1. MLB Game while getting paid...

Today I was part of what they call the "Fun Patrol" team at work. It's basically a marketing effort and when working this position, I get to go to all sorts of events to promote my employer. I never signed up for it, but as I was only scheduled 4 days this week, but like to work 5, I asked a co-worker if I could pick up his shift and he said yes. When I asked him, I didn't know what the event would be, I just cared about the extra shift.

Come to find out, I got to attend the Florida Marlins vs. L.A. Dodgers baseball game at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami. I've never went to a baseball game, so I was all thrilled that my 1st baseball game would actually be one of the Major Baseball League and the best part of it: I didn't have to pay a cent AND got paid for being there!!!

The game was awesome! The Marlins made the 1st run, but then the Dodgers took over the lead and we couldn't reverse it and after 8 innings, the Dodgers were one run ahead of us, so the final inning was very exciting. However, in the final stretch, the Marlins were able to score two runs and we won the game! From a home-run to an "exploding bat" (the ball hits the bat in such an angle and speed that the bat will break, no wonder at ball speeds of 95mph)... I saw it all and it is to say that it's a great game to watch and not that hard to understand for a newbie like me.

We were able to sit wherever we wanted if there was no one sitting there and the actual work time was just 10 minutes, but we were paid for 5.5h. :) We were told a "Lucky Section" by a sales coordinator of the Marlins, it was announced on the big screen inside of the stadium and we handed out coupons in that section after the 3rd inning. Easy!


Heute war ich Teil der sogenannten "Fun Patrol" auf Arbeit. Dabei handelt es sich um eine Marketing Massnahme und wenn man in dieser Position arbeitet, macht man auf allen moeglichen Veranstaltung Werbung fuer unseren Arbeitgeber. Ich schrieb mich nie dafuer ein, aber da ich diese Woche nur fuer 4 Tage eingeplant war, ich aber gerne 5 Tage die Woche arbeite, fragte ich einen Kollegen ob ich dessen Schicht uebernehmen koennte und der sagte ja. Als ich ihn fragte, wusste ich nicht um welche Veranstaltung es sich handeln wuerde, mir ging es nur um die extra Schicht.

Wie sich dann herausstellte, durfte ich dem Baseballspiel Florida Marlins gegen L.A. Dodgers im Sun Life Stadium in Miami beiwohnen. Ich war noch nie auf einem Baseballspiel und so war ich super erfreut, dass mein 1. Baseballspiel eins der Major Baseball League (quasi 1. Bundesliga des Baseball) wurde und das Beste: Ich musste keinen Cent dafuer bezahlen sondern wurde dafuer bezahlt mir das anzuschauen!!! Das Spiel war super!!! Die Marlins gingen in Fuehrung, jedoch uebernahmen die Dodgers schnell die Fuehrung und wir konnten es bis zum 8. Inning (eine Spielrunde im Baseball) nicht wieder umkehren und so fuehrten die Dodgers bis dahin mit einem Run Vorsprung. Somit wurde das letzte, 9. Inning, super spannend. Die Dodgers waren zuerst das offensive Team, erzielten aber keinen weiteren Run. Das war unsere Chance! Und wir nutzten sie und konnten noch 2 Runs machen, bevor die Spielrunde zu Ende war und gewannen somit das Spiel!!! Vom Home-Run bis zum "explodierenden" Schlaeger (der Ball trifft dabei in solch einem Winkel und mit einer Geschwindigkeit auf den Schlaeger, so dass dieser zerbricht... kein Wunder bei Ballgeschwindigkeiten von knapp 160km/h), sah ich alles und ich muss sagen, dass Baseball ein tolles Spiel zum Anschauen ist und es auch nicht so schwer verstaendlich fuer einen Neuling wie mich ist.

Wir konnten uebrigens sitzen wo wir wollten, solange keiner diese Sitzplaetze gebucht hatte und die eigentliche Arbeitszeit betraf 10 Minuten. Wir wurden aber fuer 5.5h bezahlt! :) Ein Vertriebsmensch der Marlins teilte uns die "Lucky Section" mit, diese wurde gross auf einem Bildschirm bekannt gegeben und dort verteilten wir dann nach dem 3. Inning Coupons fuer meinen Arbeitgeber. Einfach!

