Learning patience

My patience with the German bureaucracy is fast reaching its end.

I applied for a residence permit in March, whereupon they issued me a "fictional certificate" (a term not even my German co-workers had ever heard of) while they waited the two or three weeks for my files from Friesland and Berlin.
Then came the issue of insurance. Because I'm not insured with a German company, I had to track down someone from the American insurance company for proof that I am insured at a level meeting German standards. This also turned out to be a challenge, since the American coverage does not meet Germany's dental criteria. But, after about a month, this issue too was worked out.
Then, however, the foreigner office informed me that they needed to send my work contract to the employment office for approval.  It then took the employment office more than two months to review my case and make a decision, during which I had the pleasure of going to the foreigner office every two weeks to have my "fictional certificate" extended.
At the end of July, I received word that the employment office had decided that my volunteer service didn't meet their qualifications and thus that the foreigner office was denying my application for a residence permit. This was followed with a letter saying I had until September 17th to leave the country or risk being deported.
Thus began my first experience with a lawyer, a friend of my co-worker who specializes in foreigner law and who agreed to take my case. She submitted an appeal, and I continued to wait.
September came around, and still no decision. We heard from the foreigner office that the lady responsible for deciding my fortune was on vacation, and so my kick-out date was extended to September 30th.
On September 29, I sat at work and had no idea if I would be needing to leave the country the next day. After going through a bit of an ordeal to secure my lawyer's cell number and call her at home (she was sick that day), I found out that no decision had been made on the appeal, and my kick-out date had been pushed to November 1st.
So, I wait. November draws near, and I haven't heard anything. In the meantime, I'm not allowed to leave Germany (more accurately, if I did leave, I would not be allowed back in), which puts a damper on the trip to Belfast I'd been looking forward to all year. I can't plan anything past this month, such as buying a plane ticket home for a wedding.  This situation of feeling stuck and not knowing is becoming increasingly frustrating and draining.

But really, who am I to complain?  I came to Germany voluntarily - there were no safety or economic factors forcing me to flee my home and come here. What's the worst thing that could happen?  I get kicked out and have to return to a county of safety and comparable wealth, where I have a home, friends and family, and various opportunities available.
Meanwhile, there are so many people in Germany, and right here in Hamburg, who are facing deportation under far worse circumstances. For instance, Roma people who, after living here 15 or 20 years, are being threatened with deportation to Kosovo, a place still bearing the scars of war and where they don't know the language, have little chance of finding employment, are often forced to live in slums, and are denied their rights through numerous other forms of prejudice and discrimination.

Talk about perspective.