Info for New Masters
of ´´Digital Communication´´
Contents
1 Transport
1.1
Trains to Kiel
3
1.2
Busses in Kiel
4
1.3
Bicycles in Kiel
5
2 Shopping
5
3 Banks in Kiel
6
4 Life in Kiel
4.1
Dormitories
7
4.2
Private Flats
7
5 Health Insurance & Medical System
7
6 Telephone
6.1
Telephone cards
8
6.2
Mobile telephone
8
7 Internet
7.1
Internet in DORMITORY
9
7.2
Internet in LIBRARY
11
7.3
Internet in TF
11
8 Print and Photocopy
12
9 Borrowing books from library
12
10 Language courses
13
11 Sports
15
1. Transport
1.1. Trains to Kiel
After arriving at the airport of Frankfurt am Main, there are several ways to get to Kiel. The simplest one is to take an airplane from Frankfurt to Kiel, but you have to book the flight tickets in advance, this is expensive, and flights are rare. Alternatively, you can buy a ticket for a train – directly from the airport train station.
From the airport of Hamburg, there is a convenient bus connection: The bus “Kielius” needs some 75 minutes to reach Kiel ZOB (Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof) and leaves about every hour. You can find more information in the following website:
www.kielius.de.
Germany has a consummate traffic system. Beyond the use of private cars, the main way of travelling in Germany is the railway. Decades ago, German government founded an extremely well developed railway system to help the road system, although the highway is still an important part of Germany traffic system. Most German cities, small towns, and even villages are connected by railway. In Germany you can call railway the "high road way". There are mostly 3 kinds of trains in Germany. One is so-called ICE (Intercity express), which high speed is about 250 km/h, with a high price. The second one is the IC/EC(Intercity/ Eurocity), with a somewhat smaller speed ( 200 km/h) and lower at prices. The third type are the regional trains(RB, RE) which are also lower at price but low speed and travels only in a small region among some neighboring cities and villages. Generally people need to take several types of these trains.
In most cases, you will have to change trains several times during a longer journey; e.g., from Frankfurt to Kiel you need one change, from Munich to Kiel may be two changes. Therefore, you need information about the changing time, place, platform, and trains you want to use. To make passengers conveniently change the train, the train office offers an information machine in each train station, so that the passenger can print the travel plan easily. You can also find this important information in the following website:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/dn
From this website, people can get an optimized travel scheme with the help of the program between any two stations. This includes even regional and local bus stations, like “HDW” in front of our faculty buildings.
People can use a BahnCard 25 or BahnCard 50, (“train card” in English), which allows to buy a ticket with 25% or 50% discount of the original price; people also can pay ahead to receive (sometimes considerable) discounts. You can find corresponding information on the following website:
http://www.db.de
1.2.
Busses
in
Kiel
After you come to Kiel, the most convenient means of transport for you is the bus system. At every bus stop, you can find the traffic map of Kiel and the timetables of the buses, so that you can take buses conveniently. Here we suggest some bus lines you can take from your dormitory to TF.
Suppose you start off from ‘Steenbeker Weg’ (EOH, where you live), and your destination is ‘HDW’ (the shipyard opposite TF, where you study), there are several bus routes you can choose:
1. Bus 41/42 with direction to ‘Flintbek/Schluesbek’.
Get off at ‘Elendsredder’, turn right at the crossroad, walk for several meters, until you can see a bus stop there. Then take bus 11 with direction to ‘Dietrichsdorf’; within 28 minutes, you will arrive at ‘HDW’. TF lies on the right of the road. Walk along this road for some 70 meters, and you will find the gate of the TF.
2. Bus 62 with direction to ‘Klausdorf’ or bus 41/42 with direction to ‘Flintbek/Schluesbek’. Get off at ‘Hauptbahnhof’, then you can take bus 11 or 100 to HDW. It takes a longer time than the 1st route, but it is more flexible.
When you go back from TF, you can take bus 11 or 100, 200, get off at ‘Hauptbahnhof’ or ‘Andreas-Gayk-Str’, then you can take bus 41/42/62/91 to ‘Steenbeker Weg’ (your home).
PS: Till you pay your university social fee (which means that you pay also for your semester bus ticket!), you have to pay whenever you take a bus. After you got your semester bus ticket, remember always to take it with you when you travel in Kiel! It is valid for six months.
