This is the blog of a Norwegian (Marianne, aka 'M') who moved to Australia in 2007 to be with Roger (aka R) and feels lucky to have escaped a comparatively communistic country with ridiculous weather!

We arrived home from NZ Friday night, after leaving Auckland at 2 pm and going via Sydney. R got special treatment at all 3 airports because he tore his calf muscle in Rotorua Wednesday evening, so he got to be pushed around in a wheel chair and we were pre-boarded:)

NZ is nice, it's a lot like Australia, but at the same time tries to be European. It is kind of cute:) And they are extremely nationalistic, everywhere you go there are ferns (famous symbol for NZ) kiwi birds and sheep jokes.

They also have very friendly people. Every store we went into where there was a New Zealander working (which weren't a lot because they have a huge immigrant population) they were always making jokes and chatting and going out of their way to be helpful. It was cool.

We will definitely go back one day, and then we will prolly not stay in one place, but hire a car and drive through the country and find a hotel wherever we feel like staying for the night...

Photos have been posted here.

I have heard several people say lately that women are getting "too picky", and that they should settle for someone who is not perfect rather than hanging around for "Mr Right".

This story is one of the places I have heard it; Should women accept a guy who is just good enough?

(the story then goes on to disagree with this view)

In the story, there is a female author who says:

Well, I disagree.

Perhaps the issue isn’t that women are ‘too picky’, maybe men have simply become too unlikable, with their cheating and lying and manipulating, just for the sake of getting into bed with a woman; because that is all men care about these days (the younger generation, not the older ones who were raised to think women deserve respect). And society encourages this view by using sex in advertising everywhere.

I wouldn’t blame any woman who chose to stay single with today’s selection of men. I found one myself, but I got lucky and found one who is decent. if I wasn’t with Roger I would still be single, and enjoying it, because I would rather be single and independent than be tied down with a man who would cheat on me, or lie to me.

If Roger engages in typical male activities (unlikely, which is part of why I chose him) I will again be single, and I would intend to stay single, because I wouldn’t believe the amount of decent men left in the world is high enough to make it likely for me to find one a second time. 

I will not ever settle for a man who doesn't treat me with respect, and I don't think any woman should think she has to, for fear of being called 'picky'. It's not picky, it's healthy.

R and I went into Brisbane today to start the process of renewing my passport, because I need a new one for when we go to Usa in June.

I called the consulate a few days ago to make an appointment to do the passport application thing (I don't know why you need to make an appointment to fill out a form, but their site says to, so I did).

They told me that to be able to get a new passport I would need a CERS (Certificate of Evidence of Resident Status) because Norway for whatever reason doesn't recognise dual citizenship, unlike every other country in the world (which I find very petty; "You're either ALL Norwegian or none at all!")

So I didn't make the appointment, but told them I would call them back when I have the CERS. So as mentioned, R and I went into Brisbane today and visited the Department of Immigration. We went up to the counter and I explained that I needed a CERS, and the woman gave me a form to fill out and told me it was just a little one, so I could fill it out while I waited to see someone about it.

I figured it wouldn't be long, so I filled it out as quick as I could to have it ready. What a waste of effort that was, we waited over an hour and a half to see someone. While we waited R asked me why I need this CERS thing, seeing as I have only been here 3 years and thus am not even eligible for citizenship yet (you have to have lived here 4 years to be able to apply for citizenship). I told R I have no idea, I had just been told by the consulate that I would need one.

When we were finally called over I handed the guy the form and he asked me why I needed a CERS and I told him to renew my passport, and then added that I really shouldn't even need one seeing as I've only been here 3 years and can't possibly be a citizen. He thought it was weird that they had asked for it, and suggest I bring it up with them, and I said I would.

It took him about 10 minutes to make and print the CERS.

We then headed off, and seeing as the Norry consulate is just up the road from immigration, we thought we might as well go and see if they had time to do my passport application. I didn't make an appointment, but thought there was no harm in asking, seeing as we were in the city anyway.

So we walked in, and were told that the consulate is closed between 12 and 2 every day, so we went and had lunch and returned 20 minutes later, at 2 o'clock. Imagine getting 2 hours off for lunch every day!

I asked if I could do the passport application, and the woman told me she would just have to check that no one else had made an appointment, and found that no one had, so she then handed me an application and sent me off to fill it out. So why are you supposed to make an appointment just to fill out an application and then hand it to them and pay for it??

When I handed the application in, I pointed out that I am not eligible for citizenship for another year, so I shouldn't need the CERS, and she looked a bit panicky until we told her I did have a CERS, and then she looked relieved.

So even when you can't possibly under any circumstances be a citizen, you still need to pay $100 for a certificate to confirm it. How silly.

And why does Norway still demand that you come in and fill out the application in person? Both UK and Australia let you just send them your application along with your old passport and then mail you your new one.

Little does Norway know that I am planning to become a citizen next year, when I will have lived here for 4 years. So there is no point demanding a certificate anyway, because I will have both a Norry and an Aussie passport for the next 10 years until they find out.

I just received a letter which told me I have been successfully enrolled into Certificate I in Animal Studies. Yay!

It's the first step towards fulfilling my lifelong dream of working with animals.

I have been applying for animal related jobs regularly over the last 3 years, but when I had no luck and not so much as an interview, I slowly came to the realisation that if I'm going to do what I've always wanted to do, then I would need to study to get the necessary qualifications. And this course seemed perfect for me, so I applied. I never thought I would be a student again.

So back to student life for me... (Well, not really, it's part time correspondence, but still).

Yay:)

 I'm 28 today. I'm such an old hag.

But life is good, so who cares:)

I was sitting in my office earlier this evening when Julie came and sat by the door. I looked over at her and her mouth looked funny. I thought she had an animal that she was about to eat, so I called her over to see what it was all about.

Instead of responding to me normally, she ran away. I figured I better follow, in case she had a gekko or something, so I did. She kept running away from me, which is very unlike her.

I finally got close enough to see what was up with her mouth, and it turned out there was no animal, it was froth. Julie's pupils were huge, and she looked really weird, and was constantly licking her lips, in addition to the froth.

I went inside and told R I thought she must have eaten a toad or something (we have had a ridiculous amount of cane toads in the garden lately) and R then came out and had a look, and agreed that she was looking really weird. He also pointed out to me (needlessly) that cane toads are venomous and cats can die from coming in contact with them. I said we better call a vet then, and so I did.

They said to run water over her gums for 15 minutes and if there was no improvement call them back. So I did that, while R went and googled symptoms, and told me it said to take the animal to the vet immediately if it was trembling, seizuring or unable to walk normally. Luckily, Julie wasn't showing any of those symptoms, but she was still being really weird. I was holding her by the scruff of her neck and soaking her with water, but she wasn't even struggling.

While rinsing her, it dawned on me that cats actually die from this, so I told her "you're not dying tonight!"

I couldn't tell if there was any improvement while holding her, so after about 10 minutes I let her go and she went straight to the couch and laid down and started licking the water off herself. I sat with her for a while, and she seemed to return to normal and responded to being talked to again.

So she's ok, but that was so scary. I was still shaking an hour later. And it was only luck that I noticed it, but I think she came to my office because she knew something was wrong, which is good.

The cats are being kept inside tonight, and tomorrow I am going over the whole garden and killing every single toad.

 Look, it's a tsunami!

... not.

The sign says "Beach closed - Tsunami warning" (click for bigger version)