Off to Germany

Okay, I have teased you long enough. I will now tell you about my newest adventure to come. I am going to Germany you'all! That's right, I am off to good old Germanville for three months for work and I am beyond excited. Here is how it all played out.

This is from my new German blog: I found out about the employee exchange program via a friend of mine at work. It is basically two countries trading employees for 3 months (the max time company insurance will protect a person while out of the country). The countries on our exchange program include Canada, France, Germany and now Hong Kong. I never really looked into it as I am not in love with my job and want a transition. In any case, after chatting with my friend Anita about it, I decided to give it a try. I never really thought I would be selected as I work in sales and marketing and this program is usually reserved for operational employees. I still applied thinking, what can it hurt? If they said no, they said no. Nothing to really lose.

So, after applying and waiting (and not being very optomistic I have to admit) I was told I was approved! I was in a state of shock to say the least. At first I was advised that I would be heading to France or the Netherlands. Both were fantastic with me. However, about a month after I received the green light, it was confirmed that I would be stationed in Germany. Horrah!

I am not leaving the country until Q2, most likely April 2009 but I wanted to set up a blog that my collegues could read that was not blocked. Unfortunately, blogger.com is blocked for a lot of people at work so I had to go with another site. In my Germany blog, my goal is to write every night on my experience and update my weekends travels on Mondays. And, yeah, I have six months to go but damn....I am excited.

If you have read about my Europe trip cancellation, then you knew how heartbroken I truly was. I was really upset and unimpressed for a while but this stint in Germany has changed everything. I got all my money back from my trip (flight, tour and insurance) and it was a pretty big chunk of change. I am going to use this money when I head to Europe instead. I have grand plans of touring all over Germany and as many countries in Europe I can squeeze in. So far, one of sisters is coming down to visit me during my stay and I think that is when I will see most of Europe. I am still working on where to visit with the varying modes of transportation available. The research is actually not very fun. lol.

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So, that is my story. I now believe that the Lord wants me to fulfill my passion of world travel by giving me this wonderful experience (on the cheap). I will be in Germany on the company dime. The host country provides an apartment/flat, return flight to Germany, transportation to work (if not walking distance from my temp. home), and a spending allowance. In the meantime, I still get my regular pay and benefits. The only thing I am not too happy about is the internet service. Apparently in Germany, the internet system is not structured like Canada or the US where you can buy service for the short term. It is weird and very different so it is not provided. I was truly bummed so the H.R. manager is arranging for me to get the company phone for the 3 months, a laptop and they are still seeing what they can do about the internet for me. I really want to have access at home so I can do my stuff without the "man" watching me. I might have to book it to an internet cafe though if things don't go my way. We will see how I can work on that. I will update further.

So, I am very excited about this wonderful opportunity. I have over 5 months left before leaving (I think as I have not received my flight date as of yet) but I am still working on things in the interim. You can read all about my adventures pre, during and post Germany at my Deutschland blog here. In the meantime, I am moving in November, still working my two jobs and getting on with life. Right now, my plate feels very full but still under control.