le plan

i shall start today's post with something serious before getting fully up to date with this blog. many people have (repeatedly) asked me what i'm doing, and the most common being am i working or studying now.

thing is, without the permit, i can do neither legally/offically. Till now i have had no word of the permit, and if i still hear nothing by the end of this month i'll head over to the police station to harass some officers abit ;D

to make everything crystal clear, i shall repeat my plan here clearly and state that the Masters in Counselling programme requires a certain level of norwegian proficiency.

1: get permit

2: immediately enroll in some official norwegian course around.

3: simultaneously look for a job in trondheim as i'd prefer to live here and courses are abundant and within walking distance. will look into talking with a friend of alex's who is not norwegian but moved here a year or two ago and is looking for or has a job as he would have found out what jobs require norwegian knowledge. one suggestion by mary is to work in a hotel as a cleaning lady as it doesnt require norwegian proficiency.

if step 3 fails, the alternatives are to move to the inlaw's place and work there. work is guaranteed and pay is good. but attending a norwegian course there involves a total of 1 hour back and forth by car. while robert has suggested i could take the bus to the course and he can pick me up after, i would rather like to not trouble him.

4: start working to save up $ and reach the required level of norwegian proficiency.

5: by the end of the year, if i manage to skip a level or two of norwegian classes, i might be able to have gained the required level. if not, step 4 remains in effect.

6: once required level is reached, immediately apply for university and pray like crazy for the best. at the same time, start taking driving theory classes.

7: if i didnt get accepted the first time, just keep working, focus on learning driving and try again asap. of course, by then i will have more flexibility in terms of what job i can take.

side note: in norway, i can clock some of my driving hours under another person with a driver's license with X years of experience. robert is happily willing to let me raise his adrenaline levels by giving me the wheel when i have passed the theory parts.

lastly, i find it annoying when people ask me about my studies because i've known what i've wanted to do since secondary school and have worked towards it. and i already have a bachelor's degree, having people constantly ask me about studies makes me feel as though it is inadequate. those are my honest feelings :)

now back to my usual rambles! some xmas wares are 70% off and i found this supercute paperplates which match the postcards i bought for xmas this year! :D how to resist when its 6nkr? plus i want to invite friends over for a meal soon but i hate to wash dishes, so having some (cute!) paper plates for such occasions = joy.

then i have to show off my very nice hp case which alvin helped me get hohohoho
oh noes, naked nails.
recently i've also began organizing my table abit. it will take some time before it is finished because there's quite alot of unpacking to do (about the same level as when i moved here from Sg, scarily.) and cleaning. voila, the fruits of my labour which is temporary till i touch it up abit more!
thats just half my collection. hehe?

finally, this is what my xmas money got spent on. getting warmer clothes!! i made a clear set goal to NOT buy anything i would wear in sg XD.

first up is a very nice sweater which costed 150nkr/ $32.50sgd. everything here was on that happy 50-70% sale.
a fancy jacket that is pretty warm!
and stockings , the style of which i've been looking for for a year or so XD. it was 50nkr/$11sgd. happy because it was over 50% off hehe.
then while out shopping with mary i found out that my dreams do exist in reality! see?!
lo behold, its TWO purple xmas trees!!!!! (small one in the foreground) it makes me happy to know it exists but i dont think i'd want the big one. XD

lastly, we went to Plantasjen to look for an xmas tree but found out it was sold out before xmas began, and only 3.5 meter tall trees were left. i asked around where i could find one and a kind lady listed a few places to check, one of which was nearby. while i didnt buy my tree there, we found the shop on the way XD

anyway, Plantasjen is a big one storey building with a cafe and lots and lots of plants!! its like a giant greenhouse! and almost all the plants there were on 50% sale! of course i got excited and started zooming all over and alex called me a hummingbird.

i found some nice buys for mini orchids, and alex got a bonsai looking plant which i havent taken a picture of yet. think we dont need more plants in the apartment or lilo's sleeping spot by the window will have to go XD.
that's it for today! yay, no more backlog XD