I finally bought my first Ordner lever arch file. Am I officially integrated now?

Hallo zusammen,

I have been living in Germany for a while now, and I used to laugh when people told me that to survive here, you don't just need to learn German you need to learn how to manage paper.

Yesterday, I finally hit a wall. My desk was completely buried under letters from the Finanzamt, TK, the Bürgeramt, and about five different insurances. I couldn't find my tax ID anymore.

So, I did the most German thing possible. I walked into a store, bought a massive, heavy-duty Leitz Ordner, a hole puncher Locher, and those colored plastic dividers.

I spent my entire Saurday afternoon alphabetizing and punching holes into every single piece of paper I own. And you know what the worst part is? I actually felt a profound, deep sense of inner peace and satisfaction while doing it.

Is this how it begins? Am I slowly turning into a local? Next thing you know, I'll be complaining about people mowing their lawns during Ruhezeit on Sundays.

Please tell me I'm not the only foreigner who felt a weirdly huge sense of achievement after sorting their first official German paper binder 😂