I haven’t posted in a while. Partially, I’ve been busy. Partially, there hasn’t been much exciting to say. Partially, I’m tired.
In cross-cultural journeys, there is a common up and down reality. The ups are filled with the excitement of adventures. The downs are filled with the weariness of language learning and other cross-cultural issues, such as being tired of feeling like a fish out of water and dealing with the host countries ways of doing things.
Last week was filled with both ups and downs. I have been blessed with some intentional affirmations and invitations. Those are even more meaningful for me, as they take the sharp edge off the frustrations—especially of language learning. The nadir of every month is the faculty meeting. It is 3.25 hours of Swedish conversation that affects my life, and I continually struggle to understand what is going on. I can usually understand the topic and some of the details for most speakers. On occasion the vocabulary is new to me, so I cannot track well, and with one speaker who has a difficult dialect that is pronounced deep and throaty, it is almost impossible for me to understand anything. Native Swedish speakers even say it is hard to understand him. I asked for a draft of the minutes to read, before the official version comes out a month later.
On the long day with the faculty meeting, I started teaching at 8:30 am that went until 12:15, including a break for a short chapel service and fika. The day’s topic was one I haven’t taught much, Isaiah, as I had a colleague in the the USA who taught the Prophets. It is always humbling teaching a huge topic and not feeling like an expert on all the different approaches and viewpoints, and Isaiah has very many approaches and viewpoints!
The long day continued into the evening with a skit night by the Bible school students. I stayed to support them, but I felt like a fish out of water in a Swedish cultural context coupled with a brain tired from so much Swedish. I left at 9:00 pm.
My week includes teaching biblical Hebrew to native Swedish speakers with an American English textbook with my English instruction. Fortunately for me, there is no good Hebrew grammar text for Swedish speakers (even Lund and Uppsala Universities use an American English Hebrew grammar), however, this is bad for the students. I am also not the Hebrew expert that my friend-colleagues are. So, I arranged a Skype session with a Swedish friend who is a Hebrew expert. Lena, who lives and teaches in the UK, was the person who introduced me to JTH, and she is an affiliated teacher at JTH. This is a role that is developing, where a scholar is brought to campus to present some of their research. So, Lena was glad to connect with my students via Skype.
From 15 who started last fall, there are only 4 students left. This is because Hebrew is not required, but Greek is. Students need half a year (equivalent) of 2 courses in a biblical language and 2 courses of biblical language-based exegetical study in the biblical text. Currently, due to limited resources, this is offered in Greek only. So, Hebrew will always be a smaller group.
I’m also tired of the construction. First, the campus was remodeled to allow for the EFS administration to move into the campus. This was frustrating beyond the noise, but also with the lack of process and resulting limited space and resources. The library was reduced in size and resulted in too little study area.
Then the sewage backed up in the basement. While the month-long jack-hammering out the ruined cement is done, the noise is now outside, as a water barrier is put around the external basement walls.
I’m tired also of the “Beast from the East.” We’ve had colder than typical weather. Mid-week, it was -17 Celsius, or about 1 Fahrenheit. While I lived through winters in Minnesota, I had a car to get around. Here, I’m bundling up and biking around in this cold weather. It is hard to shift gears when my thumb is pulled inside my gloves to keep from freezing off.
Fortunately, we are now starting to have longer daylight, so I’m internalizing this metaphor for my tiredness; the sunlight does get stronger.
With blessings,
Beth
Finally checking in; did Saint A’s presentation of the TZ trip on Sunday so can move on to other things. Wow, it is God opening doors and using all your hard work, but draining, I can only imagine. Our prayers have not stopped, only our communication. Still waiting for flight data all confirmed; then we’ll be in touch. This morning’s devo: God never called us to be successful, just faithful. And you are, my friend.