Culture Shock

It's officially been 3 months now and I'm feeling the lows of culture shock. I knew this would happen eventually. Plus as I counted, I knew that it would be while Ben would be crazy busy studying for State Exams. I'm not unhappy, that's for certain. It's just that the novelty of being in Germany has worn off. I'm a little more concerned about making deep friendships and being able to communicate with locals independently. I've been relying heavily on Ben for helping me book necessary appointments for my residence permit and other, what I would call ordinary, things. It bothered me at the beginning that I had to be so dependent, but now it's really starting to bother me. I guess it never occurred to me how independent I like to be until I couldn't be as independent anymore.

Culture shock isn't really new to me but I suppose every time is slightly different and the low points hit at different times too. I've been feeling a little less motivated to socialize, haven't been sleeping as soundly and definitely not as patient. (Although that may have to do with the not sleeping as well). To be honest, I tried googling to learn more about culture shock. I remember learning about it a bit at Concordia before I went to China, but I thought that maybe I'd find some other ways to deal with it. Well...surprisingly I didn't come across much. As my mother says, there's not a fix for everything.

I know it's important to keep a schedule, exercise, and eat well, etc. I gave myself more time to focus on relaxing activities such as listening to music and yoga. I was really craving listening to The Sound of Music soundtrack for some reason, so that was on repeat for a while. I haven't gone through a Sound of Music music binge for a really long time, so listening to some of my favorites--I Have Confidence and My Favorite Things--got me pretty excited. (and singing along) Also made me think that I maybe I should make a list of my favorite things about Germany.

My Favorite German Things

1. Ben
2. The pretzels
3. The scenery
4. Learning a new language
5. The old fashioned buildings-- being able to describe everything as "quaint"
6. Being able to travel by train and public transport
7. Rübensaft (beet syrup) --brings me to my next favorite...
8. Having PB and Rübensaft on bread/toast/rolls
9. Meeting people from around the world
10. Being able to travel to other cities and countries relatively cheaply and conveniently
    

    

    Those two wires above the toaster--used for toasting
    rolls. How genius was that? ;-)
11. Being able to actually use an umbrella because it's not too windy (Fargo/Moorhead) and also because we have to walk a little bit 
12. Chocolate
13. Toasters with the cool rack on top 
14. Carrying a backpack around everywhere even when you're not in school is completely acceptable.
15. Having a SIM card without a phone contract
16. Getting to laugh about our President with foreigners
17. German windows

    

    Turn the handle to the side and it
    opens sideways. Turn the handle
    up and it tilts with just the top
    open.

Weimar Street Food Festival- A Foodie Heaven

This is the only spot that I could justify putting up as many pictures of food as I'm going to put up. Also, I want to give a short description of each food item that we ate haha. Maybe I should give up writing a normal blog and just start a food blog entitled: Eating my way through Germany.

This was only one section of food trucks

I think that my admiration for food trucks started when I started watching The Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network. It's just so cool to see people who are passionate about food start their own little business. Since then, I've joked about getting my own food truck- not that I'm sure what kind of food I'd actually sell. However, let's just say that that dream died after I got the chance to see what it is like inside an actual food truck. I don't think I'd last long. Or find a business partner who'd be willing to put up with me in that small of quarters...Any takers?

Started off with a home-brewed beer.
Passed Ben's expectations and I
thought it was pretty good too.

I remember going to a food truck festival in Minneapolis last year with some friends. It was quite the event and I loved the atmosphere, music and of course the people I was with. I like that street food is all about really good food and it doesn't waste too much time on aesthetics. Sometimes in restaurants you can get something that looks really amazing and then tastes mediocre, but I feel like street food usually has the opposite effect: looks eh and tastes MMMM.

We didn't try everything, but we definitely looked. :-D I don't think our stomachs or our wallets could have handled trying everything. So here's my picture compilation:

Isn't this name great? Deep fried candy bars, just like back in the U.S.A. :-D

We didn't think that we needed to try this.

Ok, the stuffed churros just looked cool. I wish I could've just come back for day two...

And fancy looking strudel...Nom Nom Nom. I already decided that I needed to work on my strudel-making skills, but I think I'm really going to have to work on them.

We actually got this one.

It's really just a pulled-pork sandwich, but Ben was sold on it from the moment he saw it. I obviously need to introduce him to my Grandma's pulled pork sandwiches. This one was pretty good though. :-)

Before we got the sandwich pictured above, were trying to decide exactly what to get, and when we walked by this place offered us a sample of their pulled pork. SO KÖSTLICH (Yummy). It was hard to say no to ordering something there. So we got the mango something chicken wrap...

Why did we do that? Guess the image of the other pulled-pork place was still running through our heads.

Just look at this paella :-O The presentation was just impressive to me. I actually don't know that much about paella, so maybe this is not that impressive...anyone want to tell me? Or maybe Google.

THIS>>>>>>> To be honest, I don't think it was the most adventurous choice, but these dumplings were just calling to me. (Think I've been going through Asian food withdrawals). The lady selling them made them completely by hand and they were some of the best dumplings I've ever had in my life. I'm not exactly what the sauce was...not sure if it was something that was added to appeal to German eaters or if it was something traditional Tibetan. The reason I wonder is because there was also a potato and cheese dumpling option. :-P

I hope some people just gets a kick out of this. It's from the Swedish food truck: Lettuce, fried onions, pickles, mashed potatoes, and a hot dog (or two if you wanted) all wrapped up in a tortilla. Ben and I weren't sure exactly what to think about it. We did consider trying it but weren't too sure about the combo...