The Marlin - Team Mascot

A player of the L.A. Dodgers
A player of the Florida Marlins
Me & my co-worker after we took our Fun Patrol shirts off, who happened to get my hair in his face... Stupid wind! ;)
9.Inning Offense for the Marlins at 4:3 for the Dodgers
Marlins WIN!!!!

Maternity.... WHAT!???

"Maternity Leave??? Paid??? How long??? Government-paid child benefit??? Parenting benefit??? Now why again did you move over here!?"

Yes, I know... it's been a while again... almost a month, to be exact, that I've been quiet, but as you can imagine things are different over in the USA and so I'm not sitting on the couch with my feet up, enjoying my last couple of weeks of pregnancy, but still working full-time and listening to the above questions almost daily.

Yes, in Germany, by law, as an employee you must be given maternity leave with 34 weeks, 6 weeks prior to your due date and you will be paid during this time off and also for another 8 weeks postpartum. Yes, after the child is born, the government will pay you a monthly child benefit up until the child finishes some form of education that will get him into a profession and yes, there's also the option to stay home longer and get paid a parenting benefit of I believe now 67% of your last salary (with minimums and maximums) for a maximum of 14 months after giving birth.

Here in the States that's all significantly different. First of, every state has it's own laws in regards to maternity leave and I guess with Florida, I chose to be in one of the States with the least "benefits" in this regard. Want a child? Have a child! But do it yourself!

So while in Germany, I would be relaxing right now, getting ready for Baby E, here I'm still on my feet working full time at 37 weeks and 1 day. My due date is 20 days away. With all the (physical) working, I don't know if I'll make it that far and I'd be quite happy for her to come out now as she is considered full term, but I sure know that I better not go overdue! Really, who wants to still be working past their due date??????? Since I haven't been with my employer for at least 12 months, I don't get any form of maternity leave. Not paid, not unpaid, not under "short-term disability" like my pregnant manager who's one week ahead of me, not under the FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act)... All I can take is up to 4 weeks of personal leave through my employee benefits. Sounds great, doesn't it!? Dropping my 4 week old baby off somewhere, so I can go back to work is not really something I want to think about, but that is the reality over here for my situation and I do understand why people ask me why I moved over here or why I didn't move back to Germany, where I would have had way better prospects. Well, one answer to the latter is: I have a Greencard. If my baby is born in Germany, my baby will not have a Greencard and things will be rather complicated to get her legal resident status for the USA. Plus, I would have to start over again. Indeed, I'll have to start over here again soon as well, but it's less of a new start than it would be in Germany. At least I have a car, some furniture, a job...

Although the news from the job and the last month make me want to move on once again: management is not really considerate. Past 34 weeks pregnancy (while I would already be off work in Germany), I had to work a 17 (!!!) hour shift and several 12+ hour shifts. Only this week it looks like I'll be able to "relax" a little more.

I also had another "nice" incident at work. While fellow greencard-winners bicycles in Miami were stolen, I was stolen from at work... by a coworker! I had helped out another coworker and for the first time in this business & the 1 3/4 years, put my server book out of my hand. It only took 2 minutes to realize I had left it at one of the computer stations in the back of the house (10 feet away from a manager expediting food), but when I came back, it was already gone... and with it $400.-, as of course Murphy's Law has always been my "friend" and on the one day, that I put my server book down, all but one table had paid in cash (usually everybody pays with credit cards) and a thief is around. Needless to say, pregnancy hormones took over and I was in quite a state and cried for an hour while management tried to find evidence and pinpoint suspects. At the end of the night, after sorting out all the paperwork with a manager for 1 1/2 hours, it was clear that $300.- of that money were my employers and I would have to pay that back over time. AWESOME!!!!!!!! Management "knows" you took it (and so does everybody else), but unfortunately the ultimate proof was missing, so that person is still working with me. Talking about uncomfortable... try working with someone that you believe stole from you, knowing your story of being pregnant and single and all... It's definitely not a great feeling!

