This post is about a month overdue. BUT, I actually think it makes sense that I waited to post this because this story’s ending was just a few days ago. Anyways, the worst day I've had since being here…
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One of my best friends from high school, Morgan, had told me she was going to be in England. Of course, I jumped at the chance to meet her there! She was staying with a professor of hers in Cambridge,but we were to meet in London. She was flying in from Alaska, while I was flying from Germany. It had seemed like a long shot for this too work out, but finally, the plans were set: I was flying to London on January 10th!! I had bought tickets (on the “expensive” side from RyanAir on such short notice) and even booked the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio London tour- which I was PSYCHED about. Since a British pound is worth more than an American dollar, that was expensive too. Plus, my plane left early on a Friday morning so I’d miss a couple classes. But a weekend in England with one of my best friends (AND A HARRY POTTER STUDIO TOUR!!!) was totally worth it for me. When would I ever get a chance like this again? I was so excited, even though England has never really interested me and I would normally not spend the money to go there, when there are cities like Amsterdam, Bruges, and Paris so much closer. She was travelling with two of her friends from college as well, so I was excited to meet them and have a weekend of fun and fellowship.
My flight would leave from Dortmund at around 8am, a city which is an hour away by train. I ended up leaving Bielefeld at 5am, to get to the airport 2 hours early (and working around an airport shuttle that left only every 30 minutes). However, I hadn’t slept because I’d been Skyping another friend about our Epic Spring Break Trip until 2 am. After finalizing everything, I went to bed around 3, but never fell asleep. At 4 I decided to just get ready and double check everything- I was just too excited!!
Fast forward to Dortmund-I still hadn’t slept, not even on the train, and was bursting with excitement. In a few hours, I’ll be in London with Morgan!! The thought kept swirling through my head, causing me to break out in random smiles. I had planned really well, I got to the train station with just enough time to catch the shuttle bus.
In fact, I got there before the passport control was open! So I took a seat in the waiting area by my gate. I was typing up my last post about Christmastime (this was the weekend after I’d returned from Hannover) when I heard a gruff male voice (in German) ask me for my ID.
And thus began this terrible ordeal.
I ruffled through my bag for my passport, handing it to the police officer without hesitation or trepidation. I was completely unprepared for the turn of events.
Looking at my passport, the officer asked me if I had a residence permit. For those who don’t know, as an American citizen, I didn’t need a visa to enter Germany. However, unless you have a residence permit, you can only stay for 90 days. If you recall, I’d gone to the Rathaus (town hall) during my first week here to take care of that. Or so I thought.
I told him that I thought I did, and then he asked me for my residence card. This is when I got butterflies in my stomach, and not in a good way- I had no residence card. I told him that I should have a residence permit, or at least thought I did, from the Rathaus in Bielefeld.
“You need to come with me.” He said. I gathered my things and followed him to the passport control booth. He still had my passport and was on some kind of database thing and told me that I didn’t have a residence permit. I told him how I’d gone to the Rathaus my first week there. He called Bielefeld’s Rathaus, and played some more on the computer. At this point, I was scared, confused, and was getting really worried. I started texting one of my best friends here, Tena, frantically: asking if she had a residence permit or if she’d heard of anyone having one, what I should do, etc. Finally, he hung up and told me this: I had no residence permit, and when I’d gone to the Rathaus in September, I’d merely registered, letting the town hall know I was there. I felt like the ground disappeared beneath my feet, and my stomach twisted. He went on to question me as to why I didn’t have a permit. He repeated again and again that this was not okay. I was near tears and explained that when I’d registered at the Rathaus, I’d thought that was the resident permit application. I had no idea that it was a completely separate process, and I had spoken NO German then, so the entire visit and dealings had been translated to me by my mentor. No mention of having to go back and apply for a residence permit ever came up, so I thought that it had all been taken care of. I really thought I had a residence permit. All of my friends here only needed a visa or are European citizens, so it’s not like anyone would have ever been like, “Hey Brittni, did you get your residence permit?” I had been texting Tena throughout all of this, and she was as confused as I was.
The officer told me that since I didn’t have a permit, technically I’d overstayed my 90-day visa by a month, and that if I left Germany that day I couldn’t come back for 3 months. I was floored. I saw my grand plans for the weekend go up in smoke. The plans I had SO been looking forward to. Seeing my friend. Harry Potter tour. I couldn’t stop my throat from closing and the tears springing to my eyes from fear and disappointment.
I asked the officer what to do. He gave me a piece of paper and told me to go to Bielefeld’s rathaus immediately, since it closed at noon (…no comment on that. A 4 hour workday? Come on) . He said that if I hadn’t started an application for a residence permit in two days, then I would be arrested. I’m pretty sure that was a hollow threat, but it was completely unnecessary-I was in tears. In a moment of kindness he told me that maybe if I got everything taken care of at the Rathaus by noon today, I could fly tomorrow. My hopes lifted a little.
So, with a heavy heart, I left Dortmund. The shuttle bus driver was surprised to see me and I think he knew I wasn’t feeling well. It was about 10 am by that time, and I’d sent a message to Morgan that I would not, in fact, be meeting her at King’s Cross Station. Tena was also worried and trying to help me, she was going to meet me at the rathaus so she could understand the technical German and be there with me. It was 11am when I got to Bielefeld, and I took the S-Bahn home for about 5 minutes, tearing apart my room looking for any important papers I might need at the rathaus: proof of enrollment, funds, etc. I snatched the papers from their hiding places and took the S-Bahn to the Rathaus. I took a number and a seat, and was able to see someone before Tena arrived.
