After countless emails, Skype calls, headaches, stomach aches, marital strategy sessions, and sleepless nights, Brian has accepted a job with the Freie Schule Anne Sophie in Berlin. Our house is a stew of emotions right now as each member of the family contemplates our second move from Bozeman to Berlin. Sam is very excited to see his friend Fintan, Avery exhibits wild swings between distress and enthusiasm, and Olivia is rather melancholy about leaving her friends. It will take me a while to unravel my own mix of emotions so I’ll have to return to that topic at a later time.
This move to Berlin will be different in many ways from our move in 2010. Berlin is already a second home for us, we have a few favorite neighborhoods where we would like to live, we are all reasonably good German speakers, and Brian will be working for a small private German bilingual school rather than a large public international school. I plan to continue poking into the many corners of Jewish life in Berlin, but also hope to settle in a bit more as a city resident this time. But the most important difference from the last move is that this time we’re not sure when we will return to the States.
Here’s a crazy diagram from www.upworthy.com that shows one of the many reasons we want to return to Berlin. Teachers in Germany make significantly more money and work fewer hours than teachers in the U.S.! Brian’s job offer reflects this difference and ensures that our family will enjoy a good standard of living.
Now if we could only get Sam’s German citizenship approved (after nearly two years since our application was filed!), we could also ensure that all five members of the family will have the same legal status when we return.
