some things that have happened to me lately.

1. i got my visa!

this is quite important. this means i can't be deported.

now my passport has 3 visas (2 for austria, 1 for germany)

ask me sometime over the phone

(or in person)

why/how i could have technically been kicked out of germany

during the entire month of september.

whoops!

(fyi: wasn't my fault!)

2. i accidentally fell asleep at 4:00 pm and woke up at midnight.

yesterday, i got done teaching at 3:15.

it was pouring down rain and freezing

when i came home from school at 4:00.

the internet wasn't working in my apartment

(story of my life)

so i decided to eat some soup

and watch a movie in my bed

(the pursuit of happyness)

((thanks to my mom,

who just sent me a box of my DVDs from home!)).

....i didn't even get through the first scene's credits.

i woke up to my phone ringing at midnight

and had no idea where i was,

what time it was,

what day it was, etc.

i answer the phone and hear:

"jenni? are you okay? i was so worried about you".

...apparently, i missed a few texts/emails/calls

from a certain polish boy

and caused somewhat of a scare.

i've said it before and i'll say it again,

that guy worries more than my own mother.

i then proceeded to fight sleep for the next 5 hours

while editing the paper of one of my tutoring students

and doing lesson plans

(things i should have been doing instead of sleeping for 8 hours).

i slept from 5:00-6:00,

before getting up to start the day.

yikes.

3. my atm card got eaten by the bankomat

oh, so this is a funny story.

i had to take the bus to school the other day

(as opposed to riding with my friend melanie),

which meant i had to pay 8 euro for a round trip ticket

(and yes, this sucks).

so before the bus came at 7:30,

i walked to my bank

(which does not open until 8:00),

to use the bankomat (or ATM)

and withdraw some funds.

i typed in the correct pin

and, for whatever reason,

it ate my card

(and i know had more than enough funds

to complete the transaction).

had i not had my backup American card with me,

i wouldn't have had enough money for the bus

and would've had to miss a day of work.

funnily enough,

when i went back 2 days later to get it,

i explained what had happened

and they handed it to me immediately.

no questions asked,

no ID needed.

this isn't carelessness.

this is a small town.

4. i got yelled at by my landlady

apparently, i have a maid?

yes, this is included in my rent.

she comes every other thursday.

last week, i stayed up late wednesday night

cleaning for the maid.

i asked myself,

"why are you cleaning for the maid?"

but i just wanted to make her job

as easy as possible.

ironically,

it wasn't clean enough,

because she told my landlady

that my apartment was unacceptably disorderly.

i know what you're thinking, mom.

but here's the thing -

it wasn't actually disorderly at all.

do you know what "disorderly" means to my landlady?

well, i'll tell you.

it means hanging the grocery bags on the back of the kitchen door

(as opposed to storing them under the sink.)

(heaven forbid a guest be exposed to the eyesore that is a plastic bag!)

it also means not separating your "cooked" compost

from your "non-cooked" compost.

(i sometimes think
 that if germans could re-write the 10 commandments,

each would pertain to recycling.

and i am being 100% serious).

it also means

-and this is the best one-

leaving your shampoo bottles

on the side of the bathtub,

as opposed to hiding them in the cabinet

after each shower.

when i told my german friend/colleague melanie this,

she said,

"what do you mean you keep your shampoo bottles

on the side of the bathtub? we don't do that in germany."

excuse me, germany.

to quote/translate my landlady,

"i don't know how they do it in america,

but in germany you can't just treat your apartment that way!"

oh, i'm sorry.

i thought i was paying half my salary each month

to live in a place

where i can put the shampoo bottles

wherever. i. please.

i can wear them around as a hat if i want to.

this is my apartment!

i didn't actually say these things to my landlady.

why not?

well, that would have been so disrespectful.

also, i don't know how to say those things in german.

(actually, while writing this,

i stopped for a moment

and realized i can say these things in german!

but when i'm flustered/caught off guard,

it's hard to say anything in german,

let alone be witty/smartalec-ish).

i was pleasantly surprised by one thing, though:

being yelled at in german

isn't as scary as you might think!

when there's a 4 second delay

(the time it takes for me to translate most words),

by the time i fully understand everything,

the words have lost some of their edge.

and i quite like that!