Bureaucracy Olympics Round 2
In the first round of the Bureaucracy Olympics, France was awarded the gold after a close fight with the Netherlands. The UK will now take on the defending Olympic Champion.
In Paris, my last name became "Verburg-I-will-spell-it-for-you". Not really a problem as I'm used to having to spell my name and besides, the French make my name sound really funky: "Verrrbourrrg". In the UK, it's like no one can spell. I really didn't expect this because generally the worst Kiwis do is spell my name with two Es. But no matter how clearly I write my surname on forms or how often I spell it to someone on the phone, what turns up on my documents looks like an official picked letters at random out of the alphabet soup they were having for lunch.
So documents keep having to be sent back and forth to accommodate all the name changes. At least they arrive in a timely fashion: Royal Mail is far better than La Poste.
Thus far it's even, so let us consider...banking. We thought opening an account would be less painless than for most foreigners. Wingnut's work has a deal with NatWest whereby they vouch for new employees and NatWest gives them an account.
The account was turned into a joint one without trouble and Wingnut then applied for an individual account. A letter came back saying it might seem like an odd decision but head office had refused. No explanation. On enquiring, it is suggested to Wingnut that the reason might be our address and that if the first account had been applied for from there instead of from my brother's address, that one might have been turned down too. *headdesk*
I will pass over the ridiculousness of being unable to get a credit card with any kind of useful limit despite having a steady income.
Neither my Dutch nor French EFTPOS cards will work outside of an ATM despite having the correct logos so I've been paying cash everywhere. This set me up for my biggest culture shock of all on Wednesday, when Wingnut explained to me why the full introduction of Chip and Pin is so significant. I'd heard about it in passing and thought it was a smart card project. But no, it is merely that every card transaction will soon require a PIN number instead of just a signature or no verification at all. Like NZ, NL and France have had for yeeeaars. I could not believe it. Certain ways of doing things here have suddenly become a lot clearer, I can tell you.
The gold medal will now be presented, so please be upstanding for the UK national anthem...
In Paris, my last name became "Verburg-I-will-spell-it-for-you". Not really a problem as I'm used to having to spell my name and besides, the French make my name sound really funky: "Verrrbourrrg". In the UK, it's like no one can spell. I really didn't expect this because generally the worst Kiwis do is spell my name with two Es. But no matter how clearly I write my surname on forms or how often I spell it to someone on the phone, what turns up on my documents looks like an official picked letters at random out of the alphabet soup they were having for lunch.
So documents keep having to be sent back and forth to accommodate all the name changes. At least they arrive in a timely fashion: Royal Mail is far better than La Poste.
Thus far it's even, so let us consider...banking. We thought opening an account would be less painless than for most foreigners. Wingnut's work has a deal with NatWest whereby they vouch for new employees and NatWest gives them an account.
The account was turned into a joint one without trouble and Wingnut then applied for an individual account. A letter came back saying it might seem like an odd decision but head office had refused. No explanation. On enquiring, it is suggested to Wingnut that the reason might be our address and that if the first account had been applied for from there instead of from my brother's address, that one might have been turned down too. *headdesk*
I will pass over the ridiculousness of being unable to get a credit card with any kind of useful limit despite having a steady income.
Neither my Dutch nor French EFTPOS cards will work outside of an ATM despite having the correct logos so I've been paying cash everywhere. This set me up for my biggest culture shock of all on Wednesday, when Wingnut explained to me why the full introduction of Chip and Pin is so significant. I'd heard about it in passing and thought it was a smart card project. But no, it is merely that every card transaction will soon require a PIN number instead of just a signature or no verification at all. Like NZ, NL and France have had for yeeeaars. I could not believe it. Certain ways of doing things here have suddenly become a lot clearer, I can tell you.
The gold medal will now be presented, so please be upstanding for the UK national anthem...