The Fruits of Many Labors (And Possible Walesa Sightings)

So after the honeymoon period with finally having my own place ended, I realized the dorm I lived in was in the middle of nowhere.  Yes, I had very close access to the beautiful beaches of the Baltic Sea, but it was far from school, the old town, and other parts of the Tri-City area.  Plus it was DIRTY.  I move my bed to a different wall and underneath was huge amounts of dirt and old condom wrappers.  Not exactly the "Welcome to Poland" I expected.

Thus commenced a brutal apartment search.

I speak some Polish…enough that I looked at a few apartments using only Polish, but the calling people and asking if they speak English was exhausting.  A lot of people would just hang up on me after I asked the question.  Some people wanted to live only with Polish people or to rent only to students (which I’m technically not).  

The apartment I found in Oliwa was first visited on my second day of phone calls.  The young man has the same last name as my babcia, which was the first sign that it might be good.

In the apartment, there is a small kitchen, a large bathroom (with a bathtub!) and two bedrooms.  I have the larger bedroom, which is usually for two people.  I didn’t want to deal with having an actual roommate in my room so I’m paying for both beds. However, it’s still a great deal for the location.

The apartment is literally across the street from school.  It’s a five minute walk to a tram stop with 4 trams that will take me anywhere.  The mall is merely 4 tram stops.  The Old Town is about 15-20 minutes away.  And I can get to the train to Sopot in about 20 minutes also.  

Today as I’m waiting for the landlord to come help me move everything, I’m a little bit sad.  I’m sure there would have been some great memories in this dorm…and the beach in walking distance will be greatly missed.  But I  won’t miss the creepy walk home at night or broken glass all over the sidewalk.

And an added benefit?  My new apartment is in Lech Walesa’s neighborhood!