Cram school! Yay!
My books arrived today! And no, they weren’t free!
I’m coming up on two years in the UK — time to prepare for the next (and final) visa. To clear that hurdle, I’ll have to pass an exam called the Life in the UK Test. This delicious morsel was whipped up by Labour in 2007 in the hope it would convince the wider British public that honest to god we haven’t just thrown open the doors and walked away.
Didn’t they, fuck.
Anyhow, the joke is, most Brits would have a hard time passing this thing. Free sample:
True or false: you should not ask questions in an interview.
True or false: half of all young people in the UK have taken part in fundraising or collecting money for charity.
Since 1979 the number of refugees from South East Asia who have been allowed to settle in the UK is: a) less than 2,500 b) between 2,501 and 10,000 c) between 10,001 and 25,000 or d) more than 25,000
And on and on. There are a stupidly large number of questions about Scotland (the last government had an inordinate number of Scots) and about school (honestly, I am never going to need to know at what age to take which exams) and about how to apply for various kinds of benefits (what every new citizen needs to know). Still, I suppose I’m learning stuff.
Did you know the head of the Church of Scotland is called the Moderator? Makes the church sound like a gameshow or an online discussion forum.
¡Noticia! tonight is the peak of the Perseid meteor showers. Look to the Northeast between midnight and dawn.
Posted: August 12th, 2010 under britain, personal, weaselimportlicense.
Comments: 19
Comments
Comment from Nina from GCP
Time: August 13, 2010, 12:24 am
I think I’ll just stay here and stay ‘Merican. Seems like too much of a hassle to change. 🙂
Comment from Jill
Time: August 13, 2010, 1:28 am
Hey, saw this and thought of you:
Comment from Uncle Badger
Time: August 13, 2010, 1:44 am
Funnily enough, us badgers is rather fond of chocolate… 🙂
Comment from Mrs. Compton
Time: August 13, 2010, 6:31 am
Well now, that just topped off my evening. I was going to thank you for reminding me to go out and see the meteor shower. I turned off the lights for good measure even tho the city light pollution was sure to mess it up. So it’s darker than my soul out there and I’m trying real hard not to trip over two large dogs. Sure nuff I end up in the pool and take the collie with me. NOOOOOO, couldn’t be the golden, she’s not as hairy and actually LIKES water, has to be the yeti collie, now I’m gonna get bitched out by my pool lady for having the dog in the pool. Thanks, just THANKS! And I didn’t see one stinkin flashing light.
*trudges off to bed to warm up!
Oh and I bet if you were a muzzie they would have sent you the books free.
Comment from Frit
Time: August 13, 2010, 10:01 am
Hey Stoaty! My weasel hoodies arrived today, and they fit! *Happy Ferret Dancing™!* Also, the postage was just under $17 USD, so it wasn’t bad at all.
One disadvantage with living Down Under is that the meteors are rarely visible from here. *pouts* Tho I did get to see ONE shooting star a few nights ago. And yes, I made a wish. 😉
Good luck to you with your UK test and visa!
Thanks again for the cool weasel art on my hoodies!
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: August 13, 2010, 11:22 am
Hooray, Frit! Rest well in the warm, comforting embrace of a weasel…shirt.
Comment from Uncle Badger
Time: August 13, 2010, 4:09 pm
We sat out for a couple of hours watching the show.
Someone really should do something about all those stuck pixels in the sky.
Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: August 13, 2010, 5:20 pm
Someone really should do something about all those stuck pixels in the sky.
Well,better a few stuck pixels than seeing the ‘blue screen of death’ up there, writ large across the heavens.
Comment from Allen
Time: August 13, 2010, 5:54 pm
Oooo, oooo, I know, pick me. The only test I remember was the 11+. Which back then determined your lot in life in England.
Comment from Uncle Badger
Time: August 13, 2010, 8:13 pm
Some Vegetable 🙂
Comment from Gromulin
Time: August 13, 2010, 9:07 pm
Someone really should do something about all those stuck pixels in the sky.
Sorry, unless you can cover three (3) stuck pixels with a dime, it’s not a warranty issue – Tech Support.
Comment from SCOTTtheBADGER
Time: August 14, 2010, 3:13 am
American Badgers also like chocolate. Tonight, I bought some home made fudge down at the Kwik Trip Truck Stop, after having the fish buffet in the restaraunt.
I read something cool today, the USN is finishing a rebuild on the USS CONSTITUTION, and in, 2012, is planning to take her out for a sail under her own sail power! HUZZAH!
On VJ Day this year in NYC, in Times Square, they are having a kiss-in, as in the Sailor and the Nurse, to celebrate, and say Thank You WWII Vets.
Comment from Rich Rostrom
Time: August 14, 2010, 7:02 am
I’d go out to the Chicago lakefront and have a gander at the Perseids, in spite of the sky glow… but Illinois is having some very lively weather tonight.
Thundershowers and lots of clouds.
http://www.chicagoweathercenter.com/radar/maps/
Comment from David Gillies
Time: August 14, 2010, 10:39 am
It was pissing with rain in the IOW so I saw nuffin’.
Comment from Frit
Time: August 14, 2010, 12:32 pm
This Ferret is also a definite Chocoholic – and a snobby one at that! The chocolate has to be high quality, preferably dark, and containing no artificial ingredients at all (flavors & colors), and also the only fat content should be cocoa butter!
Did I mention I was a chocolate snob?
Q: Why isn’t there a “Chocoholics Anonymous”?
A: Because nobody wants to quit!
Comment from Uncle Badger
Time: August 14, 2010, 6:22 pm
Must be a mustelid thing, Frit. Nothing but the best choccie for this badger, too 😉
Comment from Bill (still the .00358% of your traffic that’s from Iraq) T
Time: August 16, 2010, 12:45 pm
Bunch of us were outside last Thursday night, but the only things we saw streaking across the sky in the northeast were some Iranian 107mm rockets the dirtbags got in trade for stuffed camel spiders, or something. But the Persian stuff had a more impressive end to their brief lives than the Perseid stuff…
Comment from Mike C.
Time: August 16, 2010, 9:43 pm
You know, it could be worse (I’m on the primary topic here.) The last government or two could have gotten around to writing a formal constitution and you could be tested on that. I’m picturing something somehwere (in page count) between Dante’s Divine Comedy and the US Tax Code.
Comment from Festive Protrudence
Time: August 19, 2010, 7:12 pm
I heard the citizenship test for the US is equally in depth. I wager if applied to the general citizenry folks would get a nasty surprise. I also wager most libs would fail miserably.
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