Happy Monday evening from Berlin! So glad you joined me for another episode of As The World Turns.... er... I mean, What's up with Tim... LOL
I've been feeling a little bit guilty lately because, in my mind, I haven't been working hard enough. All I do is walk 3-5 miles a day around Berlin to get stuff done, meet people, sit and have a beer or a bratwurst somewhere. I feel like I need to work harder (I'm starting to sound German!!!). In any case, I decided last night I had to bite the bullet and try to be at the "authorities" at or around 7am this morning when they opened. I found out their hours on Friday because I spent an hour and a half trying to find the stupid place, only to realize they were closed on Fridays. Only me, I tell ya.... LOL. The walk from the subway station is about 10 minutes or a little more and it's not a very interesting walk... Anyway I decided to be a good boy this morning and I was ready to catch the bus about 6:30am. I got to my destination about 7:20 or so after my long boring walk and found the place I needed to go. I waited in line to get a number and finally got to the counter. The lady informs me that I need to register with the city of Berlin. I'm sure she saw the life go out of my face.... So she gives me some paperwork and says (at least I understood her to say) to come back after I got registered. She tells me about where it's at, but doesn't have a lot of specifics...
So I'm pretty frustrated at this point. I'm tired of making the walk from the subway to this place and I just want to register with someone!!! So I went out to the nearest main road to find a bus. I asked a lady if the bus goes by the city hall, she said yes. So I get on the bus and after a few minutes, I ask the driver when we will be passing city hall. (We were at a stoplight) He said it was in the other direction. Now I'm really ticked... So I exit the bus and have a pity party on the side of the road, vent some frustration for a few minutes and decide to cross the street and get on a bus going in the right direction. I finally found the place, but so had a hundred plus other people... So I went to get my "number"... 131. They were just helping #30... Hm, this might be a while. Just then, a man walked up to me and said, "Do you want my number?" I looked at the little "78" on it and said, "Sure, thank you!!!" That kinda made up for the rotten morning I had been having so far. The wait was about an hour and I got registered with the city. The lady was really nice and reassured me at the end that I'm now a "Berliner". I couldn't help thinking about JFK's famous speech where he said, in German, "Ich bin ein Berliner", which translated means "I'm a jelly-filled donut". LOL As a person, you would say "Ich bin Berliner", you leave the "ein" out... Anyway, I had a good laugh about that...
So I am trying to decide how to get back to that first place without having to walk a mile and of course, I make yet another bad decision. I decide to take the rail system instead of the bus. The bus drops you off much closer than the train. Yeah, mark another one up for me and the feet! So I walked that really boring 10 minute walk again, go to the same lady I spoke with earlier and she tells me I didn't need to come back at all, but when I get a job, I will need to return to give her some paperwork. Really? Now I have to take that 10 minute walk back to the subway station AGAIN!!! 3 times today!!! So, I took the walk again, and had to run into the city center to do some more errands before I made my way out to the far southeast corner of Berlin to go to the unemployment office. It's about a 10-minute walk from the train station and by this time, I'm starting to get really tired, but I wanted to get this stuff done today, so I just sucked it up like a good little soldier and went. I got all checked in there, and as I was waiting for the lady to call me, I noticed on their wall that there was a job fair today for Berlin hotels. It started in 10 minutes and of course, it was only one subway stop from where I had been all morning. Wouldn't you know it.
So I wrapped up my business there and decided I had better head home to shower and get changed. I was really exhausted by the time I got home, so I checked facebook and dinked around for a bit, then figured I had better get going because it started at 2pm and ended at 6 and it was 3:30 by the time I started to get ready. I had to print off some resumes (which unfortunately I didn't need), walked the wrong way to catch the bus (on my own street), missed that bus. Decided I should get something to eat cuz I hadn't eaten since 10am, then I nearly choked to death on a hazelnut. No kidding, it was kind of bad. I'm trying not to miss my bus again, so I ran across the street to buy a bottle of anything to drink so I would stop hocking up a lung and by this time, my eyes were watering and I could barely keep it together. Thank goodness for the juice, I thought I was going to die.... I didn't miss my bus, but I did miss the first train after I got off the bus and then the second train when I had to change subway lines. At least they were only a few minutes apart that time of the day!
I finally got to the job fair a little after 5pm. Most of the hotels were looking for students or people to work in the kitchens or wait staff, etc. Most of the other jobs you have to have a hotel-related degree for... But I did get one lead, reservationist for a hotel chain based in Berlin with hotels all across Europe. Sounds promising, I had a good conversation with a young guy there. I think I'll apply for that job and see what happens. I hit all but a few of the booths and just sort of ran out of gumption. I left and sat down by the subway station, enjoying the late afternoon sun and a croissant, made some calls and just generally chilled for about 20 minutes. I finally made it home and I'm super exhausted. Who knows how many miles I walked today, but it was quite a few. I really pushed myself and I can tell my stamina is improving. In two weeks of being here, I'm pretty sure I've walked more than 40 miles, maybe even as much as 50.... Crazy, huh? Well, I'm certainly getting to know my new home and for now, I need to put my feet up. LOL! Until the next time...
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