Drinking water

I have been stop posting for nearly a month! Was really enjoy BUSY studying and adapting myself with kind of new life over here. We were having jet lag for nearly two weeks. Germany is 6 hours behind Malaysia, haha, this is kinda interesting for me! It was like, YAY!!! I earned extra 6 hours in my first flight from Malaysia to Germany! 6am in Germany is 12pm in Malaysia, 12am in Germany is 6am second day in Malaysia! (Luckily it's "6" hours difference, not too difficult to be calculated, haha)

I thought I wouldn't have to experience jet lag (because I misinterpret how jet lag actually works). Way back ago I thought jet lag happens when someone couldn't or didn't get enough rest on the flight, and reached the destination in day time with really sleepy and tired body or vice versa, one rested well on the flight and reached destination in night time and couldn't sleep at night. If this is the case, then I wouldn't experience jet lag in Germany, cause everyone who knows me well, knows I always fall asleep easily in any kind of transportation in most condition haha. So flight at 12am Malaysia time and reached at 7am Germany time zone, total 13hours flight, as long as I rested well during the flight, then I will not feeling drowsy the second day. That was what I expected, and yeap, I was SUPER energetic the second day! I was so excited and so nervous from the second In-flight Announcement was announced! My heart beats got really really fast and my palm was so itchy as always when I'm getting nervous! hahahaha This is the dream land that I have been dreaming for so long, and I'm going to step on it, I'm finally on my way! I'm realizing part of my dream, it's not a whole part of it, but at least I fulfilled a little part of it =D And if I keep working on it, IT will one day becomes true!

Back to jet lag: NOOOO!!! Jet lag is not only whether one gets enough sleep in the flight >< But it's also whether biological clock get disturbed, and mine was disturbed! I get so sleepy and lethargic already when it's only 10pm, and wake up at 7am everyday automatically, it sounds so healthy but I need my 10pm to 12am time so badly :( I couldn't stand the drowsiness at all, I couldn't read through more than half page of my study and then I will already fall asleep on my study desk while still holding pen in hand. I was able to stay awake doing revision back in my time as a student in UM (Or it's actually because of aging..? Not jet lag?? uhm... ) Most of the time when I go on bed, I'm asleep within 3 minutes. I will immediately drifting off after lie down. I normally will only get sleepy at 1am or 2am the second day, not at 10pm! And at 7am sharp,YES! most of it SHARP! I wake up automatically and couldn't get back to sleep anymore, this is SOOO abnormal SOOO not me!!! So, I diagnose myself with that symptoms above: I was disturbed by jet laggggg LOL

Drinking water in Germany! Growing up in Malaysia, I was used to drink filtered tap water from certain acknowledged filtration companies, and the filtered water usually goes into a different tap. Water for washing and showering is different from drinking tap water.

But here, drinking tap water is also from kitchen's basin. All in one same tap..
A local lady from a fast food store said the tap water here not good to be drink but another local man told us the tap water is okay to be drink. We also noticed, a lot of people buying bottled mineral water from convenient store/supermarket, but I'm not sure whether they are locals or boarding student like us. 
12 x 500ml bottled water cost 1,99€, and a 1.5ml cost 0,19€. No matter a carbonated bottled mineral water or without carbonate. That is not too expensive.
However, I accidentally found this website telling why Germans don't drink tap water. 
One thing I learned from the article is NEVER offer a German a glass of tap water. They won't like it. Anyway, I don't know how true is this, if I'm wrong, please correct me. 

We decided to buy bottled water from convenient store for daily consume, and boiled tap water for cooking use. But unboiled tap water is safe to be drink too, even tap water from the toilet/bathroom. (but I have and will never give it a try) So if you want to save more, drink tap water will do. 

Of course there is various company selling mineral water, but we chose the cheapest one, haha, and this one has 3 flavour. Our grocery experience here in Aachen was mostly done in a supermarket called "Norma". I think I will have another post talking about doing grocery next time, haha

"Classic" and "Medium" is carbonated / sparkling mineral water, which "Medium" is less carbonated than "Classic", and  "Still" is the regular mineral water. I don't understand why mineral water want to be in carbonated, so I googled: some said because it's not that boring as normal mineral water, some said it helps them to burp, some said carbonated mineral water is not artificially carbonated, it's naturally sparkling. 

