New Found Confidence

Last Thursday I had to sit in my company car in zero degree (Celsius) weather waiting for the ADAC (Germany's AAA) to come and two me back to Aachen.

I was in the boondocks when my company car died. The clutch (I had noted a problem and told my bosses something needed to be fixed...the problem instead was ignored) died and I wasn't able to move the car a foot. On the phone with my boss he told me I would be financially compensated for the time spent waiting for the ADAC to come tow me. Good.

2.5 hours after my class ended I got home. And all was taken care of. Monday was payday and I was expecting to see some sort of financial bonus in my paycheck....I however, was disappointed. Today I approached my boss about the subject...for the first time discussing financial discrepancies. Now...there are many (we aren't paid anywhere near enough compared to industry standards and our vacation time is also not legally computed) problems when it comes to finances with my firm but normally I don't raise them as long as I get what I expected for that month. I am quite proud of myself for the way I handled the situation. He offered me a number and I told him that it needed to be higher....and he agreed.

I'm proud to see myself standing up for my rights and what I deserve. This is a welcomed changed.

Three Countries, One Day

I often think fondly of my blog and the desire and need to update it on a more regular basis. I've let this slip recently and I personally feel as though that is not acceptable. I'm going to make a more conscious effort to update it more regularly.

The past week was fine. The Russian woman who is the bane of my existence at inlingua has finished her lessons this past week. Thank the Lord. I mean, honestly, there is only so much I can take. But now its over. I lied, this week has been really great actually, I've grown much closer to a few of my colleagues and I've been able to go out and do things.

The weather has turned to sheisse. Rains everyday, most of the day this slight, mist type of constant sprinkle. Windy yesterday and this morning.Still hunting for a trench coat. Monday morning I'll be teaching a class at a firm which requires giving me one of the school's vehicles. Do you know what that means when you get it on a Saturday through Monday?

Joy riding. And by Joy Riding, I mean going to Holland.



After class this morning (Saturday) Faye, and my colleague Ace and I packed ourselves up and headed to The Netherlands. That's right. Just like that I got in the car and drove off to the Dutch city of Maastricht. Only about 35 minutes away by car it was a very nice visit. Would have been better if you could see the city without the gray and rain but we had a great time none the less. On our way back we HAPPENED upon Belgium.



We decided that we should eventually turn the car around and go back home.



Whoops.The good news is, I can now mark off my list of things to do "accidentally drive into a foreign country." It was a great day and I had an excellent time.
Tomorrow I've got a lot of lesson planning to do but not before I go to the local "Thermen" or Sauna/Spa water for a couple hours of relaxing, etc. Its much deserved. I'm going to miss Thanksgiving this year, which makes me sad too.