A German Valentine's Day

Being the very single person that I am, it was a huge relief to discover that in Germany, Valentine's Day is a non-day.  I mean, they acknowledge it, and by "acknowledge," I am referring to the seven boxes of chocolate and one small sign they put in front of the drugstore.  But I found that when you're not surrounded by sickening chocolate-fueled hormones and Edward Cullen posters, Valentine's Day is, if not enjoyable, at least bearable.

But just to be on the safe side, I decided to keep busy.  This meant getting up at eight in the morning to have breakfast with Other American and the South African, and then being sad as she left to her new host family who are impractically located three hours away.  Then I hit up the library to print out nine million different documents for my scholarship apps and matriculation.  Which is how I wound up getting into a fight with the both the guy sitting next to me and the staff.  Somehow the guy had messed up his printing job, because whenever I put my paper in the machine, it would print out his documents.  So first I made him give me money for the pages, and then, after he refused to give me more than 10 cents, I took it up with the staff.  The lady was yelling at me about how everything was my fault, they're my documents, and I have to pay for them, so I tapped the guy on the shoulder and said, "Sir, can you please explain to this lady why your documents keep coming out of the printer?"  Then she went through his computer, discovered he had over 700 pages lined up in his printing queue, chewed him out, apologized to me, and gave me all my paper back.

Arguing like a proper German:  check.

On a somewhat related note, I spent half of yesterday on the phone with my high school registrar's office, because Germany doesn't believe you when you show up with your bachelor's, and wants copies of your high school transcripts just in case.  I thought we were having a normal conversation, but I could hear her bristling through the phone lines after about three minutes, in a way that looked remarkably similar to how I bristled the first four months I lived here whenever I had to talk to people.  I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I foresee problems with this new development.

Latvian Friend and I met up to watch a movie.  The day called for a romance film, so we went through the top fifty romance movies of the last couple years, and I shot the vast majority down with all my Valentine's Day Harpy might.  We wound up going with He's Just Not That Into You, because there was enough dysfunction in it to placate the harpy.

In other news, today I learned that in Germany, wisdom teeth surgeries happen through hospitals, and they keep you there for like five days.  Also, whatever you do, you are under no circumstances allowed to eat ice cream, or drink milk/juice.  Host Mom was absolutely appalled when I told her my mom drove me home ten minutes after I in my drugged-out state requested a burqa.  When I told her that ice cream is pretty much the only thing you're allowed to eat for the first few days, she couldn't believe it.

In other other news, I heard from my future roommate yesterday, and...I HAVE A BED! This sounds less exciting in print, but it's one less thing I have to pay for.  The guy moving out doesn't want it, and said if I didn't either, he would just throw it out, otherwise, I can have it for free.  He suggested getting a new mattress, because the one it comes with is apparently really hard, but whatevs man, I've got a bed!  It's like a giant queen-size bed too!  I've never actually owned anything other than a twin bed or a hammock, so I've got to figure out what to do with all the extra space.  Hold the jokes.

New favorite song of the day!  I am on an absolutely ridiculous Ed Sheeran kick.  As a general rule, I like songs, not artists, but Ed Sheeran has officially joined Josh Groban, Cat Stevens, and The Decemberists on my Short List Of Artists I Love All The Time. Here, have an Ed Sheeran song that won't let me embed it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EdnpWDDoq0