Long live immigration lines and lack of information!

Whoa. It's errand time! And not errands like, food shopping, but more like register for this and that and fill out these forms to make this official and... well, you get the idea.


Here's the list/story of the most interesting errands so far:


1) Obtain student ID
I went to the office, and surprise, surprise, I need my department to fill out a form! Couldn't they have saved me this trip by posting said information on a website?? (By the way, have I mentioned that Swedish bureaucracies love forms just as much as certain American ones?) 


2) Register for student union to get discount on metro card
I checked the website for the student union. Here's what it says "Union is closed for the summer. Autumn hours will be posted when we are open". Arrg! I forgot that everything in Europe closes for the summer. Just in case this wasn't frustrating enough, to be in the student union, I need to fill out another form to get a card, which will take 3 weeks to process, and only THEN can I apply for the metro card. So I guess I'm shelling out crazy amounts of money on transport until they open...


3) Register for "civic registration number", so I can open a bank account in Sweden (and stop paying bank fees at home) *This one is my personal favorite*
Lo and behold, the authority in charge of this had no information about this process on their website either! AND worse, no address of the central location (but I didn't know this at the time of searching). I went to the address that was listed, and after waiting in line for 30 min, they told me I needed to go to the central location. yay (<-- dripping with sarcasm). So off I went to the central location. Upon arriving: long line outside. I forgot that immigration offices have long lines, but this one was moving fast, so I was optimistic. Boy, was I in for a surprise...


I am inside and get a number for the line: 562. 
What's the number currently served? 430...Seriously? 132 people in front of me? 


I ask the lady how long I have to wait. She says "140 min".


I look at the clock. Current time: 15:30. Office closes at: 18:00. 
If I wait, I might just make it...


So I wait. 140 min later, I am called! Wahoo! 10 min before closing. I start talking to the Swedish woman in English and she looks at me and says "Engleska, me no speak so good". 


(Insert image of my jaw dropping) 


What??? An immigration officer who doesn't speak English? How does she work here? I mean, think about how many immigrants in Sweden know Swedish before they arrive.. Am I naive to assume that this would be the most common language known by immigrants? 


So I sit there for 10 minutes, while she says nothing to me and finally looks up and says, "It's Ok".


Wait, "what's ok? Did I get it? Or, is she consoling me because I didn't get it?"


From my puzzled look, she gathers that I didn't understand and calls a colleague to come explain in English what happened... Apparently, "it's ok" means "everything is fine". My application is accepted! Whew! 


Now I just have to wait 6-8 weeks! Par-tay.