The WIFI package had been burned through, so we were without WIFI at home yesterday. Until we get our own unlimited account (after I get a Swedish bank account), we use the modem that Jim and Kristina use for travel. Thus, I give cash to Jim, and he uploads more gigabytes onto the account.
I’m back!
There is a slow 0.5 Mb account that is free with my rent, with which I want to get connected. However this afternoon, I called and went through two companies and four phone decision trees (in Swedish) and was transferred through 4 people and ended up getting connected to what seemed to be a satisfaction survey in Swedish. So, I hung up. I’ll try again tomorrow.
There is also a disconnect from the stuff of life. When leaving Bellevue, the problem was too much stuff to pass on. Now, we have barely enough stuff, until our crate arrives. (I’ll be writing sometime about the thousands of little losses in that journey and some of the reflections related to the major transition. Sneak preview: even with good changes come losses.)
Old mother Hubbard…Our two fullest kitchen drawers
The good news is that our crate has cleared customs in Amsterdam and is somewhere between there and here, arriving sometime between the 21st and 28th. I’ll be in Swedish class and in a conference at the Nordic African Institute in Uppsala for half of these days, so I’m hoping that the timing of things works out miraculously well. I wouldn’t want Anya having to stay home from school one day to receive the crate and unload it, carrying things up 2 flights of stairs to our apartment, hopefully with a few others that we can recruit.
Living simply has some intriguing moments. It is fun to creatively solve some issues.
MacGALver curtain loops
The other side is connections. I mentioned that I’m going to Stavanger on Monday and Tuesday, invited by my former PhD adviser. Today, I was invited (with expenses paid) to the conference, “Classical Religious Texts in Global Contexts,” at Linnaeus University in Växjö, Sweden, in the beginning of Oct. What a wonderful invitation! And my new boss approved my trip, saying that it would be good all around for me to make these connections.
OK, I’m a little anxious about my Swedish class tomorrow! I’ve been working feverishly and talking more Swedish with co-workers, but there is only so much my 52-year-old brain can manage to remember and process for speaking. The report will come tomorrow!
My boss has included the Swedish language course as part of my work load this first semester. I’m grateful that the school is investing in my language learning and providing more time to work on Swedish. However, I’m still putting in as much time as possible, as Swedish is the main hurdle to my effectiveness in the classroom. Over the years of teaching at Trinity, I’ve honed the content and the pedagogy, so I can draw upon them with some adaptations for this context.
I confirmed with my department head, Jim, that I’ll be front-loading Swedish this term. He had images of a washing machine, but we got it clarified that I’ll be working heavily on the Swedish now, and for the second half of the term I will focus on the course preparations. (My power-point slides will continue to be adapted and become bi-lingual while I learn the language.) So, Jim gave his blessing to go to the “Language Cafe'” at the church attached to the school.
I arrived after lunch, promptly at 1:00 pm, for the language café. There were about 16 volunteers, one of the church staff, and a person who works with the refugee assimilation in Sweden. However, I was the only one who showed up for help on this first day of this new program. While any who don’t have Swedish as their mother tongue are invited, there is an intentional effort to help with the influx of refugees. However, it was the Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha, and there was some discussion about the challenges of being located a bus ticket away. Therefore, there is an expense to get to the church.
I listened to this discussion, which went on rather long. Because I blended into the Caucasian crowd and the leaders had no clue that I was there to practice speaking, I just sat and listened. (This is a bit disconcerting, as the volunteers were all retired folk and are available to help during the day. Hmm, I usually look a bit younger than my age, not like 65+!) After about 30 or 40 minutes, they decided to have fika (coffee break), and two elder gentlemen–who knew I was there for language learning–came to practice with me.
Hans 1 and Hans 2
Hans 1 was a medical physicist. When he found out I’m a widow and my husband died of brain cancer, he asked if it was a glioma. (Yes.) He was instantly empathetic, as his research with radiation treatments had given him experiences with the ravages of glioblastoma multiforme.
Hans 2 had worked on staff with the international InterVarsity group (IFES) and staff with the Swedish Evangelical Mission that owns Johannelund. Both men had been to Tanzania to visit. This was part of our Swedish conversation, figuring out what we all had done there and when. Hans 2 is showing me a crucifix carved by a Tanzanian and brought to the church years ago. It stands on the altar every day. (There are many little connections like this which affirm why I’m here at Johannelund.)
