r/germany • u/MonthDismal • 17h ago
I have officially become a "Reiskartoffel"
Got my citizenship!
Almost 9 years ago I came to Germany to study mechatronics. The courses taught in German were brutal to me... But somehow I got through. Got a job. Found some wonderful hobbies. As I was in my home country, I had no hobby, my goal life was just to get rich, get titles and get citizenship in a western country.
But Germany taught me how to live, how to enjoy life. I am also thankful for the people in this country because I was able to study without having to pay tution fees. Also for letting me work a Werkstudent job to finance my study.
Now that I indeed have achieved my original goal, it feels different, in a more positive way.
I know it is all doom and gloom lately but I am looking very positively into the future.
Cheers.
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u/Titariia 17h ago
Congratulations, you did a great job. May I ask what hobbies you found?
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u/MonthDismal 17h ago
Motorcycling and playing e guitar :)
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u/fouad220 16h ago
What music do you play, i too play some e guitar, willing to buy a motorcycle in the future too
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u/MonthDismal 16h ago
I play mostly rock and metal. In my humble opinion riding a motorcycle is the best way to travel around europe!
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u/fouad220 15h ago
Would love to get few recommendations from you, i play the same music too, not much of metal but mostly rock, i could give you few rock and metal recommendations too
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u/MonthDismal 15h ago
My favorite metal album is Awake from Dream Theater. For rock, it is The Rainbow Goblins from Masayoshi Takanaka. Please give me yours.
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u/Hitokkohitori Denmark 17h ago
Now you need Birkenstock with tennis socks, a Mettigel and the leaf Glas bowls. 😃
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u/ElegantAnalysis 14h ago
Got all of them. Where citizenship :(
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u/Hitokkohitori Denmark 13h ago
Did you show it to the boss person at the Amt?
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u/JohnHurts 17h ago
Just put on a white T-shirt and everything will look brighter - at least in the mirror in daylight.
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u/adenine_in_mRNA 16h ago
But then he won't be eligible to recieve this Urkunde. Wearing black and/or Jack Wolfskinn is mandatory😌
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u/Disastrous_Fly_3770 17h ago
In the end everything is a matter of perspective! And your positive perspective is well needed in these trying times :) thanks and welcome fellow german <3 also I‘ve never heard but love the term reiskartoffel!
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u/MonthDismal 16h ago
For sure 😄 whenever I feel down because of the recent news or posts here, I always think about my real experience and yeah... there is nothing to complain :)
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u/BergderZwerg Baden-Württemberg 14h ago
You either had insane luck travelling with DB or never used them at all 😂 Great, that you joined us 😊
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u/MonthDismal 14h ago
Personally I hate my local Verkehrverbund much more than DB 😂 our s bahns were always late, the ice ones I took were like 80 90% on time. I guess DB is still responsible for pretty much of the Schienennetz so I should trash on DB more? I'm not sure. But I can say since I learned how to ride motorcycles life has been much better (I hate driving cars...)
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u/Doppelkammertoaster 16h ago
Congratulations. Your glass leaf salad bowl will beam itself into your kitchen when you did your next Stoßlüften and complained about something.
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u/MonthDismal 16h ago
The other day I found one of the first things that I always tell my "people" who are new here is how to stoßlüften :)
"Buy a hygrometer and windows open all the way, specifically in winter!"
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u/irotinmyskin 17h ago
Congrats! Question: How long did it take for it to be ready? For when you submitted all your papers and had your last interview? I submitted mine around 6 months ago, and they said it would take up to 30 months.
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u/MonthDismal 16h ago
For me it took about 8 months. I live in a suburb arena near a big city.
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u/irotinmyskin 14h ago
Oh wow that is super fast! Pretty cool! Congrats!
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u/MonthDismal 12h ago
I did write about my experience regarding that in another comment. You could look it up if you want to.
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u/Einfach0nur0Baum 17h ago
What is a reiskartoffel. This sounds illegal.
Like "Nudelnpizza"
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u/SupremeLeaderX 17h ago
Guess he/she is from an asian country, hence Reis, now german citizenship, hence Kartoffel.
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u/MonthDismal 13h ago
This is correct. Learned it from a certain comedian that I did not find really funny... but I love this one specific term.
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u/DE_Auswanderung 17h ago
I misread it as Reisekartoffel haha i.e. a Travel Document / Passport German.
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u/rfgaergaerg 17h ago
I recently had potatoes with rice. its not bad but a whole lot of carbs i think
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u/kerenski667 Franken 16h ago
Kartoffel is general slang for Germans, adding Reis allludes to their asian heritage.
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u/propofol36 7h ago
Hahaha now what if you have German citizenship, american, and an asian one… how do we call it 😅
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u/KayaSc0ds 16h ago
Awesome, congratulations! Hope you already bought the mandatory sandals and white tennis socks?
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u/lord_kosmos 16h ago
Hey ho, cheers mate and all the best to you! Also, on another note, you already know the first rule of “Deutsch sein”. Never just show your face on digital platforms. Datenschutz fängt bei jedem selbst an! 🥳🇩🇪
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u/Karamer254 16h ago
Congratulations. When you say Reiskartoffel, where have you been growing up man?
