Where are you from? Please tell us about yourself!
I come from a small town named Zrenjanin in Serbia. I have finished law school, Bachelor's, and Master's studies at the University of Novi Sad.
My hobbies are reading, listening to podcasts, watching TV shows, and fitness. After finishing college, I volunteered at a law office in my town for two years and have just started to prepare for my bar exam when I met my husband, who was at that point preparing to go to Germany to enroll in an Ausbildung program and later work as an electrician.
We were in a long-distance relationship for 3 years and then I decided at one point that I'm going to live in Germany with him. Of course, he proposed me before that :)
Where in Germany did you move to? Why did you choose that place?
We moved to Ingolstadt, Bayern and the reason is that my husband got his job here but besides that, I do really like Bayern.
I've visited Munich and Nuremberg several times and also a few smaller towns and just fell in love with the nature, infrastucture, the politeness of German people and of course - the variety of beers!
That combined was really the best possible motivation because everything is different than in my country which I still love and respect, but Ihave always wanted to try living somewhere else.
Officially I moved here three months ago and of course I was afraid at the beginning and still am a little bit, but as time passes and I'm getting better at learning the language, it starts to slowly fade. Now ,the feeling that prevails is the excitement of what the future holds for me here!
How were your first 6 months in Ingolstadt? What are your favorite cafes, bars, and restaurants in the city? Have you made any friends?
I still haven't completed the first 6 months of being here so we can say that I really am brand new arrival. Yes, at the start, it was hard even going to the supermarket alone because I wasn't sure if my language skills are good enough to be able to ask someone for help if needed.
Now, that's a routine, along with going to the doctors and having small talk with neighbours.
I can say that I'm happy and excited at the same time because I took a huge step forward in my life. I've totally changed my environment and career path since I won't be able to use my lawschool diploma here - which is not tragic for me at all since I was previously having doubts if that really is the right path for me, but that's another story.
My current plan is to work on my language and enroll in an Ausbildung program. I'm still not sure which one, but I have few on my lists and since I was a school nerd, I'm pretty sure it will lead to a good outcome.
As for the cafes, bars, and restaurants, I like the varitety of options here - depending of my mood and appetite, I can eat a döner, Asian food, or classic German sausage. Also, the best pizza that I've tried was here in Germany, which was a total suprise (I'll compare that for sure when I visit Italy one day :D).
As for friends, I still haven't met any German people except for afew neighbour pensioners that I have small talk with here and there. But I've met really nice people from Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia who have also migrated here and we can share out experiences. Of course, I'm open to make friendships along the way even though I'm a bit of an introverted person.
How would you compare Germany to Serbia?
It is totally different! People here are more active and sports-oriented so I was at first a bit shocked to see people jogging or riding bike in bad weather conditions. Also, I don't see a lot traffic here, compared to my town and state in general.
Architecture is amazing, I really like and appreciate that every residence building and house is very well preserved and not just that, in the wider city center, buildings have avariety of colors which I have noticed in all the towns that I've visited here in Bayern. It makes the city center vibrant no matter which season it is - every one of them has its charm.
I also appreciate a lot of the festivities that are being organized throughout the year so that people can enjoy their free time with their partners, friends, and children. As for the German people, I only had positive experiences so far and I think they are very polite and want to help.
But what about the cost of living in Germany?
Yes, rent in towns are a huge cost, but I think it is manageable, especially when two people work and share costs. Also, I've seen that a lot of people wh have recently moved here share an apartment with someone or live in community houses (Wohngemeinschaft) so they can save some money and that, in my opinion, can be a good option for a while.
As for the job market, I still didn't begin finding a job because I want to first pass my B1 exam and have a certificate which I can add to my CV. But what I've noticed so far is that there are a lot of offers and possibilities for people that have knowledge and experience in all kinds of fields - there are options, that's for sure.
Have you enrolled in a German language course? How well would you say do you speak German now?
No, I haven't still. I learn on my own with a variety of resources. For grammar, I use official textbooks and online exercises. For reading, I use short news and texts and most of my learning process is hearing a lot of the German language through YouTube and podcasts.
And I use ChatGPT a lot! I try to speak German at every opportunity that comes along the way. But I have been in situations where when I try to speak and of course make mistakes and can't remember some words so that the other person switches really quickly to English.
Mostly because they think that it's more helpful and I understand that and don't blame them. It's on me to try to correct my speaking and be better and then try to explain to the person that it is more helpful if we continue in German, no matter my mistakes.
Has Deutsch Gym been helpful to you so far?
Yes it does help a lot because it connects me with people from all over the world who are also struggling with the language but try their best to get better.
I like that the classes are every day and a lot of topics about every day life are included, where we have the themes along with the questions given to us in advance, so that we can even prepare our answers or at least think about them.
The groups are small with three or four people in it and every person has one hour of time to answer questions or say something that they want. Also, the conversation is often quite natural and casual where we get speak in German and also learn a bit about one another. We are all on this journey together!
