I just finished my Swedish taxes—by a phone app! It took about 15 minutes, but part of the delay was that I loaded the tax app onto my work phone and my bank ID authorization app is on my personal phone. So, I had to load the app onto my other phone. I may have the equivalent of the 10-40 EZ form without complicating factors, but the entire form seems to be 8 pages for the full version.
Taxes are easier, but higher. There are no exemptions to claim and other ways to reduce one’s taxes. Here’s the 2014 tax rate as posted on Wikipedia:
0% from 0 kr to 18,800 kr (~0 – 2,690 USD)
Circa 31% (ca. 7% county and 24% municipality tax): from 18,800 kr to 433,900 kr (~2,690 – 62,140 USD)
31% + 20%: from 433,900 kr to 615,700 kr (~62,140 – 88,180 USD)
31% + 25%: above 615,700 kr (88,180 USD and up)[4]
Yes, if you make only $3,000, you still pay 31% income tax, in addition to 25% sales tax (even on utilities), except for only 12% on food.
Generally, Swedes are fine with paying high tax, because they see the benefits in a civil society, free education through first university degree (Anya even gets free lunch), and healthcare for all. To illustrate this last point…
The notification of Anya’s dental appointment
I have not registered us with any health care system, but I’ve already had a mammogram and Anya has a dentist appointment. Dental work is covered under socialized medicine until 18.
On Tuesday, I rearranged my work schedule to take part of the day and go to Stockholm with Donna, an American who married a Swede, and has lived here about 30 years. She has been saying that she would take me around and show me some of her favorite places for a while, and with Holy Week, she was on vacation and could set time aside. Here are highlights.
We started with a late fika.
A little bit of looking around and shopping (I finally found barley kernels and tapioca), brought us eventually to the place of last week’s terror attack and the public expressions of grief.
Several places had collections of flowers and people in silence and/or in tearsThese lions are well known on the walking street.Messages left on the boarded up wall where the truck crashedThe flowers left at the crash siteJust some of the flowers left at a nearby square where people gathered on Sunday“Love always wins.”
The rest of the day included lunch, a short visit to the Nordiska Museum (in a building that doesn’t look like a museum), and a ferry ride across to old town for a nice fika before heading home on the train. (Train tickets are purchased with an app too.)
Yes, this is a museum, and built as a museum.A great day with Donna!
Wednesday was full of meetings from 8:30 am until 4:30 pm with a quick lunch. Unfortunately, the whole afternoon was in Swedish. The faculty meetings are so frustrating to not be able to engage in important conversations. I find myself at times moving beyond frustration and into anger, so I want to figure out a way to mange the issues that underneath all of this better. In addition, I caught the cold that was going around, so it was not overall a good day.
Happy birthday, Erin! (a beloved niece who visited us in Tanzania and Norway, and has told me she’s saving for a trip to Sweden!)
Today was mostly filled with revisions. My dissertation will be published, and I have a May 15th deadline in order to have it available for the Society of Biblical Literature conference in November. I got through chapter 1 today. While there are only 5 chapters, they aren’t all the same lenght. Chapter 1 is about 10% of the whole dissertation. Fortunately, my adviser encouraged only a few and limited changes, but it still takes time to work through it and check the appendix numbering changes (after removing the research approval and endorsement letters for research in Tanzania that aren’t needed in this iteration).
If anyone has nothing better to do or is somehow genuinely interested in intercultural hermeneutics and interpretations on the generational curses in the Pentateuch, I’d welcome another set of eyes to proof the text. Let me know if you’re interested.
The other revision I worked on this evening is related to a co-editing role for a book project. My wonderful (former) PhD adviser, recommended me for a co-editing role. As a native English speaker, I’m also able to contribute in this way (I’m guessing this may have even been part of the conversation as to why to invite me.) My co-editor, Jon, sent a draft call for papers that he prepared, and I made some suggestions and tweaked a little English. The book is on the challenges of globalization and changing global contexts on classic religious texts. My work with intercultural interpretations of the Bible with Maasai theologians amidst the rise of Christianity in Africa is along these lines.
More revising, more Swedish, more revising, more Swedish …
On Saturday, I did some tasks and ran some errands between checking the latest news developments regarding the terror attack in Stockholm.
