Hello RWTH Aachen - Pengalaman mendaftar sampai daftar ulang

Hello!

Pada postingan ini saya akan menjelaskan pengalaman mendaftar di salah satu universitas teknik ternama di Jerman, RWTH Aachen University.

RWTH Aachen ini di Indonesia terkenal dengan nama "kampusnya pak Habibie", dan di Jerman sendiri merupakan salah satu leading university khususnya di bidang teknologi. Saya mengetahui mengenai kampus ini dari orangtua angkat saya di Jerman, dan juga dari beberapa pameran pendidikan yang saya hadiri (EHEF dkk). 

Mimpi saya untuk lanjut sekolah di Jerman sudah ada setelah saya pulang dari pertukaran pelajar dengan AFS di tahun 2010-2011 lalu. Tetapi karena untuk melanjutkan di jenjang S1 sedikit rempong dengan studiekollege dan juga Alhamdulillah saya diterima di ITS, saya akhirnya memutuskan untuk menunda niat kuliah di Jerman untuk jenjang S2. 

Perjalanan untuk mendaftar tidak mudah. Awalnya adalah untuk memutuskan "mau kuliah di universitas mana?". Tetapi untuk mendapatkan jawaban itu, pertanyaan "mau lanjut jurusan apa?" juga harus dijawab, karena belum berarti universitas bagus memiliki jurusan yang kita inginkan. Menurut saya pribadi lebih bagus kuliah sesuai minat daripada hanya mengejar kampus bagus saja. 

Dalam perjalanan persiapan menuju S2 ini saya lakukan sejak saya berada di semester 5 diantaranya dengan menghadiri pameran-pameran pendidikan dan juga melihat di internet. Pada akhir semester 5 saya membuat google sheet yang berisi semua universitas di Jerman dan program S2 Teknik Informatika yang ditawarkan. Saya juga menanyakan beberapa informasi mengani program kuliah kepada suami kakak angkat saya dikarenakan dia juga lulusan teknik informatika.

Sheet tersebut di update beberapa saat dan berhenti pada saat awal semester 7. Setelah melihat-lihat, untuk kuliah S2 yang berbahasa Inggris, pendaftaran yang paling tidak rempong adalah mendaftar di RWTH Aachen University. Saya yang penggemar pak Habibie jadi semangat untuk mengurus pendaftaran. Ditambah lagi untuk program Teknik Informatika, RWTH Aachen menawarkan 2 program master dalam bahasa Inggris: M.Sc in Software Systems Engineering dan M.Sc in Media Informatics yang menurut saya dua-duanya menarik.

Semua pendaftaran dilakukan bukan melalui uni-assist, tetapi melalui portalnya sendiri: https://movein.campus.rwth-aachen.de/movein/portal/studyportal.php Jadi langkah-langkah awal yang harus dilakukan adalah. (UPDATE 18.08.2019: portal pendaftaran RWTH sudah berubah. Link sebelumnya sudah tidak berlaku lagi, oleh karena itu, langkah-langkah dibawah sudah tidak relevan)

1. Mencari tahu ingin kuliah apa

Untuk daftar program S2 yang ditawarkan dapat dilihat di sini. Sudah saya bantu filter untuk program khusus bahasa Inggris (dikarenakan untuk bahasa Jerman agak lebih rempong pendaftarannya).

2. Program yang kamu inginkan ada? Daftar di portalnya!

Jika program master yang kamu inginkan ada, silahkan register di portalnya di https://movein.campus.rwth-aachen.de/movein/portal/newapp.php. Klik start untuk memulai. Harap diingat bahwa pendaftaran untuk winter semester DITUTUP pada tanggal 1 Maret tiap tahunnya. Klik next-next dan isi sesuai data yang sebenarnya (asal negara, program yang diinginakn dll). Untuk pertanyaan "do you already have a university degree?" di jawab yes meskipun kamu belum lulus (yang jelas akan lulus).

3. Isi form yang tersedia.

Akan disediakan form untuk diisi, seputar data pribadi, nilai ijazah SMA, alamat dll. Harap diisi sedetail dan sejujur-jujurnya. Untuk berkas bisa ditambahkan nantinya (dicicil bisa).

4.Siapkan berkas yang dibutuhkan

In general, berkas-berkas yang dibutuhkan:

• Surat motivasi
• 2 surat rekomendasi dari dosen
• Ijazah S1 (bisa nyusul)
• Transcript (sampai semester 7 aja juga ga masalah)
• IELTS/TOEFL (kalau udah tes, kalau belum bisa nyusul)
• Foto
• Syllabus (ini ga harus tapi mending attach aja)
• Surat keterangan kerja atau pengalaman kerja (kalau ada)

Scan semuanya dengan jelas agar bisa dibaca. Saya memulai mengumpulkan berkas sejak akhir semester 7, tetapi dari beberapa bulan sebelumnya sudah meminta izin kepada 2 orang dosen jika berkenan untuk membuatkan saya surat rekomendasi. Bagusnya RWTH Aachen untuk Ijazah dan TOEFL/IELTS bisa menyusul jadi untuk kamu yang masih berada di semester 7 juga memiliki peluang untuk mendaftar (but bakalan telat tiba di Jermannya karena tunggu ijazah kalau lulus pas 8 semester).  Surat motivasi jangan dianggap remeh, karena meskipun kelihatan sepele tetapi pas mulai menulisnya idenya lari semua. 