They were both warm, friendly, and excellent in English, which we used sparingly to clarify a few things. This was one of the most helpful times I’ve had in practicing speaking. They were very patient and helped me with my questions without trying to take away the struggle.
We talked for about an hour. Both were encouraging, saying that I was doing so well for someone who has been in Sweden only 1 month. (Thanks Catharina!) However, I have the weekly (and intimidating) challenge of the Friday morning Swedish for Academics class (yes, level 3)! This is my high bar to try to get over each week!
Today (Tuesday), I spent the morning trying to lay out the curriculum for the spring term. That means putting things out in a color coded spreadsheet. I’m fairly competent in Excel for things like this, but now I have Swedish software. The tools are sometimes named quite differently, and there is just enough difference in versions to make me work harder than I’d like getting around in the Swedish version. I just keep telling myself that I’m learning more vocabulary this way!
There is a student here who is on her last semester. She is perhaps a few years younger than me, as this is her second career. She left a teaching position at the agricultural university where she utilized her chemical engineering background. She is a Swede married to a German, and so she had offered to help me, like she has helped her husband learn Swedish. We met today for afternoon fika. I read my class text, while she helped strengthen my pronunciation and helped me with some questions that I had. She is helpful, as she is very careful in listening and patient in correcting me.
I will be able to meet with these conversation partners next week too. So, I have Monday and Tuesday covered. I wonder if I can arrange some help for every day!
One other project for the day is reading the first 3 draft chapters of a colleague’s post-doc research project on Maasai biblical interpretation. I’m honored to be invited to serve as her mid-way evaluator. I’ll be able to encourage and strengthen her project and learn more along the way. Hoyce is Tanzanian and writing in her third language, so I can help nuance the English a bit too. I have great appreciation for trying to communicate in a second or third language. I was so fortunate to be able to write in English, and my empathy has increased as I try to communicate in Swedish!
It also means that I get to have my way paid and visit Stavanger, Norway, next week. I have a friend picking me up from the airport and will host a few of my women friends together in her home. It will be great to catch up with them.
The evening closed with a Skype call with my parents. Its great to see each other.
Yes, by the title you can tell that there are a lot of cognates (words that have a common etymological origin) in Swedish, because it also is a Germanic language, like English. The challenge in my language learning is remembering which words are actually cognates and which are not–and I want them to be–and the spellings are often slightly different.
Kulturnatten is an annual event with hundreds of opportunities to explore the manifold aspects of history and culture in the city. I was invited by Donna and Lennart. (Donna is from California with Swedish heritage. She came to Uppsala for university and fell in love with a Swede!)
Here were some of my highlights:
Meditative Japanese archery displayThe botanical gardensA traditional handicrafts center with an hands-on opportunity for kids and adults, including Donna.Artisans at a wonderful art store that features work from local artistsA parkour display
Lots of flowers, but here’s a beautiful example.The oldest academic garden in Sweden
I always enjoy views of the cathedral from around town.
Scenes of Uppsala: bikes in front of the university library and the cathedral spire.The cathedral spireThe cathedral at night
My absolute highlights were in the university library museum, but photos were not allowed.
The university library
The library treasures include:
The Silver Bible, or more officially, The Codex Argenteus (Latin for “Silver Book/Codex”), is a 6th-century manuscript, originally containing bishop Ulfilas’s 4th century translation of the Bible into the Gothic language.
A huge map of Scandinavia from 1539, the Carta Marina
A first edition of Newton’s Principia Mathamatica from 1687
A page of Motzart’s handwritten notation for The Magic Flute
A page from the 42-line Bible printed by Gutenberg
Copernicus’s handwritten notes in the margin of an early astronomy book by de Sacrobosco
And more!
It really was amazing. There are now 19 more museums to see in Uppsala, but I want to go back and spend more time here again.
Today, in addition to church, the adventures were biking over to the mall to visit Clas Ohlson (housewares and hardware store) again. We are still getting settled and our crate hasn’t arrived, so there are some things to get and less just to tide us over.