This is how a carbonated mineral water looks like. At my first taste of the sparkling water, it's somehow strange for me, we have soda in Malaysia but we don't consume it as mineral water, and here I'm drinking soda as if I'm consuming my daily water intake. But after I've finish drinking, I started to miss the bubbling water. oops

Do not throw away the bottles after you have finish, you paid extra for bottled water when purchasing, besides the 0,19€, you'll be charged for example a 0,25€ per bottle as "Pfand" (Deposit). You can get your $ back when you return it to where you buy from.

But not all bottles are charged for a deposit. So how to recognize whether one is charged for a deposit besides looking into the receipt? You may find it at the packaging tag too,

See the "Pfandflasche"? With this tag above, you can feed the machine called "Pfandautomat" with your bottles to reclaim your deposit. The bottles are either accepted or rejected depends on whether they are in the correct machine.

 Otherwise, a bottle without "Pfandflasche" will probably have the regular recycle symbol on it. This one is not charged for deposit.

We are lucky cause staying very near to Norma where we buy bottled water from, and this is the machine we are using to reclaim Pfand. The yellow piece of paper on the machine written "Ab sofort können Sie sämtliche PET-Einwegflaschen  und Getränkedosen hier zurückgeben" meaning you can return all the "Einwegflaschen" and beverage cans here. Please be noted, there are Einwegflaschen and Mehrwegflaschen.
Einwegflaschen: the bottle is used only once and then destroyed,  and
Mehrwegflaschen: bottles will be return to producer, get cleaned and reused.
Different kind of bottle will be charged differently for Pfand.

How it works? As easy as ABC, just feed the machine with your bottles, 

After you are done feeding, press the green button, 

Take the slip, proceed to cashier counter and show them your slip, you will get back your refund. The slip can be used to pay directly for your shopped goods too. Just show them your receipt before paying and the deposit value will be deducted from the amount you have to pay.

I have 5 Leergutbon total value of 4,25€, I bought 5,37€ goods. 5,37€ deduct 4,25€, so I will only need to pay 1,12€.

Okay, that's all!

Amsterdam to Aachen

Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport is an all-in-one airport. After we collect our luggage and pass the passport control desk, we tried to look for a train station. We have already bought a train ticket on the internet in Malaysia from Amsterdam to Aachen, it cost us approximately RM110. You may buy the train ticket on the spot at airport as well, they have the ticket machine there, but I am not sure whether these machines are manned. We bought the train ticket from "B SNCB Europe", alternative, you may try DB Bahn too. We printed out the ticket and have it with us all the way. Surprisingly, there weren't any ticket checking counter nor a ticket inspector before entering the train. But this doesn't mean that you can take free ride, because they do surprise ticket inspection. If you get caught for deliberately cheating, they'll fine you heavily. 

We are total in 3, one is S.Lady and another one is Lgirl, because she look just like a little girl though we share same birth year. L.girl has prepared a small note about our train routes and station information, and we depend a lot on that note. Not only to show people the station we wanna proceed next when we couldn't pronounce it correctly, also for us to remember which station we should get down. 

From Schiphol station --> Amsterdam Zuid --> Utrecht Centraal --> Heerlen --> our final station, Aachen Hauptbahnhof (Aachen Central Station), it took approximately 3 hours.

Scenery all the way from Amsterdam to Aachen was great, green wide countryside field with trees on horizon and blue sky above, white fluffy sheep, black and white dairy cattle, horses... WOW!!! 

hahaha, sorry if I sound like an idiot, but that's really super amazing for me. =D

Some might ask why don't we spend some time at Amsterdam before travel to Germany. We need to take a placement test in Germany before our class starts, activate our Blocked Account with Deutsche Bank, register ourselves in Aachen state and others, and with 30kg weighted luggage for each, that would be so difficult to move around. Thinking back the moment 3 of us getting our 6 months luggage up to train-floor level and next station moving it down to platform, it was like a tragedy!

