The travels of Team Trev through South America
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I spent most of today strolling around Dublin, looking at lots of churches and generally getting wet in the rain. I then made my way to the Guinness brewery, and sampled some of the local product. On the way back to the hostel, I went past "The Lord Edward", an Irish pub that pretty much takes the cake for the "definitive" Irish pub. Finally, a couple more pints later, I stopped in at an Internet cafe for a quick check of my email. I sit down, and start typing, and they start playing The Proclaimers!
Does it get more Irish? I'm struggling to think of anything that I could add to this scene. Except maybe either Bono or a leprechaun...
"I'm on my way, from misery to happiness indeed...
ah-ha. AH-HA. ah-ha! AH-HA! Yeah...."
Oop, I just think I saw that leprechaun...
posted from
Dublin, Ireland
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Having got the working holiday visa, been to lots of interesting museums, and spent the day on nordic skis, there's really only one thing left to do in Norway - leave! I'm flying out of Sandjeford airport here in Torp, which is about 120km south of Oslo. Why such a remote and obscure little airport? Well, as these things go, its where Ryanair flies to, and I was able to get a flight to the UK for the stately sum of NOK 9.00 - thats about US$1.40 for the non-scandinavians. For comparison, the 350mL Fanta that I brought while cross country skiing yesterday cost me NOK 33. Its really quite ridiculous really - it costs nearly 50% more to travel from one side of Copenhagen to the other, and more than double that to go and visit Dorthe's parents. Of course you have to add the taxes etc to that, so that the total cost comes in at around about NOK 200 (US$28) but even that is a ridicuously low price for a two hour flight of roughly a thousand kilometres or more... It just doesn't seem right really - after all, there's basically nothing else can you get in Norway for NOK 9!
posted from
Sandefjord, Norway
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said...Hey Mark,
Did you manage to find somewhere to live or have you gotten stuck in some grey, slushy London snow drift?
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:
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:
* 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!
posted from
Copenhagen, Denmark
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Trev, Dorthe, Dorthe's parents Helmer and Gitte, and I all spent Christmas this year in Paris with Dorthe's brother Morten, and his girlfriend Rebecca. We spent about eight or so days down there, and we all had a really good time, doing all the things that you do in Paris - the Eiffel tower, museums, cafes, jambon beurre (a baguette stuffed with heaps of ham and butter - bloody marvellous) etc. Although I've been down there a couple of times before in a previous incarnation, I still really enjoyed the trip. For me, the highlight was midnight mass in Notre Dame cathedral - it was absolutely packed (we had to queue outside for about an hour and a half to get in), and was completely worth the wait, especially once they started ringing the bells, and fired up the big gothic organ. Rebecca also served an outstanding french style xmas dinner (as a follow up to the traditional Danish epic the day before), and the icing on the cake was a light dusting of snow on the last couple of days (which when we returned to Copenhagen turned into a major dump). A very pleasant and enjoyable way to spend christmas. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as we did the trip.
posted from
Copenhagen, Denmark
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Every year Mum always pesters me with the perennial question:
What do you want for Xmas?and every single year, she gets the same answer:
Oh, I dunno.Things are compounded by the fact that 1. my birthday being so close to Xmas doubles the number of ideas needed and 2. I never really have any ideas. And then just to add to the pressure that bit more, I now have Dorthe's mother asking the same question! Arggggghhh!!!!
So this year, I decided to do something about it. Everytime I happened across something that would be cool, I decided to write it down (or, being the computer geek that I am, put it in a txt file on my USB stick, and include it in my regular Mozilla profile backup...). Thus behold, the official Team Trev Xmas list:
Firstly,
Trev's list:
Bet you didn't see that one coming.
Ok, here's my list. Its ordered by where you are going to find it most easily. There's no particular order to any of these - consider them all as having equal weight.
Stuff you can probably get in most places:
Stuff you can probably only get in NZ:
Stuff you can probably only get in Denmark:
Lots of books (easy to order online), as you see, but generally lots of choice - that's not to say that you're limited to the list though, either.... :-). I'll add stuff to the list as I go, so check back every now and then.
posted from
Copenhagen Science Library
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