Monthly Archives: June 2022

Brainhacking & Brainjogging with Dr. Caroline Böttiger

The Human Brain: from Brainhacking to Brainjogging

In this article, from Brainhacking to Brainjogging, our partner Dr.Caroline Böttiger, neuroscientist and psychotherapist, will give us an overview of some scientific methods that help us improve the health of the human brain!

We know that the human brain is one of the most complex organs that exist and we are far from really understanding its functions. However, science has developed various techniques to measure, analyse and dissect it. Particularly we now know in which area of our brain we speak, feel, hear or see.

In addition, we also found out what keeps us concentrated and how the brain puts us to sleep. In parallel, we started to use these insights to cure multiple brain diseases, but we can also use them to preventively train our brain to concentrate better (by literally taking our brain to the gym).

 

 

How does the fitness studio for the human brain look like?

The activation states of our brain are defined by wavelengths. There is a pacemaker deep within our brain that defines how awake and concentrated we are. This pacemaker stimulates different types of neurons, each of them being responsible for different frequencies. Slow frequencies put the brain asleep and high frequencies cause alertness.

Therefore, if you want to increase your focus and concentration, you need to stimulate the neurons in the corresponding frequency range. Of course, the brain fitness studio does, look a little bit different than a gym where you train your muscles: it uses amplifiers, electrodes and a computer. However, there is a big similarity: what you stimulate over a certain amount of time will start to grow. This brainjogging method is called “Neurofeedback”.

What is Neurofeedback?

Neurofeedback is a revolutionary technique that uses EEG recordings to assess and bolster human brain activity – empowering individuals with improved mental performance. By placing electrodes on the scalp, specialists are able to capture electrical signals from various parts of the brain and translate them into an electroencephalogram (EEG) – a unique assessment providing valuable insight.

Patients themselves do not feel anything from the EEG recording. The EEG measures all relevant brain waves and forwards them to a computer. A special computer program divides the brain waves into frequency ranges. All important data is measured in real time. Video feedback on brain activity is shown to the patient.

 

How much do we need to train our brains?

In order to have a long lasting effect, you need to train your brain:

  • 20-40 times
  • 1-2 times a week.

Moreover, this is not too much when you think about the fact that the effect on better concentration will improve your brain for the rest of your life!

We hope that you found this article useful and it helped you better understand how to train your brain’s abilities. If you want to find out more information about Dr. Caroline Böttiger’s services, do not hesitate to check out her contact details here. And remember: mens sana, in corpore sano!

Bringing your Family to Germany

Bringing your Family to Germany: Step by Step

We are aware of the fact that moving to a new country can be very challenging, especially if you find yourself alone through all the changes that you have to face. Therefore, bringing your family to Germany with you can make the whole experience so much easier. This is why we would like to offer you all the information that you need to know in order to reunite your family in Germany – keep reading!

EU/EEA/Switzerland citizens

If you and your relatives are citizens from the European Union, European Economic Area or Switzerland, there are no kind of restrictions for them to enter Germany. They do not need a visa nor a residence permit to move to the country and they can stay there for as long as they want to.

EU Citizens

Rest of citizens

For the rest of nationals, there are some requirements to meet in order to bring your family to the country. First of all, you must be in possession of a valid residence permit. There are four kinds of residence permits that allow expats to bring their family members to Germany: the EU Blue Card, the long-term residence permit, the settlement permit and the residence permit for highly-qualified individuals. If you want to find out more information about what kind of visa you and your relatives will need, you should check the website of the German Federal Foreign Office.

Non EU citizens
Official Documents to get into Germany

Official requirements

Once you make sure that you have a valid residence permit that allows you to bring your family to Germany, you must be able to prove the German government that you are financially stable. This means that you can support yourself and your family members with regards to funds, accommodation and health insurance. The German government claims that every family needs to have “sufficient living space” and all the household facilities must be included in the property.

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If you wish to bring your wife or husband to Germany, you must be able to prove that they are officially your partner. Therefore, you will need to provide a marriage certificate or a civil partnership record.

With regards to family reunification, you must prove that you have the custody of your children. However, if both parents share custody of the child and one of them is not moving to Germany, the other parent must provide their consent before the child can move to the country. A good Relocation Agency can help you with this.

