I have utmost respect for German systems and institutions.
In my stay for over two years in Germany, I have come to admire many aspects of
the German society – including its efficiency and functional systems. But there
have been times when I have hit a stonewall in my efforts to manouever myself
in the society, despite my fairly good command over German language.
My latest experience has come in the form of the Rundfunk
Beitrag (roughly translates to Radio Tax). It seems I have been receiving this
letter for nearly two years now. So basically I started receiving those letters
in 'official German' when my German proficiency must have been worse than a two
year old German kid. (Pardon my use of word German so many times, but this is
hardly I can escape.) So as a normal foreigner student, who was never briefed
about the tax and fees I needed to pay, I just threw the letter away thinking I
do not own a TV or Radio and do not need to pay it. And over a period of time the tax kept adding up with
fines and it reached nearly 300 Euros. But ignorance cannot be excuse and I also
do not intend to use it as such. So when an official from the Vollstreckung
Kasse (something like recovery agent) from Erfurt Rathaus knocked at my door, I
along with my flatmates agreed to pay (the tax is for an apartment and not per person. That is another anomaly, so if my flatmates refuse to pay I will have to pay it alone And who receives the letter from the ARD Deutschland is like a draw of lot.)
My flatmate paid the tax and I gave my contribution to her
and was happy that now I could concentrate on my thesis. But turns out this was
not the way, as an angry official (Mr. Ebberman), called me up ranting in
German that he has not received any confirmation from ARD Deutschland (the radio service provider I am assuming). I said
that I have given you my reference number regarding the payment, have written
to ARD and to Vollstreckung Kasse but have not got any response. Have been
trying to call ARD up, but my lack of native fluency has not been of much help.
I would reserve my comments about the stringent German regulations with regards
to naturalisation requirements for people keen to become German citizens. But
what about millions of foreign students and tourists who come to Germany temporarily,
will it be a crime to accept a bit of courtesy at least from German
institutions for them?
 |
| Really? |
German Railway service provider DB Bahn had 11 strikes in
the last nine months, leaving millions of commuters stranded. Last month when they had a strike I went for
cancellation of my ticket and had difficulty in following the woman at
reception who was speaking too fast. Despite my request, “Können Sie bitte
langsam sprechen, ich kann Ihnen nicht verstehen?” (Could you speak a bit
slowly, I cannot understand you), the woman retorted “Nein (No)!” and added up there
were thousands of commuters like me. I was just thinking about a tourist in
Germany stuck during the strike? I even wanted to be a bit pompous and tell the
woman that it is because of the commuters like us that she has a job and is
getting a salary; but I restrained. This was not my one off such experience with German system. In
August 2014 as I came back from India, my train from Frankfurt to Erfurt got
cancelled and the official at the ReiseZentrum (Travelling Centre) asked me to
spend the night at the platform in biting cold even as he went on to give accommodation/ Taxi arrangements to other “white-looking people”. I don't know if
all of them were German. But I had to fight with them, after a a family member
checked online the terms and conditions; and informed me that DB Bahn is obliged
to provide me an accommodation in case of a cancellation. The official eventually
relented and gave me a hotel, but not before displaying his frustration.
Thereafter, I was traveling back from Turkey to Erfurt
(supposedly an International airport with flights to Turkey and London). The
Passport controller had a problem in finding visa details of my husband on his
system. Mind you my husband was on a tourist visa.The controller did not speak
a single word of English and refused to even try a bit to cooperate with him. I
had to be the mediator between them. The official then had the audacity of asking
me questions if I was carrying our marriage certificates (despite my marital
status being obvious on my Passport) and as to why I do not have same surname
as my husband. We were allowed to go an hour later when their system started
working.
People have similar experiences in Foreigners Office, where people
who are supposed to deal with foreigners refuse to speak English or do not know
the language. During such time one is at mercy of one’s friends to accompany
them to offices. But then why are institutions there?
I have been a fairly open-minded person and can even
understand individual’s prejudices towards non-German speakers. What is appalling is the inertia in
German institutions regarding the changing times. I do not expect English to
be official language of German but if I am paying for services, the least I can
expect is a basic courtesy and delivery of services in a language I can
comprehend fully. I admire Germans for their rationale, but officials speaking
only German at Airports, Train Stations, Foreigners Office make no sense to me.
The other solution German bureaucracy might have for the problem is to either
stop giving visas to foreign students and tourists or give them advisory to
know German with native fluency before setting foot in Germany.
