Landlord. According to the World English Dictionary, a person or organization that owns property that is rented to tenants. I never met my landlord in college. She already had an interested renter, but took a deposit from my roommate regardless, in case “the other people [didn’t] work out”. I was weary that she was taking advantage of us as college kids, but the other people really didn’t work out and we had the house! I never saw her, talked to her, or even exchanged e-mails with her. She was an apparition….as long as we paid the rent on time. My next landlord was more involved and he loved to talk about the military. So much so that Joe would avoid conversation with him because it…would go….on….and….on. Overall, it was not a negative experience, just not one that I would gush about.

So Joe and I were now tasked with finding a place to live in Freiburg, during our Familiarization Trip, which was a total of six days long. Here begins the most interesting landlord experience I could ever imagine.

We had a leg-up on finding a place to live before even arriving. The reports of prior scholars are filled with critical contact information and advice, to allow current scholars to learn from others’ experiences. The previous scholar in Freiburg was leaving immediately prior to our scheduled arrival in September, making the inhabitation of their “flat” a strong possibility. We viewed several other apartments, to include a “bourgeoise” flat and another apartment that had rumors of suicide. Insensitive, I know, but leave it to the Germans to be forthcoming in what we were getting into. To make a long story short, moving into the previous scholar’s flat was the best decision for all parties involved.

Even though we had already been staying at the flat, the owner (herein known as fondly as Mrs. Landlord) came over to give us an official tour. She brought a thank you gift for the current tenants, as well as an “airplane snack” for Joe and I to enjoy on our trip home. She showed us around, and then we made an appointment to discuss the specifics and contract a few days later. The current Scholars invited her to a BBQ that they were holding the night before we left. Let me explain a bit about Mrs. Landlord before continuing. She was born in Spain and then married a Frenchman. Her husband’s job brought them to Germany and then to Japan. She happened to be in Freiburg for the summer due to the current challenges in Japan after the earthquake. If anyone was counting, that makes 5 languages: Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and English of course.

When we met to discuss the lease, she took us for tea at a department store in Freiburg, with a wonderful rooftop terrace. After more than an hour of chatting and getting to know each other, we finally got to business. When we were finished, she took us to the Farmer’s Market on the Münsterplatz, where she purchased dessert for the BBQ that night at the flat.

Later that evening she returned to the flat for the BBQ, staying late into the night talking and enjoying the company of strangers. At one point in time I was sitting at the end of the table with her. She was speaking German to another woman and then involved me in the conversation through a question in English. The three of use chatted for a bit in English, and after I got up they returned to their conversation in German, moving fluidly between languages.

In the kitchen doing dishes, I pondered the likelihood that this series of events would ever happen in the States between a landlord and tenant. First of all, would a landlord ever invest so many hours in meeting and talking with potential tenants, especially about non-lease topics? Would a landlord ever accept an invitation for dinner with strangers at the flat he/she owns but doesn’t inhabit? And not come empty-handed on top of that?

Why didn’t I act this way when choosing the tenant for my own home? I have definitely not been this type of landlord- spending 15 minutes chatting in the kitchen felt like an eternity! I’m positive I couldn’t make it through tea or dinner with my tenant. Ultimately, we could all learn some lessons in landlord-ship and humanity from Mrs. Landlord.