TeamTrev 2: TeamTrev, On the Run!

He's back...

Just when you thought it was safe to starting reading blogs again....

Yes, blog fans, its true, there's a sequel lurking out there in the depths, just off the safe shores that you've become accustomed to over the last three months. The plans have been laid, funding has been secured, locations have been scouted, extras have been enlisted, the stars have been signed up to return and, like all good sequels, the script is being made up completely as we go along - announcing the imminent arrival of the most highly awaited sequel of all time:

TeamTrev 2: TeamTrev, On the Run!

How could this be, you ask? At the end of our last episode, Trev, Mark and Dorthe were all safely at home in Denmark, returning to their normal lives (just like Superman has to take time out as Clark Kent, so too must Trev rest and re-cooperate). Not much travelling action for any of them, you thought. But you were WRONG! Suddenly, and without warning* evil visa-man appears, threatening to throw Mark from the country. What can Mark do? He has no choice, he has to leave before visa-man really starts messing things up. But all is not lost - his trusty yoda-like sidekick, Trev, is with him to provide wisdom, and stupid photo opportunities. And thus begins, TeamTrev 2.....

Alright, enough! Believe the hype though, because it's largely true. Dorthe and I (and Trev) have had a pretty good four or five months here since we've got back. We've got ourselves an apartment, painted and furnished it, and are pretty well set in that department. Dorthe has started her Ph.D., and after taking a bit of time figuring out the topic, is well on her way. And me, well, I've been looking for a job. Denmark is actually quite a good place for the type of work that I am interested in - there have been at least four vacancies advertised doing almost exactly what I want to do, plus quite a lot of other jobs that I am also interested in. The job situation here is really quite healthy.

Unfortunately, that is not the problem - the issue that has caused the biggest problems is just the fact that it is a very slow process - one vacancy I applied to, which shall remain nameless, took six weeks just to send me a "thank you for your application, we are thinking about it." Another place I applied to close to four months ago, and am still awaiting for the first round of interviews to be decided upon. Yup, its slow!

So, when matched against processes of such speeds, it is not surprising that my visa is expiring. The Schengen visa system, which Denmark and most of continental Europe are part of, allows you three months stay in each successive six month period, where the start of the period is defined by the date of your first ever entry to the Schengen region. Fortunately for me, my first entry was in November, meaning that I am allowed three months from November to May, and another three months from May to November. I was thus able to put two periods together, two months in the previous Schengen period and three months in this one to make five in total. But now that time is expiring, and I have to leave until the start of my new period in May - not just Denmark either, but all of the Schengen region.

Fortunately for me, there is a colony of Australian and New Zealand exiles where I can go and hide for a few months - we call it as "England". It's been off doing its own version of the EU for a while now, and is thus not part of Schengen, making it a refuge for types like me (Does anyone else see it as ironic that fugitives from Australasia are now making their way to England?). And even better, NZ being part of the commonwealth, I can also get a working holiday visa, allowing me to work there legally.

And so, this is the plan for the next three months, or until a job offer comes through. The first step starts on Tuesday, when I take the bus to Oslo to get my Working Holiday Visa from the UK Embassy there (Oslo and Stockholm are the only embassies in Europe that will process me, for some strange reason). Then on the following Saturday, I fly from Oslo to London, and the adventure really begins. What I'm going to do, and where I am going to do it, is completely unknown at the moment. The only things that I can really tell you for sure are:

• I will be in the UK.
• Trev will be with me.
• And it will all be blogged, right here on TeamTrev 2: TeamTrev on the run...

* Well, ok, that's a complete lie, but it doesn't sound as good if I tell the truth. It's the movies after all!