I’m trying to make good use of the time while I’m waiting for important things to come together. The faculty member that I’m replacing 3/4 time this year is still 1/4 time. I’m slated to team teach with him and share his office. He isn’t around and his office space for me isn’t cleared out. What my role will be in the first team-taught course has not been defined. So, I’m working on reading the texts in Swedish.
The rector (like a president and academic dean rolled into one) has not been around, so I don’t have information from him. There are some big gaps here, so I’m trying to think through what are the issues to clarify. We were supposed to meet next Tuesday, but that is the annual faculty day away at a retreat center. The next two days are faculty meetings, so I’m not sure when these things will be nailed down.
Yesterday, I cooked for us all, as we have been on the receiving end of the cooking. This meant a trip to a grocery store. The is one close to work, so it keeps things handy. It is not very big, but generally I found what I needed for Persian soup.
This seems pretty typical, except for the Lululemon bag used for groceries. I had a security cable which I used to lock down the basket. I’ve been told that bike theft is not uncommon here, but usually it would be the non-attached accessories that will disappear.
Friday afternoon, we went to the immigration office to realize that the “earliest appointment on Friday” was actually for Friday the 26th, two weeks from today. This means that I won’t get my “personnummer” or tax-ID for perhaps a month. As a result, the plan is to get a pay-as-you-go SIM card for my unlocked GSM iPhone, so that at least I have a way to communicate by phone in the interim. The monthly bill phones require the personnummer.
With the brief visit to the immigration office, we saw many who are undoubtedly refugees. Jim and I were talking about the difference with my situation of going through a process after already having received approval and those who have come through very difficult circumstances and their whole lives rest upon others’ decisions.
On to get a SIM card and more Swedish language learning.
With blessings,
Beth