Ein AusLANDER

I have started receiving some interesting German novels and books through the post recommended by friends. This has been a really nice and a welcome distraction from my ongoing job search. I have also been writing to Psychologists in Berlin to see if I can find any positive leads or opportunities. I have applied for a few writing jobs – it would be really cool to try being a professional writer for awhile. Something that simply being a native English speaker seems to predispose you to a little when wanting to live in a foreign country.

I had interest a week or two ago from one company and they gave me an online test to complete. Frustratingly, I did not get the position. In the test I had to correct English which was not difficult for me. I wonder if they took any offence to me correcting many ‘z’s to ‘s’s due to my preference for writing in English rather than American English. Although equally I may have just not been the best candidate on the day. Onwards and upwards. After writing a review of my city as a test piece for a second company I have been asked if I would be interested in a temporary unpaid/intern writing position at http://unlike.net/ which would allow me to get some writing credits. Something that I might try to take them up on when I am in Berlin.

To the outsider a quick search for jobs in Berlin gives the impression that every position necessitates you to be some aspiring computer programmer, or web developer. It looks a lot like Berlin would like to be the silicon valley of Europe. This is great but not a field that I am particularly interested in. Although, if they need any native English proof reading it could be one option.

I like the idea of improving my German for a year or two and then studying for a second MSc in Germany, this time in Clinical Psychology. The experience of studying in another country appeals to me, it feels inherently valuable. In the meantime I am strongly considering widening my job search to the whole of Germany. Other major cities such as Munich could be a viable option.

I have had some fun speaking with a new friend in Munich. Today I shyly read the first three chapters of a German book to her and she was very warm and encouraging. She would correct me and give extra explanation where necessary. This was really very useful as there are many words that I understand through reading that I have never actually tried to pronounce. It is a humbling experience as an adult who can read very well, to move over to a new language and start again near the bottom. As if you are a very young child. Humbling indeed, and I think that this is where a lot of my embarrassment came from, feeling that reading was no longer effortless. But I believe that this is a good experience, both for the reading and also for being humbled, it’s good for people in general, and it’s good for me.

I have littered this post with some photos of a my new German books (you were not just imagining it).