Anya woke up at midnight again and I made it to 3 am but with a nap before the day really got rolling. We don’t do jet lag well, but I’m adjusting a bit better, probably thanks to black tea.
So, Anya was eager for the day, but probably because she was hoping we would be able to get the identity number we need to buy a SIM card and get local cell phone access. Well, it looks like we have to wait about 2 weeks to get our ID number, which we need for the SIM card and to open a bank account.
We learned a lot today about Norway’s immigration, but our first lesson was about Norway’s weather. It was raining a light mist when we started uphill for the #2 bus. However, the sidewalk had considerable ice and made it difficult to ascend. Fortunately, the Norwegians coming downhill demonstrated that walking in the street is more manageable.
Off to the school on the bus. Fortunately, Tina told me that road construction means the bus doesn’t stop right at the library, so we were prepared to get out and walk a bit–more uphill–but with less ice in Stavanger.
I’ve been given the former office of the rector from his faculty role days (the head of the school), who now has the rector’s office. The rector let me in and welcomed me among his plethora of books. I had a quiet place to do some work on my laptop. Anya had a quiet place to nap, as she pulled the two sitting chairs together as a small bed.
After our “brown bag” lunch, we were taken to the police station to deal with our immigration paperwork. I guess in a peaceful country, you need to find things for the police to do!
Our airplane tickets have us in Norway almost 6 months–6 days short of a full 6 months. This means that I won’t be a “resident” and I will have a different number (a D-number instead of a personnummer). While it is not a huge issue, it would have been nice to be a real resident!
I’m so grateful that most Norwegians are very fluent in English, like our bus driver. However, tomorrow, Anya has a Norwegian immersion experience, as she is off to school. Fortunately, she has met her teacher, who was very welcoming and relayed that the class is excited to welcome an American. English and Spanish should be pretty easy classes, and it sounds like most of the subject matter she has covered already in Bellevue’s aggressive educational environment. This will be good for learning Norwegian as she won’t have to focus on both subject matter and language learning! However, she’ll have quite a challenge of language learning ahead! I can’t wait to hear her stories tomorrow!