Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Patriotism overseas

This more or less sums up the day


So Constitution Day came and went. It was the second time in my life I didn't celebrate May 17th at home (the other being in Seattle in '06). 

The day started out quite chilly, with the temperature hovering around 12-13 degrees, which is rather cold here. There were also some signs of rain, but this luckily never came to be. The temperature climbed quickly though and by the time everyone was gathered it was easily over 20C.

We met up outside the Old Government House on QUTs Gardens Point campus, right in the middle of the city. After a little while there was quite a few people there, most dressed in either suits, dresses, bunad, draped in a flag or, as me, with something Norwegian on them.
Definitely a good turnout

The parade, with a 4 man band, started marching at around 10:30 and we did a good lap around the city center before heading back to the campus. We even had a police escort to help us close down the streets and probably to calm the infuriated locals who were wondering who these crazy fucking guys were, marching down the street singing furiously.


Yes, we thought Pacific Blue as well

After the parade we had the national anthem before we, as good Norwegians, went for a beer...
...and promptly claimed the table for Norway! If your flag's on it, it's yours!

Altogether a very nice day, even if it finished with me in class and doing schoolwork. No rest for the weary I suppose... 


Monday, May 3, 2010

Economic troubles

Did you know some ATM's use Microsoft software? Yeah, me neither.

Did you know some ATM's use fucking Internet Explorer to handle our personal information and banking records? Fuck no, you didn't!

So imagine my surprise when I went to get some cash at an ATM in Queen Street and got this on the screen:

In case you can't see it, this is basically what it said: "Internet Explorer Script Error" which basically translates into "Bill Gates just stole your Visa card!"

I was understandably a litte... angry at this (Sorry about the swearing Customer Service lady), but Are, Hans-Petter and Daniel couldn't stop laughing. The bastards... At least I got a free Hungry Jack's meal out of it...

First thing I did when I got back home was call home and close my card, just in case someone got a hold of it. The following day I went back to the bank and, after bullshitting my way through the layers of bureaucracy, I got my card back. However, after talking for an hour or so with my bank, DnBNOR, they told me that the only way to unlock my card would be to 1) Visit my nearest DnB bank (which is 15.000km away) or 2) Visit the Norwegian embassy to verify my identity for the bank, so they can be sure I am who I am. Yeah...


So now I'm using my friends as personal ATM's while waiting for a new card to arrive from the other side of the globe.