"Thirsty for Lemonade." Somewhere in Baden Württemberg, Germany

It did not work out as I had expected, though I suppose that is no news to those of you who have experienced reality for longer than I have. The city somehow mixed up my paperwork and fell through on some responsibilities, so when I went to pick up my work permit, I discovered that it had not even been started. Following the shock of that little announcement came a swift pause to my position and I was immediately placed on unpaid leave pending my documentation process. After nearly three weeks of being in the Trading department for TUI in an orientation mode, I anxiously awaited an assignment and stalked my colleagues to observe their work in the meantime. Why the three weeks? It seems that Trading didn’t quite have a specific task arranged for my three month placement in their department, but that’s simply part one of the story. Part two? TUI Germany was shaken up on the 1^st of October, the beginning of the new fiscal year, by the announcement of a major corporate restructuring. One of the departments hit the heaviest was that in which I was placed, as the company decided to combine the elements of Product Management and Trading so as to be supervised by one joint manager.

Colleagues from TUI Germany fill the
foyer for the corporate announcement

As my mother and a few mentors of mine have so auspiciously stated during this conundrum, “everything happens for a reason.” I suppose the fact that I haven’t actually been able to work yet helps the fact that I wasn’t allowed to work this whole time, despite the fact that we didn’t know it. I suppose the fact that I am simply an International Management Graduate “trainee” helps the fact that my position is unaffected, despite everything else being affected around me. I suppose the fact that I have money in savings but no vacation time until Christmas was actually not the obstacle that I presumed, since now I have both money and time on my hands.

Keeping positive and making
the best of the situation!

Therefore, I left. No, I didn’t break the temporary government request to remain in the borders of Germany while my paperwork processes, but rather I jumped on one of those fancy speed trains and am wandering into southern Germany. Let’s call this a surprise leave, rather than an unpaid leave. It gives me a chance to regain my motivation and spirit after the three weeks of uncertainty and overwhelming German language immersion. It allows me to view the montage of fall colors as they fly past my train window, to taste the traditions of the south at their annual festivals, and to visit with one of my dearest friends who lives near Stuttgart. I plan on making the most of this situation, of making a whole lot of lemonade out of this pile of lemons that have been tossed my way recently. I hope you’re thirsty, Germany. 

Step One: Speed Bumps

Getting to France is truly more complicated than I first thought, though I suppose it is part of the whole experience to have to deal with international red tape and administration. To put it simply and without a lot of the drama that I experienced, I had an appointment and flights to LA (in order to visit the French Consulate to obtain my Long Stay Visa) before Campus France had finished processing my Campus France stuff. Thus, I was on the phone with the French Consulate for two weeks trying to get it fixed and expedited so that I could go to LA and apply for my Visa. As it turned out, it worked out at the very last second as in I ran from the plane in LA to the international terminal, rented the internet, printed the confirmation receipts and then took a $60 taxi to the consulate. I was almost an hour late for my appointment but they let me in and everything went a little more smoothly from there, thank God. Lesson learned? Give the international offices as much time as possible and you won’t have quite as many problems. When the problems come, as they will, don’t be afraid to ask for help and make a few phone calls. Above all, reassure yourself that if you can make if through the trouble, the trip will become so much more meaningful; a reward, if you will.