Robinson Musembi  

My first impressions as a physics exchange student in Berlin 

November 2003

It has been three weeks and a few days since I arrived here in Berlin and it is time to report on first impressions. I want to summarise the main events from the day of departure from Kenya to the present day.

On Monday, 23rd October 2003, I arrived sufficiently early at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) at 20.00hrs. The security at the airport was very tight but nonetheless I could check in without any problem. Immediately, I was informed about a change of the flight from Kenya Airways flight KQ1566 to a flight by its partner airline KLM, flight KL566. The departure time was supposed to be 22.20hrs, but it passed while we were still in the waiting lounge, which was no problem. We just continued the long wait. Finally, a few minutes after 23.00hrs, we boarded our flight, an MD 11 model called "Maria Montessori". I don’t know who she is, but I intended to check later on the internet why an aircraft should be named after her. The flight Purser Mr. De Rhoter made a few announcements and he told the passengers that the delay will be explained by the flight Captain Mr. Ten Duis. The captain explained to us that the aircraft had arrived on one faulty engine earlier in Nairobi and the engineers have been repairing it until that late hour. He said that, while taxiing, he will try a number of things to determine whether it was fine to take off, otherwise he would cancel the flight. After a short duration of test runs, the journey started.

The flight was supposed to take 8 hrs. 10 mins., but it seemed like it took a shorter time. However, we arrived at Schipol Airport in the Netherlands, already by about an hour late. By the time we cleared with security, the connecting flight was long gone. We proceeded to the help desk and there was no hassle as they had all the information about the delayed flight from Nairobi, we (Alex Ogacho and I) were immediately booked into another flight which was to leave at 09.00hrs. At the help desk, we requested for a message to be relayed to Ferdinand Streicher, a participant of the Berlin-Nairobi exchange in 2000/01, who was waiting for us at Berlin Tegel Airport. It seemed like we had a jinx for delayed flight. The connecting flight came at 11.20hrs.. This time, the aircraft was not being repaired, but they had none available, but finally we went by KLM City hopper.

Ferdinand Streicher was really patient. He had been waiting for us from 8.00hrs. to 13.00hrs which is when we finally arrived at Tegel. He bought some tickets for us to travel within Berlin. First we boarded a bus, then the U-Bahn (underground), changing a few times, then a bus again and finally he announced that we have arrived at Die Selbstverwaltung des Studentendorfes Schlachtensee e.V., Wasgenstr. 75, 14129 Berlin. He told us that the place used to belong to a US military base. Then, after the military left, it changed hands to the Studentenwerk (which is something like a student union), but for reasons unkown to me the Studentenwerk no longer owns the place. However, some students still run it.

Emmanuel (right), one of my roommates and a student of music at the Freie Universität Berlin. I am on the left.
The custodian booking guests at Schlachtensee seemed to have been waiting for us. The rooms are not the kind we are used to. In a flat you share one common door, inside the flat are six rooms with the following being shared among the occupants: bathroom, toilet, sitting room with dining table only, cooker, fridge and several cupboards and no cooking utensils. Inside each room there is a reading table and one chair, a bookshelf, a wardrobe, a bed with mattress only and no beddings. The cost of the rooms varies, the cheapest costing  €200 (KSh 18, 400) per month. This room is the standard as described above. In the other category, the rooms costs  €220 (KSh 20,240) with the only difference being that there is cable television in the rooms. The guestrooms are available for short term visitors only. The guestrooms rooms are similar to the second category, the only difference being that in the sitting room they have two couches, cooking utensils, and they provide blankets and pillows but no bedcovers. We settled for guestrooms for the first two weeks. At this time we thought that we should have brought our bedding and cooking utensils. I paid €475 (KSh 43,240) for the room, this included €300 (caution fee), €170 rent for 2 weeks and €5 reservation fee, which we were told Florian Weissbach had paid when he reserved the rooms for us. Schlachtensee looks deserted and very few people are seen around, mainly foreigners who are booked for short duration. On our first weekend, 25th and 26th October, we just stayed around.

