Thursday, March 23, 2006

Some Attachments from Freiburg

This attachment came in my mail today. Apparently these are what I'm supposed to be doing in less than a month's time. Oh my God~

Administrative regulations for foreign students

Welcome to Freiburg

We wish you a pleasant stay in our city.
In order to simplify your first weeks in Freiburg we have made you a checklist with all the obligatory administrative regulations that have to be fullfilled.

Step 1: STUDENT SOCIAL SERVICES (STUDENTENWERK)

Get in touch with the student dormitory department of the Studentenwerk (Student social services) to sign your tenancy agreement :
Studentenwerk Freiburg
Mr. Divora
Schreiberstrasse 12-16
79098 Freiburg
Phone number: ++49/761/2101 324
Consultation-hours: Mo. till Fr.: 09.00 a.m. – 12.00 a.m.
Thursday : 01.30 p.m. – 04.00 p.m.

You need the tenancy agreement of the Studentenwerk or of your landlord for the “Residence Registration office” (step 2).

Please bring:
• Confirmation of room-reservation
• Photo, if you did not send one yet

Step 2: RESIDENCE REGISTRATION OFFICE
BÜRGERBÜRO / EINWOHNERMELDEAMT

Address: Basler Strasse 2
Consultation-hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Friday : 07.30 a.m. – 12.00 a.m.
Thursday : 07.30 a.m. - 12.00 a.m. and 01.00 p.m. - 04.00 p.m.
Wednesday : 07.30 a.m. - 08.00 p.m.
Saturday : 09.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m.

There you will have to register your residence by the authorities.
If you are a EU-citizens from Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, Irland, , Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal Sweden, and Spain you’ll receive your student residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis) already here.

Please bring:
• Confirmation of room-reservation or tenancy agreement of Studentenwerk or landlord
• Passport (if necessary with visa) or your identity card (EU-Countries)
• 1 passport photo (EU-citizens 2 passport photos)
• White registration form (available there)
You'll receive a white confirmation document which you will need for the Foreigners' Registration Office (step 5) and a blue carbon copy for the "Student social services / Studentenwerk" (step 8) or for your landlord.

Step 3: BANK

Now you have to choose a bank.

Some banks offer a free student-account:
• Deutsche Bank 24 (Rotteckring 3 and Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse 262)
• Dresdner Bank (Bismarckallee 18 - 20 and Münstergasse 1)
• Commerzbank (Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse 251)
• Sparkasse Freiburg - Nördlicher Breisgau (Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse 168 - 190)

Things to do at the bank:
• Open an account
• Make a deposit
• Get the carbon copy stamped and bring it with you at step 6.

Please bring:
• Passport or identity card (EU)
• Letter of admission (Zulassungsbescheid)
• Confirmation of the Residence Registration Office (from step 2)

Step 4: HEALTH INSURANCE

All students are entitled to compulsory statutory health insurance cover until completion of their 14th full semester, but only up to the maximum age of 30. If you fit these conditions, this has the positive consequence that the statutory health insurance funds must insure you at student rates. Apart from a minor personal contribution which you must pay, this health insurance covers medical fees for doctor visits, hospital
expenses, and any prescribed medication. The student rates for statutory health insurance currently amount to about € 340,- per semester (six months). This amount already includes the premium for nursing care insurance (Pflegeversicherung) which has been introduced in Germany. You must pay your premiums to the health insurance fund before registering at your College.
If you are older than 30 years of age on the date of arrival in Germany, you are strongly advised to insure yourself at a private health insurance company, since medical fees and hospital expenses are very high in Germany. For example: one day in the hospital will cost an avarage about 205 €.
For all questions about health insurance, please contact the social counselling of the Studentenwerk or the general local health insurance fund (the so-called AOK – Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse) or any other health insurance company of your choice.

