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Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant - Travel (2) - Nairaland

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Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by willy2000(m): 11:08am On May 21, 2020
jesmond3945:
the link I posted is even the part 8 and it encapsulates all one need to know about migrating and settling down in Germany. What made Daniel Houston's thread interesting, is that it was a deviation from the norm, he delved into the black experience in Germany from a real point of view which I personally have encountered. Just watch this thread die a natural death.

Everything doesn't have to fit into your fantasy world, if you actually claim to be in Germany, you should have realised that by now.

8 Likes

Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by solomonbrown64: 11:20am On May 21, 2020
...... Nice tips @willy2000...

.... I do have a lot of questions but I want you to land first because from your posts, sooner than later, you will get to what I want to know.

But, I would like to know how much you can save as a worker for a single man after paying tax.


Thanks.
Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by willy2000(m): 11:23pm On May 21, 2020

* Driving in Germany? How long can you use your Naija driving license before you get a permit?


You can drive in Germany if you have a valid Nigerian driving license, and have not lived in the country for longer than six months. My best advice is, if you are not on a tourist visa, it is better you exchange your Nigerian licence to a German one before it expires. If your license happens to expire before the change, then you will have to go through the who process from the beginning. The process entails, attending twelve compulsory theory classes, some series of practical driving exercises, I can not remember the exact amount of hrs, but you have to clock a minimum number of practical training hrs before you're fit to take the driving test.

Driving schools are expensive, and you can not cut corners. Before you apply to any school, try and ask around, especially from Africans, I would say Cameroonians if you have any around, they are resourceful in this regard. Find out from them which school is cheaper and friendlier. Some of the driving school cheat their students, how do they do this. They are not truthful and will allow you to register for the driving test, knowing fully well, you won't pass. Once you fail the exam the first time, the pressure gets to you the second, leading to a second failure, after the third failure, you must give a three month gap, mind you, your theory exam is only valid for a year. So you have to be smart by going to the right school, which could make or mar you. Changing of driving school is also complicated because your driving school will register you at the local office for resident registration, if you move to another school, they already know where you are coming from, so they usually ask what the problem was. Trust me those guys know each other, you can not outplay them.


* Tricks and tips to get successfully obtain a license
How can you successfully obtain a German license?
First, you complete a course called; First Aid at The Scene of An Accident "Sofortmaßnahmen am Unfallort." This course is an 8hr course you can do it either on a Saturday or Sunday at any Red Cross or first aid training school, and you have to register for it. If you live in a big city, then you may experience a queue. The purpose of this course is to ensure that everyone who owns a driving license should be able to perform first aid at the scene of an accident. You are obligated to do this, and it's a criminal office if you witness an accident and do not stop to help, should you get caught, then be prepared for trouble.

Second, eye test "Sehtestbescheinigung" official confirmation of an eye test carried out within the past two years by an optician "Optiker".
So, with your first aid certificate and eye test certificate, you go to your school of choice and submit your international passport and residence permit they will make your application to the local office for resident registration "Einwohnermeldeamt" for a driving licence "Antrag auf Erteilung einer Fahrerlaubnis".
Ensure you start with a driving instructor you can relate with and talk to, be very open to him/her. Don't be rude or aggressive, even if the instructor sound bossy, try as much as possible to stay humble, the fastest way of getting your license is making your instructor like you. Most of the time, they already know the driving route and the routines the examiner will ask you to do. So if you are friendly, they will always take you through this route and make you do the routines till you are perfect. They won't tell you why, but on your test day, it will just be like a typical practice day.
For the theory exams, you will get a software package from your driving school that contains about 1500 hundred questions or so. The questions are tricky but easy to pass, practise the whole 1500 till it becomes a part of you like you see the first three words in a sentence, and boom you already know the answer. When you get to this stage, then you are ready for the theory test. You can choose to take the test in English.

