So, the commas in the title are important, though the concept of “Swedish prophets partying” seems quite intriguing. What would that party look like!?!
Swedish:
I survived another Swedish class at the university on Friday morning. I managed to have some conversation partner time with the Canadian woman. She is much more my speed than the trying to converse with the guy who is fluent in Norwegian. When we were in groups of two, I got the Canadian; when in groups of three, I was with the Norwegian speaker and an Indian. (I do love the multi-cultural dynamics!) I was a bit encouraged to hear that the Canadian has been here for 5 years, while I have been her almost 4 months. However, she works in the world of English, while I work in the world of Swedish. She has no professional need to learn Swedish. I do.
We worked on perfect participles.
Prophets:
I’m working to get a lesson on Isaiah prepared for class on Monday. I get 90 minutes for 1 book! That is much better than 90 minutes for the Pentateuch, but it is one of the most quoted books in the New Testament, so there is much to discuss. Again, I want to engage the students in some textual analysis or other hands-on learning.
Party:
Anya and I were invited to a birthday party. Then, Anya was invited to bring a friend and work at it, keeping all the drinks stocked, coffee made, cakes supplied, and keep cups and things supplied. It was a packed house with a great spirit of celebrating life and friendship. I’m now getting to know friends of friends from previous gatherings.
I have found a friend in Steffi, a German woman who teaches engineering at the university. We also see each other at church. Tonight, we continued our conversation on pedagogy. She just was honored with the teaching award for the science and engineering division, and we both are committed to active learning and innovative pedagogy. She is also helping me understand the Swedish regulations in higher ed. Tonight, I learned that every exam has to be offered 3 times. That means that if a person misses or does not do well on an exam, they can take it later. It also means that if a student didn’t take the exam in a previous year (or even several years ago), they can find out when the exam is offered and take it again to finish the course! It sounds like this is going to be an administrative nightmare for me as a teacher. It also seems like this practice is going to deter innovative pedagogy with other means of assessment. I wonder if I could just not offer exams and just have a series of papers and projects!?! Fortunately, Steffi is helping me understand the boundaries of Swedish regulations. Then I can explore how to be creative within the box in a way that doesn’t make it a total administrative nightmare.
A couple more notes:
Sunrise:
The sun rises at 9:09 am, but because it is so low on the horizon, it rises so slowly. It is a long sunrise, as well as a long sunset. The contrast with Tanzania, which is on the equator, it dramatic. In Tanzania the sun shoots up straight with 12 hours of sunshine year round.
Editing opportunity:
The adviser for my PhD journey continues to exceed my expectations. I came home to an email from him. I have an invitation to be a co-editor for a project on a book with a collection of essays on classical religious texts in global contexts. Wow! He continues to open doors for his former students. I know that another one of his students just received a teaching position, where I think he was a bit of an advocate.
So, despite the challenges of feeling like a first-year again–because of a new context, different delivery, and some new content–I see God’s hand of providence.
With blessings,
Beth
Knut is laying down a pattern for all profs, eh? Sometime, it will be your turn!! So glad for Steffi, an answer to prayers. We both think your language learning is amazing. What you have done in 4 months far exceeds our first 2-3 years of Kiswahili. But again, we worked in English, not Kiswahili. We have wondered if that would have made any difference, given who we are and age.