground floor of each building, and whose job it is to keep the building itself in technical running order. The Hausmeister does not intervene in inter-student relations and he certainly does not organize social events. The Hausmeister does not roam the halls enforcing noise curfews either. In fact, in WHO there is not a noise curfew, due to this fact WHO can be a very loud place at times.

The buildings at WHO consist of 12-14 floors, each divided into halves with 8 rooms, 1 toilet, 2 showers, and a kitchen on each side. The floors are coed as are the batbrooms; the bahroom stalls, however, do lock. There are no janitors in WHO, and the bathrooms and kitchens are expected to be cleaned by the students. The buildings' elevators and stairwells may be quite durty, yet this adds to the colorful expenence of living in WHO. The buildings' themselves are owned by a private company, which means if you do anything horrendous it is easier to be evicted there than from an Amencan college dormitory.

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Don't Panic, Its only a Room.
The quality and the condition of the rooms of WHO depends a great deal upon the cleanliness and financial situation of the last tenant. Some rooms can be shockingly dingy and dirty upon arrival; whereas other rooms have semi-new carpets, have been freshly painted, and were cleaned by the last tenant. If it turns out that your room is whithout a carpet and looks like it hasn't been cleaned since the Eisenhower Adminitration, check your bathroom and kitchen for cleaning supplies and thoroughly scrub your room. It won't take long and you will feel much better about your living quarters afterward. You can also check out the local Flohmarkt for cheap used rugs. Posters are often much more expensive than in the states, so you might want to think about adorning your walls with torn out magayine pictures, personal pictures, or even a huge map of Europe, this way you can begin to check off all the points in Europe that you will be visiting. The rooms are equipped with a mirror/sink area, desk, night-stand, shelves, a fairly nice sized closet and an unbequemes Bett. With a little creativity and warmth the ooms in WHO can be transformed into the picture of comfort, so don't panic, its just a room.

Your Floor: What and Who are There.
On every floor is a balcony and kitchen, but once again the quality of these communal living areas depends upon past and present tenants. The kitchens are equipped with two mini-refrigerators and a separate cupboard for every tenant. The amount of cookware, dishes, and appliances varies from kitchen to kitchen. Where these dishes originally came from is still an ever present mystery for us. In some kitchens there are just enough dishes to eat a bowl of Muesli, while other kitchens are so well equipped that one can bake cakes and mix margaritas in them.

Once you are all moved in you may find yourself wondering where your floor-mates are. During the first two weeks of the SIP program the Tübingen students are still on vacation, so the halls may be devoid of other living souls. Don't worry, the people willl eventualy start showing up.

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LAUNDRY ROOMS: Each and every buildmg has its own laundry room in the basement. 

BUILDING 5/GEMEINSCHAFTCENTRUM: This is the an important two story building that lies right off of the parking lot in between building 7 and 3.  Here one will find the the mail box area on the ground-floor across from Kuckuck, the student bar. Above Kuckuck is Jokers, where anybody can enjoy Greek food, cheap alcohol and a few games of darts or pool.  Last but not least is building 5 is the Studentenwerk headquarters.  This office can be reached by going through the front door directly across from the parking lot. Studentenwerk is the housing office for WHO, yet it is unlikely that you will need to go into this office because aff yow housing interactions are taken care of by the progame.

BUILDING 7: On the grotmd floor-of building seven there is a music room, you need a special key for access and must get onto a waiting list for the key, see your Hausmeister about that. In the basement of the building there are also two rooms each with a huge bathtub. Yet the bathtub rooms can only be accessed with a building 7 room key.

BUILDING 3: The TV room can be accessed through the entry way on the ground floor- This room is a great place to go and watch some good old American sitcoms that have been dubbed into German, unfortunately this room can only be opened with a room key from building 3. Under the balcony area of building 3 is the photocopying room which is open during the day. If you are in search of a computer to use you can access the door to the computer room from the photocopying room The hours of this room change each term and the manager's hours and Telephone number are posted on the door for further assistance.

BUILDING 15: Buuilding 15 houses the reading room, who's shelves are stocked with new and old magazines as weil as other books. You can reach this room by the building's entry.

TELEPHONES: On the ground floor of each residential building in WHO two phone booths can be found. The only building that has a coin accepting booth is in building 7, all the other booths take cards like most of the phone booths in Germany. You can easily buy a phone card at any post office, magazine and tobacco store, or gas station.

On most every floor in between the two sides there are telephones. These phone usualy have a lock over the -dwing ama to keep outsiders from running up the bill and leaving it for the residents to pay. If you wish to have a key to the Telephone ask one of your neighbors. Each floor may have their own policy on who gets the key and how to keep track of the bill. Usually all tenants are allowed the key and must keep track of how much they spend. Local calls cost 30 Pfennig for the first eight minutes. Remember to always write down your phone calls, the phone is not a right but a priviledge.

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FLOORLIFE:
As mentioned before the floors in WHO are divided into two separate areas with 8 rooms to a side, with each side having it's own kitchen and bathroorm.

KITCHEN: Each room is assigned one cupboard for food storage and whatever space is available in the refrigerator. Most of the time you will not have to worry about someone "borrowing your food, but it can happen.  Fach studau is vgected to do their own dishes and cleamip their messes.  Also be aware that recycling has reached a new high in Germany, every including food scraps have an assigned bin or bag. Be sure to obey the rules and place your garbage into the appropriate receptacle.