* Childcare for children below 5

I do not have personal experience on this topic, but from what I have heard from a colleague and hearsay, Some firms pay money to parents who have young kids, it is called "Kinderbetreuungskostenzuschuss". (you can google translate the word). This is not the same as "Kindergeld" you get from the govt. My firm pays around 500 or thereabout per month with an additional 300 per extra kid. There is no law stating how much an employer should pay, so this range can be lower or higher depending on several factors, like if the company has a creche, then I would expect the amount to be smaller because you do not have to arrange for daycare or a baby sitter.

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Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by willy2000(m): 11:00am On May 22, 2020
Kind of strange to see people comparing this thread with the previous one.
I have gone through the travel section and found threads for US, UK Immigrant, but none for German Immigrant. Looking closely, you will see I copied the UK thread format, in other to make it generic. This thread is not about me.
I read the UK version, and wow you get diverse information from people, who are willing to share.

I will finish the remaining points I listed later this evening and answer any questions people may have based on what they want to know, that can not be found on this forum. If you are a prospective student, there is a thread for that, seeking a family reunion, there is a thread for that. There is also a thread for job seekers, applying for a job in Germany from Nigeria.

But if you live in Germany and you are having challenges or there are things that are confusing. That is why I created this thread, the experiences we all have had and are going to have in Germany are different. But it will do a lot well sharing some of these experiences or giving tips on how to circumvent the challenge at hand.

I will also create a thread for IT prospects in the programming section(@dolpaz). Since I have access to loads of learning materials, I am willing to share videos and ebooks with people who are ready to aspire, this I will do once I set up a secure server.

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Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by willy2000(m): 11:04am On May 22, 2020
solomonbrown64:
...... Nice tips @willy2000...

.... I do have a lot of questions but I want you to land first because from your posts, sooner than later, you will get to what I want to know.

But, I would like to know how much you can save as a worker for a single man after paying tax.


Thanks.
I will talk about this later this evening.
Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by BelieverDE: 11:12am On May 22, 2020
willy2000:


I will also create a thread for IT prospects in the programming section(@dolpaz). Since I have access to loads of learning materials, I am willing to share videos and ebooks with people who are ready to aspire, this I will do once I set up a secure server.


Thank you smiley
Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by Ayohbk(m): 11:22am On May 22, 2020
I'll also share my little experience too. Make I go rewe go buy bread chop, first.
Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by Ayohbk(m): 11:52am On May 22, 2020
I've here in Germany for almost 9 months now. It's been a Rollercoaster ride. I've had the highs and lows. I'll try to state my experiences, which aren't necessarily general facts, just the way I see things. Please I'm not here to argue with anyone, I don't have strength to fight.



For those who have been bashing the O. P on the things he chose to talk about or chose not to talk about. Please, no one owes you anything, get a life.

LOL..... I no be warrior ooo, I no come here come fight. But let's be respectful and cordial with each other.

10 Likes

Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by Ayohbk(m): 12:00pm On May 22, 2020
I'll start with Food.

This is one of my worst experience here. Feeding for here na war. Bread, morning and night. I'm not one who really likes too cook. And I know how to cook only few foods sef. Unlike 9ja, whereby you can enter with shikini money buy confirm food chop, it's not so here. I mostly eat bread, concoction rice, fried chicken, salad, when I go to the African store I buy plantain too, their yam is so expensive so I don't buy it. Oh, there's also beans too, It's quite expensive, I love beans so I buy it anyways. If you decide to buy food outside, maybe restaurant or whatever, just go with your seasonings because their foods are always tasteless, it smells nice but doesn't taste good. Except you go to burger King or KFC or McDonald's. For me now, burger don be like dream food for me, before Corona I eat it almost every day. Either I eat it or I eat Doner.

10 Likes

Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by Savagethe21st(m): 12:02pm On May 22, 2020
Ayohbk:
I've here in Germany for almost 9 months now. It's been a Rollercoaster ride. I've had the highs and lows. I'll try to state my experiences, which aren't necessarily general facts, just the way I see things. Please I'm not here to argue with anyone, I don't have strength to fight.



For those who have been bashing the O. P on the things he chose to talk about or chose not to talk about. Please, no one owes you anything, get a life.