The Internet account that we are borrowing from Jim ran out of data. We didn’t know it was not unlimited. So, we had to ask Jim to buy us some more data, especially for Anya’s homework, and then I’ll reimburse him. It’s back on, so I can send this blog post out now.
Anya was invited to the youth Bible study at church tonight. That’s great. I forgot that today’s schedule was switched to the two services on Sunday morning during the school year. We arrived too late for the first service, and so we went to my office to access the Internet and went to the second service. There are few youth in the second service, so it will be good for Anya to connect with them tonight.
One amazing cultural trivia about Sweden is that there are 65,000 choirs in this land of 10,000,000 people (or 1 choir for every 153.8 people!). “Everybody” sings! There is even a reality TV show where local choirs compete against each other. So, the singing in church is great!
I knew where I was going, after taking the placement test on 30 Aug. I was headed for the first class of Level 3 Swedish for Academics at the University of Uppsala. I arrived a few minutes early, just to allow for any surprises. (I still wonder what I will do if I ever have a flat tire on my bike.)
With a few extra minutes, I wandered through the large graveyard next to the humanities buildings (which I’m told, used to be science buildings).
A beautiful birch-lined path through the graveyard
Close to the entry, I found an compressed air station. At least if I’m in the area with a flat tire that is caused by a slow leak, I can pump up my tire and get home. There is a bike shop not too far from our apartment.
Is there one of these at UW?
There are 9 of us in the Swedish class, including: a Greek, Germans, a Slovakian/Norwegian, an Italian, a Cuban, and another American. I’m one of the newest to Sweden and have studied the shortest time. Yes, I’m probably the weakest link. My conversation partner today is fluent in Norwegian and just wanting to tweak the Scandinavian dialect into Swedish. He has a different set of language challenges.
There was another quiz to see how one does on the grammar. I think I do better in the reading and some of the grammar, but my weakness in speaking is quite clear. After class, I emailed the instructor and asked: after getting to know my capacity better today and with today’s test results, am I in the right level? I don’t track with all the details of what she says, but I usually get the sense of what is going on. I don’t mind working hard, but I don’t want to be a burden for others in the class and be so frustrated that it sucks the life out of me. However, Level 3 would push me to work even harder. I hope my teacher has divine wisdom to know what will be best for me.
This afternoon, I did the first loads of laundry in our apartment complex’s laundry room, which is in the next building. The good news is that there is no extra charge for laundry. There are 9 machines, but only 4 can be reserved ahead of time. I filled my previously reserved four machines at the same time.
IKEA bags are ubiquitous laundry bags!
Some of the washing machines sporting IKEA decor
The instructions are only in Swedish. (The garbage/recycling rooms have both Swedish and English. I guess recycling is harder!)
Figure it out?The dryer too!
I took pictures with my phone to be able to check some new vocabulary on Google translate if I got stuck.
The good news is that in 2 hours, I had 4 loads of laundry done. There are large drying closets and a mangler if I want. Can anyone tell me what this appliance in the laundry room is for?
What is this?
Also this afternoon, Jim paid my 400 kroner fee to apply for the Swedish ID card and my personnummer was given to the bookkeeping office. So, there are a couple steps of progress, but still no bank account.
Tonight will be folding laundry and more Swedish.
Oh, my position was announced on the Johannelund website. Here’s the news (yes, in Swedish).
In yesterday’s employee meeting, we saw the plans that the city has for development in this area.
The E-shaped building just beyond Hans’ hand is Johannelund.
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.
While I could work from home, it is good to be on campus for interactions. I’m trying to front load the Swedish these next two months to be better prepared for when I’m in the classroom starting in November.
Tuesdays are chapel days with communion. As many of the students are preparing for ordination in the Church of Sweden and/or Swedish Evangelical Mission, chapel gives opportunities for the students to have valuable experience. (Johannelund has a reputation of developing really well prepared clergy.) An ordained pastor still has to preside over absolution, communion, and the Aaronic blessing (Numbers 6:24-26).
It was good to learn that the Aaronic blessing is a clergy-only thing here, or else I would have no doubt transgressed the red line as my research on curses means discussion about the other side of the coin — blessings. Now, theologically, I have an issue with this red line, so we’ll have to see if my holy rebel (little rebel) kicks in some day!
