It was turning out to be a not-so-warm Monday and one could feel the autumn setting in Europe and it was no different in Germany. Thankfully, the AirBnB Nalini had booked had heaters and enough warm blankets. It was chilly enough for her when she traveled from the airport to her AirBnB yesterday. What she thought were thick enough coats were turning out to be pretty flimsy and useless. Sadly for her, she had to manage the rest of the day with what she had. After a long hot bath, she put on enough warm clothes she could combine without appearing as homeless.
She had to figure out how to manage the first few weeks in Cologne with the money she had. In India, it was a large sum, almost double her last salary but here it was turning out like a small change. It was quite expensive. One sandwich cost approximately 4 euros. If she had one every day, she would burn half of her money throughout the week.
*Sigh*
She quickly made herself some warm Indian breakfast with the groceries she got from home. Some Puliogere is always good for such days when one has nothing. She ate up her breakfast and at the same time, she looked over a list of things she wanted to buy again. The first thing her senior told her was to buy a sim card. Without the internet, it would be impossible to navigate in the city.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
However, without an apartment, she would not be able to do the others and that would be hence her top priority. She opened her AirBnB booking and double-checked the check-out date. Still, one week to go, she let out a sigh. One week did not feel long enough now knowing that she had to also attend the classes from tomorrow.
First days at work are always nerve-wracking but not for Emily. she was cool and composed from the time she woke up in the morning and the minute she reached the cutest cafe in the city center. The cafe where she will be now working. The cafe was central but was also located at the end of the street where it was not too crowded from the buzzing shopping center and also overlooked a beautiful park with outdoor seating which was hidden away from the main street. There was a small lake at the park which one could also see from the cafe. It was kind of a gem and the owners must have been really lucky with its location.
Emily waited in the lobby. No one else seemed to be here today so that meant no new employees. That is a bit of a bummer since it would have been an easy way to make a new friend.
It was already 10 min that she was here. She always tried to be on time. Of course, sometimes she would be late after all she was human. All her documentation was now, arranged according to date, in a fresh new beige-colored file. If anything, they would have hired her only from her organizational skills alone.
She let out a small chuckle.
However, she did not like waiting so long. The truth about being on time is that it goes both ways. Generally, when you are on time, you expect others to be on time too. She let out a wry smile. One can hope, can't they?
She opened her file and smoothened out the air holes the new plastic tended to make and hoped they will make her wait no longer. She was brimming with new energy for the job and wanted to let it out and be resourceful.
A few moments later, a lady dressed in a black dress walked in. Her heels made a distinct creak against the floor whenever she walked. She had a paper in her hand and her demeanor seemed like she was one of the important people around here. Emily looked up and soon stood up, now walking towards her and let out a smile and said
"Hello" there was not a hint of doubt in her voice.
"Hi, there! you must be Emily" the lady broke into a warm smile and gave out her hands for a shake.
"I am sorry for keeping you waiting" she continued.
"Yes, I am. It's all good," Emily said still smiling. she did not seem to mind so much after all now that she was here.
"I had forgotten to print a small document and had to do it at the last minute. Walk with me " she motioned her hands "Just a sign and we were ready to go "
She now walked in a tow.
"I am sorry I did not catch in your name..." Emily initiated and hoped they could get to know each other a bit more.
It had already been two days and Nalini days went by in either doing two things: University or Apartment hunting. It was turning out more difficult than expected. There was definitely a housing crisis in this country. She was not able to talk to her family in the middle of all of this which made them annoyed and worried which in turn made her feel even worse. However, last night she had called and patched things up a bit. She could understand their thought process and why they would be worried.
"Why didn't I look for one when I was back home, ugh" she let out a sigh and dropped herself on the bed in a swift move with her laptop still on her lap. She brought her elbows up to her head and rested them with her eyes closed.
A message popped up on her screen. It was from the Masters' WhatsApp group which she and another friend created when they spoke a while back after their successful admission to the university. People were discussing about a class project which was going to come up soon. Unfortunately, it only made her anxious. Things were going to get hard at University too.
"Might as well see what is going on " she sat upright now getting away from her bed and walking towards a tiny kitchen the AirBnB had. She started making herself tea to relax from her soliloquyand skimmed through the messages.
"Oh my god! " she let out a gasp at the unbelievable timing of the universe and quickly wrote to Ritika.
"I(Ritika) and Pooja are looking for a roommate in a 3-room apartment on ...", she skimmed on, "...as soon as possible...and is located very close to the city center....2 min from nearest U-Bahn stop "
Soon, she got a message, it was from Ritika.
"We would love to have you, are you free today? We can meet once and start the process as soon as possible"
She let out a squeal unable to contain her excitement . She joined her hands together and looked up, thanking the not-so-one God up above.