5. Print dan tanda-tangani form

Ketika semua berkas sudah diupload, form akan otomatis di generated, dan bisa di print. Silahkan print form ini, tandatangani lalu kirim ke Jerman. Berkas paling lambat diterima tanggal 1 Maret untuk mulai kuliah Oktober tahun depannya. Saya sewaktu itu menggunakan Zip courier dari Surabaya dan hanya dikenakan hampir 300ribu rupiah. Dan berkas ini bisa dikirim bareng orang lain jadi mending rame-rame aja kirimnya supaya hemat.

6. Cek status

Status pendaftaran bisa di cek di https://movein.campus.rwth-aachen.de/movein/portal/login.php?_type=login. Normally, mereka akan mengemail jika terjadi perubahan.

7. Berdoa

Last step, berdoa semoga tidak ada hambatan dan diterima. Aamin.

Bisa dibilang tiap hari saya deg-degan menunggu pengumuman. Pada bulan April saya mendapat pesan jikalau aplikasi saya untuk program Media Informatics sedang di proses dan akan diberitahu hasilnya 2-3 minggu lagi. Ah iya, saya mendaftar di dua program tersebut (Media Informatics dan Software Systems Engineering). 

lagi diproses..

Pada hari Kamis beberapa minggu berikutnya saya terbangun dan mendapat email bahwa saya diterima di program MSc in Media Informatics. Alhamdulillah, begitu senang rasanya bisa diterima. LoA yang saya terima bersifat conditional dikarenakan saya belum mengumpulkan ijazah dan hasil IELTS/TOEFL. Kendala yang saya terima adalah saya tidak bisa mendaftar visa jikalau dua persyaratan ini belum terpenuhi. Untuk IELTS bisa-bisa saja daftar segera untuk tes. Tetapi ijazah? Harus menunggu dulu, apalagi waktu itu tugas akhir saya masih setengah jalan hehehe (tambah motivasi lagi untuk cepat lulus).

Email untuk MI

LoA!

Pada bulan Mei atau awal Juni kalau tidak salah saya mendapatkan email lagi bahwa saya "likely to get accepted" pada program SSE. Dan beberapa hari kemudian LoA untuk SSE pun menyusul melalui portal tadi. Untuk LoA asli juga dikirimkan langsung ke alamat yang kamu tuliskan pada saat pendaftaran.

Next step: lulus dan urus visa. Untuk langkah-langkah mengurus visa pelajar Jerman dapat dibaca pada postingan saya sebelumnya di sini.

email dari SSE

Alhamdulillah visa saya kelar dalam waktu 3,5 minggu (bisa dibilang lumayan beruntung) walaupun saya sangat telat mengurusnya. Saya kemudian berangkat ke Jerman pada tanggal 30 September 2015.

Pada tanggal 5 Oktober kemarin saya mendaftar ulang di RWTH Aachen. Setelah beberapa pertimbangan, saya memutuskan untuk mengambil jurusan Media Informatics. Uniknya untuk program ini 1-2 semester pertama akan dilaksanakan di Bonn, yang berjarak 1,5-2 jam dari Aachen. Untuk berkas ulang, yang perlu dibawah adalah:

1. LoA
2. Syarat-syarat di LoA
3. Ijazah asli
4. Transcript asli
5. Asuransi

Untuk asuransi diharuskan untuk memakai asuransi yang sesuai dengan standar Jerman, dan saya sarankan untuk membuatnya di Jerman dikarenakan sistemnya cashless jadi jika terjadi sesuatu tidak perlu rempong lagi dengan reimbursement.

Sekian cerita dari saya, semoga bermanfaat :)

Jika ada pertanyaan jangan sungkan-sungkan untuk bertanya lewat komentar di bawah.

Liebe Grüße aus Königswinter and I wish you a bright future ahead!
Yang masih berjuang bertahan hidup tanpa beasiswa dan lagi berusaha mencari part-time,

Dala :)

Langkah-Langkah Mengurus Visa Pelajar Jerman (S2)

Hallo lagi,

Kali ini saya akan menuliskan mengenai pengalaman saya mengurus visa pelajar jerman yang kedua kalinya. Pertama kali saya mengurus visa pelajar adalah pada tahun 2010-2011, tetapi waktu itu saya dibantu oleh AFS untuk menyiapkan berkas-berkasnya. Dan kedua kalinya adalah tahun ini, dan tidak ada bantuan dari sana-sini, jadi saya harus menyiapkan semua dokumennya sendiri, tetapi karena itulah saya jadi dapat pengalaman mengurus visa untuk dibagi.