They will still allow me–a non-ordained person–to preach, which has way more implications for theological craziness than simply quoting three Bible verses from Numbers! (After all, the power of the blessing comes from God, not the pastor.) I’ve been asked to preach for the Sunday morning, Oct. 2, of a young adult weekend retreat. At first I was not so sure this would be a good thing, but then an idea came to mind which seemed to match the objectives of the weekend and draw from my recent study of a passage from Numbers 14 (yes, Old Testament!). I wonder how many people have ever willfully chosen Numbers 14 to preach on! I see there are some sermons on YouTube, so I guess I’m no so crazy.
I came home for lunch and enjoyed a sandwich on our deck with wonderful sunshine.
Lunch in the sun with the Claus Ohlson catalog.
Clas Ohlson is an amazing store where you can almost everything (except the kitchen sink). Think of Ace Hardware with the housewares, sport, camping, luggage, media and technology sections (without TVs) of Target, plus art and office supplies, and then throw in an introductory music section; yes, even drum sticks! It is humorously called, “The old man’s day care.”
There are some Swedish ways of life that are reflected in the Clas Ohlson catalog. I was looking for the kitchen sink, because I was curious if they sold a garbage disposal (the electric grinder in the drain of the sink). No, they don’t. At fika after chapel, I asked my co-worker, Elin, about this. She knew what I was talking about, but this young Swedish woman (probably late 20s or early 30s) said that she has never seen one in her life.
Elin is very comfortable and proficient with English. I find her wonderfully friendly and helpful. She is the one who passed on the bed that I have been sleeping on. Amazingly, I have slept through the night for the last couple of nights. That is unusual! I’m grateful for the good night’s sleep, because the days are filled with brain-draining work. So many things each day–beyond the language hurdles–need processing and interpreting. It consumes brain glucose and leaves me tired. The main reasons for heading home for lunch are:
I have to get my body moving as I bike to and from my apartment, which is only about 4 minutes by bike ride away.
I can take a Japanese power nap or “coffee nap.” Here’s the scoop on the benefits of a 15-20 minute nap, that I first read about years ago in WIRED magazine. And more on Wikipedia.
One less cross-cultural event each work day to have to interpret and manage.
It is cheaper to eat at home.
However, really, the introvert in me is still hesitant to have to go and navigate the lunch room and find people to sit with where I will feel like I’m not a burden with my beginning Swedish. I do navigate the two fika (coffee/tea breaks) each day, so I’m not hibernating in my office.
The afternoon included a conversation with my department head and my boss in helping to shape a proposal for a master’s program. I had developed a broad reading list and worked on selecting African womanist biblical interpretation readings for the course.
As I write, the neighbors are pounding nails into the walls. I haven’t live in an apartment since I was 6 years old. My first-year college dorm experience was an old convent with my own small room in the midst of a great community. (Later, when I was working as the Director of Communication for the college, we joked that we should market the rooms, “You get two more feet than Alcatraz!” thanks to Tom F.) Let’s see how I do this year!
My neighbor, Andreas, showed me how to do the garbage and recycling. Swedes, like Seattlites, are serious about recycling.
This morning, I had an appointment at the immigration office. I biked on over and waited amidst a room-full of refugees. There was one boy, about four-years-old, who was fascinated with the check in station. there is a scanner and ticket printing machine that caught his fancy. It was great to see his curiosity as the infrared scanner put light on his hand. When I was up at the booth collecting our residency cards, he popped his head under the curtain and checked out the finger print scanner that glowed with green light. I told the clerk, “I think he’s going to be an engineer when he grows up. He has a wonderful sense of curiosity!”
I biked directly to the tax office to give copies of our residency permits to our “handler.” I was amazed that I was pretty direct in getting to the tax office even though I hadn’t mapped it ahead of time. The tax office will give us our person number (like a social security number), but you can hardly do anything without a person number. You can’t even sign up for a store membership card without it!
Next, I went to the bank. With my residency cards, I thought I would have a chance of opening an account and finally get paid. I haven’t been paid, because everything is direct deposit into a bank account.
