Forms, Forms, and More Forms...

Week two hasn’t been too shabby.  All that I accomplished so far was my processing so that I can get onto the camps and computers. I hope that all the paperwork is done; all they give you is form after form to fill out so that you can reproduce it on the computer, and I thought the computer was supposed to reduce the amount of paperwork.

I have my I.D. card and I’m just waiting to get onto the computer system. Due to security reasons they have no Wi-Fi in any of the buildings (so my laptop is useless until I get back to the apartment). But, it stands for reason; Wi-Fi is one of the easiest ways to access a computer system from the outside. The military figures that if they have no Wi-Fi then no outside hackers can break into their system, thus reducing threat. Everyone needs to pass security clearances in order to get access to the computer system. There are three to four online tests that you have to take and pass.

The problem is the tests are online and before you can access them you have to have access to a computer. In order to get access to a computer you have to pass the tests. Also, some of the forms you have to fill out to get security clearance are online as well. You have to have a military email address in order to get your I.D. card, but you have to have access to a computer to get a military email address. No problem, no I.D. card no computer access, no computer access no I.D. card, isn’t life fun. Solution, borrow the supervisors’ computer using their access card so that you can be on the system for the four to six hours that it takes to complete the tests and forms. Hoping that there isn’t anything important that comes up to interrupt while doing the tests (or you start over), thus the supervisors can’t do their job until you’re through, efficient, eh. The people who thought up the system must work for the government.

I mentioned before that there are around eight camps (I don't know quite how many I've been to six) mingled through Heidelberg and surrounding towns. You would think that the processing would happen in the same camp. Well not exactly, the main processing happens in one camp while my security processing was in another. Do you have one place to go to get the main processing done? Well, I will tell you that the main processing was in one building (same area?...ahh, no, three separate rooms, opposite ends of the building and one on the second floor). In all the buildings that I have been in I have seen only one elevator, which was installed after the building was built so that disabled people would have access to the processing on the second floor.

The camps were built to house the Germany military during WWII. The main camp, Campbell, is where I was told that Hitler had his command center. One of the relics, a globe, is supposed to still be in one of the buildings. When I get a chance I’m going to see if I can find it and if possible get a picture of it. It is hard to get pictures in and around the camps due to security. The camps are not tourist sites, even though I’m sure that, everybody and their dogs know that they exist, the military does not want, everyone to know what is happening where, when, and how. So if I post any pictures of the camps on my blog, I fear I will have to go through the same process as getting an I.D. card meaning, I would have to do a lot of running around getting permission. I do of course have five months of trying to find out what I can and cannot do.

Germany and the surrounding countries have a lot of history. I do not want to be like my roommates and plan trips to the tourist sites just because they are cheaper, which are planned by the USO, just so that I can say I’ve been there. I want to see and visit the history of the country so that when I say I have been there, I actually was there.

I can say that I have driven through every state in the United States except Alaska and Hawaii, but I cannot say that I have been there and seen all the states. Some of the driving I did at night, what you see at night, is the darkness and stars, most have been on the Interstate zipping along at 55 mpg or faster (mostly faster), and being the driver you don’t see much, but the road. But, I’ve been there (sort of, at least I have seen signs telling me that I have left one state and entered another).

What I have noticed about Heidelberg just by riding the shuttle between camps is that life in this country is different than in the U.S. In the two weeks I have been here, I have seen maybe three to four people walking down the street talking on a cell phone. Everyone wears clothes that fit, not hanging down around the bottom of their butts showing off their boxers. When walking down the street people stroll down the sidewalk, not strutting or the determined walk I have noticed in the States. I’m sure that the people here have urgent places to go and be, but it is more of a casual care free type walk. I haven’t seen one skateboarder or scooter weaving in and out of people or traffic. I have seen lots of bikes and bike/walking trails woven throughout the cities and farmland. I want to be able to describe places of history and the people around the places that I have visited on my blogs and not the cost of the touristy places and gee it was interesting, but because of the tour group I didn’t get a chance to spend a lot of time there. I may not see some of the surrounding countries in a weekend trip like other interns are planning to do, but at least when I been to Germany I'll mean it. I do plan to spend more than one day touring France, I just don't know when at this point.

Until the next time – may you travel light and enjoy it.