Anya decided to go with a friend to Stockholm and meet a friend there. She had news that it was safe to go from her friend’s mom who works at the Swedish state department. Initially, they were just going to go to the Vietnamese restaurant north of the downtown area, but they decided to buy flowers and bring them to the area, joining many who did the same. It sounded like a meaningful way for them to process together with their plethora of emotions and feelings.
I decided to go to the central station where there is a photo booth to get passport photos taken.
I’m always amazed by the sea of bicycles in just one of several parking areas at the bus and train stationPassport photo booth that spits our 4 color photos for $11, paid by credit card
I need to get a new passport as I’m running out of pages. If I waited to do this in the USA this summer, I would have to pay expedited costs. So, it makes more sense to get it processes at the American embassy here, though they prefer it being processed by registered mail with a self-addressed registered stamped envelop and some sort of bank check that I need to figure out how to get.
Oh my! I look much older than my last passport photos!
On the way home, I passed through the main pedestrian shopping street of Uppsala. People had gathered in silence to mourn.
The main square in Uppsala
Some had lit candles, the special candle they use here on All Saints Eve at the graveyards.
Together for Uppsala
Someone was going around with a basket of free cinnamon buns, offering them and some apple juice. I wonder if cinnamon buns are a symbol of peace now. There were a couple memes recently in Swedish culture that relay the concept of: instead of guns, give cinnamon buns.
At church this morning, my friend that I had dinner with on Thursday for her birthday on Friday, reminded me how we were thinking about going to Stockholm for her birthday. That would have been the day of the attack. Also, her son’s girlfriend was in the department store but left only 15 minutes prior to the attack.
The church bombings in Egypt also fill us with grief and a host of feelings that cry out, come quickly Lord Jesus. But while we wait, help us to be peacemakers.
After the terrorist attack in Stockholm yesterday, there is a deep sadness and shared grief for those who lost loved ones and those injured in the attack. There is good news that the alleged driver of the truck has been arrested within just a few hours.
I am proud of my new country of residence with their responses. Prime minister, Stefan Löfven, stated, “We are determined never to let the values that we treasure — democracy, human rights, and freedom — to be undermined by hatred.” (https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews/videos/10154559343497217/)
Crown Princess Victoria and floral tributes at the scene. Photo: Torstein Bøe/NTB scanpix/TT
From local media (https://www.thelocal.se/20170408/stockholm-attack-man-arrested-thought-to-be-driver):
Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel have visited the scene of the attack to pay tributes to the victims.
A visibly moved Victoria, with tears in her eyes, said she felt great “sadness and emptiness”. But she added that she still felt a certain strength. “Society has shown tremendous power and that we are resisting this, that we want to resist this. That we are united. That the Swedish society is built on tremendous trust and community. We will go stronger out of this in some way.”
Because the trains were shut down, friends on Facebook were letting others know that if they were stuck and couldn’t get home, they were offering their guest room.
The truck crashed into Åhléns department store, where Anya and I had lunch with a friend just 4 weeks ago and I had dinner with my sister in February. We walk on that pedestrian street almost every visit to Stockholm, so we can remember being there and in other shops that appear in the images.
My prayer is that the rising backlash against the welcoming of refugees will not be fueled by this. Sweden has an amazing spirit of generosity. Earlier, a coworker and I were talking about the fact that Sweden has taken in twice as many refugees per capita as Germany has. Her response was, “We are a rich nation. Why wouldn’t we?”
In the midst of this heaviness, we celebrate Anya’s 17th birthday. Last night, she took some friends out for burgers, the one who were not able to join her today, as they were headed home for Easter break (yes, they still call it Easter). A couple friends came back here for chocolate cake and ice cream afterwards.
Today, Anya will go with a friend to Stockholm and meet a classmate who lives there. They will avoid the crash site, but Anya is eager to have Vietnamese Phở, or rice noodle soup. There are no Vietnamese restaurants in Uppsala among our Chinese and Thai options. The friend that Anya will go with says it is OK to go, and she would know, as her mom works in the Swedish state department.
