What you need to know if you plan to move to Germany in 11 Steps: Step 7 The Phone

You are new in Germany, and you problably don't know anyone, or you know very few people. But even the first week you will get phone calls from the bank, from the insurance company, from your landlord... and you might have given your spanish, french, english number. And every time you get a phone call, you will also pay a part of it (you can have a look to your local roaming conditions). And if you get to know someone (your first friend in town!) you will want him or her to have your German number, so you can have a plan for the weekend! So getting a phone number on the first week is a must!

You may remember our post about the banks. The case is very similar when we talk about phone companies. You will arrive wherever you have moved and you will have the impulse of going to a nice mobile phone shop (O2, Vodafone, Telecom...). You can go and ask for their prices but keep your wallet in your pocket! Go to Starbucks with your laptop (I guess you still don't have internet connection at home) and compare them with companies that only offer online services (Fonic,  Fyve, 1&1...). Your main priorities should be:

1.  A contract that can be cancelled monthly (don't get stuck in a 2year contract)
2.  Cheap European rate (fonic offers european phone calls to landline numbers for 9ct/min)
3.  Flatrate including phone calls, sms and internet, not more expensive than 20€/month

They won't try to award your fidelity with some cool smartphone, or ridiculously cheap offers, so don't even try it. You will be treated as if you were doing them a favor, get ready for this.

I give you a similar advice if you want internet flat rate at home, but in this case, and even if this advice sounds stupid and for dummies... READ THE CONTRACTS!! yes, they are in German! and they won't translate them for you, or give you a copy in English! Take them home, ask a German colleague, whatever. But they love to "give" you USB Internet Surf sticks for free, until you receive your modem... You might sign the contract and then have to pay for its cancellation once you realize you are paying for something you have never used... Real case, I already know 3 people who suffered this abuse and one of them it's me!

Now you are ready for chatting, smsing, calling, internet surfing and socializing!!! (well, if mobile phones damage social relationships or not can be a topic for another post...)

Get prepared to the May European elections - Election 101 Why do we vote?

On 22-25th of May is coming the european election. I am very excited because it will be the first time that as a french person I can vote in Germany to elect my representative. So proud to be European! However, it is well-known that the abstention rate is very low for this election and this is a pitty! Therefore I want to start a serie of post to help you get prepared to this elections. Now, let's start by the  basics. 

Election 101- Why should you vote? 

Wikipedia Definition: Voting is a method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an opinion—often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns. Democracies elect holders of high office by voting.

We live in democratise and we are citizens. By voting, you are given the chance to express an opinion to the people taking decision which impact you life. We always talk how lucky we are to live in a Democratie. But are we using this privilege? According to my opinion, when you don't vote, NO.  A very simple argument, people died so that you have this right and nowadays people are dying to get this right. Just for that we should feel very great full and use this right.

This election is about Europe. Europe is a great success and needs to continue, we are all benefiting from the disparition of boundaries, the euro makes our life easier everyday, opportunity to work in all european countries. Those are unique features around the world. The end of WWII is only 70 years ago. What do we want for the future of Europe? If you feel concerned, you should definitely give your voice in May.

I invite you to look this spot of the EU, as a teaser to the election.

To help you get prepared, I will publish in the next weeks post related to the election, if you have any question, don't hesitate to ask me and I will try the help answer them.
This are the first questions I will answer :
Why do we need to vote to this elections?What are we voting for? Who is the european parliament? What are they doing?What is at stake in May? 
How to vote in Germany as a European citizens?

Taking pictures in the Arctic Circle

Last weekend I was in Tromso. Tromso is a small city in the north of Norway. And when I say in the north, I mean in the north north, almost in the north pole!

Sometimes it's not easy to understand why three Spanish girls go sooo north just when the spring starts in the cold and rainy Bremen... But we wanted to see the polar lights or Aurora Borealis. There are three main conditions to see them:
1. go to the very north of the Earth --> check!
2. plan your holiday somewhen until April --> check!
3. It has to be cold but NOT cloudy --> yes, it was freezing, but it snowed non-stop the two nights we spent there... so it was extremely cloudy :-S

Of course you have to plan the holiday some weeks before and you cannot know when it's going to snow, rain, or be completely cloudy. That's why we decided to plan a perfect weekend with lots of activities, in case we couldn't see the lights:

We slept in a "sami" camp around a fire (which extinguished in the middle of the night...),

we tasted typical food (I'm not going to say what animal it was, just in case Santa Claus is reading this post...)

we made dog sledding,

we went into a jacuzzi in the middle of the mountains while snowing around (ok, I was so cold I couldn't make it to put out my clothes! but my friends could! )

we did sightseeing around the Norwegian fiords... yes, the clouds vanished a couple of hours before leaving... I'm sure the people who stayed an extra night could see the lights...

