Registered "Ein Berliner" Before Obama's Speech

Yes, I will brave the throngs tomorrow to see our next president in person. (Some estimates in the press, unknown to be reliable or the contrary, are estimating an attendance of one million.) Hmmm. This seems very unlikely, but we shall see. If tomorrow is anything like it was pushing my way through the interested German Obama fans at the “Democrats Abroad” stand at the embassy opening, this should prove to be quite an adventure. Is it me and my sense of entitlement that spurns on this idea in my mind that people who can actually vote for this fella should be ushered to the front? Or, should it be the opposite, since this IS kraut country. Moral dilemmas abound. I will definitely be taking my passport, just in case it may help. I wanted to print out an extremely large sign with something ridiculous like “Opera Singers for Obama” or “Angst-ridden Existentialists 100% for Barrack”, but, unfortunately, no signs are allowed. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Where have I been? I have been on a European vacation with my sister for the last two weeks. It was a whirlwind of craziness, and I will need a couple of days to recover. As my sister so lovingly pointed out, I am a man who needs a lot of time by himself, and 2 weeks of 24/7 with a sibling was definitely a sharp contrast to my semi-hermit cave dwelling tendencies. We both got through it unscathed, though, and she has a lot of memories and photos to show for it.

Really, I consider this to be the real start of my move to Berlin. Now I am able to devote much of my time without hesitation to my future endeavors. And, we kicked off the start of this period with a trip to the government office in our neighborhood to register. This need to be officially registered in the city where you live was one aspect of Germany that really freaked me out at first. I felt it was some sort of infringement on my freedom. It was a little too East German, my movements being monitored by the civil servants of an overly bureaucratic society. I got over it once I realized the benefits of registering. In a lot of ways, it makes for a more trusting society, in that so few people can simply escape debts or crimes by moving from one place to another unnoticed. But I know better than to digress into another social analysis. The time is just not right.

One quick anecdote, though... When we went to be registered, the civil servant needed to see our proof of marriage (we both thought it was cool that she didn’t even bat an eye at this.) When looking at our marriage certificate, she became puzzled when she could not find a number she was looking for. After all of us joining in, looking for the number which listed our marriage, we realized that the number was “1”. She was so delightfully surprised at this, the way that only someone who pushes papers all day could only be. I guess she had never seen a marriage numbered “1” before. She leaned over to show her unbelieving pencil pushing compatriot. But, we were the first civil union in Chris’ little town, and, therefore, get to be Civil Union Number 1. I thought that was kind of neat. At any rate, we are registered now, and I am officially a Berliner.