Officially a Resident of Berlin

Finally starting to feel like home here, at first was almost vacation like.  Found an expat group here in Berlin and have been to two of the meet-ups, although it still feels a little strange to say, yes I live here in Berlin.  As of today I am actually an official resident of the city.  Also learned that the wheels of the German bureaucracy turn just as slowly as those in America.  Went to the local Buergeramt here in the neighborhood of Berlin that I live and got a number,  thought it was not going to be that long of a wait until I realized that the waiting room was down the hall not in the office there directly.  Walking down the hall I came to a door, I still have trouble sometimes and have to think what way to pull or push the door, I keep confusing the words and several times have tried to push a pull door or vise versa and received some strange looks from the other people.  Anyways made it through the door into the vast cavernous waiting room that of course was filled with people.  Looking up I saw that my number was about 45 spaces away, great.  Not bringing a book or Ipod I had nothing to do.  Fortunately unlike in the US where our government buildings are relegated to stand alone buildings with huge parking lots, this building was smack dab in the middle of a busy commercial area.  After seeing how long it took for the numbers to chance, went over  to the H&M at the mall and did some shopping, picked up a German Vogue and an Apfelschole and headed back to the Buergeramt.  Coming back 30 minutes later the numbers had slowly moved up 10 spaces, but at least now I had some entertainment.  Two and a half hours later finally was called into the office.  One major difference with the government here and in Atlanta is the lack of plastic windows and metal slots where you have to stick you papers through.  I went to a desk and sat down across from a very nice and pleasant woman.  She talked to me for a minute and got all of the information she needed, stamped my paper and I was on my way.  This is only the first step along the journey, but at least I now have enough to get everything from a bank account to a blockbuster membership.

oh, and she also gave me a great New Resident Handbook for Berlin