Taxes are rising: Next year in Sweden, those who earn the equivalent of $4,327 per month will see an increase in tax. That is the middle group of taxes in Sweden’s progressive income tax rates. The information I have, the 2014 rates, are:
- 0% from 0 kr to 18,800 kr (~0 – 2,690 USD)
- Circa 31% (ca. 7% county and 24% municipality tax): from 18,800 kr to 433,900 kr (~2,690 – 62,140 USD)
- 31% + 20%: from 433,900 kr to 615,700 kr (~62,140 – 88,180 USD)
- 31% + 25%: above 615,700 kr (88,180 USD and up)
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Sweden)
On Facebook recently, I read a complaint about taxes from a former student. A former colleague, Sue, responded to him that she appreciates what taxes do: good roads, fire departments, schools, and such that supports a healthy society.
I responded: “I’ve looked at tax from both sides now, from high and low, and still somehow, it’s civil society that I recall. I really don’t hate taxes after all.” Yes, Sue got the allusion to Joni Mitchell’s song. (My favorite version is her remake with a slow tempo. Check it out.) Yes, I want them to be fair and administered wisely, but after living in Tanzania, it is so evident that we need reasonable taxes with good management for a civil society.
Civil society: The civility of Swedish society was demonstrated recently. Anya did the laundry on Saturday. (She is up early on Saturday and starts laundry at 7:00 am!) On Monday morning, I asked her if she had seen my new gym towel. I recently bought a microfiber camping towel so it could more easily fit in my backpack. The manufacturer recommended washing it separately the first time. However, she forgot about it in the washing machine. I went right over to the laundry room expecting it to be long gone. Surprise! It was there and even folded nicely!
Now, I know that everything isn’t perfect here. They say that you haven’t lived in Uppsala long enough if you haven’t had a bicycle stolen. I did have a bungee cord taken off my bike, but otherwise, we are doing fine.
My conversation partner, Åsa, has her husband’s cell phone number inside her cell phone cover, so when she leaves it lying around, the person who finds it can reach her husband and get it back to her. So far, it has worked!
2nd-year essays: Three of the four students completed writing their essays last week. This week, they “defended” them. I set the tone for a collaborative conversation to help us strengthen each other’s work. I also made and brought chocolate cake to celebrate at the end of a very stressful process with a whole course grade resting on one paper. The rest of the cake went to the employee fika.
Anya is back pole vaulting after a break for a couple months. Now a new season is starting, and I think she is renewed and ready to vault some more. She continues to put her school work as priority and is studying hard.
Bible school presentations: One highlight of the week was the Bible school presentations. Last week, I handed out the names and some introductory information on the 12 minor prophets and gave the assignment to create a 5 minute presentation that would make “your prophet” memorable. I find it difficult to keep all the 12 guys straight in my head, so I figured that if the students made associations with the presentations of their different classmates, they could begin to remember important things. I told them there would be a vote for the most memorable presentation, and there would be a prize!
The first pair, composed a song on Jonah and sang it.
The Joel presentation included the whole class jumping like locusts in (around) the grass to a soundtrack with song lyrics, “Jump! Jump! Jump!” Not quite a lament, like in the book, but they won’t forget the locusts!
A student older than me Providentially ended up with Habakkuk. After an overview of the book, she composed a personal lament that beautifully echoed the themes. It was powerful. I have goosebumps now thinking of it.
The winner of the prize—a bag of chocolates—was for the representation of Haggai. With good call and response of “Haggai says” (a great memory devise to connect with the specific book), the story unfolded with chairs representing the completed Jerusalem walls (behind), but the incomplete temple (foreground). Eventually, the “stones” were assembled to complete the temple with a round of applause!
Amazingly, 7 of the 12 presentations received votes for the most helpful presentation to help them remember the minor prophets. There was another bag of chocolates that were shared with everyone, as we were all winners with new knowledge. Yes, it was a great day, and a nice energy in the classroom, way before the chocolate came out! The downside is that the presentations were in Swedish, so again, I could only track a bit of what was said. The Jonah lyrics were sent to me, so a quick Google translate gave me help with the words I didn’t know.
Frustration funk: My lowest part of the month is the faculty meeting, which was yesterday. I can typically only track the Swedish enough to understand the topic. Most of the details I can’t get. These are the conversations that affect the academic policies and practices, and I can barely understand the basics, much less contribute to things that affect my work life. It is SO frustrating. At one point, I thought about walking out and just asking for the minutes to come to me early. Usually, last month’s minutes are reviewed at the beginning of the meeting, so I only then see some of the details, if I didn’t ask for clarification from a colleague after last month’s meeting. However, I had a new course proposal on the agenda, so I didn’t think too seriously about leaving.
The course proposal was for an elective course in computer-aided research for exegetical theology. No one uses biblical research software here, except me! I helped some of my essay writing students with some technical searches for word studies and accessing some Septuagint lexicon resources, so the students are eager to have the software integrated into the course offerings here. The faculty heard how I helped the students with their essays, so the first suggestion was to offer the course in their 5th semester, prior to their bachelor’s thesis course in the 6th semester. I had to inform them that this is software that students could use in their very first course for their interpretation papers and for many other courses prior to their bachelor’s thesis course (potentially 10 or more), especially because we will address bibliographic resources, online journals, and other basic technology-aided research tools. When I realize how my contribution can be helpful, it gets even more frustrating that I am so limited with communication.
So, I must learn Swedish. But I can’t study full-time, because I also have to produce. I work on Swedish some every day, but it isn’t enough. Some days, like today, I met with a tutor for 1.5 hours. I will do more online exercises. I listen to the news. I listened to over 1.5 hours of spoken Swedish at work, seeking to understand. But, I’m not learning fast enough.
Onward,
Beth
Beth–
“Let not your heart be troubled” over how much time it is taking to learn Swedish. As long as you are making some steady progress, there will come sudden “leaps,” in which you will become more familiar and fluent.
Meanwhile use your language learning as an opportunity for your students and others to identify with your struggle and help you progress.
–Charlie
Thanks for the encouragement! I’ll hang in there!