Completed my 1st week in my new Norwegian class and man, is it different (good & bad, I think). I was worried at the beginning of the week whether I was placed in the wrong class and I was correct. Half way through the week I was moved up a couple classes, which I'm satisfied with. The class that I was placed in at first was still using "På vei", the book that we finished in my previous Norwegian Level 1 course at UiO. The new class I'm in, we are using "Stein på stein", which is the same book that UiO uses for their Level 2 Norwegian courses.. so I'm glad they decided to move me up, because although we covered all of "På vei" in only 6 short weeks, there's no use in hanging back, when I could be challenged and start working my way up!
The students in my class come from all different countries and backgrounds, like my class at UiO, but most don't have an educational background, like the one that I have, but have been living in Norway for years, are married, and have children. Their Norwegian speaking skills is quite good, but they don't have the study skills, or the situation that I have by living with a Norwegian family, to practice grammar. Pretty much everybody in my class speaks better than me and have larger vocabularies, because they have the advantage of living here for so long, but I feel like I am on a higher level, compared to most people in my class, when it comes to sentence structure and other grammar.. and I have only been learning Norwegian for 7 weeks only EVER! So, in a way, we are all at the same level. My new class is nothing like my class at UiO when it comes to the amount of homework that we get, or the amount of information that we cover in class everyday. At UiO, we could go through a chapter a day, or every other, when we have only covered 1 PAGE of chapter 1, in an entire week, ha ha. It's a breath of fresh air, but at the same time I wish that it was more like the class at UiO. I have been practicing speaking more though, outside of class, which is good, but I will have to create more work for myself at home so I can practice writing and learning new words.
We're going to look at another apartment tomorrow in Oslo, but this time we are going as interested buyers.. not renters ;) Over the past couple weeks we have been discussing what we wanted to do and it makes more sense in the long-run to try and buy an apartment, instead of renting. This of course means that we need to take out a loan and Anders' Dad and stepmom have agreed to co-sign our loan so that we can take out more money. Here in Norway when you take out a loan you are allowed to take out around 2.5 times the amount you make, so by them co-signing our loan it's going to make it possible for us to buy. Apartments in Oslo average anywhere from 1.5-2 million kroner, which is around $350,000. Our loan payment every month, once we find an apartment, will be less, or around the amount of money we would have spent per month if we were going to rent instead, which is around 10,000 kroner or $1,800. The apartments for purchase are all SO much nicer than those to rent, so Anders' and I are pretty exciting to start going to showings and then bidding on ones that we like. It should be an exciting experience and hopefully we'll end up finding an apartment that we absolutely love and can afford.
The job situation is still at a stand-still, but I've been getting good advice from people here on places to look into once I learn more Norwegian. So, right now my 1st priority is to learn the language and just to be patient.. something that I'm quickly learning here that is essential. Anders starts work in only a couple days and from what he'll be paid every month will be enough for us to live comfortably, so I think things will be good!
I will be applying for new visa very soon, once I finish collecting all the needed paperwork that I need to include with my application. The bureaucracy here is a little confusing and I have been getting mixed messages from the Immigration Office, whenever I have gone in. I am applying for a temporary residence permit, in which I am solely taking Norwegian courses and trying to gain some work experience by being allowed to work part-time 20 hours per week. I was told that first time applicants MUST bring in all necessary paperwork and their application in person, but when I went the other day with most of my paperwork they said that I needed to apply online, but there's no where on the UDI site in which to do this. Pretty confusing.. I cannot wait until this process is over with.
Hoping that hurricane Irene won't do much damage, as it passes through New England, over the next couple of days.. I guess I didn't realize how big it may actually be until I started hearing that stores were running out of supplies, school were already being cancelled and some places have been evacuated. A little scary, if you ask me!! I just hope everything will be ok! Good luck to all my friends and family and I'll be thinking about you all <3
P.S. Was told today by my sister that she wants me to be a bride's maid in her wedding, which she is planning to have next August, 2012! Exciting stuff :D
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