At the bank, the high-tech “take a number” machine wasn’t spitting out paper to let people know their number. They tried fixing it, but it still didn’t work. There was a little bit of unease, as how would one know the proper order. Swedes like order (I like order too, so I like the way Swedes do things–once I know the order. Sometimes, Swedes aren’t as good as I would hope in informing new people of the systems, because almost everyone else knows these things.)
There were some astute people who were watching who was next in the proper order, so they eventually brought out a roll of paper “take-a-number” tickets and handed them out. Whew! The unease dissipated.
I had filled out the application for international students and temporary foreign workers. (The intent is long-term for both Johannelund and me, but the immigration department brings people in on a 2-year contract the first time.) At the window, I learned that without the person number or Swedish ID card (which requires the person number and 400 kroner (about $47, but how do you pay it without a bank account–a mutually conflicting problem!), I could only get a basic account that didn’t have online banking. So, more waiting! If I need the Swedish ID card, that can take 2-3 weeks after I get my person number. I wonder if I’ll have my bank account before the September 25 payday!?!
On the way home, I continued along the promenade (where the bank was) to the big square. It is quite picturesque!
The Big Square (Stora Torget)
I had lunch at home in the apartment, which is on the way back to work. I often see this man on a park bench in this green belt, enjoying a cigarette. I decided today that when I see him, I would pray for him.
Praying for the guy down the path on the park bench on the right.
The path is clearly marked with a bicycle lane, which you can just begin to see to the left of the first tree on the right.
I made homemade pizza for dinner (with a purchased sourdough dough ball), but I discovered that the oven is either hotter than the dial reads or the recipe is not right with too much time. The pizza wasn’t burnt, but it was not in the golden-brown zone.
Here are some ubiquitous kitchen tools in Sweden.
Can you name them?
The blue square is a cross between a dish rag and a sponge. It is a light foam thing to wipe off tables and counters. In the center is the cheese slicer. The modern cheese slicer, also called a cheese plane, was invented by Thor Bjørklund in 1925 in Norway (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese_knife). I’m not sure if the Swedes realize that it was a Norwegian who invented it! I don’t know who invented the thing on the right, called a slaskrensare, but I haven’t seen it before coming to Sweden. It is a slotted scoop to scrape up all the food scraps in the bottom of the sink. Sinks here don’t have either a garbage disposal nor the slotted drain cup that collects the food scraps and can be pulled out and dumped in the food waste container.
I’m so tired! So, a little more Swedish and then off to bed–if the nailing stops soon.
One month ago today, I left Seattle for Sweden. In that month, a lot has happened. In that month, not much has happened.
When compared to recent past, there isn’t a lot of productivity to identify. I did get a contract (long story) and moved into an apartment. I did get an article revised for publication. Professionally, I was invited to participate in a few other things, so September will have some busy times, including that I start my Swedish for Academics course on Friday.
Church this morning had an extended children’s sermon which seemed to be the main message for all today.
A visual illustration of the church year
This made me think of a funny (to me) thing I saw on Facebook this past week:
With thoughts of Josee!
After church was a major fika (coffee hour). They served a sandwich thing, which was like a small pita (but not pocket) with butter, cheese, and cucumbers. (Swedes may also have jam instead of cucumbers. Really!) There was also a lovely cake covered in fondant. I was pleased to find English Breakfast tea too!
As a newbie, I wonder who do I sit with (yes, moments of a little trepidation), but I was coming behind a couple (German wife and Australian husband), who are also English speakers. We sat at table, and soon three of my moving-in friends joined us. One brought me shower curtain rings, as he knew we got a new shower curtain but forgot to pick up some rings. The shower of blessings continues (pun intented!).
After a nice nap, I continued the unpacking. Things are still in process, but here are a few pictures of the next stage (for Kathi).
The first dinner
Notice the orchid in the window. It seems that every Swedish home has orchids in the window, so we had to get one too! I put my Swedish flag in the orchid pot to be really Swedish!
A Mac-Girl-ver drying rack
My drying rack is somewhere between Amsterdam and Uppsala in the shipping crate, so we improvise with the few items we have to tide us over. The IKEA shelf liner has little bumps to let the water run down the oven tray that is propped up with an empty milk carton.
My room, West wall.
