At the end of last year, I found myself in a bit of hot water with the HR department of my company, as I had a large number of unused vacation days as we approached 2014. I must admit that this topic has always been very challenging for me. As much as I like having time off, I come from a background where 10-15 days of holiday per year is the norm. Thus, living in a culture where I automatically get twice that amount of days each year has proven not only to be rewarding, but also a considerable obstacle. In the 7 years I have lived in Germany, I have yet to get my holiday planning in control.
OK, I fully understand that I work in an industry that is extremely volatile, and somehow, I have always worked in roles at companies where the pace is pretty frantic, and no matter how proactive you try to be, you always have to be able to react to the next challenge, problem, or opportunity. Over the years, I have feebly attempted to justify the reasons as to why I never seemed to take too many holidays to colleagues, friends, and family. Sometimes, my justifications were simply excuses, and sometimes it was clear that the time was not right to go off on holiday.
Quite a few friends have berated me about my work habits (long hours), my lack of vacations, and even my philosophy on the subject. However, many of those same friends have later on found themselves in similar situations, where work suddenly takes precedence over other elements of life.
I also have friends who work in equally challenging professions, and they, too, have commented from time to time about their struggles to plan vacations around very busy work schedules.
In short, it is not so easy to go off and plan to 30 days of holiday per year, plus the national holidays that pop up every other month, as well as complete all the tasks that your employer needs you to finish. Throw in a life that involves knowing people named "May" and "Hem," or "Com" and "Pletefuckingshambles," and I personally can fully understand that holiday planning is nigh on impossible.
Late last year I was particularly frustrated, as my HR department were really holding firm. I had to take my remaining days from 2013 by mid 2014, and likewise take all of my 2014 days during the same year. Laugh if you want, because having to take 3 months off from work can seem like a very nice problem to have. However, as I stated above, I work in an industry (that I very much like working in) where taking 3 months off is not really an option.
The key, of course, is planning.
Gulp.
Right, I admit that I am not so strong in this area, but have recently realized that I simply had to sit down and do it: come up with a plan on how to take all my holidays from 2013 and 2014 in one year. (For those of you who saw me during my vacations last year, I was taking holidays from 2011 and 2012)
I considered doing something a bit silly, like taking vacation "hours" at random points during the week. For example, I could say, "hi, i am on vacation from 12.30 to 15.30 today," which is exactly when one of my least favorite weekly conference calls takes place. I also considered taking every Friday off this year.
In the end, I came up with a bit of a compromise, including both ideas above, as well as some proper weeks off. I submitted my plan to my boss and the HR department, and more or less got things sorted. It was kind of a good exercise, and it is kind of neat knowing that I have mapped out all my days off for the year.
Rather than dillydally, I decided to jump right on to the vacation trail and took this last week off from work. It has been a quiet, relaxing, and productive week. I have done things that I wanted to, at my own pace. This has included a bit of work, but again, on the terms that I wanted. I have been able to plan (ironic, huh?) some of my projects and ongoing programs without too many distractions from customers or colleagues.
Additionally, I have had some down time where I could focus on some of "want to-dos" from my mental list. Although it was not really a new year's resolution, I have recently looked for new ways to improve my German ability.
While I am proud that I have been able to reach a certain level with the German language, I am constantly reminded that I am far from fluent. I can switch happily from English to German with few problems, both professionally and in private life, but do recognize that I should be reading and writing more. I have a tendency to write in English when under pressure, and all too often I tend to pick up a book in English as opposed to German.
A few weeks ago, I purchased a few grammar exercise books in my local bookstore in effort to do a little more self study. These are perfect for when I am sitting on the train, or in a random cafe. I can work on a few little exercises, and refresh (or relearn) my language skills.
I am still contemplating taking a proper German language course. I took private classes for several years, and because much of my daily life is in German, verbal communication is rarely a problem. (If you use it, you don't lose it). That said, sometimes I think it would be beneficial to regularly do "intercambios" with native speakers, particularly those who want to improve their English.
Reading for pleasure is a huge thing for me, but reading in a foreign language for pleasure requires some effort. I can probably read "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" in German without a problem, but a novel by Ian Rankin continues to be tedious, mainly because it takes longer to get through the vocabulary; there are always words that I have not experienced before. Unfortunately, I do not always have the patience to sit down with a novel and a dictionary, looking up words every few minutes.
But, this week, as I quietly have toodled around the house, I have tried to make myself more aware of opportunities to expand my vocabulary, not just from words I read in print, but also things I see or think about. For example, just across the garden that my balcony overlooks, they are constructing a new house. There are all sorts of construction equipment and guys with hard hats around. As a child, it was easy to be fascinated by any construction site, it was like seeing really big Tonka trucks in real life, just like the ones I was playing with.
I consulted my big picture dictionary and learned a few new words this week. True, neither der Tieflöffelbagger nor die Planierraupe rolls off my tongue with ease, but I am glad to know both of those words, even if I won't necessarily be able to use them all that regularly.
That said, I am going to enjoy the rest of today thinking of ways I can say "hydraulic shovel" and "bulldozer" next week when I return to work.
Here's to quiet, productive vacations. See you out there.
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