On the Move

As I wrote in the last entry, things are changing fast for us.
For one, we've finally found an apartment which suits us, and plan to move in on May 15th. I say "finally" because we've been looking for several months. It's not that our expectations were so high, it's just that the Balingen rental and real estate market is so hot that most of the good properties and units are gone before they even get on the open market. It's one of those things where you have to be well-connected to hear about who's going to be selling or moving out soon, and then swoop in before they get a chance to put an ad in the paper. Elena was fortunate enough to have a colleague who is planning to move out of an apartment which she owns, and it happens to be in a very good location for us: within walking distance of Elena's work (and the church), and very close to the highway. We'll do another post when we move in to show you around our new digs.
Another big change concerns my work. The story goes like this: About a month ago I began to develop rashes on my hands. I assumed it had to do with the unusually cold weather we were experiencing, but thought it odd that I had never had anything like that during a Canadian winter. Then it began to get worse even as the weather was getting better, spreading up my arms almost to my shoulders. At that point Elena booked me a doctor's appointment. Our doctor took one look at it and asked if I wear a watch. I don't, but he said he asked because it looks exactly like a nickel allergy. I told him I work with nickel-containing parts every day. He looked at me with a half-smile, nodding his head as the career implications sunk in. My only formal training and experience is in trades dealing with metals. He delicately explained that it would be quite difficult for me to continue in my current position without taking measures to ensure that my skin does not come into contact with nickel - a component in almost all steels, and especially metal coatings. Wearing gloves and long sleeves all day along with other precautions would be necessary, but I would not be a very effective or happy worker.
Around the same time I found a job posting for a sales rep at a commercial refrigeration applicance company very close to Balingen. I have never done anything of that sort, but I had two things going for me: they wanted someone with a technical trade or experience to be able to deal with technical issues and questions, and they wanted someone fluent in spoken and written English because the position concerns product dealers outside of Germany. Check and check. Although they were also hoping for someone with sales experience, I decided to take a shot at it anyway. I sent a resume hoping that the job wasn't taken yet and Elena and I prayed about it because we didn't see much else for me in the way of career options. Amazingly, I got the job. I may do a post about that experience, it's quite miraculous. I gave my two-weeks notice, and yesterday was my last day working in Gosheim after nearly four months. I left on good terms and was even told they would try to find another job for me in the company if my new job didn't work out.
I took today off to do some errands and relax a bit, because my first day of work with the new company is actually tomorrow: I'm flying to an exhibition in Hamburg with my new boss! We're scheduled to leave tomorrow morning and come back Monday evening. They said my only job at the exhibition is to be curious. I can do that. Get to know my new colleagues and even check out the competition. I've never been to Hamburg, but I'm told it's a beautiful city. I don't know how much I will see of the city, but I'll let you know how things went.
One other thing that's (sort of) new is that we plan to be in Canada for the first few weeks in April! The flights were booked about a month ago and we haven't kept it a secret, but it came to my attention that not everyone has heard about this through the grapevine. So I thought I would mention it here. We need to do our Canadian taxes for last year and pack up a container of what's left to ship here. It also works out that the Easter holidays mean we'll get to spend a bit more time with family.
So, we hope to see a lot of you in a few weeks! But before that I'll try to let you know how my new job is working out.