Not only do I have to file taxes even though I did not earn any money in the U.S. in the year 2007. That would be way too easy. I also have to determine my "tax status," which is an equally long and enjoyable procedure, in order to get paid for the 7 hours I actually did work in January. I would not have worked one of those 7 hours, had I known that I would spend another 7 hours getting together all the tax work, and that getting paid would take half a year! And, in order not to make it too easy for me, they decided to not send my forms number something-or-other to my current U.S. address, but to my Austrian one. Just to make sure that I don't get it all done in time. How very considerate.

This is what I'm invited to do even though I did not earn any money during this tax period. Sounds like fun, doesn't it:

If you are an international/exchange student who was present in the United States during the tax year 2007, you are required by law to file a Federal Tax form even if you have had no U.S. source income. The deadline for tax returns is April 15, 2008.

[...]

3. What forms should I file?
The first step is to determine if you are a "Resident" or "Non-Resident" for tax purposes. If you are an international student who has not been in the US longer than 5 years, then you are considered a non-resident alien. If you have been in the US longer than five years, then you are a resident for tax purposes and have to file a 1040EZ, like US residents and citizens. It is your responsibility to determine your residency status for tax purposes; please consult IRS Publication 519 to do so. The following are only general guidelines to determine your tax status and the forms you must file:
Form 8843
If you had no income from a US source during the year 2007 and are a non-resident for tax purposes, you should file Form 8843. This form verifies non-resident tax status. Every nonresident alien has to file Form 8843, even if you didn’t earn any income during 2007 or are filing other forms.
Form1040NR or 1040NR-EZ (plus Form 8843)
If you earned any income from a U.S. source, have been in the US for a total of less than five years, and are considered non-resident for tax purposes, you should file Form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ, along with Form 8843.
Form 1040 or 1040EZ
If you earned income from a U.S. source, and have been in the U.S. for a total of five years or more, you may be considered a resident for tax purposes. In that case you should file Form 1040 or 1040EZ.

You are also required to complete a Massachusetts tax form if you earned more than the standard deduction in US income during the current year ($8000).
STATE FORMS SITE: http://www.dor.state.ma.us/

4. I am an F-1 student and had no U.S. income during 2007, or my only U.S. income was bank interest. Do I need to file any tax forms?
YES. You need to file Form 8843. This is the only form you will need to complete. Fill out parts I and III, and sign. Send to: IRS, Austin, TX 73301-0215.

5. I am a new student for the spring semester but arrived in the U.S. last December. Do I need to file a tax form?
YES. If you are in F-1 status and were in the US for any part of last year, even if it was just a few days, you will need to file a tax form. If you had no US income during that time, you will only need to file Form 8843.

6. If I did earn U.S. income other than bank interest, which form should I use -- 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ?
Most students will find that they can use the 1040NR-EZ, which is much simpler to complete than the 1040NR. Whichever form you use, you must also complete Form 8843. However, there are some rules and limits for the 1040NR-EZ. Please check guidelines in your tax publication.

7. What is the deadline for filing tax forms?
If you earned income in the US during tax year 2007, you must file taxes by April 15, 2008. If you did not earn any income, and do not need to file a tax return, the deadline to file Form 8843 is June 16, 2008.
If you want to file for an extension, use Form 4868 for an automatic extension of six months. Warning: If you do not pay the tax due by the regular due date (April 15th), you'll owe interest and may be hit with a penalty. Check out www.irs.gov for more information about filing Form 4868.

8. My bank mailed me a form in January, called a form 1099-INT, indicating the amount of interest I earned on my savings account. Do I need to include this amount on my income tax forms?
NO. Non-residents filing forms 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ do not include US bank interest as income.

