Month: November 2016

I didn’t have to be to work right away on Tuesday morning, so that meant that I was able to get 6 loads of laundry done in 2 hours, not including folding and putting things away. Reserving the machines for the first slot in the day is definitely the best way to have all the machines available and avoid the back up with the dryers.

I have also determined that the IKEA bags–which are ubiquitous for hauling laundry–fit nicely into the laundry carts!

The exam was given after morning fika (coffee/tea break).

My co-teacher and I graded them over lunch. Because there was no way that I could grade essay questions, it was mostly short answer with a few multiple choice questions. This was probably the fastest turn around in grading in Johannelund’s exam history!

There were 46% who earned equivalent As and Bs, which would be appropriate for a self-selected program course with mostly non-traditional or second career students. However, here in Sweden, they only give “good” and “very good” marks for passing grades, so these all got “very good.” Yes, I’m learning the system of assessment here.

Today, Wednesday, I gave a research seminar at Johannelund for the community, including students. Unfortunately, there were some other events scheduled, but one faculty member even stopped by my office to express his interest and that perhaps we could talk over lunch so he could hear the content.

For the first third of the 90 minutes, I over-viewed my PhD research. For the second third, I presented an adaptation of the presentation I gave in Norway in September on different ways of knowing and what this would mean for strengthening Johannelund’s Providential positioning to engage world Christianity. We have long-term relationships with Ethiopia and Tanzania, which just happen to be the first and second largest Lutheran churches in the world–and growing rapidly! The third largest is Sweden, but declining significantly.

Johannelund is distinctively positioned within Sweden to develop multi-dimensional and inter-cultural approaches of learning. Intercultural biblical interpretation engages both epistemological and ontological ways of knowing. I–and all I’ve asked here–don’t know of any other Swedish institution of higher education that has 155 years of engaging Africa. Indeed, many of our faculty members have taught in Africa, and almost all have traveled there.

For the last third of my session, I wanted to facilitate a conversation of implications for Johannelund of this global positioning. My boss, the rektor, was there. I felt there was a good sense of potential, if not even excitement, that this could put some theoretical and practical structures to strengthen what Johannelund is doing and being able to communicate this distinctive approach for engaging world Christianity.

In the evening, there was a dinner and comedy night presented by the students in their final term.

It was hilarious by evaluating the amount of laughter. Yes, it was in Swedish, so I didn’t understand any of the jokes. Ok, I got one. They spoofed my colleague, Jim. He has language lunches with students to read French, German, and Koine Greek (on different days). So, the students spoofed him with “advertisements” at commercial breaks with a student playing Jim. “Jim” would invite students to the next language lunch, speaking in increasingly obscure languages: Spanish, Japanese, Zebra (I think), and then Fox! I thought that whale would be a good final language!

This is a good community, which encourages me when the language learning is frustrating.

In the evening, Anya and I got things worked out so we can pay each other through our phones. No more IOUs, getting cash from the ATM, or running a tab. I can just “Swish” her some kroner!

With blessings,

Beth

 

 

Here are a few pictures of Anya’s Thanksgiving dinner preparations.

Anya put in a lot of effort into the Thanksgiving dinner on the weekend after a heavy exam week. This Monday is back to full study mode for the challenging International Baccalaureate with 4 higher level courses (normal is 3). She was also the only one who showed up for pole vault practice tonight, so there was little time to rest between vaults. Yes, she is tired, but generally, she is getting an adequate amount of sleep.

I spent a lot of the weekend developing a mid-term exam in Swedish. A colleague proofed it today, so it is ready to go tomorrow. My co-teacher was pleased with the content, but made a few Swedish tweaks as well. I’m trying to get an understanding of the accommodation process for various learning and physical disabilities. I think I have the bases covered for tomorrow.

I spent 2.5 hours in the afternoon with my Monday Swedish conversation partner going over a set of my PowerPoint slides. It took 2.5 hours to go through Genesis. So, it will be a long process, but this is a standard course that I will teach over and over.

