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i am unemployed bum

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alison87

TRIBE Member
I have become a very bitter and angry person at my current job, which i hate because i always used to be unicorns and 303s. The rage exploded Wednesday night in a violently drunken rant at a downtown bar. Fortunately i've become more regular there than Jeffsus on Metamucil and the patrons just looked bemused, so i switched to tequila to indicate the seriousness of the situation. I gave notice Thursday. One more month and i'm a free bird. Berlin calling. Prepare for several months of party reviews in towns you don't care about, and a pitiful post sometime in 2014 when i've exhausted my savings and am begging for scraps anywhere that has free wi-fi, because a software developer with a resume gap is just one hangover away from deciding to disappear into the Himalayas searching for Shangri-La.

Meanwhile, here's something to keep the rest of you depressed.

 
greginhali

greginhali

TRIBE Member
good on ya girl. Travel is the cure all. Get lost and you will be found. Looking forward to party post from far off lands.
 
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alison87

TRIBE Member
Don't worry, i'll retain my snarky yet lovable online persona. Tribe is the inescapable final comedown of a sub-culture built around serotonin-sucking, dopamine-destroying designer drugs - all those happiness and rainbows kids matured into self-righteous do-gooders or cranky old fucks. Online, i get the chance to annoy the latter, while secretly blowing kisses and making candy in real life.
 
Dirty Girl

Dirty Girl

TRIBE Member
get a 2 bedroom so I can come stay in berlin with you when I too am unemployed! Do you really have to wait month to finish work? thats a lot of notice.
 
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ravinjunkie

ravinjunkie

TRIBE Member
The sweet thing about Berlin is that living costs are so much cheaper than here. Nice start up scene there too.
 
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alison87

TRIBE Member
I'm actually surprised it was so little, in Australia 2 months was the norm at my level (10+ years experience), although usually a company would let you go after a few weeks if you wanted. If i'd known the standard was 2 weeks here i wouldn't've signed my contract with the month on it! 2 weeks is barely enough time to hire your replacement, much less train them up, but knowing my current company i doubt there'll be a quick hire anyway.

Startup scene looks exciting as hell in Berlin, it seems to be where all the new development is happening in Europe. An ex-colleague of mine has been there a few years and now works fairly high up at Soundcloud, so i hope to catch up and see what's happening there. That said, after the frustration and stress of the last couple years in my current job i'm gonna need a sabbatical before looking for anything new, make sure i'm fresh and ready to kick ass again.

DG when are you planning your unemployment? ;) I'll be flying out in early August and will bum around partying, visiting family etc before settling somewhere to look for work in the winter.
 
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Snuffy

TRIBE Member
alison87 said:
Tribe is the inescapable final comedown of a sub-culture built around serotonin-sucking, dopamine-destroying designer drugs - all those happiness and rainbows kids matured into self-righteous do-gooders or cranky old fucks.
Click to expand...

It'll happen to you too, soon. Just you wait.
 
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leigh

TRIBE Promoter
ravinjunkie said:
The sweet thing about Berlin is that living costs are so much cheaper than here. Nice start up scene there too.
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Legally, you have to have medical insurance while living in Germany, which brings living costs way up. When you factor that cost in, it's actually only minimally cheaper than Toronto.
 
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voytek

TRIBE Member
escaped 8 years ago and lovin' it. not just sayin' lovin' it, but actually, full-heartedly enjoyin' life and fallin' asleep chantin' "love my life" every night. my keyboard has no final gs, but i'm lovin' that too...
 
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leigh

TRIBE Promoter
ravinjunkie said:
Private health insurance - which policy? < Healthcare | Expatica Germany

Tbh, I thought you would get covered by your employer. .
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If you are lucky enough to get a job, your employer pays half, the other half comes out of your wages. But unemployment is high in Berlin and getting a job as an expat is notoriously difficult. If you are a non European, and you are self employed or there as a musician or artist or just partying, then you have to get private health insurance and it's ridiculously expensive.

Besides that, Berlin is great :)
 
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alison87

TRIBE Member
I'm not holding out much hope for work - i'm going because i need a break from it ;) That said, i'm fortunate enough to be an EU citizen by birth, and i'm a software developer, so i'm probably in a better position than most DJ/artist expats. The health insurance thing is a bit of a pain in the ass, but i figure it'll be easier to work out once i'm there - i may not even end up in Berlin, as wonderful as it sounds scene-wise. My Dutch, while still broken, is much more fluent than my German, so Amsterdam is a possibility too. We'll see. I'm excited!
 
ravinjunkie

ravinjunkie

TRIBE Member
voytek said:
escaped 8 years ago and lovin' it. not just sayin' lovin' it, but actually, full-heartedly enjoyin' life and fallin' asleep chantin' "love my life" every night. my keyboard has no final gs, but i'm lovin' that too...
Click to expand...

I love reading these stories on tribe, please post sometime!!
 
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leigh

TRIBE Promoter
alison87 said:
The health insurance thing is a bit of a pain in the ass, but i figure it'll be easier to work out once i'm there - i may not even end up in Berlin, as wonderful as it sounds scene-wise. My Dutch, while still broken, is much more fluent than my German, so Amsterdam is a possibility too. We'll see. I'm excited!
Click to expand...

You definitely don't need to know German to get by in Berlin. And there are ways to get around the health care thing if you don't plan on being there long term or until you get a job. Berlin is heaven in the summer :)
 
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Sal De Ban

TRIBE Member
Although you sound like a complete spazz, it takes a lot of courage and the passing of a certain tipping point to just finally say 'fuck this shit, i'm outta here'. have fun and always have some sort of a plan, even if it's a loose one.

and remember the saying - which applies here:

Wherever you go, there you are.
 
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erika

TRIBE Member
Good for you!
A gf of mine went to Berlin when her last job ended, and lived there for 6 months pretty cheaply.

If you are a software developer you should be able to (if the mood strikes) find remote work as well: right now, one of the guys who does work for my team is an aussie who lives in Sweden.
 
the_fornicator

the_fornicator

TRIBE Member
Dunno why you would, but if you have 10+ years experience in something and find yourself in Edmonton, we are hard up for IT people here. Average hourly contract rate range here for a developer hovers around the $60-$80 mark.

But, Edmonton is a far cry from Berlin.
 
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