The 4th step has three options:

1. Acquiring health insurance from a German insurance company
Please bring:
• Your passport
• Letter of admission
• Bank account documents (see step 3)

2. Only for students from the “old” member states of the EU, as well as from Iceland, Norway, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegowina, Croatia, Slowenia, Yugoslavia, Czech Republik, Macedonia, Turkey, Switzerland and Tunisia:
Transforming your International Health Insurance Card (IHIC) or your E 111 insurance confirmation document into insurance from a German insurance company


Please bring:
• “European Health Insurance Card” (EHIC) or another adequate proof of insurance for the EU (E 128, E 111 etc.)
• Identity card
• Letter of Admission

3. Confirmation of your exemption from insurance
Please bring:
• Proof of insurance in your home country (in a German translation)
• Passport
• Letter of Admission

Adresses of health insurance companies:
► Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse (AOK), Fahnenbergplatz 6
► Techniker-Krankenkasse (TK), Leopoldring 3 (Entrance at Innenhof)
► Deutsche Angestellten-Krankenkasse (DAK), Engelbergerstrasse 19
► Kaufmännische Krankenkasse (KKH), Kaiser-Joseph-Strasse 145

EU-citizens from Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain, Greece, Irland, , Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal Sweden, and Spain have not to do step 5 ! Please go to step 6.

Step 5: FOREIGNER'S REGISTRATION OFFICE
AUSLÄNDERBEHÖRDE

Address: Basler Strasse 2
Opening hours: from Monday till Friday from 8 am to 12 noon, Wednesday from 1.30 pm to 5 pm.

There you'll receive your student residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis).

Please bring (for the residence permit):

• Passport (with a visa if necessary) or your identity card (EU)
• Proof of Financial Resources (Finanzierungsnachweis)
• Confirmation of Registration (“Anmeldebestätigung” from step 2)
• Letter of Admission
• Students who require a visa should bring their registration documents
• Proof of health insurance (from step 4)
• 3 passport photos
• about 15 € for an extension (those with German scholarships and EU-citizens are exempted)

After all this you won't receive a residence permit yet, but therefore a confirmation that you have applied for it (important for step 6). The students with a visa, however, will at this point obtain their residence permit, if they have already been through registration (step 2).

Step 6: REGISTRATION with the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, with the University of Education and so on / IMMATRIKULATION

And now you can take care of the Registration at the University, the University of Education etc. at the Students' Office in the administration buildings of the University (Fahnenbergplatz), at the University of Education (Kunzenweg 21) and so on.

Please bring:

• Letter of Admission
• Proof of your Higher Education entrance qualification from your home university
• Passport (with visa) or identity card (EU)
• Confirmation that you have applied for a residence permit (step 5)
• Application for Registration (enclosed with your letter of acceptance)
• Certification of insurance of a German insurance company or a confirmation of being exempted from German insurance (step 4)
• 2 passport photos
• 105,00 € / Erasmus/Sokrates Exchange Students 65,00 € (administration and social fee)

Step 7: SEMESTERTICKET

And now you can buy the “Semesterticket”: The offer is designed for students of the following universities and colleges: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Pädagogische Hochschule, Hochschule für Musik, Katholische Fachhochschule für Sozialwesen und Evangelische Fachhochschule für Sozialwesen. The ticket price is only 63,00 € per semester. It is always valid during the time of one semester (including semester holidays), i.e. full 6 months. The ticket is accepted throughout the RVF-system: Stadt Freiburg, Landkreis Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald and Landkreis Emmendingen for all trams, busses and trains, for second class only. The “Semesterticket” is not transferable, there is no regulation for giving someone a lift and, unfortunately, no possibility of exchange and refund. ATTENTION: The ticket is only valid together with a valid student identity card (or for the first time with the “Studienbuch” from step 6) .

Please bring:
• “Studienbuch” (from step 6)
• 63,00 €

You can buy the Semesterticket at the VAG-pluspunkt near the Bertoldsbrunnen (Salzstraße) or in all DB travel centres.

Step 8: STUDENTENWERK / STUDENT SOCIAL SERVICES

Last but not least you are requested to get in touch with the student dormitory department of the Studentenwerk (Student Social Services).

