Germany through the eyes of a student in St. Petersburg
In the last week, going to Habr, it seems to me that I get to the immigrant community, but I was interested in reading articles about immigration to New Zealand , Australia , Canada , Thailand , Japan and Cyprus . Frankly, I was looking forward to someone talking about Germany, and finally, such an article appeared from a Belarusian student . I had a different impression of Germany, which I want to share with you.
Now I am finishing the third year of St. Petersburg State University with a degree in applied informatics in economics. At the end of the first year, one of the teachers suggested going to a summer school in Germany. I was interested in this proposal, since I have already been to Germany several times and have a great interest in this country. I sent an application to the University of Germany and received an answer that, unfortunately, the summer school will not take place, but you can come to them for an exchange semester. After the successful completion of the session, on the last day of June I remembered the letter from Germany and asked my brother to submit an application for me, since he himself was at that moment in the country.
In a response letter, they wrote me a list of necessary documents. Having hardly collected them (since almost all the teachers were on vacation) and sent them to Germany, I received an answer. It was a document signed by the rector of the university about enrolling me as a student for a semester.
For almost a month, I prepared the documents necessary for a visa and collected almost 4000 euros from friends. This is the amount demanded by the German consulate to confirm my financial capabilities. I prepared all the documents exactly according to the requirements of the consulate, so I got a visa without any questions.
My university was located in a small town (50 thousand) Hof in the very north of Bavaria. Even such a small city has its own airport, where a turboprop airplane flies. From the window of such a "corncracker" you can take this photo:
My plane landed in a field. The airport was a hangar, and manure was blowing in the air. All this shocked me. I thought that in vain I came to such a hole, but when I was brought to the hostel, I had a completely different impression.
This is what the dormitory looks like:
My room:
Under the dormitory houses there is an underground parking for students:
And there are terraces on the roofs:
You don’t get bored in a German hostel, parties are constantly held. Bavaria has a very cheap beer. In pre-crisis times, the cheapest bottle of beer cost 9 rubles, and the famous Bavarian brands, which can now be found on the shelves of our stores with price tags from 80 to 150 rubles, cost about 23 rubles in Bavaria. Therefore, after some time, the window of our kitchen looked like this:
There is a dormitory of 180 euros per month + another 10 euros for the Internet.
The university is located on the outskirts of the city right in the field, sometimes you could meet hares or an agricultural combine harvester near the university:
(right building of the university)
Building:
Language class:
Building for the practice of engineers:
In Germany, universities are divided into universities and higher schools (Hochschule). At universities they give theoretical knowledge and, as a rule, they go after them to engage in scientific activity. In higher schools they teach more practical knowledge and in the last courses students undergo practical training.
My university was just Hochschule, although I call it a university (there is no analogue of Hochschule in Russian). The university building is quite new and modern, so it is packed with the latest technology. It is a pleasure to study there. You could go to the university 24 hours a day. During the session, many students prefer to prepare for exams sitting in the library day and night.
German universities have a completely different atmosphere than ours. Here people know why they came here, go to lectures, listen, take notes. We have half the students who catch a freebie and live from session to session. Teachers also have a completely different attitude to teaching, I think because this is the main type of their earnings and they like it. The subjects here are a bit simpler and not divided into theory and practice, so the pair goes much more interesting. It is worth noting that not a single subject from my specialty in the third semester coincided with the subjects of the German specialty Wirtschaftsinformatik (an analogue of my specialty in Germany). The cost of training depends on the land. Somewhere for free, and somewhere around 500 euros per month. By the way, the international exchange of students is a common practice in Europe, and students are often given scholarships. In some specialties, a student is simply obliged to study for a year or a semester abroad. Unfortunately, many students here do not even know about such an amazing opportunity.
For half a year, we, with other foreign students, traveled to a lot of cities. In general, I can say that eastern Germany is very different from western. Munich is a separate mansion, there is a completely unique culture.
For half a year I don’t remember at least one German saying something rude to me. People are always smiling and always ready to help. For example, in the evening, when it was already dark, I left the subway on the outskirts of Berlin and stopped to orient myself. A grandmother walked by, who noticed that I was not local and kindly offered me help. And in Hof, residents keep garages open during the day, and in the garages is a bunch of expensive tools and equipment. Nobody steals!
