And just like that, within a month and a half, I wrapped up my life in Tucson, Arizona and took a really, really long flight to Leipzig, Germany. Before moving to Leipzig, I had never heard of it.
As it turns out, Leipzig was one of the most prominent cities of former Eastern Germany, but had suffered a decline in population after the wall came down.
Near the center of the city, you can see the immense shells of buildings, now strewn with graffiti and home to squatters and rogue Nutria. Negotiating a job at a German university is nothing like its American counterpart. I took a small paycut when I moved to accept my first German job.
But, for the fact that your salary has absolutely nothing to do with performance, a German university job has a number of other benefits, namely:. On the other hand, there are a number of nusances which can eventually lead you to question your life choice to relocate:.
Working at a German university was ultimately dissatisfying for me. I moved all the way across the world, and the job itself was not what I had hoped for. It was extremely stressful, poorly organized, long hours hour days were normal , and there was simply too much to do.
