Bezirksambt Pankow: waiting to register my apartment

Waiting to register one's address in the local council offices can take a while. Here you sit on worn metal chairs in a very long, spartan corridor with a ceiling so high binoculars are needed to see it properly. People walk or shuffle up and down, doors open and close mysteriously with a thump. The sound reverberates into the building's depth. You are hushed by the atmosphere. Time passes slowly. Hope arrives as a loud, but friendly, electronic 'ding dong' that announces the next appointment number displayed in red on a bright white screen high above. My moment is here. Everything goes very smoothly. I am now officially in Berlin with a bang up to date registration. Something I should have done 8 years ago.