Dear KollegInnen,
You who have been lucky
enough to get the Erasmus scholarship for
Let me now make the first comment before I
even start: If you do not speak German yet, start learning NOW. Fair
enough that you will study Anglistik and it is also
true that the majority of people (especially the students) will be more than
happy to practice their English, however speaking (or at least trying hard
enough) to speak German will make your life an awful lot easier and pleasant on
the day to day basis (red tape, shopping, travelling, even notice boards at the
English department…). So please do not underestimate this and do something
about it.
There is one good news:
Englisches Seminar has its own Erasmus
Büro with an online Erasmus Tour for which you can register once you are told you are given the scholarship. So
check it out now please (available both in German and English):
www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/englisch/erasmus/tour
You should
be able to find answers to hopefully just about any of your questions there.
How to apply for the Zulassungsbescheid, the
deadlines, how to apply and get accommodation, how to get through the red tape
jungle after your arrival…
Links to other useful student-related sites.
The
following lines follow roughly the format of the Erasmus Tour but point out
potential problems a Czech student might encounter when trying to follow it.
Fill in the online Antrag
auf Zulassung and the forms you were provided by
the Masaryk Uni.
Have a look at the net and choose the hall of residence you would like
to get (plus two replacement options as you might not get your first choice)
Send these to the Erasmus Büro. And wait.
You might be asked to pay a deposit on your
room even before you get the scholarship. You could try and phone up the KSTW
office explaining the situation and agreeing on paying once you get to
As soon as you get the Zulassungsbescheid
start filling in the Visa Application. (If it is a little bit delayed, you can
ask the Erasmus Büro to send you a preliminary confirmation of you having a place at the
university-this should do for the German Embassy).You will need to prove you
have at least 500, EUR per month to live on (so go to the Rektorat
and have the scholarship confirmed plus ask your parents, or use your own bank
account to prove you have enough money on it). You might need to enter your German
address. You might need a lot of patience filling in the forms and queuing to
have your application received.
Get yourself a EUR bank account,
with an international credit card.
Sort out the insurance. The cheapest
one is probably GTS. As soon as you have this, the “visa asked for” sign, the Learning
Agreement and your EUR account number you can go to the Rektorat
to sign the agreement to have the money transferred.
You have basically made it on this side.
Before you leave make sure you arrive in time to immatriculate.
Also phone up the hall of residence to find out what is the furnishing of rooms
like and what amenities are available.
Some Useful Abbreviations
KSTW Kölner Studentenwerk –sorting out
Mensa, Accommodation
ES Englisches Seminar
AAA Akademisches Auslandsamt- you
will need to speak to them if you want to attend the German Language Courses
US Uni
Sport - just great and for free
UB Universität und Stadt
Bibliothek
Get a map.
And have it laminated. All this will cost you 200,- Kc at Geocart. (Sorry I am an orienteer J). Has proved a
very good investment.
For this
have a look at the Erasmus Tour web site, which gives
the clearest guidance probably possible.
Still
I cannot avoid suggesting a few tips:
*Get a campus
site plan. At the info stall in the Hauptgebaude.
*Get the Studentenausweis (Student card you get when you immatriculate and pay the Sozialbeitrag)
ASAP so that you can ride the MHD for free.
*Get a German
bank account-for withdrawing money to pay your rent for. This can be done
on campus, where there is a branch of Stadtsparkasse.
Student accounts are for free.
*Get a Seminarkarte- at Erasmus Buro
or the Secretary’s. Nice and bright-this will be your ticket to the department
library.
*Get a UB
card.
*Get a Mensa card (in the Cafeteria) - used for
booking meals in the Mensa (yummy) and doing your loundry.
*Get a copy
card (from Kiosk at the Philosophikum), can be
charged with cash at the mashines hiding on columns
at various places around the campus (one is definitely on the ground floor in Philosophikum).
*Get your s-mail
account. For this you will need to register at the RZK stall in the main
building. Will enable you to use uni
computers (basically the same as IS.MUNI). (Both in Rechenzentrum
in Berenrather str. and the
CIP pool in the Philosophikum).
*Get a lock-you
will need it for the lockers. To be purchased from the Kiosk in Philosophikum. You will find that you cannot enter
libraries with stuff on.
Enjoy it
and make most of it (which of course means different things to different
people… So good luck)
*Shop in Aldi.
*German
courses are generally a good place to meet other (Erasmus) students.
*You might
be surprised by the size of the most Seminars. It is dead easy to hide among 50
people. However the Profs will listen to you and respect you if you have
something to say. You do not be afraid to approach them with whatever comments
or questions you might have (and it is not just because you are a foreign
student). Just make note of the often limited Sprechstunden
and book in time if you need to solve something more substantial.
*If you
like the sound of the courses definitely enroll
in (still done on paper on the office door) with the following people: Richard Azcel, Heinz Antor, Hanjo Berressem. These 3 I can
definitely recommend. (There is also a bulletin issued by the Studentenkolleg Anglistik where
you can find further tips on who and how teaches at the department, also
available online)
*Erasmus
Buro is there for you (note the shifting opening
hours). And people in it are generally very welcoming. They all have some
experience in studying abroad so they can appreciate what it feels like…and
they will speak English to you J.
*Have a
look at the AREF (Auslandische Studenten Referat).
They might have extra events for foreign students. (I went to
*If you
happen to come across some useful stuff lying around on the street just grab
it. This is the German way of recycling (over time I have been able to
furnish my humble room with a
*Get
yourself a bike (just ask around, or go to Bonn - you might get lucky
and see Police unchaining one of the long standing ones and take it home with
you).
*Try the Uni Sport Programme.
From climbing to Freier Tanz
…most of it for free.
*If you’d
like to travel around, make use of the Wochenende
Ticket. For 28 EUR up to 5 people can travel on the local trains at the
weekend. Handy indeed. (We
did Frankfurt, Kassel, Aachen, Trier, Koblenz, Mainz, Düsseldorf...). With your Studentenausweis
you will be able to travel as far as beyond
*Another
traveling option is Mitfahrt. Enter this on
the www.web.de and see what it comes up with.
*For tips
on where to go when you are not busy studying have a look at the Erasmus Buro web site and the Englisches
Seminar (Studentenkolleg) web site. Or the Köln home
page. Or just join the natives.
*Beware of Kölsch.
…After you come back home
Get ready
for acclimatization stage. It will be hard. But you will manage. I found that
the best way to go about it is to laugh or if you do not have the
energy…smile…at whatever comes (be it Czech red tape, university, other
students, people in the streets….)
Some
more on red tape:
*Please make sure you let the Studijni oddeleni know officially that you have come back. That
means in writing. J
*No doubt
you have filled in the Transcript of Records and the Confirmation of
Erasmus Study Period and had it stamped by the Erasmus Buro.
Give this to Mrs. Barankova. She will be pleased. Otherwise …
*If you
want credits from abroad to be acknowledged, go to the Studijni
oddeleni. They have handy forms for this now, which
should make your life easier.
So,
if you’ve got as far as this it probably means you have made it…and survived. I
hope you liked it.