First impressions

Hey hi,

hmm, I called this post first impressions even though I completely had something else in mind. Nevertheless, let us leave it as it is and see what my thoughts would be eventually. So, at this moment, I believe all of you who arrived to your destination city are aware of the fact that your student life indeed begun and that journey is about to become more and more interesting. Since mine started in Munich I will obviously concentrate on do’s and don’s here, however a lot of these can be projected onto other cities, especially when it comes to the Germany (many things are more or less the same across the whole country which you are about to see for yourself in a very short period).

Ok, so maybe it would be nice to organize this writing as a small segments and within each some useful information for some of you. You will have small headings which will either capture your attention or not, depending on your personal interests and self-organization.

Getting around

Maybe this will sound silly for some of you, but first getting around can be really tricky, especially in a bigger cities and for those having problems with orientation so do not be ashamed if you get lost many times until you find your ways and shortcuts. As many of you, I myself also use Google maps as a navigation need whenever I travel or go around in an unknown area. It is usually quite good, accurate and gets you where you want to go. However, keep in mind that Google, due to the privacy and security issues, does not work the same in all cities (if you go to Vienna for example, Google will be completely useless for public transportation). However, in Munich that is not the case. You can use it for public transportation, driving and walking around, but if you are really freak with being up-to-date with all delays, newest information about the whole transportation network and many other details, you should consider downloading the local app called MVG Fahrinfo. This is the shortcut for Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft which means Munich’s Transport Corporation and includes information about underground transportation, locally called U-Bahn, inner city trains S-Bahn, trams and city buses. There is way more within this app so be free to explore it to your own extent. My intention was just to introduce you with it and here I stop talking about it J. Second great thing of being a student in Munich is student transportation card. It covers all transportation network in Munich, which is pretty much large since it goes all the way to the airport and in some areas even further. You can check that in above mentioned app or just by googling it. Your student card is valid for one semester starting from October and finishing with March in case of winter semester, and from April until end September for summer semester. You can buy it at any ticket machine or directly at the MVG office, even within the app if you want to have it on your phone. However, I advise you to buy printed version and carry it all the time with you since the penalty for driving without the card is, from this year, sixty euros. Take care of that, seriously. There is no joke with control, if they catch you. This is more or less everything what I had in mind and it concerns getting around the city. Main communal points are here, everything else is individual and I do believe you will find your own ways to overcome it.

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University

Hm, this is quite specific topic and, since, I will be talking about my university for some of you it might not be interested to read about it, but for student of Technical University of Munich it will be surely. As a student of TUM, which is the well-known shortcut for this university, you can be proud of yourself. It is one of the best universities in the word, it was ranked as twenty-fifth university of all universities in the world, just recently, but I suppose all of you already googled about your future educational institution, so let us skip this part. TUM is located in the inner city, however there is a campus in Garsching, which is a little bit further from the center, but still reachable with U-Bahn and one campus in Freising which is the smaller town in Munich suroundings, few S-Bahn stops from airport. Depending on your program, you will be situated in one of these campuses. In mine case that was inner city one, so I got to live in the city center which is pretty cool, but yet expensive. More about university you can find on the following webpage.

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What I would add to this topic is that this university really offers everything that crosses your mind- your regular course of course (this is after all reason why you are here), many sport activities, language courses, international student help and many more. Again, more on what is being offered you can find on an official page of the university, and if you have something specific on your mind you can always ask your coordinator for assistance or contact engaged department directly. Everybody is very friendly and willing to help, and most importantly they all speak English (in case you are German beginner).

Registration

I almost forgot this step and it is pretty much crucial one in your settling in so you will excuse me for this but here it comes. So, after you arrive to Germany you have a week to register at the local registration office. If you are about to live in a city that will be Kreisverwaltungsreferat (KVR) located in Rupperstrasse 19. Be sure to come early in the morning since they have very short working time (if I remember correctly from 9am until 12am). Only on Tuesdays they work in the afternoon as well, but do not even consider going then since it is more than crowded. Bring your passport, contract of the room/apartment that you rented and additionally it would be good if you immediately have filled Wohnungsgeberbestätigung form signed by your landlord. This will save you coming twice and waiting long lines. You can download the form online, just type it in a google. Once you are registered you can start your official life as a Munich’s citizen. Also, if you need to extend your visa in some point you will also have to go to the same place, famous KVR.

