Red tape and brick walls

I am a little bit acquainted with foreign bureaucracy.  I've had a few experiences applying for visas and residency permits over the years.  I am well aware of the amount of paperwork, and time, and sweat that is typically necessary for one to survive the process.  But of course, prior knowledge and experience only makes it more predictable, but no less tiresome.

In my previous experiences, I have had the luxury of "security" - by which I define as the knowledge that all I needed was to gather the necessary documents and submit within the proper time frame, and it was (more-or-less) guaranteed that I would be able to conduct my business as desired in the respective country.

However, Germany has definitely got me a bit more anxious.

Before I made the decision to come and try and find work (i.e. teaching jobs) in Berlin, I had the good fortune of being able to talk with another Oxy alum (and fellow Econ student, whoop whoop!) who had undergone the same process after graduation: coming to Germany, looking for a job, finding a job, applying for the visa.  I also felt like I did a fair bit of homework of my own - either browsing forums or TEFL websites - for advice.  My conclusions were these:

1. No, I did not need to know any German to find a teaching job in Germany.
2. Schools may not pay much, but they were willing to offer jobs.  
3. There may be fewer teaching jobs in Berlin, but they were still there (and maybe offering limited hours).

Now I feel as though I not only overestimated my ability (or maybe the ease) of finding work here, but have just gotten things all wrong.

I have sent out more than 50 resumes, and have received about 11 responses.  (I will first give props, because I know that kind of percentage is unheard-of in the US at the present.)  I have had 3 interviews offers, and 2 interviews.

One interview went well, but they probably can't hire me because of my (relatively) nonexistent German.

The final interview was an offer to write me the needed paperwork to help obtain my visa, but no hours were guaranteed.

Finally, the stray interview offer didn't work out because I didn't already have my work permit and the position needed to be filled immediately.  It's really circular logic: I need a school to hire me before I can get a permit, but most schools hesitate to hire someone without a permit.

Well... ok, so then what?

Since being here, I have also gotten some of the specifics on what I need to apply for the "freelance" work visa:

1. I need to register as a resident (and thereby have a rental agreement).
2. I need to have a bank account (for which I need to register an address first).
3. I need to have private health insurance (for which I need a bank account)
4. I need to have "Letters of Intent" from at least 2 different Language schools.

So, I've started to make progress on this list of "to-dos."

Fortunately, since I was moving in with Bosse, getting a rental agreement was mostly him "officially" subletting his apartment to me and all the accompanied legal jargon and signatures.  To make this really official, Bosse and I waited 3 1/2 hours at the Rathaus around the corner so we could sit in an office for 5 minutes and have a woman enter my new address into the system.

I have a bank account, as of today, of which was a relatively painless process since Bosse just told me where to sign.  It's really a good thing that I trust him so much... I think.

We're in the process of applying for health insurance.  Being that I only have my American experiences, it's hard to be positive about it.  But as far as I've heard, it's better and cheaper here.  Here's hoping.

Finally, the letters.  Ohhhhhh the letters.  We've spoken to some people and read on some forms that I may, may, only need one school to write me a letter in order to apply for the visa.  So since we haven't had any luck contacting the foreigners office via phone, today we thought we might try to do this in person.  OH MY GOSH.

It's actually quite funny.  It never occurred to Bosse to come earlier than the 10:00 opening time for the office, and he didn't really understand why I suggested we go earlier.  But then it occurred to me when we got there and his jaw dropped upon seeing the multitudes of people pushing against closed doors.  Of course he wouldn't know and not to his fault: he's never had to apply for an EU visa.  And yes, I was familiar with the long lines of the foreigners office, but even I was a bit overwhelmed.  Especially when I heard screams of panic when the doors finally did open.  

So, needless to say, our questions went unanswered.  We decided that we'd come back and try for it again when I had the one promised letter and just try, even if it meant failure and having to come back a third time.  Coming home, we even tried to make an appointment at the office (because apparently, you can do that too, makes sense) and the next available appointments weren't until SEPTEMBER 11.  Oh, and that's only like 2 weeks away from the expiration of my tourist visa.  But no big deal.

A couple weeks ago, Bosse shared with me the The Last Lecture, and although I didn't see it all (I keep wanting to get back to it), one thing Mr. Pausch said has stuck with me.

"But remember, the brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people."

And I just keep reminding myself: the paperwork, the offices, the phone calls, the interviews, the red tape - these are just brick walls.  I want this.  And I can prove it.