Besides work, I really haven't done anything. Still lots of stuff to prepare for when Baby gets here, but unfortunately my days don't have 48 hours in them and I'm not having the energy to solely work on my "To-Do-List" on my days off.

I am however very excited now and can't wait for my baby to get here... one reason might also be that I'll finally get to stay home for a little longer than one day at a time... :)

Wish me luck with everything!!! :)

Deserted....

Where did the last month go???

I came back from Sweet Home Alabama on 19. September and since then it feels like I wasn't "here". I mean, I was here, as I was working and sleeping, but it seems like nothing else was accomplished. Weird!

Anyways, HELLO WORLD!!!

I still exist, I have not had my baby yet (7 weeks to go) and I'm still working full time with double shifts and all that stuff. I was very proud to have made my final payment to the birth center on 6.October! In my opinion it's quite an accomplishment to pay over $4.000.- all by myself in less than 5 months on top of all other bills, so that's why I'm proud :). I'm just glad that through the course of my live-in relationship and marriage in Germany I mastered in budgeting. I track every incoming and outgoing cent and although it is sometimes a pain and I'd love to just spend money without having to think so much about it, it definitely helps. I didn't have to budget during my first year over here in the States, but it's good to see that once you learned the "How to" you'll always be able to adjust.

Florida weather has turned beautiful once again. It's mainly sunny and warm now and not so hot. I don't really want to do a forecast for the winter, but two weeks ago it was already a lot cooler at night than last year, so we may have a similar one than '09/'10. Or maybe it's just me!!! I didn't want to believe my buddy Chris (the illegal German that got deported last year), when he told me I would run around in sweaters come fall and not go to the beach and swimming anymore, when I've been here 2-3 years, but he may be right. I was last swimming on 30. September and the water felt quite cold... it was definitely a lot, lot warmer than the Baltic Sea where I grew up though. Just another adjusting thing I guess....

Pregnancy wise all has been lovely. With all the working and running around I have to do, I guess God decided to spare me of a huge bump and just gave me a small one. Although I get jealous of big baby bumps from time to time, I'm quite content with the way it is, as I know if I'd be bigger, I wouldn't be able to work the way I work right now and would probably already have the receptionist position at the front desk at my work - which would cut my income in half.
However, it can get a little annoying as well, to be so "small". We have a new general manager taking over as the old one will be opening up the new store in Orlando. He's been with us for a month now and there's been a lot of times I waddled past him (in the beginning of the shift I usually don't waddle, it's more at the end) or rubbed my belly in front of him. Today I worked at a Barmitzvah and the GM was in charge. He came into the party area before the party started and asked me to please tug in my shirt. I was like ???????? and said "I'd love to Sir, but I'm wearing maternity pants (the once that cover the belly), so it's impossible." Then he looked at me like ?????? to which I responded "Well Sir, I'm 8 months pregnant!" He thought I must be crazy! My co-workers had to confirm that it is really so and that I'm only one week behind in pregnancy as one of my managers. Needless to say that manager has gained 50 lbs already and has a big-big baby bump to which compared I apparently must look just a little chubby.

The reaction of the GM amazed me though as I figured staff issues like "this" would be discussed at the manager meetings they're having 2-3 times a week and all the other managers know about it. I know these kind of "staff issues" were definitely discussed at the last company I worked at in Germany... Maybe it's due to the fact that I haven't asked for special treatment yet. A girl that just found out that she's 8 weeks pregnant already asked for a transfer in job positions which was granted from one day to the other, but I'm still working as usual, so it's not that obvious. I just hope they all remember that I do have a due date!!! As "party season" is approaching, we as waitstaff are not allowed to request time off between 1.November and 15.January, meaning they count on every head to be there and work, work, work. Well, one of these days it is out of the question that I will have to leave very, very quickly or won't come in at all. :) There better not be a manager that day that will be like ??????? ;)

Last but not least for tonight (gotta go to bed, early work tomorrow): Here's a bump picture I took Tuesday at 32 weeks and 3 days :) Where's the baby hiding!? :)

Workout, Work and Vacation...

