A summer of firsts

Looking back on my third summer here in Germany I’ve realized it’s been a summer of firsts for me. It’s the first summer I didn’t have to go to the immigration office as my visa is good for another year (woohoo!). I passed my theoretical road test on the first try (double woohoo!). And I just got back from my first typical German holiday.

So about the theoretical exam; I know I’ve written several posts about it describing how nervous I was and how difficult the content would be. Truth be told, the software I was using to prepare (http://www.my-fuehrerschein.de) turned out to be perfect. Admittedly, I had to put in a fair bit of work. I started with it last year but then cooled off after a few months. I then resumed back in April and worked pretty consistently for a few hours several times a week up until September. In the days after my California trip I was studying at least four hours a day leading up to the exam. I must say, it paid off. 

I was nervous going into the exam-I knew the test would be on the computer, but I had no idea what the layout would be, if the questions would be variations of the ones I so diligently committed to memory, or even if maybe there would be topics I hadn’t discovered yet. But seriously, any expats in Germany looking to get their license transcribed who need to take the theoretical exam (in their own language), without going to driving school, I would sincerely recommend that website because the actual exam was no joke exactly like the software. I sat down and blasted through the 30 questions in 15 minutes. I started to go back and check my answers, but like any multiple choice test I've taken, and having graded enough of them myself, I decided your first choice tends to be the safest. So I submitted my work and moments later saw on the screen that I had passed.Though it’s an occasion to be proud of, I am not 100% road legal yet. I am now allowed to drive on German roads, which means I have scheduled my first behind the wheel lesson. I still need to pass a practical (driving) exam, and in theory could do that whenever, but figured it’d be best to get a few lessons in first to get an idea of what the examiner will be looking for.

So on to my other first, a typical German holiday in Mallorca. For those unfamiliar, Mallorca lies in the Mediterranean Sea and is part of the Balearic Islands (including Menorca, Cabrera, Ibiza, among others). 

Mallorca has developed into a prototype of mass tourism with all the comforts and attractions expected by tourists. It welcomes millions of visitors per year (nearly 10 million in 2006), 80% of whom come from foreign countries. From the graph you can see that the largest group of foreign tourists is German with the British coming in second.

So to put it in a nutshell, tourists abound! That doesn’t mean that I didn’t enjoy it. We stayed in Sa Coma, a town on the eastern coast of the island in the municipality of Sant Llorenç des Cardassar. The weather was warm and sunny, the beach was minutes away, and I had with me a guide who had visited the island plenty of times and thus knew where to go and what to see. I must admit, the bulk of the six days we spent  were either on the beach or by the pool. I went through 2 books, numerous podcasts and a bottle of sun screen. 

Of the millions of visitors who flock to Mallorca annually, more than half of them are “package tourists,” which means that their flight, transportation to and from airport and hotel costs (usually including food) are all together. This has advantages and disadvantages, particularly for the local economies as the money spent at a hotel chain doesn’t necessarily get pumped back into the local economy directly. If you book an “all inclusive” package, then you pay extra, but drink for free at the hotel. To those looking to enjoy a sun and alcohol soaked vacation, this seems like an obvious choice. However, it also means you’d probably spend most of your time at the hotel choosing from the shrunken drink menu of the all-inclusive package. I found it better to walk around and find local joints where to enjoy a few drinks. On one such stroll we went to a restaurant my guide had frequented in his youth. The food was outstanding and the service was just as good. The server, a friendly older Spaniard, asks where I’m from, I say, “California.” He then proceeded to drop a little knowledge on me. For the Californian readers, you may recall as an elementary school student learning about Father Junípero Serra and all the missions he founded (I’ll avoid describing treatment of the locals in said missions for now). Well, would you care to venture a guess as to where he is from? If you said Mallorca, then you’re correct! 

Anyway, it was a truly relaxing vacation. I enjoyed plenty of sunshine and will now proceed to cover up the tan I acquired with layers and scarves as all of a sudden it’s fall in Germany! The new semester is upon me and I have plenty of work to get done. I’ll conclude with a few highlights of the trip. Hope everyone had as nice a summer as I did!

