It is April 2020 - almost two years after I wrote the last blog post for Tuning In. In this very moment, I am sitting on the balcony of my flat in Konstanz, a small, picturesque city in the south of Germany. How did I get here? Well, that is kind of a long story. Many thoughts, memories and emotions are coming up when I think about the past two years. Where should I start? Maybe I begin with the end - the time when I had to say good-bye to Wellington.
The hard facts
The time had come faster than I expected. My visa was going to expire and my two teaching contracts finished with the end of the term. In order to be able to stay in the country, I had to find a full-time job and an employer that sponsored my visa. I loved teaching Music/Culture/Media Studies to university students and I wanted to keep doing that. So I applied at universities all over the country. From Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington to Christchurch and Dunedin. There aren’t many suitable positions in this field and huge, international competition. In short, I didn’t manage to get a job before my visa expired.
A few days later I sat on a stage in what was one of my favourite creative-, private-public-musical hubs of Wellington - the Moorings. I was opening for The Southerlies - a very talented acoustic duo. Seeing my friends in the audience I wasn’t feeling nervous, shy or sad but was incredibly grateful and full of love.
What would happen now? Where would I go? What would I do? That was a tough challenge. It took several months, various changes of place, flats and jobs until I arrived where I am now - on a little balcony in Konstanz, with a job that I love and some beautiful new friendships growing slowly but steadily.