This week had two days of classes with double sessions. I had taught Isaiah before, but in half a semester instead of 90 minutes on Monday. Today, Friday, I had 135 minutes for Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Normally, it would be 180 minutes, but the archbishop was visiting. She gave a short homily and then talked for about 40 minutes on ecumenical work she’s be part of, including Lutheran and Roman Catholic dialogues. About 5 weeks ago, she was with Pope Francis, who was visiting Sweden. I could get the big picture of her talk but not many of the details.
I greeted her afterwards, in English, relaying that I was new to Sweden. She taught for about 6 years at the Lutheran seminary in Chicago, and I had a friend from Tanzania who was CFO there. So, we did a little small world connection. She asked me where I did my studies, so I realized that she wanted to try to peg me on the ideological spectrum.
The day just felt a little off, and I don’t know why. Yes, the room wasn’t set up when I arrived, because a conference was there the day before. But the staff all pulled together to get enough tables and chairs set up while I got things set up to teach. Yes, new course content is not so smooth as the third time through. So, with Jean’s wisdom, I will know that I eventually live into this material and not obsess over it today. There were some good moments which continued with a couple students after the class ended. Yes, I was tired when I had a talk time with a Johannelund student after lunch. Yes, I worked through asking questions, and questions are challenging for me, but I did figure something out. A typical question, especially a yes-no question, starts with the verb and “do” usually disappears. So, “Do you speak Swedish?” becomes literally, “Speak you Swedish?” or “Talar du svenksa?” But if you are using a relative pronoun phrase, it goes first. So, “Which languages do you speak?” becomes literally, “Which languages speak you?” or “Vilka språk talar du?” and the relative pronoun has to match in gender and number. Yet, I struggled through this informal lesson. Fortunately, Rebecca is very patient. She did bring some nice saffron cake with lingon berry whipped cream for fika. (The spell check doesn’t know lingon or lingonberry!) Still, the day still feels a bit off.
The other culinary treat of note this week was dinner out in Uppsala on Wednesday. Our financial person (works in “ekonomi”) is moving to another job at the end of the year after about a dozen years at Johannelund. So, almost all the employees went out to dinner at the Radisson’s restaurant in the city center. I had moose. I had to try it, and I liked it better than the reindeer I had in Norway. However, the reindeer burger was prepared differently, so I’m not comparing apples to apples (a vegetarian metaphor in a carnivorous discussion).
After my 30 Nov. research seminar, one colleague presented me with some information about Johannelund’s relationship with Ethiopia. I have heard about the Makane Yesus Church, the Lutheran church in Ethiopia, for many years. It is now the world’s largest Lutheran church! Now, I know that the Makane Jesus church was started by Swedish missionaries from the Swedish Evangelical Mission (EFS in Swedish, and Johannelund is owned by EFS). Right outside my classroom and close to my office is a picture of the EFS missionaries in Africa and India from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
So, I sought out the picture of the missionaries named in the book.
B.P. Lundal died on Dec. 11, 1885 at age 45 and is buried in what is now Umkulu, Eritrea. What an amazing legacy.
Let’s hope that a good night’s sleep and a weekend will help me get back on track.
With blessings,
Beth
It took me 3 years at LBI, starting at the age of 27, to feel like I was confident of my content, had reworked the lessons sufficiently so they ‘worked’ consistently, had received enough feedback from students, etc. The first year was emotionally the hardest because I was constantly evaluating: bad habit of many teachers who care. Second year allowed good revision, but I tried not to put too much new into it. Finally, at the third year, I could start to innovate my pedagogy, add new stuff that seemed more clear, and relax and truly focus on the students individually. That became the goal: students first, not content. But it will take you a couple of years with putting content first so you feel academically comfortable before the focus can truly be on students first. And they do understand and will give you the freedom. You can show you care for their learning, their growth, in many more ways than just the ‘presentation’.