Upon waking Friday morning, I groggily checked my phone when got a double whammy of awesome: Mubarak stepped down in Egypt, and I got accepted to my study abroad program! Whee!
As a cup of coffee brewed in my new French press (thanks, Dad) and the dulcet sounds of Meet the Press’s David Gregory’s jubilant ululations over the Egyptian revolution, I had a little revelation: a whole year in Munich. I would be trading sun and surf for snow and schnitzel, CMC parties for discotheques, Kanye and Katy for David Hasselhoff. Oh my goodness.
…you probably think I’m leading up to a “What have I gotten myself into?” realization, right? Well, you’re wrong. I love the Hoff, and I’m PUMPED to leave—I mean, I’ll miss C-mont like all get out, but I believe that while change is good, radical change is where it’s really at. What I actually realized is that I am going to be poor.
Talking about money is tacky, and it’s hard to do without seeming like a creep, but it’s a pressing issue. I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t been praying for the Euro not to collapse in the next eight months. If it did, the German money (pretty much the only European country doing well in the recession) would have a crazy exchange rate with the weak dollar and I would be poor, poor, poor. The Euro’s bad enough.
My parents are awesome enough to be covering my travel to and from Munich, but I plan on doing a lot of little trips as well. Visiting friends in Stockholm, London, Paris, Italy, and Ireland will be expensive. Soccer games are going to be a necessary expense: I am not leaving without a picture with the Bayern team. Oktoberfest. Oh, and then I need to eat and clothe myself and get around the city.
Julia broke. Julia need paid internship. Julia need plain old work opportunity.
Might this screw up my resume? Might I be throwing away chances to work an unpaid internship with someone who may be a great connection later? Probably, but let’s be serious here: I gotta eat. Eating comes before resume-building. And, I’ll admit it to myself, so do soccer games (yes, yes, I’m a terrible person but I would actually sell my soul to see a Bayern Munich/Borussia Dortmund game at the Allianz Arena). So what should I do? What do you all think?