1.3.
Bicycles
in
Kiel
A bicycle is also very useful in Kiel. In Germany, there is often a particular part of the sidewalk for bike riding. So it’s very safe to ride bicycles. It may be even faster than a bus ride, since by bike you can avoid detours. If your dormitory is not far away from TF, you can ride it to TF. You can buy a bicycle in a big supermarket (e.g. Plaza) or in the second-hand market where it is much cheaper.
2. Shopping
It is convenient for us to go shopping in Kiel. There are some special shops, some supermarkets, and some warehouses, e.g. :
Minimal Near EOH Food (vegetables, meat, fruit, coffee, milk, juice, etc. ) and other consumer goods
Plus Near EOH, PHH Food and other consumer goods Aldi Near TF, PHH Vegetables are cheap here Penny Near TF Food and other consumer goods Rossman Near TF & in the
city center
Consumer goods Kloppenburg Near TF & in the
city center
Stationery and other consumer goods Woolworth Near TF & in the
city center
Stationery and other consumer goods Douglas In the city center Cosmetic and perfume
Apotheke In the city center Pharmacy / drugstore Karstadt In the city center Emporium
IKEA take bus 82, get off at 'IKEA'
furniture, kitchenware , bedding
On Sundays, all the shops are closed. Make sure you have enough food for the weekend. Only some petrol stations sell some food for emergencies, but it is expensive there.
On the first Sunday morning of every month (from April till September), there is a second-hand market in the city center. Maybe you will find something interesting.
3. Banks in Kiel
You can find many banks (City Bank, Sparkasse Kiel……) in the city center, near Hauptbahnhof (center train station). The addresses of several banks are given as follows:
Deutsche Bank Privat- und Geschäftskunden AG
Rathausplatz 1, 24103 Kiel Tel: 0431/905-0
Deutsche Bank Privat- und Geschäftskunden AG
Holtenauer Str. 90-92, 24105 Kiel Tel: 0431/57008-0 Commerzbank AG Holtenauer Str. 94, 24105 Kiel Tel: 0431/57920-0 Citibank Privatkunden AG Andreas-Gayk-Str. 7, 24103 Kiel Tel: 0431/98649-0 Dresdner Bank AG Andreas-Gayk-Str. 15-17, 24103 Kiel Tel: 0431/9975-1 Sparkasse Kiel Sophienblatt 21, 24103 Kiel Tel: 0431/6613342 Sparkasse Kiel Holtenauer Str. 130-132, 24105 Kiel Tel: 0431/592-3663 Sparkasse Kiel Augustenstr. 59, 24143 Kiel Tel: 0431/592-3663
The Geldautomat (ATM) of Sparkasse Kiel at Gurlitt-Strasse (near EOH) might be useful. You can get cash and print your reckoning using your bank card.
4. Life in Kiel
4.1. Dormitories
There are several Student apartments in Kiel:
EOH 140 Euro/Month DOH 169 Euro/Month PHH 168 Euro/Month MKH 220 Euro/Month PAH 134 Euro/Month CAH 149 Euro/Month
There is a booklet given by Studentenwerk (located near EOH and DOH). It is better to check it. You can also find the details in the following website:
http://www.uni-kiel.de/stwsh/wohnen/welcome-engl.htm
4.2. Private Flats
There is a company named KWG which is responsible for introducing some economic flats. If you have interest, please go to www.kwg.de to get more information. You could either go to its office directly or telephone the office manager.
KWG office address: Holstenstraße 56
Office hours: Mo.-Fr. 10.00-18.00, Sa. 10.00-14.00 Tel: (0431) 53 04-900, Fax: (0431) 53 04-901
You could also find some useful information in the ASTA website with links to “wohnungsmarkt”: http://www.studenten-wg.de/partner/astakiel.php
5. Health Insurance & Medical System
:Health insurance service offered is offered either by companies owed by the government or private companies. All students enrolled in the master program have to insured. The rate of the insurance (monthly payment) differs according to the age
of the student. There are two cases:
1. Students under 30 years old ; They can have insurance in one of the state companies (German government), were they have to pay about € 57. This is a special rate for students.