After my biking accident and my boss always being worried that I'll be shot or run over when training outside, 1 1/2 weeks ago I decided to join a gym again. I'm now a member of Ballys Fitness with a month to month contract and I can use all 300 locations in the USA which is great as one is close to my apartment and another one close to my work. Being all thrilled about it, I started working out every day and very, very exciting for me: On Thursday shortly past 10 PM, after 10 hours at work, I RAN MY FIRST 5K indoors in my entire life!!!!!!! Although rowing for years, I never ran more than 3K and this was a challenge for me. With 34:32 minutes I didn't even do that bad for my first time and after finishing I almost screamed out of excitement, but I didn't want the other people in there to think I'm crazy... so I kept it to myself. :) I'm now getting ready for my first outdoor 5K! I can sooo do it!!!!

Nach meinem Fahrradunfall und meiner Chefin, die sich staendig sorgte, dass ich erschossen oder ueberfahren werde wenn ich draussen trainiere, habe ich mich vor 1 1/2 Wochen entschieden wieder ein Fitnessstudio zu besuchen. Ich bin nun Mitglied bei Ballys Fitness mit einem monatlichen Vertrag und ich kann alle 300 Studios in den USA besuchen, was ganz gut ist, weil eins dicht bei meinem Apartment ist und ein weiteres in der Naehe meiner Arbeit.

Absolut begeistert darueber, startete ich jeden Tag zu trainieren und ganz, ganz aufregend fuer mich: Am Donnerstag, kurz nach 22 Uhr, nach 10h auf Arbeit, lief ich meinen ERSTEN 5km LAUF in meinem gesamten Leben (wenn auch indoors)!!!!! Obwohl ich jahrelang ruderte, musste ich nie mehr als 3km rennen und so war das eine Herausforderung fuer mich. Mit 34:32 Minuten lief ich fuer meinen ersten 5km Lauf auch gar nicht sooo schlecht und am Schluss wollte ich am liebsten meine Freude herausschreien, aber ich behielts dann doch fuer mich. Immerhin sollten die anderen Leute ja nicht denken, dass ich voellig durchgeknallt bin. :) Nun bereite ich mich auf meinen ersten 5km im Freien vor! Und ich werde ihn ja sooo beschreiten!!! Jawohl!

Work: I'm still with Toss Up Salads and just had my 6 months anniversary there 2 weeks ago (now in the States for 7 months/ 1 week). My boss starts leaving us by ourselves now. Thursday was the first weekday that she did not come to work and she repeated that today and we are showing that we can swim by ourselves. We also changed to fall opening hours which means for me: I'm now off on Sundays!!! After 4 months of working 7 days a week, my 1st Sunday off yesterday was great! Went to the beach, shopping (bought a nice Ralph Lauren evening dress) and working out. :)

Arbeit: Ich arbeite immer noch bei Toss Up Salads und hatte vor 2 Wochen bereits mein 6monatiges Jubilaeum dort (in den Staaten nun seit 7Monaten/1Woche). Meine Chefin faengt nun an uns alleine zu lassen. Donnerstag war der erste Wochentag an dem sie nicht zur Arbeit kam und heute wiederholte sie das und wir zeigen, dass wir auch alleine schwimmen koennen. Ausserdem haben wir unsere Oeffnungszeiten fuer den Herbst geaendert. Fuer mich bedeutet es, dass ich nun Sonntags frei habe!!! Nach 4 Monaten jeden Tag arbeiten war mein 1. freier Sonntag gestern super! Ich war am Strand, shoppen (hab ein schoenes Ralph Lauren Abendkleid erstanden) und trainieren. :)


Vacation: Due to being closed on Sundays now, I'll be able to extend my Curacao vacation to 4 days. Wish me luck that it's possible without spending too much extra money. I'm still very excited about traveling over there!

I also don't have to worry about my week off for XMAS anymore! After checking a lot of destinations and not being able to decide, I don't have to anymore! Henry, a good friend from Germany, will visit me!!! Yay!!! We are going to have so much fun!

This is us two cuties last year at his sister's wedding!

