Unfortunately coming in as an outsider I never did get that foot in the door, and I felt pretty dejected after my three month stint as a temporary library assistant. (It was a tiny faculty library where the head librarian wasn't very good at anything people-related, and tried to keep the fact that they were cutting my contract a month short under wraps until they could go on vacation, so. Not the best experience.)
That sounds awful. I had a similarly frustrating experience (although for different reasons) at my previous job, which I will tell you all about in person if we do so in the future. (On that score, no rush. Sorry to hear about your cycling accident, and I hope you're on the road to recovery soon.)
It's just for short getaways that Cambridge is inconveniently located - I'm sorry, East Anglia, Wicken Fen is not an exciting destination, no matter how long it's been part of the Natural Trust. :/ As for Cambridge's immediate surroundings, it's just... very flat.
I hear you! There's only so many times you can go on day trips to Ely, and a lot of the smaller villages are only accessible by very erratically scheduled buses.
right now we're in the middle of getting my wife doctorskuld a spousal visa, so we're without passports.
Ugh, the endless wait for visas. If I understand your circumstances correctly, she may be applying for the same type of visa that I recently received (I have a spousal visa through my partner, who is German, so it's one of those EEA-route visas). I had to wait 4.5 months for the stupid thing! However, you are able to request your passports back without affecting the application, as long as you've done your biometrics and received your certificate of application (basically the acknowledgement that your visa is being processed and that you are allowed to remain and work in the UK until a decision has been made). I successfully reentered the UK with only my passport and the certificate, about four months into the wait for the visa, although I did have my partner with me. We were travelling back from Germany. I'm not sure if all this is relevant or helpful, but I just thought I'd let you know. But yes, visa applications, particularly in the UK, are the absolute worst. Good luck to your wife!
Your experience in Japan sounds incredible, and I can see that it really became a home for you, a place of great importance. I've only been to Japan once - to Kyoto, Nara and Hiroshima - on a school trip in 2000 (my secondary school had a sister school in Nara). It was a wonderful trip, but obviously not the same as living and working there for many years. I hope you have a chance to go back there at some point.
no subject
That sounds awful. I had a similarly frustrating experience (although for different reasons) at my previous job, which I will tell you all about in person if we do so in the future. (On that score, no rush. Sorry to hear about your cycling accident, and I hope you're on the road to recovery soon.)
It's just for short getaways that Cambridge is inconveniently located - I'm sorry, East Anglia, Wicken Fen is not an exciting destination, no matter how long it's been part of the Natural Trust. :/ As for Cambridge's immediate surroundings, it's just... very flat.
I hear you! There's only so many times you can go on day trips to Ely, and a lot of the smaller villages are only accessible by very erratically scheduled buses.
right now we're in the middle of getting my wife doctorskuld a spousal visa, so we're without passports.
Ugh, the endless wait for visas. If I understand your circumstances correctly, she may be applying for the same type of visa that I recently received (I have a spousal visa through my partner, who is German, so it's one of those EEA-route visas). I had to wait 4.5 months for the stupid thing! However, you are able to request your passports back without affecting the application, as long as you've done your biometrics and received your certificate of application (basically the acknowledgement that your visa is being processed and that you are allowed to remain and work in the UK until a decision has been made). I successfully reentered the UK with only my passport and the certificate, about four months into the wait for the visa, although I did have my partner with me. We were travelling back from Germany. I'm not sure if all this is relevant or helpful, but I just thought I'd let you know. But yes, visa applications, particularly in the UK, are the absolute worst. Good luck to your wife!
Your experience in Japan sounds incredible, and I can see that it really became a home for you, a place of great importance. I've only been to Japan once - to Kyoto, Nara and Hiroshima - on a school trip in 2000 (my secondary school had a sister school in Nara). It was a wonderful trip, but obviously not the same as living and working there for many years. I hope you have a chance to go back there at some point.