Untuk yang bilang urus visa gampang... Hm.. Sebenarnya urus visa memang gampang. Kalau berkasnya lengkap. Nah, melengkapi berkas-berkasnya ini yang rempong dan biasanya ada keraguan apakah berkasnya sudah benar atau belum.

Saya menerima surat penerimaan saya dari RWTH Aachen pada bulan April 2016, beberapa teman dari negara lain langsung mengurus visa saat itu juga. Tetapi saya tidak bisa. Kurang IELTS dan Ijazah. Saya yang notabene waktu itu masih mengerjakan skripsi ya tidak mungkin ada ijazah duluan, hehehe. Rekening Deutsche Bank juga belum punya, dan itu ngurusnya memakan waktu lagi.

Sekian dulu curhatnya, sekarang lanjut ke langkah-langkah mengurus.

Untuk kuliah di Jerman, jenis visa yang dibutuhkan adalah Visa Nasional, yaitu izin tinggal lebih dari 90 hari. Perlu di ingat untuk mengajukan jenis visa ini jika ingin kuliah. Karena jika mengajukan visa schengen, visanya tidak akan bisa diperpanjang di negara tujuan, sehingga harus balik lagi ke Indonesia untuk mengurus ulang. Untuk keterangan lebih lanjut bisa dibaca di sini.

Berikut merupakan list-list kebutuhan yang dibutuhkan untuk mengajukan visa pelajar atau national visa pada kedutaan Jerman. Untuk list umumnya bisa di lihat di sini dan untuk melanjutkan studi dapat dilihat di sini. Saya akan menjelaskan lebih rinci mengenai syarat-syarat kelengkapannya.

1. Formulir. Di print 2 rangkap lalu di isi dan ditanda-tangani. Download FORMULIR VISA NASIONAL. Di isi selengkapnya. Jika punya istri/suami dan anak juga ditulis. Begitu juga informasi orangtua. Untuk tempat tinggal, jika belum mempunyai tempat tinggal yang pasti di Jerman, maka tulislah alamat kampus anda. 
2. Lembar pernyataan sesuai pasal 54 dan 55 izin tinggal. Isilah pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang ada dengan sejujurnya, tetapi saya rasa sebagian besar tidak akan memiliki masalah dengan lembar pernyataan ini.
3. Pasfoto 3 lembar. Ukuran visa schengen ya 3.5x4.5. Jangan foto sendiri mentang-mentang mau murah, soalnya ada beberapa peraturan untuk foto visa. Saran saya silahkan ke studio foto terbesar, dan bilang mau foto visa schengen. Muka 80%. 1 lembar pas foto nanti ditempel pada formulir, sementara 2 lainnya diselipkan saja.
4. Passpor. Asli dan fotokopi. Fotokopinya pakai lembar A4 ya. Saya pernah bermasalah waktu fotokopi passpor dan dipotong sesuai ukurannya sewaktu mengesahkan dokumen pembukaan rekening. Yang difotokopi lembar yang memiliki informasi (halaman depan, halaman alamat dan ttd, visa-visa dan stempel-stempel).
5. Polis asuransi kesehatan. Nah, kalau yang ini saya tidak tau apakah wajib atau tidak. Soalnya ada yang tidak ditanyakan polis asuransinya. Tetapi, hindari segala kemungkinan pengajuan visa tidak diproses, jadi sebaiknya tetap membuat polis asuransi. Toh tidak ada ruginya juga buat kita. Untuk durasi polis juga bervariasi, ada yang 1 bulan, ada yang 3 bulan. Saya tidak tahu apakah ada pengaruhnya atau tidak pada pengajuan visa. Kalau saya pribadi langsung membuat polis 1 tahun yang berlaku 90 hari per perjalanan ke sana. Harga polis saya US$109.
6. Daftar riwayat hidup berbentuk tabel. Awalnya saya bingung CV dalam bentuk tabel itu kayak bagaimana. Akhirnya setelah browsing, saya akhirnya tahu kalau CV dalam bentuk tabel itu tabelnya tidak terlihat (saya kira awalnya tabelnya terlihat garis-garisnya). Di buat tabel agar lebih rapi. Saya tidak membuat from scratch melainkan melalui europass cv. Di sini ditulis semua pendidikan mulai dari kecil hingga sekarang, dan tidak ada gap waktu antar tahunnya (jika ada, sebaiknya dijelaskan).
7. Pembiayaan selama tinggal di jerman. Jika lewat beasiswa seperti LPDP dan yang lain, maka lampirkan bukit penerimaan beasiswa dan besarnya. Jika non beasiswa, lampirkan surat konfirmasi dari Deutsche Bank mengenai jumlah uang di rekening anda dan berapa banyak yang di blocked. Sekedar curhat, bisa dibilang kami-kami yang mendaftar di bulan-bulan begini kena apes. Kenapa? Soalnya terjadi perubahan pada jumlah blocked account yang awalnya €8040 (bisa ditarik €670/bulan), menjadi €8640(bisa ditarik max €720/bulan). Dikarenakan membuat blocked account pada bulan Juni dan peraturannya belum diperbaharui, akun kami cuma di blocked €8040. Beberapa petugas di kedutaan akan meminta untuk memperbaharui terlebih dahulu, dan ada beberapa yang tidak. Jadi tergantung keberuntungan apakah pembiayaan ini bakalan dipermasalahkan atau tidak.
8. Konfirmasi Penerimaan atau Letter of Acceptance (LoA). Kalau dikirimkan melalui email atau melalui pos belum tiba, tidak apa-apa yang di email yang di print. Harap diingat jika LoA kamu bersifat conditional, kamu harus menyertakan persyaratan yang telah terpenuhi. Sebagai contohnya saya memiliki conditional LoA yang menyaratkan ijazah dan IELTS, maka saya melampirkan hasil IELTS saya dan SKL (Ijazah belum terbit) yang sudah diterjemahkan ke bahasa Inggris. Nah, untuk SKL ini saya tidak tahu apakah bermasalah atau tidak, semoga saja kedutaan tidak mengemail saya dan menyatakan bahwa harus ijazah yang dilampirkan (karena ijazah terbitnya pas wisuda dan itu akan sangat menunda penyelesaian visa).