Californian fix

So I'm back in the homeland. I'll keep the post picture oriented as I feel images tell more than me explaining what I've been up to. Suffice it to say, there's been no shortage of sunshine, family, friends, grilling, Mexican food and/or good times. I still have a few days ahead of me , but I just wanted to share the excellence that is my vacation so far.

The journey there...

 

Of course, a little grill action.

 

Crystal clear day at the beach with my sis

 

 

Slurpee!

 

Support your local record store, the internet is slowly shutting them down.

 

Pool party with some homies.

Joy riding in dad's car

A fantastic concert

Balboa Park with my mom

A baseball game

And plenty of time with this little peanut.

Another day in Germany, another permission to acquire.

Word of the week: Fahrerlaubnis

Get ready because you’re about to enter another one of my adventures with German bureaucracy! I’ve at last reached the final stages of getting my German driver’s license, which necessitated a trip to my favorite place, the Bürgeramt (I don’t know, city hall?). In my two plus years in Germany I’ve become quite familiar with the stifling bureaucracy that permeates almost every aspect of life as a foreigner. In the beginning, there was the ongoing battle for my Aufenthaltserlaubnis (permission to reside), then the continuing struggle for Arbeitserlaubnis (permission to work), today I discovered the need for another type of permission (erlaubnis), namely that to drive a car.

I’ve talked about the steps to get a license, but I’ll give a quick and dirty run down of the circumstances and what hoops I had to jump through. As a foreigner with a driver’s license, I can have my California license transcribed (umschreiben lassen). Since there is no reciprocity for a Californian license in Germany, probably all of Europe-although I think I read somewhere that it would translate in Belgium…anyway, since that license isn’t accepted, I am obliged to take the theoretical exam and the practical (behind-the-wheel) exam. If I do this before three years after my entry to the country, then I don’t have to go through the whole program of driving school and required behind-the-wheel lessons, which saves time, money and above all stress. Fortunately, the theoretical exam is offered in English, so I found a website (http://www.my-fuehrerschein.de) with sample tests that I found really helpful in preparing. I’ve been pretty diligent over the last several months and decided I’ve reached a point where I am ready to get the ball rolling.

So, first document to get squared away was a vision test. Went to my local optician and took care of that, €7 and a few minutes later I am cleared to drive (with glasses). Next was a certification of first aid training, which was also relatively painless. It cost €50 and was over in one Saturday. I actually found it quite useful and think it’s good that everyone is required to go through that, it was only basic stuff (recovery position, CPR, bandaging a wound, making an emergency call)-on the sign-up sheet I was last and saw the birth dates of some of the other participants a couple of whom were born in 1995, I felt a bit old. Next step was to have my Californian license translated. To do this I had to go to ADAC, for the American readers, it’s like the AAA of Germany, an automotive club. That took two weeks and cost €38. Next I had to get a Meldebestätigung (basically a formal registration where my adress in Germany is)-actually I already did that way back when I first arrived, but just for that extra bit of fun, when you want to apply for Fahrerlaubnis the Meldebestätigung can’t be more than three months old. So that was taken care of in about 5 minutes and €6. So, now I’ve got all my documents together, I’m chomping at the bit to just get through this circus of paperwork and drive a freakin car already, but not quite yet. 

The next step was to find a Fahrschule (driving school). After a little research from my German I found one that has trainers who speak English, which means I can take behind the wheel lessons in English-which is comforting. My German is manageable, but I would prefer to go through all that stuff in English. So, went to the driving school to register with them. This cost €60, but then I got the final piece to the puzzle of transcribing a foreign license- the Antrag auf Fahrerlaubnis (application for permission to drive). This is when I discovered I’d need yet another step before taking the tests. The woman at the driving school told me to submit all my documents, plus this application, along with a biometric passport photo to the Strassenverkehrsamt (DMV). I went there today and had a bit of a wait before I got to the window to hand over my Unterlagen (paperwork) to the Beamter (clerk). After carefully checking everything, stamping my application with several stamps, signing and dating it, she then collected €42 from me and told me I’d receive Post (mail) in 4 weeks, presumably after another Beamter has read signed and stamped the very same application, at which point I can take this letter to my driving school and make an appointment to take the theoretical exam. 