Urlaub: Da wir ja nun Sonntags geschlossen haben, kann ich meinen Curacao Urlaub auf 4 Tage verlaengern (habe also komplett Thanksgiving frei). Drueckt mir die Daumen, dass es moeglich ist ohne zuviel extra Geld auszugeben. Ich bin immer noch sehr gespannt auf diese Reise!

Ausserdem muss ich mich nicht mehr um meine freie Weihnachtswoche sorgen. Nachdem ich mir viele Ziele anschaute und mich nicht entscheiden konnte, muss ich das auch nicht mehr! Henry, ein guter Freund aus Deutschland, kommt mich besuchen! JUHUUU! Wir werden viel Spass haben. Oben ein Foto von uns Huebschen auf der Hochzeit seiner Schwester letztes Jahr.


And last but not least.... I'm planning to move into my own place by 1st December!!!!!!!!

Und zum guten Schluss... Ich plane zum 1. Dezember in meine "eigenen" 4 Waende einzuziehen!!!!!!!!!

It's official!!! I'll have a vacation this year...

YES YES YES!!! After first saying we're going to be open all year long, my boss had a talk today with one of her wholesale distributors about the restaurant business in general and after that talk... tadaaaaa... she decided that from 24th of December to including 1st of January we are going to be CLOSED!!!!

That means I'll be off for one whole week!!! And everyone who knows me knows what that means: I'm going to be traveling!

I had plans of joining my parents on their vacation to Southern Egypt. Problem is: I'll be wasting two days inside of airplanes and since XMas is peak time over there, flights booked from a US website would currently be $3700,- roundtrip and reservations in the same hotel are not possible. So after letting my parents know last week that I won't be able to join them, basically back then due to us being opened for XMas, I'm now all free to decide where I want to go.

The decision is going to be tough!!!

Maybe New York, maybe Hawaii, maybe Dominican Republic, maybe Jamaica, maybe Mexico... who knows! Anyways, I'm already looking forward to it and am really thrilled that I get off in my first year of working in the USA!


YIPIEEEEH!!! Nachdem meine Chefin erst sagte, dass wir das ganze Jahr ueber geoeffnet sind, entschied sie sich heute nach einem Gespraech mit einer ihrer Grosshandelslieferanten ueber das Restaurant Business im Allgemeinen, anders! Tadaaaaa... Sie entschloss sich, dass wir vom 24.12. bis einschliesslich 01.01.2010 geschlossen sein werden!!!

Das heisst, das ich eine ganze Woche frei haben werde!!! Und wer mich kennt, weiss, was das bedeutet: Ich werde auf Reisen gehen!

Ich hatte Plaene meine Eltern in ihrem Urlaub nach Sued-Aegypten zu begleiten. Das Problem ist nur: Ich wuerde 2 Tage in Flugzeugen verschwenden und da Weihnachten dort Hauptsaison ist, sind Fluege ueber US Seiten momentan nur zum Preis von $3700,- buchbar und das selbe Hotel gar nicht mehr. Nachdem ich meine Eltern letzte Woche wissen liess, dass es nicht machbar sei, der Grund da noch, dass wir ja geoeffnet sein wuerden, bin ich nun ganz frei zu entscheiden wo es hingeht

Die Entscheidung wird hart!!!!

Vielleicht New York, vielleicht Hawaii, vielleicht Dominikanische Republik, vielleicht Jamaika, vielleicht Mexiko... wer weiss! Egal wohin es gehen wird, ich freue mich wahnsinnig darauf und besonders darueber, dass ich in meinem ersten Jahr in den USA bereits Urlaub haben werde!

Anniversary!