Catching up on a couple previous days…
Recently, I met Steffi for lunch in Uppsala at a quaint place next to the river. The sun was shining, though it was a bit chilly and we were thankful for the blankets to wrap around us while we talked. Steffi teaches engineering at the university, so she is a great one to talk about higher ed policies and practices. She is the award winning teacher with a passion for active learning. I learn a lot from her, but we also just really enjoy time together. She grew up in East Germany with memories before the wall fell. She gave me the gift of some of her story of the challenges from those days and how that they have shaped her today.
There was sunshine at lunchtime, so we opted to eat outside. The river is a stone’s throw to the right.
She suggested we go on a bike ride, and we rode 10 km (6 miles) south along the river to Lake Mälaren. This large lake was the major inland trade route from Stockholm even before the vikings.
Lake Mälaren, which stretches to Stockholm and even farther to the west
On the way, we passed a small skiing area. The serious skiing is up north, but this is good for beginners.
Ski season is over but some of the snow still remains.
We biked back to Uppsala, and met Donna (center) for dinner after visiting the middle school where Donna works as a school counselor. It is right below the Uppsala castle and the beautiful university library.
Dinner with friends
The conversation was in English with this group of expatriates. Steffi, though German, teaches mostly in English but also in Swedish. Wow! Steffi is also so excited to hear of Anya’s interest in math and eager to work with Anya as she learns her new software, MATLAB, which Anya requested for her birthday.
Happy Birthday, Elenn (April 7) and Corrine (April 8).
Pray for the loved ones of those who died and the many injured in the attack in Stockholm. We were at home in Uppsala today when the suspected terror attack happened when a truck drove into pedestrians in a busy shopping area, a place we have visited many times.
After a busy week, I laid back a bit, with enough to keep me going.
On Saturday, I was invited to a birthday party. I didn’t know if it was a birthday party or just a gathering of friends, because in Sweden, one has to plan their own party, unless it is a decade birthday. Fortunately, I was prepared with a special box of Dilettante’s Chocolates from Seattle, but I didn’t know who I should give them too: the one who invited me, or her husband, the one who welcomed me at the door, who is also my work colleague? I erred on giving it to my welcomer, who let me know that it was for his wife. Ok, I now know this is a birthday party, not just a gathering of friends from church.
Happy Birthday, Karin!
I knew everyone, and I have actually been in everyone’s home. I have been warmly welcomed. The challenge is that my limited Swedish kept me as a spectator for about 70% of the conversation. They would switch to English if something concerned me, and the woman seated next to me would sometimes give a short explanation to a joke that everyone else laughed at. I am very grateful to be invited, but I often leave feeling disappointed at how limiting my Swedish is. Yes, prodding to keep pushing on with the language learning.
I’ve also pondered how I can be more hospitable. We have received warm welcomes into people’s homes, but I am not very good at being a host. We have a very simple apartment, with a small dining area with a kitchen table and chairs that fits 4 reasonably, and 6 unreasonably. In the living room, the ping pong table can be folded up and moved to the side to reveal an empty space with a bachelor-pad-black-leather-couch and one dainty upholstered chair in soft salmon flowers on brocaded beige fabric. The walls, according to Anya, are decorated in a Maasai museum motif. It is not the most hospitable–except for ping pong. But, I’m trying to figure out how to share my appreciation of receiving others’ hospitality with my authentic—though simple—welcome and modest cooking abilities (except for chocolate cake). Perhaps, I just offer cake and ping pong!
On the same afternoon, Anya went to a birthday lunch at a restaurant in Uppsala. I’m glad she’s made some good friends. And this birthday gal, has told Anya that Anya is a positive influence on her. I’m so pleased.
On Sunday after church, I didn’t stick around for fika, but had enough time to greet some folks and then went home. I was going to watch my first handball game. My Swedish conversation partner, Åsa, has a 14-year-old son who plays on a club team. (There are no sports teams through the schools here, but there are plenty of club teams.)
Go Linus!
Handball is serious here. It is like a cross between basketball and indoor soccer (but no kicking, just throwing into the goal). It is an Olympic sport and big all over Europe.
After the game, Linus went to play a soccer game (!) and we went for fika. I saw a new item!
What is a “raw food ball”???
I guess it is rolled raisins and other things which are not cooked. If it doesn’t have chocolate, it isn’t worth the calories.