Aachen Hbf, our final destination

First day in Aachen was a mess, after we got our apartment key, we spent our another half day cleaning it. Two bed rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. Our apartment is just next to street, on second floor, 7 mins walking distance to city, 3 mins walking distance to market and convenient store... Just great situated. But we having difficulties in recognize the road in our first day, we thought we are living in a rural area, no shopping center, no market, no nice restaurant... we found all these the second day.

Our first meal in Germany, it cost us 4,80€. I started to miss Malaysia food so much... Nasi lemak, sambal, roti planta, 幹撈板面, 雲吞面, char kuew tew, curry mee, taufu bok, slurrrp... even maggie mee!!!

it's 14th Oct 2012!

Actually it's already 16th of Oct when I'm writing this. =) And it's chill over here.

I'm writing from Aachen.

We received a call from German Embassy on 1st of October as promised, and we were told that our VISAs are ready. Hahahahaha hahahahahahahaha is the best two words to describe my feeling at that moment if you wanna ask me how do I feel. Thinking back to that moment as I'm writing this paragraph makes me smile.

When the day is getting nearer, the feeling of excited is fading away over time. What replaces the feeling is 舍不得、不舍得。How should I translate this word into English? I knew it's only 6 months leaving my home land behind, and will be back for sure after that, but leaving my parents really doesn't make me feel good. I thank them for their understanding and being supportive all the time, not only moral support but also paying for my living expenses here in Germany. Everything times 4 here, when you read 1€ on the price tag, it actually cost RM4. I convert everything into RM because my parents aren't earning in €.

It was a Saturday night. My parents drove me to my eldest sis's house in PJ one day before the flight. We sleep in one bedroom, me, my dad and my mum. Sharing the same atmosphere for one last night in 2012.

At the airport, in front the departure gate, we hugged, hugged and hugged, and finally we were all in tears. "There will be only me, dad and your youngest sis next year Chinese New Year..." mum said this when she is tearing on my shoulder, and it shattered me into thousand pieces... Me and my mum are the most sentimental one in our family, we cried easily whenever it's related to loved one. My eldest sis and my bro in law left earlier, because laughter and tears are both contagious. My dad and my bf had not shed a single tear that night,

   "why you no cry??" 

Me and my friends ran away from the crowd before we loose control. Like screening a movie, we shouted out our last good bye and ran towards the escalator. It was fun, I think it was fun, but my laughter were mixing with tears. I am on my way to achieve my dream, a dream since 17 years old, and I am leaving my parents, who I have been living together since I were born. MIXED feeling, isn't it?

We kept walking until they couldn't see us anymore, we stopped and wipe our tears away before passing the security screening and passport control desk. One asked, and another answered. "Are my eyes still red? Am I looking normal?" "Okay, you look just alright."

Flight MH016, seat no.C28, 11:55pm.
Sitting in between 4 men, in their middle-age, big tummy, those who flirt hostess making me feeling really sick. big YUK!!!

First meal of the flight was either beef or chicken chop. I chose chicken chop, it served with mashed potato, some carrot balls, broccoli(my favourite) and a bread. I am a pescatarian (A person who eats fish and shellfish but not meat), I left the chicken chop alone and finish the rest. I weren't satiated, but I think I already consumed enough calories. I slept from 3am to 9am Malaysia time. Morning breakfast with a choice of continental breakfast / scrambled egg with chicken sausage / nasi lemak with shrimp sambal. NASI LEMAK with SHRIMP SAMBAL!!! I prayed so hard, hoping no one choose that! But god doesn't heard it, there is only scrambled egg with chicken sausage left when it's my turn. Well, not too bad, at least scramble egg was the main dish, not the chicken sausage. haha, I really thought I have the chance to taste nasi lemak again for last time in 2012.

This is the very first time of mine flying to an Europe country.

45 minutes before landing, there was a short video introducing Amsterdam Schiphol Airport where we going to land on. There I finally got the feeling. I am reaching! Yes, to a land where I have dream for so long. We land on Amsterdam at Malaysia time 1:05pm, 15th Oct 2012. =)

it's 10:35pm, 16th Oct here and it's 4:35am 17th Oct in Malaysia.

