Wednesday, December 6, 2017

German Class - Take 2

After waiting for nearly 3 hours in October when I tried signing up for a German class, I went about signing up this time a bit smarter.  And yes, you guessed it.  I never was moved into the class from the wait list I was put on a couple of months ago.  It all works out for the best in the end as I would not have had time due to our "Amazing Furniture Race" project anyway.
So this time I knew the office opened at 10am.  But that they start handing out numbers at 9am and because I did not want to sit and wait for nothing I knew I wanted to get there early, even before they started handing out numbers so that I could be one of the first in line.
 So after drop off I head into town and since I forgot to eat breakfast and I knew this sign ups tend to take a loooong time I knew I needed to fuel up before heading over to the Volkschochschule to start the process of registering for a German language class. I drop by the little bakery and get a delicious coffee with milk and bagel sandwich.  This should help with my waiting and frustration, right?
After my quick meal I head over to the school and arrive by 8:30.  Thirty minutes before they start handing out numbers and ninety minutes before they officially open to start helping customers.
I am third in line. 
There is a couple ahead of me.  At 9:00 they open the building so that at least we can wait inside the warm building and just then the couple in front of me welcome another couple - their friends I presume - to join them in line AHEAD OF ME!!  I get it.  They were just saving their spot I suppose but knowing every person that gets in ahead of me adds additional wait time.  Oh, well.  Around 9:30 the office opens and we all (there are about 15-18 of us at the school now) pile into the small waiting room/office. 
They hand out numbers an I get #3 this time.  #1 goes to the first couple and #2 goes to their friends who cut the line.
I sit and wait.  At 10:00 they call in the first couple. I wait and wait and wait.  It isn't until 11:30 (yes, 90 minutes later) that they call in the #2.  I'm getting pretty antsy but what choice do I have.  At around 11:45 my number is called.  3 HOURS after I have arrived to sign up.
I talk with the registrar woman.  She is kind.  We speak a bit. She speaks in German and I answer mostly in English.  She asks if I'm signing up for a beginner class?  Once I pay I look at my phone to see the time.  It is now nearly 1:00PM.  Signing up for a simple German class took me 4.5 HOURS!! Not to mention the 2.5+ that I wasted on unsuccessfully trying to sign up.  Why are things so archaic here?  Why couldn't I have done this with the click of a button on my computer or made an appointment to meet with the registrar?  German efficiency is often anything but!!

Yes, I'm a beginner I tell her.  She says she thinks I should maybe take a test and see if I should be placed in one step above a true beginner.  I assure her that I'm a true beginner but she asks me to go back to the waiting room and take a test.  I know I can't read German and I don't want to have to WAIT anymore.  I just want to sign up for the damn class.  But I take the test attached to a clipboard and head back to the waiting room.  To my astonishment, I can actually read some German.  It is weird.  It is just basic stuff but I can understand.  I take my test pretty quickly because I can only get through the first few pages before it is all over my head but then I have to wait until her door opens to turn in my test.  This takes another 35-40 minutes.  I finally get back in to talk to the registrar and she looks over my tests and tells me she thinks I should sign up for the level just above true beginner.  Which makes me feel quite accomplished.  But then she looks up on her computer and says, "well, there is no room in that class" so I sign up for the true beginner class and then she tells me I have to walk to another building around the block to pay.
However, come January 15th I will officially be in my first German class.  WUNDERBAR!!

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