christmas is coming

As we roll into December, it is becoming more and more apparent how quickly this term is wrapping up.  We only have three short weeks until the semester comes to a close and Christmas break commences.  School continues to go well.  I am finishing up an algebra unit with my math students this upcoming week, and started a chemistry unit in science this past week.  As these are my two favorite subjects, life is good.  Things are made even better by the fact that we finally got a dusting of snow that has stuck around.  It surely is beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Here is the small snowman I left on my
colleague's desk at school after the first snowfall. 

As today marks the first day of advent, I would also like to introduce you to the new additions in my apartment.  A small collection of international Christmas cheer is accumulating on my bookshelf.  A tree, tinsel, and candy canes from the US.  A gingerbread house and candles from Sweden.  And some mince pies and Christmas pudding from England.  Things are pretty cheery here.   A few other expansions to my collection are in the works, so check back in the coming weeks if you would like to see the new developments.  

A small collection of Christmas cheer.

party hats and safety vests

Sorry I took a little blogging hiatus last week.  I spent most of last weekend at a friend’s house, and did not have the opportunity to write an update.  Because I have not written for quite a while, I think it would be best if I gave you a quick rundown of the highlights from these past two weeks:

• For the past several weeks, the students in my science classes have been working on a project about sources of energy.  Each student was asked to research a different source of energy (e.g. hydropower, solar power, geothermal powers, etc.), and produce a small booklet about the advantages and disadvantages of that source of energy.  Since turning their projects in, I have really enjoyed reading through their work and have been impressed with what they were able to produce.   My students amaze me every day.
• In other school-related news, I must tell you about one of the more recent teacher meetings I attended.  When I entered the conference room, candles lined the center of the table with chocolate candies tastefully scattered around.  Additionally, each attendee of the meeting was given a party hat to wear to the meeting.  And why all the decorations you ask?  No reason really.  It was no person’s birthday, and we really were not celebrating anything.  I just have the best colleagues ever. 
• This past week, when I arrived home from school, I was surprised once again with a package from my parents.  The package contained a wonderful assortment of Christmas cheer and a new essential article of clothing—a florescent yellow safety vest.  Things are starting to get dark here in Borås.  Real dark.  The sun rises around 8 in the morning, and sets a little before 4 in the afternoon.  Needless to say, I am getting quite a lot of use out of my new safety vest while riding Lena.
• This list of highlights would definitely not be complete without some mention of last weekend.  As I said previously, I was at my friend’s house most of last weekend.  Much of the weekend was spent relaxing.  We played games, ate delicious food, slept with her cat, sat around the fireplace and generally just enjoyed each other’s company.  It was so, so nice.

It has been a good couple of weeks.  I am getting into the swing of things at school, and continue to enjoy life in Sweden.  Party hats and safety vests—things honestly really couldn’t get much better.  

cracked eggs and cow licks

Wow, what a week!  As I mentioned in my previous post, this past week was fall break so I did not have school.  During this week, I have really enjoyed all the opportunities to take in a bit more Swedish culture.  (Small side note: I am a little tired from all the week’s events, so I apologize if this post is lacking in some of the more juicy details.  I’ll try to compensate with pictures.)

The week started with a short trip down to southern Sweden with Julia.  Julia has family who lives in Landskrona, so we stayed at their place for several days.  While there, Julia and I sampled Swedish cuisine and enjoyed nice walks around town.  Some of the cultural highlights of our stay included making cabbage rolls, learning how to eat an egg Swedish-style, exploring the town’s castle and surrounding moat (yes, the castle has a moat), and tasting the unique saltiness of kavier.

Every morning for breakfast, we each got an egg served
on a lovely pedestal.  To eat the egg, we cracked the top
half of the shell off before using a spoon to scoop out
the egg from the lower half of the shell.

 

I joined Julia and her family on a walk along the beach.
Yes, that is the ocean!  And yes, you can see Denmark
just across the water!

During our walk along the beach, we came across a few
friendly cows.  This cow took a liking to me and licked my
hand.  Who knew cows' tongues are so rough!

To complement our Swedish experiences, Julia and I also took a train down to Denmark to explore Copenhagen for a day.  While in Copenhagen, we visited the king’s castle, saw the queen’s residence, admired the crown jewels and played at the post museum.  Although a bit wet and cold, we had a nice time exploring the city.

While at the Queen’s Residence, Julia and I got to see
the daily changing of the guards ceremony.

I think one of my favorite parts of Copenhagen
was this radio exhibit in the post museum.  Julia and
I got to make our own radio broadcast complete
with music and sound effects!  

After a splendid few days down south, I returned to Borås to round off the week.  Saturday was particularly special because it was All Saints' Day.  On this day, many Swedes go with their families to the graveyards in the evening to light candles around their loved ones’ graves.  I went with a friend to one of the larger cemeteries in Borås.  I am real happy that I went as it was a very impressive sight to see all the candles lighting up the hillsides. 

Needless to say, I have had a really lovely break.  I can’t say I am quite ready to go back to school, but this past week has provided some nice down time to recharge for the rest of the semester.   

the seasons are a changin’

I am happy to report that frost and snow have officially arrived in Borås!   This past Thursday after school, a mini snow storm graced the town.  While the flurries did not stick around, cool temperatures lingered to remind us of the fast-approaching winter.

