Bike taxis

I have a new idea for a job. Because all I do now is cover teach and coach track and consult for my old job and take German classes and take Masters classes online… but all on a sporadic and part-time basis. So I thought it would be cool to drive a bike taxi.

Brian and I had been seeing them around town since the weather started to warm up. It’s more of a pod than a bike, kind of like a Smart Car crossed with a tricycle. They drive people to the zoo and soccer games and on tours around the city, and the passengers always seem to be having a good time. We never saw any women driving them, though, so Brian joked that I could be the only foreign female bike taxi driver in Hannover. It seemed silly but the more I thought about it, it made sense. I could make a little money, practice my German, get a workout, and learn my way around the city all at the same time!

This is what they look like

I decided to email them. What did I really have to lose? They probably wouldn’t reply anyway. Brian found the websites for the two bike taxi companies in Hannover, and I sent them an email in English and German. They both called me. The same day. In German. I managed to have a conversation and they still both asked me to come in for an interview and a test drive.

I’ve been on a lot of job interviews before but I don’t remember ever being as nervous as I was for my first bike taxi interview. I didn’t need a resume or a nice outfit or a list of references. I just had to do it all in the language that I didn’t know a word of 9 months ago. Driving the bike taxi was the easy part.

And… I did ok. I passed the bike taxi test drive, and understood most of what the bike taxi guys said to me. I even managed to ask a few questions. It seems like I can work at either place if I want to - the main issue now is whether I can do it legally. Bike taxi drivers are considered self-employed. They have to pay a fee (1-20 euros a day) to the bike taxi company to cover use of the taxi, insurance, uniforms (yes, spandex and jerseys), etc. Then the driver gets to keep the fares. In order to be self-employed in Germany you need a business license, and no one seems to know for sure if I can get one as a non-EU citizen with a residence permit.

So next week I get to go to the foreigner’s office to find out. That should be interesting. I can envision the conversation now. The grumpy government employee will ask –  What sort of business do you want to start? How it will contribute to the German economy?  And I will answer -  I want to become the only foreign female bike taxi driver in Hannover. It will help me learn German, and I look good in bike shorts.

Then I will either get the stamp of approval or get laughed out of the building. But if I can at least put those phrases together in German, it will be an accomplishment either way.