Berlin Bureacratic Adventures!!!!

So this page is dedicated to the wonderfully ridiculous process that was securing my visa in Deutschland haha. Sooo great. So in Germany, you're allowed to stay up to 3 months and then you have to apply for a permit to stay. There is one office in Berlin where everybody handles their visa business. It's only open certain days of the week at certain hours - and they charge you whatever the hell they feel like at the time for it haha. I kid you not. So this morning, they happened to open at 7 am. We were told by our program director to get there before then. College students/Berliners that we are, I have definitely gone to sleep after 7 more times that I've woken up before 7 during my time in Europe. But I accept this daunting task with an adventurous spirit. I wandered through the streets of Berlin at 5:30 this morning in a zombie-like fashion, forgetting my map to get from the U-Bahn to the office but somehow managing to not forget my important papers. Bianca and I meet up halfway to the place at our favorite downtown Dunkin Donuts, where we get verbally and nearly physically assaulted by some homeless guy. But luckily the picture of beautiful German masculine perfection that worked behind the counter leaped over it and came to our rescue. There is nothing like being rescued by a beautiful German man to start your visa adventure day haha.

We leave Dunkin Donuts (with reluctant hearts) and make our way to the visa office. We know the stop but not actually where it is (thanks to my brilliant forgetful, map-leaving self). So we wander... ask a few questions to grumpy morning Germans. (Most ignore us or look confused). The few helpful people point us in a general direction... where we see lots of people trickling into a large, government-looking building with flags we follow. We get a ticket from the unhelpful woman at the front (I mean if I had her job I'd probably be a little grumpy too), and sit. And wait. This cute little two year old keeps trying to take my jacket. It was hilarious. An hour or two passes. Long story short, 4 HOURS and some heartache later, I go into the final office to get my pretty, colorful German permit to stay. I try to pay, because at this point all of the Stanford students have theirs and are leaving. Theirs were for 3 months and all cost 50 euro. I get mine back, look at it, and am slightly confused. It's for a year. I'm thinking, I hope theyre not gonna charge me like 15o Euro for this ish and then play the "we don't speak English card" so the silly American will just pay. But then I start to pull out my wallet to gesture I need to pay and the lady says no, you are fine. I say what? She says, no money. You are fine. Baffled and incredulous, I stupidly say, are you sure? My friends had to pay 50 Euro. In the German way, she shakes her head with finality and waves me away. I got a yearlong visa. For. Free. For no reason. Maybe they liked my scarf, maybe the cashier fell ill and they didn't feel like dealing with my non-German speaking self trying to pay. I supposed I paid with 4 hours of my life, but still. So ridiculous. Ridiculllouusss. I still am in shock haha.