Beautiful Day and Taxes

First off, it was a gorgeous, teasingly Spring day today. Scoots even felt it - and showed it by acting all crazy most of the evening. I must have been feeling it too because I totally forgot to season my quiche. The sun was shining for a big part of the day and it was just warm enough to keep our jackets unbuttoned and scarves hanging loose.

Second, I had to pick up my tax card today for my job. Unlike my work permit frustrations, I have to say they made it much easier to get a tax card. The longest part of the whole ordeal was when I went up two flights of stairs to be told to go to the basement (or so I thought) and then to figure out they must have said to go to the first floor (where I had come from in the first place). But I was proud of the fact that I conducted all these conversations about asking directions and telling people what I was there for in German. It feels good to have the power to communicate with the locals after so many months of being helpless. Now I obviously need to work on my understanding of the responses. ;-)

Anyway, basically what I got out of today was that the government here hates the idea of me working in German, but it loves to take my money - about 20% in taxes and 10% in health insurance/social security. It's all part of living somewhere different though.