Alien Invasion! German Bureaucracy at its Finest and another visit with the Kellermanns

ALIENS!

This week was very exciting, especially for Preston and Paton, because we are now officially legal ALIENS. Ok, so maybe this wasn't really exciting. Maybe it was mentally exhausting, time consuming and most of all, expensive. Anyone coming to Germany for more than three months must register with the local government. We didn't really know how to do this, and didn't get a lot of help because the International office at the Uni recently moved buildings and had personnel changes, and the registration office changed from paper to smart cards on Sep 1. To sum it up, we were on our own trying to figure out what we needed to do.

We were not really sure what documents we would need. Luckily, Russell took pictures of all the documents that we thought we might need before we left Norfolk including: birth certificates, marriage license, insurance cards and letters of financial security as well as a copy of the letter inviting Russell to come to Uni Münster.

We had to fill out paper work, bring along photos similar to passport photos, and then have our electronic fingerprints taken. The first time Russell and I went while the kids were at school because we thought perhaps only Russell would have to register since he is the only one working. Turns out, we all have to go through the process. A very helpful woman attending our paperwork told us Dienstag (Tuesday) was a good day to come as they are not as busy. Both times, we patiently took a number at the sign in desk and then walked down the hall to the waiting room. The waiting room is where we ended up spending most of our time. Everyone waited for their number to be flashed on an electric sign also indicating which room you should go to. It would take about 30 minutes between numbers (even at the start of the day). It could have been murderously boring, but it was full of other people not quite sure of what they were doing. During our first trip a man asked Russell, in Broken German, if Russell would take his number IF the room he was assigned to was a particular number. Russell agreed, but it felt a little sketchy. Luckily, when the guy's number came up, the room was an acceptable number. There were a fair amount of other people waiting who seemed to be from all over the world. Some were registering because they were going to go to the University, some were married to a German and were just taking care of their business so they could be together. One particularly interesting observation was seeing a your Iranian couple making fun of the accents of a some Indian Students. It was odd to see racism here.

All in all, the employees were helpful, but I was reminded that Germans do love their Bureaucracy, as well as their efficiency. Speaking of efficiency, I forgot to mention that the office is only open Monday thru Friday from 8 am to 12 noon. A whopping 4 hours a day.  Of course this meant the boys had to miss school the day we went back with them. So, 300 Euros poorer, and several hours we will never get back, we are Aliens.

The real highlight of the week was another visit with Paulina and her Family. Our original plan was for them to come visit with us in our apartment. The weather had been a little cool and rainy, so when the forecast promised relatively warm weather Ute asked if we would rather meet at her father's house just outside of Münster.

Here we are with Paulina's Aunt, Hedi, her Grandfather and two of her cousins. You can't see the house or much of the garden, but it was lovely.

Ute was also kind enough to give us a few gifts. One was this lovely bouquet above.

She also gave us some marmalade her husband made from sour cherries - it is so good.
The smaller jar has a kind of jelly made from a fruit I am still trying to find the name of.  Ute said she wasn't sure if we would like it, since her children don't. However, as you can see from the jar, we LOVE it. Paton says it tastes like honey. They also gave us a bag of apples (already eaten, so no pictures) as well as some fresh walnuts (that need to dry out a bit).

We are so lucky to have friends here. Our adjustment has been pretty easy overall, and knowing that we have people to call on if we need it is very reassuring.

I wouldn't say that we are home sick or suffering from any culture shock, but there is just so much to get used to here that you would take for granted at home. At first we really only missed the more everyday things like being able to wash clothes whenever I want or having a cheese grater and slicer. Something as simple as making a bank deposit at our local bank, Sparkasse, took us days to figure out.  We finally learned, after having to ask at the help desk, that to make a deposit you have to go to a different part of the bank. There are ATMs (Geldautomat) for withdrawals and a whole different set for deposits. We would never have found it on our own.

That said, we really do love it here. Both of the boys are really doing well as school and have made friends.