Month: November 2018

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

 

It seems like I just flipped the calendar to November, and now the month ends tomorrow. I have things that I was going to finish before the end of the month! Perhaps in December?

This morning, I was with the Bible school teaching 1-2 Chronicles. I think each time through I strengthen my engagement with students, but there is so much more that could be done.

After lunch, there was a research seminar, where colleagues share their research projects. One new NT teacher recently had his dissertation published (in English). (He is filling in this year at 60%, since our NT teacher is now the rektor [principal].) His dissertation (Cambridge) was on the apology of Justin Martyr, and he discussed it (in Swedish). I could track some of it, because I read some of the chapter he distributed.

The other one was a review (in Swedish) of an article (in Swedish) before it will go to print (in Norway). It was on the EFS efforts for new mission starts in the past 2 decades. The summary is that the growing edge is the international outreaches. For 2 years, I’ve been lobbying for a global and multicultural approach in our curricula and pedagogy, leveraging the 150+ years of JTH history and current global and multi-cultural relationships. The rektor is attuned, but the investment of time and capacity building is beyond the resources we have currently for a major step forward. But we continue with little steps.

During the research seminar, I looked around and realized that I was the only woman there. And since the one woman has limited Swedish, there was no woman’s voice heard today with comments or questions.

With blessings,

Beth

Last Thursday (after a marathon push for grading), I went to the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) in Denver, CO, USA. Two students joined me.

My sister and her husband were in Denver for a conference that always occurs just prior to the SBL, in order to allow people to attend both conferences with one plane ticket. So, Elenn picked us up from the airport in her rental car!

I invited one student, Victoria, to join me in researching and writing a paper, for which I was encouraged to submit an abstract for consideration, and it was accepted. Our paper entitled, “Teaching Hebrew with Non-Native English Speakers: Developing Pedagogy in a Swedish Context,” was part of the National Association of Professors of Hebrew program unit. We presented it on Saturday, and it went quite well.

Victoria is a very bright student, and she is in the process of discerning her vocational path. This would be one great opportunity for her to experience one important aspect of a vocation of biblical scholarship and teaching. Mission accomplished.

The other student, Charlotta, is now working in youth ministry and planning on further studies. She doesn’t have much opportunity for conversations that stimulate her desire to dig deeper in biblical studies. She loved this opportunity that nurtured her “nerdiness.” They thrived and had a grand time, and it was great for them to have a travel partner and a hotel roommate to share the costs.

After Victoria and I presented our paper, we three went to celebrate at the Cheesecake Factory.

I have a “team” that regularly shares a hotel room: Beth (another Beth), Lena, and Carol. We all teach OT and get along famously. My roomies welcomed my students for our annual “OT Women’s Nerd Camp Dinner.”

At the conference, I made connections with some special people:

The other Beth let us join her in an Uber ride to the airport, so it was another nice transition. At the airport, we had a little fun!

There were many SBL participants on the flight back to London, including one of my favorite theologians, N.T. (Tom) Wright. I see him at these events, but I never go up and talk with him. I figured that our flight was undergirded by a legion of angels to get him home, as he has such an important voice in Christian theology today.

We made it to the London Heathrow airport just fine (thanks Tom!), where Anya came to meet me. I had enough layover to have lunch with her at the airport. I brought a HUGE bag of peanut butter M&Ms and a few other things from the USA. She brought me a King’s College sweatshirt!

Oh, I miss her, but it is so good to see that she is thriving. While I was there, she checked her latest class exam through the Internet via her phone. She was pleased that she earned 100% in abstract algebra.

It was a wonderful journey. Now, I’m back to lessons, course preparations, and meetings at Johannelund.

A group of Americans (with Swedish spouses) had their 25th annual Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday. I was invited to come and bring a pie. So, I made an apple pie.

While this gathering is not the same as being with my group of friends and family, it was nice to be included and have a great meal.

Now, time to keep on keeping on.

With blessings,

Beth

 

 

 

Here are a few unusual events from recent days:

I use a sleep app, Sleep Time Free, to wake me up when I am not in deep REM sleep. Sleep science indicates that waking up when in a light mode of sleep allows the body to be awakened in a more refreshed state. It will wake me up in a 20 minute range when by sleep in light, but it will sound the alarm regardless at the end point! The free aspect means that I have to dismiss ads every now and then. Here’s one to encourage people to leave the Church of Sweden in order to get out of the automatic 1% tax that is deducted from one’s salary–IF one is a member, which I’m not. (All salaries are automatically deposited in one’s bank.) This is the one and only time I’ve seen this ad in 2.3 years.

On a more serious note, earlier this week on my bicycle ride to work, I approached the little square by Johannelund to see police tape preventing people from crossing into the shopping and restaurant area. There had been a shooting there last night, and one person died. I haven’t heard details, but these tend to be drug and gang related. No one connected to the school was there at the time, but some were freaked out. There has been a bit of increase lately with gang shootings in Sweden, a country where it is illegal to carry a pocket knife around town–unless it is work related.

