Applying for your residency visa involves filling about a ridiculous amount of forms and getting a medical. But some of the questions asked on the application throw up questions about myself.

One is “religion/sect”. I seldom refer to religion when talking about myself — I don’t like labels. But this was a required question: and so down on the form went “Christian/Catholic”. I can’t say I’m accustomed to referring to the divisions of Christianity as sects, even though that’s exactly what they are. For me the word conjures up images of small, close-knit groups.

Of course such divisions do not apply solely to Christianity, there is a large one in Islam as well. But again — and even though I’m familiar with the word from Northern Irish history — the word “sect” doesn’t quite capture it for me. My brain doesn’t seem to want to accept it.

I’m not used to thinking of myself as a “Westerner” either, though the term is in common usage regarding surveys by one of the papers here. Is that my own bias, or do people of all nations who relocate find themselves in the same jarring situation?

My name has also proved interesting. Nobody can pronounce the English form correctly, so there is much confusion when they see my Irish one. Which, incidentally, has had at least five different spelling variations since I got here. Trying to explain that Irish people have names in both the Irish and English languages doesn’t seem to work as well as I’d like. That said most people seem cool with it. I just wish people would spell the damn thing right!

ADDENDUM: Facebook has again been blocked at work, so I can’t regularly check messages or play Scrabulous etc. Getting the web at home is not as straightforward as it appears, as is much here. FB access depends on finding internet cafes, and I may only get in once or twice a week until further notice.