Starting Out

So, my second year is over and done with. It's strange, because I'd been looking forward to the summer so much- my 'light at the end of the tunnel'- and now it's here I feel a bit empty inside, and more than a little bored. I think a lot of this is to do with the fact that all my friends have gone home for the summer, whereas I'm still in Sheffield working extra hours to try and clear as much of my overdraft and credit card as possible.

In Germany, all people who are staying longer than three months have to register with their local council at the Einwohnermeldeamt as citizens. This has presented me with a bit of a problem, because you have to prove you can support yourself financially before they grant you citizenship. My placement at the magazine is unpaid, so I have no regular income as such. Admittedly I do have my student loan and Erasmus grant, but when my loan goes in it will barely take my balance above zero, and my grant isn't due until November at the earliest. Even then it's estimated to be just 490 euros a month. In Germany, guidelines recommend you need 700 euros a month to survive.

So, I keep trying to pay off as much as I can, but I still estimate a shortfall. I have to register within a week of taking up residence in Dresden, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my loan goes in at some point that week, otherwise I could be on my way back to England 11 months earlier than anticipated. Why does nobody tell you this kind of stuff in advance?!

On to other things. I've booked the flights and hotel for my trip to Dresden in August. The 5th until the 7th isn't really long enough to do everything I'd like, but I couldn't afford any longer. Ive managed to secure two viewings of rooms for rent while I'm there. One's only available until May, which would mean having to move again. I'm not keen on that because moving is always such a hassle, but it depends on things like location as well. I don't really want to be forking out too much in public transport for obvious reasons.

Both of the girls who're letting the rooms seem really nice, so I'll have to see when I get there. I had the opposite problem of most people, who leave it until right on the last to find somewhere to live. I started early, and a lot of the responses have been "We can't hold the room for you until August." But I'm optimistic. It's been easier than I thought. For anyone going to Germany, I recommend www.wg-gesucht.de. It's really good for finding rented accomodation.

I'm also meeting with my placement magazine editor when I'm there, and have just emailed the deputy editor at a regional newspaper to set up a meeting too. I spoke to the main editor a few months back but it turns out he's on holiday in August, so has passed me on to the deputy instead. I hope it works out. I'm looking forward to it. Journalism is something I've wanted to do forever, and now I get to do it for real in a foreign country.

I do have some concerns though. Language wise, I know my German's pretty good, but it could be better. Sometimes in seminars I'd listen to my classmates babbling away in German like it was nothing and feel like, "Oh my God. How am I going to do this?" I'm going to have to deal with real Germans every day, in person or on the phone. I'm going to have to write in German, speak in German, read in German, interview in German, and I can't carry my dictionary with me.

I think it is just stage fright. I know that having to use the language every day will force me to improve, and so far people have been understanding about mistakes. I'm a bit rusty on prepositions and genders. But I think my biggest concern was the 'being English thing'. This hadn't actually occured to me until I told a lecturer where I was going for my year abroad. He started laughing and said "Good luck with that." I totally forgot about the Brits flattening Dresden in the war.

To be honest I've not had any obvious hostility, but that's because I've mostly spoken to young people and the editors. But still, the war wasn't that long ago, and prejudices remain. Just ask the tabloids. Few weeks go by without a reference to football, the war or sunbed-stealing. Still, I think the Germans are a bit more mature about these things. At least, I hope they are...

Bis später

Kay