بِسْمِ ٱللّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم
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Assalamu'alaikum
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Please excuse me for being anti-social lately. And now the time has come. After procrastinating for a while I'd like to continue my chronicle of The First Footsteps Series in Germany. It's part three now yay. Make sure you read part one The First Footsteps: The Awkward Highschooler and part two The First Footsteps: Before The Flight first.
As an epilogue, in this post, I'm going to talk about my flight, early life, and language course. Though this part of the series doesn't really have much sun rays and rainbows I hope you can enjoy reading it. Vámonos!
Pre-Departure
As my flight to Germany was from Soekarno Hatta International Airport (CGK) in Jakarta, my family and I must fly from Jogjakarta the day before. Apparently just a few minutes before we enter the waiting room my big suitcase kind of exploded. Not literally exploded tho but the handle is somehow broken thus my stuff inside got 'thrown up' all over the airport floor.
I was tremendously terrified.
How could my lovely suitcase, my chosen one, betrayed me so easily like this T^T Trust me this is sadder than Titanic or even the ending from that kdrama Mr. Sunshine. After dramatically screaming on top of my lungs inside my head, my family had woken me up from my worth-to-be-kdrama scene. I was really thankful that my family was there to help me out.
Thanks to this horrendous tragedy, I needed a new plan. The next day -- the day I was supposed to fly to Germany -- My father and I decided to rush to Mall Taman Anggrek that took 30 minutes journey from the hotel by taxi. My heart beats uncontrollably as I was afraid of missing my flight. The pressure is real. As I'm writing this and recalling all those things, why does my heart is still beating as fast?
We quickly bought a piece of new luggage and rushed back to the hotel. Every single thing that I've packed carefully and with so much love had to be transferred hastily to my friend -- the new luggage. It turned out I need to reduce my belongings. I was so frustrated I care no more about whatsoever thing I need and need not and threw away heavy stuff. Just as I finished packing in one hour, I still got time to take a shower and go straight to the airport. I couldn't feel happier just by seeing my fellow friends' faces at the airport.
I was quite proud of myself and still couldn't believe that I didn't need a whole damn month just to pack. I owe this to my Adrenaline hormone for sure.
As I went to Germany with a study agency, I and my friends checked in together as a group. Keep in mind that you can still go back outside even if you already checked in. I think it's best to first check-in and then saying your best goodbyes to your loved ones. That way you don't need to rush.
Just for your information, I brought one large dark blue suitcase from Antler (this one is really good and is still alive by now), one cabin suitcase from Traveler's Choice, a Jansport backpack, and a small bag from Rumah Warna to put my passport, wallet, and tickets. Personally, I think I took the right decision to bring one big suitcase and a small one as I like to travel outside the city and it was such a waste to bring the big one everywhere I go!
PRO TIP
- Check the health of your suitcases, be sure not to overweight it!
- Don't force your suitcase to bring the stuff more than its capacity :( Just. Don't.
- If your hometown isn't the same as the city of the airport where you are departing from, I suggest you arrive a day before. That way when something happens you still got time to spare and sort things out.
- Food > clothes
Departing
I took a night flight from Jakarta to Germany with Turkish Airlines and that's why I must transit in Istanbul. Thank God I got to sit beside my two close friends. Without their existence, I'd actually die out of bore before even arrive!Serving a lot of varieties of dishes, Turkish Airlines' inflight meals might not be the best one in the market but they are actually tasty for those who like cheese and yogurt as much as I do. Sadly they don't really give you free internet connection (or was it?) I can't quite remember about that because I slept during that 6 hours long haul to Istanbul. For more information about internet connectivity in Turkish Airlines Flights here. The price ranges from 9,99 USD for an hour's worth of WiFi to 29,99 for 24 hours. The chair and leg space were comfortable that's why I became a sleeping beauty for the whole flight. Though they actually give you a good choice of entertainment, I'd recommend you to sleep as much as possible to avoid jet lag.
Arrived in Istanbul the next morning around 5 AM and had to wait for transit for around 3 and a half hours. That is quite ideal though seeing that I had just enough time to grab some snacks, straighten my legs, pray Subuh,
PRO TIP
- Try to sleep as long as possible without skipping any meals offered by the aircraft crew to lessen the jet lag.
- Drink and stay hydrated!!
- Most airplanes that I travel with provide body lotion and perfume in their toilet, but I would really recommend keeping your skincare close by.
- Bring extra warm outer, a pashmina, or a scarf especially if you are temperature-sensitive like me.
