From Zero to Hectic in...soon!

My summer idyll is coming to a close. These last few weeks have been spent walking the dog, hiking, hashing (Yes, I managed to hit trail again! Oh, joy of joys!), and laying my towel out in various parks in order to soak up the sun while reading a book. Currently I am lounging my way through Kushiel's Legacy, by Jacqueline Carey, a series of books which happen to be my favorite epic fantasy novels of all time. Of. All. Time. If you manage to pick up Kushiel's Dart, I promise most will fall in love with Phèdre, Joscelin, and Imriel. They are perfect summer reads, but also smart and far beyond the common canon of fantasy literature.

Right now I am finishing the second book, and hope I have enough time to finish the third (for like the millionth time, my hardback book is actually starting to come apart--I told you, I like these books) before things get crazy.

When we first moved out to the farm, I had intended on continuing my Norwegian classes in my new district. However, with all the constraints that living out in the country entailed, I didn't have the time or the available transportation to make it into Drammen every day, keep up with the animals, and go to university on the other side of the fjord. So, Norwegian classes got cut.

Now, here's the thing. If you come to Norway on a family reunification visa, like mine, you are required to take classes in Norwegian language and society in order to qualify for permanent residency. You also must maintain temporary residency for three years before you are able to apply for permanent residency. Well, my three years will be finished at the end of this year. If I were unable to finish my classes before the three years is up, I would not be punished, but must instead wait until my classes were complete before applying for permanent residency, which is like 1,200 (Norwegian) smackers a year. I'd rather just get it done now.

I hauled myself down to Helsfyr and signed up to resume my Norwegian classes. Sverre thinks I was placed in a Norwegian Level 3 (you have to pass Level 3, or acquire a requisite amount of hours to be considered "complete" for the language portion) classes instead of being given a free pass because I mouthed off to the counselor. If you are able to demonstrate your command of Norwegian is sufficient to pass Level 3 then you are not required to take the language classes. At least, that's what they've told me.

I didn't really mean to get rude with the counselor, but he kind of deserved it. You see, every July there is fellesferie, which is when nearly everyone takes vacation. And the adult learning office, which runs Norwegian courses, decided to close for the whole month of July, when the semester starts in August. Therefore, on August first, the registration office was crammed full of people.

"It is crazy today," the counselor told me in Norwegian, "there are so many people here. It is because we are open again after a month."

"I see that," I responded, full of pompous self-righteousness after three hours of waiting to visit three desks. "It's pretty stupid to close for an entire month before semester starts, shouldn't someone have realized that would create huge problems for everyone? Incredibly stupid."

The counselor just started shuffling papers and tapping into his computer.

I should think that being able to criticize bureaucrats for dumb moves in their own tongue would show I have fair grasp of vocabulary and grammar. Sverre doesn't agree. I know, I was an ass, but who thinks shutting down a very busy office for a full month is a good idea? Who? They deserved it, I tell you.

So, the outcome is that I will be starting language classes next Tuesday. I'll be in class twice a week in Oslo from 5:30 to 8:50. The first time I saw class times like this, I was pretty confused, but there is a reason. They consider a class hour to be 45 minutes, so with breaks this actually turns into four class hours per day. Anyway, this is fine and dandy except...I have class at university this semester until 4:oo on Tuesdays and Thursdays! Because my university is outside of Oslo, I will have to leave class a little early on these days in order to make it back to Oslo and get to Norwegian classes with a time pad for train and bus delays. Fortunately, the instructors and professors at my university are generally very nice people, who will understand why I'll need to leave ten minutes early from their classes. And it's only my Tuesdays and Thursdays that will be like this, my other days are pretty relaxed. The Norwegian classes are only for three months as well, and the exam is well before my finals are scheduled at university. There are myriad small blessings here.

In the mean time, I need to get back to reading my fun books, before I have to return to using my brain for learning stuff.