Month: April 2017

Oh, it’s been a while since my last post. Things are a bit busier. Here’s the overview:

The manuscript for my revised version of my dissertation is due on 15 May. However, I have friends coming to visit on the 11th. So, I’m working to get things done before the 11th. There are a lot of formatting issues. I need to have endnotes and bibliography for each chapter. Ugh! I’m glad that I used to put format catalogs for Trinity Lutheran College in my Director of Communication days, so I’m not stressed with some aspects–like style palettes. I have yet to tackle the endnotes and bibliography though.

Monday: I picked up one bicycle from the bike shop, after having the tires switched from the winter studded version back to the normal tires. Then, I made an appointment for another repair of Anya’s bike that was vandalized on Saturday evening. Yes, this is a busy time of year for bike shops switching from winter to standard tires, so one needs to make an appointment about 4 days out!

Monday evening was a nice gathering of current and former women staff from Johannedund at my new pastor’s home. It was filled with laughter, and the majority of the evening was in English for my sake. However, at the gathering, the conversation turned to my learning Swedish. I said that I thought about having a Swedish day once a week. They all encouraged me on this. So, Wednesdays are Swedish days for me.

And Wednesday had me speaking quite a bit of basic Swedish. I even gave my announcements in the weekly staff announcement time in Swedish. Yes, it was simple–and far from perfect–but I was told that I was comprehendable.

Some of the day was in English, because there are major changes coming with a library move, and there is much to talk about that is beyond my Swedish capabilities.

However, I did attend 4 hours of lectures in Swedish this week. A research seminar about theories about the secularization of Sweden was given by a PhD candidate who is from the Norwegian school where I did my PhD. My predecessor, Loe, gave 3 hours of lectures on preaching the Old Testament. I wanted to see how he approached this topic.

In the evening, I biked to IKEA to pick up things that will help us host friends, as well as put light blocking curtains on Anya’s windows, as the sun rises before 5:00 am now.

This week included a meeting with my boss’ boss, related to speaking at a conference in June. And I had three great conversations with students, supporting them on their research. Fortunately all are good in English. One is even an English teacher in a Swedish middle school.

I’m making a list of the American TV programs that students have told me that they learned English by watching them: Simpsons, Friends, and Days of Our Lives!

I made another trip to the bike shop today to pick up the bike with a repaired wheel and spring tires. Fortunately it is only about 2 blocks away!

I spent the evening with a break from formatting manuscript stuff to hem and iron curtains.

Back to the manuscript tomorrow!

With blessings,

Beth

Following Up After a Banner Easter service

Previously, I mentioned that during the Easter morning service and at the end of the sermon, the pastor invited those with other mother tongues to write “Jesus is risen!” in their language on a small banner. The banners were posted on the entry doors after the service.

Last Bible School Lesson Takes the Cake

On Thursday, I had my last session with the Bible school students. We were looking at apocalyptic literature and the Book of Daniel. I played a little bit on the theme. I had just over-viewed chapter 1, where Daniel and his 3 friends refuse to defile themselves with rich food, and instead asked for vegetables. Then at the break time, I brought out a chocolate cake and some celery and carrot sticks. I didn’t do a guilt trip, but I just playfully mentioned the rich food or veggies motif. I wondered if any would feel that the cake would not be appropriate then. It turns out that all the students, except the gluten intolerant student, took the cake. And while the veggies weren’t special, at least there was something for him. Then, I commended them all on their interpretive ability to understand that eating chocolate cake in 21st century Sweden is not defiling!

Friday was Full

After a morning workout at the gym (and reading interpretive issues for how the New Testament uses the Old Testament while on the exercise bike), I biked off to my Swedish lesson with Lennart. He is helping me check the rough draft of a message I’ll give at an upcoming speaking engagement. I’m seeing again how Google translate is far from perfect! I’m hoping to prepare and internalize the message in Swedish enough to speak it (not just read it) in Swedish. We’ll see how this goes, but at least Lennart is encouraging me on the topic, saying that this is a message that needs to be heard (theology of the cross versus the theology of glory).