This evening was spent preparing for Wednesday, as I will present at a Johannelund research seminar. I think that it will be attended by mostly our faculty and perhaps a few retirees from the Johannelund network. It will be a presentation of my PhD research for the first half, but I will also connect it with what I spoke on in Norway in September—about different ways of knowing (or if you like the fancy term, different epistomologies). I think the latter part will be of more interest to many colleagues and continue to strengthen Johannelund’s positioning for intercultural theological education. Many of the Johannelund faculty have taught in Tanzania and Ethiopia where the ongoing relationships are strong.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned our Christmas plans. We leave Sweden on the 23rd of December and fly to the Bay Area. We are there for Christmas with Eric’s family through the 26th. Then we fly up to the Seattle area, where I will rent a car and stay in our dear friend’s condo while they are out of town for a bit. (What a great blessing!) Anya is eager to see friends, and is hoping to shadow a friend at two different high schools. I have friends to see too, but I also have a garage that needs a bit more sorting. At the end of our packing, we stored quite a bit of stuff. We will strategically select things to bring back with us to Sweden. We fly out on the 6th of January, as Sweden’s Christmas time continues through the 12 days of Christmas to Epiphany.

With blessings,

Beth

Anya has been busy all day with her first Thanksgiving dinner today—celebrated at the end of test week. It is wonderful to see her determination with all the organization, cleaning, and most of the cooking. I am the point person for the turkey and gravy, but she is managing and coordinating everything else with her friend, Sarah. Sarah commented that Anya is amazing at figuring out how to make things work. We don’t have a kitchen full of gadgets, so we are creative with what we have (yup, MacGALver).

However, Anya wanted to enjoy her friends and not worry if I would embarrass her, so she asked if this gathering could be just for her and her friends. I understand. This is an important time to nurture these new friendships, and it would be awkward with one parental unit—especially hers.

I admit that I was a big gloomy, being alone—and with the challenges of Swedish weighing on me. This weekend, I have to write a Swedish exam for my class at the university and also write an exam—in Swedish—for the course I’m teaching at Johannelund. I will have my exam to give proofed on Monday.

There was an Advent concert at church at 6:00 pm, so I finished the gravy and took off for the concert. By 5:30, the church was already half full, and there was overflow seating ready in the narthex. Every seat was filled as far as I could see.

Advent is big here. I’ve been told that the first Sunday in Advent is better attended than Christmas services.

I was impressed with the Advent concert. I have never been in a church concert with so much sound, and rich sound, filling the space. The church isn’t a big church, but neither is it small. It is “lagom,” the Swedish word for just enough or the right amount. I was glad I went. All my professional, church, and other musical friends (Jean, Scott, Elenn, LaDeana) were there with me in my mind, as I thought how much you would have enjoyed it.

At the end of the concert, which closed with Handel’s Messiah, the eldery woman who had been seated next to me started talking with me. She remembered me from when I preached last month. She thanked me so much for the message which really spoke to her. She said that several of her women friends have continued to talk about it. She gave me a hug (which is not common in Sweden) and ended with, “I think you’re needed here.” Wow. This was a gift of encouragement that I needed tonight.

Now I am waiting in my office (so no pictures tonight) for the clear sign to head home.

With blessings,

Beth

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all our loved ones! We are grateful for you and oh so many who sustain us with your love, communication, and prayers.

It isn’t Thanksgiving here. So, I did laundry in the early morning and then went to work a bit later.

I have decided to do our laundry at the earliest time slot on my off day. It means getting up a bit earlier to get the first slot at 7:00 am, but it means that all the machines are available. They might not all be empty, but if the cycle is done, the contents can be removed and put in a rolling cart to await its owner. As Elin says, “If someone is offended that someone touches their stuff, then they should stay there the whole time.”

