All posts filed under: Trying life in America

2023 – I am a little late to arrive

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But here I am. It is February 1st and the Chinese Lunar New year already started, too. Year of the Wood Rabbit. I want to say that I am not really an astrology person but then again: This is MY year! I was born in the year of the Wood rabbit and I feel like this is my once in a lifetime opportunity to have a really great year. Welcome to MY great year. I was thinking about what to share on my blog this year and aside from a definitely necessary focus on financial health I want to give my physical health more attention. One of my plans is to walk more and to bring YOU along every once in a while by sharing what I see on my walks. Since I live in San Francisco I figured that this might be something you, too, might enjoy. Let’s declare Bohemia alive (sorry to my friend who so rationally declared it dead) and let’s see if we can’t find a few small things to enjoy …

Why I decided to teach English for $7 per hour

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Clue: it wasn’t for the money. I have always wanted to get an English teaching certificate and dip my toe further into the field of ESL. As a regular if infrequent German language tutor since the mid- 90’s and an occasional English language instructor during a spell of time when we lived in Padova in Italy I always wondered if I was missing out by not having taken my TEFL certificate. I always question if completing a Celta course wouldn’t improve my opportunities somehow. Well, a certificate, no certificate, can make anyone a perfect person. No matter what theories and practices you learn a good portion of success will be based on personality. But as I mentioned a while ago: I eventually signed up to a TEFL course when I realised that I had spending more hours looking at courses, over a period of 15 years, than it would have taken to complete one. I may be exaggerating but you get the idea: Don’t think about it for too long because you might as well …

Where do dreams live? (journal of an emigrant)

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Having experienced life on different. continents, having become familiar with different life perspectives I think I may have a little bit of an idea of where dreams may still be found alive, even in 2020. …… Is there an age limit to the capacity for dreaming? I don’t think so, but I am only in my 40s. This is a question worth exploring. Are you ever too old to dream or do you (we) just think you (we) are?….. (click to read more)

We are petsitting again

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After a several month long break from everything caused by an intrusive health issue that sent me to a Chinese Medicine Doctor while I waited to eventually to have surgery we are back! Petsitting was never really meant to be a career move, but here in San Francisco it really is a sort of low hanging fruit of income options when life allows the flexibility with regards to taking the time out to visit or stay with somebody else’s pets. We are starting to build up repeat clients, who will give us a call before asking anybody else to look after their pets. To get started with petsitting as a ‘side-hustle’ we recommend using Yahoo Groups, neighbourhood message boards & Rover. Build repeat clients over time. If you would like to start petsitting using the booking agent Rover then you can follow this link to become a petsitter: https://refer.rover.com/s/Birgit5 I will get a bonus from Rover if you sign up AND book your first petsitting appointment within 90 days of signing up. Do read about the …

Wildfires close to San Francisco : information resources (fire locations, air quality, health prevention tips)

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List of information sources about the California fires, air quality & preventative actions for your health.

The air quality in the Bay Area (San Francisco) and North Bay Area (Sonoma, Napa) today is in the red and deep red zone: When you open the article you can access several essential clickable links with useful information to government websites and health resources around the wildfires and the subsequent micro particle pollution.

Money saving tips from a frugal person:

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#1 is my newest tip. A coupon website that seems brilliant! I found out about ‘Honey‘ today. It is a website that searches the internet for money off coupons, use of the website is free of charge and from the research I have done so far it looks like there is no negative hook. So I feel confident sharing the sign up link with you. Follow it and check if your an find a coupon the next time before you buy your regular brand new shoes. These codes seem to not be limited to clothing. So go explore! Save money. But don’t buy things you don’t need! joinhoney.com/ref/1ktfzl   Check it out before using it, but it seems like an amazing tool to me. (I looked them up on Reviewopedia ) #2 is another money savings tip and this one is thoroughly tried and tested by myself and several of my friends is: Transferwise! If you use my link to sign up and make your first international transfer then you will get your first transfer for free and …

Daring to embrace New Horizons

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My partner Jason and I have lived a peripatetic, nomadic life, straddling the far western coast of California and the West Coast of Great Britain. Growing the roots of our relationship in an ever changing plant pot. Our 8 year anniversary is coming up very soon. It will make exactly 8 years since our first kiss, under the grand finale of Venetian fireworks at the foot of one of the two famous columns on the even more famous St Marco Square. We could have no idea that from this one, unbelievably romantic moment so much happiness and struggle would emerge. Neither of us had any plans of spending 8 years in regular intercontinental movement, not spending one whole year in any one place. We only once managed to spend a completely uninterrupted 13 months together, for a seemingly endless number of years we survived long geographical breaks, the longest lasting 5 months, twice! (But then again, we also know of course we only had 8 total, so it can’t have been THAT many years.) We …

So very soon I will return to America!

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I can’t quite believe just HOW soon I will return to living in America! HOW did this happen? Remember back in the years before I met Jason? Back then I had just absolutely no interest in the Americas. And then whoosh, I got swept off my feet and piece by piece of me got slowly reeled in like a fish on a tasty worm-laden hook… I am also completely hooked on the books by Isabelle Allende, many of which taking place in the early days of discovering and establishing life in South & North America. So many stories of immigrants, so many courageous women in the pages of her books! And now, now I have a green card, now I am preparing to envision my life in America! I am still bewildered by it all. I know it’s been a slow and gradual process and maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised, but I thought I’d just go visit, stay a little while, go back to Europe and that would be it. Little did I realise that …