In Lennart’s neighborhood, they are spring cleaning the streets to sweep up all the fine gravel left from sanding the icy roads at winter time. This is serious cleaning! There were some temporary no parking signs, and many cars had been removed by their owners, but the cars that remained were moved a bit down the block so the street sweepers could clean the entire street. This was the best street sweeping I have ever seen with both machine and men with brooms.

After my Swedish lesson, I met Maria for lunch. We are both part-time, so we arranged our time to take a long lunch with a walk. She is a great blessing to me.

We got back for me to meet a student, Rebecka, to discuss a class that she is taking with me called, “Case Studies in African Exegetical Theology.” Anya can’t imagine a course like this, but Rebecka is really engaging it well. She is a very bright student with very insightful questions and critique. These are the kind of conversations that bring great joy to a teacher.

While Anya was off at youth group, I streamed the sequel movie to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It was just a nice little escape, though I did turn on and read the Swedish sub-titles.

Saturday Chores

“Chores” is a word that Swedes don’t have in their English vocabulary. Today, it meant Anya did the laundry, while I did computer work and emailing to plan for travels. I am invited to Tanzania in June for a conference related to my PhD adviser’s research group on Maasai biblical interpretation. So, I get to go with travel expenses paid for by Norwegian tax payers.

It also means that I need to get a new passport here in Sweden; I’m running out of pages! We will be in Minnesota and Wisconsin this summer, but I won’t have enough time to process a passport without the expedited costs. I’m just a bit concerned that the guy at the post office desk in the grocery store didn’t put enough postage on the return envelope, though I specified that it needed to cover 250 grams on the secure mail return. One more little thing to worry about.

One chore was collecting Anya’s bike. After youth group last night, she found a rack of bikes that were vandalized with bent rims. She walked home last evening, and this morning, I claimed it and rolled it home on its back tire . Then I made an appointment for some repairs and getting the studded tires off for the spring.

There was some grocery shopping and other shopping as part of the chores that continued after lunch.

The rest of the day has been working on my dissertation to get it ready for publishing. I learned today that my 1191 footnotes will have to be turned into endnotes at the end of each chapter. UGH! I originally wrote the dissertation in a research software called NotaBene, but it is not formatting friendly. So, I’ve been working in an exported copy in Word. I’m wondering if I can import it back into NotaBene and have it automatically switch from footnotes to endnotes with some changed settings. Perhaps I’m dreaming!

Off to dreamland–after some a little Swedish lesson.

With blessings,

Beth

I repurposed my one basket that seems the right shape for an Easter basket. It is actually black, and was part of the Christmas gift basket that we all got at work. So, perhaps it represents the goodies coming out of the tomb—and ties in Christmas and Easter! Fortunately, the Easter candy here is Lindt! None of the yucky, waxy cheap chocolate eggs.

Anya and I had an Easter dinner of favorites, as Anya is not a big fan of ham. She requested chicken pot pie, and I made deviled eggs. We had tapioca, that I found on Tuesday in Stockholm. So, a bit of a strange meal in the same color palate but all favorite comfort foods. So, perhaps comfort foods are a good theme for the ultimate comfort that comes with the good news of Easter!

With blessings

Beth

I just finished my Swedish taxes—by a phone app! It took about 15 minutes, but part of the delay was that I loaded the tax app onto my work phone and my bank ID authorization app is on my personal phone. So, I had to load the app onto my other phone. I may have the equivalent of the 10-40 EZ form without complicating factors, but the entire form seems to be 8 pages for the full version.

Taxes are easier, but higher. There are no exemptions to claim and other ways to reduce one’s taxes. Here’s the 2014 tax rate as posted on Wikipedia:

• 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)^[4]

Yes, if you make only $3,000, you still pay 31% income tax, in addition to 25% sales tax (even on utilities), except for only 12% on food.

