The bright lights of...

The previous entry finished saying that it's not the first time I lose my job. In 2008 they started making some people redundant in the company where I was working in Oxford and in 2009 I preferred to volunteer for redundancy, get some more cash in my pocket, pick up a map of England and see where I was feeling like going. I ended up heading to the bright lights of Manchester... And what made you think this time was going to be different? I got a map of Germany and I can already confirm that I will leave Frankfurt at the end of September.

I must admit that I had no intention to leave this town so early. I thought my job was going to last until the end of the year and the plan was to start studying German in January until September (this is at the moment my deadline to reach a reasonable level), so the 9 months would not be worth the move and the trouble. But now that I see I will have more time than I initially expected and also keeping in mind that Frankfurt is not exactly a cheap city (flat, supermarkets, language schools), I thought about checking my options to move to another place for the next 12 months. I've been incredibly happy here and I may come back one day... but it is time now to open a new path.

Soon the options have gone down to 3: Cologne, Berlin and Leipzig, cities where I have already been and with their pros and cons. The best is that in all three I could already count on a place where to live from the first day, something that has made things so much easier; unbelievable how well a network of great friends and acquaintances works and how they all responded after I just asked a bit around! And these weren't the only places I was offered!! The good thing of Cologne is the short distance to Frankfurt and that it reminds me a lot -in my own way- to my beloved Manchester, all the pros of the first are those of the latter. There are just a few bad things: it's not as cheap as the other two and I know some people but I don't have many friends there. About Berlin, I don't really think I need to tell you the things I like... I fell in love with the city the first time I visited in the cold February of 2003 and I've been back as often as possible since I live here. In addition, I've got a good bunch of friends, some that I know from the time in Oxford, some that I know from Frankfurt and some that I've met there over the last years; I am definitely not going to be alone... The bad thing of Berlin is the many distractions that it has to offer me: parties, concerts, bars, exhibitions, museums, clubs, basketball, cultural activities, etc. Although a friend of mine has told me: "No, sorry, that's not the bad thing of Berlin, that's the bad thing of you", and he is right! That's something I have to try to avoid as I can't afford another year doing what I've done so far, but I have to focus and invest time and money in learning German, focus on that. Another con is the distance to Frankfurt and the friends I will leave here, they are many. And regarding Leipzig, it's definitely the cheapest and also the one that would force me the most to speak German because it is not as international as the others and fewer people speak English (in general, in the former East Germany, people speak less English because they used to learn Russian at school). It is the smallest and most unknown of the three, with less distractions although I got a very good impression when I visited last summer and I'm sure I would live happily there. However, I don't know anyone from Leipzig except for a colleague who will still stay in Frankfurt. It's also quite far away, almost like Berlin.

So, after thinking a lot about it, I've decided that my best bet is to head this time towards the bright lights of the capital of the country: Berlin. Those lights, by the way, are still different in the East and West because they keep using the gas lamps on the western side; electricity on the eastern side. From October 1st I will live there for 12 months, learning more about that historic as well as modern city which I am passionate about and studying German. Sometimes one can't change things but one can change the way of taking them. So, you can like the life you live or you can live the life you like.