So this Fahrerlaubnis is not a driver’s license-it basically allows me to drive on public streets once I pass the 30 question theoretical exam (€40). After I pass that, then I can take a few behind the wheel lessons (€30 per lesson) before the practical test (€90+€120 fee for TÜV, don’t even get me started on that). I figured it would be useful to get a feel for the road and have the instructor run through what kinds of things I should do in the actual exam. 

So now all I can do is sit and wait to get the letter and continue studying. I am cautiously optimistic about the exams. All in all, I’d say the process will take another couple months until I am licensed (assuming I pass both tests on the first go)-at which point I will have to surrender my California license, which I am sad about. In theory a German license is valid in the states, but I can imagine a situation where a Cailfornian cop would pull me over, take a look at my German license and ask, “What’s this?”

Life as a foreigner in Germany is filled with experiences like this. Lots of collecting documents, certifying documents, then submitting the documents to be further verified by someone else. This costs time and money, but it’s just how the system operates here. But eventually I’ll be on the road, until then I’ll keep reviewing!

The slew of documents I had to submit

 Always a bit of a wait at the Bürgeramt

First aid dummy I learned CPR on. 

 

To close, some questions from the theoretical exam.

Word of the week: sau

The linguist inside me is a bit perturbed by the classification of this topic as a word when technically it’s an expressive intensifier, which functions similarly to an adjective but to emphasize speaker emotion. But whatever, just something I’ve noticed in my ongoing education in the German language…and by education I don’t mean reading grammar books, I mean based on what I take in from radio, television and other native speakers.

 

I’ve mentioned before some of the linguistic tells of my Californian roots, for example, frequent use of the word, “totally.” This is also an expressive intensifier. Let me give you some examples, it’s very multi-functional.

Yesterday you missed a totally cool party.
In this case the speaker is emotional about how cool the party was.

Yesterday you totally missed a cool party.
In this case the speaker is emotional about the person having missed the party.

Other examples in English include: terribly, really, extremely…the list goes on. But now I want to introduce you to totally’s German equivalent: sau

In addition to the more standard version of this intensifier sehr ‘very,’ sau- is more informal, which is to say, perhaps something you'd use with somene auf Du. The actual meaning of sau is sow, a female pig. Its function is similar to the English equivalent.

Gestern hast du eine sau coole Party verpasst.
Here the speaker is emphasizing how cool the party was.

If you wish to express emotion that the person missed this cool party, as in the second example with totally, one might make use of another intensifier voll ‘completely’

Gestern hast du voll die coole Party verpasst.

Sau can even be added to adjectives to emphasize speaker emotion about the degree of something. For example, if you go outside and see the temperature is -10º C, you might say it is “saukalt.” ‘very cold.’  When adding all the costs of getting a driver’s license, including all the theoretical lessons and behind the wheel training, one might describe it as “sauteuer.” ‘very expensive.’ You can even use sau to represent an individual, for example, to show sympathy with a touch of sarcasm, Du arme Sau 'You poor thing.' Or in some cases a lack thereof: Da interessiert sich keine Sau für ‘Not a single person is interested in that.’

I’m still learning the ins and outs of the German language, it’s sauschwer ‘really hard.’

This is still a thing?

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

Suddenly it's winter

It came on so suddenly. Back in November I pulled out my snow boots and gave them a little polish to prepare for what I thought might be another frosty December. Low and behold, Christmas was quite mild, rainy, but around 10° or so. January was also quite ok. Clouds and rain, but still surprisingly easy.

Then there was a drop. From one day to the next it was below 0, and there was talk of snow. Then last weekend it came. The "Siberian Cold," has apparently blown its way across Europe, record low temperatures have been set in the last week. Since snow is still somewhat of a novelty to me (and I don't drive a car), I find it nice to look at. I must admit, those early morning trips with the train are less than stellar-being greeted with -14°C (6° F)  is not the ideal way to start your Monday morning.

I thought a gratuitous picture post was in order.

The negative temperatures are carrying on into the week. I'll be listening to my "beach" playlist and trying to think warm. Have a cozy week!