Hi there everyone,
I have been in germany now since the last three and a half months. Have been busy with life and so almost forgot that I had wanted to write something in here.
But then, that is me!! Take life as it comes..
Well, I had come here with a broken heart, determined to work hard and forget all about my past experience. Things have turned out to be better than I expected them to. Lets start from how it went from the begining.

Things went with a good start. I think, I have been quite lucky when it comes to Germany. Got a visa by February when I didnt think I would make it. They said, visa processing takes atleast 6-8 weeks,I had applied only in the 2nd week of February due to late coming of papers from Germany itself. Everything would be ok but then, the company wanted me to be present in Germany on the 2nd of March. I thought, shit! I lost it..I wont be able to go.
But surprise surprise!! I got a visa in about a week though got it for lesser duration that I had asked for. I wanted a six month visa but they gave me 90 days, saying " you must go to the ALIENS' RESIDENCE (!!!!!!) to get your visa extended if you want to stay there. I said, ok..will do so.

Then comes the time when I flew on the 2nd of March.I said a tearful farewell to my mother and sister who came to see me off at Ahmedabad Airport. I was going to fly from Ahmedabad to Bombay first. Being March, I anticipated, it must be cold in Germany so I wore a light jacket and carried the other heavy stuff with me.
My flight was with Qatar Airways, which meant, I would fly to Doha first and then to Frankfurt from there. I got myself Lonely Planet to get to know the country that I was going to better at Bombay Airport.
I was carrying about 45 kilos of baggage with sweaters and stuff inside. Summer clothes not even added!! My weight is 45 kilos!! People stared thinking, " what is this girl upto? She needs help."
People came to help me with my bags. Now Bombay being the place it is, you cant trust people. What if they ran away with your baggage? I carried it all by myself.Felt like a donkey but had no choice in that matter.

Doha was good when I stopped there for four hours of transit. I am amazed at how much the earth has given them. Desert, sea and oil...true, if nature wants to make you rich, it does its best! Lots of sheikhs around, shopping..tourists shopping..so basically, everyone I saw there was shopping..duty free after all! My budget didnt extend to shopping even before I had reached Germany..after all, I was going there as a trainee and was going to live there on student budget. Even in India, I earned enough but not according to European standard that I could spend anytime I wanted. All I had with me to take to Germany were 800 Euros. And I would have to wait for one month before my first intern salary came in..so best not shop. But I enjoyed window shopping anyway. Didnt forget to buy choclates.

My flight to Frankfurt was late by two hours..so more waiting. In the meanwhile, there were a couple of Germans waiting for the same flight. I wondered how they would behave back home if they saw me. Will they stare? Will they wonder where I am from? Will they look at me with scorn in their eyes because I am brown? Didnt know.

CONTD: 20.06.06
They definitely stared at me, but it was not unkind. Infact they smiled!! I smiled back. One was a group of old people, about 55-70 years old. One of the ladies, when I smiled back, spoke in German to me, asking me something. I could only smile and then, informed them that I couldnt speak German. I had learnt " Sprechen sie Englisch?" from my dear Lonely Planet.:)) So I used it and got an instant response. "Ja aber schlecht." Didnt know what that meant but could make out the yes in the sentence.

So they gathered around me, seeing I am alone, cant speak German and am on my way to Germany to work there for 6 months. They helped me all they could, and I was quite overwelhmed. They asked me where I wanted to go after getting down at Frankfurt. I told them I was going to Bremen. They oohed and aahed..told me I will like the place and that one of the ladies was going there so maybe she could guide me with the train ticket and all. They thought it improper for me to be alone in the night at the station, especially when I didnt know any German. It was .....I felt like they were my close old relatives trying to protect me. Not something I was expecting for sure!
I thanked them kindly and went ahead to board as our flight was announced.