11th hour? Not quite yet...

So, im sitting here in bed, my girlfriend hooked on a Call of Cthulu campaign book (If you don't know, its best not to ask... its scary), listening to Billy Joel and wondering what to sort out for breakfast. It was then that I realised... I have a blog...

So... Hi! Again!

So first off, what has happened since my last post? Many many things! But to help me remember them all Ill segregate them nicely below.


Norwegian, the wall hath cometh!
Okay, after the norsk kurs, trinn 2, me and some friends got together and formed a study group. Very useful. At the moment we are reading through Brumm Bjørnen, also known as Whinni the Poo! Thats right, Im reading a kids book. But, the important thing is we are reading it together, to each other. This means we are exercising utterance, word recognition in sight and sound, sentence conjugation and then finally, learning new words. The real trick is remembering the bloody things! The best way I find is to use them in conversation as many times as you can.

New words today?
å rope
verkelig
egen
altfor
Sopp
Mygg
Høylydt
Ill tell you what they mean later. The important thing is that I remembered them!! I do find that a good nights sleep helps.

Now the wall as mentioned in the tag line, hath indeedth cometheth! There is a point apparently, in every language learners life when it seems that nothing more sticks. This is where I am. I am having so much trouble making new words stick its annoying. Im this close to getting myself checked for senility. Still, I am making progress, just very slowly! Any tips would be most appreciated! Still, as a running joke between my other two study group friends, between the three of us we make a decent Norwegian student!


Job searching!

"Ahh, but you must be able to speak Norwegian to do this job."
"Men, jeg kan snakker litt norsk. Jeg har bare slutt trinn 2 av norsk kurset fra folkuniversitetet."
"Ahh, but you must be able to speak fluent Norwegian."
"Ahh. Right then."

This is me for the umpteenth time trying to secure a job over the phone. It seems simply knowing enough Norwegian isnt enough. I can understand. As a country Norway has spent too long allowing English to become a rival language. Now, they only want fluent Norwegian speakers and there isnt enough people who can fit in all the jobs available. Its weird. Even in this climate Norway has loads more jobs available than Britain. Still, it is something they need to do else in thirty years Norwegian might be a minority language. Pain in't ass mind you, for me.

After many emails, phone calls, actual visits, the only real hopes I have rest in my friends who have connections at their own workplace. So... its like most countries then.


11th hour....

Because of the EU agreement between Britain and Norway, I had 6 months free visa until I had to leave. Of course if given a job offer or contract I could then apply for a work permit and stay for good. Unfortunately for reasons above etc, it hasn't happened. SO...by November it looks like I may have to go home for a few months before I can return. A three month break as I understand it. I'm not giving up though, and still apply for everything I can.
Of course if I do manage to pull it off, well, that trip back would become one awesome holiday wouldn't it?
I wont lie, its emotionally charged situation. Still, I refuse to be stressed by it. I will endevour and try and if I get sent packing, I will try again. So there.
That said, wouldnt it be funny if it was at the last minute?

More soon!