After a bit of swearing and frowning and several trips down to a part of Wedding which I don’t ordinarily see (but we all should, because there’s quite interesting African Lebensmittel shops there), the Ausländerbehördenites have at last given me a permission slip to stay in this part of the world for a bit longer. Many, many thanks to Bowleserised, who pointed me in the direction of a very helpful accountant who prepared the 3,000 page folder of documents that allowed me to sidle confidently into the office, wait no longer than four hours, and then head off home with a newly valid Aufenthaltserlaubnis.

So, now that nobody’s kicking me out of the country, it’s time to figure out what to do with the time.