Generally, Swedes are fine with paying high tax, because they see the benefits in a civil society, free education through first university degree (Anya even gets free lunch), and healthcare for all. To illustrate this last point…

I have not registered us with any health care system, but I’ve already had a mammogram and Anya has a dentist appointment. Dental work is covered under socialized medicine until 18.

On Tuesday, I rearranged my work schedule to take part of the day and go to Stockholm with Donna, an American who married a Swede, and has lived here about 30 years. She has been saying that she would take me around and show me some of her favorite places for a while, and with Holy Week, she was on vacation and could set time aside. Here are highlights.

A little bit of looking around and shopping (I finally found barley kernels and tapioca), brought us eventually to the place of last week’s terror attack and the public expressions of grief.

The rest of the day included lunch, a short visit to the Nordiska Museum (in a building that doesn’t look like a museum), and a ferry ride across to old town for a nice fika before heading home on the train. (Train tickets are purchased with an app too.)

Wednesday was full of meetings from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm with a quick lunch. Unfortunately, the whole afternoon was in Swedish. The faculty meetings are so frustrating to not be able to engage in important conversations. I find myself at times moving beyond frustration and into anger, so I want to figure out a way to mange the issues that underneath all of this better.  In addition, I caught the cold that was going around, so it was not overall a good day.

With blessings,

Beth

Happy birthday, Erin! (a beloved niece who visited us in Tanzania and Norway, and has told me she’s saving for a trip to Sweden!)

Today was mostly filled with revisions. My dissertation will be published, and I have a May 15th deadline in order to have it available for the Society of Biblical Literature conference in November. I got through chapter 1 today. While there are only 5 chapters, they aren’t all the same lenght. Chapter 1 is about 10% of the whole dissertation. Fortunately, my adviser encouraged only a few and limited changes, but it still takes time to work through it and check the appendix numbering changes (after removing the research approval and endorsement letters for research in Tanzania that aren’t needed in this iteration).

If anyone has nothing better to do or is somehow genuinely interested in intercultural hermeneutics and interpretations on the generational curses in the Pentateuch, I’d welcome another set of eyes to proof the text. Let me know if you’re interested.

The other revision I worked on this evening is related to a co-editing role for a book project. My wonderful (former) PhD adviser, recommended me for a co-editing role. As a native English speaker, I’m also able to contribute in this way (I’m guessing this may have even been part of the conversation as to why to invite me.) My co-editor, Jon, sent a draft call for papers that he prepared, and I made some suggestions and tweaked a little English. The book is on the challenges of globalization and changing global contexts on classic religious texts. My work with intercultural interpretations of the Bible with Maasai theologians amidst the rise of Christianity in Africa is along these lines.

More revising, more Swedish, more revising, more Swedish …

With blessings,

Beth

On Saturday, I did some tasks and ran some errands between checking the latest news developments regarding the terror attack in Stockholm.

Anya decided to go with a friend to Stockholm and meet a friend there. She had news that it was safe to go from her friend’s mom who works at the Swedish state department. Initially, they were just going to go to the Vietnamese restaurant north of the downtown area, but they decided to buy flowers and bring them to the area, joining many who did the same. It sounded like a meaningful way for them to process together with their plethora of emotions and feelings.

I decided to go to the central station where there is a photo booth to get passport photos taken.

I need to get a new passport as I’m running out of pages. If I waited to do this in the USA this summer, I would have to pay expedited costs. So, it makes more sense to get it processes at the American embassy here, though they prefer it being processed by registered mail with a self-addressed registered stamped envelop and some sort of bank check that I need to figure out how to get.

On the way home, I passed through the main pedestrian shopping street of Uppsala. People had gathered in silence to mourn.

Some had lit candles, the special candle they use here on All Saints Eve at the graveyards.

Someone was going around with a basket of free cinnamon buns, offering them and some apple juice. I wonder if cinnamon buns are a symbol of peace now. There were a couple memes recently in Swedish culture that relay the concept of: instead of guns, give cinnamon buns.

