Up close and personal

Bureaucracy day! Bureaucracy conquered! We've registered as EU citizens here; tax issues associated with my fellowship have been dealt with; I've got a bank account; we've applied for social security coverage and municipal registration; and we've procured a sim card, although I haven't been able to make it work yet (although of course post the abolition of roaming our UK phones are perfectly good too). This was all with the help of someone from a relocation agency who was commissioned to assist us. My passport has been in and out of my bag all day. Tomorrow, we'll look into travel cards and some other bits and pieces that are missing from the accommodation. We also need to do some more shopping.

It was strange to watch a range of different bureaucrats (all perfectly friendly) sit and look solemnly at their large computer screens (and generally tell us that computer said yes). The whole bureaucratic system is predicated on a set of different principles to the UK, so it was really good to have someone guide us through the maze and out the other end.

After all of that, we went for a wander past the Sibelius Monument, which is only 10 minutes walk away, and then on to find a bite to eat at Korjaama, which is a cultural centre in an old tram shed.

Tired this evening. I haven't really slept for a couple of nights - last night partly because we have a noisy child in the flat above us (about whom we have already complained) and partly because I had "bureaucracy day nerves".

Lovely to exchange some messages this evening with L who may be making a fleeting visit in October.

Update: I've just realised (in March 2018) that my head is in this photograph. Duh.