LOL..... I no be warrior ooo, I no come here come fight. But let's be respectful and cordial with each other.
how did u master the language
Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by Ayohbk(m): 12:02pm On May 22, 2020
Please note, I stay in a small city. So this has a big influence on my experiences here

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Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by Ayohbk(m): 12:14pm On May 22, 2020
Secondly, Language

I dont even know where to start with this. When I was in 9ja, I only did A1 class and I was following it up with online classes and apps. For class for 9ja, my head dey always dey swell sey I don know german finish. Even people for class dey envy me sef. When I got here, my school offers German classes which will be part of your credit units. So I joined A1 for easy 1.0 grin. Even for my german class here, I get mouth to shine small.

But to communicate with people outside na him be war. If they start speaking like this, e go be like so dem dey slap you as dem dey talk. You'll be both confused and lost. I try to pick up the verbs to try and understand what they are saying. But unlike English, German verbs can be placed at the end of the sentence or middle. So before you understand one sentence, dem don talk another, so you're like 200 steps behind. The annoying thing is they talk so fast which is very frustrating.
I did my A1. 2, not much improvement, I felt I learnt more in Nigeria sef. Though my A1.2 was mostly held online because of coronavirus which made it more frustrating. I got into the A2. 1 class but I dropped out because it's been held online. It is probably the most frustrating way to learn that boring language. I hope to learn it soon though because it opens ways

11 Likes

Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by Pato5(m): 1:40pm On May 22, 2020
Ayohbk:
Secondly, Language

I dont even know where to start with this. When I was in 9ja, I only did A1 class and I was following it up with online classes and apps. For class for 9ja, my head dey always dey swell sey I don know german finish. Even people for class dey envy me sef. When I got here, my school offers German classes which will be part of your credit units. So I joined A1 for easy 1.0 grin. Even for my german class here, I get mouth to shine small.

But to communicate with people outside na him be war. If they start speaking like this, e go be like so dem dey slap you as dem dey talk. You'll be both confused and lost. I try to pick up the verbs to try and understand what they are saying. But unlike English, German verbs can be placed at the end of the sentence or middle. So before you understand one sentence, dem don talk another, so you're like 200 steps behind. The annoying thing is they talk so fast which is very frustrating.
I did my A1. 2, not much improvement, I felt I learnt more in Nigeria sef. Though my A1.2 was mostly held online because of coronavirus which made it more frustrating. I got into the A2. 1 class but I dropped out because it's been held online. It is probably the most frustrating way to learn that boring language. I hope to learn it soon though because it opens ways

Dude you are creative with narration. I'm just laughing here. Nice one bro.

1 Like

Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by EUlegalResearch(m): 2:04pm On May 22, 2020
I live in Aachen, NRW....where do you live?
Here in Aachen, you can easily connect with Val’s in the Netherlands and Kelmis in Belgium.

I have 4 capable African stores around me.
Yam is very expensive like you said, just like in London but I still buy it regularly because I love it with fried eggs.

Clubs too are around but no activities now due to Covid-19.

German girls will hardly respond to you if you said “hello”....probably one out of ten.

Ayohbk:
Please note, I stay in a small city. So this has a big influence on my experiences here

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Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by Savagethe21st(m): 4:03pm On May 22, 2020
EUlegalResearch:
I live in Aachen, NRW....where do you live?
Here in Aachen, you can easily connect with Val’s in the Netherlands and Kelmis in Belgium.

I have 4 capable African stores around me.
Yam is very expensive like you said, just like in London but I still buy it regularly because I love it with fried eggs.

Clubs too are around but no activities now due to Covid-19.

German girls will hardly respond to you if you said “hello”....probably one out of ten.

bro about accommodation how were u able to secure it frm nigeria. Or did u have some1 there already?
Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by GreatSage: 10:00pm On May 22, 2020
EUlegalResearch:
I live in Aachen, NRW....where do you live?
Here in Aachen, you can easily connect with Val’s in the Netherlands and Kelmis in Belgium.

I have 4 capable African stores around me.
Yam is very expensive like you said, just like in London but I still buy it regularly because I love it with fried eggs.