9. Both form 1040NR and 1040NR-EZ asks for social security numbers or taxpayer identification number. Is this the same as my student number I was issued by the College when I was admitted? It has the same number of digits.
NO! The Social Security Number and Tax Identification Number have nothing to do with your College ID number. If you do not have a Social Security Number and will file tax forms, you should apply for an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN). Complete Form W-7 and bring it in person, along with your passport and other identifying documents, to the local office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The local IRS office is located in Boston. It usually takes about 30 days to get an ITIN. Obtaining an ITIN is a very long procedure, and you may have to file your form without it if you do not have a social security number.

10. If my country has a tax treaty with the U.S., does that mean I don’t have to file any tax forms?
NO. In order to claim tax treaty benefits, you must file 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ plus Form 8843.

11. How do I complete Form 8843?
All F-1 students filing form 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ must attach Form 8843 to it. F-1 students with no US income, or for whom the only US income is bank interest, don’t need to file 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ, but they must still complete Form 8843. To complete Form 8843, print your name and Social Security number (or individual taxpayer identification number) across the top of the form. Complete part I and part III, and remember to sign the form. Leave part II blank.

12. Where do I mail these forms?
Before mailing anything, make copies for your records! Mail Form 8843, 1040NR or 1040NR-EZ and the appropriate attachments to:
Internal Revenue Service
Austin, TX 73301-0215

13. Scholarship and Fellowships:
You may want to look at Publication 901 and Publication 520 from the Internal Revenue Service. It will be helpful with your scholarship/fellowships questions and in filling out that section on your tax return. You may download or look at those publications online.

14. What happens if I do not file taxes?
If you owe taxes and don't file, the IRS can assess penalty and interest and seize U.S. bank assets for repayment. Fines and penalties can often amount to more than the original tax debt. If you failed to file in previous years, you can still amend this by contacting the IRS and filing taxes retroactively. There can also be immigration consequences for not filing taxes. Applicants for permanent residency "green cards" are frequently asked to show proof of tax filing for previous years in the U.S.

* * *

And this is the first part of what I have to do in order to get paid for 7 hours of work. Then, of course, there's a personal interview ahead. And more paperwork. Hip-hip hurray:

The Internal Revenue Service requires that we apply U.S. withholding and reporting rules consistent with your U.S. tax status, resident alien or nonresident alien. Resident aliens are taxed like U.S. citizens, while nonresident aliens are taxed under different withholding and reporting rules. Your U.S. tax status depends on your U.S. immigration status and U.S. presence. Also, you may be entitled to tax exemptions depending on your U.S. tax status or an applicable tax treaty, or both. Since your immigration actions and U.S. presence may change the way you are taxed, we request that you provide us with up-to-date information each year so that we may verify your status and any applicable tax exemptions. Without this information, we cannot provide you with tax exemptions which might otherwise be applicable.

Please do the following to assist us with this analysis:

1) Use the website address, password, and username given below to enter the site. If this is the first time you have entered the secure Foreign National Information System (FNIS) website, you will be asked to change your password. If you have forgotten your password, email FN-info@wellesley.edu.

2) Complete the questions in as much detail as possible. You can "save with errors" if you have answered in as much detail as possible. There are many useful Help buttons to assist you if you have any questions as you move through the web pages.

3) Before exiting the program make a copy of the Immigration Status Data page which can be found by clicking on the View Data button on the Step 6: Confirmation page.

After we have reviewed the information that you submitted, we will send you an email to confirm that your paperwork is ready for your signature. At that time, you may request a meeting with a staff member at the Controller's Office by sending an email to FN-info@wellesley.edu. Available meeting times are Tuesdays thru Fridays from 3 to 5pm.

Magic 106.7 – the station that only plays music that “won’t embarrass you in front of your kids or your customers.”

...
- that's not a word!
- Of course it’s a word. And unless I’m very much mistaken, I think it’s going to prove a rather useful one.
- But it doesn’t mean anything!
- It can mean precisely what you want it to!
...




