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[feuervogel]

US/UK SIM card

Inexpensive rental apartment in Vienna

Citystay Hostel: really close to the Institut.

Singer 109: Close to Alex, women-only options. Con: price increase for random Catholic holidays. Also close to Institut. Gorgeous building. Only bookable 1 week at a time per web form.

Riverside Lodge: 12 beds only, can close curtains around beds in dorms for privacy.

Ostel: The GDR Hotel: How could this not pique my interest? Also, 9E/night in a dorm (they don't do gender-segregated rooms, but if I'm reading it right, they will if you ask?)

East Seven: in Prenzl' Berg, also close to Institut. Has a great 70s-ish web design.

These are only relevant if I decide not to pay for housing through the Institut, which is 450 E for the month (about 16/night.) Most of these would run more than that. I'm also not sure I want to spend a month living in a multi-bed dorm. I'd meet a bunch of people, most likely... but would I sleep? And I plan to make some weekend excursions, or at least day trips, like to Dresden. It would be stupid to pay for rooms in both places. I'm awaiting a return of my email to the questions address at the Institut. I just sent it this morning, so it'll be tomorrow at the earliest.

Comments

[sabeth]

Oh, so you're definitely going to Berlin for the language thing, I hadn't realised! Two friends of my roommate's stayed at the Ostel for a few weeks when they were in between flats and they liked it. (And yeah, it says they do gender segregation if you ask.) Still, living in a dorm for a month sounds kind of exhausting, especially if you're also taking language classes during the day?

[feuervogel]

I kept dithering, but I eventually decided that I wanted to pick the school I'd heard of, that has a good reputation. Though sometime in the future, if/when I have time/money again, I'd like to spend a bit of time in Vienna, because it sounds awesome.

It's true - it could get tiring living in a 14-bed room (though the smaller places with 4 or 8 beds might not be as bad?) I'm not the type of person who needs a lot of alone time to function; quite the opposite: being alone makes me insane. Of course I'd want *some* time to be by myself, so I can read or whatever, but I managed in college.

I'm just not sure how the Unterkunft offered through the Institut is done. It's relatively inexpensive, and I wouldn't be living alone, but I'd also have no control over where I live. It seems like it would be a homestay, but these programs seem to be geared more toward the college-age person than the person 10 years out of college, so I have no idea what sort of family I'd end up staying with. I looked at some WG things online, but they all want a Kaution, which is understandable, but I'd have to come up with double the month's rent then figure out how to get it back... hassle. The hostels also seem to have free wifi, which is a huge benefit, considering I have no idea what sort of internet the homestay would have.

The language classes are in the afternoon, though the website isn't more specific than that. There are 85 units of instruction per week, and I think a unit is 45 minutes. So it'd be like half days. There are reportedly also group activities, like going to museums or the zoo or the Reichstag, and possibly also bars.

The Ostel looks awesome and insane. Totally cashing in on Ostalgie! But 9E/night... Citystay also looks nice, and it's so central.