BATHROOM: The bathrooms each have one toilet and two showers. There is really not much more to say about them 

CLEANING PLANS: Most floors will have some version of a cleaning plan to insure the communal areas are clean.  A couple of times dunng the term you will be responsible for- scrubbing the bathroom and mopping the hall floor or for tidying the kitchen by mopping and taking out the garbage.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITES: Most of the students on your floor will probably be older than you and may seem a bit standoffish at first but don't let that discourage you. Be polite and friendly and they will open up alter awhile.  Also be aware that the majonty of students in Europe smoke so be prepared for everywhere to be a smoking area including your floors kitchen.  One final note, be courteous to your neighbors: don't make messes and lots of noise.

BEDDING: Once you anive you will be issued a pillow, comforter, and 2 sets of sheets. They are adequate BUT you may want to bring at least a pillow as the one provided is very small. Likewise the comforter is small, as are the sheets, so, a blanket and sheets may make your stay more eujoyable and comfortable.

ELECTRICITY: Be aware before you come to Gennany that Europe uses a 220v electrical wjgem while the US uses a 1 10v ggem This mein yOu need either 220v compatible appliances or a ummformer.  NOTE: Just changlng YOur Plug-m to fit the electncal socket dm not mean your radio is now going to work. The 220v wffent will bum out your. 110v Amencan appliances.  Either buy European compatible appliances or a transformer before using your American appliances

WATER: The water in Gernmy is very chalky, so it is advicable to bring hair conditioner and skin lotion. Also if you like to drink fresh clean water a small water filter system may be desirable. You can purchase a water filter in Gemrmany and it may even be cheaper than back home.;

WEATHER: The weather in Tübingen is very unpredictable so it is advisable to bring both winter and summer clothing. (See washing section) It also rains a great deal in Germany so bring your umbrella and a rain jacket. There is also a great deal of wind in Germany so keep a sweater or sweatshirt handy.  Remember to be flexible it may be sunny at 8:00 am but it can be raining by noon!

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WASHING YOUR CLOTHS
THE DEVIL IN A BOX: The washing machines and dryers are very different from the ones in the United States.  Be sure to bring clothes that you don't mind fading or even shrinking.  The washing machines in Genmany are front loading and use less water then American ones, They also do not have a very flexible water temperture setting, tending to run eather hot or cold water. The washing machines take about 2 hours to completely cycle through and cost 2 DM per cycle.  To operate the majority of the washing machines; first place your clothing into the washer, next open the detergent tray, located in the a front corner of the washer. Place your detergent into the middle slot, your softener to the one on the left and if you desire to use the Vorwasch, additional detergent into the slot on the right. Remember the washers in Germany use less water so use less detergent or you will wind up with soapy clothes. Turn the dial to Hauptwasch and insert your token to the timer to start your laundry. Don´t push any buttons as this may set your washer to a cycle longer than the 2 hours your token pays for, leaving you with soaking wet clothes. The dryers in Germany are all front loading and also cost 2 DM for 2 hours. One problem is that sometimes they don´t completely dry your clothes so you may want to start line drying your clothes as do the majority of the students in WHO. One final note, you have to purchase the tokens for the washers and dryers in building 15, the token machine takes 1 DM pieces so you need 2 for each token However, the washers and dryers using gray token boxes will also accept 2 DM pieces saving you the trip and hassle of buying tokens. Black token boxes are newer and will only take the tokens.

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SOCIAL LIFE
Much of the social fife in Germany revolves around bars and parties. If you really want to learn German you must go out to the bars and parties to meet Germans and begin speaking German on a regular basis. Around WHO there are several bars withing walking distance, here is a small list of some that are at least a good start on your path to socializing in Germany.

JOKERS: This is a restaurant/ bar located in building 5. It is as popular as it is so close to the dorms. Jokers is open 7 days a week from 5: 00 PM until whenever the last customer leaves.

KUCKUCKS: This is the student run bar located on the lower floor of building 5. This is a good place to buy cheap beer and can also be a fun place to hang out. Don't let it's appearance fool you. Kuckucks is open Monday -Thursday from 9:00 PM until around 3:00 am

O'DONOVANS: This is the Irish pub located near the castle at Burgsteige 7. This is very fun plage to hang out at the beginning of the semester with live bands and even kareoke. Once the weather begins to improve though, and the beer gardens open, it begins to become a little dead. 0'Donovans is open Monday@-Friday 5:00 pm-I:00am, Saturday 2:00 pm-1:00am, and Sunday 10:00 am-1:00am.

PARTIES: There is usually a party somewhere in Tubingen almost every night. The parties may have a theme such as, toga, samba etc. and can usually be grat fun. Hundreds of students can attend some of the parties so be ready for some huge crowds on occasion. If you only attend one party the entire semester make it the Semester Anfang party. This party marks the beginning of the German semester and is held in building 5, it is a huge party with hundreds of students attending it is a very popular party with the students.

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THE AMERICAN REPUTATION

American students do not have a very good reputation in Germany. Most of the Americaan students attendmg German untversites are under the legal drinking age in the United States and cannot handle the sudden freedom to legaly drink that they find in Germany. This is usually demonstrated by binge drinking and loud obnoxious behavior at all hours of the day or night. Don't add to the American reputation. Be responsible with your drinking and actions. Have fun but don't irmpose upon others fun with your behavior.

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