The green futon cover is partially draped with African fabric. I’ll be finding a way to make this, well, less green. Elenn, there’s your bed when you come to visit next March!
My room, East wall with things still getting unpacked.
A table will go under the window for a desk after the crate arrives. The drafting table in the crate goes to Anya, and then I’ll take the table that is currently in her room for doing homework.
The living room
Our living room has plenty of room. I think it is beckoning for a ping pong table! I saw on the Internet that the recommended room size for a ping pong table is 11 x 19 feet. This room is about 12 x 17.5 feet. If it is a fold-down table, we can put it against the wall and roll it out when needed.
This evening, we Skyped with my parents. I gave them a tour of the apartment. It is pretty great to have this way to communicate with loved ones on the other side of the world!
Today, Anya and I walked into a bare apartment. A few hours later, we are amazed at how we are well on the way to making a home. Our furnishings are hand-me-downs, but they are given with generosity and genuine care. They totally are beyond what I expected.
Three male Johannelund colleagues and a neighbor couple helped lift and carry all the heavy stuff, including a leather sofa, up two flights of stairs. There is an upside to being the only female regular faculty member when it comes to having co-workers volunteer to help with moving! (There are women there who are part-time.)
The work crewA neighbor’s trailer was borrowed for the day.Lots of lifting, but no injuries or damage!Swedish practice: leave shoes at the door
Kristina, brought risgrynsgröt, rice porridge, served with cinnamon sugar, as well as some freshly homemade bread. This is a wonderful moving tradition, but lately it is being supplanted by getting pizza. Everyone agreed how wonderful this old tradition is. The eight of us sat around the kitchen table in the living room and talked and laughed. The joke was that people were going to move regularly to have this fellowship and food!
Wonderful food and fellowship
Tomas started counting ceiling outlets, and he came back ready to fill each one and set them up. He would then ask about dressers, rugs, and bookshelves. They all arrived and were put into place.
Kristina, after hosting us in her home for a month, took Anya and me around to a thrift store, IKEA, and a home & hardware store.
Uppsala boasts the second largest IKEA in the world.
Kristina is loaning us some things until our crate comes, but we needed to fill some gaps as well as get some bedding for European sized beds and appliances that use 220 volts. The microwave was on salem and my new hot water pot is really cool! Blue lights encompass the base when its on!
Pretty cool, huh!?!
So, it has been a long day, but an amazing day. This is what can happen when welcomed into and connected with a community; it transformed a bare apartment into a home that was filled with laughter around a kitchen table.
Anya had a great day! She was invited to fika (coffee/tea often with pastries) with two classmates, one from South Africa and one who commutes from Stockholm by bullet train every day. After lunch, her art class went to Stockholm on the train to visit the Moderna Museet (The Museum of Modern Art).
Yayoi Kusama has the featured installation.
Thanks to all who have been praying for her transition here.
Today, I had an interesting conversation over breakfast with my hosts, Jim, born and raised in the USA, and Kristina, his wife, a Swede who has lived in the USA for many years. We pondered the generally retrained Scandinavian culture and it’s Midwestern-USA cousin. I grew up in a loving family but one that didn’t talk much about feelings. Some of my development as an adult has been growth in this area, as well as being willing to show weakness and ask for help. Going through the cancer journey with Eric was part of this journey as well as the transformation that came through understanding the theology of the cross–basically a biblical understanding of grace–which frees us from the religious baggage that is co-dependent with our human nature.
While there are wonderful examples of people here who have a willingness to be authentic–i.e., including sharing weaknesses–I’ve been informed that contemporary Swedish culture highly values being in control, not showing weakness, and not needing help, because it is a sign of weakness. Feelings are not often expressed, though I hear it is OK to express that you feel stressed, but feeling frustrated (and beyond) is “not very Swedish.”
I’m still new, and so this is only a beginning understanding of a culture with many exceptions. However, I’m wondering how to be sensitive to the general culture in order to not make others uncomfortable. However, I know that I need to find ways to be me and celebrate the emotional development I’ve come to cherish.
For a glimpse of what I’m pondering, check out this Ted Talk by Brene’ Brown (though it is lacking the fullness of the theology of the cross to undergird it–though sometime I may discuss that more).