Today I'm celebrating my 3 months anniversary at Toss Up Salads, but somehow I forgot to bake a cake... haha... let's save it for the 1/2 year... or maybe 1 year anniversary! ;) Since we were closed on Mother's Day, my boss decided that we are going to close on Father's Day as well, which is coming up this Sunday. That means for me: First day off since the 26th of May AND Siesta Key, here I come! Markus, one of the Germans I met at the Greencard Winner meeting in Miami, really loved it there and after I've seen a report on TV that a beach at Siesta Key was named the 2nd most beautiful in the United States, I want to go there of course!!!

copyright of this picture is not mine

Siesta Key is located near Sarasota at the Gulf coast, so it's going to be quite a long drive for me, but hey, Frankfurt-Rostock used to be my racetrack, so I'm not bothered by the distance, it's just going to be the speed that will get on my nerves! No 143 miles/h in a nice Audi... :(

Talking about traveling, since it's going to be my first Independence Day on 4th July that I will finally spend IN the USA, instead of missing it by days as used to, I decided to attend the traditional BBQ at my American family's (former hostfamily 2002/2003) place in Northern Alabama! I'm so so sooooo excited to see my little ones Zevin, Hunter and Alexis, the three children of my American sister Nickole and all the others again. It's been almost 15 months since my last visit! Yay!!! It's going to be a short stay, but worth it! Flying out on the 3rd after work and flying back on the 5th. Go BAMAAAA!


Heute habe ich 3-Monatiges bei Toss Up Salads gefeiert und doch glatt vergessen einen Kuchen zu backen...haha... dann heben wir das eben fuer's 1/2 oder 1-Jaehrige auf! ;) Da wir am Muttertag geschlossen hatten, hat sich meine Chefin dazu entschieden auch am Vatertag, der diesen Sonntag ist, das Geschaeft ruhen zu lassen. Fuer mich bedeutet das: Einen Tag frei seit dem 26.Mai UND Siesta Key ich kommeeee! Markus, einer der Deutschen die ich auf dem Greencard Gewinner Treffen kennenlernte, war so begeistert von diesem Ort und nachdem ich einen Fernsehbericht sah, dass ein Strand dort zum 2.schoensten der USA gekuert wurde, will ich da natuerlich hin!!!

Siesta Key befindet sich an der Golfkueste neben Sarasota, d.h. es ist schon eine ziemlich weite Distanz fuer mich, aber hey, nachdem Frankfurt-Rostock meine Rennstrecke war, stoert mich das eher weniger. Nur die Geschwindigkeit wird mir auf die Nerven gehen! Keine 230km/h in einem schoenen Audi...

Wo wir schon vom Reisen sprechen: Da ich zum ersten Mal den Unabhaengigkeitstag am 4.Juli IN den USA verbringen werde und ich ihn nicht wie sonst um ein paar Tage verpasse, habe ich mich dazu entschieden, am traditionellen BBQ meiner amerikanischen Familie (ehemalige Gastfamilie 2002/2003) in Nord-Alabama teilzunehmen! Ich freue mich schon soooo, endlich wieder meine Kleinen, Zevin, Hunter und Alexis, die drei Kinder meiner amerikanischen Schwester und auch alle anderen wiederzusehen. Es sind mittlerweile 15 Monate seit meinem letzten Besuch vergangen! Juhu!! Es wird nur ein Kurztrip aber das ist es wert! Am 3. fliege ich nach der Arbeit los und am 5. schon wieder zurueck. Go BAMAAAA!

This just made me cry...

...out of happiness!

After managing the store solely on my own for the first time on Saturday and Sunday and handling the unusual rush for a Sunday with a lot of drive and the result of not a single mistake and managing the PM shift today as well, I came back home and this is what awaited me online:

Teri is thinking of how lucky she is, to have Jenny in her life... She's the bomb!!

Another statement of my boss on Facebook. I feel like I'm in heaven!!!

Yes, I have been complimented for my efforts and good work in other jobs before, but especially after my last job in Germany at the hard discount store with the 4 letters and not hearing any nice words from my bosses, it feels soooooo good!

And again I'm thrilled that I took the step of moving over here. Right now the winners of the latest Greencard-Lottery drawing are being notified. As they post their thoughts on the web forum of TAD, some remind me of myself in May/June 2006 after Michael's notification , others, full of doubt, of myself in early 2008, where my dream started falling apart and where I thought I would never be able to take this chance.

Well, here I am, grabbing life by it's horns and being happy! It's been almost 4 months now, that I moved over here with the following results: I'm tanned ;) and my savings are almost back at the point they were at when I left Germany. I'm thankful that in a tough economic time I'm being successful. I surely don't know if it will stay that way, but I, like always, enjoy every moment! Yes, I do miss my family. Yes, I do miss my friends, but No, I don't miss Germany. My country is the USA!

And as you can see, I'm finally back on the internet. I have my own cable internet with Comcast now. Since I couldn't fit their timeslots for installation into my working schedule, Javier offered to stay home yesterday afternoon and wait for the guy to hook up the internet! Yay! First thing this morning was to call my mum "PC to landline" and in the next couple of days I'm finally going to call my German friends. It still is a difference if you send out and receive mails or if you hear a human voice on the other end of the line. I'm excited and wonder how people survived 50 years ago without our generations technologies....


Ja, ich musste gerade eine Traene verdruecken... aus Freude!

Nachdem ich Samstag und Sonntag das Restaurant zum ersten Mal vollstaendig alleine gemanaget und einen fuer Sonntag unueblichen Andrang mit viel Energie und ohne einen einzigen Fehler bewaeltigt und auch heute die Spaetschicht geleitet habe, erwartete mich gerade folgende Nachricht online als ich nach Hause kam:

Teri denkt wieviel Glueck sie doch hat, Jenny in ihrem Leben zu haben... Sie ist die Bombe!!!

Ein weiteres Statement meiner Chefin auf Facebook. Ich fuehle mich gerade wie im Himmel!!!

Es ist ja nicht so, als waere ich niemals in meinen Jobs fuer meinen Fleiss und meine Arbeit gelobt worden, aber gerade nach meinem letzten Job in Deutschland bei dem Discounter mit den 4 Buchstaben und nicht einem netten Wort meiner Vorgesetzten, tut das seeeeehr gut!

Erneut bin ich begeistert, dass ich den Schritt dieses Umzugs hierher gewagt habe. Momentan werden die Gewinner der diesjaehrigen Greencard Lotterie benachrichtigt. Waehrend sie ihre Gedanken im Gewinnerforum von TAD posten, erinnern mich Einige an mich selbst, wie ich die Zeit im Mai/Juni 2006 nach Michael's Benachrichtigung empfand. Andere, mit Zweifeln erfuellt, erinnern mich an meine Situation Anfang 2008, als mein Traum allmaehlich zerfiel und als ich dachte, es wuerde fuer mich nie moeglich sein, diesen Schritt zu gehen.

Nun, hier bin ich - mein Leben am Kragen packend und gluecklich! Es ist nun fast 4 Monate her, seit ich umgezogen/ausgewandert bin und die Resultate sind wie folgend: Ich bin sonnengebraeunt und meine Ersparnisse sind fast schon wieder auf dem Stand, auf dem sie waren, als ich Deutschland verlassen habe. Ich bin dankbar, dass ich in dieser schwierigen wirtschaftlichen Lage erfolgreich bin. Klar weiss ich nicht, ob diese Situation fuer mich anhaelt, aber wie immer, geniesse ich jeden Moment! Ja, ich vermisse meine Familie. Ja, ich vermisse meine Freunde, aber Nein, ich vermisse Deutschland nicht. Mein Land sind die USA!

Wie ihr seht, bin ich nun auch endlich zurueck im Internet. Ich habe nun mein eigenes mit Comcast. Nachdem ich deren Zeitrahmen nicht mit meinem Arbeitsplan vereinbaren konnte, erklaerte sich Javier gestern bereit, den Nachmittag zu Hause zu bleiben und auf den Typen zu waren, der die Internetverbindung erstellen wuerde. Juhu! Das erste was ich heute frueh machte, war meine Mutti ueber den Computer im deutschen Festnetz anzurufen und in den naechsten Tagen werde ich endlich auch meine Freunde anrufen. Es ist eben doch ein grosser Unterschied, ob man Mails hin und herschickt oder eine Stimme am anderen Ende der Leitung hoert. Ich freue mich schon und frage mich, wie Leute vor 50 Jahren ohne die Technologien unserer Generation ueberlebt haben.....