Arbeit und Führerschein!

I am employed! On the 17th of September, now over 2 weeks ago, I began to work as a caretaker in the Erbacher Hof in Mainz.  Erbacher Hof is a Catholic conference center which holds both religious and non-religious events. I work 6 days a week and the time is divided into early or late shifts.  Early shifts are from 7:00 to 14:00 and late shifts from 14:00 to 21:00. I have reached the conclusion that although the early shift requires me to wake up at 5:40 in the morning, it is better than the late shift.  With the early shift, the entire afternoon opens for possibilities - which I am not short of at the moment.  The other day I bought myself a pair of black working pants to match my colleagues. In addition, I also bought a pair of working shoes with a steel plate in the front to protect my toes  as well as a winter jacket so that I look more professional and so that my leisure winter coat doesn't get too dirty when it gets cold. Working in a Catholic conference center, and especially as a caretaker in a Catholic conference center can have its benefits.  For example, yesterday I had the opportunity to shake hands with Cardinal Lehman of the bishopric of Mainz!



I have only heard good things about him; that he is a tolerant, humble and liberal man. I have read interviews with him where he speaks of greater dialogue between Protestantism and Catholicism, as well as Christianity and Islam.  This impressed me and it has made it all the greater pleasure to work for such a man.

I have also started doing my driving license.  So far I have had one theory lesson and one driving session with two more booked this coming week.  Luckily, living in Sweden gave me the opportunity to reap the benefits of Övningskör. This allowed me to begin practice driving with my parents when I was 17. I am quite thankful for that opportunity now because it has rewarded me by allowing me to focus only on learning how to shift gears which takes up all of my concentration as it is.  However, towards the end I could sense that I was beginning to get the feel for it. My first lesson went well and he said that I will likely complete the license in 28 driving hours, which is below the average.

The Exeter Odyssey

Getting into the University of Exeter has proven to be quite a drama.  Let me explain the story from the beginning.  

After applying to the university I received an offer from them for 36 points with a 5 in English.   In mid July, I received my results.  36 points with a 6 in English.  Two weeks went by and I didn't get any confirmation from them so I decided to write them an E-mail.  On the 24th of July I received an answer saying that they had not gotten my results and that I should send them my results personally.  However, the next day, I got another E-mail confirming that they had now received my results.  Oddly enough, the confirmation E-mail stated that I had not met the offer and that I must wait until after the 15th of August when A-level results are released. So after that I decided to wait patiently until they figure out their fault - bad mistake. 

On the the 8th of September I checked UCAS and saw that on the 2nd of September my offer from Exeter was deemed unsuccessful. Now I became desperate and told them exactly the way I have been understanding my communication with them. Then I received an E-mail that seemed to misunderstand the problem. So I wrote them again, this time I copy and pasted the confirmation E-mail into the message and made them understand that they did indeed get my IB results and that they made a mistake with my application. This spawned an entirely different reaction. They apologized and I was told that my UCAS status would be changed over night. It did. So with no further surprises, I should officially be an fully enrolled student for the year 2014. Persistence pays off!

Back from Freiburg

Wow, what an amazing time I had in the past three weeks in Freiburg! I improved my German, certified my German knowledge with a C1 language test and met so many great people.  To be honest, towards the end, the course became less about learning German than having a great time with friends.

The course was very relaxed, we had class from 9:00 to 12:00 every morning from Monday to Saturday and sometimes in the afternoon as well.  My teacher was Hartmut.  Born in 1945, he is a bit of a hippie but an alright teacher. Our classes were structured around group discussions about all kinds of topics ranging from the relation between young and old people to Germany's elections.  We would also write a lot about our experiences in the many activities that we took part in outside of "Unterricht". These articles would end up in the trip magazine where everyone made a contribution.

However, the best times we had were during the daily activities and in the evenings.  We would go on excursions to see the Titi See, Bodensee, Strasbourg and Neuf Brisach.  Otherwise we would also play mini golf, have basketball and football tournaments, visit museums, explore Freiburg and much more.  When there were no planned activities, we would often hang around the KL (the hostel where we were staying). There we could play table tennis, pool, basketball, football and a lot of chess on the terrace. In the evenings we would often go to a beer garden.  Our favorite was "Hausbrauerei Feierling". They made exceptional beer and had a great outdoor sitting area that was open until 23:00.  On Saturdays we would go to a disco because we had no lessons on Sunday morning.  We tried different ones but our most frequented club was Agar.  Agar is cheap to get in and probably one of the worst clubs in Freiburg but because we were in such a big group it didn't really matter much.

At the moment, I am missing many of the people I met but I am sure to see them again.  Already we are making plans to see each other once more!

Last night before Freiburg

Tomorrow morning I will be on my way to the Goethe Institut in Freiburg.  I like to regard this as the official beginning to my gap year as this will be the first program that I will do that I planned for the time I would otherwise be spending preparing for university. I am looking very forward to be part of a routine once again.  A summer of being lazy has insulted my work ethic.  I would never have expected myself to say this, but I can't wait to wake up early again! I just finished packing my new light weight four-wheeled Samsonite full with all my clothes.

Otherwise, since arriving in Germany on the 15th, I have been getting myself settled in. I have bought myself a toaster. A Bosch toaster. It was the last one they had, and so she gave me a 10% discount because it was the show Bosch toaster. I have also received notification from the state concerning the voting center where I will cast my ballot for the next chancellor of Germany.  Well, everyone knows it will be Merkel again. Nonetheless, I think it will be fascinating to make my first contribution to democracy. And what better time to learn about a country than during elections? All the key issues will be addressed and you learn what kind of people are running the country.  In addition, I can now officially donate organs with my official German organ donation passport that certifies my organs' validity and my intentions with them.  Perhaps it should go on record that at the moment my kidneys feel quite well settled with their current neighbors; Daniel's lungs, Daniel's liver and Daniel's pancreas (I have the utmost respect for those who truly go so far as to donate their organs in the service of others).

Moving into the city

So the day after getting back from two weeks in Portugal, visiting old friends and enjoying the weather, half of our furniture is packed and ready to move into our new apartment in central Stockholm.  I figured that this is the effectively the 7th time that I will be changing homes.  Apparently the average American moves about 12 times during his/her life and I believe most of that takes place after graduating from high school.  In fact, I will already be making my 8th move when I travel to Germany to live with my grandparents from the 15th of August.  Although I will still be around family, I will be "moving out".  These last weeks in Stockholm, before my Gap Year really begins, will be spent with family and friends. In Mainz, I will not know anyone besides family.  I admit to being a bit nervous about it all.  I was not able to get a job at McDonald's and I am currently waiting for a reply from Vapiano, as well as the hotel where my aunt works.  However, before beginning work, I will be attending a three week German course in the southern city of Freiburg.  Besides becoming more confident in German, this course will allow me more time to accustom myself to living in Germany while meeting people my age.

Doing Doughnuts with an old friend in Portugal