2. Students over 30 years old ; They have to make their insurance in private companies. The amount paid monthly differs from one company to another and also of the class or type of coverage the student choose.
After being insured, the company will send you an insurance card. With this card you can benefit from all the services offered by the health insurance system. You will need this card every time you visit a doctor.
What to do in case you are sick?
It is recommended that every student be registered at what is called a (Haus Arzt), He is a general medicine doctor. This registration costs €10 per quarter of a year (Three month duration). This doctor will examine you and write a recipe for you if necessary. In case the doctor sees that you need to see a specialist, he will give a transfer to a specialist. When you visit the specialist you do not need to pay again the € 10. You will only need the transfer from your doctor and the health insurance card. Note: This is a general case. You have to follow what your doctor recommends for you.
Note: For more details about the services offered by the health, please refer to health insurance company.
6.
Telephone
6.1. Telephone cards
In the Asia markets or many other places, you can buy telephone cards ( Xcess, MAXI Asia, Panda... ). It’s cheap if you use these cards to call your parents/friends in your home country. You can also use them on your mobile telephone.
6.2. Mobile telephone
There are many mobile-phone companies in Kiel. O2 Mobile can be chosen, as it's cheap for students. You could apply for a handy number at any O2 shop. You will get
a mobile number and a home-zone number, then you must give your home- zone center point (for people living in EOH, the point could be Leibniz-Strasse, near the library).
You could choose “mit handy” or “ohne handy” (“including a phone” or ”excluding a phone“); in case of “mit handy”, you must pay 5 Euro more per month for the new handy which you get from O2.
The other company tariffs are comparable under certain circumstances - just check how often you want to use your phone at what time and for what, and then use a pocket calculator...
Saving phone call money:
Place: When you make a phone call or call the home zone number of other
people in your home zone, it is much cheaper than calling the mobile number.
Time: calling at busy time (Hauptzeit), from 8:00 – 18:00 on Monday to Friday,
costs more than at free time (Freizeit).
For details, please read the O2 instruction (or that of any other company).
7. Internet
7.1. Internet in DORMITORY
Most of our juniors would most probably be in the dorm’s of EOH. There are no cables available inside. Fortunately, there are two wireless networks. But it depends on the location of your dorm’ whether you can get the signal strong and steady enough. After all, you have to get a wireless-network card first. You can buy it at MediMax in Sophienhof (a large shopping mall – also good for shopping in poor weather conditions) opposite the Hauptbahnhof.
FLYCONNECT-Most of your seniors tried it, which was the only option at our time.
Run your software for wireless network card to see if you could detect a signal first, then change your channel to Flyconnect. Open any webpage, and you’ll see the login webpage of Flyconnect.
There is a Flyconnect shop at Exerzierplatz where you can buy a card for 10 euro, providing a password valid for 1 month. The up-most limit of the speed is 128k., usually, you have 10k when you download.
Here is a simple map how you could get to the shop. You can take bus 100 and get off at ‘Exerzierplatz’ when you go back from TF. The arrows indicate the direction of the bus coming from TF.
You could find more information in the following webpage: http://www.flyconnect.de/
NET-YOUTH-A new service provider offers trials, which we do appreciate a lot ☺. It offers a trial for 2M bytes for anonymous login, that means, after 2 M bytes you have to login again. Though not so convenient, it is totally for free, and it’s enough for browsing webs, checking emails, or chatting through some instant message software like MSN and Yahoo Messenger.
It also provides better service if you pay for it, the detail is on their website. The procedure is the same as that of Flyconnect.
7.2. Internet in LIBRARY
The library offers free smooth access to the internet, where public computers are also provided.
The public pc pool is on your left side on the ground floor. You could register at the library information desk with your student card. User name is your student number, and password is your birthday. For example, the
student’s number is 111111, and the birthday is Aug. 12th 1985: user name: 111111; password: 120885. Then you could get connection at any public computer, but the pity is that you cannot install any software, and the input language is only German and English.
