Today we got health insurance for me so that B can be co-insured until he gets a job. Then he might have to get insured on his own, although I'm not entirely sure how they would/could check on this. It will double the price. Oh well. At least they charge afterwards (so the first payment won't be until mid-November) and the insurance doesn't start until October 1. The woman at the Krankenkasse was kind enough not to write this on the proof of insurance that she gave us for B to show for his work permit.

I think we're starting to figure out how to deal with all the paperwork here. Today I made copies of everything I could think of, brought them to the post office where I had to prove my identity to get a bank account, to the Krankenkasse for the health insurance, and printed out even more stuff from various bank accounts to take to the Amt (office) on Monday when we will hopefully get B's work permit. Everywhere we've gone, people are very pleased when we have multiple copies of our marriage license, my Zulassungsbescheid (admission to the university), our registration with the city, and so on. Everything has to be documented. B called a vocational school that was looking for a teacher today, and they simply wouldn't accept his qualifications (the Yale degree and so on) unless they had been vetted by the state office here first. And so it goes.

After going to the Krankenkasse, we set off on a hunt for the used bicycle store. I got an adorable old-fashioned brown city bike, while B picked up a road bike. Mine came fully equipped with the legally required lights and with a basket for groceries, but of course B is much more interested in speed so he will have to buy a light to be legal. But the prices were great--40 EUR for mine and 75 for his. We rode the bikes to the running paths on the hill, or part of the way. I'm going to need some training before I can get up there with only 3 gears. B had picked up some delicious food at the market today--salmon, arugula, tomatoes, raspberries, cheese--so we had a lovely dinner just now and are feeling a bit more content with life.

We went to another expensive rental agency today to see if they had anything for us. I have no idea what these agencies do, because this one just gave us two addresses and phone numbers and then if you make a contract, which you do with the owner of the apartment anyway, you come back and pay them over a thousand dollars for what exactly? Turns out one of the two apartments the agency gave us was gone already--maybe the other one too? It's making it more tempting to go for the PERFECT apartment which we know will be available to see on Monday, but what if we can't get it? Plus, the agency fee on that one is UNBELIEVABLE, over two thousand dollars. I don't know how married people do it here. Obviously, it's easier if you're single, because you can rent a room in a shared apartment, of which there are plenty. But for us, that's not really an option, and not only because we're married. I can't take living with other people after living on my own for eight years. Even here, where our apartment is separate from the other rooms on this floor, we've been invaded by fruit flies because the Mitbewohner (other tenants) leave food out in the kitchen for days without cleaning it up. Pretty disgusting!

At least I don't have to go to German class until Tuesday!