Skandinavia

[Second Summer]

Today his wife was arrested, suspected to be behind at least the last car fire...

Hah, I was just thinking to myself that these attacks sounded a bit uncharacteristic for Norway, more typical for a crime novel, and that maybe instead it really was their son / daughter being crazy. And now it turns out perhaps it's the wife. Well, well, well!

 

[Mikkel]

Hah, I was just thinking to myself that these attacks sounded a bit uncharacteristic for Norway, more typical for a crime novel, and that maybe instead it really was their son / daughter being crazy. And now it turns out perhaps it's the wife. Well, well, well!

Yeah. They have been really uncommon. I wonder if we get to know why she did this...

 

[Mikkel]

Spring has arrived in Norway. It's like this..

 

[Val]

Spring has arrived in Norway. It's like this..

View attachment 16383

Haha, it's not about Norway only. We have this kind of spring every single year. E.g., on Sunday i was suffocating and wearing summer clothes all day. Yesterday, when i was going to work - it was summer, when i was going home - it was snowing, and the temps fell down to 3°C. And today... today, it looks like i'm going outside in my winter padding polyester pants and winter padding polyester coat again.

 

[Second Summer]

I'm reading that the political process to ban fur farming in Norway is going ahead despite recent additions to the government coalition. The new agriculture minister is a fur farming supporter, but the government has already decided to ban fur farming, so today she has had to send off a bill proposal to a parliament committee, and then it goes from there to a vote in parliament, hopefully before the summer.

 

[Mikkel]

 

[Second Summer]

Came across this story over the weekend, here's an English-language version:
Whale with harness could be Russian weapon, say Norwegian experts (29. April 2019)

 

[Val]

Came across this story over the weekend, here's an English-language version:
Whale with harness could be Russian weapon, say Norwegian experts (29. April 2019)

Jesus Christ! They see enemies everywhere! We have the Institute of Oceanology here, in Saint-Petersburg, which studies marine life,- that's why it's written on the whale's harness "Equipment of St.-Petersburg".
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology - Wikipedia
Official page:
Главная страница - Институт океанологии им.П.П.Ширшова РАН

 

[Second Summer]

Jesus Christ! They see enemies everywhere! We have the Institute of Oceanology here, in Saint-Petersburg, which studies marine life,- that's why it's written on the whale's harness "Equipment of St.-Petersburg".
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology - Wikipedia
Official page:
Главная страница - Институт океанологии им.П.П.Ширшова РАН

I'm not quite clear on why the harness would say 'equipment of St. Petersburg' if it had come from the navy in Murmansk, but apart from that it sounds plausible enough. I read elsewhere that the US had also been experimenting with 'spy dolphins'.

On a sidenote, I was very relieved to read that my countrymen - even a fisherman - for once were able to show some compassion towards a sea creature in distress instead of finding an excuse to kill it as is often the case e.g. with sea birds caught up in oil spills or walruses resting peacefully on a pier a long way from home.

Edited to add: Latest news about the whale (Norwegian text), including a picture of the harness which states 'equipment St. Petersburg' - in English!

Hvalen ble fri fra selene – viser fram triks for bygdefolket

The whale has turned up at a small coastal village where it's entertaining the locals by doing tricks. They're worried that it might not know how to feed itself.

 

[Val]

On a sidenote, I was very relieved to read that my countrymen - even a fisherman - for once were able to show some compassion towards a sea creature in distress instead of finding an excuse to kill it as is often the case e.g. with sea birds caught up in oil spills or walruses resting peacefully on a pier a long way from home.

This is the only thing that really matters, IMO.

 

[Second Summer]

They think it's probably a "therapy whale" now. Authorities are still worried he doesn't know how to feed himself, and they want to send him back to Russia or a sanctuary near Iceland. The whale, affectionately named "Hvaldimir" (see Wikipedia: Hvaldimir - Wikipedia) by locals, is very fond of people, and the other day he dived and retrieved a mobile phone that a young girl lost while whale watching.

 

[Second Summer]

A ferry that used to sail across fjords near my home town is to appear in the American movie Black Widow, featuring Scarlett Johansson. (The ferry is named after one of the neighbourhoods in my home town.)
«Goma» blir med i amerikansk spillefilm

Photos and video have circulated recently of Scarlett Johansson carrying a bag of groceries outside a small-town shop somewhere in the southern part of this county where parts of the movie are being filmed. Shockingly, in the photos/video she looks like a normal human being:
Marvel-fan lurte seg inn på filmområdet

 

[Second Summer]

After a vote last night in Stortinget, the Norwegian parliament, fur farming in Norway is finally officially being phased out and banned entirely from 2025. The bill includes compensation for the fur farmers. I was worried that the current government, a coalition between the centre right, right wing, Christian democrats and half-arsed "liberals" - possibly the worst government ever in Norwegian history, would fall apart before they managed to push through this single, long-promised piece of progressive legislation. (To their credit, they also pushed through legislation to allow dual citizenship, which I think I've posted about previously.)

 

[Second Summer]

I just came across this new video from Langfocus on YT!

Norwegian is supposedly one of the easiest foreign languages to learn for English speakers. It has the same word order in sentences (subject - verb - object), many conjugate words, the verb conjugation is super simple as it's conjugated the same regardless of person or number. And so on.

 

[Val]

I just came across this new video from Langfocus on YT!

Norwegian is supposedly one of the easiest foreign languages to learn for English speakers. It has the same word order in sentences (subject - verb - object), many conjugate words, the verb conjugation is super simple as it's conjugated the same regardless of person or number. And so on.

I'll watch it first thing in the morning!

 

[Second Summer]

It's really happening! I'm tempted to apply for UK citizenship once this has gone into force on 1. January, but it's expensive ...

https://www.thelocal.no/20191104/norway-to-allow-dual-citizenship-from-2020/amp

 

[shyvas]

It's really happening! I'm tempted to apply for UK citizenship once this has gone into force on 1. January, but it's expensive ...

https://www.thelocal.no/20191104/norway-to-allow-dual-citizenship-from-2020/amp

How much ?

 

[Second Summer]

How much ?

It looks like it's about £1350 - but I need to wait until I've had my 'settled status' for at least 12 months:

https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-remain

 

[shyvas]

It looks like it's about £1350 - but I need to wait until I've had my 'settled status' for at least 12 months:

https://www.gov.uk/apply-citizenship-indefinite-leave-to-remain

That does sound like a huge chunk of money but I would ask myself if it would be worth it in the long term. If you plan to stay
in the UK for the rest of your career and also purchase property, it may be worthwhile to have UK citizenship. Many people would be willing to pay far more
than that to obtain UK citizenship.

Having dual nationality can be a good thing and you get the best of both worlds.

You could also make enquiries to see whether you could pay the fee via an instalment plan.

 

[Second Summer]

That does sound like a huge chunk of money but I would ask myself if it would be worth it in the long term. If you plan to stay
in the UK for the rest of your career and also purchase property, it may be worthwhile to have UK citizenship. Many people would be willing to pay far more
than that to obtain UK citizenship.

Having dual nationality can be a good thing and you get the best of both worlds.

You could also make enquiries to see whether you could pay the fee via an instalment plan.

Yep. Though I think Mrs Summer probably need it more than I do, as her eligibility for living in the UK sort of depends on me and our marriage. I really wish it were more affordable.