Claudia in Germany

If you have any plans to obtain a German citizenship, you have to take part in Integrationskurs. The course comprises of 2 parts: Sprachkurs (German language course) and Orientierungskurs. I didn't take the Sprachkurs because I already have a B1 certificate from Goethe Institut, which is an equal skill level expected at the end of the Sprachkurs. So I only joined the second part of the Integrationskurs, which is called Orientierungskurs. It's funny because when I started the course, everyone in the class already knew each other including the teacher as well. We started the first day by chatting casually about their B1 exams, and I just sat there listening. In Orientierungskurs we learn the basics about Germany: politics, geography, history, and culture. Which is great for me because I generally love to learn, and I also have always had an inexplicable fascination with World War II era Germany history. Everything is in German, which is why at least B1 level knowledge of the ...

My husband knew I'd never seen snow before, so he took me to Großer Feldberg - the highest point of our state, Hessen - this weekend. I wasn't expecting to see much snow, since we currently have none in our town. However, as we drove further up the hill, and temperature began to drop, I started squealing in delight: what was a fine mist of raindrops began to change into soft snowflakes sprinkled around us. It was such a magical moment for me, something I had only seen in pictures before suddenly came alive all around me. The soft snowflakes perched on the bare tree branches, ground, cars... it was everywhere. By the time we reached the top, I was greeted by a view straight out of a Christmas card, a view that inspired the everlasting holiday song White Christmas and Winter Wonderland; for it was indeed a magical wonderland. It was foggy and monochromatic, it was such an unreal experience for me. "I used to walk to school through this kind of weather," explained ...

Living in Germany is GREAT. I come from Indonesia and I have been living here for nearly 3 months now. Sure, it's a huge helping factor that I live a super smooth married life with a dreamboat husband I never thought I would ever be lucky enough to find - but him aside, it has still been such a wonderful experience to live here. I live in a small town, which is a HUGE change from where I used to live. All my life I had been living in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, with near to 10 million other human beings. My current town, Rödermark, has the population of less than 30 thousand. So I guess it brings me to my first favourite thing about living here... So much nature! The citizens of Jakarta are so used to going to the mall in their spare time. You can do and find just about anything in Jakarta malls - shop, eat, socialise, watch films, bring your kids to play... anything. Also it can get pretty hot and polluted outside, so air-conditioned malls are the most convenie...