This was a new fika place, and it was right next to two gift shops which are close to the train and bus stations. I bid them thank you and goodbye, and then returned to the gift shop to get a couple things for Anya’s birthday that are perfect for her! The include free gift wrapping here!
Anya’s birthday is on Saturday. She’s planning to take two friends to Stockholm and meet one of her friends who lives there (and commutes by train to Uppsala for school). She wants to take them for Vietnamese food (not found in Uppsala) and bubble tea (also not in Uppsala). I will pay the expenses and am saved the tasks of trying to hosting some sort of party which would not embarrass Anya (which is impossible being “Theology Mom”).
Fortunately, I had students today seek me (exegetical theology instructor) out. There is one young man who wants to study Hebrew in the fall, so asked if I’ll be teaching it. I’ve proposed it to the studierektor (which is like an assistant to the dean who does scheduling). There were also a couple young women who are eager for an informal gathering to balance the spiritual formation/heart side of life with the academic/head side. So, we talked a bit about what this might develop into with a focus on women, at least to start.
With the late afternoon sun and temperatures approaching 60, I dug out my travel hammock and figured out how to hang it kitty-corner in my 8′ 6″ by 4′ 3″ balcony. I’m ready now, but it is not going to get much use in the near future.
It has been very busy. First, I put a lot of effort in preparing to facilitate a conversation with the faculty about distance learning. Distance learning was started about 3 years ago at Johannelund, but to be candid, it wasn’t well thought through and not very well supported. Because I was asking questions, I was invited to lead a pedagogy session. I replied that I would not be the best one for that, but I can facilitate a conversation. I used collaborative learning exercises to identify what we are doing, but also what we need to develop our efforts.
Getting engaged with individual input, team work, and sharing with the large group.Small group discussion for “next small step” practical applicationCategorizing our identified needs to support the next step. Then in 4 teams, we started generating ideas on 4 of the topic areas and made plans.
I think it went quite well for several reasons. First, I focused on the mission statement and core values as important for guiding decisions. As community is one core value–and which is very important for me–I get to rally the faculty and administration to focus on this (yes, this actually conflicts with distance learning! Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.). Second, we have identified some easy steps to move forward, with peer tutoring to be included in every fall faculty meeting. We will survey everyone to prioritize our lessons, but we have 4 topics to start with. Then, we’ll work on getting a grant for a bigger steps. An important aspect that wasn’t part of other’s expectations–but was on my agenda–was demonstrating a couple collaborative learning exercises and advocating for learner-centered teaching. I think I started to expand the imagination as many–not all–of the classes are taught with quite traditional lecture–note taking–reading–one paper–one exam model.
I put a ton of effort into this, because I knew that if it went well, we could take a step toward constructive change. I would be able to nurture the context to focus on our values and good pedagogy. I was quite tired after this, as I was up late the last 3 nights working on it, but I had a new course prep and another session that needed some development for the next day, Thursday. It would have been a rather normal week without the distance learning session with the faculty, but it was important to make it go well.
The new course prep was for a 3rd-year course on “Exegetical theology for the missional church.” My colleague lead the New Testament session, and I had the Old Testaments session; each were 90 minutes. We had to take it out of order, New Testament first, because of another course he was teaching, but that was good for me. I was able to see what he was doing and build on that. It would have been ideal to have more time, but what we did went well. One student (who flew in for the class as he lives up north), said he appreciated it, and he would have actually liked if my session was longer. I had them dig into texts in pairs at three different times and then share their discoveries with the class. For the first time with a new lesson, it went OK. There were a couple things that I would like to do a little differently, and there was one important slide at the end that I forgot. I’ll have to come back to these things with them at the next and last session I have. (This course only has four, 90-minute sessions. I don’t quite understand the limited contact hours, but I’m working on that too!)
My Bible school session on Jeremiah went OK, but just OK. The energy didn’t seem to arrive in the classroom yesterday morning. Yes, it was an 8:30 am class, but usually, I can rally them. I will revisit this lesson, especially for the next time I teach it. My sense is that my exercises were too big or too open for this group. I will see how to make it more specific and focused next time, especially because Jeremiah is such an important model of faithfulness, and I know they heard my story of how I resonate with this, but the text engagement needs to be strengthened for understanding key themes.