- Bring medicine, the important ones. (Oh and bringing Antangin + balsem is da real gold)
Early Days
Being born with a cold-allergy I wasn't really used to live in
subtropics like Germany. Even the cold wind of Ketep Pass in Magelang, Central Java made both
of my hands bloated and red. To be honest, I need to bring a quiet amount of
ammunitions like Vick's Vaporub, Kutus-kutus, minyak tawon,
and minyak kayu putih to overcome da real anxiety.
Arrived in December 2018 which was (an indeed very cold) winter,
was one of the toughest challenges I had to overcome back then. The cold icy unforgiving windy weather would make my face as red as fully cooked shrimp and that was never a piece of good news. Although I'm not taking any medicine as my allergy is neither deadly nor severe, it was a hell of a ride just to go out and buy cookies in the nearby supermarket. At some times I'd catch a cold easily and had experienced high fevers -- but that is okay. Alles ist in Ordnung. Especially when anak kampong like us first saw the snow. Tbh I feel like I was in Hogwarts back then. O-oh so kampong.
Culture shock was also definitely a thing, especially for food. Thank God I'm actually quite comfortable eating pasta and bread and ate cereals for breakfast almost every day. But Asian will be Asian and once an Indo will always be an Indo. We. Need. Rice. And I'm deeply grateful for the supermarkets here in Germany being so understanding and widely sell rice :') No worries if you don't bring a rice cooker, it's being sold widely worldwide. Due to financial concerns, we aren't really able to buy McD and Burger King everyday to mend this shock -- thus we became chef straight away.
If you don't get used to seeing passionate affection on the streets because PG 17+ movies aren't your cup of tea just like me... Then just get used to it man. Just, don't stare at them hoping Kemenkoninfo will blur it for you. Try to mind your own business because most people here are minding their own. Hujat society thankfully isn't their thing. Even if you didn't take a shower for a couple of days, believe me, they won't even care. (Except if it happens in the summer, then you'll defo kill innocent civilians)
For the first few days in Heidelberg my Kumpels and I explored the city with such curiosity it might kill a cat. Mosques and Musholas should be my biggest concern and as far as I know today there is a mosque in Eppelheim and a Mushola in Hauptsrasse. Supermarkets, libraries, post offices, banks, hospitals, trains and bus stations should be noted down on the list of 'important places' too. As Heidelberg is a tourism city, there is lots of tourist attraction which was good news.
After done exploring things we had to move on to the complex bureaucracy workload and thank u, next was definitely playing in the background.
Culture shock was also definitely a thing, especially for food. Thank God I'm actually quite comfortable eating pasta and bread and ate cereals for breakfast almost every day. But Asian will be Asian and once an Indo will always be an Indo. We. Need. Rice. And I'm deeply grateful for the supermarkets here in Germany being so understanding and widely sell rice :') No worries if you don't bring a rice cooker, it's being sold widely worldwide. Due to financial concerns, we aren't really able to buy McD and Burger King everyday to mend this shock -- thus we became chef straight away.
If you don't get used to seeing passionate affection on the streets because PG 17+ movies aren't your cup of tea just like me... Then just get used to it man. Just, don't stare at them hoping Kemenkoninfo will blur it for you. Try to mind your own business because most people here are minding their own. Hujat society thankfully isn't their thing. Even if you didn't take a shower for a couple of days, believe me, they won't even care. (Except if it happens in the summer, then you'll defo kill innocent civilians)
For the first few days in Heidelberg my Kumpels and I explored the city with such curiosity it might kill a cat. Mosques and Musholas should be my biggest concern and as far as I know today there is a mosque in Eppelheim and a Mushola in Hauptsrasse. Supermarkets, libraries, post offices, banks, hospitals, trains and bus stations should be noted down on the list of 'important places' too. As Heidelberg is a tourism city, there is lots of tourist attraction which was good news.
After done exploring things we had to move on to the complex bureaucracy workload and thank u, next was definitely playing in the background.
- Register yourself and your house (Anmeldung) at the citizen office (Bürgeramt). You will need a Studienbescheinigung from your institution or whatever proof to show that you aren't doing anything unuseful (in my case, my language course), your passport, and your housing contract (Mietvetrag). Ask your institution if you aren't sure because some cities might be different from one another.
- If you are Indonesian, please please don't forget to Lapor Diri within 30 days of your arrival! If anything happens to you, your documents or passport at least your personal data had been recorded by the Indonesian Embassy in Germany. More info: https://blog.goethe.de/lajuman/archives/40-Lapor-Diri-di-KBRI-Berlin.html
- Make German bank accounts. Do you ever wonder why we need a deposit account to go to German? Einhundert, to use it for living. And how do we use it for a living? By connecting our deposit account (in this case Expatrio) to our German bank account. That way Expatrio will transfer our money to our connected bank accounts. I'd recommend you choose Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank or N26. I don't think Sparkasse is quite compatible with those who wanted to move out of the city, because I heard that we can only take money from the same city we applied for the account.
