Honestly, being only a little bit late with my update is going to be counted as a win in my books. A lot’s happened this last week, and a lot’s coming up next week. Let’s get into it!

Doctors Appointment

So, you may or may not have seen my post in the summer about prescriptions and my preparation for dealing with them in Germany. To sum, Germany is one of the most strict countries in the world when it comes to prescriptions which means that everyone must have a German doctors prescription in order to get them here.

After a phone call to my insurance company, TK, they secured me a doctors appointment. I had already heard that doctors appointment where a bit jarring for Americans and boy were they right! Aside from the whole ordeal taking almost two hours, the level of professionalism by everyone was much lower (or perhaps simply different) from the US.

At home, the appointment would have taken 15 minutes if everything went smoothly and 30 minutes maximum if you had to fill paperwork out or if the office was a bit behind. I know that I wouldn’t have had to have an exam if I went to a doctor in the US because I just had one, but in Germany, insurance requires one every 6 months in order to still cover the costs of birth control.

The appointment went well but it seems my doctors at home never told me about some new side affects that my current pills becoming notorious for. She gave me some samples of my medications that she had in the office for free because she refuses to give them to her patients and has no other use for them. So, plus side, I got free pills, downside, I might have to switch when they run out.

Thanksgiving

It’s notoriously difficult for Americans to celebrate Thanksgiving in Germany. Unless you plan to go all out, order in a Turkey, and hand make absolutely everything, it’s really not worth it. Compound this with the fact that it’s only one person eating all that food and it makes absolutely no sense.

I ended up spending Thanksgiving working on a groups project at school and hanging out with friends. My close friend, Elisa, and I had Indian food for dinner. We were joking that Columbus was actually trying to find India when he discovered America so perhaps it’s a bit more fitting to have Indian food on Thanksgiving that the traditional German substitute of Turkish food (you know cause eating turkey and having food from Turkey is basically the same thing, right?).

Yay! Employment

So the week before last I had applied for a student assistant position with the Masters program directors at the Frankfurt School. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the position (shoutout to Sam who did!) but I apparently did so well in the interview that I was recommended for another position. I interviewed again for this new position and got it! Woohoo!

Starting mid-January, I will be a student assistant in the Marketing department of the Frankfurt School. I will be doing a lot of video editing and filming for the schools YouTube channel as well as a bit of website management for the schools page. While the position isn’t overly relevant to my studies, I think it will be enormously beneficial.

First, it’s a student position which means I will have a lot of flexibility with my hours. Second, it’s a skill that is very useful for entrepreneurial purposes (especially since my wildest dream would be to become a travel blogger). Third, I have always strived to be a well-rounded human being with a bit of knowledge in every subject imaginable. As I get more and more specific in my studies, this goal get harder and harder to implement in my day to day life. Finally, I think that it will be a pretty laid-back, relaxing and creative job. I’ve done rudimentary video editing before and I find the task relaxing so it will be nice to take a true break from school with a job I enjoy and that doesn’t add to the stress of my program.

Those were the highlights from week eleven! I cannot believe how quickly this semester has gone by. Lots of classes have wrapped up and all the others are beginning their exam prep. Lots to do and a lot to plan for the winter break but I’m thoroughly enjoying all of it.