German Work Environments

Boo, it’s half past 7 and Martin is still at his office. He’s preparing for a big, stressful business trip to France next week.

Even though I don’t live with him, I notice his long hours because we talk on the phone when he gets off work.

I used to think Germans lived the easy life: High earners, great benefits, great work environments, and tons of vacation.

While it’s true that Germans have more vacation days than North Americans, it isn’t true that Germans have it easy in the working department.

Every single German I know works very hard. They work long hours everyday, mostly without compensation for any extra work. They do this because it’s a cultural value to get the job done.

I wasn’t like this in Toronto. While I worked hard, I documented all my extra hours with the expectation that I will get paid for it. This is acceptable to me – I’m working, not volunteering (even when I’m volunteering I work within my agreed upon hours).

For my job here, I go to companies to teach business-related English. My classes are small (1-5 people), so I get to know my students well.

Mostly I feel like a work therapist, because people are so stressed with their jobs that our classes turn into an English speaking support group, facilitated by moi.

It’s a neat job. I’m learning a lot. But it totally bursts my bubble on romanticizing German work life.

Standard of Living Abroad

For those friends who don’t have facebook, here are my Easter Week pictures.

I’ve been thinking a lot about life here in Germany, and the pros and cons of staying versus going back to Toronto.

I’m really enjoying myself here, so it pains me to think about having to leave. But my move date will be fast-approaching and I want to make sure I think things through so that it doesn’t sneak up on me.

One con is the job market. It’s hard to get a non-freelance teaching job in Germany when I don’t speak the language and am not an EU citizen. Luckily, I also like teaching, but it’s hard work with no room for growth. Therefore, I don’t think I could do it for long.

But a big pro right now is earning an income in Euros. Especially during a ‘world wide economic recession’. It might make sense to earn Euros over Canadian dollars if it is hard to find a good job in a down market.

When I compare my cost of living and standard of living, surprisingly my cost of living in Düsseldorf is lower than in Toronto, and I feel my standard of living is higher if I base it on 3 main categories:

-Rent

-Food

-Transportation

My rent in Düsseldorf is cheaper per square foot than my former downtown-Toronto apartment. And it is furnished, and I don’t have to share! Düsseldorf is one of the more expensive German cities to live in. But, apparently still less than in Toronto!

Grocery food is also better here. It’s unlike North America where junk foods/canned foods/convenience foods are cheap while the good fresh stuff can cost. Here it’s the opposite. I eat very well and regularly get foods I would have to save to splurge on in Toronto. (Other necessities like toilet paper, q-tips, shampoo, creams… they can also be cheaper here.)

Transportation (as in public transportation) is SO good here! Not only is the city itself very connected, but getting around to other nearby towns is convenient and not that expensive. Also, my work pays for my travel to and from classes, which constitutes the bulk of my transportation costs.

These 3 factors drastically affect my standard of living in very quantifiable ways. But of course there are other unquantifiable factors, such as social support networks which I lack here.

Anyway, just some thoughts I’ve been bouncing around in my head! Feel free to give me your opinions if any.

Surprising, I really like it!

Ack, the weather is so gorgeous here! It’s 21°C and sunny out. An instant good mood.

I taught my one-on-one this morning and it went really well. My student’s learning style and my teaching style really clicked. We both left the session feeling happy and productive.

Out of the 5 classes that I teach, I’ve realized that it’s hard for me to pick my favourite because I like them all! The more I get into it, the more fun I have with teaching. I like helping people and feel particularly helpful when teaching another language.

I’m glad I realized this because I wouldn’t have ever taught English (or taught anything in a classroom setting) if I stayed in Toronto. It surprises me. I honestly didn’t think I would like it this much.

It also helps that all my students are nice people. They have become a social support to me, which is valuable. I feel like they care about me as a person and care about what I’m doing. They teach me little bits of German and give me suggestions on vegetarian options or fun places to visit, etc… It’s sweet!

I feel like such a dork because I can’t help but smile to myself every time I’m commuting to work. I take trains and buses and trams.

Like, it really makes me feel like I’m a local here! I’m registered with the city, I pay taxes, I have my own flat, my own bank account, a job, and I commute to work – just like everyone else!

This is really the experience I was going for that I can still barely believe. I hadn’t worked anywhere outside of Toronto ever. I mean, I think the farthest I’ve ever worked in Toronto was uptown Toronto at Yonge & Eglinton. And now I’m working in Germany.

It’s SO bizarre but wonderful too.

I’m starting to really like it here!

Slowly becoming a workaholic…

Yesterday my school offered me another class that I just couldn’t pass up. It’s to teach a one-on-one lesson to a businesswoman in Düsseldorf. She works for a major fast food company, and the sessions are long enough to be worth my time.

This will occupy my Monday mornings for the next 10 weeks! Which means I’ll no longer have my 2-day work week like I was so thrilled about. But oddly enough, I’m even more thrilled to have this extra class.

It’s because I’m getting more settled here and teaching is also growing on me. I figure since I’ve already prepared for the lessons and have experience teaching my other classes, that taking on more gigs isn’t so daunting anymore. I’ll barely notice the extra effort, but will certainly notice it in my pay cheque.

