A couple of days ago, the group of us tried buying SIM cards, to avoid racking up giant phone bills on our UK phones. Let me tell you, it is a pain. Mainly because I speak very basic German, admittedly, but it is still tricky if you don't know what to go for.
I managed to do a bit of research into it, using a very helpful blog (which also has a good piece on supermarkets) and a comparison of different networks. Obviously it helps to know what precisely you want e.g. I wanted mine essentially for Berlin only, so I chose Fonic, which seemed to hit a neat price balance between calling/texting the UK and here in Berlin. However, as of roughly 3 weeks after I bought the card, Fonic helpfully switched my SIM card off without telling me!!! I then rang customer service(from my UK mobile, naturally-a premium price number from a German number so I don't want to guess how much it could have cost...) and I was told my address "didn't exist" so I needed to prove my identity to them. This happened to the other three people in my group using Fonic too. To fix it was quite simple-a scan of your passport to their email address(or fax/post) and your SIM would be switched on again. Its just ridiculously unnecessary and unhelpful. Dave T has had no problems with his blau.de SIM and perhaps it is better to go for that if you have the choice.
Some cards are extremely cheap to use if you only want to use it here in Berlin(try Aldi or Lidl). Likewise, some cards like Lyca are priced much better for international calls and texts, but can't give the most cheap rate for within Berlin. If you want a data package, then blau.de sounded like a good deal.
To buy your SIM card, just go to MediaMarkt or Saturn(big electronics stores). There is a MediaMarkt at Alexanderplatz and just outside Wilmersdorfer Strasse station. Having said that, drugstores like DM and Rossmans also sell starter packs(although with much less choice obviously) and topup cards.
Obviously you'll need an unlocked phone for this all to work, unless your phone is locked and you are already on Vodafone, O2 or T Mobile-pick up one of their SIMs for your locked phone in that case.
Thankfully I am blessed with having the internet but some of our group don't. They are looking into the different options for a non permanent resident of Berlin to use, but even for a dongle/internet stick you need a proof of address, so watch this space. I'm pretty sure Dave will blog about it once he has!
X
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Home Sweet Home
We arrived in Berlin yesterday, after an uneventful flight from Liverpool. We were picked up in a taxi and driven to our various destinations across the city. I am on the north west side, so was dropped off last. After two hours in the car, two hours on a plane and everything else preceding that, all I wanted was my bed. Naturally this didn't happen. We couldn't find the keys my flatmate had left for me. After much searching for the mysterious 'Rot box', Georg and I gave up. Georg is one of the staff from ILE Berlin who had come to collect us, give us our travel passes and settle us in.
Whilst I was pretty tired and beyond hungry, I was quite pleased to go back to Haus von Dave(yes, the German organisation organising our placements put three boys called Dave in one flat) and crash out on the sofa for the night.
One of "the Daves" is keeping a blog about his time in Berlin, which you can find here. Dave is very talented at drawing so his blog is well worth taking a peek at!
In the morning, we went exploring in the area they live(Wilmersdorf, SW side of Berlin). I learnt three things:
1) A German bakery is my new favourite place on earth. I've never smelt anything so good.
2) Nothing which could constitute a supermarket is open on Sundays. So no cooking for us till at least Monday afternoon.
3) My German is better already. I can translate signs on shops, ask for directions(and understand them-defo a problem in German class!) and much more. Part of my overall goal is to be able to read some basic articles in German by the end of my time here, so by immersing myself into it I will hopefully manage it.
I finally reached my new place around lunchtime and it is lovely. I share the flat with another lady, but I have plenty of space to myself and I live about 5 minutes from an S-Bahn stop. The area I live in is crammed full of kebab shops, casinos and the odd tanning salon. However, the upside of that is that I ate the best veggie kebab EVER in life today.
For all those that were concerned about my vegetarianism out here in Germany, it's not been a problem. 'Vegeterisch' is marked pretty clearly everywhere, even in the kebab shop. Plus, nearly everyone we've encountered speaks English. So far, so good. A special thanks to Chandni for the wonderful list of phrases she gave me to communicate my dietary requirements to people.
We have been exploring Berlin a little, seeing some amazing sights in the sunshine(although it is VERY cold) and finding bargain meals, like a plate of pasta for under 3 euros. Tomorrow is the first day of language school, so I should probably stop typing and open my folder.
Tschuss!
x
Whilst I was pretty tired and beyond hungry, I was quite pleased to go back to Haus von Dave(yes, the German organisation organising our placements put three boys called Dave in one flat) and crash out on the sofa for the night.
One of "the Daves" is keeping a blog about his time in Berlin, which you can find here. Dave is very talented at drawing so his blog is well worth taking a peek at!
In the morning, we went exploring in the area they live(Wilmersdorf, SW side of Berlin). I learnt three things:
1) A German bakery is my new favourite place on earth. I've never smelt anything so good.