Nah, setiap dokumen diatas disiapkan 2 lembar kopian (kecuali pas foto 3). Kalau ada yang asli juga nanti disertakan saja sebagai bukti (tetapi nanti dikembalikan kok).

Langkah-langkah mengurus visa:

1. Membuat janji. Tanpa membuat janji terlebih dahulu, kamu tidak akan bisa mengurus visa. Termine atau janji dapat dibuat pada website kedutaan. Disarankan buatnya 2-3 bulan sebelum berangkat (jangan seperti saya) dikarenakan proses visa yang bisa memakan waktu sampai 6-8 minggu. Dan juga almost impossible untuk mencari janji H-7 (kecuali ada yang cancel).
2. Melengkapi kelengkapan. Jangan kelupaan apapun. Soalnya sakit kalau rasanya harus ngebook ulang janji dan ternyata dapatnya masih lama *pengalaman*
3. Datang ke kedutaan 30 menit sebelum waktu. Saya sarankan mengambil janji pada pagi hari. Dikarenakan sangat jarang termine yang selesai tepat waktu. Kalau di jadwal kamu 07.30-08.00, kemungkinan urusanmu bakalan beres jam 9. Jadi, semakin pagi, semakin sedikit antrian. Saya dulu pernah buat termine jam 10.00, dan keluar dari kedutaan pukul 15.0.
4. Menunggu dengan sabar dan jawab pertanyaan dari petugas dengan tenang. Terkadang privasi kita di sini sedikit terbuka. Misalnya baru-baru ini saya bertemu bapak-bapak yang akan tinggal di Jerman dengan istrinya (istrinya orang Jerman). Di loket itu ditanyain dari di mana ketemu, berapa kali kencan, kapan menikah, berapa kali ke Jerman dll... Kalau saya cuma ditanya nanti di sana tinggal di mana, terus di sana ngapain...
5. Bayar €60.
6. Periksa surat Kontrolausdruck dan tanda tangani. Jika persyaratan lengkap, akan dikasih 2 lembar untuk ditandatangani. Periksa baik-baik semuanya, jangan sampai ada yang salah. 
7. Kembalikan lembar yang sudah ditandangani. Setelah dikembalikan kamu akan disuruh tunggu sebentar dan setelah itu dikasih kuitansi dan boleh pulang deh.

Tetapi, bukan berarti kamu membayar dan pergi semua pasti akan baik-baik saja. Terkadang, kedutaan akan mengirimkan kamu email untuk meminta beberapa kekurangan berkas, dan pengajuan visa tidak akan diproses sampai berkas tersebut dikirimkan. Kalau mau jujur, untuk bisa tembus menelfon kedutaan itu seperti keajaiban, jadi jika ada keraguan atau rasa gundah di hati dan visa tak kunjung datang *ceileh*, silahkan email terlebih dahulu, jika masih kurang jelas, saya sarankan langsung datang ke loket 5 di kedutaan dan bertanya.

So...

Sekian dulu tentang langkah-langkah mengurus Visa Pelajar untuk Jerman. Adapun rintangan/hambatan dll yang saya alami akan terus saya update di sini karena status saya saat ini masih menunggu visa *deg deg deg deg deg deg deg*

Jika ada pertanyaan silahkan bertanya lewat komentar.

Terima kasih.

And thanks for reading!!!!

