So, I took the test on Saturday morning. I'm only posting now because I wanted to build suspense. I didn't want everyone see how it went before they even read that I was taking the test. The only thing, is that I hadn't realized that it's really difficult to build suspense when you have an audience of 5 people, max, and those 5 people probably don't look at the blog every day.
But it was an interesting experiment. I posted about the test on Friday, and it took until Tuesday for someone to ask how it went (thanks, Julie!). Granted, I got impatient and talked to half of my audience on the phone on Saturday night and spilled the beans. So really, I only have myself to blame.
Anyway, I passed.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Friday, November 02, 2007
The Test.
Tomorrow morning I am scheduled to take UK citizenship test. This is the first step in the process to become a UK citizen. Well, actually the second step, since you have to meet the eligibility criteria first (i.e. you need to have lived here long enough). So, actually, it's the third step, since you had to go through the process of settling here legally before you start the clock on your eligibility, which you have to do before you take the test. Which, you can't do until you've got your first visa, which you have to do before you can enter the country legally to go through the process of settling here legally so you can start the clock on your eligibility, meet that and then take the test. Thinking about it, I must be a citizen already with the number of steps I've already gone through.
Anyway, the test has two functions: 1) make it seem like they're being tough on immigrants and 2) decrease the number of applications the poor overworked civil servants have to process. No, just kidding, the two functions are: 1) make sure you understand English and 2) make sure you can answer random questions about the UK so the people who are born here don't have to.
I'm sure it's the same with all citizenship tests (I haven't checked, but I'm sure the US must have one too and I'm sure it's equally...ah...interesting). There are lots of questions that no native born Brit would probably be able to answer. At least, that's the way it seems from the practice questions in a study book I bought. Most of the questions were random historical facts ("in the 1950s, the UK set up centres in the West Indies to encourage immigration to the UK to fill what job roles?"), statistics ("according to the 2001 census, what percentage of Scotland's population is from an ethnic minority?"), specific questions about government ("how many members are there in the Welsh assembly?") and then finally things that you would actually know if you lived here ("what are Easter eggs made of?"). Although, I have to say that last example is a trick question for Americans, since over here all Easter eggs are chocolate--they don't do dyed boiled eggs at all. But at least you'd know that if you had ever spent a single Easter in the country or knew someone who had.
So seeing all the statistics questions ("about how many young people participate in community work?") made me panic, of course. I basically gave up, received a pep talk from Mark, got back into it, gave up again, decided to just try it and now I'm feeling a bit more relaxed.
I've read the chapters of the official "Life in the UK" book that the test is based on. I've written out a "citizenship timeline" -- all the completely arbitrary dates that are mentioned in the book and might be on the citizenship test (1550s, Church of England created, 1850s women allowed to divorce, 1918 women get the vote, 1949 Council of Europe created, 1973 UK joins EU, 1990 Thatcher resigns, 1999 Scottish and Welsh assemblies created...) and written down a study sheet of all the random statistics which I'll maybe look at once tomorrow morning before I go in.
I was really worried until I talked to a work colleague who has a South African friend who went through the process and said the test was really easy. That made me feel better. But they say that the test is different for everyone, which may mean that they decide if they like you or not first and decide the test's difficulty according.
Hm. So actually, right now I should be on my best behaviour, just in case. I will go look at the colours of the Union Jack and consider whether or not I want to vote for the Labour organisation in the next election if I am a citizen of this fair land.
Long live the Queen and pass the Marmite!
Anyway, the test has two functions: 1) make it seem like they're being tough on immigrants and 2) decrease the number of applications the poor overworked civil servants have to process. No, just kidding, the two functions are: 1) make sure you understand English and 2) make sure you can answer random questions about the UK so the people who are born here don't have to.
I'm sure it's the same with all citizenship tests (I haven't checked, but I'm sure the US must have one too and I'm sure it's equally...ah...interesting). There are lots of questions that no native born Brit would probably be able to answer. At least, that's the way it seems from the practice questions in a study book I bought. Most of the questions were random historical facts ("in the 1950s, the UK set up centres in the West Indies to encourage immigration to the UK to fill what job roles?"), statistics ("according to the 2001 census, what percentage of Scotland's population is from an ethnic minority?"), specific questions about government ("how many members are there in the Welsh assembly?") and then finally things that you would actually know if you lived here ("what are Easter eggs made of?"). Although, I have to say that last example is a trick question for Americans, since over here all Easter eggs are chocolate--they don't do dyed boiled eggs at all. But at least you'd know that if you had ever spent a single Easter in the country or knew someone who had.
So seeing all the statistics questions ("about how many young people participate in community work?") made me panic, of course. I basically gave up, received a pep talk from Mark, got back into it, gave up again, decided to just try it and now I'm feeling a bit more relaxed.
