...the tax man says the university where I am doing my PhD doesn't exist. Sometimes it seems like the Canadian government thinks that nothing of any relevance to it's citizens exists outside North America. And in order for the university to be "accredited" for my tax purposes, my university must document how many Canadians have attended this institution over the last 10 years, including names, contact information, and SINs. Wow. That's A LOT of work. I suppose many of the hundreds of Canadians who have attended or currently attend my university are dual citizens or non-residents or on exchange and don't bother with Canadian taxes.
...I cannot call the number listed by the tax man with skype. I have not got a land line and my cell phone is pay as you go and hardly equiped for being put on hold with Revenue Canada.
...the front door of my building would not open yesterday. I pushed, shoved, heaving my full body weight against it thinking maybe I lost my mind and after two years of living in this building I missed something. There are these funny little knobs you have to turn sometimes, but still...Nope some drunk slammed it yet again in the night and busted it. The joy of living in a run down 60's building near campus.
...my mom has leukemia, I am entitled to a flu shot because I am a caregiver, or will be in December. Well in Canada I am entitled this week. Until yesterday, Finland overlooked this category. Someone from the consulate wrote and informed me of the change today. Either my boyfriends mother (who kindly called from Canada despite the time difference, employing her Finnish language skills and her powers of persuasion) has serious mobster connections, or there was enough of an outcry that they got organized.
...new problem. A co-worker called on my behalf today and was shut down not once but twice, on the grounds that the shot is for local people. I am a resident, not a citizen, but a resident with full rights to healthcare, I am registered in this municipality and I pay taxes, and into a pension and life insurance fund. I am also common-law with a Finnish citizen which absolutely gives me full rights. As soon as she heard "Kanadasta" she stopped listening. Time to get the boyfriend's mom to call again.
I really love so many things about living here, I have met wonderful people, have a cozy little shared office, a great situation as a doctoral student, etc. But this blog is getting bitter, bitter, bitter! Let's hope it turns around really soon!
On the bright side, I just finished some side editing for a researcher in the subject of the Scottish Enlightenment. When she publishes chapters and articles she needs a native speaker to language check. While the work can be difficult, tedious, and frustrating, I also learn a lot about the way I write, why I do what I do, how to write as an academic, and a of course acquire newfound knowledge. But what I really enjoy are the emails, the asides, the shared confidences, the little stories, and the bits of encouragement and advice from this Finnish woman I have never met. How she can listen to Scottish radio online, drink whiskey and eat shortbread (or some such thing) in her apartment here and imagine she is still in Glascow where she recently worked for a spell. The many stories of cancer in her family, the joys and frustrations of academic work, and often -academic life without work! It's the little things that get me through these strange and dark November days in these Northern parts.
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