IELTS Tips (untuk yang nekat tes tanpa les)

Finally something to write! (Thanks Fahim for the request ^^)

So I'd like to share some experience regarding my first ever IELTS and the preparation. I need to take the IELTS test as a requirement for enrolling in the master degree. And to be honest, I didn't have much time because of the undergraduate theses and so on, so no time to take course either. It's a bold move, but I had to take it otherwise I wouldn't be able to enroll.

I signed up for IELTS at the end of June at IALF Surabaya. Unfortunately there was no place left for the nearest test took place in Surabaya, so I signed up to take the exam in Malang instead. I had also try to contact IALF Jakarta, but all the places were also taken, and worse, for the whole month. So from the end of June till the day of test, I had approx. 16 days to learn, and believe me, it wasn't actually enough. I got lucky some friends of mine had the test and shared their experience.

So the tips below are not originally from me, but from my friends as well, and from some video that I watched.

Preparation

• Know the institution that offer the test. Note that some place have their listening exam on the different day (which is not recommended for people who'll take the exam not on their hometown).
• Sign up as soon as possible! Especially if you need the result to be one of requirement for visa. And well, if your score is not enough, you can retake it as soon as you can.
• Set a target. The university I got accepted only ask for 6, so I aimed to get a minimum 6.5.
• Know your weakness and strength. I am really bad at writing (grammatically and vocab), so I set my target lower for writing, and higher for others.
• PRACTICE as many as you can. There are tons of books you can find at the bookstore or download from internet. I remember there was one day when we answered (well someone asked me to practice together) more than 200 questions on listening. A senior of mine got a perfect score on listening because he answered all of the questions from some books. Practicing makes you to get used to the type of question that will be asked.
• GET A PRACTICE PARTNER. It's better to know someone who'll take the test soon. You'll get more motivation to beat each other score at practice.

Listening

Score: 8.5

You'll have to answer 40 questions which are divided into 4 sections (10 questions each), two conversation and two monologues. The answer could vary from multiple choice or fill the blank. 

• Once again, PRACTICE as many questions as you can to get used to. The first and second section will be easier than the rest. Note that you'll only hear everything once.
• Do not answer directly on the answer sheet. You'll have extra 10 minutes at the end of listening section to do that. Answering directly will lower your concentration.
• They'll give you time to read the question first. DO READ THEM FIRST! and note some important parts so you'll know the answer directly when you hear them.
• Be careful of paraphrasing. On the third and fourth section, it gets trickier. That's why (once again) you need to READ THE QUESTION FIRST.
• Be careful of spelling, take note when it's plural or singular. 
• For the monologue section that using a map, find the YOU ARE HERE text first before you read the question. I made mistake once during practice, I didn't notice the  "you are here" text until the 5th question...

Reading

Score: 8.5

I only did reading practice less than five times. There are a few type of questions that will be asked, whether fill in the blanks, multiple choice, true false not given, or yes no not given. You'll also have to answer 40 questions which are divided to 3 sections. To be honest, 60 minutes is not enough for me, but somehow I managed to answer all. 

• Do it BACKWARDS. I mean, from the latest section. A friend of mine gave me this tips and I found it really helpful. The last text will be the most difficult and complex text, so it'll be much better when you read and answer the questions when you still have full concentration. 
• BE CAREFUL of "YES, NO, NOT GIVEN" and "TRUE, FALSE, NOT GIVEN". Some people had them switched. If you answer "true" on a "yes, no, not given" part, you'll get 0 points. 
• All of fill in the blanks word will be found at the text, so read it carefully!
• For the type of questions where you have to choose whether it's a yes/true, no/false and not given statement, there are well.. it's not really pattern.. but if it's a no/false, the question will write something obivously opposite of the text, so it'll be easily found. But it gets trickier to differentiate between true/yes and not given, because something you'll feel it's true but it's actually not on the text
• Set the time to answer each section, e.g. 15 minutes for first section, 20 min for the second, and 25 for the last.

Writing

Score: 6.0

Oh well, hello there, darkness my friend. I didn't have the chance (or let's say I was lazy) to practice writing. But I couldn't deny the fact that this section kept haunting me and make me unease everytime I thought about the test (before the D-day). I felt like everything I should write was there already on my head (there's a saying once a debater always a debater). So please do not forget to practice at least once so you can measure yourself.

I think it was normal for people who didn't have any preparation course to have some fear about this section. Actually I had the fear because I heard my friends who had taken the prep course explained a lot about grammar, rules etc etc, so I kinda feel like ("whaaaat are they talking about? Oh man, that all sounds so difficult..).

In the writing section you'll get two tasks, the first one is to give a report about given chart/map/tables, and the second one is to analyze a given question.