I went home quite tired Thursday after being in the classroom from 8:30 until 4:45 pm (though excluding chapel, lunch, and I didn’t teach 90 minutes of that).
Friday morning was off to Swedish lesson with Lennart. Chatting in Swedish seemed harder today. Am I more tired? Have I not be practicing enough and regressing? Was it just trying to communicate new things or in new ways? However, I keep pushing on. We read through two pages of a 2nd year student essay. It develops my theological vocabulary which isn’t included in Duolingo or standard Swedish grammar books. It is good also to talk things through with a theologian. Lennart is gracious, and I thank him each time with a gift of chocolate.
I knew the rear tire on the “Elenn bike” was bad for the past few days. This was a used bike, so one never knows what issues might appear. I was hoping that it would hold out until the busy part of the week was over. So, I would rise off the seat, standing on the pedals, when going over any bump to try to not compress the tire with all my weight on it.
Not good!
Fortunately, the tire held. On the way home from my Swedish lesson, I stopped at the closest bike shop.
The bike doctor
Within 15 minutes, maybe less, I was out the door with a new tire.
There are two signs of spring. First, they are beginning to sweep the course sand/fine gravel off the side walks and bike paths. It is so much nicer to bike where it has been cleaned off. Secondly, I saw my first spring flowers.
Signs of spring outside Lennart’s apartment building
Anya is at a friend’s home for her birthday dinner. I’m home relaxing, studying some Swedish, streamed a movie, and a Swedish TV cooking show that has subtitles in Swedish. Reading the words while hearing them spoken is helpful for me. The talking goes a bit fast for me, but it is a little more exciting than the news in easy Swedish. The show is about a Swedish woman, Tina, who is a good cook. She goes to various places and makes a meal. This first episode I watched was Tina’s visit to retired LPGA golfer Annika Sörenstam’s HUGE home in Florida. Tina made a strawberry cake.
On Sunday, Uppsala was the warmest spot in Sweden.
The reading is inaccurately high with the direct sun, but it actually hit 66 degrees!
No wonder I’m smiling!
A nice sunny, Sunday afternoon on our little balcony.
Monday was sunny too and reached 64 degrees. So, in the afternoon, the students were outside.
Soaking in the rays! (The view from my office window.)
Then they got out the volleyball in a fun gathering. And I thought, “What would Jean do?”
Yup, I joined them!
I got my gym shoes out of my bag and went to join them for a mid-afternoon break. It was fun, and I think they thought it was fun that I joined them for a few minutes. However, when I told Anya, she was mortified!
I’ve been busy preparing for a session on online learning that I’m facilitating this Wednesday afternoon. This is kind of strange, because I have never taken an online course, been formally trained in online pedagogy, and have only had minor roles co-teaching in a course that had minimal online aspects. However, I am asking questions, so I’ve been invited to facilitate a conversation. That I can do.
I have been reading online pedagogy books and researching things to try to bring out important issues to discuss. I am actually going to be demonstrating collaborative classroom learning techniques (this is my passion) to discuss online pedagogy issues! In reality, I am bringing a little (hopefully gracious) critique of what is being done now, so it may not be so straight forward. I’m also going to advocate for sustaining our “brand” which has focused on a learning community (online things started 3 years ago). Pray that it goes well.
One other part of today was a tutoring session for students writing their bachelor’s degree thesis. One is writing in English, in preparation for an application to a UK master’s program. He had previously provided a draft of a section (prior for departing for a 10-day course in Ethiopia). I carefully proofed, edited, and gave some recommendations for it. It is really difficult to write in another language that isn’t your mother tongue. My American colleague, who is excellent in Swedish, says that he sounds 20% stupider when writing in Swedish.
I know that even writing in English, my mother tongue, I sounded less stupid thanks to Marv’s generous editing (with help from some others, like Jean and my mom).
Friday was a day revolving around the application that our rektor has submitted for a master’s program. The Swedish body regulating higher education had a series of interviews in Stockholm on Friday afternoon. I was part of the teachers (they don’t use “faculty” here in the same way) hour-long interview. At first, I was a bit unsettled thinking that I would not have much to say, as the interview would be in Swedish. I did speak on 2 occasions–in English–though one was an introduction, and the other I knew that the conversation regarded course goals related to ethics, because this is not explicitly stated on the syllabi. While I agree that this would be a good feature for all syllabi, I added that it was an intentional conversation in exegetical theology and has influenced the reading list (Daniel Patte’s Ethics of Biblical Interpretation) and topics such as post-colonial hermeneutics (as we have a long-term East African connection).
