So here I was thinking it would be the easiest thing ever to waltz into a country whose language I don’t speak, find a job and live happily every after for a year or two.
It is not that easy!
I have a film degree so I contacted countless film places to no avail. I went to photography studios and got nothing. I tried hotels and the tourist bureau, still nothing.
It am actually at the point where I will take just about any job, just to support myself and my girlfriend while living here.
But how did I get to this nearly rock-bottom position?
Well, I will attribute that to two things which can actually be lumped into one thing and that is: laziness!
I know, it sounds terrible and no one wants to label themselves as lazy, but the first step is admitting it.
Here are the two biggest lazy mistakes I made:
Big Lazy Mistake 1: Not being brave enough to dive headlong into learning Norwegian last time I was here!
I lived here for a whole year before, but the first time I spoke an entire sentence in Norwegian to a stranger (besides saying I don’t speak Norwegian) was yesterday!
Yeah yeah, everyone here speaks English, and it’s easy to be lazy, but really, it’s always easy to be lazy. Now I’m paying for it in spades. You know how I could tell? When I went to a photography studio and asked for a job and they said they really needed photographers, but that I had to speak Norwegian.What a waste of a good job.
Big Lazy Mistake 2: Not doing enough research before I came here!
And that’s not just research about the laws on getting a job here, but also research into places I could work and contacting as many places as possible beforehand because of how long it takes everyone to respond!
Seriously, I’ve emailed maybe like 40 places that I could potentially get some work and so far I’ve gotten maybe 3 responses and two of those responses were that the responder would forward my message to someone higher up who, of course, didn’t respond.
OK, anyway, that is why I am a little crazy. But seriously, I don’t regret a thing and I’ve found a way to study Norwegian and be allowed to stay. All I have to do is get a part-time job. Any job. Dishwashing again? If I have to!
Learn from me! Don’t be lazy.
Finally, I apologize for the informality and raving nature of today’s post, but I’ll leave you with a little flickr slideshow of the selections I’ll be showing any potential photo employers. Suggestions?
