• Studium ist nicht einfach.

For MS Students professors are having expectations from you that you know your field as you have done your Bachelor study. In master, you just need the guidance and you will do the work yourself. Class durations are 2*1.5 hours for each subject plus tutorials and Laboratory extra. In these 3 Hours, you might see the 60–70 slides covered. The speed of teaching is faster, the material is self-prepared by the professor and if you miss some explanation of one slide you can’t find it most of the time solution to it other than professor him/her self. People like me will have a hard time being concentrated for 3 hours continuously. Getting an appointment with the professor is also a tough task, on open visit hours there will be many other students waiting outside his office. So it becomes more complicated getting your doubts solves, it’s not impossible but it’s not easy at all.
Other than those organizational issues the course content is high quality and deep into the particular field. Exam based on that material will not ask you to write 3 types of Pumps or some other kind of questions where you need to mug up the text. Exams can be oral and you need to explain the core concepts of the particular topic to pass, for good grades you need to understand the Concepts really well, so you can answer all the counter questions correctly.
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• Geld wächst nicht auf Bäumen

Money can be a big issue if your family is having a financial issue and are depending on you financially. As a student, you get some exemption from taxes up to a certain limit. But in that certain limit, you can not cover your expenses and also support your family. Even if you are only looking after your self it will have some money shortage. Working hours are limited to 20 Hours/week during Semester time, and at that time you also need to study as well. Other than that yearly limit of 120 full days or 240 half days a student is allowed to work. In that duration on an average if someone uses 100% of these days then average 10/hour one can earn around 9600 Euro. Which is slightly above the tax limit of students (8130 Euro), the tax rate is roughly 10 percent which means if you earn more you pay more taxes. You also need to have compulsory health insurance which costs you around 100 Euro per month. Depending on your City monthly rent starting from 250–600 Euro has to paid by you. Food, Travelling and all other extra costs will make your budget tight if you are too careless. The system supports the student with different incentives but you can not grow that much to afford a luxury life, you will survive for sure, but just survive. All your high-class luxury hobbies will make a big blow on your budget.

Another aspect I assume that one got the job here for part-time, or in university as Help staff. But not everyone will get it, for Jobs at Mac-D and other restaurants will demand fluent German. Again language will be a hurdle if you don’t know it. In that case, you will depend upon seasonal labor jobs at Amazon and other packaging and manufacturing plants where you don’t need to speak much, just repeat the task at your assembly line. It’s not fun, as timings are too bad and locations of Amazon warehouses too. You will waste some more time commuting and affect your health. 9600€ is decent amount though if you are not living in Expensive cities like Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, etc. Again it also depends on individual needs.

At the time of writing this question, I have crossed the 3-year mark of my time in Germany. I was always thinking about this question for my self, and by writing this question I want to relive this 3 year of the journey by sharing the experience with you all reader.

I moved to Germany on 18th December 2015 on the last working day of that year before school vacations. It was a good welcome for me as Christmas was just a week away and the whole country was decorated and happiness was in the air. My first city in Germany was Berlin, where I initially stayed with a German guest family. The reason behind moving to Germany was higher studies and I chose to do my Master in German taught the course, so in Berlin, I need to do my language course and after getting the required certificate I need to start my study, that was the plan I was following. I was told by the German teacher back home (she was also working in Berlin, she was on a contract of 2 months for language teaching in India), Germans are pretty cold by nature. My host or I say Guest mother (Gast mutter, she also used to introduce her as my Gast mutter when we are out) prepared food for me almost a week and showed me everything in the Hause and also markets and localities around. I enjoyed this as it was vacation time for me and I had time to know the people closely. She also invited me to the Christmas party at her daughter's place and we had a great evening. I am mentioning it as I was never away from my home till I finished my bachelor study and suddenly moving to a foreign country can have a negative impact on a person, feeling the homesick and missing family is hard for some people, here my guest mother made me my start in Germany a lot smoother. She was a teacher by profession and we used to talk during breakfast about different topics such as history, war and etc. , which eventually helped me to improve my German and also who doesn’t like stories. When I first came I had done A1 level exam and also finished the half class for A2 level, so I can understand the easy conversation, her stories made me confident to speak fluently. I stayed there for 4 months and during that time I was doing my language classes, around July in 2016 I finished my C1 class, and by end of October, I appeared for DSH, Telc C1, and TestDAF. Out of this 3 exam, I qualified in two (Telc and TestDAF), which was needed to get the admission in any German taught course across Germany. I can say 2016 was a year of learning for me, as I not only to learn the German language but also the different aspects of German culture and behavior. Being in Berlin it was also fun as Berlin is quite open and famous for it’s welcoming and colorful life.

By October I had 3 confirm admissions with me. I chose TU Chemnitz as it was directly connected with my Bachelor content. Until now everything was smooth and I was also faster than others, by qualifying exam soon and also securing admission in 9 months of time. In Chemnitz, I started my study in Germany, everything was going fine. In November I was going to India for some family function, but I fell sick and I couldn't go to INDIA. Also, I didn’t appear for the exam as I was kind of under stress because of the sudden events, which I was not expecting. This was the time where you need your family the most, as they are the one who takes care of you during sickness. Here I was dealing with everything on my own and also the German medical system is also a little bit complicated for me. I learned a lot about human behaviors and about my strength and weakness. It also made me distinguish between fake and real friends. I almost wasted 6 months in this scenario and in the meantime, I decided to leave Chemnitz and decided to start freshly Master in HAMBURG.
After skipping that semester at Chemnitz I moved to Hamburg around May 2017. This city made me fight and repair the damage done in the last few months. I started my study with a positive spirit and cleared 6 subjects in the first semester. apart from that, I was enjoying my life by taking part in different activities. My time in Hamburg was really amazing as it helped me financially, mentally and physically fit. I made lots of close friends whom I can trust. At the end of the year 2018 in September, I moved to Hannover to start my internship and thesis to finish my Master. Professors helped me finding this position and everything is running smooth. I am Automotive engineer and will start working as a full-time professional soon this year.

