I had it in mind to make this the last blog post - after 3 years I feel that that the stories are getting a bit repetitive/ boring and it has been a while since I have done something out of the ordinary. But then I got hit with the renewal bill so the blog will be here for another year yet but maybe won’t be updated so often.
As mentioned above, it has been 3 years since I arrived here and of course, due to the joys of Brexit, that means I have to renew my residence permit. This time I can get a permanent permit which means I hopefully won’t have to go through the palaver again but who knows….
I booked the earliest appointment I could after the reminder so that if anything went wrong, I’d still have time to rectify things rather than being sent home for an enforced holiday. One (and one’s employer) has to fill out various on-line forms, you bring ID, payslips and notes of information such as how often you were out of the country. Thank goodness I have ye olde-fashioned diaries that I use alongside the phone so was able to check exact dates. There maybe a problem trying to match these with the stamps in my Passport cos I’m pretty sure I didn’t always go the correct way through airports at times but we shall see.
I have had a “proper” car charger installed at the house which at least meant that I wouldn’t have to worry about getting to Mosjøen for the interview and frankly that was the only bit of the trip that was a success. I turned up at the Police station at the appropriate time and the lady who I had to deal with was very pleasant but inevitably I turned up with a mixture of the correct forms/ the wrong forms filled out correctly/ the wrong forms filled out wrongly and missing others. Obviously only myself to blame but I think the website could have been a bit clearer - pretty sure it took me to the wrong place to start with but hey ho… Another problem was that it said “you don’t need to do the social studies exam” so foolishly I took that as “I don’t need to do the social studies exam” but what it really meant was “you don’t need to do the social studies exam BUT you do need to bring a letter of exemption from the council”. Again, only myself to blame for not taking on board the whole section where it does kind of imply that but it would have been helpful to have that spelled out for those of us that aren’t the sharpest. That all being said, being very aware of my own intellectual shortcomings, at least I had booked the appointment to take that into account. Even so, the earliest appointment they could offer me was in May ie 2 months after my permit expired. Fortunately, I’m blessed to have some wonderful colleagues who put up with my ineptitude and Bård kindly took things in hand, phoned, and got me an appointment before “chuck out” date.
I still wasn’t in possession of an exemption letter for the Social Studies test so over the last wee while it has been heads down at home trying to learn a 75 hour course in short order. The test itself is an hour long with 75 questions which are fortunately multiple choice. And even more fortunately, because I’m going for residency rather than citizenship, I can take it in English. It has been quite good fun getting the head down and doing some proper revising - I do feel a lot more knowledgeable about Norwegian life etc. Not all of it is new which is good - eg it didn’t take me long to learn the seasons. Thanks to the kindness of the school here in Bjørn, I was able to choose a time for the exam to suit me so again I’ve booked a time early enough that it allows me a few days to try again if it all goes pear shaped.
Fingers crossed that the next post isn’t written from Dundee!
Fun though it is studying, it can sometimes be slightly awkward with a cat - sometimes he wants to read what I’ve written or am reading on the screen or, on one occasion, he spotted the sun reflecting off my watch as I revised so we had to have the odd break where we played “chase the light on the wall”.
It has to be said that it has been an excellent move getting a cat - Finrod seems to be very affectionate and we do enjoy cuddling up on the sofa and watching a movie in the evening. He didn’t enjoy his first trip to the vet though for the start of the vaccination programme - and that’s even before I’ve broken it to him about “the operation”. He was making such a hellish noise in his “cage” while we waited that I thought I’d lift him out and just hold him to try and offer some reassurance. Inevitably he escaped so we then had a “fun” run around at the vet’s before I finally caught him again and returned him to the travel cage - I’ll not make that mistake again. I should it make it clear that nobody else with their animals were around or he would have just stayed where he was.
It’s been quite quiet on the playing side recently but things are starting to pick up with a number of concerts coming up and then rehearsals begin in April for the Peter Dass concert. Early in February I had a fun evening up at a recording studio in Dønna where I added some keyboard parts to a very attractive song composed by Jens.
I read a fabulous book in February that spoke to me/ moved me so much that I wrote to the author to tell her how much I had enjoyed it and was v pleasantly surprised that she wrote back to me. Made me feel a little guilty that I had only read it using Kindle Unlimited so I fear she won’t have benefited greatly financially but I do keep look out in the bookshop here (they all have English sections) so that if I see another of her books, I’ll buy it to ease my conscience.
Much excitement was had in Herøy when Liv-Helga told me she had a present for me - 2 cans of Irn Bru. Yes, cans of this fine beverage have been spotted in Sandnessjøen so fingers crossed that this appearance isn’t a one off.
Stupidly I haven’t done anything about my “dodgy” finger yet and it is certainly not improving like I had hoped it would (but and thought it was at one stage). In fact, if I’m honest it is probably getting worse and it may be starting to affect my playing - I am at least certainly aware of the awkwardness with it. Einar has assured me that it a v simple injection should take care of it so I probably should “get my finger out” and get it dealt with.
The days are getting longer again so we’re looking forward to Spring time. The downside is that I can’t put off the redecorating that is required. I’m at peace with the fact that I’ll inevitably make a hash of it but the bit that really stresses me out is choosing the colour. Once I’ve got all this residency stuff sorted out it’s going to be decision time. And if I fail the residency stuff the plus side is that I won’t have to worry about it!
And now follows lots of pictures of Finrod… the last picture was the pose he adopted after the visit to the vet. Not a happy chap.
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