About a year ago I wrote about how difficult it is to find
real work in Berlin. Since then nothing
has changed. We have worked a few more weeks
at the research centre. I’ve done a
small amount of editing and proof reading.
A couple of times a month I meet up with a German teacher of English to
help iron out any grammatical problems she has encountered. But we still need something more substantial
and permanent.
The TEFL course I completed last year has not really led me
anywhere. I have considered taking the internationally recognised Cambridge
CELTA certificate which is more likely to result in work but at a cost of 1500
Euros it could turn out to be an expensive and fruitless venture.
So with all of this in mind, we decided to face up to the
fact that proper jobs are not likely to come our way between now and
March. We plotted an ‘exit strategy’ to
minimise the trauma of having to leave. We
located a potential place to live and booked one-way flights to Birmingham (although
this was mainly because the earlier they are booked the cheaper they are - it
wouldn’t make sense to wait until March when they would be hundreds of pounds).
We started to think about where we might
work and what we could do, developing both short-term and long-term plans.
Then, a few weeks ago, amid all of this rationalising, something happened which planted a seed in my mind and led me to consider the possibility of sharpening my elbows and embarking on a business venture. It’s in a line of work for which I’m qualified
and which could, if successful, benefit others in my position. At the moment it’s very much only the glimmer
of an idea and I haven’t properly got my head around it yet which is why I’m
not saying too much about it. It’s also
something that I could conduct from any base which means that a spell back in
England wouldn’t necessarily be an obstacle (although there is one side to it
that is very much Berlin-centred). It
will take time to establish. I don’t
have anything set up at all yet – no bank account, website or even company name. Having to take care of all of that is very daunting but if I can get something in place at least by the spring, I
will have some idea of how workable it is.
I don’t have Richard Branson type aspirations – I’m no entrepreneur –
but it’s something that I’m feeling quite excited about. I spent the weekend researching practicalities
and calculating costs. At one point we actually discussed
taking out a mortgage on our house in order to finance it. It may or may not come to that but it’s
something that I feel I must try, and I'm finding the
prospect of returning to Cameron’s Britain quite a motivating factor!