Being far from home, I felt more confident than at home in Russia. I could go to the bank at night and withdraw a large sum of money without fear and risk. I paid 50 euros for student insurance, and when the insured event occurred, I felt all the delights of German medicine. I was received by various doctors, did x-rays and computed tomography quickly and without queues, and most importantly they were normal to me. Unfortunately, I did not have time to do an MRI in Germany, in my homeland I only had to pay 5600 rubles for an MRI. Here she is free medetsina!
Although I lived in a small city where there are practically no cars, but in large cities you can feel the freshness in the air, not like ours when LIAZ leaves the stop. All because parking is paid and good public transport. There is no dust, because the sidewalks are sprinkled not with salt and sand, but with small pebbles that are collected in the spring. In Germany there is no dirt, I even bought white shoes there, but in St. Petersburg there is no way to wear it ((. The
cost of food was no more than in St. Petersburg. In general, food prices in Hof were cheaper, and for goods imported from Europe is generally much cheaper, Germany’s equipment is also cheaper than ours, and warranty service is much better.
The climate in Bavaria is noticeably warmer than in St. Petersburg. It is warm in summer, but not hot: from 15 to 25. In winter, it sometimes snows, but in general it is around +5.
In Germany, there is virtually no corruption and bureaucracy. When I left Germany, my friend, a Frenchman of Maracanic descent, took me to the train station and forgot to take his car documents and rights with him. At the station he was stopped by a policeman. Imagine what our policeman did in such a situation! The German policeman asked how much time we had to the train. Having learned that 20 minutes, he said that he would have time to check our documents. While my friend was shot through the base, the policeman asked how we liked in Hof. After checking, we were safely released. In Germany, the police treat you as well as the Germans, but once in Baden-Baden I felt that they were talking to me differently from the Germans, apparently because in Baden-Baden there are a lot of Russian tourists who do not always lead yourself well.
Personally, I have a huge interest in German culture and in particular Bavarian culture. In Bavaria, even in the metro you can meet people dressed in national clothes, even young people, and when an Oktoberfest is held in Munich, even tourists dress up in Bavarian outfits.
Oktoberfest:
In Germany, there are a lot of Turkish immigrants, as well as Russian speakers. The latter, unfortunately, do not always make a good impression.
All cities in Germany are close to each other and easily reached by train. Germany is also the center of Europe, with all the attendant delights. Unfortunately, gas prices and rail transportation are very biting. Gasoline now costs about 1.30 euros, and last summer even 1.50 euros. But for a German, a car is not a luxury. All of Germany is literally riddled with excellent German autobahns, where there is no upper threshold for speed limits. There is only the lower one - you cannot drive on the autobahn slower than 60 km / h. In Germany, SUVs are rare because there are excellent roads and expensive gasoline. The Germans also love practical cars, so, for example, you will see many BMW 5 station wagons. Many people prefer trains, but tickets are very expensive by our standards, especially for high-speed trains (called ICE, By the way, Sapsan was already built on the basis of them), but if you buy a ticket in advance, you can buy cheaply on stocks. If you travel often, then there are discount cards up to 50%. In Europe, it is much cheaper than our flight connection. Europeans just love to travel.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell a lot about the work. A foreign student is given the right to work no more than 20 hours a week. During the holidays, I illegally worked as an alpine skiing instructor in Austria, because a work permit is valid only in Germany. The salary was 9 euros per hour, which is about the same as ours. In IT, for sure, to a friend. As far as I know, the starting salary is about 40k per year, excluding taxes. In Germany, as in the European Union as a whole, getting a work permit is quite difficult. You will be issued a work permit only if you already have a signed contract with a German employer and there are no candidates for your place among the Germans. As the practice of my friends shows, it’s possible to move to Germany, you only need to have brains and desire.
Thanks to those who read to the end, I hope I liked it. I will be happy to answer your questions.
