Paid Vacation

Getting paid to live in a new country and not have to work? I have had some cushy jobs in my day, but this takes the cake. I got word from the guy who hired me (Mathias) that they do not have a position for me right now, that I should continue to "use the time to learn a little bit about Germany, find some new friends, develop your language skills and so on......" I have been getting paid since Jan 28, and will continue to do so. Of course, I wonder how long they will wait until they give up on finding me something, but here is some excerpts from his email, which helped re-assure my insecurities:

"Finding a job is indeed not so easy at the moment but we have you offered several customers and we are hopeful to find a job. The decision to cancel a contract belongs just to me and this decision will not be made within weeks. I am responsible that you and your family are here, so I promise that I will cover you as long as I can (I talk about months in this case). We invested in you and our highest priority is to keep you in the company. What could help is to know how flexible you and your family are, because to find a job in southern Germany is maybe easier, than just to look in Stuttgart (but this is still our first target)."

"I know that you feel not really comfortable at the moment, but use the time to learn a little bit about Germany, find some new friends, develop your language skills and so on......
We will find a job, I am really sure, the question is not that we find one, it is just when we find one."

So, what the hell, I can travel and play and sleep in and enjoy Germany, all while getting paid. That sounds like a dream! It does make me feel weird about it all, but I hope something comes through soon so that they feel they are getting their moneys worth from me. In the meantime, we will take advantage of my time off.