Clubs too are around but no activities now due to Covid-19.

German girls will hardly respond to you if you said “hello”....probably one out of ten.

Are you a student of RWTH?
Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by willy2000(m): 10:13pm On May 22, 2020
* What culture shock have you experienced?

I will discuss this base on the following factors:
Food: I find German food not so impressive, it is also not spicy and laced with too much salt. The love of bread and pork in Germany is the beginning of life. So if this rocks your boat, then you have no problem.
Unless you have a family or a friend already living in Germany, eating good food will be a challenge. It is always advisable to come along with your best food ingredients just in case you have a bad day; you can lighten it up in the kitchen.

Stir: You will get a lot of this, till today, I still get stirred at, so as African migrant, do not take this personal, they say it is part of German curiosity. However, never allow anyone to touch you without your consent.

Dates:
Going on a date is cheap, you pay for your food and drinks. If you want to do it the Nigerian way, then you've to tell her earlier and insist that you are inviting her and will pay for the date. This will put you in an awkward situation if your partner is German. So don't do it.

Cars:
I found too many small cars on the street of Germany, and they all looked clean and new, and Mercedes Benz S and C class cars are taxis.

Drinking from the kitchen sink is safe, well this is a culture shock( thanks to the corrupt leaders we have in Nigeria). I have never experienced a blackout and took me a while to stop ironing my clothes.
Buying essentials was tough, and you hardly find the appropriate body cream for African skin. I had to ask around for an African shop to get that.

* How to locate Nigerian restaurants and market in your location?


Unfortunately, there are no Nigerian restaurants in my city. The last time I visited a Nigerian restaurant was in Frankfurt and what I got was nothing to write home about.

* How much do you or your family survive on in a month?

I lived alone and was also frugal as a student:
Let's assume I had;
Income 750 ( when I was still a student)
Rent 280 (studentenwerk) They have the cheapest house.
Insurance 80 -180 depending on your age, if you are above 30, then you have to go for the private ones like mawista and co, they seem to be cheaper, but I never used them. So no idea here.
Tv 17,50(if you are living alone, if it's a shared apartment, it's cheaper)
Food 150 I eat in the Mensa sometimes, which contributed to this amount.
phone 20
drinks and fun 50

Total 547,5 - 647,5
Internet ---------- Not included because I lived in an apartment with an Internet connection and I had access to the Internet in school.
Then you have other earnings, maybe a mini-job of 450, you can save from this money and cover other expenses

The above breakdown is an individual rough estimate. The total amount can be higher than what I have here because there are lots of factors one has to consider. A city like München will trash this list since the cost of accommodation is almost or if not even higher than the total amount here.
Finally, as a Student, it is possible to save 150 monthly if you live in a small and relatively cheap city. Note I did not account for what you will earn during the holidays.


* And any other advice.
Focus more on the positives of life and everything negative, pressure, and challenges are all but an opportunity for you to rise.
Have it at the back of your mind, that Germany is a foreign country, I do not speak the language, everything will not be sweet and beautiful as a bed of roses, Work hard and smart, and the sky will be a starting point.

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Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by cydophobia(m): 10:15pm On May 22, 2020
I live in Aachen too. How are you doing bruder?

EUlegalResearch:
I live in Aachen, NRW....where do you live?
Here in Aachen, you can easily connect with Val’s in the Netherlands and Kelmis in Belgium.

I have 4 capable African stores around me.
Yam is very expensive like you said, just like in London but I still buy it regularly because I love it with fried eggs.

Clubs too are around but no activities now due to Covid-19.

German girls will hardly respond to you if you said “hello”....probably one out of ten.

Re: Living In Germany/life As A GERMAN Immigrant by Teaser4(m): 10:19pm On May 22, 2020
willy2000:


mo ti gbo
i think say you be troll, na why I no reply you on daniel's thread...cos I no dey follow troll chat, I'm too old for that sh1t, i just curse them ni, that's my way lately.

you're doing a good job here bro. I'm ffy.

I hope Daniel resume his thread...

safe bro

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