Sitting and looking at the television, says Elisabeth “Lisa” Gall about herself, that’s not her thing. She wants to tackle. Gall lives on an old farm near Freihung (district of Amberg-Sulzbach), says he has worked happily as a physiotherapist – and has nevertheless dared what many only dream of: starting a new career. She is doing an apprenticeship as a bricklayer at the age of 61. A conversation about courage, luck and what it’s like to go back to school.
SZ: Ms. Gall, how do you say to you? The Bavarian term Lehrmadl doesn’t quite fit, but apprentice? Trainee, trainee?
Lisa Gall: I think trainees are beautiful, both are of different ages.
So: Trainee in construction, at the age of 61 – that’s unusual.
I am a creative person and always do handicrafts at home. A few years ago I also did a saddlery apprenticeship, ten hours a week, but there was no time for the degree and the vocational school. I was self-employed as a physiotherapist, too much was attached to the practice. But you know what the first thing people tend to say when they hear about my bricklaying apprenticeship?
What?
Not: Oh, that’s unusual. But: Mason, that’s such a difficult job! Of course you have to be physically fit. But caring for the elderly is also a difficult job – physically and mentally, you are constantly dealing with death.
From one’s own practice to the bricklaying apprenticeship, that’s something many wouldn’t dare to do.
I have to quote Pericles: To be happy you have to be free, and to be free you need courage. Of course, many people are afraid of starting something new, which creates insecurities. But I thought to myself: now or never! Now I have the chance of an apprenticeship as a craftsman, my son is out of the house, I have no debts. I’m very happy with the decision.
Why did you decide to do an apprenticeship in construction?
Masonry is such a versatile, creative profession, from renovation to new construction with all kinds of materials – and with lots of fresh air.
What does your new everyday life look like as a bricklayer trainee?
When I have vocational school, I get up at five, take care of my draft horse, the dogs and the chickens, stoke the wood stove, drive to school. After class I do shopping and home visits. I still have a few patients who I can’t let down. We not only have a shortage of skilled workers in construction, but also in the social professions. In the evening I study until about half past ten.
There is little free time.
It is exhausting. There is a lot to learn, for example building materials and many calculations that are necessary for this job.
What’s it like in the vocational school among all the young people?
I’m a special case: old age and a woman – many don’t know how to deal with me at first. The teachers also had to adjust to the fact that there is someone older than them. But after a while it works really well. Of course, I’m not part of the group in the sense that I go to McDonald’s with the other students. But I don’t have to. Every generation has its life plans and that’s a good thing.
You will do the practical part of your apprenticeship at a construction company in Ehenfeld. How should one imagine the job interview?
Up until two years ago, I coached football teams in Amberg and Hirschau and ran a practice in Hirschau for 30 years. You’re no stranger there. So I just called: Do you train? Do you also train women? Older ladies too? The senior manager only said: of course!
And now the old lady is going to the construction site.
Some might have thought she’d have enough in two weeks. But I’m not like that, if I want something, I’ll go through with it. On the days I’m with the company, we meet there at half past six, divide up the workers and the materials, and then we go to the construction sites.
What do you like best about work?
When you turn around at the end of the day and see what you’ve accomplished. It’s such a satisfying feeling. Do you know that?
Not from my own attempts at craftsmanship. But sometimes one likes to look back at the more complex ones among the texts.
It’s similar in construction.
And if something doesn’t work out, you’d like to look elsewhere quickly.
But then you really look! The fugue that you worked imprecisely and doesn’t fit – maybe nobody notices it, but you do every time. You’re constantly learning. The demand for the quality of your own work should always be very high.
What do those around you say about the fact that you gave up your old work life?
What others say has never stopped me. I think my son likes it. He’s training to be an electrician and lives in Erlangen, so we don’t see each other at vocational school. I wouldn’t have wanted to do that to him either.
When you finish your education, you are 64 years old. And then? Pension?
I don’t know what will happen then. I don’t think so far. My goal is to pass the journeyman’s examination.
Do you see yourself as a role model? As someone who shows how you can dare something new even at the age of 61?
If someone sees me as a role model, I’m happy. In our society we see old age too often and not enough the people behind it. Above all, I am grateful for what used to be and what I can do now. That’s why I can only advise everyone, whether they’re 20, 30, 50 or older: life is about change. You only live once.