Paperwork

When I think of my life as a student here, there is nothing that comes to mind quicker then paperwork…the bane of existence for any student studying abroad in Germany. While it should not be terribly surprising that the application process for study abroad would contain a good deal of paperwork, one comes to be amazed at the sheer mass of paperwork that you have to fill out between initially applying and then filing for ex-matriculation from the University. To compound this daunting pile of paperwork is the fact that you are told so much of it is either “very important”, “very difficult to get anther copy of”, “will be necessary for future purposes”, or some combination of the above. Compounding this problem is Germany’s insistence to enter the twenty first century kicking and screaming, holding onto relics like paper, stamps, and the bureaucratic nonsense of the early twentieth century. All of this means that I can not stress enough the importance of keeping track of things and keeping them (at least) some what organized. A well-organized files folder saves one a great deal of stress and trouble in future dealings with the bureaucratic machine that is Germany.

Another thing that I have come to notice about the paperwork (and most matters in Germany) is that you can not expect nearly the same kind of help and support that one would normally receive in the United States. That is not to say that there are not means available to ask for such support, as there are a myriad of people you can contact. Instead there are some many people you will have to contact about such a variety of things, that really it has been my experience that your first instinct should be to do it yourself. If there is a delay with something like your residence permit, do not expect to be able to send out an email and get a quick response or to even be able to just walk in whenever and get everything sorted out. In Germany you need to figure out when the office or person you need to speak with is available and then time your trip there around that. All this does have an upside, as it has been my experience that when you do go in and talk to someone, the problems are generally solved quickly and the person you talk with is generally much more knowledgeable than in the United States (a counter product of the smaller more dedicated staffs).

Another thing I have learned is pacing yourself properly when trying to take care of all this paper work. Between your UMass assignments (such as a blog like this), to the German University’s requirements, and the things you will need to do for the city in which you are staying, there are a lot of things to take care of. That is why organization and good time management can be so important and stress relieving when it comes to getting all these things taken care of. I have found making a list of the things that need to be done the best way of trying to manage for myself, but everyone has their own means of doing things. Really the best thing to do is to try to find whatever helps you the most in terms of getting things done a little at a time and keeping the ball rolling (especially if you are a major procrastinator like yours truly). Perhaps this was not the most cheery way to start things off, but you life as a student in Germany will be a lot better if you understand and get rid of the paperwork as fast as possible. It maximizes the time you can spend doing things that are not so…tedious.

German's do have a sense of humor!