the little wins...

Last week I had received a letter in the mail. It was my 'personal identification number'. The letter looked pretty serious and lengthy, and needed some equally serious translating. It turned out this is my taxation number and the letter simply stated that this number should be used for any tax purposes. I don't need it now, but probably good to have. Problem was that Nordine did not get a similar letter.

We left the letter thing until today, wandering if maybe it would arrive separately but so far it hadn't. We have  presumed that the postman didn't know where to put it as Nordine had registered under her maiden name and this was not listed on our letter box at the time (Just my name stuck on the box).

So we decided that we should go and try to sort it out. How would we do this? Well...back to the old Bürgeramt (district office) we would have to go!

In addition to this story, a little less than three weeks ago we had tried to register for a German language course at the local Volkshochschule. Because it wasn't Tuesday we weren't allowed to ask many questions! - detailed here. The Volkshochschule is next to the Bürgeramt, and of course today was Tuesday. Two birds one stone maybe.

The first stop was the Bürgeramt and I had to speak to the same lady that thought my German was rubbish last time. I gave her a spiel (in German) about how we had registered together, how I got this letter with my number and how my wife did not get one. She said a few things to which I answered and then she turned to Nordine and said in German 'I can't understand his accent'. hah! She printed out a 'waiting ticket' and we went to the same old waiting room once more.

Not long after we were called in and got the officer that we had the very first time we came here. The one that speaks no English. We both bamboozled her with our attempts at German and she seemed to understand the story. We were expecting typical Bürgeramt service, but she pressed a couple of buttons and printed out a letter for Nordine which had her personal identification number on it. Too easy!

It was only a little thing, but it felt like quite a win to go to the office one time only and get a result!

With that done we went next door to the Volkshochschule. 

At the office there were some people waiting outside but no one seemed to be doing anything. 

A sign said placement tests today in room 1103 so we went to have a look. Inside were some people taking test and what looked like officials evaluating the performance.

We weren't really sure if we should go in or not when someone came out of another office and we quickly gained her attention. She told us to go straight in. Inside the room we were quickly attended to by a lady that spoke reasonable English and gave us some useful information. She said the classes were already full for this month, but we could register for next month. It sounds a bit backwards, but in February we have to go to another district to register but we can take the classes here in our own district. At least that's what we understood.

We told the lady that we had already completed the A1 (beginner) level and that we wanted to enrol in A2. We took the test, which she said would get harder as it went on. At the very first question we both stumbled and thought we might have to start back at A1 again. After question 1 things got a little easier, and then soon became to difficult for us to continue. We had been told to stop once we started guess the answers and so we stopped. Another lady that spoke zero English came to assess our results. 

Nordine scored 24, and this put her in the A2 bracket. She then scored my test and I only got 22! I was sweating a bit that I might be downgraded but I just made the cut off (which we think is 21) and also was assigned A2 level. We were quite pleased with this, it would be a waste to start over again, and beyond us to go any higher. We got to keep the test results and will need to take them with us to the registration day in a couple of weeks.

With that sorted we went to the nearby 'Ring Centre' shopping centre. Nordine has bought a mobile phone sim card which has had its credit drained immediately without use (10 Euros worth). We had already been back to the shop and the guy advised that its to do with the roaming and that in order to get it sorted he could ring the company and get them to disable that facility. We didn't have the right details with us that day, but we did today.

At the shop our man was there and he immediately knew what we were there for. He grabbed the details of the sim and made the call for us. A minute on the phone and that was all done. While that was happening I went looking for some inexpensive hair clippers (for myself and the dog) and found some for 9 Euros. We checked out, bought the clippers and some new phone credit and even got a smile from the cashier.

It just seemed that things were going our way today. They might be small little things, but with the success at the drivers license office yesterday and today's smooth ride we felt the barriers were lowering and we were walking taller and more confidently! The talking more confidently happens later I guess.

And of course being Tuesday, we went to cap of the day with the wonderful bargain 6 Euro schnitzels at our local, the Kurhaus Korsakow!

Success at the Berlin drivers licence office!

Recently we failed in our attempt to get a drivers licence conversion at the local Bürgeramt (which you can read about in a previous blog post here).

At that Bürgeramt appointment we had been told a different story, that our Australian drivers licences must be translated into German before they would complete the process. We hadn't been told that when we had enquired before and later found out that this translation at the ADAC could cost around 50 euros each. That is on top of the 42.60 Euros we would be required to pay as an administration fee at the Bürgeramt. We had also been told at the Bürgeramt that we are not allowed to retain our Australian drivers licence once the conversion takes place. It's law they said.

