Winter Break

Yesterday was the last day of my Swedish class after about a month of classes. I learned a lot: I can tell you a little about myself, ask for the time, ask for directions, order coffee, understand most numbers... It feels good to have that base, even though everyone speaks English so well here.

I'm on break now! After the holidays, I plan to enroll in the free government-provided Swedish for Immigrants classes. They don't publicize when the new classes begin, so I just have to enroll and then wait to receive an assignment by mail.

I've heard a lot of bad things about SFI, like that the move too slowly, or they're racist in the way they pitch Swedish culture. The most frequent complaint I've heard/read is that in the beginning classes there are so many people with different learning styles and levels that it's difficult to learn. For example, in the beginning levels there are a number of people who do not know how to write the Latin alphabet, and so time in spent on writing and sounds that other people in the class may find too simple.

However, the classes at Folkuniversitetet weren't good enough to warrant paying for them, especially without having at least tried the SFI classes. The FU (haha) classes moved a bit slow to me, and the teacher wasn't the best at motivating us. There was no assigned homework, and no tests. Sounds like SFI to me, so I might as well try the free ones!

I'm glad I took the first level at FU though. It gave me structure each day right from the second week we were here, which I think has been very helpful for me while I have adjusted to not working and my new home. I made friends, and had contact with all sorts of interesting people all over the world.

In other news - only one week until we depart for Italy! Dan and I are very excited. We will be leaving on December 23rd, and returning January 4th. I hope to bring back beautiful pictures and funny stories.