First task:

• You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
• You have to write min. 150 words.
• You should have around 4 paragraphs: introduction, overview, section a, section b.
• You'll get a description of the table/chart/maps. Write this description in your own words on as you first paragraph (introduction).
• You have to have an OVERVIEW. I repeat, an OVERVIEW is a MUST. You'll get maximum 5 on one of the marking if you miss an overview. In the overview, highlight some parts, for example, the highest, the lowest, the biggest, the smallest etc...
• Paragraph 3 and 4 consist of the description of the drawing, and group them nicely. Do not only write one paragraph to explain the whole drawing!
• Give details to everything that you write. If you write "a country A has the highest amount of population..", don't forget to add the numbers!
• Surf around the internet and find some example of the answer! I regret didn't do this. I only read the answer using charts, so when I got table to report, well, I was really down at that time. 

Second task:

• Note that the second tasks values double, so you should spent about 40 minutes on this task.
• You'll have to write minumum of 250 words.
• The topic is to analyze something. You're asked to write whether you agree/disagree, what's the advantage/disadvantage and so on. The topic varies but usually around education, health, and technology. I got lucky because the topic was about internet xD

To be honest, I spent more time on the first task rather than the second task. And my writing score is the lowest.

Speaking

Score: 7.0

My favourite part! I love to speak! You won't need pen to speak, just think on your head, and say it out loud! Hahaha. After the writing section, you'll be asked to leave the room. Usually before the begin of the test, you can see the schedule of your speaking test. I got lucky I was the second person, so my test was around 1 p.m (It was in Malang, and I had to drive back to Surabaya, so going home as soon as possible is neccessary). 

• Be confindent. How can you get high score for speaking, if you don't have confidence at first place?
• Take it easy. Try not to tremble. The examiner usually really nice person. Mine was smiling since the beginning, so I knew it wouldn't be so scary.
• It'll begin with a simple question: "can I look at your ID?" "Tell me about yourself"... I think all can answer these questions easily.
• Then, he'll open the book that contains a lot of question and ask you more. For example, I was asked if I like to sing. Then he asked why, and narrowing the question.
• And, the cue card. The examiner will give you a pen, and a topic and a set of questions you should talk about for 1-2 minutes. You'll be given a minute to think (or to write). After a minute, he'll ask you to start talking, and stop you if the time is up.
• Then, you'll be questioned about your little presentation. It starts with an easy one, then more detailed one to see your reaction as well as your answers. I was a bit nervous on this part, especially when he asked me more difficult question.

In total I got 7.5 which was quite surprising hahaha. So before taking the test, you should sometimes measure yourself whether you might get your target score or not. But if you have already signed up for a test, and didn't have any prep course, I suggest you to practice every day. IELTS test is expensive, and the least that you want is to retake it after you just done one.

 Soo.. that's some tips from me! I hope it helps! Good luck for your test!! If you have any question, please don't hesitate to ask me!

Some useful links:

http://www.tahasoni.com/

http://www.ielts-blog.com/ (the previous writing and speaking question can be found here)

https://www.youtube.com/user/ieltsliz (she explains in such a good way and easy to understand)

Cara membuat Blocked Account di Deutsche Bank

Halo!

Jadi ceritanya kemarin, 27.6.2016, saya menuju ke Kedutaan Jerman yang letaknya di dekat bundaran HI untuk membuka blocked account di Deutsche Bank. Sekedar info, blocked account ini merupakan syarat wajib bagi calon mahasiswa yang akan melanjutkan kuliah di Jerman (tanpa beasiswa ataupun Verpflichtungserklärung). Dalam blocked account ini akan tersimpan uang mengendap (untuk persyaratan tahun ini €8040 tapi ada issue kalau naik jadi €8640) selama setahun dan bisa diambil setiap bulannya (setidaknya kita ga kelaparan di negara orang). Jadi untuk kalian yang membaca postingan ini dan berniat untuk melanjutkan studi di Jerman, saya sarankan untuk segera membuat karena mendapatkan LoA bukan menjadi syarat utama untuk membuka rekening blocked account.

Okay step-stepnya (untuk yang 18 tahun ke atas, setahu saya dibawah 18 tahun lebih ribet):
1. Download formnya di sini dan isi (bisa secara elektronik atau tulis tangan), tetapi perlu diingat jangan tanda tangan dulu, tanda tangannya di depan petugasnya di kedutaan.
2. Dokumen yang harus dibawa:

• Form yang sudah diisi tadi
• Passpor asli
• Passpor fotokopi (pakai kertas A4, saya waktu itu fotokopi di A4 tetapi orang fotokopinya memotong sesuai ukuran, malah akhirnya petugasnya agak jutek dan bilang bahwa harus A4, tetapi berbaik hati memfotokopikan ulang)

3. Datang ke kedutaan. Untuk buat rekening ga usah pakai janji, langsung aja bilang ke pak satpamnya mau buka rekening. Oh iya, sebaiknya barang yang dibawa ga usah banyak soalnya isi tasnya di cek dan hp dititipkan. Masuk ke dalam dan ambil nomor antrian. Kami datang hari senin dan kiranya bakalan banyak antri, ternyata ga. Ga sampai 15 menit malah sudah nomor antrian kami (bisa langsung berdua), setelah disuruh tunggu sebentar dan akan dipanggil lagi. Setelah dipanggil akan diberikan kuitansi.

