school, jobs and politics
This week is the first week of classes for the Winter semester. Classes run until February, then there's a bit of a break until mid-April. If everything goes as planned, I will have all my little bits of paper by then, and can concentrate on preparing my last two internships before I take my state exams. I am scouring the globe for internship options abroad, and have arrived in SE Asia as my preferred option...or California? ...or Zambia...or Ireland. You know me, I'm like a kid in a candy store when it comes to this kind of stuff. I have to apply by January, so I will be doing some searching this month. Aside from making preparations for the future though, I will have to buckle down academically like never before. My classes this term are labor intensive, allthough, miraculously they fit perfectly into a mellow 3 day week. Having Mondays and Fridays free of classes makes me available to work a lot, which it appears I now will actually be doing. After having been miserably unsuccessful in my first round of job searching last winter, I was swamped with interviews and offers this week and last. I snagged myself a teaching job at a language school close to the University, and a translation gig with a media and fashion marketing company. Plus I am keeping my private teaching gig with the three 4 year olds. My days of five hour strolls and impromptu naps are over. Free time has become a commodity over night - and I'm not that sad about it...yet. I look forward to having a bit more money, and a bit more direction for the next 6 months. Maybe I will be able to reward myself with a trip to Greece in February when my seasonal affective disorder is in high gear, and I will be ready to kill for a spot in the sun. Flights to Athens are only 49 Euros!
In other news, today is the first day on the job for our new complete parliament. I gather this is not really news where most of you are at, but here it is a big deal - obviously. Many of my fears around the CDU's Angela Merkel becoming chancellor seem to be dissapating as the big coalition is starting to publicize some basic plans for the next years. Number one, it does not look like Merkel will be able to push through her intentions to send troups to Iraq. The military had allready sent out envoys to determine the best place to put their field hospitals...but that seems to have been a wasted trip now, thanks to the strong opposition in the SPD and in the populous as a whole. It also looks like the SPD's healthplan solution will take precedence over the CDUs previous suggestion of a flat rate co-pay for everyone, which would have screwed the little guy in a big way. Franz Muentefering, head of the SPD, and new vice chancellor has taken over the ministerial duties regarding work and employment, and will hopefully be able to put a bit of a brake on the plummeting of worker rights in this country. He is pretty well known for last year's comments referring to capitalists as locusts, and as a traditional union man in general. Good on ya Franzi. So, even though I still shiver at Merkel's thatcherite social reform plans, I think maybe my worst fears will not come true.
In other news, today is the first day on the job for our new complete parliament. I gather this is not really news where most of you are at, but here it is a big deal - obviously. Many of my fears around the CDU's Angela Merkel becoming chancellor seem to be dissapating as the big coalition is starting to publicize some basic plans for the next years. Number one, it does not look like Merkel will be able to push through her intentions to send troups to Iraq. The military had allready sent out envoys to determine the best place to put their field hospitals...but that seems to have been a wasted trip now, thanks to the strong opposition in the SPD and in the populous as a whole. It also looks like the SPD's healthplan solution will take precedence over the CDUs previous suggestion of a flat rate co-pay for everyone, which would have screwed the little guy in a big way. Franz Muentefering, head of the SPD, and new vice chancellor has taken over the ministerial duties regarding work and employment, and will hopefully be able to put a bit of a brake on the plummeting of worker rights in this country. He is pretty well known for last year's comments referring to capitalists as locusts, and as a traditional union man in general. Good on ya Franzi. So, even though I still shiver at Merkel's thatcherite social reform plans, I think maybe my worst fears will not come true.