Month: May 2015

It was the Asian focus worship today at the Stavanger International Church. There were songs sung by groups and us all together in multiple languages, such as Fijian, Mandarin Chinese, Indonesian, Filipino. I’m sure there were more, but I couldn’t keep track. These are all representative languages of the SIC community.

The kids had a special song for us all.

After the service, there was a wonderful spread of Asian foods. I was one of the few non-Asians who ate with chopsticks. During the lunch, I talked with two Chinese. The new one I met today is from Suzhou. I was able to tell him that I had been there. Then he said he worked for a year in Singapore, and again I was able to say I was there too! How fortunate to be able to connect in a way that builds a bridge right away.

Many ate outside as it was gorgeous. We ate on the steps of the first MHS building, built in 1864.

 

It was in the mid-50s today, but I must have acclimatized a bit, because it felt like in the mid-60s to me!

Anya headed home by the bus, as I went home with Marta for a bit. My stay was a little shorter than planned, as Anya didn’t have her house key. So, Marta drove me home. So, I did get in a great Sunday afternoon nap.

Evening is dinner and a movie as we are streaming Into the Woods.

It is a new month tomorrow. Who knows what the future holds?

With blessings,

Beth

I went out for a walk, knowing that on the way back I’d pick up some things at the grocery store. It was often sunny and in the mid 50s, so a nice spring day by Sandnes standards. Here are some highlights.

They have a very nice park that runs along a river. I believe it is about 4 miles long with playgrounds, sand volleyball, and picnic areas along the way. It is a great walking or jogging trail.

I mentioned this park previously, with its layout of the planets over the 4 miles. The starting point is the sun, which is this massive stainless steel ball about 4 feet high. It makes for interesting reflections.

I ran into Tina’s husband at the grocery store. While he offered me a ride home, I had one more stop to make, and I chose to walk on the beautiful day. You can’t get bandaids (or aspirin/ibuprophen) in the grocery store, so it means going to the Apotek, or drug store.

I baked a cake today, hoping to invite Tina’s family over, but then they were out of town. I also made a loaf of bread and did some laundry. Other tasks included online bill pay, emails, and work related tasks.

I picked up some chili powder and fixings, so we finally had chili for dinner.

After dinner, we watched the Princess Diaries 1 & 2 with Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews. I think that Anya likes the sequel better than the first. That is rare, but this one might count.

So, after the busy week of seminar and writing, today was a day to kick back a bit.

With blessings,

Beth

Today, I diligently worked to get my PhD dissertation ready to send to my adviser. It is through chapter 4 section 3 (there will be 7 sections in the chapter), and it is in a draft mode, in the sense that I didn’t have the luxury of a thorough editing by someone else, but I sent it as expected.

This is part of a midterm evaluation, which is new for MHS. After the Norwegian educational system reviewed the PhD programs across the nation, they decided to implement this requirement. I’m the guinea pig at MHS–the first one to do this. The purpose is to get two other faculty to review the writing and make sure that things are on track and up to snuff. I’m sure there are other PhD advisers who aren’t as good overseers as Knut is. This is a way to strengthen the outcomes as well as remedy any issues or even cut off people who aren’t able to produce enough or enough quality.

The public evaluation is on June 9. Basically, I’m not worried. I feel that I’m progressing and that my content is adequate to strong. While it is never fun to have a public critique of one’s work, I can see where it could strengthen my project. I will get feedback of things that aren’t clear or not well developed. There may be some resource suggestions, etc. The only downside that I can envision is that one of the reviewers is from a traditional model of biblical studies. My work is multi-disciplinary, including field work for qualitative research. He has not done any similar work, so he may not see it as valid as the tried and true old school ways. However, Knut and I have talked, and he has given me encouraging words to let me know that we’ll sit down afterwards and see what is relevant for this project. The other reviewer also has a PhD in Old Testament and works at the University of Stavanger in a department which integrates social science research, so it should be a balancing voice.

So, I sent 215 pages of text and supportive documents to Knut today. That is over 51,000 words! The goal is 100,000 plus/minus 10,000! So, I’m over half way!

