Smelling the coffee in 2023

[Cavesa]

And I caught a cold. Not good for doing my German exercises out loud.

Colds/illness often break up my lang. learning routine, and that's something I'm trying to change. How do you manage learning when you're sick?

Depends. How sick? I had to manage working in the second half of my covid (had like 4 days of, weekend included). I had to study ill many times. It sucks.

Just cold: not that bad, I just cannot speak out loud much. And this time it is already not that bad, I am fortunately getting out of it rather well this time.

Headaches would be bad, especially migraines. Those make everything impossible.

It's all about doing what you can, when you can, chopping stuff into manageable peaces. But I am not sure I am the best person to ask, I haven't been the best student.
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So, 6WC is going great. But some people have four times more time in than me already!!! They are awesome, but I feel a bit bad about my results. No matter. I did put in some SRS time, that I was doing during the information day.

It was interesting. The hospital network is bilingual. The presentations were either bilingual spoken and written, or bilingual written and in French spoken, or one was German written and French spoken... And when the public was asked, there were several francophone with no German knowledge, but no germanophone with no French knowledge. An interesting asymetry.

Btw we are being offered language tandems and courses and a point'n'click adventure game on hospital work to learn German with.

Tomorrow is the first real 100% normal work day.

[Cavesa]

Settling down in the new appartment and job. I've already signed up for tandem, as our bilingual hospital network is offering such a service, I hope they'll find me someone to speak with in German/French about hospital stuff. Oh and my new badge shows languages. But only three I had to pick only three, can you imagine that?! One of my colleagues has added a fourth one there himself

So, what I like so far:
-colleagues look ok so far, and my direct superiors are very disponible for questions and stuff. These two parts are the most important in the end.
-we have windows!!! Real sunlight and also a beautiful view. There really are windows! YAAAAY!!!!
-real weekends.

What I don't really like:
-the type of job I am doing, having only this one type of patients. I know I will like some parts of the job better (or dislike them less) as I get used to it (such as paperwork. I will surely get better at it soon). And I try to do every job well. But I don't like this kind of hospital service. I'll try to learn as much as I can, and get out of there in a few months to what I've really wanted. It doesn't depend that much on me, but I'll either have some luck or try to negotiate.

I'm slowly continuing German for the 6WC. About to introduce some intensive reading to the routine.

Failing to install AnkiDroid on my phone, apparently it is not compatible. My Android is apparently too new for AnkiDroid. Is there any other app compatible with the Anki account please? The store proposes Anki Pro, AnkiApp, Nice Anki Flashcard-Anki App, but no clue, whether those are compatible.

[Raconteur]

Failing to install AnkiDroid on my phone, apparently it is not compatible. My Android is apparently too new for AnkiDroid. Is there any other app compatible with the Anki account please? The store proposes Anki Pro, AnkiApp, Nice Anki Flashcard-Anki App, but no clue, whether those are compatible.

That is odd, what phone are you using, and what version of Android? I'm not sure about the other flashcard apps with "Anki" in the title. I personally wouldn't trust anything not released by the official Anki developer. If you cannot find a solution, there's always https://ankiweb.net/decks/ which you can open inside Chrome on your phone (and even get a home screen shortcut that will make it look like an app). Not a very elegant workaround, but a workaround nonetheless!

[MaggieMae]

So glad to hear that things are finally starting to look up! If you ever need a German speaking partner, feel free to hit me up! I really need to go visit the French side some day. One of my goals is to visit all 26 Cantons and capitals... needless to say, the closest I've come to the French Cantons is Wallis.

Kinda jealous of your point and click adventure game, though. Not gonna lie.

[Cavesa]

Failing to install AnkiDroid on my phone, apparently it is not compatible. My Android is apparently too new for AnkiDroid. Is there any other app compatible with the Anki account please? The store proposes Anki Pro, AnkiApp, Nice Anki Flashcard-Anki App, but no clue, whether those are compatible.

That is odd, what phone are you using, and what version of Android? I'm not sure about the other flashcard apps with "Anki" in the title. I personally wouldn't trust anything not released by the official Anki developer. If you cannot find a solution, there's always https://ankiweb.net/decks/ which you can open inside Chrome on your phone (and even get a home screen shortcut that will make it look like an app). Not a very elegant workaround, but a workaround nonetheless!

Thanks! I'll just use the website version then. I have a new samsung galaxy A14, avec android 13. And I am so annoyed at having to get any new app I like to simplify my life, so I'll just stick to the website version.

So glad to hear that things are finally starting to look up! If you ever need a German speaking partner, feel free to hit me up! I really need to go visit the French side some day. One of my goals is to visit all 26 Cantons and capitals... needless to say, the closest I've come to the French Cantons is Wallis.

Kinda jealous of your point and click adventure game, though. Not gonna lie.

Thank you! No need to be jealous. The game was publicly promissed, but not delivered, when I asked for it.

