I've been in Mainz close to a month now and I am beginning to get accustomed to the rhythms of this bustling metropolis. Ha! But I am starting to feel much more comfortable in my work place and feel more confident towards the other departments of the conference center. The caretaker team is very nice and I can share a good laugh with them. They are a very interesting mix and when there are only two of us on shift, they like to tell stories of their lives which can be quite fascinating. One of my colleagues was an engineer aboard large container ships. He told of nearly being attacked by pirates off the coast of Nigeria, almost marrying an Australian woman and tax-free alcohol without the premium paid in airport stores (this would make a bottle of vodka cost about 1 euro). As for my performance, my boss Herr Krause is very impressed with how quickly I have been able to learn the various room positions for conferences and the general aspects of the job. He even asked me to stay longer than December! It's a good feeling to become trusted enough to be sent to position rooms or deliver something to a customer on my own.
One thing that irritates me is my own lack of control over German. There are often times where I would have liked to say something, or give my opinion but because I couldn't formulate the words I held back. The worst is when I have to explain something technical, because first of all I am barely familiar with the vocabulary in English and then I am suddenly asked to describe a problem in German. For example, when I went to switch a light bulb, the light only lit half way and started blinking. I think I said something like, "der Strom geht aus (The electricity goes out)" and was answered with, "wo geht der Strom hin? (Where is the electricity going?)". In German one would have to say, "Der Strom fällt (falls) aus", but of course in English the verb 'going' is correct.
My driving license is going well. I have 4 Theory lessons out of 14, and I have 6 driving hours, with the next 4 booked for next week. My teacher is confident that I will complete the course before the end of December, as long as I maintain a disciplined schedule. The schedule is possible but it is also very exhausting. For example this past week on Tuesday and Thursday I worked from 10:00-17:00, came home at 17:50 and had to be at the driving school at 18:30. Next week should be easier because I have early shift. I have also been rewarded for over 42 hours of work this week with a three day weekend; Saturday-Monday.
However, I am far from assimilated and no manner of time will change that. My background comes at such contrast to everything present in the Erbacher Hof that it is difficult not to run into cultural walls all the time.The majority of people working there have lived in the area all their lives whether they are German or immigrated to Germany as children and thus only speak German and possibly their mother tongue.
In any event, my largest problem is simply social contact with other people my age. I miss the ability to regularly meet friends to go to the gym, something I have taken for granted for 3 years. At the moment, I only might meet Anastasia or my cousin Stefan on the weekend to go out. Which is more than I can ask for but at the same time, I failed to realize the difficulty I might have in meeting people. But the totality of this remains to be seen, I still have 2 months ahead.
