SoSe18 AK Organizing an International Welcome: Unterschied zwischen den Versionen

== Protokoll ==

https://protokolle.zapf.in/KwNgpgDCBM0gtMAzATgEbwCwHYkA54U8AzYeYuFaAYwEYATYvNPIA===

The Rathaus is a city registration office. All international students need to register there as soon as possible. In Germany, as required by law, it must be done within 14 working days of your arrival to Germany. For Austria it is 3 working days. So make sure to do this first. Don’t forget to bring your rental agreement for registration.

Most importantly, even if you don’t have a permanent address, you should still go there and give them the details of your temporary accommodation or one of your friend’s addresses, and change it later when you get a new address.  

You should take care of ticks, which are insects living in the forest, in parks or in the grassland. Ticks can transfer diseases like Borreliosis or tick-borne encephalitis (TBE).

The following are the documents regarding these two diseases for further information.

The most important thing is to take your health insurance card with you when visiting your doctor. You can find a doctor via Google or ask your fellow students. You can also call your health insurance hotline number to assist you to and a English speaking doctor.

In emergency cases you have to call 112. They will send an ambulance to bring you to the hospital.

You may feel sick, but you are not so bad that you need immediate medical attention? In that case, it is best to go to your family doctor the next working day. He is your first contact for health problems. After all, he knows you and your pre-existing diseases best and knows which treatment is best for you. You are unsure whether the next working day is still sufficient? Then call 116117. For further information check the following link:

In general, shops are closed on Sundays and public holidays (see holidays section). 

There may be a weekly market (“Wochenmarkt”) where you can buy produce, bread, cheese, meat etc. from local farmers.

Eduroam is a wonderful example of globalization. Please check the following link to find the list of all the universities and research centres connected via Eduroam. 

https://www.eduroam.org/where/ 

In general, if you have an appointment with officials it is important to be on time or even a few minutes before.  

For lectures mind that there are two different time specifications:

s.t (sine tempore) means a lecture will start at precisely the time mentioned.  

For example, 10.00 a.m. s.t means 10.00 a.m.

c.t (cum tempore) means it would start 15 minutes after the mentioned time.  

For example, 10.00 a.m. c.t means 10.15 a.m.

Please check the notice boards and your university website for possible offers for a thesis. In general, it is highly dependent on both the university and the professor. Here is an example:

First of all make an appointment with the professor. You can ask questions like 

1. What are the possible topics? 

2. What are the conditions? 

3. Is there a possibility to visit any conferences or so? 

The public holidays in German speaking countries vary from state to state so check the following link:

Please note that the shops are closed, the bus frequency is low and the time schedule may change.

Keep in mind that there might be some courses or exams during the semester break, so always check before you book tickets for vacation!

In addition to university courses, there are millions of websites, books, apps and several other resources that can help you learn German. Here are some useful resources.

1.      https://learngerman.dw.com/en/languages (Website to learn German)

2.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOtqMNKs0Jw&list=PLYzp2xhTw9W1Z9RvnCoveC0W7pkwUMHXy (Learn German from YouTube video lessons)

3.      https://www.vhs-aktuell.de/programm/german/german-as-a-foreign-language.html (German courses and certification)

4.      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUGhVMaDx7A (A short guide to learning German on your own)

5.      https://dict.leo.org/german-english/ (German-English dictionary)

If you are registered as a regular student, you can work for 120 full days or 240 half days during one year, whenever you want. You need to collect documents about your working time and be able to proof how much you worked if an agency asks you to do so.

Usually, a half day is 4 hours. Everything what is more than 4h is a full day.

You can always ask the international once of your university or you can get the information in the following webpage:

https://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en

In a preparation year you don't take any technical courses, you only do things to prepare your studies like learning German. In case that you are in a preparation year the working rules above are not for you!

Here is a quick video on how to find a part time job in Germany:

There is an app called DB Navigator. You can use it to find public transport connections in Germany. In general, you can use this app to travel within a city or to distant places. It shows the connections of buses, trains and trams as well.

IOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/db-navigator/id343555245?mt=8 

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.hafas.android.db  

Please check out the following link for travelling in Austria:

http://www.oebb.at/en/

Moreover, for travelling long distances, you have many means to travel. For example, you can also use services like DB, Flixbus, Bus radar, BlaBlaCar and Ryanair. These are some ways to travel within Germany and in all of Europe as well.

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml (we suggest to book early for cheap tickets!)

https://www.flixbus.com/ 

https://www.busradar.com/?currency=EUR 

https://www.blablacar.com/ 

Sometimes, you get discounts if you buy a group ticket or weekend ticket, so check for all possibilities before you make a reservation. 

Here is the link to the traffic rules (for Germany)

http://bicyclegermany.com/german_bicycle_laws.html

Here is the link to the traffic rules (for Austria)

https://www.justlanded.com/english/Austria/Articles/Travel-Leisure/Riding-your-bike-in-Austria

Everywhere in Europe you can call the number 112, and they will direct you to the responsible people.

Numbers in Germany: 

Numbers in Austria:

'''4.12 Formal Emails'''

''Please write the convention used in your university, like how should they address professors and so on.''

'''4.13 Other Useful Links'''

''Please add any such links.

=== The discussion of the AK ===

Participating Universities/Anwesende Universitäten:

* Uni zu Köln

* Uni Münster

Discussion:

* Marburg and Darmstadt: international students are all introduced at university in general, not Physics specifically- only vague information for students.

* München: Bachelor studies in German, only Masters in English  

* Oldenburg: introduction week mostly in German, but introduction to online-system of the university and a breakfast with time table assistance specifically in English for international students.

* Ilmenau: GEZ and paperwork are important because they are mostly in German  

* Oldenburg: a lot of work in basic lab is done in two. Often, these pairs are made up of one German and one international student.

* LMU München: most documents are in English too because other universities have it too.

A document was prepared to use as a base of discussion during the AK (https://zapf.wiki/images/3/36/AK_Organising_an_International_Welcome.pdf)

How can it be improved?

There are two different registrational processes to be done by visiting students:

* Visas: often need to be extended during the stay in Germany, so it is crucial for students while they are here. It is important for international students to know the criteria used to decide whether the extension (normally for 3-6 months up to 2 years) ist declared. One of them is:

* Another one is that the local registration at every cities own local register (Rathaus)

* IMPORTANT: Registration and Visa-Extension are not the same thing!

Marburg: Thinks document is good, but doubts that a single document can be used in every city. Some of the pieces of information are too specific. In addition, the students often get a lot of information from the international office.

Siddhu: Two sections: university-independent (general information) and university-dependent (information which differ from university by university).

München: all information for every university should be collected so the universities can delete things that don't apply to them. General points: What is needed? Examples: in Munich the Kreisverwaltungsreferat is responsible for administration instead of the Rathaus. In addition, there are specific rules about the usage of the student ticket. She believes that the text should stay like this and everyone can add or delete the relevant information. The specific informations should be clearly marked.

Alumni: keep in mind that redundancy needs to be avoided- only a short introduction to the Fachschaft and the university, not too extensive.  

Lina: Now, we should start to talk about specific improvements

München: We should add links to international offices for the university.

HU Berlin: good idea to seperate general and specific information.  

Lina: add notice to top that each university should personalize the document.

Alumni: Kid support - people don't need to be married to have kids. More specific information what kind of support exists for students with kids, including links.

HU Berlin: are there international students with kids?

Lina: yes.

Alumni: Facebook pages should not be in the general document.

Gießen: If we want to help students, this is another way for them to get information and we should tell them about it.  

Siddhu: He personally found it helpful to use Facebook as a way of connecting with others who speak English, for example for finding accomodation.

München: change to "Social Media and Websites" to include other social media and websites.  