It was anyway an amazing holiday, you cannot miss the sami experience in the mountains!! And it's a perfect opportunity if you have a reflex and want to take amazing pics!!!

The check-List when you move

You saw the series of article about, what are the things you need to do when you move to Germany. My German adventure is taking a break as I will be going back to France for a few years because of my work. I lived during the last 10 years in 7 cities spread around 4 countries.

At some point I thought "I am a moving expert ". FALSE. No moving are alike. But still, some points are always there.

Here my check list to move

1. Decide on the date to move

2. Let your tenants/Flatmates know about it (at least 3 months in advance)

3. Sort out your clothes ( Tip : If you did not wear them during at least a year, you should give them away)

4. Finally sort out all the paper work from the last years

5. Buy some cartons

6. Put some add on internet to sell the furnitures you are not taking with you (Tip : If people come to take them from your home, you don't have to help them, otherwise, if you break something during the transport... it is less money for you)

6. Decide if you rent a car or take a company to make the moving. Start the market study and make some reservations and let your friends know if you need some help!

7. Go to the post and order to have the mail following to the new address

8. Give a notice of moving to the Bank, Health Insurance, Sport club...

9. Take a few days off to make all of this stuff

10. Put your life in the less amount of boxes possible... Challenge accepted (I am at 8 boxes and 2 suitcases, who can beat me?)

11. Take a relaxation course to survive the mess with Zenitude

12. Plan a goodbye Party

13. Think about the good moment you had in this city and all the awesome moments you will have in your new life

14. Jump and Enjoy

First Photos with my new Reflex Camera

This year the Three Wise Men brought me the most incredible reflex camera ever. I was a really good girl last year, and here is the evidence!

Since this is my first reflex, I have no idea how it works or which are its capabilities. I've been using the automatic mode since January... That's why I will make this camera my...:

Next technology challenge!

, and I hope I can discover the artist sleeping (almost dead) in me.

So the first step was to join a course called: my reflex camera, how the hell it works? (or something like this... ) The course wasn't bad, but next time I will be sure the course has a part where you go out and take pictures... it was full of theoretical concepts and description of all the menus IN GERMAN. I mean, I speak German, I understand German, but I don't speak or understand "German for photographers", and neither does my camera (with Spanish menus)... So my efforts to try to translate what the teacher meant with Schlitzverschluss, Offenblendenmessung or Spiegelvorauslösung made me want to hurt him... I guess my colleagues had time to take pictures while the teacher was helping the child with special needs (me)

Nope, not a good experience. But what doesn't kill you make you stronger, and I took my camera last weekend and I decided to learn by doing, so these are my very first baby steps:

I will keep trying, but for the moment I just want to thank the japanese Nikon engineers for creating such a great automatic mode!

What you need to know if you plan to move to Germany in 11 Steps: Step 6 The Insurances

It's a fact, Germans love insurances. Ask anyone, they have a just-in-case insurance for everything: laptop, smartphone, bike, extra-medical insurance, insurance in case you rent a car and you get stuck in the middle of nowhere... They feel saver, and they don't mind to pay; if something happens, it will be worth it!

In your germanization phase you must get at least two insurances (apart from the compulsary medical one, Krankenversicherung): Hausratversicherung and Haftpflichtversicherung. According to my bank advisor, you cannot walk around the city without them! I tried it the first day, and it somehow worked, but I contracted them on the next day because I couldn't sleep...

Hausratversicherung: in some cases, you will be forced to have one and give a copy of the extract once you get an apartment. It covers the damages you may cause in case your washing machine starts throwing water away like a sprinkler and the neighbour finds a pool where there used to be a bathroom... or your cooker gets on fire and you turn the paint in the common corridor into gray. Be sure you inform the insurance company if you move to a new apartment, since you will pay more or less depending on the square meters and the insurance must be related to a given address. I couldn't be more proud of my insurance last week, when my flatmate and I woke up and found two centimeters water on the floor of the whole apartment...

This is me wearing my pyjamas and gumboots on a Sunday at 9 am,
with my friend Fran, trying to get rid of the water...