Please bring:
• your bank account number (from step 2)

Congratulations! You’ve made it!!!
Take a deep breath first, then we'll have some more tips for you.

Studentenwerk Freiburg
Schreiberstraße 12 – 16
D-79098 Freiburg
Telefon +49/761/2101-233
Telefax +49/761/2101-303
Mail: sob@studentenwerk.uni-freiburg.de
http://www.studentenwerk.uni-freiburg.de

*mental note to self: print out this attachment*

Another attachment, I'll only copy out the English portions since I don't think anyone significant would understand the German ones.

Dear Student !
You have rented a room in Studentensiedlung am Seepark. Before moving in please consider following important informations:

Your moving in is only allowed during the working hours of the technical staff
which means: from Monday till Thursday from 8.00 a.m. to 3.30 p.m. and Friday from 8.00 a.m. to 12.00 a.m.
Hereby we send you further information about the name and office number of the technical staff.
Please take notice that the technical staff doesn’t work during the easterholidays (14.04. - 17.04.2006), you can not move in during this time.

Moving in your room after the working time of the technical staff:
If you can’t move in during the working hours of the technical staff, you can take use of our INCOMING SERVICE available from 01.04.2006 – 10.04.2006.
Please proceed as followed:

1. It is necessary that you take contact with Mr. Divora 4 to 5 days before you want to move in. Let him know your day and exact time of arrival. He can be reached at: +49/761/2101-324 or by e-mail: divora@studentenwerk.uni-freiburg.de. If you haven’t taken contact with Mr. Divora in time, it will be impossible for you to move into your room in the late afternoon, at night or during the weekend !
2. After your arrival at Freiburg please call your tutor, the student Anna Marta Müller, her phonenumber is 0170 / 4 86 86 50. She will inform you and give you the keys. If you have any kind of question or problem, you can contact her through e-mail: wohnheimtutor@web.de
3. The INCOMING SERVICE is not a regular service and therefore 15,- Euro has to be payed. This amount will be withdrawn from your bank account together with the rent.
4. Do you have any problems after your arrival ? Then you can call the helpline: 0170 / 4 86 86 50. Our student co-worker will help you.


How to get to the Studentensiedlung ?
You will find the tram stop at the bridge, which crosses the main train station. Take tram no. 1 in the direction of “Landwasser”. Get out at the fourth stop: “Am Bischofskreuz”. You will find the Studentensiedlung only a few meters away. Hereby we send you a town map of Freiburg.

We wish you a pleasant stay !
The studentenwerk team

*mental note to self: email that person*

And the last attachment, if anyone is interested, it's about the room where I'd be staying for the next couple of months.

General Information about the Student Dorms of the
Student Social Service Deptartment of the University of Freiburg



Dear Student,


We are looking forward to welcoming you to our dorms!
We would like you to have as comfortable a stay here in Freiburg as possible during your study-abroad semester and to receive the best possible impression of our city and its inhabitants.

In order to facilitate your preparations as much as possible for your stay in Freiburg, we have compiled some general information about life in a student dorm:

Location of the student dorms:
All dorms are within easy walking distance of public transportation. As a general rule, you will not require more than 15 minutes to reach the city center.

Room description:
All rooms/apartments are fully furnished and include bedding (blanket, pillow and sheets).
Please note that the kitchen supplies (such as dishes and silverware) and items such as hand towels are not included. You must either bring these supplies with you or secure them after your arrival.
Most of the student dorms have dorm-sponsored activity leaders or student-run Dorm Councils (SSVen – Studentische Selbstverwaltungen) to whom you can go with any kind of question or problem. For instance, you can go to the ServicePoint (only in the Seepark Dorm), not only to receive help but also to borrow many things useful for your daily life – for example irons, vacuum cleaners or bicycles. In all dorms there are responsible students, who will be able to help you after your arrival. Please check the list which is sent with this information.