4. Kirim berkasnya ke Deutsche Bank di Jerman, bisa lewat DHL atau yang lain. Kalau mau cepat bisa lewat kedutaan (harganya lebih murah). Saya memilih jalur lewat kedutaan.

Selesai. Ketika berhasil dibuka akan diemail oleh pihak Deutsche Bank. Sampai sekarang masih kurang tau estimasi waktunya berapa, nanti saya update lagi.

Oh iya total harganya:

-Pembuatan rekening : 300rb

-Pengesahan : 150rb

-Biaya kirim : 200rb

Jadi totalnya 650rb perkepala :) 

Sekian dulu postingan dari saya. Terima kasih :)

Life in Seoul - A Brief Summary of My Spring 2015

So hello!! This was my final essay/report for Global Korean Scholarship as a final task before going home ^^  This essay was written on June 5th, 2015. I added some pictures to make it more "alive"

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To be in Korea has been my dream since I was in senior high school. The 17 years old me wanted to see how things were in Korea, since I was a fan of Korea drama. The older me, last year, wanted more that to be in Korea after seeing an opportunity offered by my home university. Study in Korea. Yes, why only to be and not to live? Korea is one of developed country that has been growing rapidly, compare to my home country. My home country even got the independence first, but Korea could grow more. What was the secret of the people? How could be Korea become one of the leading country in technology? As a student in information technology, this has been one of my reason why I should apply to study.

But to achieve this dream was not easy. I applied last semester too, I managed to be a nominee from my home university, but the destination university said another thing. But was it only because one of rejection that I have to say goodbye to my dream? If we want to try, nothing is impossible. It is better to fail, than not trying and the regret it later. So I applied once again, and finally got accepted this time. With the limited financial, my parents tried to send me, and I also applied for the scholarship, hoping that if I got accepted it would help my parents. And a few weeks before my departure, I got an email from the contact person from Chung-Ang University. I got accepted to receive the Global Korean Scholarship.

And now it is almost the end, I am finishing the life of one of my dream.

Living in Korea has been one of the most memorable thing of my life. It was not the first time I lived far away from home, but it was the first time I lived alone, by alone I mean completely alone, no host family, no familiar things, no familiar language, no adult to relied to, I need to survive by myself. I was an exchange student 5 years ago in Germany, but I had host family who I could always ask and rely to. This time was different.

One funny thing upon my departure was my thought about the weather. Since I never traveled to any country in Asia beside ASEAN’s country, I thought the weather would be slightly the same, except in Korea it might be a little bit colder. So, the plain me didn’t bring a thick coat, only a normal one. And then, after arriving in dormitory for the first time, I checked the weather, and thought, “What? Minus 2 degree?” and regretting my decision not to bring any winter clothes.

Weather was the first thing to struggle. It was really cold for me, I don’t like cold, I can’t stand cold. Even when I sleep, I need to use socks so I don’t feel cold. I thought I brought a pair of thick gloves, but somehow I only found one glove on my suitcase. But the funny thing was, the way Korean dressed wasn’t like it was winter. The first week at University, I noticed many girls wore short skirt and pants. Well, they also wore some stockings, but was it enough? I even wore long-john and boots and it was not even enough for me. That was my first culture shock.

The second was language. I thought in Seoul would be easy to live for someone who didn’t know how to speak Korean, but it wasn’t. Well, maybe if I live near the tourist area it would be easy, but near my campus, it was difficult to find a restaurant where the waiter could speak good English. On the very first day, I and some friends went to a restaurant nearby and it took us almost half an hour just to figure out what to eat, because the menu had no English alphabet nor pictures.. I learned how to read hangeul before, but it took me more than five minutes just to figure out “Ramyun”.

First menu!

Manage to order something, yeay!

Dorm's typical breakfast

I was really fascinated by the technology and how easily people from all age got used to it. The first was the gate at my dormitory. We need some vessel scan or something like that, and my first thought “How this machine thing could even scan it?” Fingerprint or eye scan was really normal, but to scan someone’s vessel was totally a new one for me. And then, T-Money. It was really easy to go to everywhere with only one card: Taxi, Bus, Subway… they all accepted it. I can even use my T-Money card for the vending machine and the printing machine in dorm.

What I really like about Seoul, that it was really easy to go to anywhere. At the very first months, I used to go everywhere by subway since it’s more convenience and easy, but after I knew how to read Hangeul and even spoke a bit Korean, I tried to go by bus, since I could see the streets even though sometimes it took longer. What I don’t like about the subway is the distance we have to walk if we have to change the line. By bus it was easier. But with bus, the driver sometimes drove too fast, so it was difficult to stand. By Taxi is something else, because it is more expensive, and some taxis didn’t want to have foreigner passengers because of the language barrier.

