This morning I finally picked up my Visa, or Aufenthaltserlaubnis. Of course, you must bring with you a certain sense of humor when working with the Germans.
| Clerk: | Come in. |
| Dennis: | I think that maybe someone is already helping me…(a woman from the other room had already taken my paper). |
| Clerk: | If you want the paper giving you permission to be in Germany, follow me. Of course, you are free to wait outside my door if you prefer. |
When you arrive in Germany, you have six days to register with the residence bureau, which is open two and a half hours per day, except on Wednesdays, when it is closed.
You can wait in line to register at the bureau, but they will tell you to make an appointment. The office is open one hour per day to book appointments by phone. You can’t get a cell phone without a bank account.
And you can’t get a bank account without registering with the bureau. So you use a pay phone. When you call for an appointment, they absolutely won’t give you one: you must come in and wait in line.
I think this is the formal form of schadenfreude.
the afterburner 