strikes and gutters

There is a lot of Big Lebowski quoting that happens among our friends here in Hannover. So among the little things I've had to do this week (bowling is not one of them), the best way to describe it is "you know, strikes and gutters, ups and downs".

On Monday I went to the foreigner's office to find out whether I am allowed to get the self-employment license that I would need to be a bike taxi driver. One of the things I like about the German language (some days there are very few of those things) is how literal it is. In the U.S., you have the Bureau of Customs and Immigration Enforcement. In Germany it's just called the Auslanderbehorde, the foreigner's office. I had found online that you can walk in and ask questions about certain situations there, but only between 8:30 and 11am and not on Wednesdays. So I got there and stood in a long line of other foreigners. They were holding passports and paperwork and the hands of little kids. They had varying heights and skin colors and were talking to each other or on cell phones in many languages I couldn't recognize. I entertained myself by trying to guess where all these people came from and how they ended up in Hannover. When I got to the front, I managed to ask my question in German as it had been rehearsed in my head (strike). Then the lady with bad hair and a good smile told me that I am not allowed to do any self-employment with my current residency permit (gutter). But Brian and I have an appointment next week and she said that we can ask in that appointment whether my renewed permit would allow me to be self employed (?).

Afterward I decided to try the Italian deli down the street. You can find every type of sausage here except a spicy Italian one, and I thought maybe the deli would be my answer. So I went in and asked the old Italian man, in German, if there was any spicy sausage. He asked how much I wanted, I guessed and said 250 grams. That is about half a pound, which didn't seem like much. Then he started slicing some kind of hot salami into and kept on slicing and slicing... I was envisioning a couple links of sausage and not a pile of salami. So I politely, said, "please, that's enough," and he reminded me that I had asked for 250 grams and that's what I was going to get. I got a hunk of parmesan cheese too and almost choked on sticker shock. 17 euros for the salami and cheese! That's about half of my weekly grocery costs right there. Definitely gutters. Now I am thinking up spicy salami recipes and cursing the mean little deli man...

Yesterday I got a hair cut. Those of you who are loyal readers have seen my hair cut stories before. It's a stressful experience for me, so I will just write about it again. I went back to the walk-in place down the street, which had worked out ok last time. It's like a Super Cuts but way trendier with techno music in the background and stylish looking staff. I had my hair picture in hand, and I had rehearsed the words for short and long and thick and curly - I was ready. The girl cutting my hair gave a great shampoo, was patient with me, and styled my hair for free even though you are supposed to pay extra for that. Definitely a strike.
I used to have undying loyalty to Will, my ultra-skinny heavily-tattooed hair stylist in Minneapolis. I broke up with him shortly before moving here and now will just have to be content with whatever person is available and non-English speaking at the hair place down the street. It's funny how my standards have changed since we moved.

So those are my mundane experiences so far this week. I have yet to go bowling in Germany, but I will write all about it when I do. I will likely have a lot more gutters than strikes.