HU Berlin: Page 6: Deutsche Bahn is private- the other services should not be called private as a contrast. Page 3: evreything about the student ticket should be put in the "Specific"- section.

Oldenburg: The semester ticket is not always mandatory.

From now on the proposed paper will be dealt with from the start  

* Accomodation: include student housing

* Broadcasting fees:  

* Bus ticket:

* Rathaus:  

* Health insurance

* Liability insurance:

* Bank account:  

* Visa extension: no comment for improvement

* Student Managment System

Order should be changed: WIFI before System explanatoin

* University website:

* University Email

* Lectures:

      

* Timings

* Master Thesis

* Holidays

* Mensa

* maximum time for course

      

* student representatives

* additional courses

Suggestions for things to add:

Viele Universitäten bieten zeitweise oder langfristige Wohnmöglichkeiten an, also gucke auch da nach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5f-PDUJGHI

'''2.5 Rathaus '''

Um Informationen über das Rathaus in deiner Stadt zu bekommen kannst du (in Deutschland) die Nummer 115 anrufen.  

In Deutschland: Bitte überprüfe den folgenden Link um herauszufinden, ob die Nummer 115 in deiner Stadt funktioniert. Wenn nicht, lösche die entsprechende Zeile bitte.''

'''2.6 Krankenversicherung'''

Vergiss nie deine Krankenkassenkarte mitzubringen, wenn du einen Arzt/ eine Ärztin besuchst.

'''2.7 Gesundheit (Krankheiten und Impfungen)'''

https://www.bundesgesundheitsministerium.de/en/topics.html

Du magst dich krank fühlen aber brauchst keine unmittelbare medizinische Hilfe? In dem Fall solltest du am nächsten Werktag zu deinem Hausarzt/ deiner Hausärztin gehen. Er oder Sie ist dein erster Kontakt für gesundheitliche Probleme. Vor allem kennt er oder sie dich und weiß über deine bisherigen Erkrankungen Bescheid. Bist du unsicher, ob es in Ordnung ist bis zum nächsten Werktag zu warten? Dann rufe die Nummer 116117 an. Für weitere Informationen siehe folgenden Link:

(Diese Website informiert nur über Orte in Deutschland, aber die Informationen sind in der ganzen EU die selben.)

''' 2.11 Visa Angelegenheiten'''

* Kopie des Visas

* Studienbestätigung deiner Uni

''' 2.12 Leben und Einkaufen'''

Womöglich gibt es einen Wochenmarkt, wo du Produkte, Brot, Käse, Fleisch usw. von lokalen Bauernhöfen kaufen kannst.

Jede Universität hat ein oder mehrere Onlineportale und die angebotenen Kurse Informationen dazu einzusehen. Außerdem können Studierende ihre Studienbescheinigung und eine Notenübersicht auf dieser Plattform herunterladen. Stelle sicher, dass du die notwendigen Daten während der Einschreibung bekommst, um dich in dieses System oder diese Systeme einzuloggen.

XXX  Please add the links for international students. XXX Bitte nenne die Links zu diesen Portalen.''

Wenn du ein Treffen mit einer offiziellen Stelle hast ist es im allgemeinen wichtig pünktlich oder sogar ein paar Minuten zu früh zu sein.

'' Ist das an deiner Universität relevant?''

''' 3.18 Wie findet man eine*n Betreuer*in für die Arbeit?'''

3. Ist es möglich in der Zeit eine Konferenz oder ähnliches zu besuchen?

''' 3.19 Ferien '''

Bitte achte darauf, dass Geschäfte an diesen Tagen geschlossen sind und die öffentlichen Verkehrsmittel seltener (anders) fahren.

''' 3.20 Mensa '''

'' Wo ist die Mensa? Gibt es vegetarische Gerichte und Gerichte mit Fleisch? Wo kann man die Inhaltsstoffe bzw. Allergene einsehen? Wie bezahlt man dort?

'' Text folgt ''