Hand in our visa application

After I've gathered all needed documents, I proceed to German Embassy as soon as possible which is on 4th of Sept, well, still not fully armed with confidence, because they always have their rights to reject your application. I met up with my friend S.Lady at Lobby, we were so excited! After all we've been through so many obstacles, finally we are here to hand in our application.

Did I mentioned we actually went to the Embassy a day before? It was 3rd of Sept and we nearly back with empty hand cause the guards at ground floor told us embassy is not open due to our National Day. Luckily I called to the embassy before leaving because I remember on its website, they said they only close on 31st Aug, Friday. Not until I hand my mobile to the guard to let him speaks with the embassy's receptionist, he wouldn't willing to let us enter. The guards got offended when the receptionist told him "Yes, we do open today"(the call was on LOUD speaker XD), cause back to few minutes ago they were telling me embassy is not open with so much confidence even I told them I just called embassy and they are open.

We went there for our first attempt, and the another consular, the kind-hearted-one suggested us to write in German since we graduated from Bachelor in German Language & Linguistic. We went back with a heavy heart, all the way home only one question in our mind "HOW ON EARTH IS IT POSSIBLE TO WRITE ANOTHER MOTIVATION LETTER IN GERMAN BEFORE TOMORROW?" arrghhh... We weren't using German for more than a year, and out of sudden we need to write a long letter in German... Ya, be frankly, I really have no confidence on writing a motivation letter in German, at that moment.

I start directly after I'm home, because I only have not more than 24 hours to complete it (T口T) To be more precise, I need at least 6 hours to sleep, and I still have to work after that (I applied 2 hours leave), so plus minus I only have not more than 6 hours. DAMN, I knew it was merely a suggestion from her saying this may increase my chances to get a Visa, and I know she doesn't mean compulsory, but if you were in my situation, I think most of you who really need the Visa desperately will agree to come back with a German version of M.Letter. So do I. :((((

Hmmpf

I always believe nothing is impossible, and if there is, it's just a matter of time.

Have you ever heard of Google translate? Yes, of course you do and you knew that Google's translation is always not 100% accurate and some(most of the)time, it gives super funny translation for example phrasing error or a totally different version of the original text. With luck, I found this website, Lang-8, where a native speaker helps non-native speaker to correct their writing. I posted my motivation letter on it after I've done writing, and pray for some kind native speaker to correct any grammar mistake I did. I get on bed at 3:30 in the morning, exhausted! I wasn't that young anymore ='( My body couldn't stand to burn midnight oil like I always did last time. GEEZ

The second day I wake up (or should I say 3 hours later) with surprise seeing there's already correction done on my letter =DDD Thanks! I really appreciate the help from the people, (as return, I help the others in Mandarin).

Back to first paragraph --- yes, we were excited, but with panda eyes on us.
This time we need to deal with the always-impolite-consular, when we hand in our German motivation letter to her, she has the crooked smile on her face again. She talked something with her colleague, the kind-hearted one, while reading our letter, we couldn't hear it, there's a glazed window between us. But I swear, we won't like to know what she was saying too. Her witched smile tells everything. And I was right, the first sentence from her after she is satisfied playing with her one-side-higher-smile, "How is it possible to write this since you said you couldn't write in German yesterday? Did you have someone to write it for you?" with a very suspicious tone!

I wish I can scold her with any harsh words that I can think of.
Regrettably I'm just a coward "No, I didn't say that yesterday, I said I'm worried I couldn't write as good as last time because it has been a year I never practice my German."

After so many times dealing with this impolite lady consular, me and my friends having one same question: why is this Malaysian want to impede our way to Germany? She can speak German (very fluently) so I assume she went there before and for sure has been through the same application process like us too. So why? The way she answers question impatiently, the way she puts on her facial expression, the way she talks impolitely... Nothing from her service seems to be helpful. I dislike her, very much.

At last, on 4th of Sept, she told us to check on our application status only on 1st of Oct onward. Do not call before that date.