At church this morning, my friend that I had dinner with on Thursday for her birthday on Friday, reminded me how we were thinking about going to Stockholm for her birthday. That would have been the day of the attack. Also, her son’s girlfriend was in the department store but left only 15 minutes prior to the attack.

The church bombings in Egypt also fill us with grief and a host of feelings that cry out, come quickly Lord Jesus. But while we wait, help us to be peacemakers.

With blessings,

Beth

After the terrorist attack in Stockholm yesterday, there is a deep sadness and shared grief for those who lost loved ones and those injured in the attack. There is good news that the alleged driver of the truck has been arrested within just a few hours.

I am proud of my new country of residence with their responses. Prime minister, Stefan Löfven, stated, “We are determined never to let the values that we treasure — democracy, human rights, and freedom — to be undermined by hatred.” (https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews/videos/10154559343497217/)

From local media (https://www.thelocal.se/20170408/stockholm-attack-man-arrested-thought-to-be-driver):

Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel have visited the scene of the attack to pay tributes to the victims.

A visibly moved Victoria, with tears in her eyes, said she felt great “sadness and emptiness”. But she added that she still felt a certain strength. “Society has shown tremendous power and that we are resisting this, that we want to resist this. That we are united. That the Swedish society is built on tremendous trust and community. We will go stronger out of this in some way.”

Because the trains were shut down, friends on Facebook were letting others know that if they were stuck and couldn’t get home, they were offering their guest room.

The truck crashed into Åhléns department store, where Anya and I had lunch with a friend just 4 weeks ago and I had dinner with my sister in February. We walk on that pedestrian street almost every visit to Stockholm, so we can remember being there and in other shops that appear in the images.

My prayer is that the rising backlash against the welcoming of refugees will not be fueled by this. Sweden has an amazing spirit of generosity. Earlier, a coworker and I were talking about the fact that Sweden has taken in twice as many refugees per capita as Germany has. Her response was, “We are a rich nation. Why wouldn’t we?”

In the midst of this heaviness, we celebrate Anya’s 17th birthday. Last night, she took some friends out for burgers, the one who were not able to join her today, as they were headed home for Easter break (yes, they still call it Easter). A couple friends came back here for chocolate cake and ice cream afterwards.

Today, Anya will go with a friend to Stockholm and meet a classmate who lives there. They will avoid the crash site, but Anya is eager to have Vietnamese Phở, or rice noodle soup. There are no Vietnamese restaurants in Uppsala among our Chinese and Thai options. The friend that Anya will go with says it is OK to go, and she would know, as her mom works in the Swedish state department.

Catching up on a couple previous days…

Recently, I met Steffi for lunch in Uppsala at a quaint place next to the river. The sun was shining, though it was a bit chilly and we were thankful for the blankets to wrap around us while we talked. Steffi teaches engineering at the university, so she is a great one to talk about higher ed policies and practices. She is the award winning teacher with a passion for active learning. I learn a lot from her, but we also just really enjoy time together. She grew up in East Germany with memories before the wall fell. She gave me the gift of some of her story of the challenges from those days and how that they have shaped her today.

She suggested we go on a bike ride, and we rode 10 km (6 miles) south along the river to Lake Mälaren. This large lake was the major inland trade route from Stockholm even before the vikings.

On the way, we passed a small skiing area. The serious skiing is up north, but this is good for beginners.

We biked back to Uppsala, and met Donna (center) for dinner after visiting the middle school where Donna works as a school counselor. It is right below the Uppsala castle and the beautiful university library.

The conversation was in English with this group of expatriates. Steffi, though German, teaches mostly in English but also in Swedish. Wow! Steffi is also so excited to hear of Anya’s interest in math and eager to work with Anya as she learns her new software, MATLAB, which Anya requested for her birthday.

Happy Birthday, Elenn (April 7) and Corrine (April 8).

