Hi,
today I was at my first meeting, at 12 Noon, at the Work Programme, at Ingeus, in the Corn Exchange, in Liverpool.
And spoke with Paul there, I think his name was.
Something irritates me, after that meeting.
He ridiculed me a bit, since I didn't speak Finnish, even if I'm from Norway, (another Nordic country).
I think he asked me about this just to ridicule me.
He first asked if Norwegian and Swedish weren't similar languages, which I comfirmed they were.
Then he smiled and laughed at me, since I didn't speak Finnish, which he thought was an Indo European-language.
I explained that Finnish is related to Hungarian, and that I thought those languages were something to do with Atilla the Hun.
Now I read on Wikipedia, that those langauges are called 'Uralic languages'.
Why did he ask me about this, in the first meeting?
He was just trying to pick at me, I think.
To ask someone from Norway if they speak Finnish, is about the same as asking an Englishman, if he speaks Welsh.
And then to laugh of him, if he doesn't.
That's harassment, I think.
And very inpolite.
I think I couldn't have done that in Norway, towards a Brit.
I would probably have had to have the interview in English then.
So I think it's unfair that Norwegians get picked on, and harassed like this, and this irritates me now, after the meeting.
This was an attack, I think, and not like they had a Finnish-speaking job there for me, or anything.
I wanted to complain about this, since I don't have the e-mail address to Paul there, at Ingeus, and haven't gotten his card, then I send this to you.
Hope this is alright!
Yours sincerely,
Erik Ribsskog
