Two posts in one day because I'm bored. I've done my German stuff, sent off some articles and ideas, downloaded some stuff. The weather is grey and cold, and it's Sunday so of course all the shops are shut (I must do a post about that sometime).
So I'm going to talk about registration (Anmeldung). Here in Germany it is compulsory for everyone, Germans as well as foreigners, to register with the police. I don't know how well it works. If you look at the top of my blog, you'll see I put that I'm one of 250 NZers here. I got that figure from a Tagespiegel article John's wife Tanja showed me, which added up all the registered foreigners in Berlin (there was one lonely Tongan, as I recall). But the number can't be too accurate - for one, the article was from the end of last year and I was counted even though I wasn't here then. That's because I didn't fill in my Abmeldung form (an un-registration form) when I left at the end of 2000. And heaps of people don't bother to register because it's a pain in the ass.
But, being a good girl (and wanting to open a bank account, which you need the form for), I dragged my bf to the Meldungsbüro in June to register. The process is this: You buy the forms and fill them in at home (or try to, some of it's quite complicated). Then you go as soon as the büro opens, take a number and wait two hours, praying it will all work out and the waiting hasn't been for nothing. You get ushered into a room, most likely inhabited by some sour old crank who hates his/her boring job. Questions are asked, corrections are made to mistakes on the form (you must fill in the religion section, even if you don't have one. I later found out this part is to deduct your pay for Church Tax if you are so inclined.) My visit was slightly unfortunate - it was discovered I'd never filled in the Abmeldung form for 2000 and had skewed their stats ever since. Naughty me! Then it was revealed I didn't know the address of where I'd allegedly lived, so Sour Woman heaved a sigh and filled it in for me. Then it was further revealed that whoever had helped me with my first form in 2000 had declared me divorced, and Sour Woman looked sceptical when I swore I'd never even been married. Luckily I was not asked to prove this (how could I?)
Finally, after hours of waiting and maintaining my single status, I was registered with the police. So they can now find me if they want, which isn't exactly appealing, but there you go. What a palaver. But it's a necessary evil for any kind of administrative thing in Berlin, eg bank card, video card, library card, phone plans... People are always shocked to find out such a process does not exist in NZ and my passport, the only formal ID doc I have save my driver's licence, is only for travelling with and I didn't even have that until I was 20!