The range of job searches is wide and well known: from reading ads in newspapers, on the Internet, and on university notice boards to directly contacting employers. Another matter is whether you are ready to become a waiter or teach math to stupid schoolchildren, help sort documents in an office or wash dishes in the kitchen of some diner, work as a night porter at a hotel or guard the sleep of the mentally ill in a local psychiatric hospital... Any work in Germany is paid, but finding a job that would bring not only three badly needed hundred but also pleasure is not so easy for a student.
I was lucky in this respect. In Saarbrücken, a luxurious water and entertainment complex Calypso was built, with all sorts of pools, jacuzzis, saunas, water slides, and other water-related amenities — similar establishments exist in all major European cities. And the guys from Calypso hung an ad at the university saying they needed helpers for the kitchen, the bar, the translation bureau, and the sauna.
After a phone call to the indicated number, I promptly sent them by mail a fancily written job application (Bewerbung) and a short biography (Lebenslauf); I also attached a copy of my massage course certificate (with translation) and a document confirming my five years of medical education in Germany. Literally two days later I was invited for an interview, where after a compliment addressed to me (Sie sind uberqualifiziert fur uns — 'you are overqualified for us'), a courteous frau explained the job duties of a 'sun master' (Sonnenmeister) — that is exactly what this position is called at Calypso. Besides massage and sauna supervision, I was to perform some mysterious procedure called Aufguss (in German 'brewing, infusion'). Not entirely understanding what this word meant, I nevertheless nodded in agreement, and sometimes even inserted some sentences in German, which allowed me to create the illusion that I had no language problems at all.
A week later I already received two sets of uniform (a signature yellow polo shirt, blue shorts, and a yellow towel) and was placed on probation. On the very first day I demonstrated my skill on the pool's head masseur — my immediate boss — kneading his back for ten minutes. He was very pleased, and I was hired. And so I got my first official job in Germany.
Now I, like a chicken with frostbitten feet (yellow on top, blue on the bottom), proudly bear the title of Sun Master, keeping order on my assigned territory. In this part of Calypso, where there are five different saunas and where I work, the laws of a nudist beach apply: saunas are mixed, no swimwear, you may cover yourself only with a robe or towel. And if I see someone in a bathing suit, I approach and politely but insistently ask them to undress (in real life, you will agree, you rarely allow yourself such a thing). By the way, I also have to keep an eye on those already undressed! As I was informed, in secluded corners of Calypso, visitors sometimes attempt mutual expressions of feelings in a form unacceptable for a public establishment. So far, however, there have been no precedents.
Well, observation is observation, but I also have to do massages. For 15 minutes of back massage the client pays 12 euros, for 30 minutes of full body massage — 19 euros. Regardless of the type of massage, I receive 5.10 euros per procedure. I already have regular clients who want to deal only with me. In general, besides me, there are three more masseurs in the sauna section: two Germans — Peter and my boss Reinold — and one Turkish guy who profitably married a German woman he had once massaged in Antalya. All of them work at Calypso on a permanent basis. The other assistants have nothing to do with massage, but only keep order and perform that same Aufguss, which it is time to describe in more detail.
So, this procedure is carried out in the large sauna (sometimes in two simultaneously) every hour. People, sometimes up to a hundred, are distributed on the shelves. The bath attendant (aka 'sun master') five minutes before the start prepares the infusion: in a wooden vat he dissolves a small amount of aromatic essence, after which he ventilates the sauna for a minute, standing at the entrance and vigorously swirling a towel. Then the doors close, and the bath master, dressed in a loincloth-towel, steps into the middle of the sauna and introduces himself approximately as follows: 'Good afternoon, dear friends! How great that you came here! My name is Viktor, and I am now going to steam you with the aroma of pine needles.' Then follow jokes like: 'In seven to eight minutes, those of you who survive will envy the dead' or 'Now I will show you Kuzka's mother,' and so on.
After these words, the splashing of aromatic water with a wooden spoon onto the hot stones begins, followed by propeller-like rotation of a wet towel first over the stones, and then over the heads of the respected audience. Then the towel is straightened out, and swings from behind the head begin, similar to the movement of a fan. People then usually raise their hands up, so the remark 'Haende hoch!' is received quite adequately at that moment. Then follows a half-minute pause, during which, with whistling and hooting, those weaklings who cannot stand the heat leave the sauna. Then the procedure repeats. Sometimes, at certain hours, in addition to the heat, the people get two basins of ice for rubbing themselves, and once a day two trays with slices of chilled fruit are brought in — for extra pleasure. The most wonderful thing is that this action ends with applause for the bath master. Usually after the steaming, tearing off the loincloth on the go, I run under a cold shower. If there is a client for a massage, then I have no more than five minutes to change into uniform and have a half-liter glass of free drink at the bar. In the absence of massage, I observe.
So, actually, a student in Germany can have this kind of little job on weekends. And to take a steam bath in the bathhouse every week, and get money for it! Enjoy your steam bath!