I hate my new job. To the point of already having been at the edge of leaving twice in the first two weeks. There are few traces of silver lining, but majority is really not up to my expectations. I cannot just leave, I am writing motivation letters for the follow ups and so on.

And I may not get a tandem partner, I missed the date for confirming my interest, as I was fully in the middle of considering whether I stay at that hospital and service or not.

It should get better in two and half months, when I get to a better service, as I really hate this one (pretty much every one of my peers does, it is in most ways the worst service in the hospital, we are going there only because we have to), and there hasn't been a single instance yet, where I could see the beauty of medecine or feel proud of working there. I had at least one such a moment every day in the previous job, to balance out the bad ones. I am still doing the paperwork related to moving to a new canton in my free time, it doesn't really lift my spirit, I had hoped to get more value for my investment.

My German is unfortunately stagnating, due to exhaustion of being at a new job. And unfortunately, even Italian isn't really used much here.

I really need a bit of luck or rather a miracle for the next year. I cannot afford to get a gap in my CV, I cannot afford to be jobless, I cannot afford a lot of things, as an immigrant, so I just need to do this shit for ten more weeks.

Why on earth did I not aim for C1 German, back when I was working part time?

Plans for this evening: some German, some paperwork, some job candidatures for next year.

[Cavesa]

News on various fronts.

My work situation has significantly improved. I've identified that 90% of my problems at the new job were my direct superior. He means well, but is totally chaotic, extremely hard to work with, and spends 90% of talking by reciting his past work achievements (which I am sort of doubting. If he really did all this, how comes he ended up in this shitty service in a small hospital, and in a very non-prestigious medical field not really close to his past jobs?). He is exhausting, and stressing me out.

I've reached out for help, as I was desperate, and I got it. I will no longer work directly with him, I will work at other rooms, with better superior doctors. It's a huge relief.

The part of the problem is clearly cultural too. He repeatedly voices his criticisms of the swiss medicine and the swiss way of doing it. Well, if he hates it so much, why is he even here? I want to learn the "swiss way", even if I may of course in time find problems with it (well, of course I can already see some. No system is perfect). But there is a huge difference between "this or that thing doesn't really work well, based on this or that argument" and "I am the only one, who understands it here. The swiss are worse educated than me, I will teach you my way". The second is really what this one says.

As some of you have also moved abroad, have you ever met someone with such a weird attitude? Unless your life is at stake at your home country (not the case of a French), why would you move to a country so much bellow how you perceive yourself?

He wasn't there for two and half days now, and it was awesome. The other 10% of my work problems were still there, but were suddenly tolerable. (the service really doesn't work too well, I am shocked every day by something new and totally weird. and the amount of paperwork and bad organisation in this field is horrible). I was much less stressed and the medical problems were suddenly making sense, when discussed in a calm and structured manner with normal doctors. There was suddenly stuff of value to be learned even in this field, that I really dislike and hope to never get into again. And in one case, I was finally allowed to try and help the patient, instead of being blocked by the chef's misunderstanding of the situation. The next two months should go ok, and then I move to a better service.

This leaves me with much more energy for other stuff too. For sending my next job applications, and for working on my German.

I've gotten an italki Tutor that looks good, the sample lesson was ok. As long as I keep working on my own, it should turn out well. A huge advantage: She lives on another continent and therefore 10 or 11pm are totally acceptable times for her! Good!

We'll see in the next few lessons, how it goes. I'll prepare based on Sicher C1, and we'll do speaking and writing together, not the other stuff that is easy to do on my own. Good.

So far, she has prepared 8 students for passing the GZ C1, and I liked this direct answer. It is not a ton, but it is already good experience, and it looks like an honest answer without the usual mist and mystery.

Now I've just started my vacation, which should bring some more joy to my life, and let me get back to German and stuff. After all, German C1 will quadruple my chances of being hired for the type of job I need for next year.

I need to push myself harder in German. Not just in terms of learning more regularly (will be easier now that the job is gonna be more normal), and with the activities with tutor. I need to stop wasting so much time on completionism of too easy resources. Yes, there is still value to be learned in my B1 grammar resources, I need to practice the stuff a lot. But it must not become procrastination from the very challenging C1 stuff.

So, from now on: 1:1 time spent on "review" and "challenge" in German.

[Cavesa]

Finally back to learning, but the intensity is far from desirable. I probably need to just sign up for a C1 exam
I wonder, whether my boss will accept that as "formation" (well, we are in a bilingual canton and the hospital takes pride in bilingualism among the employees), or I'll have to take a vacation day.

As to my 1:1 strategy review:my level stuff. It is a very good option.
So, right now the "procrastination German" is Speexx, which I really want to finish already. The exercises are of value, but not all of them. But drilling more connection words and prepositions and tenses and stuff, it helps. The "my level" is now Sicher C1, on demand of the new tutor. I've just reserved two classes for next week.
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The highly unfortunate odyssey with the scammy language school is unfortunately not finished. Really, don't trust language schools, no matter the reputation, no matter how big. Ask everything before hand! Have everything in writing! And do not ever trust their "oh, that will be easy to solve, once we get to this point". Insist on answers.