I've read the chapters of the official "Life in the UK" book that the test is based on. I've written out a "citizenship timeline" -- all the completely arbitrary dates that are mentioned in the book and might be on the citizenship test (1550s, Church of England created, 1850s women allowed to divorce, 1918 women get the vote, 1949 Council of Europe created, 1973 UK joins EU, 1990 Thatcher resigns, 1999 Scottish and Welsh assemblies created...) and written down a study sheet of all the random statistics which I'll maybe look at once tomorrow morning before I go in.
I was really worried until I talked to a work colleague who has a South African friend who went through the process and said the test was really easy. That made me feel better. But they say that the test is different for everyone, which may mean that they decide if they like you or not first and decide the test's difficulty according.
Hm. So actually, right now I should be on my best behaviour, just in case. I will go look at the colours of the Union Jack and consider whether or not I want to vote for the Labour organisation in the next election if I am a citizen of this fair land.
Long live the Queen and pass the Marmite!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
This hoop's for you.
For those of you who don't know, I have recently discovered that I'm eligible to apply for UK Citizenship. I had thought that you had to wait until 5 years after you received what they (without a trace of irony) call "indefinite leave to remain" to even think about doing the citizenship thing. But, somewhat by accident, I found out a few weeks ago that in fact, if you are married to a British person (which I am) and have been in the country for a total of three years (which I have been) then you can apply. The clock on your eligibility starts ticking the moment you enter the UK on a settlement visa (which I did on 11 September 2004, on a "spousal" visa), not the "indefinite" visa as I had previously thought.
Ergo, as of 11 September 2007, I could decide if having permanent status is worth the many hoops the UK government has decided to put in place in order to prove that you really, really want to stay.
Now, I don't HAVE to apply. My status means that I can work, play, mingle with the locals and all that good stuff. I pay taxes, I go to Tesco, I discuss East Enders. The two things that don't apply to me are 1) a British passport and 2) Elections. I can't vote, and I'm not a citizen, so I don't have a UK passport (which means whenever we travel in the EU I have to stand in the "Non-EU" passport queue, which is always long and slow).
Oh, and technically, they can at any point decide that they don't want me anymore and kick me out of the country. But, of course, they can't do that as easily as if I was illegal or a tourist or on a temporary visa or whatever. They'd have to have a darn good reason (and so far, I don't think this blog entry has been treasonous, so I think I'm still ok).
The other thing is that if I went and lived someplace else, say the States, for a while, if/when we moved back to the UK, I would have to apply all over again for my "indefinite leave to remain" status (and pay £500 again). This is not life-threatening--I mean we did once already so we'd know what to expect--but it's kind of a pain.
SO, if I go ahead and go for citizenship, then I become a dual-citizen, and as far as I know, move about the countries more freely. There doesn't seem to be much reason not to go ahead and go for it, since it's likely that we have many more immigration applications to make in our future anyway. It's really becoming a bit of a hobby.
Which reminds me, I need to go study...for the TEST!
(How's that for a cliff hanger? Tune in tomorrow, folks to find out... "is Jessica British enough?")
Ergo, as of 11 September 2007, I could decide if having permanent status is worth the many hoops the UK government has decided to put in place in order to prove that you really, really want to stay.
Now, I don't HAVE to apply. My status means that I can work, play, mingle with the locals and all that good stuff. I pay taxes, I go to Tesco, I discuss East Enders. The two things that don't apply to me are 1) a British passport and 2) Elections. I can't vote, and I'm not a citizen, so I don't have a UK passport (which means whenever we travel in the EU I have to stand in the "Non-EU" passport queue, which is always long and slow).
Oh, and technically, they can at any point decide that they don't want me anymore and kick me out of the country. But, of course, they can't do that as easily as if I was illegal or a tourist or on a temporary visa or whatever. They'd have to have a darn good reason (and so far, I don't think this blog entry has been treasonous, so I think I'm still ok).
The other thing is that if I went and lived someplace else, say the States, for a while, if/when we moved back to the UK, I would have to apply all over again for my "indefinite leave to remain" status (and pay £500 again). This is not life-threatening--I mean we did once already so we'd know what to expect--but it's kind of a pain.
SO, if I go ahead and go for citizenship, then I become a dual-citizen, and as far as I know, move about the countries more freely. There doesn't seem to be much reason not to go ahead and go for it, since it's likely that we have many more immigration applications to make in our future anyway. It's really becoming a bit of a hobby.
Which reminds me, I need to go study...for the TEST!
(How's that for a cliff hanger? Tune in tomorrow, folks to find out... "is Jessica British enough?")
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Wii-vorce.
All last week Mark and I were down in Brean looking after his mum's dogs while she and her sisters went to Morocco. It's where we used to live when we first moved to the UK, so we're used to the house, and it's good to see Ralph and Harry, who are the same as always (i.e. Ralph = neurotic and Harry = lazy and getting fatter by the minute).
She doesn't have Internet access, so it takes a little while to get used to not being able to find the answers to random questions by going online or checking email when you get home. It was kind of nice after a while, because you realize that an evening spent without staring a screen is actually pretty enjoyable.