Suites (Wohngemeinschaften):
A suite means that you have your own single room (which is yours alone), but that you share the kitchen, bathroom and shower room with your suitemates. A suite can have anywhere from 2 to 16 people (a hall-style dorm). You will never feel alone in a suite; living here offers the best opportunity to make contacts with students of other nationalities. The suites are generally co-ed, i.e. you will have male and female suitemates.

Apartments (Appartements):
Apartments are only to be found in the student dorm complex “Seepark”. Here you will have “your own realm”, i.e. your room with your own shower and cooking area. In contrast to the suite-style room you live all by yourself.

Room reservation / housing contracts:
A room must be rented for the entire semester (at least 6 months): for the winter semester from Sept./Oct. to the end of March or for the summer semester from March/April until the end of September. We do try to further sublet the rooms during the semester break (for instance to the participants of the language programs), however we cannot guarantee in advance that we will successfully be able to do so.

Phone:
Only in the student dorm complex “Seepark” are there phones in every room (with fixed lines). In this dorm complex you must go to House #20 after your arrival and register with the company Borchert (office hours: Mon.-Wed. + Fri. 9:30 - 10:30 and Thurs. 13:30 – 14:30). You will receive a special telephone card after putting down a small deposit, which you can put money on at the card station (in the entryway of House #20).

There are apartment or hall telephones available in all other student dorms. You do, of course, have the option of registering your own phone for your room with the telephone company, “Telekom” Freiburg. This is, however, not recommended for a stay of only a semester (there are high registration fees and monthly fees associated with this option).


Laundry Services:
There are washing machines in every student dorm complex, which function either with a wash card or with tokens. The cards or tokens can be purchased either from the technical assistants (only in the Händel dorms) or from the representative dorm-activity coordinator (for example: from the ServicePoint in House #36 in the “Seepark” dorm complex).

Internet:
All rooms (except for the Stühlinger dorm complex) are also provided with internet access. You may borrow the necessary modem from the representative dorm-activity coordinator.

As there is a waiting list for the modems, it is highly recommended that you sign up in advance. As soon as you have reserved a room in the Seepark dorm complex you may contact the activity coordinator and place your name on the modem waiting list: pentakom-stusie@gmx.de

For the other dorm complexes, you must contact the representatives through the following addresses:
Händel dorm complex: haendel.netzwerk@gmx.net
Student dorm complex Vauban, Merzhauser Str. bofh@studentdorf-vauban.de
Student dorm complex „Stühlinger“ – Engelbergerstr.: you can register by phone: + 49/ 761 7690083 or +49/ 761 2909219

In addition, after your university registration you will receive access to the university computer network (your username and password will be automatically sent to you). This means that with this approved access you may use the internet cubicles in many different buildings (or the library) free of charge; or, among other things, you may set up a new “mailbox”.

Trash disposal:
Trash must be sorted in the student dorm complexes. You must make sure you throw your garbage, paper, plastic and bottles into their respective container.

Paying Rent:
After your arrival in Freiburg, you must open an account with a German bank. The monthly rent can then be drawn directly from your account. It is your responsibility to ensure that there is always enough money in the account at the beginning of each month to cover the payment.

If you would like further information yourself about the respective student dorms or to see pictures, you may do so on these websites (not all student dorms have their own homepage):

http://www.studentensiedlung.de/
http://www.engelbergerwohnheim.de/
http://www.studentendorf-vauban.de/
http://www.haendel.uni-freiburg.de/


Finally, we would like to give you some tips which might make your life in the dorms easier:

- Please introduce yourself to your new suitemates when you move in. By doing this you will be taking the first step to having a conflict-free living environment.
- Please ask your roommates whether you may use the kitchen utensils (at least until you can secure your own), as what is already there belongs to your roommate(s).
- Please participate in the suite’s existing cleaning plan. As a member of the suite, you are also responsible for keeping the shared living spaces clean.
- Please make sure to always lock your door when you leave your room (also when you are just going to shower or cook) and that you keep the key with you at all times.
- Please do not glue any signs, posters or pictures on the walls and doors.