My classes at the pharmaceutical company started today, and I think it went well! The students are really nice and I’m looking forward to going back. Although one class is more demanding than the other, so I’ll need to really prepare for their class and not ‘wing it’ as much. That is okay though.

So, new schedule is Monday mornings, Thursdays, and Fridays. Yay!

The German life of lots of vacation

Well, I am pretty happy!

My stupid infection is gone and I’m back on track with getting settled. I am feeling so positive and optimistic about my new life here.

People tell me that the first 3 months of living abroad are the hardest, and this has definitely been the case for me. March is my 3rd month here, and there have been lots of ups and downs, feelings of uncertainty, and wanting to turn back.

But I knew I would feel these feelings, and I always try to put things in perspective while giving myself room to go through what I need to. As a result, I feel I’ve become a stronger, more resilient, more independent and compassionate person – all over the course of the last 3 months!

Phew!

I also think it will only get better and easier from here on. I have more skills and know what to do now.

My work for instance, has picked up since moving to Düsseldorf!

Thank goodness I moved out of Martin’s flat. No offense to him, I loved being with him but it wasn’t good for business and the town itself didn’t offer me much for anything else either. I do miss Martin a lot when I don’t see him, but it’s a trade off that has to be made.

But, back on work: I am absolutely thrilled with my new schedule! I have a 2-day work week and a 5-day weekend.

Last time I wrote about my schedule, it was Mondays at an insurance company, and Fridays at a logistics company. But I’ve since had to give up my Monday class (because I was sick) and was offered an all day Thursday class at a pharmaceutical company.

So that means I’m teaching only Thursdays and Fridays, ongoing for the next few months.

This is enough for me to cover all my expenses and to live comfortably.

I’m pretty impressed, actually.

I’ve read so much about teaching English in Germany, and most of it had made me very nervous to come and work here. I’m glad I’m having a positive experience, but I am still looking out for myself. So far my school has been great, and other trainers are having a good time working with the company too. Which definitely says something.

My school gives me big blocks of back to back classes, which doesn’t waste my time and makes it worth the traveling. They also pay for my travel expenses, and my wage is decent for someone who has no experience teaching and doesn’t really know what she’s doing, lol. No one breathes down my neck and it’s all very independent work.

So far so good!

I have opportunities to work more jobs and will probably be offered new classes by my school – they seem to get a lot of business. I’ve also been offered some work by the school I take German lessons from (it’s actually an English school), but I’ll see how I feel about taking on any more.

I really want to spend time looking for other non-English teaching work (since my visa is unrestricted) and soaking up all there is here while learning some German. Alles klar? Tschüss!

Being sick while abroad

How ironic that soon after I write a post on how things are coming together, that things fell apart.

Well, it’s not that dramatic, but I ended up getting sick shortly after I wrote my previous post. Sick enough that I knew I had to seek a doctor and go on antibiotics ASAP. This wasn’t the type of infection that I could just ride out.

So I contacted the Canadian Consulate for a list of English speaking physicians, and also called my insurance company to notify them that I would be seeking emergency medical care.

My insurance company, Travelguard, is SOOO good!!! I also used them when I got sick in Hong Kong, but didn’t require much of their assistance then.

This time though, I needed help to book my appointment in German (Martin was at work) and they found someone who spoke German to make the call and ask the questions that I wanted!!

Service was truly excellent, and everyone I spoke with at Travelguard was really kind and caring, not to mention fast and efficient. Much thanks to them; they helped me out a lot.

By the time I got to the Doctor on Tuesday morning, my infection had gotten worse; I could feel it, and the Doctor confirmed that it was bad. She gave me a prescription for antibiotics (yes!) and said I had to come back the next day for a follow up.

The follow up was today and things are getting better. For starters *I* feel much better already. The antibiotics are kicking bacterial butt!! Though just to make sure, I’m going back to my Doctor on Friday for another check.

The Doctor is also wonderful, btw. It’s a relief to have someone good to go to if I get sick again.

I’ve had to cancel all my classes for this week. I am in no shape to teach anything.

Don’t worry about me though. I am doing well now. The annoying parts are all under control and I just have to focus on resting, drinking lots of water, keeping myself warm, and taking my antibiotics.

Hope you’re having a better week than I have been!

This life is coming together

Things have been busy here, but also fun and productive!

I started teaching 2 new classes at a logistics company in a nearby town, and tomorrow I’ll start another class at an insurance company.

These classes will last for the next 5-6 months, which I am SO grateful for because it gives me something interesting to do whilst paying my bills!

The logistics people were SO nice. It makes teaching them for 5.5 hours straight a lot more fun, and is also worth my 1.5 hour commute (each way!).

I thought I would be nervous, as I’ve never really taught before, but it turns out I’m pretty excited about everything!

I mean, I’m a little concerned that I will bore people and/or people won’t like me, but all in all, this teaching-stuff gives me the opportunity to meet people, learn about their lives, their jobs, and their companies. And I’m getting paid to do it too. I think that’s fantastic!