2) Nothing which could constitute a supermarket is open on Sundays. So no cooking for us till at least Monday afternoon.
3) My German is better already. I can translate signs on shops, ask for directions(and understand them-defo a problem in German class!) and much more. Part of my overall goal is to be able to read some basic articles in German by the end of my time here, so by immersing myself into it I will hopefully manage it.
I finally reached my new place around lunchtime and it is lovely. I share the flat with another lady, but I have plenty of space to myself and I live about 5 minutes from an S-Bahn stop. The area I live in is crammed full of kebab shops, casinos and the odd tanning salon. However, the upside of that is that I ate the best veggie kebab EVER in life today.
For all those that were concerned about my vegetarianism out here in Germany, it's not been a problem. 'Vegeterisch' is marked pretty clearly everywhere, even in the kebab shop. Plus, nearly everyone we've encountered speaks English. So far, so good. A special thanks to Chandni for the wonderful list of phrases she gave me to communicate my dietary requirements to people.
We have been exploring Berlin a little, seeing some amazing sights in the sunshine(although it is VERY cold) and finding bargain meals, like a plate of pasta for under 3 euros. Tomorrow is the first day of language school, so I should probably stop typing and open my folder.
Tschuss!
x
Die Spiesekarte, bitte.
Last Sunday I finally managed to squish everything I'd need for the following 3 months into my (extremely weight limited) suitcase and dumped it in the car. We were off to the small town of Llangollen, in North Wales. Not exactly the most exciting place in the world, I'm sure you're thinking. Well no, it isn't. But it is where ECTARC(the European Centre for Training and Regional Cooperation) is based.
The reason I'm living in Berlin for the next three months is because of a program organised by ECTARC, called the Leonardo programme. It is designed as a work placement scheme, so that young graduates from/living in Wales get a chance to increase their skills in an area relevant to their future careers and hopefully end up with jobs at the end of it(or some great CV bolstering at the very least). You learn a European language for some weeks, then are put in a work placement for around about 2 months. It sounded like an amazing experience for me, so I applied and now here I am. People go to Bordeaux, Florence, Seville or Berlin and from the sounds of it, have the time of their lives.
So now hopefully it makes more sense that I(well, my dad) was making the 3 hour long drive to North Wales. I was in Llangollen for a week of intensive German learning and meeting those who do the programme with me. We all have separate work placements and live separately across the city(!) but do all language classes together, so we all get pretty close. Llangollen was a very pretty town and great for those who love the outdoors. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not. Llangollen also has very little in the way of nightlife, apart from 18 pubs...
Our week there was quite intense in terms of language learning. I found the grammar somewhat difficult to grasp, as the idea of a table being a 'him' or a bottle being a 'her' made no sense to me. I have managed to remember the article for 'the menu'-it is 'Die Spiesekarte', hence the title of this post.
During the week, I managed to watch two films in German, with subtitles and loved both of them. "The Lives of Others" is very intense, but brilliantly done. It follows the life of one of the Stasi in the DDR. "Goodbye Lenin" is another great film we saw. I would thoroughly recommend them to anyone interested in learning about a pre 1989 divided Germany.
Hopefully now I've arrived, my language learning will improve...more on that later.
xx
The reason I'm living in Berlin for the next three months is because of a program organised by ECTARC, called the Leonardo programme. It is designed as a work placement scheme, so that young graduates from/living in Wales get a chance to increase their skills in an area relevant to their future careers and hopefully end up with jobs at the end of it(or some great CV bolstering at the very least). You learn a European language for some weeks, then are put in a work placement for around about 2 months. It sounded like an amazing experience for me, so I applied and now here I am. People go to Bordeaux, Florence, Seville or Berlin and from the sounds of it, have the time of their lives.
So now hopefully it makes more sense that I(well, my dad) was making the 3 hour long drive to North Wales. I was in Llangollen for a week of intensive German learning and meeting those who do the programme with me. We all have separate work placements and live separately across the city(!) but do all language classes together, so we all get pretty close. Llangollen was a very pretty town and great for those who love the outdoors. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not. Llangollen also has very little in the way of nightlife, apart from 18 pubs...
Our week there was quite intense in terms of language learning. I found the grammar somewhat difficult to grasp, as the idea of a table being a 'him' or a bottle being a 'her' made no sense to me. I have managed to remember the article for 'the menu'-it is 'Die Spiesekarte', hence the title of this post.
During the week, I managed to watch two films in German, with subtitles and loved both of them. "The Lives of Others" is very intense, but brilliantly done. It follows the life of one of the Stasi in the DDR. "Goodbye Lenin" is another great film we saw. I would thoroughly recommend them to anyone interested in learning about a pre 1989 divided Germany.
Hopefully now I've arrived, my language learning will improve...more on that later.
xx
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