Hurray, I am in Germany

Bahasa Indonesia - Deutsch

My ex pupil, Ichel, remembers her stay in Germany. This graduate from Swiss German University, Serpong, has spent a practical semester at Fachhochschule Südwestfalen, Soest. Soest is located approximately 40 minutes long from Dortmund.

She and her friends landed in a February in Germany. It rained as they arrived in the airport. It was very cold and also windy. Her first days in Germany were very amazing for her.

Stay in Germany

At the beginning Ichel and a friend rented an apartment (in a Holiday apartment) in Soest. The monthly hire charge was €750. It was furnished and there was a kitchen. They also got blankets. The price was including refuse collection fee, etc.. Once in a week the bedroom was cleansed. But Ichel & her friend themselves must cleanse the kitchen.

Afterwards Ichel stayed in Holzminden, approximate 1,5 hour long from Hannover. The house, in which she stayed, consisted of 3 storeys. The owner was on the ground floor. On the 1^st floor that was someone else. Ichel and her friends, German students, were on the 2^nd floor. There were 4 flats and Ichel had her own flat.

Ichel has already sought the flat from Indonesia before. She found advertisement in internet. But one may rent it, only if one meets the landlord. She was lucky, because she didn’t need to pay the deposit from Indonesia before. She found there were some landlords who demand the deposit before. Therefore one must transfer the money from Indonesia.

As Ichel was already in Soest, she met the landlord on a weekend and signed the lease.

The hire charge in a small city Holzminden was €220 per month. In bigger cities the hire charge would be €270, could be even more. With €220 Ichel got a private room with size 30 m² and a furnished kitchen (There were water heater, microwave, oven, toaster, coffee machine, refrigerator, etc.).

There were heating and cupboard in the bedroom. But one must still buy bedding and a pillow by oneself. Usually German landlord doesn’t give any pillow. Then Ichel went to IKEA, where one can buy household articles with cheap prices and the quality of the goods were OK. She bought a pillow, a blanket and a sheet.

How happy Ichel was: it has worked well with the flat. :-)

Actually there is a WG (Wohngemeinschaft, kind of apartment in Germany), which is usually cheaper, but one must share kitchen and bathroom in a storey. In a storey there are usually 10 persons. Many students like to live in a WG. A friend of Ichel has stayed in a WG in Bochum, where many Indonesian pupils / students lived. That WG consisted of 18 storeys. In every storey there were 20 rooms: left 10 rooms, rights 10 rooms. For 10 rooms there were 2 bathrooms, 2 toilettes and a kitchen available.

Ichel preferred to have all privately. :-)

The Means of Communication

The internet is an important thing, which can help a lot. Ichel bought a Vodafone SIM-card. There was a package, which cost €65. With €65 one got a SIM-card, term of 5 months, internet quota of several GB, 100 sms per month, 100 minutes Telephone in the whole of Germany. If the internet usage exceed the quota, the internet still works, but with low speed. If sms and telephone exceed the quota, then the cost must be paid with normal price. But Ichel didn’t know, how much it is.

Of course, Ichel needed to communicate with her family in Indonesia. But she controlled her telephone- and internet usage.

So, it was a short story, how Ichel started her life in Germany.

The following short scene is only an illustration, how to find an apartment in Germany.