A picture painted by Zilv (aka new roomie)Residency / Work Permit Crap
First off, there was the whole struggle with the immigration & German employment authorities (again) revolving around the extension of my residency & work permit. These types of problems can put a cramp in your style (not to mention burn a hole in your pocket) and really only serve to increase your cynicism with regards to bureaucracy and "the system" in general. After almost a six month wait, a rejection of my application based on the federal employment agency misplacing important/relevant documentation and a ca. 400€ lawyer fee, I'm now in possession of an unrestricted work permit. Frosty and I didn't have to get hitched and I no longer have to bother with the federal employment agency to get approval when I switch employers. That's right Germans...watch out, because I'm gonna start fucking taking all of your jobs.
...and the heavens rejoiced.
Relationship Crap
As of this month, The Frostinator and I have been together for two years. Who'da thunk it? At the end of August, I took a little trip down to Tübingen. We hadn't seen each other in almost two months and his hair has grown into a Farrah Fawcett-like (RIP) blow out...or Prince circa 1979...I can't really decide:
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One afternoon, I spent almost three hours trying to put his hair into cornrows (just for fun). Note: Getting your hair braided requires a high degree of patience, a moderate amount of toleration for hair pulling and cooperation with the braider when they try to move your head into certain positions. Frosty is somewhat lacking in all three areas...and I'm not that great of a braider in the first place. So, the result was a somewhat jacked up hairdo. Kind of like the time I tried to give him a haircut...but different. Both times I had to accompany him in public afterwards. In "grand scheme" terms, not a big deal at all though...after two years, these are the kinds of things that don't really phase you anymore.
Living Situation Crap
Now, Schmiddy might tell you that it is pretty easy to get rid of me, you just have to ask me to go away. But if he were to say that he'd be forgetting the part where he had to put up with me for over two years and then find a girlfriend and be with her for about a year and a half before asking her to move in. And then he had to wait for me to find somewhere else to live (which, granted, took a surprisingly short amount of time). Whether or not he considered all of that to be easy...I don't know, but as of September 12th, the Schmidt-Brooks WG (shared apartment) is no more.
I consider myself fairly lucky, the actual living with Schmidt-part was pretty easy. You just have to understand and come to terms with his unwavering Schmidtness (Schmidtosität?). But as they say, two's company and three's a crowd...and I had visions of being the JD to their Turk and Carla (respectively)
The actual apartment search involved about 2 weeks of extreme searching. And on the last day, the last room that I looked at, I found a very promising new roommate. Though I would have preferred to find a place of my own, my bank account has informed me otherwise. As luck would have it, I met my new roommate, Zilv, who complimented me right off the bat on my choice of attire on that day (Transformers t-shirt). About fifteen minutes later we were discussing hip-hop and the rest is history.
I moved in last weekend. I re-assembled the last of my furniture yesterday and slowly but surely, I am getting settled in. It's still to early to say if this will be a roommate-ship of Schmidt-Brooks proportions, but it's pretty cool right now. I'm anxious to find out how this will develop.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7roHwl2jA
but... it's not over. it's never over