If you owe a laptop, you can also use it to access www in the library. After getting connected by the cable (in the second floor, on the desks) or wireless (anywhere in the building), open any webpage using the internet explorer; it will be automatically located to the main web where you can get your user name and password by registering with the pin-number (on your student sheet,
together with student ID, semester bus ticket...). After one day, the account becomes valid. At the same webpage, you can download the terminal software (Cisco VPN Client) and install it. Besides, some client files have to be unzipped to the specific directory, where you install the VPN. There are instructions in detail on the webpage. Then run the software, log in and enjoy yourself.
7.3. Internet in TF
By registering at the Network Service Group (Building A, room A-029), you get an email account and a user name to access www at any public computer (in Mensa, or in the PC Lab in Building F). You can also register your laptop if you have a wireless network card on it, so you can access www at most parts of the TF area.
After your registration, you have an account worth 5 Euros every month for printing in TF. You can print e.g. 100 pages (one sided) for free. For details, please read the instructions on the wall in the Mensa, near the computers.
8. Print and Photocopy
As mentioned before, you can printout in TF. Besides that, there is a Copyhof near University. You can print and take photocopies there. Take bus 22 , get off at ‘Universität’, walk along this road (to south) for several minutes, turn right (to west) at the first corner after the crossroad of
Universität, walk for about 200 meters; then you can find the Copyhof on your left-hand side. It is in the courtyard.
Address: Hansastrasse 66, 24118 Kiel. Office hours: Mo-Mi&Fr 9:00-18:00 Uhr
Do 9:00-20:00 Uhr
Sa 9:30-13:00 Uhr
9. Borrowing books from the library
You can borrow books from the central library (Universitäts-Bibliothek, Leibniz- Strasse 9) and from the TF library (Building A, room A-101). Most books we need for our subject are in the TF library (Building A, 2nd floor). Further you find many books about computer science and many other subjects in the central library. You have to register in the central library or in TF library to get the library card. Take 22 bus, get off at ‘Leibnizstr’. Then cross the road, turn left at the corner, walk for several minutes; then you can find the central library.
An important point is that you have to return the books within 4 weeks, or extend the time limit before the deadline. Otherwise you have to pay a fine, which is expensive! You can renew the books on the www
http://kiopc4.ub.uni-kiel.de:8080/loan/DB=1/LNG=EN/USERINFO The user name and password is
the one you use for accessing www in the central library. You can renew the books 8 times; but, if someone reserves your book, you have to return the book back as soon as possible.
10. Language courses
The German language is very important for you to live and study in Germany. Kiel University provides good opportunities for foreign students to study German. Everyone in the Digital Communication program has to get at least one certificate of the German language course. Before starting the course, you have to take a German test to select a suitable class for you. Time and place of your German language course will be decided after the test. Normally, the classroom is in the first white building on the other side of the road after you get off at ‘Leibnizstr’ from bus 22 (coming from EOH).
11. Sports
The sports Center of Kiel University is not far away from the student dormitory. From EOH, you can take bus 22, get off at ‘Uni-Sportstätten’. You have to register and get a card to do sports there. There are swimming, basketball, fitness, jiujitsu, and many other sports. It is free to play table tennis, but for most of the other types, you have to pay some money. For details, you canenquire at the information desk there, or you can check in the following website:
Sportzentrum der CAU Kiel
Address: Olshausenstraße 70-74, 24118 Kiel
12. Information for Muslim students
There is some important information for Muslim students regarding the locations of the Mosques in Kiel and also about the Halal foods.
Here are the shops where one can buy Halal meat 1. Nadi.
Near Hauptbahnhof 2. Euro 2000 Markt
Kaiserstr.68 ,24143 Kiel
(It is very close to Karlstal, take bus 11 or 12 from TF which goes towards Bahnhof and get off at ‘Karlstal’.)
3. Sultan Markt
Eckernförder str 85-87 24116 Kiel
(take bus 12 from TF which goes towards Bahnhof and get off at ‘Prof.-Peters-Platz’)
Here are the addresses of different Mosques 1. Turkish Mosque
Lerchenstr, 24103 Kiel (behind Sophienhof, near Hauptbahnhof) 2. Turkish Mosque
(Near to Euro 2000 Markt, which is in Karlstal)
3. Islamisches Kultur Zentrum Kiel
Diedrichstr 2, 24143 Kiel (take Bus 71 / 900 / 901 which goes towards TF and get off at ‘Diedrichstr.’; the location of the Mosque is behind the bus stop)
