It was only 4 days ago that Anya left for London. It seems way longer. Yet somehow, the days seem to fly by without getting enough done.
So, yes, I’ve been keeping busy. There was a Bible school overnight retreat on a lake about 30 miles north of Uppsala. It was quite nice weather, but not enough time to enjoy it.
My time was a bit shorter, as I had to teach on Tuesday morning and then go to the retreat center by bus. At least it was a change of pace and a good opportunity to get to know the students a bit better outside the classroom.
I confirmed with a couple students that these two sentences:
- What is the boy eating?
- What is eating the boy?
are translated the same exact way in Swedish:
Vad äter pojken?
My reading recently includes:
- Decolonising the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature (Heinemann Educational, 1986), by Kenyan novelist and post-colonial theorist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.
- Vanhoozer, Kevin J. “Truth”. S 818-823 i Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible. London: SPCK, 2005.
The first is for a paper I’m co-writing with a student to present at the Society of Biblical Literature in Denver in November. It isn’t a major part of the paper, but I want to address a bit of the dilemma of under-represented languages (and under-resourced) in a world where English is so prevalent. There is a deeper issue related to my inability to teach in Swedish at my current capacity. While some students prefer the broader theological vocabulary (and resources) in English, I wonder if my English instruction is reducing the effectiveness of future pastors (they call them “priests” here) in being able to “translate” the OT Hebrew into concepts that preach well for their parishioners. I ponder on.
The second article is in preparation for the hermeneutics course (a beginning meaning of “hermeneutics” is the philosophy of interpretation) that I will teach in the second block of the fall term. I only have 6 hours of lessons, as Sweden does not have a requirement of so many hours of lessons per credit. (I’m not a fan, but then I figured out that can end class early and invite students to stay for a “reflection” time that integrates life, faith, and ministry into the conversation which—by law—cannot be engaged in an “academic” course).
So, the deep thought of the day occurred at my colleague’s sessions at the retreat. In her lesson, she asked the students to identify their 5 closest human relationships. Sigh. I realized that all of my closest relationships are far away. Anya is the closest in London.
Anya is doing well. She had her math department orientation today and went to Starbucks with 2 other new students that she just met there. So, she is connecting with others, though she is still waiting for a roommate to arrive (which is encouraging her to continually keep the room orderly, as she could arrive anytime!).
So, we continue on (håller på).
With blessings,
Beth