This is my Journey till now, I traveled a lot in Europe, tried so many fun activities, adventure sports and met some really cool people around the world. Initially my plan was to get out of my routine life in India, Master in Germany seems to be an easy and fast way, but it turned out to be a little bit longer than my stupid plan, I wanted to return back in 2 years,now I am thinking of staying 5 more years to make a strong career and than move back. A lot of things has changed in this duration. Some in my self and some in my way of thinking and taking things. I can’t go more in details but I would list the things I would like to share with you all.

• You need to learn the German language, whether you like it or not? No one will ever tell this to you but you will feel it if you are unable to speak fluent German.
• You need to become a rule-obedient citizen, there is no choice for you or no back door escape if you were caught in doing something wrong
• Work ethics and culture is on top most priority, you need to follow it. Being punctual is one of them, which is also applicable in personal life
• Not all German are racist but you may find out yourself into some situation where you feel left out
• Getting a Driving license is a hell lot of work and also cost tons of money
• You can’t be too casual with your friends until they become really close after (3–5 years), being formal is common here
• Academics is a serious thing here, they want their students to learn not just pass the degree exams
• comparatively safer country, you can easily roam late in the night in the city
• various kind of bread and beer brands are too mainstream here, you will value these things when you are out of the country or visiting family back home.
• you will complain often about weather especially in Winter and it also makes you depress as you don’t see the sun like you used to see back home.
• Summer is like a festival here, but when the temperature is about 30° you feel more annoyed than you used to be in 40+° in countries like my homeland India.
• Being a vegetarian is not that difficult but you will be left out with limited choices in restaurants. I have seen the change on this issue, but it’s still falafel or veg. Döner or fried noodles/pasta….other things are too expensive to buy or you need to prepare yourself, which is kind of fun.
• Drinking can become your part of life if you like to be in the social gathering.
• You will travel a lot…from Switzerland to Amsterdam and Spain, etc can be visited during weekends. And it’s also not that expensive to travel around Europe.

so, for me, it is kind of roller coaster ride and I am really enjoying it. I find myself more organized and peaceful than I used to be way back home. To summarize a good experience of my life and still counting.
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Germany is the pioneer country to open its University doors to all students across the EU and non-EU as well. As per my experience and perception, they have planned more from their side to make the experience of incoming students better and worth sharing.

This includes the International office in every university to make the orientation easy and find some contacts assuming you don’t know anyone here in Germany. This way you don’t feel left out as a student here. Apart from this, they provide help for accommodation search, German classes, scholarship information, financial guidance, and some intercultural activities to make one’s student life memorable. These programmes have no discrimination whether you are from the EU or Non-EU. This summarizes the official university guidance and support for International students.
Apart from feeling welcomed, you save money as there are no tuition fees in Germany. As semester contribution you pay around 250–400 euro depending on your city and university. This includes the free transportation ticket and fees to access university infrastructure such as library and canteen, etc. With your student ID card, you can avail student discount for many things starting from movie theater to museum and other entertainments.

If you have always dreamed about traveling European countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, etc then it’s really easy and cheap to travel to many beautiful European countries. German university doesn’t have so complicated schedules so you can always plan a short vacation even during the semester.

Safety is never a concern about being in Germany. People follow rules and they do not make unnecessary arguments. They are also helpful, but the thing is you need to ask once. You can roam around late night in most German cities without any issue. Police and security people are always there to help you out, in case of emergency.
Germany is known as the powerhouse of Europe and has a large number of job opportunities for young professionals. You can start working in your field even when you haven’t finished your studies. They pay you well and also at the same time prepare you for the industry. This kind of experience can be a dream for the student in many countries.

Germany in comparison to other EU nations offers very reasonable expenses on Food and living. The supermarket offers high-quality food products at a very affordable price. Accommodation is quite tricky in Germany as well but way lot cheaper in comparison to Switzerland or the Netherlands.
There are tons of Indian Restaurants and Indian shops to fulfill your taste desires. You can find all the needed things to cook your Favorites food from back home,regardless of which Indian state you come from. There are also many temples, Gurudwara and masjids managed by Indian community if you are little on a religious side and like to celebrate such festivals, you can do it here as well. You can travel around Europe with your schengen visa to fulfill your dream of living ZNMD moments, and what not you have everything you need for your career and adventurous life abroad.

Now getting back to your question How is the life of Indian students in Germany? It’s the same as other non-EU students …no Special treatment or no extra discrimination.but there are many things listed above offered by Germany which also expects the same kind of response from students as well to make harmony. It’s really good for a great lifestyle and quality education in Germany.
By following native rules, respecting the native culture, being reasonable and not creating any disturbance in university as well as in day to day life, then there is no issue for Indian students in Germany.

Thanks for reading.