Anya and I did go out for an early dinner tonight, but I hadn’t counted up the words yet. Instead, I was encouraging Anya with her diligence to keep on keeping on, and celebrating her grit. It is tough in an immersion situation day after day. We went to our favorite restaurant, where I get a steak sandwich, and Anya gets a pulled pork wrap. Yum. After I devoured half of it, I said that I should have taken a picture as I have no pictures of the day!

So, the humor of the day and picture of the day is something I saw online that Anya can identify with.

With blessings,

Beth

Today meant working on my dissertation as I have to send it tomorrow to Knut for my mid-term evaluation (mock defense) on June 9. The readers have to have time to read it.

I did go to MHS to do some library work, getting sources to check my utilization and a few more resources to round out the sources. I also copied Justo’s master’s thesis for Knut and me to have a copy (I’ll keep a PDF, which Justo is OK with).

Coming back home, I found a package for Anya in the mailbox. I mentioned that this has been a tough few days at school, so this care package could not have come at a better time!

So, many thousand thanks to Annaliese and JaLynn for getting this care package together, and for Kristi for sending it (and probably paying the postage). You are awesome!

Anya did have one highlight from school, and that was in PE she scored 4 goals in floor hockey! Wow! A hatrick plus 1.

This is a short entry today, as the deadline is putting me in a productive mode.

With blessings,

Beth

It was a full day of the Maasai Research Group Seminar, but it was a good day.

 

The richest part for me was developing a very good connection with Sara de Wit, an anthropologist from the Netherlands who worked with the Maasai. (She also was an MK who grew up overseas, for her Chile). We both did fieldwork in 2012 and 2013, and we both are in the midst of writing our dissertations with 3 chapters completed.

I sat across from Sara at dinner last night, and the conversation continued after others had left. I asked her about her writing journey, as mine was a daily dealing with a thousand self-doubts. She instantly identified, and we talked about the micro-critical reflection on each source integration, citation, development of argumentation, etc. We also identified how much we appreciated what we had learned from each other. So, it was a great connection!

I got home at about 8 pm. Anya had a tough day related to the issues of her involvement in a presentation project. She was eager to help out until she realized that her limited Norsk may affect the overall grade for other students. Then, this grade may affect some classmates perception of their ability to get into the high school that they want through a very competitive selection process. These are things I can care, support, and encourage, but I can’t make it better. She’ll rock in the Spanish and English presentations, but is concerned about dragging down her friends. Keep her in your prayers.

With blessings,

Beth

So, no post yesterday. It was a bank holiday, so every thing was closed. Anya and I stayed home. I did a bit of revision on my paper, a nap, emails, some yard work, and a bit of just vegging surfing the web. No pictures. No post.

Today, Anya was off to school after several days off. After school, she went off to the mall on her own with her bus pass to buy a pair of Hummel brand, soccer-style sweat pants that everyone wears around here. She made her own pizza for dinner, because I was at the Maasai seminar.

I had a bit of time at home to do more revision on my curse section. In reading the approximate 50 pages, I feel that things are gelling fairly well. However, I’m so close to this writing that I no longer have much objectivity.

After lunch, I got on the bus to the airport area to go to a conference center on the beach. I walked the last 30 minutes, but it meant that I got to walk past some interesting and beautiful areas. I love Google Earth to help me figure out the things to see and how to plan a walk. Then on the map app on my phone, I will set the path and have the ability for GPS to keep me from taking a wrong turn or getting lost. Pretty cool! For example, I didn’t know about this next place until the mapping process. Then I could read a bit of the history on Wikipedia (Norsk version, translated by Google translate). Finally, I looked at pictures on Google Earth an on Goggle images.

First, I walked past a church that was originally built in 1150. Wow! However, it had fallen into disrepair in the late 1800s and the German soldiers dismantled it during the occupation during WWII. But then, the local community put the funds and effort into rebuilding it.

From image searches on the internet, it seems like it is quite a nice wedding chapel. However, it is so close to the sea that is must be windy all the time!

But with the wind comes kite surfing! Does this look like Norway to you?!?

Back to the Sola ruinkirke. A building on the grounds is a great representation of the grass roofed buildings, which were prevalent in bygone days.