On Monday, 27th October, Ferdinand Streicher and Philip Schambach, who was also a participant of the Berlin-Nairobi Exchange in 2002/03, came to pick us up and we went to the Freie Universität Berlin to register at the Immatriculation Office. We found out that our papers had not been sent to them and we were asked to provide certificates of our M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees and all our transcripts. We also had to provide invitation letters, health insurance certificates and permanent addresses. Save for the insurance certificates, we had all the other documents ready. First, we were informed that you cannot pay for the insurance unless you have an account with the bank and you cannot have an account with the bank unless you are registered with the police. So we had to see Prof. Bodo Hamprecht on how we can go about this. He called the Immatriculation Office and talked to them. He said to us that it is okay and that we can go and see them. We registered immediately and went straight to open a bank account with Sparkasse (a bank). We went back to the university again to give our account details so that our allowance can be sent there since we had been informed we cannot get it in cash. We gave our account details to Frau Sylvia Theodos. The following day, 28th October, Philip picked us up and we went to the Hahn-Meitner Institute where we were to conduct our research. The place is a security zone since there is a nuclear reactor within the compound and we were instructed to write the name of the employee we are to see. Dr. Thomas Dittrich came to collect us at the gate. He turned out to be a very nice person. We immediately embarked on the registration procedure at the institute. We had to get several papers signed before we were officially recognized as guests at the institute. We were given security cards. With such a card, one can get access to the institute from Monday to Friday only and it is the same card one can use at the institute food canteen which works something like a debit card. It is also used at the library and should be displayed at all times where it is visible. On our first day at the institute we were given keys to the laboratories, offices and were told about the work we are supposed to do complete with a working time table. In the evening, we held a discussion with Dr. Dittrich and he informed us about the importance of Mondays at the institute. Monday is the day the research groups hold, what they popularly call, "Montalk". Every Monday, each research group holds a two-hour meeting to discuss all the new results and it is a must that every member participates and presents something.

On Wednesday, 29th October, we went to the Freie Universität Berlin to continue our registration. Still, we didn’t have insurance since the money ought to be channeled through the bank and we didn’t have any money in our accounts yet, but we are told about a governmental temporary waiver which normally assists students to register while they are arranging to pay for the insurance. We went searching for the government office somewhere, I cannot recall the name, very far in the outskirts of Berlin. We got the waiver and went to register. To be registered we are asked to pay €149. After having paid that, we can now buy city travel tickets at discounted rates. This has enabled us to get the monthly city travel ticket. Now we are saved from the nightmare of buying bus tickets for every day which is valid for two hours and at a cost of €2.20 for the city sections A and B only. Now my cash meter is reading near empty and I have to be very careful if I want to survive here.

The bank took from 29th October to 12th November to clear our allowance. By then I had to get some money from home via my Visa Electron card. Getting the money was a great relief. Earlier we had asked about accommodation at the Studentwerk at the Immatriculation Office. The choice was hard. They told us first, international students are not allowed to choose from rooms which are reserved for nationals only, second, one has to pay a caution fee of €300 and two months rent in advance. This was coming to something like €750 which we could not raise since we already paid Schlachtensee the same amount in caution fees. Up to today, 17th November, we have never been able to pay insurance because the money, we initially had, had ran out. We plan to fax the insurance company this coming Friday with our account details so that they can give us the health insurance coverage.
Moritz (left), a law student at the Universität Potsdam, Thor Sjoberg (long hair) from Sweden, who used to live in our student hall of residence 14 years ago, our roommate Emmanuel (middle in right picture), Alex Ogacho (white shirt), myself (blue shirt).
Many people have so far helped us a lot, especially the secretary of the Department of Physics at Freie Universität Berlin, Frau Dietgard Mallwitz, who is very kind and she always wants to know whether the "Kenyan boys" are having any problem. Prof. Bodo Hamprecht always tells us that we never have to starve as long as he can help us. We could also have never been able to find our way around if Ferdinand Streicher had not helped us greatly. He collected us at the airport and gave us our very first present, minutes after arriving in Berlin. It was a map of Berlin. He told us that with this map we will never get lost. Also, Philip Schambach has been there for us every day and whenever there is a problem we have his hotline numbers. Philip seems to be known by everybody in the whole city. When we went with him to the Immatriculation Office, everybody knows him and we were served in a very friendly atmosphere. Philip also introduced us to German parties. The attendance is surprisingly overwhelming and the attendees are from all walks of races. We met so many students from the Freie Universität Berlin, who are very eager to participate in next year's exchange. Other past Berlin-Nairobi exchange participants we have met are Parvis Soltan-Panahi and Claudius Chapus. Both have been eager to do something with us, especially going out to show us the city.

The city of Berlin looks quite big. Many buildings have decoration and slanted roofs. The roofing material looks nice and much thinner than normal tiles. The craze about big cars is not here. People actually seem to like the miniature type and soon, I think, the Morris Mini will be the best car in town. The drivers, too, are good. I have never heard anybody hooting so far, except when there are some occasional traffic offenders who cross the road when there are no pedestrians in sight. The culture of reading seems to be deep seated here. In buses, U-, and S-Bahn, most Berliner, after taking their seat, take something from their bag and start reading, including children. It is also surprising that school children carry a lot of books. In the Kenyan system, I think, school childern carry less. Here the school children carry something near a rucksack.

In conclusion, my perception of Germans is totally different from that which I had a month ago while still in Kenya. They are very friendly people. We have even been to East Berlin and I have not observed or experienced any negative incidents so far.

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Robinson Musembi, November 2003
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