Howdy, folks! It’s been almost ten years to the day since I left Berlin and returned home to the star-spangled mothership. It was there that I embarked on my odyssey as a freelancer. Since then, I’ve bounced back and forth several times across the Atlantic like a ping-pong ball, enjoying a bit of urban life here and some more bucolic pleasures there. A few stations along the road: the Pacific Northwest, the Canton of Valais in Switzerland, the San Juan Mountains of Colorado – and now (back) to Berlin.
A change of pace
While I’m certainly going to miss skiing out of my back door for a few lunchtime runs on the slopes (or “Pisten” as they call them over here), the creature comforts of the city certainly have their perks. Thanks to numerous tips from fellow English language managers and resident epicureans Kristy and Grant, I’ve also been fully enjoying Berlin’s burgeoning third wave coffee scene and discovering plenty of other culinary delights such as the best (and spiciest!) papaya salad in Berlin at the Thaiwiese in Wilmersdorf.
Sporting some new duds
While office life certainly will take some getting used to again, emerging from my translator’s cave to engage in a bit of one-on-one interaction with humanoids can be healthy – according to certain studies. If nothing else, I also have a reason to expand my wardrobe beyond the standard-issue freelance uniform of sweatpants and t-shirt that has made up the lion’s share of my wardrobe for several years.
Same same but different
So what’s the best part about my new job for Supertext? Probably that it’s already quite familiar. I’ve been on the freelancer roster for a good three years now, working together with the various project managers and English language managers at Supertext. It’s truly been a pleasure to finally meet the people behind the Skype chats and to see how the talented pros at Supertext go about their craft. Yee-haw!
Cover picture: Foto via Supertext