After the delightful little snowfall, on Friday, the entire staff at school took a road trip across the country to attend a conference in Linköping.  At the conference, I had the opportunity to meet other math teachers working at other English schools around the country.  A large part of the day was spent discussing how to implement the Swedish grading scheme.  I found it reassuring to learn that I am not the only teacher struggling to understand how best to create and use the rubrics so students get valuable feedback about their progress.  While the conference was nice, I must admit that my favorite aspect of the day was being able to spend time with my colleagues.  There are some really awesome people at my school, so it was nice to have time to hang out with them.  

This upcoming week is Höstlov (fall break).  Because school is not in session, Julia invited me to come with her to visit her aunt and uncle in southern Sweden. We arrived last night, and were warmly welcomed into their cozy little home.  To be honest, I am not entirely sure what is planned for the week, but I think a visit to Copenhagen is in the mix as well as some lessons in cabbage-roll-making.  I am very much looking forward to the change of pace that this week will offer.

one down, one to go

And so my friends, it is true.  My knitting addiction is back, but not without reason.  I honestly have been doing my very best to intentionally stay out of all fabric stores and yarn shops since coming to Borås; but, this past week, when I was invited to attend the ladies sewing club at church, I caved.  Shortly after accepting the offer, I found myself wandering down the craft aisle of the local Eko department store fingering the balls of wool and sizing up the needles.  After examining the store’s selection, I picked out a plump ball of raspberry-violet wool and some size 7 needles.  It was not long after cycling home that I was casting on.  Knit two.  Pearl two.  Knit two.  Pearl two.  And that was the start of my mitten. 

Several days later, my mitten was half done and it was time to venture out to the ladies sewing club.  I was picked up at twenty past six, and after a short drive, warmly welcomed into a roomful of woman.  Each lady had brought her own project—some cross-stitching, some sewing, and some knitting.  What ensued was a delightful evening of chatter and crafting mixed with a good measure of tea and a healthy dose of Scandinavian treats.  By the end of the evening, I had met about a dozen new people, picked up a few new Swedish phrases, and my mitten was near completion.  One down, one to go.  

In other news, this past week was rather monumental in terms of my teaching career.  This week, I had the pleasure of conducting my first-ever parent-teacher conferences.  Overall, they went well, and I enjoyed having the opportunity to meet the parents and discuss my students’ goals.  I thought it was funny though that the most common question I got from parents was something to the effect of, “so you now know what a gaffel and kniv is, right?”  I typically responded with little smile, and held up my pen—“this is a gaffel, right?”  It’s funny the stories that kids decide to share at home. 

buttery crackers—a delicacy?

Over the past several weeks, I have started to take note of a rather odd phenomenon.  At school, we have something called “pedagogical lunches.”  Basically, all this means is that teachers can get free lunches at school if they eat with the students in the cafeteria.   It is not these lunches which I have found to be odd, but rather it is what happens near the end of lunch which I am adjusting to.  Towards the end of the meal, it has become tradition for students to get up from their seats and return to where the food is distributed.  They then proceed to take a cracker which is comparable in size to a graham cracker.  On this cracker, they smear almost an eighth of an inch of butter across the top painstakingly making sure that the cracker is covered from edge to edge.  Once they are satisfied with their buttery masterpieces, they return to the lunch tables and eat their crackers.  Honestly, I cannot say I have ever seen so many people eat butter-smeared crackers.  Additionally, I find it amusing the perfectionistic tendencies my students display when it comes to smearing butter on crackers. 

Long story short, having observed this phenomenon for several weeks now, this past Wednesday I thought it best for me to partake in this cultural experience.  Having cleared my plate, I got up from my seat, retrieved a cracker, smeared it with butter (making sure it was covered from edge to edge), returned to my seat and enjoyed.  Honestly, the butter-smeared cracker was a lot better than I thought.  I have to admit that I will likely be partaking in this end-of-lunch ritual more often in the coming months.    

autumn adventures

Well, it appears that autumn is now in full swing here in Borås.  The leaves are changing colors, temperatures are rapidly declining, and teachers are gearing up for parent-teacher conferences.  Life in this slightly-larger-than-tiny town continues to go well.  A majority of my time is spent at school—planning lessons, grading papers (or at least trying to figure out how the Swedish grading system works), calling parents, and laughing with colleagues.  However, every now and again, I do find time to venture out for little adventures. 

This past week, one adventure landed me at a small sushi restaurant in the center of town.  One of my student’s parents owns this restaurant and offered to treat me.  All in all, it was a delightful evening.  I had the opportunity to sample some delicious sushi while learning about my student and hearing how the Japanese education system compares to the Swedish system.

Another adventure brought me to a small classroom on the edge of town.  It is in this classroom that I will likely be studying Swedish for the next long while.  The school I am working at arranged for all the new international teachers to attend Swedish language lessons so we can better communicate with the students.  Lessons began this week.  So far, we have learned the alphabet and a few basic words. “Skriv” means “write” and “bil” means “car.”

This evening, Julia and I went on one final adventure to finish off the week.  She showed me around the woods nearby her apartment.  After a short but steep climb up a hill, we were rewarded with a lovely view of the town below.  I may need to return to this overlook come wintertime to see the snow-laden landscape. 

To wrap up with this post, I will leave you with a photo of my favorite sight from this week.  As I was making my way home from church this morning, a woman biked past me with the baskets on her bike overflowing with flowers.  I think I might need to outfit Lena (my bike) with similar decor.  How classy.