My university life has been upside down. At first I took 6 classes, but then I dropped 2 because of the language barrier and the difficulties, and kept 4. What I noticed in the International class that mixed with Korean was, the Korean student didn’t try to blend in. Maybe in some other class yes, but not in class that I took. Before I dropped the other 2 classes too, somehow we could see the line between the Korean student and the International one. The Professor had tried to make us blend, but it didn’t work. I didn’t know what the real problem was, but I think maybe it is because they are too afraid to talk to us, and vice versa.

Chung-Ang University Festival!

I took 2 German class, since I want to improve my German. I was hesitated at first because I was afraid the class would be in Korean, but I was relieved when I saw the Professor is a German. But the other problem, I was the only foreigner in the class. Everyone is Korean. I thought that I would be alone for the rest of semester, but I was wrong. Well, at the first week no one talked to me (later I found out because some of them were afraid of speaking German since I am a little bit fluent), but later on one by one was trying to talk to me. I couldn’t be happier. I didn’t regret taking the class, because through the class I found Korean friends, and get to know more about Korean culture. I hanged out with some of them, mostly once a week, and improved my Korean. If I had Korean homework, they would be the first one to check it.

Eating out after German class xD

Through them, I mostly knew more about the culture and habit, especially among university students. For example, in the class, every meeting, there would be at least one student who would bring coffee or tea or milk to drink. That something that didn’t happen in Indonesia. And also I know that most of them live a bit far from campus, some even live in Incheon and Yongin, and traveled more than one hour everyday only to go to campus! Most of Korean are really diligent, and willing to learn. And the other thing was, how teacher is one of important job in here. In Indonesia, teacher didn’t receive a large amount of money.

Cherry blossom

One other unforgettable experience was when I got accepted as a global supporter of the very first Royal Court Culture Festival. I took interested about Korean history after I watched a drama, and then decided to take part in this festival. Turns out now I am one of fan of Korean history, especially of Joseon dynasty. I have visited all of the palaces in Seoul, starting from Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokggung, Chenggyeonggung, and Deoksugung. Also Jongmyo Shrine, the National Folk Museum, the National Museum of Korea, and the National Palace Museum. Gyeongbokgung was like my second home, since I went there minimum two times a week during April and the beginning of May. I really like how in Korea the technology is a high-end, but people also promoted their culture proudly. I got a ticket to moonlight tour, and it was one of the best tour I’ve ever attended!

The Very First Royal Court Culture Festival Opening Night!

Team 4! RPF Volunteer!!

Very first meeting

But to live in Korea was not always easy too. At the first two months, before the scholarship money came, I needed to live a little bit frugal. Korea is far far more expensive than Indonesia, one time eating is equal to three to four times eat in city where I live in Indonesia. But all of those café looked so delicious, so it was a struggle to resist them. The second thing was to find something to eat. I am a moslem and couldn’t eat pork, but pork is everywhere in Korea! And even though the food sounded like there is no meat, but some have. For example, Jajangmyun (black bean noodles). I thought it there was no meat in it, but truthfully it was pork. So I need to be patient, even though I really want to eat Jajangmyun.

Almost couldn't resist all these sweet things in life

Sometimes it was hard to tell people why I don’t eat pork and drink alcohol. They sometimes ask me, “But now you are in Korea, right? Nobody will know if you eat pork or drink alcohol.” It is a matter of choice. But I am glad that they respect my choice and still befriend me.

To be honest, I really like Chung-Ang University. Even though I really hate the hill to the dorm, but now we – exchange students – found a faster way to go to dorm without climbing all the hill. We called it “the lazy way”, “the not so lazy way”, “the very lazy way” etc. The very lazy way was to take bus to the back gate. What I like more about Chung-Ang is the facility that I have never seen before. I have lived at dorm during my high school time. But Blue Mir Hall was really good and nice. And the school festival has been my favourite so far. I really enjoyed those three days, and I wished it could stay longer.

Would I want to stay for another semester? If I could, I would. But sadly I need to graduate next year, so unfortunately I have to go back to reality, and who knows, I might apply for a master program at Chung-Ang!

Certificate given by Mr. Lee

After three months, I already felt like home. Korea (especially Heukseok) has been one of my home, and I will never forget my experience in here. It is really sad to think that soon I’ll leave and readapt again to my routine in Indonesia. Now I’m starting to wonder, what kind of thing I will miss when I return to “home”. Will it cafeteria food at dorm? Or will it be my roommate and my room? Will it be my friends? Will it be the cleanliness? Will it be the internet speed?

I want to thank the Korean government to give me a worthless lifetime experience to support my study in Korea. If only you know how it means for me and my family. Thank you so much, Global Korean Scholarship! I will surely share my experience and my knowledge that I learned during my one semester stay.