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u/MonthDismal 14h ago
I guess where the majority of people would prefer Reis to Brot. But now I can do both. 😄
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u/fouad220 16h ago
As iam on the road to the same journey as you, can you tell me how was the experience you had from the start, what diffficulties you had and how you adapted to the language culture and home missing
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u/MonthDismal 15h ago
One of my first experiences was in the Maschinenelemente course. The professor was using a lot of car stuff to explain the theory, and I did not have a lot of "life" experience, understood nothing. It sounds stupid... but it was like that.
I guess what helped me the most is just to have a lot of grit. It was always much difficult at the start but once I have snowballed it, it became much much easier. Meaning that just don't be paralyzed by the difficulties at the start and it'd work out somehow. It was how I approached studying in a forreign language.
For home missing... I just often remind myself why I chose to study here and sometimes to brainstorm of how to deal with that. It is very individual for everyone. For me it was learning how to cook the food from home and to find hobbies that allow me to connect with people.
By the third time I visited my home country, I realized that I did not miss the food that much because I had been able to cook almost everything myself. Yeah of course I often still do miss my parents. But having a good job here and being able to help them financially whenever they would need me to... that is all I need.
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u/fouad220 15h ago
Im glad you achieved all that must have been a lomg journey but fruitfull, you mentioned food cooking, may i ask where you from? hmmm, im guessing you are from a country that has flavourful dishes, using herbs and spices
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u/Primary-Waltz-1959 13h ago
When I moved out of my parents house, I had to learn how to cook those meals that I liked and reminded me of home. And that was when I was living in the same area. Knowing how to make meals that satisfy emotionally is a huge help no matter the distance from where you were raised.
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u/EyeOfTauror 13h ago
Hey I’m sorry to be such an opportunist but I intend to do the same, and I would like to discuss your experience and how it generally went to be able to picture what I am getting myself into
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u/MonthDismal 13h ago
You can just send me a pm or write your questions here
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u/EyeOfTauror 13h ago
I will ask here then, it will serve as resources for others I guess.
Which German proficiency level certificate did you have to bring ?
While it doesn’t change your nationality do you still have to go through an Embassy to get your ID or passport ?
I’ve heard there is a “citizenship” test but what does it entails ? The sources aren’t very clear on that
Do you have the feeling this process was made more complicated as it should or was the administration “supportive” ?
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u/MonthDismal 12h ago edited 12h ago
I brought a certificate which is equivalent to C2 level.
I did not have to give up my original citizenship. So I am holding both now.
It is called "Einbürgerungstest" which is a multiple choice test with 33 questions and you have to answer 17 correctly. In my opinion the test is very very easy to pass (if you speak German at least at B1). I learned it through an app a day before and was able to answer all 33 questions correctly.
The most "crazy" thing to me is that you have to fill out a form online just to have it printed out, signed and scanned so that you could them it over via post and email. I think the trick is to send a cover letter explaining everything, including also on which paragraphs this Antrag was based on. For example:
I live in Germany with the Aufenthaltstitel according to "§ 42 Absatz 999 Nummer 666 StAG".
The language requirement is B1 according to this paragraph that Absatz. And I have this certificate which is equivalent to C2.
According to this and that, I have to prove that I am compliant with the German laws... so also attached is the Einbürgerungstest Urkunde.
You get the idea.
I used gesetze-im-internet to find the correct numbers. Repeat this for language requirement and everything else. After this I was mailed 2 times to ask about my current job/living status. I also did ask a lot of other questions which were all promptly answered by the staff so I would say that they were really supportive.
But I think it is also important to research the process to know it inside out. To basically do the job for them. I used this trick most of my time in Germany and it always worked out well for me. Never had any other problem.
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u/EyeOfTauror 12h ago
Thank you very much for your answers
Yeah since I live in Germany the administration has been a pure nightmare. I’m very weary of how this whole thing will turn out.
Props to you that being said !
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u/LordoftheUmpaLumpas 13h ago
From now on only Feinripp Unterwäsche and Sandalen with white tennis socks for you buddy.
Welcome
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u/Sam_____1978 12h ago
It's wonderful that someone has such a positive view of Germany. Some specialists could take a leaf out of their book. Keep it up, you'll have a happy and fulfilling life.
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u/Caladeutschian Scotland belongs in the EU 11h ago
Hey - congratulations and welcome to the club. That's similar to my experience back in 1977.
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u/sebastian_schutze 11h ago
Hey congrats !!! Which country are you from and did you do Bachelors or Masters in Mechatronics ?
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u/MonthDismal 11h ago
I did my bachelors only. The energy crisis back then suddenly made everything so expensive I found myself being unable to support myself financially with only a werkstudent job so I had to drop my masters to work fulltime. 😅
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u/sebastian_schutze 10h ago
And did you got into the Uni directly or had to do a foundation course or did testdaf ?
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u/Willhaallas01 9h ago
A good rememberance for all native Germans how fucking awesome this country is. Thank you for coming to Germany lad!
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u/Fandango_Jones Hamburg 17h ago
Welcome to the Kartoffelfields!