173,400 Words

09th September 2016
What better way than to have instagram pictures for this post? From left to right: the maskot of my publisher on my shelf, the entrance to Bamberg cathedral, and bookish uni work.
What better way than to have instagram pictures illustrating this post? From left to right: the mascot of Magellan on my shelf, the entrance to Bamberg cathedral, and bookish uni work.

Hi there! Do you remember me? Yeah, it’s been a while. Seven months, to be precise. I’m sorry for suddenly disappearing without a trace. I had planned to give you a notice of absence but I deferred until it was pretty pointless to publish it. If you follow me on social media, you might know what’s been going on in my life over the last couple of months. If not, or if you lost track, since I haven’t been that active there either, here’s a summary:

In December 2015, I decided it was a brilliant idea to apply for a full-time job in a city that’s about 200km away with one more semester – and a master thesis – at uni to go. However, it was an opportunity I couldn’t let pass by without even trying. What I didn’t expect: I actually got the job. Not just any job, but basically a dream come true: Since January, I’ve been working as a trainee in the PR and rights department of Magellan, a small, up-and-coming publisher of children’s and YA literature.

However, this job meant that I had to move from Munich to Bamberg, which might be closer to home, but quite far away from my uni. For some of you, 200km might not seem like a great distance. It is, if you are doing 40h a week in one place and have to regularly attend uni in the other, not having a car at one’s disposal on top of that (which means it’s a very expensive endeavour). Fortunately, I mostly had weekend seminars and didn’t have to attend uni since March, but I did travel back and forth quite a lot, visiting the library and so on. And not having to attend uni didn’t mean I hadn’t had tons of uni work.

It was also very difficult to find a flat, which took me over a month and then another one and a half until I could move in and another two until everything was renovated and put in place – still haven’t finished decorating, though. Where’d I stayed throughout those first months? Well, I didn’t have to sleep under a bridge, because when I was sweet sixteen years old, I made a wonderful friend on the Internet that lived here (btw, Internet friends are the best and provided me friendship and shelter countless times throughout the last ten years). She let me take over her rooms at her mother’s house, who kind of adopted me for the time being. And I still owe her a thank you dinner …

Being both a student and an employee was super stressful.  I basically spend January working, doing classes at uni, and looking for a flat; Febuary working, studying for exams, writing papers, and renovating my flat; March working, registering my MA thesis, and renovating my flat; and April till August 1 working and writing my MA thesis – Instagram-Marketing in Children’s and YA Publishing for which I analysed no less than 1,734 instagram posts. It was hard and tedious work but also quite interesting – and I really hope I’ll pass. Inwardly, I’m an anxious mess because I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t.

You see, I have been insanely busy. So busy, in fact, that I didn’t read a single page in July for fun. That’s mindblowing. That’s never happened since I fell in love with reading in December 1999! But now I’m back. Or at least, I’m trying to be back. I did miss blogging and reading a lot, just like you always miss the things you can’t have the most. Unfortunately, both are very time consuming hobbies, and the books will always come first. However, I do hope that I’ll get into a routine soon that allows me to do both.

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6 responses

  • I’m glad you’re putting books first! I do hope you figure out a way to both read and blog, though. 🙂

  • Welcome back then! Well, ish. 😉 It’s really quite a feat what you did there, but you managed – hats off! I’m sure everything will be all right with your thesis and that you’ll pass. But if you wanna be on the safe side, I’ll cross my fingers, press my thumbs and whatnot. 😀
    (I also sincerely hope that my flat finding adventures won’t be quite as long. Holla. xD)

    • Thank youuuu! And since I just got my grades last Friday, I can now say that it’s really over. Feels so good! But it doesn’t get real until I have my certificate.
      I really hope you’ll have better luck than I did. But, you know, there’s always a reason (and that believe is the only reason that keeps me going in situations like that ;D ).

      • CONGRATULATIONS! Well done, I’m happy for you. :’D Do you know when you’re gonna get the certificate? Probably in a few months, right?
        Getting a great place takes time after all. ;D But I have an emergency plan now, so I’ll have somewhere to stay for a few weeks once I get there and continue looking in Oktober. It’ll be definitely easier for flat viewings, the trains from here to there are atrocious.

  • Ha, I’m mentioned in your post! And I’m just reading it now, almost a month late. Well, better late than never 😀
    I’m still so impressed with how you’re managing both work and uni, your career is just so 100% you… keep going, but don’t forget, you need some leizure time too 🙂

    And if you ever need a shelter again… you know where to find me (or my mother :D)!

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