When we got home from that appointment we were so annoyed and contacted the head drivers licence office directly by email, the Führerscheinstelle. We had an email the next day confirming that the translation is not required and also confirming what we needed to bring (which is what we already had for the Bürgeramt); which is;

• Passport
• Passport photo
• Original drivers licence
• Copy of drivers licence
• Eye test
• The fee of 35 Euros (Cheaper than the Bürgeramt!)

We made appointments with this office directly, the earliest being today at 2pm.

So today we caught the U-Bahn, switched in Kreuzberg Hallesches Tor and the one stop up to Kochstrasse.

Kochstrasse is the station you would normally go to if wanting to visit Checkpoint Charlie. Walking the opposite direction down Freidrichstrasse and literally around the corner at Puttkamerstrasse 16 - 18 is the  Führerscheinstelle.

Inside we went to the waiting room on the first floor and waited for our numbers to come up. This place is much like the Bürgeramt waiting room and with the same number calling TV system thing.

At 2pm sharp our number came up and we went into office '10' to be served by a friendly young girl. When asked if she spoke English, she said (in German) that she spoke a little. She didn't speak to us in English during the whole appointment though.

We actually had two appointments (one at 2:15 as well) but this girl let us sit in together and processed us one after the other.

All we had to do was sit at the desk as she asked for each of the required items one by one - which DID NOT include the translation! We signed a paper, she copied our Australian licences and GAVE THEM BACK to us! We looked at each other, and nonchalantly put them away as quick as possible. Telepathically we spoke to each other 'Sweet! she gave them back!. Stuff you incorrect Bürgeramt drones.'

Once she had done both of our processing, she gave us a little plastic card. This was required to be taken to the next room to an ATM type thing to pay our 2 x 35 Euro fee. Payment at the machine was quick and the thing kept the card and gave back two tickets and two receipts. Giving her the tickets, she gave us a piece of paper each which was confirmation that the process was all complete. She then said that our new German licenses would be sent to us at home in 6 to 8 weeks.

This all took 15 minutes for both of us.

So, here's the tip, make sure you know what to bring, bypass the frustrating Bürgeramt and go straight to the Führerscheinstelle (with an appointment).

Success!

Australia Day in Berlin

For Australia Day celebrations we went to a bar in the Berlin-Mitte area (the centre of Berlin).

The bar was 'Belushis' and is located right next to the Rosa Luxemburg Platz U-bahn. Very easy to get to for us.

Belushi's was holding 'Berlins biggest Aussie party'. Well that's what the sign said.

We went inside and caught up with Tom and Danika who were already there.

The bar started to fill up pretty quickly after we arrived, and we were straight into the beers. We were preferring German beers over the VB on offer. The bar staff kept threatening to stop selling German beers, but we managed to keep them coming all night.

Not long after our arrival, our new friend Mackenzie arrived to complement our group. It was a lot of fun throwing back the beers with our new friends.

Then at 5 O'clock the Jaegermeister special of 1 Euro per shot kicked in...so of course we had to participate. It is Australia Day yea? So we got the first round.

Concurrently with the Jaegermeister special, the Carlsberg special had also kicked in. This is for 2 Carlsbergs for 3.50 Euros. Tom and Mackenzie disappeared and came back with 5 Jaegermeisters and 6 Carlsbergs. Tom was chuffed he managed to carry all Jaegers in one go, whereas it had taken me two trips to complete the journey before.

By now the place was pretty busy and a lot of people were eating meat pies. We wondered where they were getting them in Germany and if they were name brands. Tom had tried one and said they were horrible. None of the rest of us bothered after that.

After a good stint at Belushi's we left to go see to the dog, while the others stayed back for more 'specials' and maybe even to party on somewhere else!

Lucky the station was so close by as it was pretty cold by now and we were ready to get home, feed the dog and have some kind of thrown together dinner.

charging, seeing, toytowning

Our friends Tom and Danika have had a bit of a rough introduction to Berlin so far. Already, within a week of them being here, their flat has had the water supply disrupted and also the power switched off (because the host didn't pay his bills). Without power they were unable to keep all their devices charged and were also unable to shower. After a few days of this mess they came over to our place this morning to charge and shower.

After a nice relaxed morning with them, we left to go an see my optometrist dude Herr Milster at Fielmann. I am still not fully adjusted to the new glasses and I also wanted another shot at the führerscheinsehtest.

Milly was working today and I had a chat with him. He checked my glasses and they had been made to the correct prescription. He also did a brief re-check of my eyes and said that everything was correct. He pretty much said I just need to get used to the glasses.