UNTIL...
...you realize that you can't vote on Everybody Votes on the Wii because you don't have a wireless connection!
See, we knew we could live without the Internet, but we didn't think we could live without our Wii, so we took it with us! So, ok, it wasn't completely screen-free time, but at least we were moving around in front of the screen, instead of just surfing the net.
But without the internet connection, we felt isolated. Suddenly, it was just another games console. No more coming home and voting, checking the weather for the next day or sending a message to mom and dad. All we could do is play games!
I tell you--you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
She doesn't have Internet access, so it takes a little while to get used to not being able to find the answers to random questions by going online or checking email when you get home. It was kind of nice after a while, because you realize that an evening spent without staring a screen is actually pretty enjoyable.
UNTIL...
...you realize that you can't vote on Everybody Votes on the Wii because you don't have a wireless connection!
See, we knew we could live without the Internet, but we didn't think we could live without our Wii, so we took it with us! So, ok, it wasn't completely screen-free time, but at least we were moving around in front of the screen, instead of just surfing the net.
But without the internet connection, we felt isolated. Suddenly, it was just another games console. No more coming home and voting, checking the weather for the next day or sending a message to mom and dad. All we could do is play games!
I tell you--you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Getting into the swing of things.
Ok, I think I'm getting more into this blogging business. Yesterday, I realized the poll thing just wasn't a good idea for my particular blog...since only about three people (and I'm one of them) read it, and they're all family members, I don't think it's a very interesting exercise. I wouldn't say that I know everything about my family members, and I do agree that there are new things I can learn about them every day, but I would say that I probably have a pretty good handle on which condiment they would probably use, if faced with a hamburger. So, the poll thing is great on the wii (we are officially addicted) and great on Amigonet (since Jenny and Jeff actually have friends), but it's just silly for my purposes. I really just added it originally because I thought I kinda needed to have something for filler.
But the poll-misappropriation days are over. I've now discovered the "List" module and yesterday I promptly added three different ones. This is perfect because I like lists. I like to list things to do, though I won't do them and I like to build up my DVDs by mail list, even though we're currently watching them at a rate of about one every presidency. I even think about lists when I'm trying to fall asleep and trying not to think about the things my mind races about uncontrollably when I'm trying to fall asleep. I think about alphabetical lists of fruits or vegetables or names of cities. It's quite good actually; I'd recommend it. Better than trying to count sheep, particularly if you, like me, have a hard time visualizing more than three or four sheep at a time.
But even more than lists I like to show people what varied tastes I have. I mean the blog itself is a godsend for anyone who likes listening to themselves talk, but the lists take it to a new level. I can show off in an Internet-sanctioned way, without seeming too needy. It's great for those of us at the bottom of the familial food chain. Plus it's easy, since all you have to do is throw some titles down and make sure you've spelled the author's name correctly (since if you don't, your cover is totally blown). So it's even more perfect for the person at the bottom of the familial food chain who is also extremely lazy. Score!
Next I need to combine the lists with my opinions about the items on the list, so I can sound all intellectual. It's gonna be great.
But the poll-misappropriation days are over. I've now discovered the "List" module and yesterday I promptly added three different ones. This is perfect because I like lists. I like to list things to do, though I won't do them and I like to build up my DVDs by mail list, even though we're currently watching them at a rate of about one every presidency. I even think about lists when I'm trying to fall asleep and trying not to think about the things my mind races about uncontrollably when I'm trying to fall asleep. I think about alphabetical lists of fruits or vegetables or names of cities. It's quite good actually; I'd recommend it. Better than trying to count sheep, particularly if you, like me, have a hard time visualizing more than three or four sheep at a time.
But even more than lists I like to show people what varied tastes I have. I mean the blog itself is a godsend for anyone who likes listening to themselves talk, but the lists take it to a new level. I can show off in an Internet-sanctioned way, without seeming too needy. It's great for those of us at the bottom of the familial food chain. Plus it's easy, since all you have to do is throw some titles down and make sure you've spelled the author's name correctly (since if you don't, your cover is totally blown). So it's even more perfect for the person at the bottom of the familial food chain who is also extremely lazy. Score!
Next I need to combine the lists with my opinions about the items on the list, so I can sound all intellectual. It's gonna be great.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
A quote for today.
I use the iGoogle homepage (which I think is great) and one of the modules I've included on it is "Quotes of the Day." Sometimes they're the standard ones, or just kind of interesting.
But I got a kick out of today's and thought that the audience of this blog (i.e. Horns and former Horns and those connected to former Horns) might get a kick out of it too:
"Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand."
- Kurt Vonnegut
But I got a kick out of today's and thought that the audience of this blog (i.e. Horns and former Horns and those connected to former Horns) might get a kick out of it too:
"Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand."
- Kurt Vonnegut
Friday, October 05, 2007
We love our wii.
Today we discovered that the wii tells you when the batteries in your remote are getting low.
So considerate!
So considerate!
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