Stormy State of Mind

Sundays seem to be the nicest days to blog or something..

 

I've been banging my head against the wall this week with the Paper War XI. I'll try to explain this knot as simple as possible. My first step was to send all my officially translated documents into Uni-Assist, a service for foreign  uni-applicants with foreign papers in Germany. I pay and they check the papers through, transform the numbers into the local system, tell me & my Uni of choice my grades and see if my average notes are enough to apply. Uni-Assist doesn't give back the papers I send them so I need to send officially approved copies instead. The problem is: as a foreigner I don't get official copies in Kundenzentrum as I thought. They told me I could get my copies if I could present an Apostille.


Kundentzentrum aka Bürgeramt is an office for people to deal with official paper stuff like registering as a citizen, getting permissions for various things (working, partying, buying, selling), applying passports, tax deduction cards, official copies with their stamp, announcing the new address etc. Everything nicely and comfortably under one roof which makes it always crowded.

Apostille is a certificate attached to the paper in question. This stamp/signature/super paper proves that my documents can be certified for legal purposes in all of the countries who have signed the Apostille treaty in Hague Conference on Private International Law. You can get one from the Public Notary of the country of the papers' origin.


Before going through such rumble I thought it more reasonable to take my copies at the Finnish General Consulate with 30 euros. Everything was fine until Uni-Assist told me that my A-level notes weren't enough. They also wanted to see my leaving certificate aka graduation notes from my former school. Well Holy Mother Duck, I hadn't even had them translated! Thus my Getting-Official-Copies Project had to come to a halt as I had to look for a translator again. After finding various options from internet, I also contacted my former principal asking if the school has some cheap reliable translator contact.

Boy o boy, my most lovely and kind principal in the world told me that he would translate the paper and without expenses! I felt happy and relieved, but it wasn't all clear yet, if that would do as he is not an official translator or anything. After making a few phone calls to Uni-Assist and Uni Hamburg, I decided it would be enough (the personal of both these institutes seemed to have no clue). Afterall he is the head master and therefore the paper he gave me was no longer a translation but an actual leaving certificate in English. Yay found a loophole there! My principal delivered the papers to my mother with 5 extra copies, within 3 days only!!

Meanwhile I had had time to look again this Apostille thing and realise it's value. An Apostille costed only 11 euros per certificate and if that allowed me to make numerous copies in Germany well what-the-hell. I decided to take one for each of my 3 papers: Finnish A-level report, the English translation of my A-level report and the English leaving certificate. Perfectly enough my mom and sis were visiting me here in Hamburg and I could hand them the papers and leave it to my mother to get the Apostille from the Finnish Notary in Helsinki. She mailed me the papers the following week after their return.

Ok everyone still following the story? Good... Don't worry, me neither. The plot sucks and is too complicated for me to follow as well.

SO after finally having all original documents with Apostille certificate, I thought I could finally get my official copies and get this shit done and dealt with.

Happily I entered the Kundenzentrum, got on the line and waited patiently with the other immigrants my turn. After 30-40 minutes I at last entered the desk and presented my most super-duper-higly-official papers-recongnized-as-far-as-Botswana-and-Panama to the 25 year old clerk and her apprentice.

I was there, I could see the stamp, I had my copies ready for it, so shiny, so close, so.... BAM. "Es tut mir Leid aber ich kann Ihnen kein beglaubigte Kopien geben." Bitte WAS.. She explained to me how I cannot have official copies, as my papers were in English and the Apostille in Finnish and Swedish. I could not understand it. The blood rushed to my head and I could hear it pounding in my ears. The woman explained to me the reason three times: I would have to go to the Notary and let them translate my Apostille and my papers into German before I could get any copies. Excuse me WHAT?!?! Why!?! Das gibt's doch nicht!??!

Hold on. WHAT?! After everything I did, I could still not get a COPY, a single STAMP to my papers?? Even though she was able to read English and she knew that Apostille is always in the language of the country it was given from? Even when it had the official stamp and French title to it with the recognisable format? Hold on. What? I would have to pay extra money (I don't have) and wait some more weeks (I don't have) to translate all the papers and 3 Apostilles in German? In order to get copies from them? Translate them for Kundenzentrum ONLY? Because I, uni-assist, and the universities sure as hell won't need them in German.

Oh my God. I can't believe this. I sat there staring at her, mumbling and trying to argue against. My face red and sweating from the embarrasment and anger. Tears making their way. I took my papers, said something vicious and pathetic and left the office. Kicked stones and lamp-posts while calling to my boyfriend. Trying to hold back my tears, not being able hold back my loud cracking voice as I screamed the anger out with different languages on the street to the phone.

Back to square one.

And an to an artistic break. I suppose I wrote a somewhat of a novel here and most of the people who started reading it, never made to the end. I suppose I'll continue this story in the next update, in the evening or in the coming days. I didn't stay long in the square one you see. That's not my style.

the images from weheartit.com

Giving up is not an Option.