Getting the Job

After Dave gave me the idea to work in Germany, Dave and I both contacted Benjamin about the possibility of me acquiring a co-op position at Empirica for the Sept-Dec term. Benjamin was right away interested in the idea, but wasn't really sure if it was logistically possible for his company. Empirica had never had a Canadian co-op before (they had only had European interns beforehand), so it was going to be difficult for them to work out a contract for me. I had taken 3 classes with Benjamin before, though, so he felt that he already had a good idea of what I was capable of, meaning I at least didn't have to worry about an interview (seeing as how we had basically had a 12 month interview already).

I decided to carry on with the normal co-op search (from within mycoop.ca), so I wouldn't end up jobless at the end of the term. During this time, my emails with Benjamin, and Benjamin's negotiations with his company continued until I was finally offered a contract for 3 months at 1000 Euros a month, around a week before the final co-op ranking day (decision day). This was both good and bad for me, good - because I was offered this amazing work-term opportunity, and bad - because it was for 1000 Euro a month (around $1500), which wasn't the greatest comparatively to the salaries that I would be making if I were to stay in Canada, which would be at least double that......and then I had to figure in the extra costs of moving across the world (i.e. plane tickets, storage, etc.)..... and then I had to figure in the fact that Lydia would also be coming with me, and it could be next to impossible for her to get a job in that time...... and then I had to figure in the fact that I was also really liking the other work term opportunities that I had through the normal mycoop.ca route...... so all in all it was a very complicated decision that I had about a week to make.

The decision process included a mad scramble on the Internet to figure out just how much money it would cost to fly and to live in Germany, a long talk with Lydia about how she would feel about moving to the foreign land, and in the end, a huuuuuuuuuge leap of faith, by saying what the $%Q#, let's go for it!