I have attached some more photos of different cities (all my photos):
Nuremberg:
Munich (BWM and BMW World headquarters):
Frankfurt am Main:
Bamberg:
Berlin (Reichstag):
Berlin (Imax Cinema)
Neoeschwanstein Castle:
Introduction
Now I am finishing the third year of St. Petersburg State University with a degree in applied informatics in economics. At the end of the first year, one of the teachers suggested going to a summer school in Germany. I was interested in this proposal, since I have already been to Germany several times and have a great interest in this country. I sent an application to the University of Germany and received an answer that, unfortunately, the summer school will not take place, but you can come to them for an exchange semester. After the successful completion of the session, on the last day of June I remembered the letter from Germany and asked my brother to submit an application for me, since he himself was at that moment in the country.
In a response letter, they wrote me a list of necessary documents. Having hardly collected them (since almost all the teachers were on vacation) and sent them to Germany, I received an answer. It was a document signed by the rector of the university about enrolling me as a student for a semester.
For almost a month, I prepared the documents necessary for a visa and collected almost 4000 euros from friends. This is the amount demanded by the German consulate to confirm my financial capabilities. I prepared all the documents exactly according to the requirements of the consulate, so I got a visa without any questions.
Town
My university was located in a small town (50 thousand) Hof in the very north of Bavaria. Even such a small city has its own airport, where a turboprop airplane flies. From the window of such a "corncracker" you can take this photo:
My plane landed in a field. The airport was a hangar, and manure was blowing in the air. All this shocked me. I thought that in vain I came to such a hole, but when I was brought to the hostel, I had a completely different impression.
Hostel
This is what the dormitory looks like:
My room:
Under the dormitory houses there is an underground parking for students:
And there are terraces on the roofs:
You don’t get bored in a German hostel, parties are constantly held. Bavaria has a very cheap beer. In pre-crisis times, the cheapest bottle of beer cost 9 rubles, and the famous Bavarian brands, which can now be found on the shelves of our stores with price tags from 80 to 150 rubles, cost about 23 rubles in Bavaria. Therefore, after some time, the window of our kitchen looked like this:
There is a dormitory of 180 euros per month + another 10 euros for the Internet.
University
The university is located on the outskirts of the city right in the field, sometimes you could meet hares or an agricultural combine harvester near the university:
(right building of the university)
Building:
Language class:
Building for the practice of engineers:
In Germany, universities are divided into universities and higher schools (Hochschule). At universities they give theoretical knowledge and, as a rule, they go after them to engage in scientific activity. In higher schools they teach more practical knowledge and in the last courses students undergo practical training.
My university was just Hochschule, although I call it a university (there is no analogue of Hochschule in Russian). The university building is quite new and modern, so it is packed with the latest technology. It is a pleasure to study there. You could go to the university 24 hours a day. During the session, many students prefer to prepare for exams sitting in the library day and night.
German universities have a completely different atmosphere than ours. Here people know why they came here, go to lectures, listen, take notes. We have half the students who catch a freebie and live from session to session. Teachers also have a completely different attitude to teaching, I think because this is the main type of their earnings and they like it. The subjects here are a bit simpler and not divided into theory and practice, so the pair goes much more interesting. It is worth noting that not a single subject from my specialty in the third semester coincided with the subjects of the German specialty Wirtschaftsinformatik (an analogue of my specialty in Germany). The cost of training depends on the land. Somewhere for free, and somewhere around 500 euros per month. By the way, the international exchange of students is a common practice in Europe, and students are often given scholarships. In some specialties, a student is simply obliged to study for a year or a semester abroad. Unfortunately, many students here do not even know about such an amazing opportunity.
A life
For half a year, we, with other foreign students, traveled to a lot of cities. In general, I can say that eastern Germany is very different from western. Munich is a separate mansion, there is a completely unique culture.
For half a year I don’t remember at least one German saying something rude to me. People are always smiling and always ready to help. For example, in the evening, when it was already dark, I left the subway on the outskirts of Berlin and stopped to orient myself. A grandmother walked by, who noticed that I was not local and kindly offered me help. And in Hof, residents keep garages open during the day, and in the garages is a bunch of expensive tools and equipment. Nobody steals!
Being far from home, I felt more confident than at home in Russia. I could go to the bank at night and withdraw a large sum of money without fear and risk. I paid 50 euros for student insurance, and when the insured event occurred, I felt all the delights of German medicine. I was received by various doctors, did x-rays and computed tomography quickly and without queues, and most importantly they were normal to me. Unfortunately, I did not have time to do an MRI in Germany, in my homeland I only had to pay 5600 rubles for an MRI. Here she is free medetsina!
Although I lived in a small city where there are practically no cars, but in large cities you can feel the freshness in the air, not like ours when LIAZ leaves the stop. All because parking is paid and good public transport. There is no dust, because the sidewalks are sprinkled not with salt and sand, but with small pebbles that are collected in the spring. In Germany there is no dirt, I even bought white shoes there, but in St. Petersburg there is no way to wear it ((. The
cost of food was no more than in St. Petersburg. In general, food prices in Hof were cheaper, and for goods imported from Europe is generally much cheaper, Germany’s equipment is also cheaper than ours, and warranty service is much better.
The climate in Bavaria is noticeably warmer than in St. Petersburg. It is warm in summer, but not hot: from 15 to 25. In winter, it sometimes snows, but in general it is around +5.
In Germany, there is virtually no corruption and bureaucracy. When I left Germany, my friend, a Frenchman of Maracanic descent, took me to the train station and forgot to take his car documents and rights with him. At the station he was stopped by a policeman. Imagine what our policeman did in such a situation! The German policeman asked how much time we had to the train. Having learned that 20 minutes, he said that he would have time to check our documents. While my friend was shot through the base, the policeman asked how we liked in Hof. After checking, we were safely released. In Germany, the police treat you as well as the Germans, but once in Baden-Baden I felt that they were talking to me differently from the Germans, apparently because in Baden-Baden there are a lot of Russian tourists who do not always lead yourself well.
Personally, I have a huge interest in German culture and in particular Bavarian culture. In Bavaria, even in the metro you can meet people dressed in national clothes, even young people, and when an Oktoberfest is held in Munich, even tourists dress up in Bavarian outfits.
Oktoberfest:
In Germany, there are a lot of Turkish immigrants, as well as Russian speakers. The latter, unfortunately, do not always make a good impression.
All cities in Germany are close to each other and easily reached by train. Germany is also the center of Europe, with all the attendant delights. Unfortunately, gas prices and rail transportation are very biting. Gasoline now costs about 1.30 euros, and last summer even 1.50 euros. But for a German, a car is not a luxury. All of Germany is literally riddled with excellent German autobahns, where there is no upper threshold for speed limits. There is only the lower one - you cannot drive on the autobahn slower than 60 km / h. In Germany, SUVs are rare because there are excellent roads and expensive gasoline. The Germans also love practical cars, so, for example, you will see many BMW 5 station wagons. Many people prefer trains, but tickets are very expensive by our standards, especially for high-speed trains (called ICE, By the way, Sapsan was already built on the basis of them), but if you buy a ticket in advance, you can buy cheaply on stocks. If you travel often, then there are discount cards up to 50%. In Europe, it is much cheaper than our flight connection. Europeans just love to travel.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell a lot about the work. A foreign student is given the right to work no more than 20 hours a week. During the holidays, I illegally worked as an alpine skiing instructor in Austria, because a work permit is valid only in Germany. The salary was 9 euros per hour, which is about the same as ours. In IT, for sure, to a friend. As far as I know, the starting salary is about 40k per year, excluding taxes. In Germany, as in the European Union as a whole, getting a work permit is quite difficult. You will be issued a work permit only if you already have a signed contract with a German employer and there are no candidates for your place among the Germans. As the practice of my friends shows, it’s possible to move to Germany, you only need to have brains and desire.
Thanks to those who read to the end, I hope I liked it. I will be happy to answer your questions.
I have attached some more photos of different cities (all my photos):
Nuremberg:
Munich (BWM and BMW World headquarters):
Frankfurt am Main:
Bamberg:
Berlin (Reichstag):
Berlin (Imax Cinema)
Neoeschwanstein Castle: