Hallo from Deutschland. 2012 will be a difficult year and I will determine whether I will still be in Germany in 2013.
1. Improve my German
Despite having a girlfriend who speaks to me in German, I still reply in English 90% of the time. My German listening and reading skills are okay, but my speaking skills are not where they should be after having lived here for three years.
Going to take German lessons for 1-2 months to kick-start my improvement. I also plan on doing some volunteer work with the elderly, where I have to speak German, but fluency is not required.
I am not sure if I will ever speak German with the girlfriend because I feel more like myself when I speak English. Maybe my personality will start to show more in German as I become fluent, but I am not sure. Either way, my German in social situations has to improve because I am sick of being silent and awkward.
2. Find a new job
I quit the job at my current workplace that was making me unhappy and am now working very minimal hours in the remaining job. It’s complicated. Ruby, you know this!
After my German course, I plan on finding a job in a café or something. Something that pays the bills and is a bit social. Like apartments, jobs in Berlin are scarce and even a good café job will be difficult to find.
I am not sure if 2012 is the year for finding or starting a “career”. I still believe that I can only do that in Australia, even if I am still not sure what I would do there.
3. Be happy in my relationship or get out of it
I am hoping that therapy will make or break us. I really want to make it but I know that there is a higher chance of us breaking. Unfortunately, I am one of those serial monogamists who can’t seem to break up without having someone else to run to. If I don’t have someone in the waiting then I will have to endure the sort of difficult break up that Ruby recently wrote about. I really don’t want to go through that.
4. Make my apartment a home
I have been here since October and whilst it feels so good to live alone, it doesn’t feel like home just yet because it is still kind of empty. I haven’t done much with the place yet because I don’t know what my style is and am unable to make purchase decisions. And I guess I am not sure how long I will stay in Berlin and how much I am willing to invest in furnishing and decorating my place. I guess I just have to spend the money t make the place cozy and my own.
5. Make new friends
Last year I made one terrific new friend but lost two, so I am down one, WTF. I plan on making new friends through dating sites, a new workplace and possibly joining a writing group. I would be happy with two new friends and ecstatic with five.
6. Start writing again
I have the time to write one hour a day. I would really like to try to write a film script.
7. Read more, internet less
I don’t know what it is about this place, but I can’t seem to concentrate enough in order to read a book. I do most of my reading when I am holidaying in Australia. I miss reading and learning new words and my English has suffered; I have forgotten what many words mean and now speak very limited, basic English.
8. Use my grind guard on my teeth every night
I really need to start taking better care of my teeth.
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