Often, there is a bit of a back up at the dryers. There are 9 washing machines, 5 dryers, and 2 drying cabinets. Even I can handle this math.

Early is also good for introverts. I only saw one person this morning, and greeted her with my best, “God morgon.” She didn’t respond. Then I saw the earphones and realized she was in her own world.

Later, I met Anya and her friend at the grocery store close to where I work.

They are making plans for a Thanksgiving meal on Saturday for friends. Neither of them had an exam today, so they spent time with the preparations and baking pies.

I returned to work. At lunchtime, I started putting the IKEA bookshelves together that have been parked outside my office.

I continued for a bit more time after lunch.

I gave away about half of my books, and there are some in storage in my garage. There are just a few more here at home to bring a backpack-ful at a time.

The rest of the day is working on Swedish. I rather like learning, but I don’t like the sense that it is never enough.

One distance student is a bit stressed over the mid-term next week and called to talk with an administrator. I talked with the administrator to have her relay (in Swedish) that the test content is on the official text written in Swedish, the questions are in Swedish, and the answers are written in Swedish. My posted PowerPoint slides (half have been translated into rough Swedish) are supplemental but are not required for the exam.

More Swedish before bed!

With blessings,

Beth

I was looking forward to the slower pace of class today, as I would only have 3 books to cover in the first 90-minute session and then only 1 book, the Psalms, to cover in the second 90-minute session.

The first session was going well, though I knew I had to keep things moving along. Then a staff member came to make an announcement. There was going to be a special speaker this morning, and I forgot about it. It meant that the planned assembly would have given me only 45 minutes in the first session. However, the staff member informed me that due to the train schedule, the assembly would be 20 minutes later! Great, I got 20 more minutes!

To put this in perspective, in the USA, a course with an equivalent credit value would have 39% more class time than what I calculated that this Swedish course has. There is more required reading in this Swedish version, but only about 20-25% more.

For the second 90-minutes, I over-viewed the Psalms for in the first half (lots of my slides give credit to you, Pam).

After a short break, we slowed down the pace and focused solely on Psalm 1, a Torah psalm and the introductory psalm which sets a tone for the rest of the book. I clarified that we wouldn’t get to look at other psalm genres, but we would have one normal paced session.

I had printed out Psalm 1 in 5 translations, 3 in English including the Jewish Publication Society version, and 2 in Swedish. We had a great class discussion on the different words used in these translations of the Hebrew word, אַשְׁרֵי, which in English is “blessed” or “happy.” There are two different words in the two main Swedish translations too. Then one student brought up the old Swedish translation of 1917 that uses still another word.

We did have a great class and the timing seemed just right.

After lunch was an employee meeting followed by a faculty meeting. I try to focus on the Swedish and pick out as many words as I can. Many speak too fast for me to pick up much. One guy has a Finnish-Swedish spoken with a deep voice. It sounds sort of like this, but two octaves lower.

The sound of the voice.

I was tired, but I didn’t fall asleep. I doodled to stay awake!

With blessings,

Beth

Yesterday, I forgot to mention that also dropped a container of paperclips all over my office floor!

Today, I was preparing for tomorrows lessons. I’m sifting through material and culling much and trying to leave the most important information for students in this context. Tomorrow we overview the books of Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Psalms (only 4 books in three hours, the pace is slowing from the 5 books of the Pentateuch in 90 minutes; however the Psalms are big).

I love teaching Job. Usually, we have a reader’s theater, where we read through the book with students taking the various parts. (Yes, another influence from you, Pam!) That was the first cut, as it alone would take 90 minutes. I usually still have too much content, and I have to skip over some slides. I’m almost always over prepared. In my preparation, I ended up cutting so many of my favorite aspects. Let’s see if I love teaching Job tomorrow.