So here’s hoping that tomorrow’s first class with the insurance company will go well too. It’s a slightly bigger group but also a shorter class, and located not too far away from where I live.

On another note, here is a picture of how our flower babies look:

They’ve grown a lot since my last entry, and that wasn’t even a week ago. Holey moley! Martin was here for the weekend and we both geeked out about it. He took some nice pictures on his camera, but that was before these extra blooms!

P.S. I’m slowly getting more settled here and I love it! This guy doesn’t hurt things either.

Government offices and new work

Hello, friends!

I’m staying at Martin’s place for the weekend. Yesterday I took the train here and he took a day off work so we could go to battle the exciting world of government offices. I had gone by myself before, but wasn’t given a tax card (and didn’t know to ask for one), while another office sent me away because I couldn’t speak German!

(These are some of the obstacles you need to be patient with while living in a new country where you don’t know the main language…).

Now I should have everything I need. I already have my work visa which legally entitles me to work here, but also needed a tax card and number in order to get paid. I haven’t gotten paid yet because of this, but should get it soon.

Some good news on the job & money front: I just signed myself up with 2 new teaching gigs. These classes will be ongoing for the next 5 and 6 months, and the income will cover all my basic living expenses. This is a BIG relief!

I’m really excited to get myself settled here. It’s finally hitting me that I’m living in Europe and it’s SO COOL!

P.S. I can cross off 2 goals from my March Goals list: Admin tasks and finding new work. Pretty good for the start of a new month!

So how did my first teaching gig go?

At the beginning of the week I felt a little unprepared and disorganized, but by the third class, I started to get the hang of it and teaching English just became natural.

My student was great too, which helps a lot. He was very welcoming. He would pick me up from the bus station everyday and then bring me to his home in another smaller town that was even smaller than the town I was bussing it to. Lucky for me he was also a keen learner which made explaining things easier.

At the end of the class, he told me he had learned a lot and even caught himself thinking in English! That was very nice to hear. He gave me a great review, which I’m not supposed to look at but he said I could because he marked me well. Apparently I scored the highest in every category. This just reflects his kindness more than my English teaching abilities.

My student is VERY kind though. He also gave me a nice bottle of wine as a thank you gift. The wine is from the Mosel region of Germany, which is notorious for producing very sweet wines. This was incredibly thoughtful (and shows off his English comprehension skillz, keke) because he remembered me saying I liked very sweet wines in one of our speaking exercises.

Oddly enough, I also said I loved grapefruit juice, which he also remembered! He tried to give me a bottle of grapefruit juice too, but I declined because he had already given me the wine and it felt weird to accept 2 gifts. But the thought and gesture made me feel appreciated and happy.

So it was a very positive first experience for both of us. Phew! I think I will really enjoy teaching business English. I have another gig coming up for the month, which will be for a class near Düsseldorf. I still don’t have a flat yet but landing one right about now would be nice! *knock on wood*

English Trainer: My first day on the job

Funny thing, I thought I wouldn’t be able to celebrate this Chinese New Year with Chinese food, but when I went to my first teaching gig yesterday, my student gave me a Chinese coconut cookie!

When I saw it, I was like “Where did you get this?????!!!!111″

Apparently him and his wife went to Thailand for their honeymoon and learned how to cook Thai food. Ever since then, they’ve made it their hobby to cook Thai and Chinese food.

He also gave me the address for a big Asian supermarket in a nearby town, where he goes to stock his pantry!!! And I’m not just talking rice and soy sauce once in a while, I’m talking black tree fungus and vinegars (he showed me).

How awesome is that?? I haven’t been missing Asian food that much yet, but I know I will eventually. So it’s nice to know I can get Asian ingredients around here. Now I just have to learn how to cook Asian food, haha!

Teaching went well yesterday. I feel really glad to not be thrown into a class right away. I’m just teaching one on one right now, but am using the same course materials that I would in a class. This gives me the opportunity to get comfortable with the material first, so when I teach a bigger class, it will be easier.

Luckily the school I work for gives a thorough lesson plan including text books, so I don’t have to build a course from scratch. I just have to facilitate and keep things structured, which is fine by me.

I think I will really like this job, especially once I get comfortable/good at it. It’s nice to meet new people and to help them learn a language.

This whole week I will be commuting to a town that is 1 hour away from here by bus. My Sweetie is at work so he can’t chauffeur me around, and I was nervous to take the bus and buy my bus ticket (from the bus driver) by myself yesterday. It probably sounds silly but I don’t speak German and I find it harder to navigate through small towns, especially with public transportation.

But it worked out and I got there easily! Yesterday was the hardest, so each day after that will get easier. At least in terms of navigation.

I feel good. I also got up early this morning and was super productive with my research job. Since the work is independent, I have to make sure I structure my own time and pace myself. Otherwise I just end up working on it all the time and get overly stressed. It helps to live with my Sweetie because I make a work schedule that I am strict with, so that we can spend quality time together when we’re not working. It’s nice.

Alright, just wanted to check in and give y’all the update. Still no confirmation on that flat yet, but SOON we will know.