This is it folks! I leave for Germany in 4 days and knock on wood, but I think I'm ready. I picked up my Euros this morning which was the second to last thing on my checklist. If you bank with American Savings, they have a really convenient way to simply order foreign currency online and pick it up in any branch. You don't have to bring in cash to exchange, they just take it out of your bank account.
There is one final thing on my check list, and that is to scan and make copies of all of my important documents. Here's what I'll be copying...
I'll be making copies to leave at home with my parents as well as a digital copy to leave on a USB with them. I'll also be bringing copies with me in my carry on, since I'll need a lot of this stuff when I matriculate anyways. After this, I just need to pack and I'll be ready to go! Next time I check in, I'll be in Germany. Bis bald!
0 Comments
If you've been keeping up to date with my blog, you know I haven't left for Germany quite yet (9 more days!) I get a lot of questions about what I've been doing for this incredibly long winter break of mine. I know that my school as well as a lot of schools across Asia have later start times than here at Mānoa, so it's important to figure out a way to occupy your time while you're waiting to depart. For me, I've been keeping busy with work and a couple classes here.
I've been working a lot of extra hours with my job as an RA as well as doing a lot more cross stitching for 99 Stitches. It's good to build up some extra spending money so you can really enjoy your time abroad. But I figured now would also be a good time to knock out some writing intensive classes since my schedule is a lot more flexible now than it will be next year. I'm taking two classes here at Mānoa, LTEC 448 which is completely online as well as LING 102 which is self directed. I made sure that I told my professors at the beginning of the semester that I will be studying abroad, and this is really vital when you're trying to figure out if you can manage an online class (or classes) as well as your studies once you're abroad. Fortunately, a lot of students studying abroad have taken LTEC 448 so it's been a good class to fulfill a writing intensive AND ethics requirement! My linguistics class is self directed, which means I read the textbook on my own time and I go in to take quizzes on each unit whenever I'm ready. I have two quizzes left to take and then I'll be done with all of the in-person work. I've already written four essays for that class, and there's a final paper due closer to the end of the semester. All papers are submitted digitally, though, so I'm confident I'll be able to manage. I highly suggest doing an online/self directed course or two if you have a later start time at your university abroad. It's been a good way to stay in the mindset of school and I'm glad I'll get these extra credits. I still haven't registered for my classes at Tübingen, but I'm really excited for those too. You get to attend an orientation with your department before deciding on classes so I won't fully know my schedule until mid April. I did submit a bunch of course petitions through Shidler (make an appointment at OSAS if you need help!) using the course catalog Tübingen posted online. My university isn't a Shidler partner school, so there were no existing course equivalencies. If this happens to you (or if you find a class at your school that isn't listed with an equivalent on the Shidler website), then try to submit a course petition! You don't want to get back after a semester and find out nothing transfers. Anyways, barely a week until I leave! I'm really excited for this new adventure... time is flying by! .... or in English, my plan for my first day in Germany!
My departure date is fast approaching and with only 15 days left until I leave, I feel oddly at peace. I think the key to this level of calm is making tons of lists and getting things done EARLY. Like I talked about in my last post, there's gonna be bumps in the road no matter what. What matters is that you make sure those bumps happen early enough in the road so that you have time to fix them... which leads me to today's topic. Working in student housing here at Manoa, I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what to expect once I got to my dorm in Germany. As a Resident Assistant, we check people in to their rooms whenever they arrive--even if that happens to be at 5 in the morning or 11 at night. When I booked my plane ticket, I didn't really think through when I would arrive in Tübingen because I figured I could just head straight to my dorm and check in. The thing is, I won't arrive until 5-ish on a Friday and by that point, my Hausmutter will be off for the day.... and the rest of the weekend. Which means I can't check into my room for 2 days! With a little bit of research I found that there's a youth hostel right next to campus that only costs about $25 per night. I went to book my room and also found that I need to be a member of Hostelling International to stay there. I'm glad I figured that out while I had access to wifi, because I was able to quickly sign up and pay $18 for my year long membership. I can use this membership to stay at tons of different hostiles across Europe (note: most hostels require that you are a member of HI before you can stay with them, and you can sometimes get discounted rates with a membership, so try and figure it out before you leave!) Now I just need to make sure I bring enough Euros or a Visa/Mastercard credit card to pay for my quick stay. I'm actually pretty excited to stay in a hostel for my first couple nights in Germany. It's right on the Neckar river in a super beautiful area of Old Town, so I'm looking forward to adventuring. During the spring and summer, they even have punting contests on the Neckar where people race row boats down the river. Anyways. 15 DAYS!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!! I am the queen of preparation. I've had a running list of things to accomplish for study abroad since last summer. I'm thankful that I have everything else under control (seemingly) because I just ran into a little obstacle. I was under the impression that I would be allowed to be exempted from getting student health insurance in Germany because I paid for insurance through the MIX office. However, I just found out that I will need to be covered by a German health insurance provider..... Students from non-EU universities are required to get coverage under a German health insurance company, and since I'm from Hawaii. Well. Yeah. You get it.
I'm currently in the process of applying for health insurance coverage with Techniker Krankenhaus, Germany's largest health insurance fund. They also came recommended by the international student advisor at my university since they have an office nearby campus. I will have to complete a form and email it back to them, and once I arrive in Germany I'll go into their office and finish up any remaining paperwork and get my proof of insurance for matriculation. The good news is that I'll be super covered in case I need to go to the doctor, dentist, or the hospital. The bad news is that I will have to pay about 75 euros a month, which isn't exactly something I factored into my budget. Lesson learned: leave wiggle room in your budget in case you're surprised and have to be double insured while abroad. I'm glad this is something I figured out before I got to Germany, because scrambling for documents isn't something I would want to do. 25 more days! It's real, folks! As I was preparing for Germany, I was worried about getting a Visa. Before deciding to study abroad I hadn't even had a passport since 2008 (it expired in 2013...) Luckily, the Campus Center Ticketing Office here at Mānoa does passport processing as well as passport photos. I submitted my application through the Ticketing Office on August 31st and received my new passport in the mail by the end of September! The whole process only took 10 minutes, so I was stressed for nothing.
The next step was to call the German consulate and ask about obtaining a student Visa. I had friends who studied in Asia and they all warned me to get it done as soon as possible. Well.... after a couple emails between Tübingen and an unnecessary call to the German consulate in San Francisco, I found out I don't need a Visa! As a resident of the United States, I do not need to have a Visa to enter the country. However, once I arrive in Tübingen I will need to go through the process of matriculation, as I will be there for more than 3 months. This is basically the process of becoming an official student at my university so that I will be allowed to stay and study for the entire semester. There are a bunch of documents that I need to bring with me, but thanks to the German way of organization and precision I'm not really worried. I will keep you all updated as I go through the process of matriculation but for now I'm just glad I'm not scrambling for a Visa. P.S........ 37 more days until I leave! Ahhh! |