We wish you a successful study-abroad semester/year and hope to see you again in Freiburg.

Regards,
Studentenwerk Freiburg

*mental note to self: email that person saying I absolutely need an internet connection. I'd probably die without internet usage.*

And more information.

Information
For international students

Normally you can only move into your room when the superintendents (Hausmeister) or technical workers (technische Mitarbeiter) are on duty:
Mo – Do 8:00 – 15:30 and Fr 8:00 – 12:00.
Simply go to the office of your respective superintendent (Hausmeister).
You may have to wait for a little while.

Superintendents (Hausmeister) in the individual buildings
of the Student Village (Studentensiedlung)

Haus 10 and Haus 14 (Sundgauallee 10 and 14):
Manuel Pulido
Office: Haus 10, Ground Floor
Telephone: 0761/881-1591 (only during office hours)
Office Hours: Tuesday 8.00 – 8.30, Thursday 15.00 - 15.30

Haus 12 and Haus 24 (Sundgauallee 12 and 24):
Dirk Huber
Office: Haus 24, Ground Floor
Telephone: 0761/881-1592 (only during office hours)
Office Hours: Monday 8.00 - 8.30, Wednesday 15.00 - 15.30

Häuser 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, 40, 42 and 44 (Sundgauallee 26 – 44):
Rolf Duffner
Office: Haus 30, Ground Floor
Telephone: 0761/881-2618 (only during office hours)
Office Hours: Monday 9.00 - 9.30, Thursday 14.30 - 15.00

Häuser 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58 and 60 (Sundgauallee 46 – 60):
Walter Welsch
Office: Haus 46, Ground Floor
Telephone: 0761/881-2629 (only during office hours)
Office Hours: Monday 8.00 - 8.30, Wednesday 15.00 - 15.30

If you are unable to move into your room during the times mentioned above and have informed us of this before your arrival you will receive your room key from a student who is responsible for the INCOMING SERVICE.
You can reach her/him at the telephone number 0170 – 4 86 86 50.

Regarding just one aspect of my study there in Freiburg, I've already this much amount of papers to read, just imagine when I've to go through stuff about school proper, won't I just die? Considering that I've an aversion to paperwork and admin stuff, yes, I think I'll die soon.

Another thing, I think I want to leave Singapore on the 18th April, how does that sound? Hopefully I can get tickets on either SIA or Lufthansa since I want want want a direct flight to Frankfurt am Main. Yea, and I'd be needing to buy train tickets too.

I just watched The Amazing Race this morning. Teams had to fly from Moscow to Frankfurt am Main, Germany then take a train down to Stuttgart and find their way to the flagship Mercedes Benz factory for a test drive on their Wall of Death. After that teams had to each drive a Mercedes Benz down to somewhere called Bad Tolz to search a field for gnomes then head down to Munich to the Bavarian Film thingie to either smash bottles with their heads or dance. Finally they can make their way down to this Leopoldstraße to this thingie called Siegestor. The teams I support came in first and third, now who can say that the Frat Boys can only follow other teams? They were the only ones who got on the first Lufthansa flight lor. For this reason alone, I think I shall fly by Lufthansa~ Then I'll take the ICE, just as what the Frat Boys took, only that they took it to Stuttgart, I shall take it to Freiburg~

I'm so shallow.

2 comments:

Lauren said...

Hello! I was just google searching stuff about the Stusie and saw your journal page. I'm going to Freiburg in the fall, and staying at the Stusie, in haus 52 I think. So I have no idea what the set up will be or what to expect, but I was wondering if you had any words of advice. Thanks! - Lauren

xxoos said...

hi! yup, i was in freiburg two summers ago and stayed in the stusie. mine was a single room living but there's a common floor with a common kitchen and bathroom shared among ten people. i'm not so sure if it'd be the same but if yours is a single room, then most probably it'd be the same.

do drop me an email at jal5eva@yahoo.com.sg and i can explain it a bit further. or perhaps if you have some specific questions. have fun and enjoy your stay there~