With blessings,

Beth

Pray for the loved ones of those who died and the many injured in the attack in Stockholm. We were at home in Uppsala today when the suspected terror attack happened when a truck drove into pedestrians in a busy shopping area, a place we have visited many times.

After a busy week, I laid back a bit, with enough to keep me going.

On Saturday, I was invited to a birthday party. I didn’t know if it was a birthday party or just a gathering of friends, because in Sweden, one has to plan their own party, unless it is a decade birthday. Fortunately, I was prepared with a special box of Dilettante’s Chocolates from Seattle, but I didn’t know who I should give them too: the one who invited me, or her husband, the one who welcomed me at the door, who is also my work colleague? I erred on giving it to my welcomer, who let me know that it was for his wife. Ok, I now know this is a birthday party, not just a gathering of friends from church.

I knew everyone, and I have actually been in everyone’s home. I have been warmly welcomed. The challenge is that my limited Swedish kept me as a spectator for about 70% of the conversation. They would switch to English if something concerned me, and the woman seated next to me would sometimes give a short explanation to a joke that everyone else laughed at. I am very grateful to be invited, but I often leave feeling disappointed at how limiting my Swedish is. Yes, prodding to keep pushing on with the language learning.

I’ve also pondered how I can be more hospitable. We have received warm welcomes into people’s homes, but I am not very good at being a host. We have  a very simple apartment, with a small dining area with a kitchen table and chairs that fits 4 reasonably, and 6 unreasonably. In the living room, the ping pong table can be folded up and moved to the side to reveal an empty space with a bachelor-pad-black-leather-couch and one dainty upholstered chair in soft salmon flowers on brocaded beige fabric. The walls, according to Anya, are decorated in a Maasai museum motif. It is not the most hospitable–except for ping pong. But, I’m trying to figure out how to share my appreciation of receiving others’ hospitality with my authentic—though simple—welcome and modest cooking abilities (except for chocolate cake). Perhaps, I just offer cake and ping pong!

On the same afternoon, Anya went to a birthday lunch at a restaurant in Uppsala. I’m glad she’s made some good friends. And this birthday gal, has told Anya that Anya is a positive influence on her. I’m so pleased.

On Sunday after church, I didn’t stick around for fika, but had enough time to greet some folks and then went home. I was going to watch my first handball game. My Swedish conversation partner, Åsa, has a 14-year-old son who plays on a club team. (There are no sports teams through the schools here, but there are plenty of club teams.)

Handball is serious here. It is like a cross between basketball and indoor soccer (but no kicking, just throwing into the goal). It is an Olympic sport and big all over Europe.

After the game, Linus went to play a soccer game (!) and we went for fika. I saw a new item!

I guess it is rolled raisins and other things which are not cooked. If it doesn’t have chocolate, it isn’t worth the calories.

This was a new fika place, and it was right next to two gift shops which are close to the train and bus stations. I bid them thank you and goodbye, and then returned to the gift shop to get a couple things for Anya’s birthday that are perfect for her! The include free gift wrapping here!

Anya’s birthday is on Saturday. She’s planning to take two friends to Stockholm  and meet one of her friends who lives there (and commutes by train to Uppsala for school). She wants to take them for Vietnamese food (not found in Uppsala) and bubble tea (also not in Uppsala). I will pay the expenses and am saved the tasks of trying to hosting some sort of party which would not embarrass Anya (which is impossible being “Theology Mom”).

Fortunately, I had students today seek me (exegetical theology instructor) out. There is one young man who wants to study Hebrew in the fall, so asked if I’ll be teaching it. I’ve proposed it to the studierektor (which is like an assistant to the dean who does scheduling). There were also a couple young women who are eager for an informal gathering to balance the spiritual formation/heart side of life with the academic/head side. So, we talked a bit about what this might develop into with a focus on women, at least to start.

With the late afternoon sun and temperatures approaching 60, I dug out my travel hammock and figured out how to hang it kitty-corner in my 8′ 6″ by 4′ 3″ balcony. I’m ready now, but it is not going to get much use in the near future.

With blessings,

Beth