My IKEA bookshelves have arrived for my office. My books have lined the wall of my office waiting patiently for a home. I also ordered a wheeled cart to haul things into the classroom. (Yes, another influence from you, Pam!) I put the cart together. I actually like the puzzle process of putting IKEA furniture together and interpreting the hieroglyphs in the instructions.

Maybe I should moonlight on TaskRabbit.

TaskRabbit is an online and mobile marketplace that matches freelance labor with local demand, allowing consumers to find immediate help with everyday tasks, including cleaning, moving, delivery and handyman work (from Wikipedia).

I hear that the number one requested job is putting together IKEA furniture!

Things are dark now with the sun setting at 3:04 pm–and it is not even December yet! I put on my reflective vest over my coat, as I was biking to the mall after work. I read online that the ICA Kvantum, a big grocery store at the mall, would have frozen turkeys. Anya is hosting an American Thanksgiving dinner for some of her friends on Saturday. It has to be after the end of test week, which ends this Friday. The oven here is small, so we ended up with a 4.455 kg turkey, or just over 9.8 pounds, which should fit OK. As three of the 10 people are vegetarian/vegan, that should be enough but not leaving too many leftovers.

Anya is preparing the meal, but she asked for help with the turkey. (And, I get to pay for the groceries!) The ping pong table will become the dinning table. We have to collect some basic things like a table cloth, roasting pan, serving dishes, water glasses (somehow, they didn’t get in the crate, so we’ve been using juice glasses and mugs).

I was also able to pick up some things that our local small grocery store doesn’t carry, like water chestnuts, spring roll wrappers (or “rice pancakes”), for some Asian food tonight. Her vegan friend was going to join us for dinner, but it ended up that she needed to head home before dinner time, so we added some chicken breast.

I need to do more Swedish tonight. There’s a short story that I have to read for my class and write up something about it. I just realized that I don’t know the rubric for the written part. Onward!

With blessings,

Beth

For the last 5 years, I have spent the weekend before Thanksgiving at the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) conference, which is partnered with the American Academy of Religion (AAR). It is sort of a nerd camp for adults in fancy hotels. Together, the conferences total over 11,000 people most years.

It was at the SBL conference in San Diego in 2014 that I heard of the position opening at Johannelund through one of my annual conference roommates, a Swedish woman who was on their advisory council. Many of my colleagues and friends are there on the final hours of the Friday through Tuesday morning conference.

Hopefully next year I can attend, but it will mean submitting a paper and getting it accepted. Then my travel expenses will be covered by Johannelund. However, my sub-discipline is intercultural hermeneutics (hermeneutics is the philosophy of interpretation) and there isn’t a group for us. I can try to get a slot in the African Biblical Hermeneutics (ABH) session, as I interface with the African biblical scholars. However, it might mean taking a slot from an African scholar–if they have an adequate amount of submissions. I could submit in the contextual hermeneutics session, but then I won’t be able to engage the African scholars in the discussion of my paper. However, there are probably more slots available here and less chance of displacing a scholar who needs the slot in ABH. I can only submit a paper once to the entire conference, so I have to plan strategically. The one chance of getting into the ABH session might be worth trying, as one of the session organizers was on my dissertation defense committee. I believe it was a good connection, and she was very supportive of my work.

This morning, I got up early to be all set for class at 8:30 am. It was going to be a full day, as I was also assigned to lead the morning chapel.

As I was getting ready at home, I spilled my tea! Yes, gravity still is working! I salvaged my clothing enough and mopped up the floor. The throw rugs are still drying in the tub from a quick rinse.

A colleague was able to review the Swedish on the PowerPoint slides for half of the first sessions. So, we went with these slides. In the portion that wasn’t revised, there was only one way-off Google translate translation that the students identified, which I’ve asked them to do. The court in the Book of Esther should have been a royal court, but it was translated with the word for a court of law. I also discovered that with the two main Swedish translations, there are two different ways of rendering Cyrus, the Persian king.

