A Quiet Spring

The waiting. Endless waiting. Irons were thrown in the fire, but nothing was coming of it. Feelers were put into place, but there was no movement. The only thing to do the last months was to wait. This was not how I had planned to use these months.

I had planned to use the spring to do a brewery internship in northern Bavaria, the Franken. However, as I reviewed my goals and the potential marketing spin of my future hobby-school, it no longer made sense to pursue something outside of Thuringia. Having let that opportunity slide, I simply kept on baking (and singing and tapping).

My station at the Erfurt Bakery.

Since I have found myself having over a year of experience baking German goods, I started to contemplate what I could do in order to certify this knowledge. Initially, I worked with the local baker to get a name for someone at the local trade school. The original idea was to take some of the baker classes in order to test the waters with the subject and expand my knowledge.

After one visit and many phone calls with the school, I was assured that they have not forgotten my request; after three months, however, I admitted to myself that it was a lost cause. It was then that the local brewer took it upon himself to reach out to a baker school in Dresden. After many months of back and forth as well as an in-person visit, I am told that they will be making their decision of my attendance in a couple weeks. As with everything in Germany, there has been a bunch of paperwork and deeply political discussions given my foreigner status. (Case-in-point, a local told me that if I were able to pursue this designation, it would water down the designation itself. Opinions abound.)

Yes, you had read that correctly. My initial thoughts of “hmm, I have been doing this for a year already” quickly progressed into “I am going to invest vast sums in order to certify my knowledge.” We will shortly know how this will all play out. I am still waiting on the answer.

On the cheese front, I had made little progress on finding a solution to that quest. In March, I was introduced to a guy that has spent the last couple summers working in the Alps in one of those cool alpine huts. He promised to hook me up with a gig. Even though this was outside of this state in Germany, I could not pass up the opportunity. The initial ‘yes’ turned into a ‘maybe’ and then a ‘no’; apparently the other workers voted against my help. He then reached out to other huts and was similarly told that no additional help was needed. The summer break was approaching and Switzerland was looking unlikely.

In April, I was then given word of a local sheep outfit that makes cheese on site. I called up and we set an appointment. After an evening of work, I hopped on the train and organized a car to get me to the farm. The boss there greeted me by saying that he had just remembered that there were no free beds in the male dorm; he thought of it yesterday, but decided that I may still want to see the farm. I, in fact, did not, but my driver did. We did the walk around.

Now approaching desperation, another lead arose from the leader of the state-wide goat association. He personally raises goats for meat, but he would be willing to put me in touch with a local goat creamery operation. In May, I made my way to him for an interview, which lasted less than five minutes, and was celebrated with beer. I then had contact information for an internship I had intended to start in one month. That story, however, deserves its own entry.

It was during this period that I had tapped out of the dance group I was part of, and I had agreed to fill a role in an opera premiere. Both of these have resulted in a bit of frustration, which was the result of unspoken expectations. Luckily, despite hurting feelings, I was allowed to continue teaching beginning tap; we finalized a great number that took us five months to learn. A good time was had by all (except for the two that unsurprisingly did not show for our “performance”).

I do not know how much more adventure I have left in me; this waiting for the next quest to begin has been excruciating. The summer starts with a whirlwind of activity; hopefully with good news to follow. Fall should bring a brewery opportunity, which would be the final piece to my travel goals. I, too, am curious to see if, with my goals met, I will bid farewell to Europe. We will have to wait and see…