[Leona found a caterpillar on our walk to the jungle gym]
So, back in March I shared about how we got the idea that Judge could get a vocational certification through self-study before taking the exams to cover the theory portion of the process. This is something people do who perhaps decide not to go to university here. They take two years in high school with general courses and specialization courses, then get an apprentice position for the requisite two years before taking the final practical exam and becoming certified.
Initially we were thinking he could do one within a field of engineering that is applicable in our local industries, semi-related to his strengths and background education, and that he is most interested in.
This plan fizzled out due to various reasons, the main one perhaps being the downfall of the Norwegian oil industry (perhaps a little over dramatic there, but it's taken a hit for sure), with its increased job cuts, meaning all these cut engineers are going into all the other industries in Norway where they can find jobs, making the engineering job market within all industries cut throat - unemployment of engineers has been rising pretty dramatically (though technically still quite low). So now is not the time to be trying to squeeze ones way into this market.
Instead, Judge is going to go the path of his passion: cooking. He loved the summer job in the kitchen at the old folks' home here in the village, which really cemented that this is the right path for him here in Norway. He was full of energy when he got off work, instead of completely drained like he was after working on the bean bag chair production line before Christmas last year, energy he could use toward his other life-passion (breaking) - researching training methods for flips, training/dancing, holding dance classes for the kids in the village, as well as research cooking-related stuff, and of course hanging out with us, and making us awesome dinners daily. The work-life balance was awesome.
Figuring out what is required of him, however, is not a simple task, especially trying to figure it out over the summer 'common vacation', where almost everyone in Norway takes 3-4 weeks off, especially in school and government organizations.
First, I found out he had to take two five hour exams covering the three specialization courses in each the 1st and 2nd years of the program, to complete the theory portion. Then he could get an apprentice position for two years, take the practical exam, and be certified.
Then I found out rather than taking these two exams he could take a single exam that covered the eight courses. Yay!
This we figured he could prepare for this coming year, and then assuming he passed, he could apply for the apprentice position that is going to open up in the kitchen in our village's old folks' home. Perfect.
Then I found out he had to take a five hour exam for each of the six courses, plus the two cross-theory exams I had found out about first, plus complete some mystical practical project I still haven't found out what entails, plus the exams for high school Norwegian and social studies. Whaaaaat! At least his high school math, English, and science from Taiwan will be recognized, so he does not have to take these exams.
I confirmed with this informant that the Norwegian and social studies classes he's taken, the test he's passed, couldn't count for these two exams. No, he has to take the actual exams, we were told.
I don't however believe this can be true, and so we are going to ask his principle at the language school about it, because we're pretty sure this can be accepted for Norwegian and social studies.
But it was looking pretty bleak...having to complete all these exams within this coming year, all in Norwegian where all the study material is in Norwegian, is a super huge challenge. Almost insurmountable.
Then we found out that he doesn't have to pass even one exam to get an apprentice position! If he has no theory, he would have to sign a four year apprentice contract (PS. apprentice positions are full time, but with only 40-60% pay the first-second year, respectively). Then, for each theory test he passes, his time is reduced accordingly.
All of a sudden the clouds parted and the birds busted out in song. We got it. I don't see them not taking him on as an apprentice, especially after he worked there this summer and they saw his passion, responsible work ethics, team spirit, etc., and because we live here in the village. However, I am confirming with HR at the old folks' home that this is, in fact, the case, that he can be a valid applicant even without passing all the theory first.
Figuring out what exactly he has to study has been a whole other kabuffle in itself - no needs to get into the details of it. But today I talked to the librarian at one of the three high schools in our county that has the chef program, and she said she would send me the list of books they use for the specialization courses. Boom.
So this coming year he will study up for the first-year high-school specialization courses, aiming to take the exams next June, and then take the second-year course exams after his first year as an apprentice, thereby shortening the apprentice time to just a total of two years, if we've understood it correctly.
Ahhhh. Sigh.of.relief. Destresser.galore. We.have.a.viable.and.awesome.plan.
PS. I uploaded a better quality video for the jungle gym struggle through to success post.
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