Haftpflichtversicherung: this one will be useful if you go to a party at your friend's place and you unfortunately pour your beer on his laptop... you'd better have this insurance if you don't have the money to buy a new one... and if you don't want to loose a friend forever!


They cost between 50 and 100 euros per year each, depending on the conditions and the insurance company. Most banks have an affiliate insurance company, in case you want to save time by comparing insurances. In case it's money what you want to save, have a look at http://www.check24.de/versicherungen/.

Travelling in Germany with the Train

Every one knows about the nice cars and the autobahn. You can drive very fast and enjoy your VW or Mercedes. During the years I learned to love the train. You can be flexible, relaxed. In this post, I will give you some tips to get cheaper rates and enjoy at most your rides.

1. Get to your Bahncard

 For long distance buy a Bahncard 25. You will get 25% off on all prices long distance. To start, you can get one to start which last 3 months. If you book in advance you can get very advantagous prices and time to time you get some coupons to get someone travelling with you. At last but not at least, you get the public transportation from you home to the train station and from the final trainstation to your final destination included. Very very convenient!

TIP: Always book your long distance trip online then you get the sparpreis!

2. Travel in groups as much as you want

For a spontanous getaway/city hopping, you have the Niedersachsen Ticket. With this ticket you can travel within the lander with regional trains for 22 euros as you want in one day, and for 4 euros/person more you can be up to 5 people on this ticket. Perfect if you want to go with your friends to a concert from Bremen nach Hamburg for the evenning, or if like me you have a baby shower in the afternoon in Braunschweig and you need to be in the evenning in Hamburg but you live in Bremen. You get to see the land, look outside, read books. And maybe you will end up in some of the crazy train stations of german villages like in Uelzen designed by Hundertwasser.

If you have time, book a "quer-durchs-deutschland" ticket for 44e. Same concept up to 5 people but all over germany.

TIP : Avoid the times before and after soccer games, otherwise thoses train get filled by drunken football fans. Or pay more and go in the Express Train (ICE, EC)

What about women's day? Ten reasons why women's needs to be celebrated

This Saturday is March the 8th : Women's day. I would like you to think about the meaning of this day.

 

Why women's day? 

1. Because we need more women in politics, leadership position, peacemaking position, business, everywhere!

2. Because women are underrepresented. 

3. Because at some point in their career they are less paid than men and meets a glass ceiling

4. Because in many places in the world, women are no one, have no right, cannot vote, drive, take decisions

5. Because in some regions, girls cannot go to school

6. Because women are victims of violence such as domestic violence and rape

7. Because, I am an engineer and I've often got the comment "it is not really normal for a women to be an engineer?” I want to live in a society where this is seen as normal

8. Because in a work environment, from women in her late 20's, telling your boss you have good news, or you don't drink alcohol means directly "Are you pregnant?"

9. Because when a pretty girl gets a job, people often think she got the position because of how she looks like but not based on her skill

10. Because it is not only about women but also about all the society and mankind which have to think which is the place they want to give to women and how they want to contribute

11. Because we celebrate all the women that fought for more equality between men and women

How to learn a language once and for all: My Tandem Experience

A couple of months ago I decided to start learning French. Well, I had French at school and I remember I was able to have a conversation but that was long long ago and I don't remember a word. Mmm that's not true, I can understand French quite good but I cannot even say a proper "oh la la!"

I bought grammar books, novels, I joined internet courses, and I guess Emma didn't see any improvement, because she found me a TANDEM.

First, what the hell is a tandem? Some people have asked me if I had bought a bike with two seats...

That would be also great, and it's somehow related to this concept, but I meant I found a French-speaking person who wants to practice Spanish while he helps me with my French! (Emma is French and she is actually learning Spanish, but why we are totally unable to speak any other language than German with each other is part from another post...)

When you meet: whenever you have time for a coffee/beer
Where you meet: wherever, but I recommend a pub or cafeteria
How long you meet: so long as you like (2 hours?)
Price: for free!!! (or a couple of euros if you want something to drink)
How it works: you start a normal conversation or you prepare some topics, but it's important that you speak 50% of the time in one language and 50% in the other

It's a great method for learning a language and you may find good friends! I am really looking forward to meeting David (my tandem) again and see our improvements after some weeks!

Of course this tandem thing makes even more sense if you move to a new country and you need to learn the language and get to know people. You can easily find people looking for tandem partners in Facebook or language academies of your city.