My room and general update

(-I'm so happy to be here! -Me too!)

I actually moved into my apartment at the end of August, but it has only recently started to feel like my room. I just need art and curtains.

I ended up looking at about 9 apartments. When I visited this one I put a star by my name when I wrote down my name and phone number next to the other dozen people who had already come over. They said the star really helped.

The sofa and two armchairs I bought on ebay for one Euro. Whoa.
Any idea on what I should name my new yellow cat (see rug) would be appreciated.

And I am, by the way, very lucky to know the Sagerts. They're the family of a German girl I met when I was 17 in Ireland (hi, Hanna)! They were nice enough to loan me the mattress, the table, the small shelves, as well as doing countless other things for me. I'm sure my Heimweh (homesickness) would be much worse without them.

(Yes, those are beds)



Oma! (Grandmom)

So anyway, this is the biggest room I've ever had in my life.

It's in a nice Altbau (old building) and it's with two great roommates (find my blog yet, Flo? : ))

It's in a great area. Very far from my work, but I wasn't going to live anywhere near my work anyway.

The Euro signs are where are work, the green house is where I lived 2 years ago, the volcano is where I live now and the 'i' is there I studied. And these two fucking little yellow stars I just can't get rid of.

Why is everything so crazy far from where I want to live?

It's really been ok, though. I only have to change trains once, which just gives me time to people watch and read. At the moment I'm reading Russian Disco by Wladimir Kaminer, I very much recommend it. It's particularly great if you know Berlin.
I've finally opened a library account (I needed my visa first). It's amazing, they have all sorts of books and magazines for German as a second language (DaF). I'm also reading these Deutsch Perfect magazines from the last couple of years, I really wanted them before but they're like 6 Euros. They're really great, because they give definitions of the hard words in German at the bottom of the page and all the topics have to do with Germany (obviously). Also highly recommended.
I also took out a beginners French book and CD, a book on how to write love letters in German, which is pretty hilarious, and at least 6 other books. Two weeks for magazines and 4 weeks for books. Seems reasonable. They charge you 2 Euros for anything that's on the bestsellers list, so it's going to be classics and just plain old books for me, but that's fine.

Berlin's changed a little bit. It's always so weird when I see something new. This guy here for example was not there before (see picture at the top of this page). Not SO many things are different, but I also just forgot how some things are and I'm not going to pretend it didn't take a little effort to get used to everything again. A lot of my friends had moved away, I'm not going to school anymore, so making new friends is harder and just the paper work in general was crazy.

So having a couple Minneapoliser here when I got here was nice.

Micah BF and I got to hang out a couple times, including at the Fuck Parade ("less commercial Love Parade", sure why not).

Make it a parade against Nazis? Sure, as long as we're protesting against SOMETHING.



Then Micah left.

I also got to hang out with Kiley.



...but then she left too.

Now I spend my time working and trying to get myself to do anything else. I had been sick for a couple weeks, so I'm excited to have some energy again.

Be excited to find out more about the school system in Berlin.

VISAVISUMVISAVISUMVISAVISUMVISAVISUMVISAVISUMVISAVISUM

I know I said post about something but visa...but...VISA.

As I said, they expected things from me they didn't tell me about. I had to wait another half an hour in the waiting room (number 343) before I was called in.

This was in German of course, but I'm pretty sure my translation is right on the nose.

Big German Lady: Ok, so what in zee hell makes you zeink you have zee right to teach English? Where did you study it? Where is you certificate?

Me: Um. I speak English, here is my CV, it says right here I speak English.

BGL: Zeat is not enough. Other German Lady, is that enough? You don't know? I must ask my other colleague, please wait in the waiting room.

Me: AHHHHHHHHHHHH

I wait in the waiting room and write frantic-scared-shit text messages to Jens. Start to fantasize about having to leave my wonderful apartment and go back to Minneapolis and having to tell the school that I can't work for them after all and having to tell everyone I know that life sucks and is not worth living. 11 years, 2 months, 4 hours, 30 minutes and 7 seconds later they call me back (343 flashes again on the score board).

BGL: Insurance?

Me: Yes, here.

BGL: Go pay 50 euros.

Me: Ok! Sure you don't want 500???!!!

(Me: Mench, das hatte mich aber erschrocken.
BGL: Ja, ist schon ok.)

Whoa. Not only does she show me the visa she's about to put in my passport, but it costs 10 Euros less than they told me it would! That's like getting 16 German Biere.

The other 23 doctuments they of course didn't actually need and the photos I paid like 20 dollars for were also useless, they used mine from before.

That means that I LIVE HERE IN BERLIN. No one's kicking me out! And I'm not on a program, I really just live here and work here! That is so unbelievably weird. It expires next Oktober, but I should be studying by then and not need it.

This means it is now illegal now that I'm working at a community college equivalent (Volkshochschule) on Fridays teaching two English classes for beginners (often in German!).


Look at that there. I'm a teacher. My name and everything.
Right between Bier and Fürk (not at all German names).

This is all very exciting.

Visa Update

So.

I decided to go to the Ausländerbehörde (Foreigners' Registration Office) and beg for an appointment because I had to start working.

And let me tell you.

This place is fun.

I met a nice Pakistani man who I talked to for the hour and a half that I sat in the waiting room. Who told me that everyone goes in to make an appointment, that's what he was doing. Whoops. That's a mistake I won't be making again. Stupid Germany. Why can't I do this online.
And you won't be surprised to hear that once my number (209) was finally called, they told me they couldn't help me and that I should go to another room upstairs. Luckily I didn't have to wait there too.

This was also great.
(GIVE ME AN APPOINTMENT)

Even better is this *somewhat* racist statue (reminder: at a Foreigners' Office).
(The good ol' happy go lucky poor drunk black guy, who doesn't want one of those?)

And finally they give me an appointment...for when? Weeks and weeks later. September 17th. That's this week! Now it doesn't seem that bad, but I made that appointment two weeks ago. And I actually needed that for my apartment and to uh, work. But I'm working anyway...hopefully that won't be a problem since I won't be paid until October anyway.

I'll need...
- My passport
- General Formula
- Proof of insurance (that's a post in and of itself, but in short: Germany sucks, won't give me insurance as a freelancer for under 600 Euros, so now I have travel insurance and will be paying for any and all preexisting conditions myself. So long, preexisting idea that Germany is perfect)
- At least 2 offers for work (we'll see if two different schools work)
- A letter saying why a European can't do the job (because Europeans aren't as smart as Americans)
- Registration for my Apartment (will Ariella's apartment be ok? Close enough?)
- Something I guess I don't understand and need help with..
- And last but not least: 60 Euros.

Oh, and of course.. at least 3 things they forgot to tell me about but will hold me accountable for anyway, I'm sure.

At least I have a bank account with money in it from some translation work (goldmine apparently). And know this, people: you don't need a visa to get a bank account. Don't listen to the people at Postbank.

Posts about anything but visas to come. Look out.