In yesterday’s employee meeting, we saw the plans that the city has for development in this area.
Johannelund–at two stories high–and the attached church are currently some of the tallest buildings in the block. On the slide, you can see that a 16-story apartment building is planned for just a stone’s-throw away (to the south). There were many questions, like what happened to all the parking (currently in front of the grocery store). I think it goes underground. Uppsala is he fourth largest city in Sweden and has a housing shortage. One of my colleagues will be moving into a larger apartment soon that will better accommodate her special-needs children after her husband was on a waiting list for 11 years!
A copy of a journal was passed around.
The July 2016 issue features articles by several of my colleagues. This year is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Carl Olof Rosenius (February 3, 1816 – February 24, 1868), an important theologian in Sweden. He was part of the Swedish revival movement and played an important role in the founding of the Swedish Evangelical Mission, which owns Johannelund. So, he’s a huge figure around here. (Pam, Rich may be interested in this.)
We now have identities in Sweden! Today, I got our “personnummers” (like social security number)! I was going to head to the bank during lunch to open an account. However, with another look at the application, I realized that I need a Swedish ID card in order to get a bank account that has online and mobile banking features. This is very important in Sweden, which is almost cashless and checks are considered archaic. Most people give offerings in church electronically, either by online transfer or with the Swish app, sending money by phone.
The Catch-22 is that I need to pay 400 kroner ($47.38) through a Swedish bank function to pay the fee to get the Swedish ID card! So, colleague Jim to the rescue. I’ll reimburse him with cash. We will work on this tomorrow, so that I can progress toward getting a bank account. It may take 2-3 weeks to get the ID card, according to the bank’s customer service rep last week. (I haven’t been paid yet, because it requires a bank account for an automatic deposit!)
I spent a lot of the day studying Swedish today. I have my first class tomorrow in Level 3, and I’m quite intimidated, especially about speaking. I hope I feel in the right level and not in over my head!
Anya had a great pole-vaulting practice. There were only two there tonight. It is a state-of-the art facility with brand new equipment! Pretty cool!
It is dark at night now when she gets out of practice, so I had purchased a bike light (at Clas Ohlson) and took the AAA batteries out of the headlamps we use in Tanzania to recharge and get her set.
So, with the frustration of the further delay in getting a bank account, I was in little mood. I’m reminding myself to count my blessings.
With blessings (remember to count them!),
Beth