I went on about the drivers license test and that I wanted another go at it and he obliged.

I faced my nemesis and read the circles, with and without the glasses.

Without the glasses I thought I had done enough to pass. But Milly wasn't having it. He said the left eye was okay, both eyes together were okay, but the right eye was not good enough to pass the test. We had a bit of a stand off where perhaps he got the perception that I was asking him to fudge the result. I was simply asking if my eyes were good enough to pass. After some hesitation he insisted that the result of glasses being required should stand. Well, that settles it, my German drivers license (whenever we get it) will say I need glasses. Time to start dealing with it.

In the evening we went to another Toytown Germany meet up. This time it was again in Prenzlauer Berg, but at a place called 'Scotch and Sofa'.

Tom and Danika also came along and we all settled in at some couches along with some other people - and our drinks of course. 

Everyone again was really easy to get along with. Colin, one of the organisers, was even wearing his Australian rugby top, which he promised to wear last week - but didn't.

This week there was a really good turn out and the group quickly swallowed up the whole bar space. This made mingling a bit difficult but we were pretty much settled on our couches anyway.

Again it was a good night of meeting others in similar situations to ourselves. It is funny to hear similar stories of battles with the district office, furnishing your apartment from Ikea and planning to maybe possibly look for a job sometime soon or perhaps next year. There were some familiar faces from last time, and plenty of new ones too. Maybe we will become the 'familiar faces' over the coming weeks.

We stayed till almost midnight and could have easily stayed longer. Our barking dog is a little more settled down though we don't want to push it too much in case he does start barking in the early hours while we aren't there. So we left the group and headed home on the U-Bahn.

And we made it home after midnight to a happy and seemingly quiet well behaved dog.

Abendessen im Fleischerei Domke

Tonight we went to have dinner at 'Fleischerei Domke'. This place is pretty much a butcher that also serves a nice selection of hearty German meals. This is really close to our apartment and I have been eyeing it off daily!

With the weather at a cosy minus 6 degrees and snowing it was a great night to try it out.

The place doesn't have much of a street presence, but it is on the main street in this area "Warschauerstrasse" and the lit up menu on the outside has been a tantalising invite ever since we arrived in Berlin. Look at those prices!

We went inside and ordered an Eisbein (Boiled pork hock) and a schnitzel, priced at 5 Euros each. After ordering, two ladies swung into action. One went out the back for the Eisbein, and one dished up the schnitzel in front of us.

I wasn't expecting this all to happen so quick and within about 30 seconds we had paid our 10 Euros and had our meals in hand.

We then went to the basic eating area, which is a small side room with some tables mostly for standing. We stood briefly while some lovers smooched on nearby bench and chairs. They promptly left and we swooped in, grabbed their seats and got started on our meals.

The schnitzel was okay, well portioned but slightly tough. I guess that is the downside of having it ready and waiting is that it sits in some warmer until ordered. Still tasty though and well worth its 5 Euros.

My Eisbein was very tender and tasted great. Typical with this dish is that you get more fat and bone than meat. What meat you do get is very tasty.

We were both very full and satisfied with our meals and will definitely be coming back to try some of the other dishes.

All up, including our walk to and from the apartment, we were only gone for 35 minutes! Fast food German style. What a country.

toytowners

According to all reports, the Germans are hard nuts to crack in terms of friendship. This, along with our currently limited social circumstances, means that we need to actively go socialising if we want people to talk to other than ourselves!

A good resource for English speakers in Germany is the Toytown Germany group. This is a website which amongst other things includes forums which is great for information and a place to arrange meet ups.  One of the regular meet ups is the Thursday night event. This is held at various venues across Berlin each week.

We have now been in Germany for a month, but a combination of public holidays, being unwell and our barking doggie have prevented us from spending a night out. With most of this under control now we could go and check out what the Toytown group was like.

Tonight's meet up was at 'The Dubliner' Irish bar in Prenzlauer Berg. 'Colin', the event organiser, had posted on the website that he would be at the bar at 8:30pm and wearing a Australian rugby shirt. Couldn't be hard to spot.

To get there we could take a nearby U-Bahn which we have yet to take - Weberwiese, the U5 line.

A quick three stops to Alexanderplatz, and a switch to the U2 line up to Prenzlauer Berg.

To and then 4 stops up to Prenzlauer Berg's Schönhauser Allee.

And then a very short walk to the bar.

