Feb 4: Adjusting in two ways

Anya is adjusting to the time zone bit by bit and had a very good night’s sleep last night. She was awake before I was, and it was amazing to see her so chipper in the morning. She said she likes getting up early!

I walk her to school in the brisk–just below freezing–air to become alert for the day. Everyone has some reflective gear on for these dark Nordic winters. I wear the reflective vest. Anya has a reflective “slap” bracelet. Some kids have reflective covers for their backpacks, which also keeps them dry underneath.

Anya and I are getting along so well. In fact today, I paused with the reflection that I was so glad to have someone to share life with here. I’ve done three weeks by myself here, but life is better shared. She’s talking quite a bit about the school, the conversations, the styles, and more. I’m encouraging her to add a blog entry on her own blog, but she says that she is mentally exhausted from working so hard on Norwegian. Here are some highlights:

• Classmates relayed that they were amazed that she didn’t show up in sweat pants and chewing gum.
• A couple classmates offered to take her to McDonalds, but she said that she really doesn’t eat at McDonalds. They wondered why!
• She seems to be receiving quite a bit of good attention. The Polish immigrants stated that they didn’t get attention like this when they arrived.
• They have recess! For 20 minutes each day, they have to go outside for fresh air. So, they go outside and talk. They get more time outside than they do for lunch.
• The day is short, starting at 8:15 and out by 1:40 pm every day (though there is no Wednesday early release like Bellevue).
• She thought that she would have it easy in English, but all the instruction is in Norsk. So, she said: “My English is like their Norwegian; my Spanish is like their English (fairly fluent); and my Norwegian is like their Spanish (just learning).”
• In math, they are using a compass to draw angles. So, we walked to downtown to buy her a compass and ruler for class. At first she thought it was unnecessary instruction, as you don’t have to know how to build a car engine in order to drive a car, but she was eager to show me how it worked. I thought it was cool! (On the way back, we stopped at an Asian market and splurged on mango and lychee puddings, which were about $1 each for 1/4 cup, but they were good for dessert!)

Beth’s Adjusting

I’m adjusting differently. On Monday, I found out that my expectations for the length of the dissertation were inaccurate. I was originally told 250 pages. And I wrote 62 pages last summer. So, I was thinking I’m about 25% done with a DRAFT, knowing that there would be revisions and reworking parts of it.On Monday, I heard the “rules” stated 100,000 words. Well, by word count, I’m only 15% done! Heavy sigh! So, I’ve been adjusting my expectations. (More on this tomorrow.) There might be some fudge factor, as the word count isn’t listed on the current “rules” website, but it seems prudent to keep this target.

So, my day is reading, compiling notes (using Nota Bene software), revising some wording, and plodding along with writing. I stay at home if there is no meeting at MHS, so I don’t lose time with bus travel. This is a more conducive work space as well.