We walked past the 1912 Olympic Stadium (I’m assuming that was where Jim Thorpe won both the decathlon and pentathlon), and I took the subway for the first time in Stockholm, but I have only one pictures from the day.
A surreptitious picture during the interview!
But, I have many pictures from today!
Two weekends ago, Anya and I met Michael K, in Stockholm. I know Michael and his wife from Bible college. He is here for a few weeks for work. This weekend, he coordinated a visit Uppsala with a professional guide to show us around. Michael enjoys getting to know a place, and this is a great way to have an informed orientation–as well as transportation around the town (as I only have a bike). Before we met our guide, we had time for fika.
First, fika!
Then on to tour. Michael asked about the viking era, so our main guide also secured an archaeologist with a specialty in the viking ere. So, we first stopped by some rune stones. This is the predominant area for them, with over 20,000 known!
An unusual rune stone, because it honored a woman.The translations of the inscription
Our viking era had some viking era weapon replicas.
Michael was trying to look viking tough, but he wasn’t very convincing! That helmet was really very heavy!
Around the corner from the rune stones was the cathedral. The guide added many interesting facts and a few whimsical stories!
The sun was shining! I thanked the guide for arranging a sunny day for us!
We took a little time in the Gustavianum museum across the street from the cathedral. They have a good exhibit of the Vendel Period (550-790 AD, pre-viking era)
From atop the east grave mound looking toward Uppsala (with the cathedral 6 km in the distance on the horizon).
The archaeologist had many interesting comments–too many to note. So, if you’re curious, come and visit, and we’ll have the guy take us around!
After Michael’s invitation to a nice dinner, I bid him farewell at the train station and went to my bike. Then, I think I saw a bicycle being stolen right before my eyes! A man was close to one bike (while I was turning off tail lights on a bike that was probably parked before it became dark), but then he walked to the next bike rack and leaned over a bike that had a flyer in the bike rack (a tell-tale sign that the bike had been parked there for a day or two). Then he walked the bike straight to a panel truck parked on the side of the road. Another guy was there to help load the bike and drive off. It seems very fishy! So, I took some pictures. A couple pictures showed the license plate, so I got home and called the non-emergency police line and reported what I saw and gave the license plate number.
Something fishy is going on, or as the Swedes say, “There are owls in the moss.”
Let’s hope that I helped to stop a bike theft ring!
Taxes are rising: Next year in Sweden, those who earn the equivalent of $4,327 per month will see an increase in tax. That is the middle group of taxes in Sweden’s progressive income tax rates. The information I have, the 2014 rates, are:
0% from 0 kr to 18,800 kr (~0 – 2,690 USD)
Circa 31% (ca. 7% county and 24% municipality tax): from 18,800 kr to 433,900 kr (~2,690 – 62,140 USD)
31% + 20%: from 433,900 kr to 615,700 kr (~62,140 – 88,180 USD)
On Facebook recently, I read a complaint about taxes from a former student. A former colleague, Sue, responded to him that she appreciates what taxes do: good roads, fire departments, schools, and such that supports a healthy society.
I responded: “I’ve looked at tax from both sides now, from high and low, and still somehow, it’s civil society that I recall. I really don’t hate taxes after all.” Yes, Sue got the allusion to Joni Mitchell’s song. (My favorite version is her remake with a slow tempo. Check it out.) Yes, I want them to be fair and administered wisely, but after living in Tanzania, it is so evident that we need reasonable taxes with good management for a civil society.
Civil society: The civility of Swedish society was demonstrated recently. Anya did the laundry on Saturday. (She is up early on Saturday and starts laundry at 7:00 am!) On Monday morning, I asked her if she had seen my new gym towel. I recently bought a microfiber camping towel so it could more easily fit in my backpack. The manufacturer recommended washing it separately the first time. However, she forgot about it in the washing machine. I went right over to the laundry room expecting it to be long gone. Surprise! It was there and even folded nicely!
