First off, I want to express my gratitude to everyone in general to the fact that I am able to participate in this program. It still feels so surreal yet so normal, but every time I stop and think about the fact that I am studying and working in Germany for a year, I get pretty flabbergasted. I never really thought that I would be blessed to go through this life-changing experience. But after long last and a lot of patience, I'm here. I'm actually here, and experiencing things and meeting people I never would have met otherwise. I am truly humbled.
Got to go to a rally/demonstration (my first!!!) about the education system and cost structure in Sachsen-Anhalt. It was really cool to see so many people care about such an issue, but even cooler to see that many people taking time out of their day and doing something about it. You'd never see something like that in the U.S.
Well, we met at the corner of campus, and I'd say about 1,000 people marched through town to the main station. There we heard a couple people talk about the issues (unrelated) relating to the school and cost structure. Unfortunately I couldn't understand much, but my tutor Kai was there to help explain some things.
From this rally and insight into a part of the student/young life in Germany, some new opportunities came from nowhere. During the rally, I really quickly met some dude and got to talk with him a little bit (Deutschpractice, woot!), then the next day I saw him twice in the library. Through a little bit of chat about a ton of different stuff, I got invited to head to the 1. FC Magdeburg football match next weekend. I've been meaning to go check them out (despite being not all that great), and now I've got some new friends to go with! It should be a great time!
One big difference between Europe and the U.S. is the use of coins. Coins are quite the big thing out here, not something you can just disregard, like we do in the states. Well, this, paired with my unsure language abilities, can make for an interesting time at the checkout counter.
For some reason, I always find myself with a small hoard of 0,01€, 0,02€, and 0,05€ coins that cannot find there way out of my possession. Every time I go to buy something, I intend on taking my time, counting up the coins, and trying to maximize the export of coins from me to the cashier. I just want to get rid of them. BUT no. I see the total and rush to get the amount to the cashier because there's usually some old lady with a stark look on her face that might take away my bahn pass if she doesn't get home in time to make dinner. So I end up using all of my big coins or bills and am still left with a ton of small Münzen. Schade....
Don't laugh. I'm actually pretty serious. I think over the last few years, as I grew to be a more sociable and open person, so did my skills in small talk. Going to a store and just talking with the cashier about their day or having a little chat with receptionists during a phone conversation, things like that. I like being able to have a little upbeat chat with total strangers to pass the time.
Here, that don't fly. I think it's a good mixture of my subpar language abilities (it's amazing and frustrating just how much this affects me), and the German tendency to keep to themselves. One of the things that we learned in all of our cultural training was that Germans are a much more reserved people. They take a little bit more time than Americans to really get comfortable with someone. So quick interactions such as at the cashier or with a random passerby are completely different here than in the U.S. And I don't want to be the weird guy that goes against the norm. But overall, I miss being able to be cheery and talk with random people during my day.
In general, the 'The Customer Is Always Right' mindset is a completely foreign concept. Honestly, I see a number of benefits from this. But the absence of some other things can bug me. Things like mail-drop boxes, they are a scarce resource. I was trying to drop off a letter the other day and had to do a lot of walking just to find one around town. That's kind of frustrating. I'm trying to think of another example like this but can't remember right now, but they're there...
Something that can tag along on this customer service thing is prevalent in libraries. You are not allowed to take your backpack with you into the library. You must go to the lockers, but your bag in a locker, then take a shopping basket with all of the stuff you need out of your backpack, and then you can go in. It's not the worst thing in the world, but it's just kind of annoying. Why do I need to take everything out of my backpack and put it into a shopping basket, when everything is already packed in a perfectly acceptable (and chosen by me) carrying receptacle that I brought everything in from my house to here? Kind of a weird custom in my opinion.
Frisbee is quite the lifeblood for me. On Monday I finally got back to practice after just watching the last few weeks from an injured achilles (it's still injured, I was getting bored) and it was awesome. Not playing really sucks, especially when you're on the sidelines watching people play.
But it felt really good to get back on the court (we're playing indoor now because it's winter). I'm already out of shape, and need to do something outside of practice to get back into it. Regardless, practice was a great time, some good play, some fun and a light atmosphere, and great people to play with made everything great.