The Maasai seminar had 7 of us: one Norwegian, one American, one Dutch woman (it doesn’t seem like you can just say one Dutch); and four Tanzanians, two of whom are Maasai who arrived today for the seminar.

This is part of Knut’s grant. We started with lunch (which was nice, because I realized my sandwich was not enough.) Knut then laid out the scope of the project. While Knut was speaking, I could look look past him and watch five kite surfers do their magic on the water. Amazing!

Next, Dr. Parsalaw, Vice Chancelor of Tumanini University Makumira, presented on the history of Maasai Christianity in Tanzania.  Then I presented my research project and got some good feedback from the Maasai guests and our Dutch anthropologist, who has done research among the Maasai in Tanzania. (And it was her dad’s book that introduced me to intercultural hermeneutics!) Dinner was lively. The anthropologist and I were deep into conversation we found invigorating but probably few others would. On the other end of the table, it sounded like our feminist post-doc researcher was posing some challenging questions to the Maasai male elders. It became animated in a good way with laughter and stories, but I’m not sure our feminist was hearing what she hoped to hear.

So, a good day with more seminar all day tomorrow.

With blessings,

Beth

Yesterday went into today. Anya was out watching the Eurovision championships, so I stayed up to meet her and walk her home. It was 1:30 am in the morning when we either got to bed or when the competition ended. I don’t even remember.

That means it was a short night.

While I was waiting for Anya, I got an email from my friend LaDeana. She was at PLU’s graduation in the Tacoma Dome, celebrating her daughter’s excellent 4 years and zillion credits (the most credits I’ve ever heard of completing in 4 years!). The commencement speaker was King Harald V of Norway.

So, I wondered what does a king say at a commencement speech?

Here’s the link to the transcription. http://www.plu.edu/marcom/news/2015/05/23/3522/

This was in the program.

 

After a short night, Anya did a good job of getting out of bed. We made it to the bus by 10:15 am and to the 11:00 am church service for Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost is a holiday, but it occurs on a weekend.  So Pentecost Monday is a bank holiday and schools are closed. Knut tells me that the church has offered to give back some holidays, like the Monday after Pentecost, but the labor unions are adamant that the holidays stay.

We came back, and I slept. The afternoon was writing some emails.

In the evening we watched Iron Man 3. Anya is really great at picking out illogical items. Like some of the weapons are effective, but then they only get used once. Why not again in a similar situation, as they already demonstrated their effectiveness? Anya is also critical of Pepper character played by Gwenneth Paltrow. Anya says that Pepper deserved better than Tony Stark. That makes a mother glad to hear!

Off to sleep.

With blessings,

Beth

Today was laundry and working on the curse section of my dissertation. Some things are coming together better, at least from my perspective. But I may be missing things. I was reminded of this when I walked up to Tina’s house for some tea.

Tina submitted her PhD dissertation just about a week ago. So, I asked her how she was feeling. Her response was that the first moments were great. There was a tremendous sense of completion of a project that started in about October 2011. But then she said she started to second guess herself.

I can relate to the second guessing. Each source means a question of accurate understanding, and am I missing crucial sources that somehow I have not been introduced to. Each paragraph is a question of the logical progression, substantive content and quality of explanation. Each day there are a plethora of these questions. So, it is so great to have an excellent adviser and friends like Tina who are caring and supportive in this weird journey. I figure that all this work will go into a book that less than 10 people will probably read, and most of those 10 have to for the project!

It was good to get out with an afternoon of sunshine. At times there was a chill in the wind, so I kept my jacket on. I brought some garden gloves and helped her plant some things she bought for some pots.

Her mom lives a few blocks away and had Tina’s youngest son with her for a while, but then she stopped by. Her son was enjoying the garden and tasting some herbs. I tried my best Norwegian in a greeting or two, but he probably has more English than I have Norsk.

Behind the bench is a grill house that is like an enclosed gazebo. The flowering vine is chock full of blossoms with a few welcoming the spring.

Anya is off to Oda’s house tonight for the televised Eurovision competition. They are having a party and making an evening of it.

Off to get the laundry out of the dryer and fold some clothes.

With blessings,

Beth

Often I’m surprised by little differences in the culture. In many ways things are so similar, but that leads to a false sense of familiarity.

