I'm certainly not the fashion police (ha!!!), but there is one thing that still shocks me when I see it here. Some Germans apparently don't own white socks, just black. Lately since the weather has been getting warmer, I have noticed a trend of seeing men wearing shorts and black sock with their sneakers. Some of the socks go up mid-calf!! It looks so weird, I cringe every time I see it. Some Germans do wear white socks though too. Okay, I'll step off my fashion soapbox now.
I also find it interesting in a country where nearly everyone owns at least one bicycle, everyone seems to walk everywhere they go (before and after they take public transportation) and, especially 20 years ago but even still now to a large extent, in general eats pretty healthy; people smoke like chimneys here! I don't think I'll ever get used to sitting out in the "fresh" air while I'm waiting for the bus and someone decides to light up a cigarette upwind of me and I'm right in the direct line of copious amounts of smoke coming from them. It's really disgusting I remember there being a lot of smokers here, but I forgot how bad it was, I guess!!!
My roommate is a great example. The first couple weeks I was here, I offered him some food that I had cooked and he declined because he had been training for a 200km (120 mile) bicycle tour and he had a special diet that he was needing to stick to. But he smokes a LOT. Something just ain't computin' in with me. You're watching what you eat but you wake up every morning (and for the next few hours) hocking up a lung because you smoke. He did the bike ride, so somehow he's still in pretty good shape. Still doesn't quite make sense to me somehow.
Apparently there is some pretty fierce competition going on by tissue companies in Germany. Apparently 2-ply or 3-ply tissues are not enough... They have 4-PLY tissues. It's like blowing your nose with sandpaper. I think I'm going to try to find some 2-ply tissues while I still have a nose. LOL.
Also, I am very impressed by German bureaucracy. If bureaucracy was an Olympic sport, the Germans would be the Gold medalists every time and nobody else would be even close. I've had to visit 4 or 5 city or federal agencies since I've been here. I've been told a dozen stories about what I needed to do, and I think maybe 3 or 4 were correct. Government workers just don't seem to have much interest in trying to get the correct information for you. If they don't know they answer, it's almost like they make something up. It's happened to me enough times that I think there might be some truth to it.
I was at the unemployment office and honestly I REALLY wasn't expecting to get any unemployment money from them, but they wanted to sit down with me and help me get moving on my job search, etc. They made an appointment for me and I went in. I told the lady my situation, that I just moved from the US and just needed some ideas on where to start, etc. I explained to her that I wasn't looking for compensation, just help with the job search. She said, "Oh, I guess I should have looked at your file better beforehand, because I can't help you." Wow. Just wow.... Thanks, I just spent 45 minutes getting there, hurrying because one of my buses didn't show up and you tell me you didn't take a look to see what I was there for???? Oy!!! Oh well, she made an appointment with another lady that was able to give me some help.
On May 8, I had an appointment to get my very old paper drivers license changed into the new fancy plastic ones. So it cost me about $30 and I was told to come back about mid-June to pick it up. (Just over 5 weeks handling time) I thought, "wow, seems like a long time, but okay." I was hoping to have it a bit earlier so I went in on the 11th. No license. A few days later, still no license. A few more days: no. A week later, still no license. By this time the guy is starting to get frustrated with me. He demands to see another form of ID from me. I show him my old German license. He goes to check and it's still not there! He gets angry and says "It takes two months!" I told him that they said it would be done by mid June. I told him that I will probably come in once a week. He didn't seem to happy about that, but if I have to return to the US in two weeks, there's a possibility that it still won't be there!!! For such an efficient society, and such a large government (city, state, federal and otherwise), you would think this would be quick.
One side effect I have realized of not having the newer license is that I spent some time a week or two ago trying to locate somewhere that I could rent a movie because I hadn't just chilled out and watched a movie for a while (or TV either) and so the guy would not accept my old German drivers license so despite walking around for over an hour, I went home empty-handed. I had to leave my area to find a place to rent a movie, so it was a two-hour process almost... So now I can't wait to get my new license for that reason!
Also I have come to realize that if you want to have any kind of good paying job, you need the following:
- German Abitur (certification that you completed high school, the American equivalent will not suffice)
- College Diploma (again, US equivalent may or may not suffice) 2-year degrees not accepted
- Ausbildung - training, usually unpaid, in the area of your expertise
- Experience in your field.
There is a possibility that I will have to complete the German Abitur even though I have high school AND college diplomas. It's a two-month program. I'm 43 years old and worked in my field for nearly 12 years and you're saying I need to take a high-school level exam??? Nobody looks and says, "this doesn't make sense" they just see that everyone has to have it. I really wish I would have known this when I was here 20 years ago. I think I would have gotten some of that out of the way then.
On the job search front, I have had two job interviews so far. The first one last week was a phone interview for a hotel based in Spain, so the possibility would exist for me to use my German, English and Spanish speaking skills. Unfortunately I kind of bombed the interview. I found out today that I did not get the job but I was neither surprised nor disappointed because I *really* didn't do well in the interview. I figure that was my trial interview, got the mistakes out of the way with that one....
The second interview was yesterday and I think it went quite a bit better. I had a very nice conversation with one of the owners of a company that has a very interesting business idea. I won't say what it is right now, but it's hotel related. I'm more hopeful on this one. God knows what I need, if it's this one, great. If not, I have one more interview on Friday and I'm still putting out more apps. Prayers are still much appreciated even when I do get a job because the bureaucrats that process requests for work permits can reject the requests for any reason, or potentially even no reason at all.
Today is the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's speech in Berlin where he uttered the now famous words "Ich bin ein Berliner." I decided this afternoon that I did not want to pass up an opportunity to go to Rathaus Schöneberg where he delivered that speech to see if they were having any kind of remembrance of the event. There was nobody there, but I got some good pics of the place and got to say I was there on the anniversary. I think they already commemorated it a week or two ago on the weekend when people could be there, not in the middle of the week.
Last week was not a good one for me. Let's just say that I had taken my eyes off what was important (my last post went through most of the issues I was having) but have just been selfish and desiring things that are not in line with why I'm here. I also realized that along the way that my actions were really hurting someone. I felt terrible. Tonight I was able to work it out with them. They're still a little bit hurt, but at least we're actually good now. I just hate feeling like a jerk. Lesson learned (hopefully).
This has been a great journey but sometimes I don't realize how stressful it is to change everything in my life at one time. I get out of my comfort zone when I struggle to release control and just trust God. It's really hard to do. I know God is merciful, but still feel terrible for not trusting him completely. Please help me God to ask for more help!!
Well, that's it for tonight. Hope you enjoyed a few observations I have made on these crazy Germans (you know I love ya!). I have a little surprise for all of you, especially for those of you back in the states. Some of you may not appreciate it, both others will absolutely love it. I'm not going to tell you what it is yet, because I like to keep you in suspense. On that note, Good night!!!
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| Rathaus Schöneberg, taken 26 June 2013, 50th Anniversary of JFK's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, the location of it's delivery |
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