Hello, my name is Valerie and I am a blogger of
convenience. I know I have been rather absent as of late. Karneval came and
went and somewhere in between it changed to spring. This semester I have class
Monday-Friday and that has kind of intruded on free time to sit and muse. But
May is a great month, at least here in NRW. There are several bank holidays
peppered throughout the month, so it’s basically a smooth cruise into summer.
As a free-lance worker, you’ve got to lock up whatever
work you want well in advance. That’s one thing I learned my first year here.
Shortly after my arrival, after my 90 day tourist visa had expired but before I
was given residency I was still on a temporary permit. During that time I went
on quite a few interviews and trial lessons. I was really open to any and every
opportunity. The old expression “beggars can’t be choosers,” became my mantra
(inspiring stuff, I know). Allow me to paint a picture of some of my
interviews: I sat before a potential employer, a foreigner, hoping to obtain a
contract, even though I had no valid visa for the time of period stated on this
hypothetical contract and could boast only a bit of work experience in the
field. What’s German for long shot?
I had one such interview in July of 2010. I’m sure
I’ve mentioned it, but summer holidays here are kind of a big deal. Trying to
get ahold of anyone between July and August just by email, let alone setting up
an interview, is a bit of a tall order. We discussed my situation up until that
point, what brought me here, what I was expecting and what I had done so far. I
could tell a few minutes in that there was no offer to be had and I was more or
less just explaining my situation to someone who was nice enough to pencil me
in. Besides the fact that I had no visa, which to an employer here is kind of a
deal-breaker, I was also relatively new in teaching at the time, and
furthermore, I was asking for work three months before the semester was due to
start, what I didn’t know at that time was that I was about two months too
late.
With this in mind, a couple weeks ago I emailed this
contact. As this semester winds up, and I slowly transition into the summer
lull, now is the time to look for work the fall. Plus, in the last two years
I’ve branched out considerably and taken on more technical courses, so what’s
the harm in sending a CV and asking to be kept in mind for the coming semester?
I was shocked to get a response the next day and had an interview the same
week. This time it was a much more positive experience. I felt more at ease and
had a lot more to talk about with respect to teaching. Short of the long, I’ve
been offered position and will begin in October!
Once again the topic of getting my German driver’s license has surfaced.
Another fun fact I’ve recently learned is that if you (as a foreign resident in Germany) possess a driver’s license from your country
(keep in mind that a license from California exempts me from neither the
30 question theoretical exam [of which I cannot miss more than 2 questions and some of the questions have more than one correct answer] nor the driving exam), you are permitted to take the two exams
without having attended the requisite 14 ninety minute theoretical driving lessons. That is
however, if you do so before three years after your entry into the country.
Never mind that these lessons are kind of pricy (plus the additional behind the
wheel training I’d require), they are also in German (obv.) I will admit, my
language skills are passable, but I am not about to kid myself that I’d
understand (let alone be able to commit to memory) everything contained within
an hour and a half theoretical lesson…fourteen times.
Also this is not the driver's training I had when I was 16, where I sat in a crowded poorly ventilated room (I only mention that as I took my training courses in the summer, and July in southern California is a really hot place), and for the life of me I can't remember anything other than the video called "Red Asphalt" we watched on our last lesson, whose name I feel is straight forward enough that I need not expand on its contents. Theoretical lessons revolve around specific road scenarios, parking rules, driving within and outside built-up areas (cities), towing rules for vehicles of all sizes (never mind the fact that you need a different permit to tow certain loads, as a normal car driver you are still expected to know these random numbers), car mechanics and handling, driving with care to the environment, as well as the plenary rules and consequences of sharing the road with cyclists, pedestrians, children, disabled and elderly people, farm vehicles, buses, trains and trams, and occasionally wild game. We're talking formulas, weights, distances and speeds a plenty, and don't even get me started on who has right of way when.
In lieu of suffering these lessons I’ve taken to the internet to study and force
myself to power through at least 5 question sets a week (that’s 150 questions).
My stats are still unimpressive, but I’m working on it. Once I think I'm ready, I'll find a school to take the test, also have to get first aid certified somewhere along the way as well. To close I thought I’d
leave you with a few (of the MANY) questions I got wrong.
How can you save fuel when driving a motor vehicle
with an automatic transmission?
By not using the “kick down”
facility if possible
(Bonus point to anyone who can explain to me what the kick down facility is)
You are holding a driving permit class B. Your car has
the following specifications:
-empty mass 900 kg
-permissible total mass 1400 kg
-permissible tow load 1000 kg
Which trailer are you allowed to tow?
A trailer with a permissible
total mass of 850 kg
When must a car with a trailer driving outside
built-up areas on roads with only one lane for each direction keep a sufficient
distance from the car in front so that an overtaking vehicle may pull in?
When the combination of vehicles
exceeds 7m
You are travelling at 100 km/h and have a reaction
time of 1 second and brake normally. What is the stopping distance according to
the rule of thumb?
130 m
-fun fact: stopping distance= reaction distance + braking distance
Reaction distance= (speed in kmh/10) x 3
Braking distance=(speed in kmh/10)²
100/10 x
3= 30 m 10²=100 m
Where are you allowed to park a trailer with a
permissible total mass exceeding 2 t in built-up areas regularly on Sundays and
public holidays between 22h00 and 6h00?
In industrial areas
In wholly residential areas, on specifically
designated parking spaces
What must you know about catalytic converters?
A catalytic converter can be
damaged or destroyed the car is towed to start
A catalytic converter can be
damaged when the engine starts after many
unsuccessful attempts
What must be regularly serviced to prevent high fuel
consumption and excessive pollutant emission?
Engine air filter
Ignition system
Carburetor or fuel injection
system