- Apply to health insurance (Krankenversicherung). For those who are not yet obliged to apply to Uni can first use private health insurance. The famous ones for students are Mawista and Care Concept. All registrations can be done online.
- It's not really necessary but I think it's good if you have Paypal. It makes payments on Amazon, tickets, and many things easier.
It's tiring, yes. But I learned something important from an old willow tree.
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Language course
My friends and I went to Alpha Aktiv Heidelberg and received my B2 language certificate there. It was really fun to get to know people from around the world. I was actually anxious at first because my german is as ugly as unwashed socks including my reading and writing skill. But man, all you got to do it to try. There will always be the first in everything though. I realize that even though I can't speak properly just yet, at least people understand me a little bit.This phase is mostly fun, sun rays, and rainbows. Some people may think that sometimes it's a waste of time going to a language course seeing that our actual focus is to pass on ANP (Aufnahmeprüfung) or the entrance exam to Studienkolleg. I personally think that the 'flight hours' or what Indo peeps often say 'jam terbang' plays a huge role. Even if we already learned some things back in Indo, aber trotzdem the more we put our effort into something the better we will be.
My language course provided us with lots of training not only for grammar, but also listening, discussion, and writing. My teachers were very kind and helpful. I was glad that I've learned those things back in Alpha Aktiv with a native as I didn't get to learn those things in Indo. I guess it's crucial to learn a language with someone that actually speaks it.
PRO TIP
- Do. The. Frikin. Homework. I know it's hard to learn a language but that doesn't mean you should stop trying. Trust me doing the work diligently will be a huge help for your tomorrows.
- Increase your skill not only in language courses but also at home. Listen to conversations on Youtube, read the news in Deutsche Welle or Tagesschau, subscribe to Netflix (and change the audio and subtitles to German, please)
- Don't be afraid of talking in discussions. At first, it wouldn't be easy because as for me I have that 'language switch' in my head that I couldn't control at times. Sometimes I was unaware that I spoke 3 different languages in a sentence :') le cri. Take every chance of talking like a gold chance representing your country hoho.
- Venture out of that comfort zone bubble, dude.
Okay, and now this is starting to get a lil bit emotional. Time for a pat on the back, peeps.
Tell me I'm such a drama queen but I think the hardest phase of everything is not the end but the start. Man, when you press that start button, es gibt keinen Rückweg -- there is no way back. It was very hard for me to make myself believe that I don't have any homesickness, that I'm not going to catch a cold, that I'm strong, that I'm going to do this all. People were telling me that I should make myself believe what should I believe. I tried but I'm failing all the way. Not gonna lie the stress and the pressure was very real, ironically I received the most from myself.
I warn you this is going to be sentimental but I feel like I got to let this out. People thought that studying abroad would be a very cool thing to do at least once in a lifetime -- which is true, partly because that uni name would be written there on your CV. But that pretty clear blue sky you have seen on Instagram or that smiles from fellow abroad peeps captioning "when in Europe" or whatever country they went to... It's just what they want you to see. The truth? Buddy, trust me being here is mostly storms and lightning bolt.
I always think that I'm just a mediocre human being that did a very stupid thing going outta my comfort zone bubble where I had enough food, friends, and even support from my family. Ask my housemates and they'd say yes when you ask if tears dropped from my eyes frequently. I'm aware that I'm... weak, at the start point. Knowing nothing about what's going to happen is a catastrophe for an idealistic-well-prepared geek like me. Oftentimes I'd blame myself for why did I choose the road full of obstacles when I was able to choose the rainbows and unicorns.
But is there any regret?
With all my heart,
no.
It is not easy and very stressful at times until this very day, but I'd never turn back time and choose another option. There are priceless things money could never buy, like experiences. 10 million dollars or more could never buy that feeling of relief after that exam when you look at the sunset from the Old Bridge in Heidelberg or that laugh when you had your very first picnic with your Studienkolleg friends.
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Someone had given me profound insight into the purpose of keeping on the track no matter how hard it can get. We aren't a failure when we didn't succeed in several tries, failure is when you decide to stop trying. The start is hard, the fight in between and being perseverance is harder.
Whatever weighs your shoulder, there is nothing that could change a fact I know very well, that you are too, a human. It's neither wrong nor a fault of yours to have such emotions and be fragile at times. Please remember there are people ready to listen to your stories, just don't be afraid to reach out and know when and to whom you can seek help from :)
I hope you have a great day today. Studienkolleg and ANP post is coming up next!
Love and light.
Sintya
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