Tag 3 / Day 3: Formalities and Friends

   I should start by saying that not once during any of the study abroad pre-travel meetings was there anything about how much paperwork and registration there would be to complete upon arrival!

 

     Monday morning (Day 2) I met my German buddy and together we went to the Stadtmitte where we had to sign me up for Student Versicherung- that is, student insurance- which, I was unhappy to find out costs somewhere is the neighborhood of 75 euro per month!  From there we had to go set up a Bank Konto - bank account- for me, so that I can actually have somewhere from where to pay the insurance, as well as to pay my monthly rent and any additional bills that are usually paid monthly. Germans are huge fans of something called Ueberweisungs, which are basically money wire transfers between banks. Niemand will ein Scheck! (Nobody wants a check) As in, no one accepts personal checks here, no sir. All bills must be paid super professionally through the bank. It's a hassle to get used to.

   When the bank was all set up and I had drank my second free cup of coffee for the day (1 from the insurance office, one from the Deutsche Bank) we needed to go get me registered at the Foreigner's office as a student temporarily living in the city. This process consisted of filling out paperwork, waiting for approval, waiting for approval from someone else in another department, and then being told I was missing the necessary information to be completely approved. This means that I had to make an appointment to come back with proof that I have " enough money to study here" which is roughly equated to 650 euros per month. Oh and also I for some reason have to bring bank statements for the last 3 months. If only I could express my frustration at this point.

   Upon leaving the Foreigners office, we headed over to the student registration building to register for the university officially and get my student pass. With the student card thing I can then buy the monthly city transport pass and then in April when the Sommer Semester actually starts, I can buy my semester transport pass. However, the building was closed by the time we get there, because none of the Office Hours make sense for any of the departments in the University!

   We eventually made it back to the "IZ" the international zentrum, or international (student) center, where I needed to drop off some form for something else, and could drop off an application for my actual student pass (goodness this process is complicated!) At the same time, I picked up a welcome folder that had my computer log-in and password- which means I can use campus computers and print stuff off- YAY.

  However, I was also told that I had to pay a 78 euro administrations fee. And following the knowledge of my buddy, we had to go to the nearest bank to do it, which happened to be the BW bank, meaning I had to pay an additional 5,50 Euro processing fee. I was disgruntled about this whole payment in the first place, because I think it's something pretty important that the university should tell international students about before they arrive. ...

   With that payment made, we were done with the stressful things for the day, and I needed groceries.

So Helly took me to a little suburb place, known as Vahingin (which is technically about where our campus is). We went to a shopping center known as the Schwaben Galerie. It's basically a little mall. It has a decent food court, a couple clothing stores, an Aldi, a DM (like walgreens), a pharmacy, a "McPaper" which has office supplies, a couple cutsy stores, and KAUFLAND.

     Kaufland is the scary German Walmart. Except that they are probably not terrible to their employees. It's mostly groceries, but also a few aisles of miscellaneous simple clothing items, paper stuff, and cleaning supplies - household necessities. So I bought 34,01 Euro worth of Food and such, which filled 2 large cotton reusable bags ( a must have in this country). But I did not take into consideration how heavy everything would be.

   It was a good 3-4 blocks back to my dorm from where the bus dropped me off, and by the time I made up all 4 flights of stairs to my room, I had to take a nap and let my arms rest before unpacking everything.

    Today I was smarter in the little shopping I had to do (detergent, dish soap, hangers, tin foil, plastic wrap) and brought along my mostly empty backpack to haul everything back in.

 

The rest of the day today has gone pretty well. This morning at 10 all the international students had to take a German proficiency test to see what level we will be placed in for the intensive language courses. It was an all computerized, multiplechoice, 35 minute test. I finished in 20 and was only unsure about 2 questions. So provided I didn't make any silly mistakes, I'm likely to end up in the B2 (high intermediate) or C1(advanced) level course.

 

Then at 2pm there was a mandatory "Begruessung" or Greeting/Meeting session for all the international students, so I got to see what a lecture hall is like. It's ... a lecture hall. pretty ok. no aisles between seats though! So it's kind of just- hey if you arrive early then sit in the middle of the row.

  Afterwards my plan was to just go back to my dorm for the rest of the night, cook something for dinner and chill, but when I checked facebook, there was a small group of English speakers who said they were going out tonight to a pub around 7pm. As as I know next to no one here, I thought to myself: well, why not.  So I met them at the train station and together we all went to the stadtmitte, and to a Brewery called Sophie's Brauhaus.

  two interesting things I learned tonight:

1) You can walk up the Sbahn exit and basically there is a pedestrian zone in the ubahn tunnel so that you can walk under a busy street for a couple blocks. Awesome! 

 2) When you pay at a restauraunt, the waitress brings you the bill, waits for you to give her money right after handing it to you, and carries a change purse thing so she can immediately make change for you.  It's so Convenient!!!

 

It was the first time that I felt comfortable, as though at home, and relaxed. I don't think it was because of the English speaking, but rather because the atmosphere was so laid back and fun, with multiple conversations going on, and the fact that all of us are international students getting used to this place.  Two Americans, Two Australians, Two Canadians, Two from Singapore, A British Guy and A Frenchman, including myself. Such a friendly group.

 

P.s. I had already eaten dinner by the time we made it to Sophie's, so I orderd Apfel Strudel, with was quite the treat, and a Bananenweizen- that is, Hefeweizen beer mixed with banana juice. It was really really delicious. At least I think so. If you like fruity beers or sweet beers, then I would definitely recommend trying one!

 

Love,

   Val