And last but not least, my favorite food truck. Can't say there was a long cue for it, but it was definitely the most unique. Unfortunately, I don't think my stomach could have handled it plus I wasn't willing to spend that much money on bugs. Maybe I'll try it the next time it's at a food truck festival.

Cool experience. Foodie heaven. Note to self to bring more money and a bigger stomach next time. :-D

Got my German Residence Permit!

Well, after a confusing almost three months here trying to figure out how German bureaucracy works, we finally figured it out. The key to figuring it out: find a very nice research-loving German boyfriend. ;-)

So the process started before I got to Germany, of course but I was still pretty confused by the time I arrived. I wish I had studied a lot more German before I came, but how would I have known that I would end up in Germany to study one day. :-D Anyway I had to depend a lot on Ben's patience as he made some phone calls and explained to me some of the official German websites' information.

As I made some new friends, I figured out that most of them are married to Germans and that makes the whole residence permit process a little more straight-forward. However, that didn't help Ben and I much. I do believe that things happen for a reason and that you meet the right people at the right time. For example, I ran into a lady at a University seminar/event that gave me her number and told me to contact her if I ever wanted help or had questions. I barely knew her, but it felt good to know that someone who had gone through a similar process was so willing to help.

So, besides writing this post to update my family, (although I think some of them don't even know about my blog) I thought that it would also be nice to outline the process that I went through to get the residence permit (without being married) so that it might help others going through the process. (If I this would actually pop up on a Google search :-D)

1. When I first arrived, I had to go to the student housing office to be officially put on the lease. To be honest, I can't remember what really happened. Could possibly be because I spoke almost zero German...or maybe because I was jet-lagged. I do however remember the result: we got this sheet of paper which had my and Ben's names on it, our address, signatures and a very official looking stamp on it. This was actually not sufficient enough for the permit. We have to draw up an actual contract.
2. I had to make an appointment at the Bürgerservice (Residency Registration). This is the place that all Germans must go to to register themselves at their current address. The German government likes to keep tabs on everyone's location. (Does that sound creepy?) I suppose it's just like how Americans update their mail address so that their bills get to the right spot. We googled "Bürgerservice Jena" and (Ben) made an appointment (Termin). We arrived early and waited until my name flashed on the monitor screen telling us which station to go to. I brought the officially stamped lease agreement plus my passport and was registered in the computers (probably took 15 minutes). And the lady was very nice. :-)
3. I then had to be enrolled in some sort of German language course. I came in the middle of the University semester so it was too late for me to enroll. If you do enroll in University, you just need to present your acceptance letter. The one important condition for the language course is that it has to have 20, 45 minute lessons per week. So 20 x 45 = 900 minutes per week (15 hours). This is considered full-time. I found out that these can really only be found at a government-certified Sprachschule (IBI, IIK...). For example, my German course is 3.25 hours each day, 5 days a week. Then I have time to practice my German with friends outside of class, do my German homework, work (soon), etc. --Anyway, I went to the office of one of these Sprachschulen and received a bill (you do have to pay a little) and another piece of paper with an official stamp on it. (Are you starting to get an idea of how Germans make things official?)
4. The government also needs proof that you can support yourself whether through your parents, a scholarship, or your own personal finances. They require that you have at least €9.000 in a German bank account to sustain you for one year. You can open an account on an online or a physical bank. Most of them are free. However, you do need to be able to transfer your funds from your home country and exchange the money. This might be better done from your home country.
5. Also, health insurance. This is another requirement. I have learned that Germans love their insurance. They seem to have one for almost every situation. I used to think this was a joke until I actually got into a discussion about it with Ben. Thankfully, the only one that's required for the permit is health insurance. If you're not a University student, you will have to go through a private company, which usually is a bit more expensive. Most Germans go through a public insurance company, unlike in the U.S. I got an intro rate through a private insurance company. I will switch over to a public one once I'm enrolled in University.
6. Passport photos (biometric photos): I spent €12 on ugly photos of myself (pretty sure even the lady that took them agreed that they were ugly). Can't say it's the best thing I could've spent €12 on but it's necessary and really €12 isn't that bad. I heard that you can get them at a photo booth, which is supposed to be the cheaper way, but we couldn't find one so I got mine done at a photo shop. The quality was better anyway.
7. Last but not least, I made an appointment with the Ausländerbehörde (Alien/Foreigner Office) in Jena. This is something that I wish I would've done sooner. The next open appointment slot was 1.5 months away and I could only stay for 3 months on my U.S. travel visa. (Depending on the country, you either have to get a Visa before arriving or you can just enter and then apply for a residence permit.) Thankfully, the moment that you book an appointment, you are already given the status of "currently applying." This means that you won't have any problems, supposedly, if your 3 months are up before you get to your appointment.The site gives you a list of things that you're supposed to bring with you to your appointment.

• Apartment lease contract
• Sprachschule enrollment form OR letter of admittance to a University
• Health Insurance
• Proof of sufficient finances
• Passport photo
• Application form filled out and signed (found on the Ausländerbehörde site)

So we went to our appointment. We had to sign in on an electronic machine and then wait for my name to pop up on the monitor to tell me which room to go to. I was nervous and sweating more than I would've liked. The lady helping us with the process was scary and very intimidating. Good thing Ben was there. He wasn't at all phased. But then after paying and answering some questions, I got my temporary card!

Within the next month I'll have my expensive plastic card with an ugly photo of myself on it to carry around with me for the next two years. YAY!!!

Thank goodness for calm and patient boyfriends. :-)