The Swedes have a saying:
Det finns inget dåligt väder, bara dåliga kläder.
Translation: There is no bad weather, just bad clothes. (It rhymes too.) It is rain gear weather today. I decided–while biking to my Swedish conversation time–that the rain is less annoying than the wind.
I left work early after a Hebrew lunch (keeping Hebrew alive for interested students and me), and I stopped off at the vaccination clinic. I am preparing for going to Ethiopia in January, so I need some shots and added in a flu shot. (Flu shots are free for those in high risk groups. For me it was $55. Last time, I got one in the USA at Christmas time and figured it would have been less expensive in Sweden. The prices have changed!) I walked out with 3 vaccinations and an oral cholera treatment–and a new yellow immunization card, as my pages are deteriorating. The old pages are now tucked into a new crisp yellow card.
On the way to my Swedish conversation, I took a short cut. The Swedes have another saying (also rhyming):
Genvägar är ofta senvägar.
Translation: Shortcuts are often “longcuts.” Yes, the bike trail ended in a dead end. I backtracked in order to not make it a longer shortcut.
In addition to my formal Swedish conversation partner, Lennart, I’ve been trying to talk more with the students at fika. It is good to practice, and they are kind to engage me. I’m trying to figure out if my presence takes over more when everyone switches to English for me, or if it is more of a “burden” to listen to my bad Swedish and muster the patience to help me understand. I’ll ask a couple of the students that I know a bit better and see what their response is.
I did make a special survey for my Into to the Old Testament campus students to ask them specific questions about language issues in listening, reading, and use of bi-lingual PowerPoint slides in the classroom. Recently, I have had two colleagues pepper me with their thoughts and ideas about my teaching methods because of my lack of functional fluency in Swedish. However, neither has sat in on one of my teaching lessons, only short chapel sessions and non-academic things. Both are exceptionally fluent in English and Swedish, so they don’t have the perspective of a student who is not confident in English. So, I will have student data soon to shape my pedagogical decisions and have a rationale for my colleagues in any further discussions. My INFJ intuition has sensed that some colleagues are a bit disappointed with my lack of Swedish fluency. Sigh. I keep on keeping on.
Lots to read this weekend with a new course prep.
With blessings,
Beth