Tag: accommodation search in munich

Elena, Sumy

Student of LMU Munich, Romance Studies and German as a foreign language

How long have you been looking for a place to live?

It took me a relatively short time to find a place to live. In Munich I lived with my sister and during my first university classes I met a girl from Ukraine who told me that she had been living under the Wohnen für Hilfe program for quite a long time. Now she lives alone in an apartment because the grandmother she lived with has moved to a boarding house for the elderly and does not need her help.

There is a separate organization in Munich that deals with this. I contacted them by phone, they asked me to fill in an application form and invited me to a meeting. At the interview I told them a little about myself and they said they would try to find something. They warned me that there were a lot of people who wanted to move in, and that it often happens that they have to move out because people don't fit together. After two months I was invited to the next interview with my grandmother, we liked each other and I agreed to live with her.

Where and with whom do you live, what conditions, what commitments do you have?

I live in the center of Munich, in the Bogenhausen district. My grandmother (82 years old) has a big apartment. She reads all day long and goes out to cafes for lunch. Also her friends come to visit her often. Before me, another student lived with my grandmother for five years.

My responsibilities include cooking dinner and grocery shopping. I cook about twice a week. Once a week a cleaning lady comes to our house, and three more times a service that helps grandmother with hygiene procedures.

I have been treated very kindly. My grandmother's son bought a new mattress for me, brought me a bicycle that I can use. I can bring guests for whom I have a separate room where they can stay overnight.

When I moved in, my grandmother smoked in the apartment, but we talked about it and now she smokes on the balcony or in my absence. I am not sure if I will be able to stay here for the whole period of my studies, as my grandmother is already old, but at the moment I am completely happy with everything and we get along very well.

Do you pay extra?

I pay an extra 100€ a month for utilities and we split the cost of buying food, which is about 200€ per person.