Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/03/07
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]http://www.dlridings.com/paw2003/20.html I'll be in Sweden the week before that. One way or another ... Daniel On Tue, 8 Mar 2005, Alastair Firkin wrote: > Its possible if its really worth it. I'm in Prague from the 7 to the > 12, and I had planned to go to Poland from there, before heading back > to Hamburg and Sweden. > > On 08/03/2005, at 1:29 AM, Daniel Ridings wrote: > > > If you're serious ... you will be making a very, very serious mistake > > by > > not being here in Oslo May 17. It is a special day. A "must-see". > > > > I leave for Africa on the 19th but it was planned that way, in order to > > be here on the 17th. > > > > Daniel > > > > On Tue, 8 Mar 2005, Alastair Firkin wrote: > > > >> OK, see you in MAY ;-) > >> On 08/03/2005, at 1:17 AM, Daniel Ridings wrote: > >> > >>> Tourists are very welcome and the Norwegian population is a charmer. > >>> > >>> As a tourist, you won't need to have anything to do with these > >>> salaried > >>> twits. :-) > >>> > >>> Daniel > >>> > >>> On Tue, 8 Mar 2005, Alastair Firkin wrote: > >>> > >>>> gee, Helen and I were due to come up that way, perhaps we will go to > >>>> New Zealand: they are only moderately unfriendly there ;-) > >>>> On 08/03/2005, at 1:04 AM, Daniel Ridings wrote: > >>>> > >>>>> Graham, > >>>>> Foreigners are not really welcome here. Tolerated, but not welcome. > >>>>> The > >>>>> fewer, the better. Perhaps I'm exaggerating, but I feel I have to > >>>>> since > >>>>> Scandinavia has tended to have a liberal stamp on it. The various > >>>>> countries react differently. I suspect that Sweden has the most > >>>>> liberal > >>>>> refugee policy, Finland the least, Denmark, a small country, has > >>>>> been > >>>>> over > >>>>> saturated and Norway is somewhere inbetween. Probably closer to > >>>>> Finland > >>>>> than anything else. > >>>>> > >>>>> Norway does have a lot of public money, oil money. So it can afford > >>>>> to > >>>>> have civil servants on duty who really don't have to pull much > >>>>> weight. > >>>>> They can act offended if you show up and expecting them to perform > >>>>> their > >>>>> duties. (I've had a run-in with a few of them, so my background > >>>>> information might be tainted :-) ). It doesn't really matter if > >>>>> they > >>>>> do > >>>>> anything or not. The country and afford them. The bureaucracy is of > >>>>> Byzantine proportions. > >>>>> > >>>>> So you have these furners. You make them report to the police > >>>>> station > >>>>> (one > >>>>> single police station in all of Oslo, the capital city, mind you, > >>>>> not > >>>>> just > >>>>> your local station) between 8 and 10? possibly 11. Anyway, at the > >>>>> end > >>>>> of > >>>>> the short time frame they close. Doesn't matter that you've been > >>>>> waiting > >>>>> there since 8 am, they close. Sorry. Come back tomorrow. > >>>>> > >>>>> So all these poor souls start queuing up at around 7 am. This > >>>>> particular > >>>>> day it was -15 degrees and the wind was raging off the fjord, the > >>>>> harbour. > >>>>> Cold. Very cold. Most of these people come from temperate zones ... > >>>>> Africa, Pakistan, India etc. 15 degrees is cold for many of them. > >>>>> > >>>>> At 8 o'clock ... make that 8:05 if the police really feel like > >>>>> screwing > >>>>> with you, they unlock the door. Now at that point, you don't retain > >>>>> your > >>>>> queue place, but you have to rush to a number machine and get a > >>>>> queue > >>>>> number. > >>>>> > >>>>> Some of these will not get served on today. The one station is Oslo > >>>>> is > >>>>> not > >>>>> open long enough to take care of them. > >>>>> > >>>>> Maybe they'll get tired of it and decide to move home? > >>>>> > >>>>> http://www.rollei-gallery.net/ridings/image-80729.html > >>>>> > >>>>> Excuse my cynical humor today. I had a run-in with the customs > >>>>> people > >>>>> at > >>>>> the border last night. Norway is a member of Schengen so they're > >>>>> not > >>>>> allowed to do controls of people, only of goods. I think they're > >>>>> trying to > >>>>> drum up business for the train line to Gothenburg they now have but > >>>>> can't > >>>>> get to take off (they raised the price 100%) so they're making sure > >>>>> all > >>>>> other forms of transportation are so miserable to use that people > >>>>> with > >>>>> opt > >>>>> for the useless train instead (it's a milk-run. Stops at every farm > >>>>> between Gothenburg and Oslo). > >>>>> > >>>>> Something like that ... > >>>>> > >>>>> Daniel > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>>>> Hi Daniel, > >>>>>> > >>>>>> I particularly like these two: > >>>>>> http://www.rollei-gallery.net/ridings/image-80727.html > >>>>>> > >>>>>> http://www.rollei-gallery.net/ridings/image-80728.html > >>>>>> > >>>>>> and I am curious about the reference to 'foreigners dose of > >>>>>> humiliation' > >>>>>> > >>>>>> --Graham > >>>>>> > >>>>>> > >>>>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>>>> Leica Users Group. > >>>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more > >>>>>> information > >>>>>> > >>>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>>> Leica Users Group. > >>>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more > >>>>> information > >>>>> > >>>>> > >>>> Alastair > >>>> > >>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>> Leica Users Group. > >>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >>>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> Leica Users Group. > >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >>> > >>> > >> Alastair > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Leica Users Group. > >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >> > > _______________________________________________ > > Leica Users Group. > > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > > > > Alastair > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >