The Blog — Lab Rat Abroad

How many grocery stores do you have in your city or town? If it's a bigger city, the answer may be "who knows?", but in a small town, it's probably only one. In Germany, the answer its "one on approximately every second street corner." It sounds like an exaggeration, but for an American who travels through Germany for any amount of time, whether they visit the downtown areas or go through the residential parts of a given city, the number of grocery stores is likely to be surprisingly high.

Drinking in Public in Germany

Yes, you can drink in public in Germany. Whether you are walking down the street or riding in a train, you are free to drink whatever you like in public. Depending on whether or not a soccer game is going on, the number of people doing so however is often rather low, and most noticeable near bars and clubs at night.

CultureStephen EnosMay 20, 2018Drinking in Public, Drinking, AlcoholComment

How To Pack A Day Pack

If you’re a tourist, traveling student, or person under pressure to bring home those “great European adventure” pics, you’ll need to be able to plan properly for what you carry with you when you’re exploring the city of the day. I’ve put together a list of what are essentials for a day pack when I’ve traveled in the past:

Transportation and TravelStephen EnosMay 19, 2018Visiting, Tourism, Tourist, Tour, Travel, Day PackComment

Matriculating As A Student In Germany

In the U.S., once you start a degree or study program, your continued registration in the program, assuming you are earning passing grades and don't have any other extenuating circumstances, is essentially automatic. Obviously, you still have to pay your tuition and any other fees to continue, but your studentship is not otherwise in question. In Germany, you have to rematriculate every semester, and you're on your own to make sure it happens.

Why Do They Want To Know The City I Was Born In?

In and amongst all of the paperwork that you've had to fill out for your visa, residence permit, matriculation paperwork, you've likely noticed that you've had to repeatedly fill in the city you were born in. What's the deal with that though? Are they actually keeping track of this? Do German government agencies have some sort of register of everywhere people were born that they check in on? Why do they ask for this even from foreigners?

German Law and YouStephen EnosMay 17, 2018Birth City, Gerburtenregister, Personenstandregister, PaperworkComment

Scholarships Funding Studies in Germany

One of the reasons that many people give as to why studying abroad is difficult for them is the costs associated with doing so. I was lucky enough during my time studying abroad during my undergraduate studies to receive a scholarship from my college, which helped to defray the costs. The Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) is the German government's organization which exists to provide scholarships for foreigners to study within Germany, and for Germans to study internationally. If you are American but aren't a dual citizen of a European country (and therefore are ineligible for the ERASMUS program for European students studying in other European countries), then applying for one of the programs through the DAAD is the primary option.

Studying in GermanyStephen EnosMay 16, 2018Scholarship, DAAD, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, StudyingComment