The woman there was SO. UNHELPFUL. And extremely rude. I, having not slept and been through the emotional ups and downs, was a mess. She needed only two things: proof of health insurance and a passport picture. I could have punched myself: they were still at home. I explained that I could have those things in about 10 minutes if she would wait; my flatmates were home and they knew what I’d been through that morning, and could bring me those things. Know what she said? “No, I don’t want wait. It is noon. I have weekend now!” and gave me a paper saying I’d started the application (in case police happened to ask me). I wanted to shake her and say, “I HAVE A WEEKEND TOO, IN LONDON!”, but apparently her 4-hour workday had been so strenuous that she couldn’t wait an extra 10 minutes. The Rathaus is closed on the weekend, so all hope for going to London vanished for real. I walked out of there crying, again, and Tena just hugged me. I’m not usually a crying person but I was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted, going from super excited to rock bottom disappointment in a matter of hours.
Worst of all? All I wanted to do was sleep for a million years, but that annoyingly diligent part of my brain made me go to my class I hadn’t missed. What class? Oh, the irony: British Literature. I can only imagine how I looked to my classmates (probably like I’d been hit by a truck…which I had, mentally). I swallowed my disappointment, 2 non-refundable flights and a non-refundable tour, and survived class. And then SLEPT. After not sleeping and waiting outside on cold train platforms, I got sick, just the icing on the cake.
The next week, I went back to the rathaus, since this is an issue that is larger than just me not being able to fly to London: I need that residence card to be legal here. I could barely talk, thanks to my throat. I brought my health insurance and picture this time. Again, I got another rude bureaucratic worker who told me that my passport picture was too small. I wondered if she could see the steam pouring out of my ears. I left the rathaus, got new pictures, went back, and took another number. Finally, FINALLY, they submitted my application. They told me that I would get a letter in 3-4 weeks, and then a week after receiving the letter I could come pick up my card. (How slow can this system be?!)
And, this Thursday, I went to the rathaus and picked up my holographic, official, very German, Residence Card. My days of being an illegal alien here are over!
So, that day I was really heartbroken, severely disappointed, and sleep deprived. BUT…I got over it by the end of the day. I was actually glad this happened now instead of later-only a month of illegalness. And I would have been much, MUCH more disappointed (and wasted much more money) had I discovered all of this when I fly to Rome to start my spring break travels in a couple weeks. There really is a plan behind everything.
But, and I am not kidding, I firmly believe that German bureaucracy workers have sold their souls and are going to hell.
And now that I’ve told you about the worst day since being here, I’ll tell you a much happier story!
Our semester has ended here, as of last week, and the end of the semester hit me like a train! Two of my favorite classes, American Modernism and American Gothic, both ended on great notes. We had a 5 hour class one Saturday for American Gothic, which included watching The Shining (thank you Ms. Hileman’s IB Film in high school) and Buffy the vampires slayer.
My America Modernism professor organized a field trip for us for our final meeting to Cologne, (in German, Köln) to see the Ludwig Museum, an art museum, to see the way modernism was reflected in the arts. It’s 3 hours by train, and only myself, two other students, and our professor came. It was actually so fun to hang out with our professor and get to know her on an informal level! The museum was also interesting and very thought-provoking, of course ;) No pictures were allowed unfortunately, but my favorite exhibit was one that took up this ENORMOUS room, covered in propaganda messages and pictures, with black and red assaulting your eyes from every angle. From a loudspeaker boomed hateful messages and propaganda messages and wild cheering. Huge words such as “THINK LIKE US” and “PRAY LIKE US” were written in bold red on the walls. The room was very overpowering, it really represented propaganda and its influence well. Afterwards, we went to a pizza place and had the local specialty beer of Cologne, Kölsch. It was odd to me, to drink with a professor, but it wasn’t that strange at all! It was a great day and I even got some studying in for my exam the next day! I also decided to take my modernist professor’s class on African Heritage in the Caribbean literature class next semester, even though it’s on Fridays…when you have a great professor, you can’t just pass up another class taught by them!
Yesterday, Valentine’s Day, I went to Hannover and spent the day with Felix. That boy did good, and took me to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. Chinese food…my one true love. Later we went to his friend’s band’s concert at a bierkeller (bar), where they covered old American rock songs. The bar was full of people in leather over 50 but they were rocking! It was actually kind of cute, haha. Valentine’s day is NOT hyped here like it is in America, but I still saw some guys carrying around some flowers. Daw.
I really can’t believe this semester is over. Already some friends have left Bielefeld, and I really cannot imagine what it’ll be like to go home. I’m SO glad I’m staying for a year! As much as I miss my family and friends in Juneau and Palmer, I feel like coming home now would’ve been strange. Besides, I have a TV here now and am starting to be able to understand the shows! (German daytime television…let me tell you the true definition of completely, hilariously, meaningless television)
So now, I have 6 weeks of kind-of freedom! “Kind-of” freedom because I still have an essay due at the end of March (but I’ll write it beforehand) and an oral exam at the end of Febraury. But, have I got some plans I’m seriously stoked for!!
At the end of this next week, I’m headed to Amsterdam, the Netherlands with my Danish friend who I know from her exchange year at my high school!! Yay :D
In the first part of March, I’ll head to Rome to meet up with my Palmer friend who’s studying this semester there. From Rome, we’ll go to Verona and Vicenza, staying with my friend from Bielefeld who is done with his semester here. Then we’ll spend 5 days after that in Munich (read: Neuschwanstein Castle!) We have got so many plans for Munich/Austria! From Munich, I’ll bid Destiny goodbye and meet my flatmates in Vienna, Austria, and thus commence our adventure from Austria to Poland (through Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Warsaw, and Krakow). My birthday will be during this time- I am so blessed.
I’m wary to post these plans, seeing as my last plans ended in disaster, but I’m legal now and I’m ready to go!
I am happy to live out of my backpack for a month, if it means I get to see part of the world.
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