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Merhaba!: Turkish Delight

It has been a long time since the last news about a visa appeal to Germany, which did not meet with good results. J became less enthusiastic, and I didn't know what to do. Feeling pretty discouraged, I decided to sign up for a German A1 language course. I needed a distraction and a way to channel my disappointment. Plus, I figured sooner or later, I really needed to learn the language to be able to talk to J properly. The language course was about 10 kilometers from home, with classes four times a week. It was surprisingly fun, and I felt great for pushing myself to learn something new at my age. Seriously, it takes a lot of willpower and determination to stay curious and motivated! I updated J on my progress, and we talked about meeting up somewhere else to see each other. After a few conversations, we decided on Turkey in March. Time seemed to fly by, and my longing for J was almost unbearable. I was so excited to see him and spend time with him again. From March 14th to 24th, 20...
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Subject: The Result of Appeal Visa to The Berlin Administrative Court

Hi everyone, I updated the process of appealing my visa refusal to The Berlin Administrative Court in my previous post. So, what happened? On January 29, 2025, J informed me that two letters from The Berlin Administrative Court had arrived at his mother's house, as the letters were addressed there. The next day, J's mother brought him the letters to J's house. The letters stated that processing the appeal would require a fee of 500 EUR, and the procedural costs would be 5000 EUR. We assumed this would cover lawyer fees, etc. if we wished to proceed with the appeal. J and I were immediately taken aback. J expressed his disillusionment with the humanity of the system we live in. Naturally, I found it absurd as well. Consequently, we withdrew our appeal. I explained to J that this was precisely why the Embassy for the Schengen visa area outsourced visa processing to a third party. The uncooperative officer refused to identify the missing or insufficient documents, leading to t...
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Subject: Appeal Visa to The Berlin Administrative Court

In my previous post, I talked about my visa refusal. I found information on the German Embassy website:  "The Visa Section informs that Remonstrance cannot be made in connection with the ongoing pilot project until June 30, 2025. In the event of a visa refusal, the legal steps that you can take are the instructions on the right to appeal (Rechtsbehelfsbelehrung),"  w hich means the appeal must be submitted to the  Berlin Administrative Court  and not processed at the German Embassy in Jakarta. The German Embassy in Jakarta is undergoing a pilot project until June 30, 2025, which temporarily precludes the submission of remonstrations at their office. Therefore, visa appeals must be submitted according to the instructions outlined in the rejection letter. This time I will take close what documents I prepared for the visa appeal to the Berlin Administrative Court. As stated in the rejection letter:  "There are reasonable doubts about your intention to leave the te...
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Schengen Visa: The True Test

What's the most stressful? Definitely, applying for a German Schengen visa!   This is a glimpse of my experience applying for a German Schengen visa. Every Schengen visa applicant is required to apply in person by making an appointment, and requests are made online through a third party called VFS Global.  Because I am located in Bandar Lampung, I visited the nearest VFS Global office to my city, which is in Jakarta. Other representative offices are in Surabaya and Bali, which certainly are very far away. I applied for a visitor visa with a declaration of commitment or "Verpflichtungserklärung" from J because honestly my savings were not much left after I bought a round-trip ticket, bought travel insurance, paid the appointment fee, paid for travel expenses to Jakarta and paid for the visa. There are so many costs to be incurred, right? TLDR.  This is the document that needs to be prepared to apply visitor visa: 1. Application form (Original) Fully completed in Germ...
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Separation: The Unpleasantness of Goodbye

Have you ever heard that darkness doesn't like couples who are in union? What I mean here is that darkness is, clearly, "darkness", and always tries to find ways to separate two people who want to be together. Maybe I'm just overthinking, but I felt that power. The power that wants to destroy my good relationship with J. To the point that I decided to do counseling with a psychologist because honestly I almost couldn't face reality, while deep down in my heart, I didn't want to break up with J in such a way. J felt the same way. Until now we still wonder what big thing actually separated us both that night? Although in the end, we both tried hard to restore the situation to what it was before and certainly now we have made up and communicated as usual, my regret is still so great. Why didn't I treat him better? Why did I have to provoke him like that? Was it just because we were tired after the flight from Medan, then transit in Malaysia, back to Bali, and...
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Soulful Escapes: Medan Off the Beaten Path

I briefly mentioned my trip to Bali with J in my previous story.  After another little drama, before we flew to Medan, we spent a sleepless night at Jakarta airport. We had booked accommodation before flying to Medan, but we decided not to take it because we might not make it to the airport on time if we had to stay quite far from the airport. Finally, J canceled the reservation and we both dozed off, almost looking crazy at the airport. As someone who rarely travels by plane, I had no idea how we were supposed to rest properly, even for a short while. Okay, forget about us not resting properly, and then flew to Medan. Which then caused another unnecessary argument with J, triggered by fatigue and our souls wanting to jump out to fight. But, all of that was eventually quickly forgotten. Every time J and I tried to adjust and match ourselves. Of course, it wasn't easy. We both have different cultures, thoughts, and very different ways of living, naturally, little friction will often...
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Shades of Germany: A Personal Exploration

After intense chats throughout September and October, J visited Indonesia in early November and met me directly in my hometown as he had previously mentioned. Everything moved quickly at that time. I spent the first week with him in my city, we went to museums, and beaches, hiked a mountain I used to climb when I was younger, and finally, we agreed to fly to Bali first. Initially, we planned to visit a mixed German family in Medan, but J complained about a muscle injury in his back from swimming in Germany, and the pain hadn't subsided. I even took him to a reflexology place in my city, but it only improved briefly, and then the pain solely came back. In Bali, we would be attending a week-long yoga retreat, and J thought it was something better to do first than go to the forest and mountains in Medan. Who's the best travel planner? J is. I've read a lot about the traits and characteristics attached and identical to the German people. Most Germans are said to be very serious...
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