Now, I know that everything isn’t perfect here. They say that you haven’t lived in Uppsala long enough if you haven’t had a bicycle stolen. I did have a bungee cord taken off my bike, but otherwise, we are doing fine.
My conversation partner, Åsa, has her husband’s cell phone number inside her cell phone cover, so when she leaves it lying around, the person who finds it can reach her husband and get it back to her. So far, it has worked!
2nd-year essays: Three of the four students completed writing their essays last week. This week, they “defended” them. I set the tone for a collaborative conversation to help us strengthen each other’s work. I also made and brought chocolate cake to celebrate at the end of a very stressful process with a whole course grade resting on one paper. The rest of the cake went to the employee fika.
Anya is back pole vaulting after a break for a couple months. Now a new season is starting, and I think she is renewed and ready to vault some more. She continues to put her school work as priority and is studying hard.
Bible school presentations: One highlight of the week was the Bible school presentations. Last week, I handed out the names and some introductory information on the 12 minor prophets and gave the assignment to create a 5 minute presentation that would make “your prophet” memorable. I find it difficult to keep all the 12 guys straight in my head, so I figured that if the students made associations with the presentations of their different classmates, they could begin to remember important things. I told them there would be a vote for the most memorable presentation, and there would be a prize!
The first pair, composed a song on Jonah and sang it.
The story of Jonah in song. What a tough act to follow!
The Joel presentation included the whole class jumping like locusts in (around) the grass to a soundtrack with song lyrics, “Jump! Jump! Jump!” Not quite a lament, like in the book, but they won’t forget the locusts!
Jump! Jump! Jump!
A student older than me Providentially ended up with Habakkuk. After an overview of the book, she composed a personal lament that beautifully echoed the themes. It was powerful. I have goosebumps now thinking of it.
The winner of the prize—a bag of chocolates—was for the representation of Haggai. With good call and response of “Haggai says” (a great memory devise to connect with the specific book), the story unfolded with chairs representing the completed Jerusalem walls (behind), but the incomplete temple (foreground). Eventually, the “stones” were assembled to complete the temple with a round of applause!
I will never look at these chairs in the same way!
Amazingly, 7 of the 12 presentations received votes for the most helpful presentation to help them remember the minor prophets. There was another bag of chocolates that were shared with everyone, as we were all winners with new knowledge. Yes, it was a great day, and a nice energy in the classroom, way before the chocolate came out! The downside is that the presentations were in Swedish, so again, I could only track a bit of what was said. The Jonah lyrics were sent to me, so a quick Google translate gave me help with the words I didn’t know.
Frustration funk: My lowest part of the month is the faculty meeting, which was yesterday. I can typically only track the Swedish enough to understand the topic. Most of the details I can’t get. These are the conversations that affect the academic policies and practices, and I can barely understand the basics, much less contribute to things that affect my work life. It is SO frustrating. At one point, I thought about walking out and just asking for the minutes to come to me early. Usually, last month’s minutes are reviewed at the beginning of the meeting, so I only then see some of the details, if I didn’t ask for clarification from a colleague after last month’s meeting. However, I had a new course proposal on the agenda, so I didn’t think too seriously about leaving.
The course proposal was for an elective course in computer-aided research for exegetical theology. No one uses biblical research software here, except me! I helped some of my essay writing students with some technical searches for word studies and accessing some Septuagint lexicon resources, so the students are eager to have the software integrated into the course offerings here. The faculty heard how I helped the students with their essays, so the first suggestion was to offer the course in their 5th semester, prior to their bachelor’s thesis course in the 6th semester. I had to inform them that this is software that students could use in their very first course for their interpretation papers and for many other courses prior to their bachelor’s thesis course (potentially 10 or more), especially because we will address bibliographic resources, online journals, and other basic technology-aided research tools. When I realize how my contribution can be helpful, it gets even more frustrating that I am so limited with communication.
So, I must learn Swedish. But I can’t study full-time, because I also have to produce. I work on Swedish some every day, but it isn’t enough. Some days, like today, I met with a tutor for 1.5 hours. I will do more online exercises. I listen to the news. I listened to over 1.5 hours of spoken Swedish at work, seeking to understand. But, I’m not learning fast enough.
