French Bureaucracy
Now That Wasn't Easy
You know what's amazing to me? Like mind boggling? The pace at which French bureaucracy works. If you plan on getting anything done that involves paperwork in France, don't plan on it being completed within six months. I've heard stories about it, but experiencing it first hand is something else. I thought I was a patient person, I really did, but that changed when I moved to France.French bureaucracy makes the DMV look like the speediest, most customer service oriented system and a dream. The French bureaucracy is so slow, I don't think they even use pigeons to deliver their mail, I think they use snails. At least pigeons will get back to you within the month! And all my French relatives know how frustrated I am with the system, and they just laugh and go "that's France."
It took me three months to activate a social security number that I already had (I did get it when I was born). It took six to officially have health care. And I've spent at least ten jumping through hoops to get financial aid. I would turn in one document for them to send me a letter asking for another. That went on for months.
And it's not like you can get things moving by complaining about the service. They don't care about customer service reviews. The only way is to yell at them but you have to have a very very good working knowledge of French, otherwise they go even slower. Yes French bureaucracy is something that I will not miss. Nope not one bit. Even though it taught me about patience and that not everything is top priority, still not the most pleasant of things that I want.
