Yesterday was opening convocation, which includes worship and a formal welcome. I found my new favorite Swedish word in the hymnbook. It made me wonder if there is a Swedish version of Scrabble!
During the convocation, I was formally introduced to the entire student body. The guy who is the student body president (equivalent), made a presentation that was really funny. Too bad I couldn’t understand it. I was thinking that this guy is like the Garrison Keillor of Johannelund. My colleague, LarsOlof was going to ask for a copy and translate it for me. Though, humor is very hard to translate, so I’m not sure if I’ll really get it.
I’ve had several great connections with students. There are some fascinating stories of students who come from different background but are on a path that will probably end up with being ordained (though their word means something more like marriage) as a “priest” (they don’t use pastor) in the Church of Sweden. One guy is probably mid-50s or so and sports a braided grey beard. He cultivates over a dozen varieties of chili peppers and acts in these several day-long events a couple times a year. With that braided beard, he would seem to make a great troll, one of his characters. One student has worked for many years in a psycho-therapeutic role with people who are imprisoned for crimes but are mentally unfit to ever be released (there are no life sentences in Sweden). She had a dramatic sense of call, affirmed by others, to work as a priest for wholeness–helping to prevent people from going astray. A couple students are stunning with English. One is married to an American, and other has a bachelor’s degree in English literature. One student was a bit overwhelmed and fighting back tears. Yet, she was willing to share with me. I was able to listen and let her know that I cared. We continued with a good conversation, as I heard a bit of her story and interests. She’ll do well with the academics, and I’ll follow up with her soon. There is an amazing community here.
Yesterday, I met with with LarsOlov, the Old Testament professor that I’m succeeding. He will be gone for almost a month, which is almost half the course, so I’ll be covering that portion of the co-taught course solo. I also my new boss, Kjell, and got a plan for the fall a little more formalized. The pieces of the mosaic are getting filled in to formulate a picture.
In the evening, there was a featured guest preacher. I could track a bit of his message, because he spoke really fast. However, he was engaging just to watch, while I pick out a few words.
My temporary office has been committed to me through the end of October, so now I have a name outside my door.
My mornings start with reading some Scripture in English and Swedish, and I have the Hebrew available with my Logos app on my iPhone–to see what they are trying to translate. Narrative is usually easier than poetry, so I’m now going through Genesis 1, a passage I’ve previously studied in the Hebrew.
I cooked tonight. It is always strange to go through a new grocery store, but it adds complexity to have things in Swedish. There are things that are different, so it takes more time to figure things out. I did risk and bake cornbread from scratch to go along with my turkey chili. There are no Jiffy corn muffin mixes at this store. I hear there is an American store in town that has them (and other expensive American imports). The cornbread was quite fine. The chili was fine, but I didn’t think the turkey went well. It would have been better as a vegetarian chili.
With blessings,
Beth