On Friday evening, there was another unusual event–I cooked. Well, cooked might be an overstatement; I made tapioca pudding. Food without Anya is now pretty basic: cereal for breakfast; sandwiches for lunch, sometimes ham or a fried egg sandwich for some protein; simple fare like pasta, fried rice, or a frozen pizza for dinner. The Asian grocery has some rather decent frozen Dim Sum (Cantonese Chinese brunch) items that make a tasty and meal. My favorite cha siu bao (barbecue pork buns) are made in the Netherlands! Some fruit supplements lunch or makes a snack.

This morning, the other unusual event was that I played drums for the Sunday morning worship. The church has a set of drums. However, I couldn’t find my sticks and brushes. I thought I knew where they were, but in over 2 years, I haven’t played. Fortunately, another drummer (another woman at church) was called and came with hers to loan me.

A little more usual events were taking in a free-will-offering concert on Saturday afternoon at the cathedral. I was there early enough to get a seat up front. It is great to watch hands and feet go!

I arranged to meet a woman from church at the concert, and afterwards, we went for fika.

Fortunately, fika isn’t one of the unusual things in contrast to the theme of today’s blog post. I still bring fika treats and meet with Lennart on Friday afternoons to practice Swedish. I think we discovered two more mutual missionary friends.

Off to more grading in Swedish!!!

With blessings,

Beth

First, join me in prayer for my sister-in-law, Barbara, who is starting treatment for recurring non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, along with her care-givers, her husband, and daughter. Lord, have mercy.

It was the 3.25 hour faculty meeting today. I’m tracking a bit better with the Swedish, but I’m still not good enough to feel good about understanding enough. So, faculty meetings still are a low point each month. I’m coping by not working at home tonight after a full day.

I do need to correct my understanding on my previous post about a student with about a year’s worth of unfulfilled courses. I guess I was mistaken to think that students actually need to complete courses. Yes, there are a few key courses, like the bachelor’s thesis. But if one isn’t pursuing the priest training with the Church of Sweden, then basically, you just need to complete a certain number of credits–with the bachelor’s thesis. It doesn’t matter that you leave a year’s worth of credits undone (which would be Fs or incompletes that turn into Fs within 6 months at my prior institution–and absolutely destroy a GPA). This is mind boggling to me.

My hermeneutics course has only 6 hours of lessons, so some students were interested in meeting to discuss more on the reading, especially on Hans-Georg Gadamer’s Truth and Method. So, a few of us met today. There are some highly motivated students who are eager to understand Gadamer, which is quite a challenge. But it was wonderful to see the concepts coming together. We have 50 pages of primary source material and some secondary source explanation. The students have to develop a 4-5 page essay on the tension of modernity and post-modernity in Gadamer’s thought. So, it is a good framework to enter into some difficult hermeneutical philosophy, providing an appropriate struggle within a delimited scope (at least that’s the assessment I hoped to create).

I ended the conversation confessing to students why I appreciate Gadamer; he challenges some of the issues in Swedish higher education that I don’t appreciate, like the expectation that biblical studies in an academic course must be “scientific.” (However, Gadamer does not discuss the fact that one doesn’t have to complete courses or pay the GPA piper).

Last Thursday, Donna and Lennart invited me to walk around Uppsala on the first night of a light festival. There were 10 art installations that incorporated lights. Here are three of my favorites:

This building (formerly a mill, I think) is now a museum. I think part of Fanny and Alexander was filmed inside, so they artists were putting the film back inside but seen from the outside!

This one was cool! The illumination of variegated colored string with black lights in the darkness of night was surreal!

On Saturday, I actually went back through the walking tour of light exhibits with my former colleague, Marie, her husband, and daughter. (I didn’t tell her I had done the walk, so it was enjoyed again like a first time. Then they could make their own path, and I could enjoy being led.) Marie just left JTH after 28 years, and I will miss her as a coworker. She invited me to a concert before our walk. There was a concert of Gabriel Faurê’s Requiem as part of All Saints weekend at the cathedral. The solos were sung by two of Sweden’s famous opera singers. It is a beautiful requiem.

On Sunday, Marie sang in the Cathedral Ensemble for a special celebration of the 50th anniversary of the World Council of Churches  meeting in Uppsala in 1968. There were a few people who were youth in attendance and returned for the special ecumenical worship service. The executive council of the WCC participated.

The preacher said that Martin Luther King, Jr. was scheduled to preach at the conference in 1968, but he was assassinated a few months prior.

The worship service was in English!!! Yea! Though there were songs in Latin and in Swedish.

On my way home, I saw this:

So, things have been busy with work. I’ve averaged over 51 hours these past two weeks, and I still have grading that will keep me busy on the weekend. At least there have been some social things for a bit of renewal. I do miss Anya, but am happy for her. She went with a classmate, Mary, to visit Bristol, a touristy city on the coast. She seems to be doing well.

With blessings,

Beth