May Day – No Internet
The dream of a hermit-like life, where one had little to no distractions and enough free-time to pursue one’s interest, has always been appealing to me. Little to no extraneous interactions and the ability to slow down felt like a worthy pursuit – especially after imagining the world described in the book, “Anathem” by Neal Stephenson. But then the internet went out.
The story goes that a door salesman from the phone company proffered a new plan, which was accepted and which was incompatible with current needs. After some phone calls, the company agreed to roll back the change when they can get to it. It has been over a week. A week in a small village in the middle of the forest, where my only connection is the sliver of cell phone service I can pull from the sky. I have discovered during this trial that my main “need” is news; I wait over ten minutes for the page to load. I have also learned that somehow my phone can exchange my emails overnight, but “partially downloaded” messages are not particularly informative.
I cannot admit that I am bored, however; I have good practice at keeping busy. Between reading, writing, playing ukulele, hiking, and a variety of other activities, I have plenty to do. On the other hand, translating an unknown word, posting a blog update or answering an important email, or looking up a chord structure becomes beyond frustrating when those pages time out because “the server gave up on you.”
Having grown up in the country, a handful of miles away from a small town, I thought I would easily reacclimatize to this kind of life. It is a challenge. However, life has offered me an out. I was truly honored with an offer to take over the beginner and advanced-beginner tap courses at the dance school in Erfurt. While the new job would only be a couple hours each week, this would start my visa process all over again (and I just picked up my residence card on Thursday). Having read the hints that this may be coming, I did generically talk with the foreigner’s office about work visas – and they provided the most noncommittal answer: it depends on the situation.
Regardless of the visa office’s decision on the work visa or freelancers visa (which I am told by locals is unlikely), I have decided to make the move to Erfurt. Erfurt is the capital of Thuringia and has about 200,000 residents. And even though it would be cheaper to buy monthly bus and train passes to travel there daily, I believe I will be able to be open to more opportunities by simply biting the bullet and destroying my travel budget. YOLO, right? Additionally, relying on others to drive me around must be wearing on them as much as it is me, and the butcher gig is in a town right on the train line; this feels right. And I have learned to trust gut feel.
And for the concerned reader, the mission of coming to Germany has not changed: I am still pursuing the fermented trades. Erfurt is a train hub, offering access to the butcher as well as his partner-cheesemaker. There are no opportunities to work with a brewer in Tambach-Dietharz, but more options may be available if the capital were my home base. The positive is that this move may allow me to have some positive cash flow; the negative is that the additional costs will definitely wipe out any money I earn (and then some).
To prepare for the imminent move to Erfurt, I started investigating bank accounts and driving regulations (for car rentals). First, I am learning that all banks charge the accountholder a monthly fee for the honor of holding onto one’s money. I was glad to know that the process of opening up a bank account will not be problematic given my visa, but the challenge is now to find one with the lowest monthly fees (approximately $7 per month). Then I will investigate wire transfers, which are all too common here, but very much less so in the US.
As for the driver’s license, I took some time during my visit to the government offices while picking up my visa to stop by the German DMV – complete with numbered tickets and 20 minutes waits. Your number, when called, assigns you to an office where you meet with someone in an oddly official manner. The lady in my assigned office was quite dramatic in her distaste for having an atypical situation that she simply cut me off, called the boss on her phone, and abruptly told me to go back to the waiting room until my name is called.
The head of the DMV office called me in about 15 minutes later, and I shared with him my licensing history in the US. He flipped through his regulation manual and gave me the low-down. He is in a rotational program in his last week, so he would not be around the next time I come; he explained that I need to have my Wisconsin license officially translated (companies charge by the word) and explain that I am invoking Exhibit 11, which will allow me to simply exchange my license for a German one without additional tests. He also explained that California has no such agreement with Germany, so don’t mention that I lived there; their tests are not accepted. Luckily, I first got my license in Wisconsin and took those tests originally – I will have to provide documentation to show at least four years of licensing in order to avoid probationary restrictions, I am told. The fun (and the fees) never end.
And to conclude, Germany celebrated their Labor Day – more commonly known as May Day – on the first of May. This year’s festivity, which is a day off of work, fell on a Monday. Sunday night boasted a large bonfire in a field, where participants drank beer and ate bratwurst as the kids ran around, climbed trees, and screamed into the night. Monday afternoon consisted of the construction of a “May fest tree”, which looked like someone affixed a Christmas tree to the top of a telephone pole. This pole was then decorated with a string of flowers. I was slightly disappointed there was not May Pole Dance – streamers woven and such. While the same drink and food was sold, this even also had many men in traditional garb (Thuringian knickerbockers) and sawing competitions. Men, women, and children were timed while using a two-man saw; I literally sat and watched people literally sawing logs. But sometimes that’s what you do when you don’t have internet.