The sessions were going well, but I was behind at the mid-way mark. I left them 10 minutes before the end of the first session with an assignment to compare some biblical texts with the Cyrus cylinder (translated into English), and then went to set up for chapel.

During the set up, I managed to demonstrate the effects of gravity again, and dumped all my colored pencils on the floor! Ugh! At least I had just enough time to get things all settled.

All my students arrived at chapel. It is voluntary attendance (which I support). I did give them a hint that it would be creative and probably a bit different for Johannelund. We did the spiritual exercise of praying in color, or sort of doodling while praying. We started with the praying one of the name of God, and since I’m the Old Testament teacher, I put up suggestions from the Old Testament, i.e., the LORD Provides, The LORD Shalom/Peace. I invited them to choose a name that speaks into their needs today. Several students commented afterwards how meaningful this was for them. One is going to bring this to the youth group he works with.

I stopped by for a quick cup of tea with my basket of colored pencils in hand. They brought many inquisitive looks. I had the book Praying in Color with me, so I showed it to some colleagues.

Jean, you can tell Meg that what she introduced to me years ago I have passed on at Trinity, CofC, and Sweden! I’ll also be introducing this at Mount Carmel in July.

However, I still had 90 minutes of class time left and catch up from the content I didn’t cover in my first session. Somehow, I made it through the material with a couple short but meaningful exercises to engage the text. I did have to sprint through poetic devices in Hebrew poetry, but since they don’t have an assignment where they have to use them (I didn’t design the course assessments), I felt I could quickly introduce a few. Oh, there is so much more I’d like to do!

I’ve been biking a different way to and from Johannelund since Sunday morning, when we discovered that the underpass was flooded. They have been doing some renovations, such as removing graffiti and giving a new paint job, but removing the weeds along the bank probably caused major run-off and soil erosion that filled the storm drains with even a modest rain. On Sunday, Anya went ahead of me and plowed through the puddle, pulling her legs up to avoid splashing. I went through slowly to avoid splashing, but then the water was coming up to the pedals at the nadir of the revolution. I had to pull the foot off the pedal at the bottom half of the rotation and push with the foot at the top on the other side. I did get though without getting too wet.

Anya is back from pole vaulting practice. Time for a few minutes of ping pong to keep our streak of daily playing going!

With blessings,

Beth

Sweden doesn’t have the American thanksgiving celebration nor the late November reason to hold off on putting up Christmas decorations. And with other obligations coming up, this was the weekend for a friends’ gathering. Friends here, with an American wife and Swedish husband, have started a tradition of having a party with some friends to put up Christmas lights. There are some modest Christmas lights around Sweden, where the culture does not really encourage sticking out. But these two are lighting up their neighborhood.

An easy-going group somehow made organized chaos into not only a fun time but a beautifully lit night. I was dressed warmly enough, and there was no rain!

I met people who used to live in Bellevue. We chatted while we put up icicle lights on the garage and garland lights on the porch railings. Cool connections!

Then there was an amazing fika!

Later there was dinner and watching the slide show of the lights.

There were great conversations, especially with a German woman who teaches engineering at the university. We both are advocates of active and collaborative pedagogy. Her family has been here for 2.5 years, so she gave me some insights as to how Swedish organizations work from an outsider’s point of view. We also discussed life journeys and how we ended up in Uppsala.

I didn’t know it would be over 6 hours of fun and food, but it was good for the soul. I was the first to leave, as I still need to get some things done. I apologized, because in Sweden, often the first one to leave is a sign that the others are supposed to go to. But the American influence and the hospitality of the hosts dismisses some of the traditions.

Now, time for more preparation for Monday morning.

With blessings,

Beth

Don’t get too excited. It really should be “new tires.”

My Swedish class in the morning had an oral exam. It went OK, but I still have a long way to go. Prior to the exam, my teacher did call me “duktig” (clever), but I am working very hard and it takes me a lot of time using a lot of resources. I’m not sure how duktig I’ll be on the final exam.