-I am asking to have the main contact person changed for someone else. I dislike lying or at least promisses of stuff that is not possible (he should know his job better), I dislike hypocrisy (such as switching vouvoyer and tutoyer depending on who else in email's copy, and the whole spirit and style of the message with it), and I dislike how he just stopped doing his job in regards to my husband (=helping with organisation and keeping him on track at a reasonable pace) as soon as I ask for my refund, but at the same time accusing me of mixing the two problems up.

-They haven't given my money (over 1000 francs) back yet.

-They've proposed a "solution", that would have been acceptable back in January. It's what I sort of proposed as acceptable back in January, before I moved away. 2 extra hours for the same price (which would make the price per hour a bit more palatable). But I am now living a 90 minutes drive away from their school, I have a much different schedule yet again, and I no longer want the same study plan.

So, I am waiting for their response (gonna remind them this week again). Either I'll get my refund, or I need the 10.5 hours in a different town nearby and with a well designed plan agreed on beforehand. If I have to pay so much for my stupidity (=never trust a teacher or a school. Ever! Always insist on everything agreed on before hand, always have everything in contract, keep written proves of any promisses and agreements), at least I want to squeeze some value out of it. And I won't ruin my weekends by driving 3 hours for their expensive class.

Really, this is shit. But it is still working for my husband better than the previous attempts. Well, at least it was, until the school stopped giving a shit about him to make me shut up and accept their scam.

Oh, and good news: my husband is about to finish his degree. He finished his final work and will defend it in a few days (it's also his final exam). This will really be a huge relief for us both and he can finally focus fully on French and then on job hunting.
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And I have an unexpected problem. While I don't miss living back in the Czech Republic, I am enjoying far too much Czech scifi and fantasy books and crime tv shows right now It interferes with my SC! I need to get more disciplined.

[rdearman]

There is a saying among contract negotiaters.

The large print giveth and the small print taketh away.

[frenchfish55]

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Hello. How did you chose your next job?Do you have preferences?What is more important .Medical speciality(neurology,therapy), team, work conditions (5/2, salary etc)
Does your current job related to migrants also?
What is official name of you current job?
How did you solve a problem with your current boss?(do you want to become friens etc?

[Cavesa]

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Hello. How did you chose your next job?Do you have preferences?What is more important .Medical speciality(neurology,therapy), team, work conditions (5/2, salary etc)
Does your current job related to migrants also?
What is official name of you current job?
How did you solve a problem with your current boss?(do you want to become friens etc?

How did I choose: I applied to several, got this one, gave up on further applications for this May and started appartment hunting. Now I'm applying for next year or for last minute openings. This job counts for my formation, even though it is by far not sufficient (this category of hospital wouldn't suffice even if I wasted a decade here).

The most important is specialty + hospital category. That's all. The rest is important in the every day work, but worthless in comparison with category. I am not a normal free person on a normal job market, until I finish my specialty training. It is a matter of balance. I could accept to suffer like in my first month here, if I was getting the category A experience for it. But for category C, nope.

(Basically, I need to collect certain amounts of time in certain types of hospitals, certain categories. That's the issue. Jobs not fitting in are just for living money, but worthless in the long run.)

Salary isn't a matter of discussion, I am a doctor. This thing is never discussed, there is simply a standard that is not negotiable. I get a small but nice raise for every year of experience, the salary varies a bit between cantons. It is not important at all in the negotiations. I found out the brut salary while signing the contract, and the netto, when it arrived on my account.

No, my job is not related to migrants specifically, fortunately. Sure, most of us working there are not suisse (the most common non-suisse are french and portuguese, we've got a few romanians, a pole, me, a russian, a few italians, a few second generation maghrebians, etc...), and a part of the patients are not. Sometimes, we get the typical migrant population problems , but actually pretty rarely here, especially compared to some of my previous jobs.

Official name: I am "médecin assistant". That means I finished university, I am medecin, but still in specialty training and working under supervision and supposed to learn. That's why the direct superior is so extremely important.

How did I solve the problem with the horrible direct boss: I asked another of my superiors, the one handling the planning of the repartition of rooms and therefore superiors. I explained my issues with Dr.Chaos in an email (to also keep a track of the issue, should something like that arise again), quoting some of the shit he keeps saying, and clearly explaining why I need to either work with a different direct superior, or I'll have to leave to not put my mental health and the quality of my education at risk. The problematic doctor is widely known for his behaviour (but it's even sadder that he genuinely means well, he is not evil, just insupportable) and I am not the first one complaining (or considering leaving because of him), so I got to work with someone else. Everyone is very understanding about this, because the issues are widely known, just not to the whole extent, and they are much more tolerable for his equals or superiors (because those can tell him to shut up and focus on the problem at hand).