Erm, did I said we plan to fly there on 14th Oct? ...

p/s: we bought our air ticket with Malaysia Airline, fly from KL to Amsterdam and take train to reach Aachen, Germany. Air tic cost us approximately RM1700 (one way ticket) and train tic cost us RM110.

My Motivation Letter (German)

Again and again, this is not a reference of good motivation letter, so please be kind enough for not expecting zero grammar mistake from this letter. And before I forget, I would really love to present you guys who wanna practice your 2nd or  3rd language with a native speaker, Lang-8. I got frequent responses from native speaker after I post something and wishing a correction for my writing. You may find native speaker for various languages from this website and not only German.
Good luck guys!

My motivation letter (English)

Yooo...Motivation Letter!

I don't know how often is a motivation letter required for a student visa application, but you will need to write a motivation letter to apply for Germany's student visa. This post isn't about "How to Write An Impressive Motivation Letter", because  first I am not an expert in this, second I do not speak beautiful English nor able to write in good grammar. But I am here to share my experience with you ;)

This is my very first time on writing a motivation letter. I had no idea how a motivation letter should be. What should I write in the letter? How long should I prepare? Two pages? Or a short one is enough? In what language shall I write? Is it appropriate to start the story from secondary school? Or earlier? and bla bla bla.. I think all newbie thought the same thing as I thought. 

 I googled for some examples on the internet, most of the motivation letter is written for a Master application. Apparently the content are not so appropriate but the letter format and their opening paragraph is quite useful for a newbie like me. If you are thinking of plagiarism, first you have to make sure you and the original writer shared same background, same experience, and you understand what he/she is trying to express in the letter. Because if you are having a tough luck that month, and are called for an interview, I believe there is > 80% the interviewer will ask you question from the text for further explanation~ imagine that! This gonna be the biggest joke if you couldn't answer them.

SO, what exactly should I write in my motivation letter?I wrote a little about myself, my education background, my study plan in Germany also my future plan after completed the courses in Germany, not to forget "WHY do you want to study in Germany" too. 
Took out a pen and a piece of paper, I jot down points that I already got, sketched a draft, and there I start my first paragraph. You'll come out with next paragraph automatically after you finish one, so do not try to squeeze out whole letter just by sitting there, you'll just waste your time. This is how I start my letter.

Anyway, I struggled for more than a week to think an answer for "Why do you want to study in Germany?" and I only got myself one reason. However I think that is the most reasonable and powerful reason why I wanna study there -- immersion is the best way of studying a language. Isn't it?

I remembered the consular of embassy once asked me over a phone call, "Why do you want to study in Germany? Why not Malaysia?"I think she was hinting me why not Goethe Institute in Malaysia. I answered her "Because of the environment..." she interrupted rudely, "This is not a solid reason" Dafuq!!! I pointed her my middle finger immediately, of course she will never know it. (Oooppsss...Hoping she is never going to read my blog) Ya, this is the one who made me struggled for more than the reason I already got for myself. If she wasn't the consular, I wanted to shout into her face! "SO?What do you think is the best solid reason? Because Germany has Volkswagen or because she's famous with beer, sausage and pork knuckle?" geez  (==")

I wrote approximately 2 pages, in German. At first I wrote in English, everything seems perfect after my cousins helped me to correct whatsoever grammar mistake or phrasing error that I did, they also helped me to make it sounds much more convincing. But I have to rewrite after my first attempt to hand in my application to German Embassy. Another consular (not the one who always talk impolitely) advised me to write in German since I graduated with degree in German Language. She said, that higher my chances to get a Visa. Sob... I thank her for her kind advice, but that isn't an easy task cause it has been a year I never practice my German after graduate, sob, ya I know, it's all my bad :(
But anyway, task is completed.

 What I wrote in my letter? I mentioned my grade point average (GPA) in SPM, STPM and university, talk about my plan, reason of why Germany and that the language center has accepted my application, accommodation all settled. Listing out enclosed documents as ending. I will post my letter in my next post, I have two versions, one in English and another one in German. 

That's all for today. Good Luck!
See ya