The German Bureaucracy

In order to stay here in Germany and study at the University of Duisburg-Essen, there are certain administrative tasks that I must take care of. On Tuesday, Martin (the son of my host mom) took me around the city in order to take care of said tasks. First we started at the University where I needed to enroll and obtain a student I.D. card. This process in the U.S. usually seems fairly simple, however, in Germany this was not the case.
We arrived and I filled out the required forms, including one for a foreign student orientation (thinking that will be helpful). I was then told that I needed to have the AOK (public health insurance) man sign off on the fact that I had private insurance and would not be enrolling in the public insurance. Then when I went to turn in all the required forms I was told that I would have to return at 2:30 p.m. because there was only one lady who could complete my enrollment (since I was there with the Fulbright program) and she was out for the morning.
Martin and I then ventured to the Aliens Office so that I could register as a resident and obtain the necessary permits, etc. At the particular Aliens Office we went to, I was told that they could not help me and that I would need to call a different office and make an appointment for the next week. The lady at this particular office was unhelpful and did not know anything about what I would need to bring with me or anything else. Later in visiting with Martin I learned that this is very typical of bureaucratic employees in Germany - they are guaranteed their jobs for life regardless of how much or how little work they do. Normally we as Americans think of Germany as being the model of efficiency, order, and punctuality but when a matter concerns the government this does not seem to be the case. Everything moves incredibly slowly within the bureaucracy - a stark contrast to the transportation system.
After the failed attempt at submitting my residence application, I ventured to the bank. There everything moved quickly and efficiently and it was painless for me to open a German bank account. The differences between the public and private sectors have never before been so apparent to me.