Bringing your family to Germany

Identity

The last step is related to the verification of the identity and nationality of your family members. For this purpose, they must be in possession of a valid passport. Since the German government needs evidence that this person will enter Germany legally and not pose any kind of threat to the country, their criminal record might be required in some cases.

There are many benefits to sharing a family life in Germany due to its safety, its high-quality school system and many others advantages. We hope that this guideline helped you understand all the steps that you need to follow if you want to bring your family to Germany!

Join the Community!

The most important to a make new country home, is building friendships and networking. We highly recommend you to join our Facebook Group “Project Expat Community” to connect with other Expats in your city and to stay tuned about Project Expat Events and new Partners.

Public Transportation Germany

Public Transport in Germany: The Expat Guideline

 

Let’s learn about public transport in Germany! Being an expat in Germany can be a bit perplexing when it comes to understanding the public transport. After getting accustomed to it, though, you’ll find out that Germany has one of the most reliable transportation systems in Europe, and many people rely on public transport for commuting, especially in urban areas.

Five common types of transportation are: S-Bahn, U-Bahn, regional trains, trams and buses. Let’s find out more about them!

S-Bahn

The hybrid urban-suburban rail lines that serve a metropolitan region are referred to as S-Bahn. It connects the suburbs and commuter regions to the city centre and the main railway station. The S-Bahn—short for Schnellbahn or Stadtschnellbahn (city rapid rail)—is the quickest public transportation option in Germany. It offers second class only, and tickets are not need to be reserved in advance. To locate an S-Bahn station, just look out for signs featuring a white “S” on a green background at any Hauptbahnhof.

U-Bahn

In Germany, there are only 4 U-Bahn systems that we can find in larger cities: Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and Nuremberg. In Germany, the U-Bahn (short for Untergrundbahn) is the local term for subways, “Tubes,” and underground systems. With many stations offering transfers from the S-Bahn to U-Bahn (or vice versa), it’s easy to spot a U-Bahn station as they are marked with a blue sign featuring a white U. Plus, both S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains operate all night on weekends making them incredibly useful if you’re out late!

Regional trains

It is certain that, even if you have only been in Germany for a short time, you know of the famed Deutsche Bahn (DB). Regional trains in Germany are cost-efficient and offer travellers the means to explore the country with ease – despite their tendency to be late. Two varieties of trains are offered by DB: RegionalBahn (RB) with multiple stops and RegionalExpress (RE) with fewer stops but at a faster rate.

If you travel by train quite often, we recommend you to download the Deutsche Bahn app on your phone. This way, you can have access to your tickets and up-to-date departure information at all times. You have the option of buying a BahnCard, which can provide you with a 25% or 50% discount on your overall fare when travelling in Germany, thereby making it much more cost-effective.

Buses and trams

Trams and buses are an integral part of Germany’s public transport, unlike other cities. They have a lot of stops in the city centre and many German towns use them to link places that are far away, and they continue running even when other forms of public transportation aren’t operating anymore. Tram and bus stops are usually linked, with the same identifying symbol – a yellow circle enclosing a green H.

 Buying tickets for public transport

Acquiring tickets is usually done at station ticket machines. You must then validate them with the ticket validator (Entwerter) on the platform prior to boarding the train. When it comes to buses and trams, you have the option of getting your tickets from either the driver or from a ticket machine that is on-board. Likewise, you need to validate it as soon as you get on them. Don’t forget to do this, otherwise, it will be the same as if you didn’t pay for your tickets.

The absence of any ticket check or other barrier to entry on German public transport can be appealing to some, though it is necessary to purchase a ticket in order to use the service. Nevertheless, you never know when a controller might swing by to check that everyone has a valid ticket. A fee of 60 € is imposed if one is found to have not acquired a ticket. So it is definitely not worth risking it!

Ticket prices

In German cities, a zone system is often used to establish the cost of tickets: Berlin is split into three zones (A, B and C) for this purpose. The further out of the city that you go to (zone C), the more you have to pay. You can find the different zones on the S-Bahn and U-Bahn maps online or at the stations.

It is tricky be to become familiar with the way that public transport works in Germany. We sincerely wish that the information in this article was beneficial, and you won’t experience difficulty trying to navigate around the cities! Find out more about what its really like Moving to Germany.