8.30 am. sullivan street. cities, just as people: you have to wake up to their early morning faces to find out whether you will really get along.



yes. I will.



when I think new york, I think spring. I think: green, central park, birds. I think: people walking their dogs. t-shirts all year round. I think: colorful pencils and martinis on rooftops. it is spring in all the movies set in new york I have ever seen.
and: it does feel like spring. all year round. no matter what the temperature.



carry away.



breathe...



where harry met sally!



I love coming home to new places to a hug from old friends. coming home to old places to a hug from new friends. that I get to play a little part in the lives of certain wonderful people. my crazy friends and my quiet ones, and the comforting feeling of not being forgotten, where ever I am.



If.


...have a slice of never-running-out-of-wonderful-day. all of you. out there. whoever you are.

I: Do you have crochet needles?
Woman at the counter (very small, very wrinkled, very old): What?
I: Crochet needles?
Woman at the counter: What?
I: Crooo-cheee needles.
Woman at the counter: What?
I (demonstrating a movement that probably makes her think of chopsticks): Crochet needles. To crochet.
Woman at the counter: What? (She looks thoughtful at her shoes for a while and ages another five years due to the exhaustion of thinking. Then, in Spanish): No, creo que no.
I: Do you know where I could get one?
Woman at the counter: No se. Ask at the beauty desk. They know.

I walk over to the beauty desk. Two women, looking very bored and exactly alike (except that one is the 30 years older edition of the other), hiding under half a decimeter of make-up:

Older woman: Can I help you?
I: I’m looking for a crochet needle.
Younger woman: There might be one at the knitting corner.
Older woman: We don’t have any.
I: I know – I was wondering whether you know where I could get one.
Younger woman: We might have some!
Older woman (rolls her eyes and whispers into my direction): We don’t have any. But let’s do her the honor and follow her.

We follow the younger woman to the knitting section. It consists of shoelaces in different colors and sizes.

Younger woman, looking sorry: We don’t have any.
Older woman (looking bored, pointing at the shoelaces): How about a glue stick?
I: No, not today.
(awkward pause)
I: I really think you should start selling crochet needles.
(awkward pause)
Older woman: Do you crochet yourself or is it a present?
I: I need it to fix my hair.
Older woman: Maybe you should go to a hairsalon.
I: I don’t think they have crochet needles.
Older woman: They might have something else. Maybe a pen!
I: Maybe. I will try.
Older woman: Have a nice evening!
Younger woman: I am sorry.
I: Thank you!

(* CVS is a pharmacy.)

You need to come from different directions in order to cross paths.

"Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints."









Rain makes applesauce. With pork chops!



In the furniture garden.

"A man is born an artist as a hippopotamus is born a hippopotamus; you can no more make yourself one than you can make yourself a giraffe."

(John Ruskin)

Ich laufe also durch den leisen Rieselschnee, da überholt mich einer auf einem Tandem, einem gelben, und fragt mich, ob er mich ein Stück mitnehmen darf. Er sieht zerzaust aus und ein bisschen verwegen, so, als würde er Clemens heißen und Philosophie studieren. Das Tandem ist ganz rostfleckige Gemütlichkeit und die Schweinsledertasche am Gepäcksträger hat ein Loch vom vielen Philosophieren.

Ich mag’s wenn es schneit.

Und: Es schneit! Es schneit unter den Füßen knirschenden zweiten Schnee des Jahres, Leiserieselschnee, den man fallen hört, wenn man durch einen Wald spazierend ganz genau hin hört. Diesen Schnee, der Autofahrgeräusche verschluckt und der nach Weihnachten riecht, Mitten-in-der-Nacht-durch-den-Schnee-lauf-Schnee, aber diesmal ohne Musik, weil Unterdenturnschuhenknirschschnee unter den Turnschuhen knirschen gehört werden muss, und... keine Zeit, nach draußen, und allererste Fußspuren durch den zweiten Wellesleywinterlandschaftsschnee laufen, und dann heimkommen und eine Schneegeschichte schreiben, am besten gar nicht schlafen gehen heute Nacht ...