One conversation question was “What is happiness.” My conversation partners have some pretty sarcastic humor. One said that there is no happiness. Another said that in Finland they have a saying that if your happy, then hide it. The other responded his country’s version of this was that you can show happiness for three seconds. I understand that beyond three seconds, it is arrogant or bragging. I replied that happiness was having good relationships with God and with others. They know I’m a Christian, even apologizing for some crude language, but it is not a hindrance to the connections. We get along quite well. They continue to come and sit by me in class, as I’m usually one of the earliest ones in the classroom.

The next question was, “What can one do to be happy.” The answers were pretty basic, like having animals, one’s work, and others with a bit of sarcasm. I replied “help others”. The teacher was there when I answered. She knows that I taught at a girls school in Africa from a previous writing assignment. I have no clue what reflections this might stimulate, but it was sincere regardless of being different.

On the way biking home from my Swedish class, I made two stops. First, to Clas Ohlson. I found what I wanted.

I’m preparing for chapel (called morning prayer) on Monday. I’ll be doing something probably quite different for this place. I’ll be facilitating a “Praying with Color” session. Let’s see how it goes!

Then, I stopped at the recommended bike shop. They don’t take appointments for getting the studded tires. They said it was a 2 hour process at that time, so I could come back at 3 and pick it up. I figured I should get it done. So, I left my bike and walked about 20 minutes home. I got both the laundry done and new tires on my bike.

The expense is probably less than 2 months of gas when I was commuting in the USA, so I’m way below my transportation costs here (especially due to a donated bike), I’m healthier, and I have a greener footprint. I actually bought the more expensive tires with more studs. I said that I’m old and it would take so long to heal from a bike accident. This is a good investment in my health.

Kathi, shall I bring some studded bike tires to the USA at Christmastime? You can pick them up on your next trip to the USA? Just let me know what size tire.

It’s going to be a full work weekend. I teach again on Monday morning.

With blessings,

Beth

I have experienced two Swedish health care systems. They are a bit different, but each have wonderful aspects.

The first one is the Swedish health care system in Washington State. My primary care physician, Dr. Chen, was amazing (in Sammamish). I will miss her. But I also had preventative routine screenings done at the new Swedish hospital on the Sammamish Highlands.

The inside looks more like an office building than a hospital.

This was where I had my annual mammograms done.

About a month ago—so just about 2 months after arriving—I received a letter informing me that I had been scheduled for a mammogram! Wow! This is the way to get people screened, just assign them a time and let them know it is free (or at least paid by taxes). There was a way to re-schedule, but I didn’t have to. I just biked over yesterday morning. I didn’t confirm anything or get a reminder notification, so I wonder what is the actual completion rate. For me, 100%.

(I didn’t take pictures of the examination.)

Yes, I am fascinated that I actually have experienced two Swedish health care systems in two continents. Of course, they are different. I would describe the Swedish system here as no frills (no Starbucks; no gowns to change into, though one doesn’t have to transfer into another room), but it is pretty impressive that I was in their system and they got me screened already. I’ll be scheduled again in 18 months. The access for all citizens and residents is more important to me than the frills.

I am aware of some timeliness issues for some specialized care, as a co-worker gave me some details about a 6-month wait for an operation for her son. I’m sure I’ll hear more stories long the way, but access to care is good.

Today, I taught again. It didn’t go as well as last week, but today, I had to cover 11 biblical books in a little less than 3 hours. But I don’t just want to deluge students with information. I try to engage them meaningfully in some main points. Still, I sense that I was generally able to do this, I just wish I didn’t have to remove so much great content.

In the afternoon, a colleague invited the staff over to his house for fika. There is a nice camaraderie among all, from cleaning crew, teachers, and administrators.

In an oblique reference to another part of today, language learning is very frustrating! Sometimes, I think this is crazy being here! I’m consoled knowing that Anya is thriving.