Pope Francis was in Sweden today. His visit was headline news, on this 499th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation, marked on the day that Martin Luther nailed the 95 theses on the Wittenberg castle church.
Pope Francis (left) hugs Lutheran Archbishop Antje Jackelen, primate of the Church of Sweden on Monday.
Photo: Andrew Medichini/AP (Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/31/500057532/in-show-of-unity-pope-francis-marks-500th-anniversary-of-protestant-reformation)
No, I didn’t attend the ceremony. It is on the other side of Sweden, and I’m very low in the ranks here.
Anya is off from school and on fall break. Some of her friends are back home in southern Sweden and Luxembourg, so she went to Stockholm today on her own. She got a Stockholm library card and found a bubble tea shop. She hasn’t found one in Uppsala yet.
I worked with technology today, log in troubles, Moodle course development, and the scanning of out of print resources. The copier/scanner has instructions in Swedish. I couldn’t figure out how to indicate my scanning was done and to send the file to my email! I finally found someone to ask in the late afternoon, as most people were gone already.
Earlier, I had a brief conversation with a colleague about the multiple independent systems used here. There are different systems for: course information, grading, calendar/scheduling, library, email, a manual system for attendance, and I’m not even sure about recruitment and student billing, not to mention the website as well. Sweden is very high tech, so there has to be something available in a more integrated system for many of these functions. My boss invited me to share some reflections and observations, and this was one I thought could be addressed.
I had another opportunity at the Språk Cafe. My favorite conversation partner wasn’t there, but I did have a good challenge and time of conversation with Hans 1.
I got news from good friends, Greg and Carol, about their possible dates to visit next May! Whoo hoo! It will be great to have visitors, though I think that my sister, Elenn, may be our first guest. I believe she is still planning a visit on her way back from her annual medical service in Pakistan, which is usually around early March. Last year, she visited us in Norway! I’m eager to welcome her here too!
With blessings,
Beth