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Bank account

One of the main things to have upon your arrival in Germany. I have never thought of it as of something really important but it really is. First, if you are a scholarship holder the money will come only through your bank account, so in case you do not have one, likewise you will have no money on your disposal. Second, you cannot pay any bill, any services you have been using like simple ordering online, nor anything else (besides paying with the cash directly in a store). Ok, for those of you who are used to deal with he cash would be more relaxed I suppose, but for people like me (I trust only my card since I barely have twenty euros’ cash in my wallet) it was a real struggle. So, as you may assume, I was the one who did the banking late so I stayed almost more than a month without any financial needs which were supposed to be transferred to me on a regular monthly basis. But to cut the story short, I am writing this with the purpose to warn you on something like that so that you do your job on time. If you google on best banks to have account in, you will probably get a long list of many different ones starting from Deutsche Bank, Postbank, Sparkasse, Comerzbank and so on. However, I have chosen completely different one and so far it appears to be a good choice. My bank is UniCredit group Hypovereinsbank. There are several reasons why this one (which does not necessarily mean that others do not have maybe even better options or possibilities, but I am pretty satisfied with this one so I kept my account in it until now and I will keep it, I think, even after studies):

• Online Account - it is good if you know in advance that you have to pay fees for having a bank account. That is pretty much normal and it is one of the ways how banks benefit from us, but if you are older than 26 than these fees are higher than if you are in the categories under 26 and have the ability to open so called student account. Good solution for this is surely this online account that you can do yourself in like five minutes and they will send you everything what you need to sign, your card and PIN number through post services. And it is free of charge. Great, isn't?
• Online Banking - all banks have this, I think, this one as well so I really appreciate the effort they put into making it possible for us costumers. This way, you can pay whatever you need to or you have to with just few clicks in your browser or phone app. You will get confirmation code on your mobile phone which you previously shared with the bank and that's it.
• International partners - this is really one of the important things to consider having in mind that you are an Erasmus student and most probably you will not spend whole your studies in one country. Have a look does your bank belongs to a group of larger chain so that you can keep the same account even if you go for a semester abroad (you will be able to take money from your account on any partner ATM without commission). In case of Hypovereinsbank, they belong to this group of UniCredit banks which has its branches all over Europe, even in some countries outside (like my home country) so I was more than happy when I realised that I do not have to pay additional fees or even worse, open a new account for only one semester that I have spent outside Germany.

Keep in mind to take occasionally these bank confirmations at those machines that are standing next to your ATM usually. That way you will save some money on a monthly basis since they charge you in case they send it to you by mail (if you do it yourself the bank will not send the letter). Also, this Hypovereinsbank offers only services on German so if you are not comfortable with the language maybe it is better to consider others which are dual languages, but some practise will not harm you and pretty soon you learn the words you need to know for your transfers or money withdrawal so this should not be a huge obstacle. And finally, before I forget, this bank also offers a variety of credit cards. As a student I think, we are not eligible to have a credit card (because we do not work, all this is just temporary), but there is a great option with this so called PrePaid card which you can also order online. The thing with this is that you put the amount of money you would like to have on that card, from your regular debit card, and you can do almost any type of shopping, booking or whichever else payment you have. This is pretty much cool because with the debit one you cannot for example, book a flight, or a hotel or Airbnb, or or... And considering you are an Erasmus student you will most likely want to travel during your studies. You can also connect it with your Paypal account, if you have one, and that way be even more secure when doing online payments. And last, I promise, do not forget to change your address or phone number on your bank account when you change it indeed. That way bank is being informed where to send you your mail, in case there is some, and you updated them with your new phone data to send you your codes during transactions, and you want to have these services, trust me.

Health Insurance

One more crucial thing to be considered even prior to your arrival in Germany. Again, there are two stories, one for scholarship holders and the other one for self-financing students. But, in both cases keep in mind to inform yourself a bit about what does the insurance cover, how much you need to pay and most importantly is it valid in all European countries not just the county of your host university.

So, for the scholarship holders, you guys are quite lucky since you will get an email with the contract from your insurance company. It will surely be a private insurance so that is valid everywhere, you will not need to pay for it nor to worry about extending the policy or anything else. And with a bit of luck, you will not need it during these two-years of your master course, because you will be healthy and safe, and not related with any hospitals nor doctors in any moment.

For the self-financing people, be aware of several things when you choose the insurance company. First, to be eligible in all EU, or at least in all countries which are you going to spend yours semesters in. Second, check the policy, what do they offer, do they rise the price after a while and how much, what is that what they cover (especially if you are coming from very far away country; you will not have to chance to jump quickly to your home and do some checks and examinations) and similar. Third, keep in mind that once when you choose the insurance you have to keep up with that one, especially in Germany (maybe that is not the case with other countries). My friend had a situation in which she took German public insurance at the time she arrived. She had it for a semester and then we moved to Vienna, so she needed another one. Then she hired some private, I am not sure which one, and it is not even that important. What it is important is that she kept that private even when she came back to Germany. And she was paying for it normally for next half a year, which is a whole year in total from the time she left public one and then one day she got a warning letter from both university and insurance. University warned her that she will be expelled because she was nor paying the insurance for a whole year and insurance sent the bills and warnings for the whole former year. It was insane, indeed. So, to shorten the story, she had to pay for the whole year of not using the public one, cancel the private one and renew the public one contract. That they enrolled her back to the university (it was just temporary exclusion but still very uncomfortable feeling). Apparently, once you take the insurance house you have to stick with that one, so be careful. What I can advise you is to check out your scholarship holder friends and see which one they have, it is usually the one that corresponds to all the aforementioned requests so that is a good start.

