Application Mayhem

Well, it's now the week's end, and I am thoroughly exhausted from doing all these applications, calling people in Switzerland and throughout Germany. I must say that I have a slightly more optimistic outlook on prospective employment here in Germany. I applied to roughly 51 places this week, and finally got a call yesterday that there is an opening in Erlangen for two courses, once a week, which was certainly great news to behold. Unfortunately, that alone is not sufficient to maintain any kind of lifestyle here, but I have a good feeling about other jobs I applied to in the Erlangen/Nuremberg area. For those of you who aren't familiar with German geography, Erlangen and Nuremberg are really quite close to each other, probably only 20 miles apart and northwest of Munich. So I'm planning on moving somewhere in between the two cities for ease of access.

There are two other jobs I have a good feeling about: the first is a Business English teaching position in a city called Herzogenarauch, which is also in close proximity to Erlangen and Nuremberg. The other job would be at a Volkshochschule where I would not only be able to teach English but also Japanese and Chinese directly in Nuremberg. Thankfully, my foreign language skills will most likely increase my chances of employment, especially at Volkshochschulen since I will then be able to offer a variety of courses to a wide audience. The only scary thing is that these courses have to be filled by a certain number of people in order to take place, otherwise they won't be offered. So I'll definitely have to wow and amaze people the first round so I can ensure, more or less, continuous courses.

Since it's currently August and most of the places I've applied to are currently on summer break, I don't imagine I'll hear from the majority of the people for another week or two, which makes things a bit more than stressful. Still, it was reinforcing to hear back from at least one person, and to have heard from a number of employers that they were actively recruiting teachers for the coming school year.

Otherwise, Grace and Basti have been incredibly welcoming and helpful these past couple days, and have truly gone out of their way to make me feel at home and get whatever I need. After a long day of sending applications and calling people all over Germany, the three of us have spent our evenings staring at computer screens reading various odds and ends, or, as has been the primary case, we've been whiling away the evening hours with movies and laughter. We watched "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" which was much better than the recent release of the last installment. Although I did enjoy the 2nd portion of the final chapter, it seemed too rushed and didn't really do that great a job of summarizing or concluding the story, apart from the obvious fact that Voldemort was killed. Still, my love of Harry Potter shall remain eternal and I plan on using that obsession as a means to embarrass my kids in the future lol.

Today, Basti's cousin is coming to visit and we're planning on doing...something...not sure what. I believe we were going to ride bikes around the city and in Switzerland but the weather isn't cooperating much for such an activity (which is actually A-OK with me). It'll be nice to have a calm, relaxing weekend where I don't really have to think too much about getting a job or anything, though I'm sure all that anxiety and pressure will consume me as soon as Monday comes around. But for now, I am going to enjoy the cool, rainy weather we're supposed to have - though as I look out the window now, I see large patches of blue sky; curse you! I'm really enjoying my stay thus far and cannot wait to see where things take me from here on out!