Monday, 24 January 2011

penultimate tappings

It's some hour of the early morning and after realising my lack of a January blog, I seek to rectify things with this: a January blog...

So...I guess that's another Christmas wrapped up, another New Year stumbled over and most of January behind us. It's my last few weeks in Germany and things are different I think. My German is better and worse in places, with my general awareness and understanding improved, but my confidence in speech shaken. I am not sure why. I can hear it and read it and it's great, but I could do with a bit more time actually saying sentences. It's probably to do with a lack of necessity, brought on by my mostly English-speaking friends. Perhaps I should have had a German flatmate. 
   Regrettably, I can do nothing about it now. Oh, powerlessness: how often we meet. 

No, enough of this. I shall not be self-pitying. I shall not. January is for fresh starts and a fresh start I shall have. Fourth year will be great and in my penultimate weeks of my penultimate year I shall embrace whatever ridiculous tasks come before me, and do them with more fervour than I have ever previously employed. Ah crap. Employment. Now she is something I really need to get my head round. I haven't had many jobs, they have never lasted very long and only one have I truly enjoyed. I don't understand it. I think I just struggle with things I can't see a direct benefit to: something immediately pleasant or immediately useful. My inability to fake interest. That's the ticket! In interviews, I physically cannot fake interest! And of course most employers are looking for passion and motivation...which I can regularly lack for positions I am uninterested in. Then there's my moderate self-confidence coupled with general self-motivation difficulties making the whole package startlingly inefficient.

That's at least what I was like last year. Have I changed? Have I found the motivation from somewhere? Have I the self-confidence now? 

I'll try it out. See what happens. It's fresh start time after all.

Peace.