Inside the bar there were several groups and it felt very awkward listening in and looking at people to see if they were 'the' group. We went to the bar, and there was a small gathering, but no bloke in a rugby top. Hmm. We got some drinks and then heard that the group were speaking English so asked if they were the 'Toytown group' and luckily they were. That spared the embarrassment of asking the wrong group of Germans.

As soon as we met Colin we accosted him with the 'We were expecting someone in a rugby jumper'. He said that only as he left the house had he realised that it was in the wash. Geez Colin.

We immediately got chatting to quite a few people, and more turned up as the night progressed. It was surprisingly very un-awkward. I guess everyone is there for the same reason and there's no real pretences.

We had a good chat with a German guy and hit him up for all the rules about dogs, complaining neighbours and so on. Colin is a English guy, we met some Americans, and there were some other nationalities there - it was great to hear about everyone's various stories. We didn't stay for very long as we are still training our dog to be quiet when we are gone and didn't want to risk him barking the whole time we were gone.

We were very happy with this little outing and will definitely be going along to more of these meet-ups. No where near as socially awkward as I had thought it could be.

With the hour already ticked just past 10pm (quiet time according to our house rules, and trouble for us if the dog is still barking), we left the group, jumped back on the train at Schönhauser Allee and made it home to a 'semi' quiet dog.

wasting time

Last night we went back to Fielmann (optometrist) to see if my glasses would be on time. This was suggested by our mate Herr Milster and naturally we assumed he would be working that night. He wasn't.

Instead we were directed to sit at a desk and were soon served by someone else. This guy had the personality of a depressed stone and purely dealt with the facts. My glasses were ready and he laid out a tray in front of me.

I whacked the glasses on and I wasn't happy with how the world looked through them. Now I'm sure that first time glasses wearers always say this, so to some point I am prepared to give it a bit of time to see if it settles. However, Mr Stone asked me how things were so I told him 'I can't really see clearly, things are distorted'. He said 'Maybe yoo try zem fur a pheu dayz den?'. 

I said 'Yea, but I need to do the führerscheinsehtest straight away'. Again he said "Maybe you vait a pheu dayz?'

We had already told him the appointment for the license exchange was the next day, and on reiterating that he agreed to do it now.

I sat down in front of the testing machine and first looked in without the glasses on. This was slightly different from when we did the test at another optician. Rather than four rows of circles and several batches, this was just three rows of circles in one batch. I could see the top row quite easily and I think I could have made out the second. The third row was blurry for me. The first optician said we needed to be able to read the whole lot, so I thought I couldn't pass this one without the glasses.

I started the test with my glasses on.

The circles looked pretty much the same to me with the glasses on than they did with them off. He asked which row I could see and I said the middle one. I read them out (having to squint) and that was it. Test over. I didn't even have to read the last line!

I was surprised about this and rued that I hadn't just done this without the glasses on. He wasn't particularly interested in listening to my protestations that I was having trouble with the glasses and that I wanted to do it again without the glasses.

By now he had escorted us back to the desk and someone else was using the machine. It seemed I had missed my chance to try again. Even when he escorted us to the 'checkout' I was still moaning about the test and wanting to try again, but he (and Nordine) were both sick of this at this stage. We paid for the glasses, and the official test, which says I need glasses :(, and left. 

The ironic thing is that while Nordine clearly needs glasses, her optometrist has made an error on her führerscheinsehtest and has ticked the box which says no visual aids required.

I can't explain why this bothers me so much, but it just does. Maybe I am in denial and have a long skewed perception that my eyesight is better than it actually is, but overall I just can't 'see' any improvement in my eyesight with these glasses. Right now my perspective is way off and if I had to drive immediately with these glasses I would think it quite dangerous. I have read a few accounts though of first time glasses wearers that have had these same sensations too so maybe I'm just adjusting.

Anyway, I've resolved to give it a try and see what happens. We have the requisite pieces of paper so at least we could make our appointment and exchange our drivers licenses over for German ones.

Cut to the morning and we make our way to the local district office. We had an 11am appointment and went to wait in the same old waiting room as before.

This time we were called in at exactly 11am. We went in to an office, spoke to the lady and gave her all our documents. She said 'Where is the translation of your license'. We said 'We spoke with your colleague last week and were told this wasn't required. We even showed her the list of stuff we needed that this office had given to us, in which this was not marked as required.

She was blank faced and just said 'We need this'. We repeated that we were advised last week we didn't need this. She said we would need to check with the Führerscheinstelle (Drivers License Office). Geez, if we could just sort it out there then why bother with you guys! I gave her my International Drivers Permit and she said it wasn't adequate. Another case of how useless these things are too.

Appointment over. We left in a bit of a huff and went back to the front desk to 'discuss'. The lady there said it was required and sorry if we had been misadvised.

Fabulous, what a waste of time.

We had to leave the office empty handed. This only gives me more time to stew about my stupid glasses, whether I need them or not and how I can slide my way through the test without them! Maybe I will go back and bother Herr Milster and have another shot on the machine.

Back at the apartment we looked up where you get the drivers license translated and how much its costs. You go to the ADAC and it costs around 35 - 50 Euros, EACH! AND it's not done on the spot. Marvellous. We emailed the drivers license office direct but no response as yet.

Lucky we are not working at the moment. It feels like we've spent quite a bit of time 'hangin' at the district office with very little to show for it! Would be incredibly frustrating if one had to keep taking days off work to go there.

Yet another to be continued situations.

testing the eyes

Today was the day we were going to 'tick the box' and get our führerscheinsehtest (drivers license eye test).

Before leaving we put Barney in his crate and he seemed quiet enough as we left the house. We paused out in the courtyard only to hear him barking non stop. We knew the neighbours that had complained were still at home so we couldn't leave him like that. Anyway, this is the first time he's ever been crated like this so perhaps it was too much too soon. We went back inside and dressed him up to come with us.

So! the three of us went to the nearest Optiker. Barney was allowed inside so that was good. We got a nice optician that spoke very good English.

Now, before continuing the story, both Nordine and I have had colds for the past few days and we have had terrible sleep over that time. Last night was the worst sleep I have had since coming here, and Nordines not much better. I had put off having the eye exam before  as I feel my eyesight is worse when I am tired. Time was running out as we had already made an appointment so we just went ahead with it today.

At the optician I went first. I was already aware that we would be looking at little circles and need to identify where the little cut outs in the circle are located. Seems easy enough.

I started the test and looked into the machine thing to be confronted by rows of fuzzy circles. I couldn't make out any of them clearly at all. My eyes were feeling tired, and knowing I couldn't pass this test just made things worse. I still tried to evaluate the top row and pretty much just made up where the cut outs were. The optician said 'Maybe you are reading the second row?'.

I aborted the test, told the lady I was very tired and unwell. She gave me a tissue (I don't know if because I was sniffling or because she may have thought I was about to cry!).

We swapped chairs and Nordine had a go. Without her glasses she couldn't make out anything at all. But of course you are supposed to take the test with any vision aids you need. Glasses on she tried again.

At first she struggled to read the first row, but she soon got the hang of it and 'aced' the rest of the test.

With her finished and official document stamped I took to the machine again. Even after my time to compose and hold a tissue (?) I still couldn't make anything out to even begin to pass. No amount of squinting or trying to cheat was helping. I stopped before even reading anything out and had to abort again. These things aren't free to do so no point in wasting money.

Nordine paid her money for the test, a reasonable 6.43 Euros, and I wasn't charged for my farcical attempts. We then had a discussion about my issue. We talked about trying the test again but she said the first row is just to check the test is working, but to pass you need to be able to correctly identify every single circle. I had to be sensible and agree that even on my best day I probably wouldn't be able to pass. I would need glasses if I was to pass this test. Coming to terms with this was quite the dent to my Peter Pan complex (and maybe a further dent to my wallet).

We went through the shop and I said 'Well what inexpensive glasses do you have just so I can pass the test?' She showed me a selection from the 'special' draw which were inexpensive but all completely horrible! If worst came to worst then I would get a pair from this selection but I would rather avoid it. She also was going to charge around 25 euros just to check my eyes. Everything else in the shop was hundreds of euros as this place is more boutique'y rather than catering to my type of custom. We thanked the lady but left to go to another optician which I knew was nearby.

We walked up to another optician, another boutique type operation, only glasses I liked were 200 euros - too much! We continued on to Fielmann, a large chain of opticians and they were busy. They had lots more to choose from and of course the all important budget range. That had glasses ranging from 17.50 complete (frame, lenses and eye test!). I didn't really like these. There were some others that I was interested in so we asked for some help. After a while we were served by a cool guy, Herr Milster.

I went through the full eye test which was quite a process. Better, worse, yes, no it seemed to go for ages.

After that was over, Herr Milster and I settled on a reasonable set of 'driving glasses' and did up the paperwork. All up its going to cost me 37.50 euros. Not too bad.

These things apparently will be ready of the morning of our license exchange appointment so it may be a bit of a tight squeeze to get the glasses, redo the führerscheinsehtest and make the morning appointment at the district office. We will see what Wednesday brings.