In our intake we had a chance to have this so called Marsh insurance which was provided for scholarship holders, and the others took either that one or Care Concept, which are more or less the same when it comes to conditions. Have a look, but hopefully you will not need services from any.

Shopping

Ok, this can be inexhaustible source which I could write about, but I promise I will constrain myself only to important stuff while more you will discover yourself. So first, let us see where we can do grocery shopping, which shops are most popular, which are good and cheap and similar. Almost every big market chain in Germany has the same stuff as any other would have so this mostly depends on you and type of the food you usually eat and would like to continue eating. I would say that Lidl is my choice number one. There you can find a lot of delicious and very affordable food, healthy and unhealthy snacks and so on. For meat products, if you eat such, I would say that Rewe is the best, at least when you are a student and you need smaller portions. They are very considerate when it comes to packaging and the portion sizes. Indeed, they are a bit more expensive but I think it is worth it. At least if it is important to you to know that you are eating quality. Vegetable and fruits are definitely best in Aldi and plus the prices are same as Lidl, meaning cheaper. There are also Penny, Netto, Edeka, Kaufland and many more honestly but they all are more or less the same with the products and the prices. So it is up to you where and what you want to shop. If you are one of these people who really eats only healthy and bio food consider visiting Viktualienmarkt or Alnatura (there is indeed more, mainly local ones which are really expensive so be sure to compare prices before you decide for one). Cosmetics and stuff like that you can buy in well-known chains such as DM, Müller, Rossman. A bit more sophisticated stuff you can find in smaller shops within the city, perfumeries and branded stores. Again, this mainly depends on you and stuff you are used to or if you want to change something there are tons of opportunities to do so. And finally, most importantly for women, are the clothes and shoes shops. Naturally, there are plenty of these in the inner city, shopping malls such as Olympiaeinkaufszentrum, Einkaufzentrum Neuperlach, Fünf Höfe. Depending on where you live, I think you can find places to shop near your place so that you do not have to carry stuff all around with you. Keep in mind that stores have really nice discounts at the end of the season, before some important holidays such as Christmas or Easter, so maybe you can abstain yourself and wait for those. It will pay off, trust me.

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And of course, if you are too lazy and annoyed with walking around the stores, trying stuff, paying them and then carrying them home with you, as I am, you can always do all this from the comfort of your home. Now I sounded like an online shop commercial, but indeed, it is possible. All you have to do is to make online accounts on your shop of interest, find clothes or shoes you like and order it. They will be delivered to your address within two to four days, depending on when you order. You can try them in front of your own mirror, combine them with your own clothes, keep them or return them back. Keep in mind that you have to pay delivery for some services while others are free of charge. Personally, I like Zalando, Amazon as a big ones, and of course H&M, Zara, Maxmara, Primark as a bit smaller, but let us stop here since I am not here to promote clothes suppliers but rather to introduce you with your beginnings in another country.

And to finish with the shopping part, finally, in case you need some technical devices visit Saturn, they are really full of everything and usually have what you need, for reasonable price.

Ok, I thought of continuing with this numbering, but I got tired of typing so I will leave you guys here and hopefully come back tomorrow with some new topic, either to continue this list or to share some experience I had at the time I arrived in Munich.

I hope you did not fall a sleep while reading this, the list is quite long but as I said on the beginning, you can find what you need under the small titles and read only about it. It will serve you and help you, I am sure, especially if you are coming from outside the Europe. Many things are just so different than in our home countries, but that is the pleasure of being international student. You get the chance to see, experience, try and either like or dislike many things you encounter for the first time.

So, again, stay tuned, enjoy and take care!

Cheers!

P. S. I promise I will try to put some more interesting and eye-pleasant pictures than these printscreens I provided you with. Considering the topic and all the things I have been writing about in this post, I thought that it would be nice to support it by putting some visual marks of how those look like in reality (such as the logo sign of this MVG app, it apears only few seconds on my mobile screen before it starts the app, so it was really challenging to printscreen it). Other than that, TUM logo is of course because this is my university and I want to have it as a graphical representation when I mention it. You will see it more often and form is for you, to have a look on what would be good to download and fill in before you go to the registration office. Do not try to look for an Engslih verison but rather translate it for yourself. It is really essential data and the signature and it has to be on German, otherwise they will ask you to bring a new one which is once more getting up early, waiting long queue and blah, blah...not to repeat myself again!

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