This morning I went to the Rathaus (it means "House of rats")* to register as a resident. Apparently in continental Europe one must register as a resident of a town or city - you can't just move around unannounced (Of course in the U.K. this is not necessary as there are cameras all over the place, watching your every move). Registering has some advantages for census and taxation purposes, but it does seem like an intrusion of privacy.
After interacting with a fat clerical worker for a few minutes (and by 'interacting', I mean staring blankly after not understanding a thing she said), I was re-directed to the Bürgeramt ("Pit of hamburgers")§. Things went smoothly as they spoke English (or else I would still be there trying to read the forms) and 15 minutes later I was done.
As a welcome present, City Hall gave me three booklets (Christine and Arianne get one too) of free passes to galleries, theatres, concerts, guided tours, and museums. In all, each booklet contains 400 Euros worth of culture!
Although 1200 Euros of free events is a wonderful welcome, I am a bit disappointed that it contains no coupon for a visit to the Pit of Hamburgers.
* = Kidding, kidding! It really means "City Hall".
§ = "Citizen's office" - almost fooled you that time!
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