This morning, I had a little surprise, but a thoughtful head’s up from my friend, Marta. This American missionary kid to Madagascar who married a Norwegian and has immigrated here has a special sensitivity and care for others in new cultures. She sent me a text this morning informing me that the stores will be closed early and I should shop today, though things will be busy.

So, I put on my rain gear and walked to the closest store. The good thing about going early is getting a morning walk in and the stores aren’t crowded with people. However, the aisles were crowded with boxes of goods and palates of produce to be shelved.

One of the little cultural discoveries previously learned with regard to groceries is that 1% milk is fortified with vitamin D but 2% isn’t. I wonder what is the story.

The recycling of bottles and cans was something to be learned. I shared a video link on a previous blog as another ex-pat was sharing some of the ways things are done in Norway. At the entrance to the store is an alcove with a machine in the wall with a hole. You feed your bottles and cans one at a time–bottom first–into the hole.

When all the bottles and cans have been shoved through the hole and each one scanned for the deposit value, you can choose to have a receipt to be subtracted from your grocery purchase or donate the amount to the Red Cross. A bottle has about 33 cents of value, so Norway has a 93% recycling rate. I’ve also seen people give their bottle to a beggar (yes, in a country with socialized health care and free education there still are a few beggars).

This morning, going past the recycling post gave me one of those smell-related memories, a memory of skanky beer. When I was a kid on the prairie of Montanta in a small farming town without any paved roads, I tied a big cardboard box onto my little red wagon and went around to pick up the aluminum cans strewn on the side of the road. In addition to my paper route, this was a little income in the summer months when there wasn’t snow around. Well, my classmate, Danny, one of the 5 boys and 2 girls (including me) in my class, told me about this trough behind the Highway bar where there were lots of empties. So, we went and found the cattle watering trough that was in a small room about 6 feet by 4 feet under the bar at the back. We couldn’t even stand up in it, but all the empty beer cans were sent down a chute from the bar into the trough. We just had to duck in and gather all the aluminum cans we wanted. The bar owners didn’t mind us taking a stash and clearing out a bit of their bin. But during the long summer months, the smell was of warm, skanky beer. We would hold our breath and enter for as long as our lungs would hold out. Well, in addition to making some cash on the recycling, it killed my tasted for beer. The smell alone will transport me to the Highway Bar in Hingham, Montana. So, at the recycling center in Stavanger, with the skanky beer smell, I was brought back to Montana.

Anya finished her online English course. She wasn’t happy with the multiple choice questions as the “best” answer was sometimes not very distinct from other good answers. But it is done and she has the credit on her transcript. Grades are listed on the transcript, but it was good that Anya didn’t know this, as she did a good job applying herself through a method which was not very pleasing. The best thing for Anya is that it is done. The best thing for me was to see Anya manage her workload independently in spite of her dissatisfaction with the delivery system and complete on time! Kudos to Anya.

With blessings,

Beth

 

My work focused on the curse subsection of my dissertation. This is one of the most important sections, and the challenges is getting the flow of the whole chapter off a tiny screen. I ended up exporting into Word to have more control of the layout of the text–and see more text on my 13″ laptop screen. It will be a pain to get back into the Nota Bene software, but it seems to help the writing process.

Anya worked on her online English course today. She only has the final exam to do tomorrow, and there is no school tomorrow. I offered her a congratulatory trip to the mall tomorrow after completing her course. I didn’t go today, but instead worked from home on revising my presentation for next week, integrating the constructive concepts I heard from my colleagues yesterday. And then this writing on curses.

I’m working from my kitchen table today as Anya is home and in her room. The best desk is in her room. The kitchen table needs clearing for meals.

I’m also trying to get an online secure code for my CapitalOne MasterCard debit card to be able to make online purchases at 0% international transaction fee. However, the link I need off of MasterCard’s page results in an error message. So, then I sent and email to support and hope for a response. If I use other cards, it can cost up to 3% in fees, which start to add up.

In a National Geographic email today came a link for sites from Norway. Enjoy. National Geographic images of Norway. The 7/10 picture is Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) that we hiked two weeks ago during the Ascension Day holiday.

So, life goes on.

With blessings,

Beth