Tomorrow evening I have another student job lined up, which will be reception work at a Berlin hotel from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
When the acceptance notification appeared this afternoon, it was a happy surprise because I was still obsessing about budgeting ... and worrying because I had been rejected for the 4 previous mini-jobs that I'd applied to this week. It's also harder to schedule work because of the Kazantzakis essay that's still underway. (No thesis has emerged from the primordial swamp of my thoughts yet, but the body of the essay feels largely complete and now it's just a matter of inserting footnotes and verifying details.) But this afternoon it was also a relief when I double-checked the German law about mini-jobs: while it's true that there used to be a monthly limit of €538 on earnings from mini-jobs, this limit was raised as of January 2026 to €603. Which means that, as long as I can book the mini-jobs, my savings will not melt away as quickly.
Besides a student organization for Berlin's universities and trade schools offered a free online presentation by a tax accountant about how to register as a freelancer with the tax authorities, government pension fund, and health insurers. It was interesting to me because I've hoped at various times to be a freelance translator or copy-editor, tutor, or journalist. That said, at least presently, given the qualifications that I (don't) have in all of these professions, I am certain I couldn't earn enough by freelancing to cover the costs of insurance. So it's nice-to-know but perhaps not immediately applicable knowledge.
*
Inspired by the sunshine after a cloudy Wednesday, I cycled to the allotment gardens this afternoon. In a part of the gardens where free fruit is rarer, I unexpectedly spotted yellow mirabelle plums in two hanging baskets at a gate. Taking a few of them from the baskets, I saw that the gardener who rents the plot was crouching and working on her yard, so I told her thank you. To my delighted surprise, the gardener invited me in through her gate to harvest more of the plums from the ground. There was just too much, she said, so it makes sense to give the excess away — and she wished that politicians would learn that lesson too. We chatted while we gathered the fruit — she was disappointed that I didn't take more, but I felt it would be greedy, and she said that making vinegar from the plums is quite successful once one has the 'mother.' Finally she invited me back, once I find more recipes for the plums.
In a narrower lane I also came across a basket with early pear quinces that had likely been culled from the tree so that the branches wouldn't become too heavy, and two damson plums that had dropped from their tree to the side of the path.
It was especially welcome to find this much fruit, because the past few times I've gone to the gardens I've come home (nearly) empty-handed. Back at home, I ate most of the mirabelle and damson haul for dessert after lunch. Besides I turned the bruised mirabelles into a stew along with red currants, and ate it with granola and milk.
*
After the Kazantzakis essay is done, the next task is preparing for the Greek exam, then the Greek History essay that the professor said 'can be done in September.' As for the journey to Austria, I enjoyed it, and was kindly coddled by siblings, uncle, and father's cousin alike.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment