Here I am in Germany, just arrived and already enjoying the lovely sounds of German bureaucracy. Certainly being a foreign resident anywhere involves bureaucracy, but the german words are just so much cooler. In the last few days: I have visited the Kreisverwaltungsreferat, the Akademisches Auslandsamt, the Einwohnermeldeamt, and the Wohnheimverwaltung; I have successfully angemeldet, eingeschrieben, and belegt; and have acquired wonderful pieces of paper, such as my Immatrikulations-Bescheinigung, a Zulassungsbescheid, a Mietvertrag, and a Vorlesungsverzeichnis. With a bit of luck, I will be able to complete my duties as a foreign student in Bavaria by getting a Gesundheitszeugnis, an Aufenthaltsbewilligung, and an endgültigen Studentenausweis. With all that done, I can finally get a library card! Thank heavens it's Oktoberfest and one can relax at the end of each day by first joining 8,000 other people in a huge beer tent and singing bad American hits from the 70s while standing on your chair and drinking a liter of beer, then eating half a chicken, having another liter of beer and hopping on one of the 15 roller coaster rides that turns you upside-down three or four times!
If you have any plans to come to Germany to study (and I highly recommend it) have a great time and learn a lot, but before you leave, please return to the Ausländerbehörde to abmelden and to the Universitätssekretariat for Exmatrikulation. Oh, and try not to throw up!
Update - After one and a half months in Germany... all 8 of the American Fulbrighters have successfully registered with the authorities, 6 of the 8 have acquired their visas to stay in the country, 2 of the 8 have received their student IDs, 1 of 8 has a library card, and none have working ATM cards.
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Here I am in Germany, just arrived and already enjoying the lovely sounds of German bureaucracy. Certainly being a foreign resident anywhere involves bureaucracy, but the german words are just so much cooler. In the last few days: I have visited the Kreisverwaltungsreferat, the Akademisches Auslandsamt, the Einwohnermeldeamt, and the Wohnheimverwaltung; I have successfully angemeldet, eingeschrieben, and belegt; and have acquired wonderful pieces of paper, such as my Immatrikulations-Bescheinigung, a Zulassungsbescheid, a Mietvertrag, and a Vorlesungsverzeichnis. With a bit of luck, I will be able to complete my duties as a foreign student in Bavaria by getting a Gesundheitszeugnis, an Aufenthaltsbewilligung, and an endgültigen Studentenausweis. With all that done, I can finally get a library card! Thank heavens it's Oktoberfest and one can relax at the end of each day by first joining 8,000 other people in a huge beer tent and singing bad American hits from the 70s while standing on your chair and drinking a liter of beer, then eating half a chicken, having another liter of beer and hopping on one of the 15 roller coaster rides that turns you upside-down three or four times!