Still no change on my living situation. Internet still sucks, there's still a lot of smoke in the house, and it's still really far away. One thing that has resurfaced this week is a little sadness and depression. This week two of Dietrich's old friends have passed away. It's really weird hearing this because it's a very sudden sad situation that I don't know how to react to and how I should carry myself around. I'm waiting on my regional rep to get back to me, but quick communication is non-existent with them. So that's kind of frustrating.
Today I've been working on putting together job applications for the internship phase of the program. So far, I've applied to four companies. Last week I got a really important one done, and have been getting back into other ones the last couple days.
ENERCON, one of the largest Wind Turbine manufacturers in the world, has a manufacturing plant here in Magdeburg. I'm really hoping I get something from them. I spent about a week going through my cover letter (with tons of help from the CBYX and my tutors and others, thanks!!!) and got all of the supporting documents in order. About a half hour after I sent the application in, I got a reply from the guy I met at a career fair, telling me that it'll take them a little bit of time to go through all of the documents and get back to me. Hopefully, with a little patience on my end, and some good reading on their end, I'll get an interview, and hopefully an awesome internship offer. But that'll take some time to come to fruition.
Otherwise, I've applied to SKET GmbH (Magdeburg, a small company that does a lot of precision manufacturing, CNC, etc.), InKRAFT (Magdeburg, a manufacturing technology company), and E.ON (Düsseldorf, another leader in renewable energy technology). I'm a little unsure of how much I should be doing because I don't want to apply to 20 companies, then get 20 offers and have to turn down 19 of them.
One of the things that was hammered into us about our program, and the details of the internship phase, is that we MUST exhaust all potential internships/companies in the city we are living in. Well, the three in Magdeburg that I have already applied to are the only ones that would potentially interest me for work. There's others but I have no interest in their industry or their line of work. So my struggle is if I can get away with only applying to these companies, or a couple more, and that would be considered as me 'exhausting all of my resources' here in Magdeburg.
There's quite a few companies that I would be interested in working for that aren't in Magdeburg. And considering the fact that I am trying to stay in Europe and work after the program, I think it would be pretty advantageous (for me, not necessarily in the construct of the program) for me to look for a long term job that I could potentially jump right into after my internship. But I'm trying to keep in mind the whole 'exhaust the city resources thing'. Quite a pickle. I wish I could just search all over for the job I'd like to continue with after the program.
We'll see how this all shakes out in the coming months...
This weekend should be pretty fun. Friday (tomorrow) I'm going to Potsdam for the day to meet up with Katherine and her friends. We're gonna do some exploring around town and check out the castle and stuff. I'm not really all 100% sure, but I got a recommendation from one of the Brazilian guys in my Deutschkurs to go check out a little brewery in Potsdam. Definitely gonna do that, but other than that, I'll be along for the ride, and looking forward to a good day!
On Saturday, I'm heading down to Leipzig to meed up with an old friend from my first SPPPRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNGGGG BBBREEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKK!!!!!!! with the BBC 5 years ago, T-Maack, aka Tall Thomas, aka The Efficient German. He's headed down to Leipzig to meet up with some friends, and invited me along for the ride to go do some sightseeing! I'm also going to be meeting up with Mike, one of the guys in my program, who's living in Leipzig. It should be a fun day of sightseeing and hanging out. So this weekend should be pretty fun. Look for pictures and a write up next week.
More long term, I have no idea what I'm doing for Thanksgiving, or for Christmas. Being one that likes to have a game plan, that's kind of annoying, but hey, I'm just trying to enjoy the ride right now. All that stuff will fall into place later, so I'm not too worried about it.
Going strong, and looking like a champ. On a related note, I am pretty proud of my boy Zack, who's adventuring and experimenting with his own craft during the month of Movember, and I'm coaching him a little bit. The power of facial hair binds us together.
But I'm still kinda unsure of how I should attack things if/when I get a job interview. With a little help from some of my new friends here, I've gotten a bit of an insight to how facial hair is accepted in the German workplace, but it still leaves me a little unsure. Right now, I'm probably going to keep it and hope that it doesn't set me back. But we'll see, things may change as more information comes in.
I hope everyone back home is doing well!!! Take care and talk to everyone soon!
Original Publish Date: November 14th, 2013