The Heat Is On

The heat is on in school now that I'm in C class, which pretty much takes the fun and sucks the life out of school. The schedules have changed which means that I now have afternoon classes for 3 of the 4 days of school each week on top of my morning classes. To be honest, I really wouldn't mind that so much if I liked my teacher more. I really don't like Anita. She's intimidating, very strict, never really understands when we ask questions and pretty much only hears what she wants to hear.

Anita got really frustrated today with one of my classmates, Muhammad. He's from Iraq and has trouble with his pronounciation especially with the vowels cos most of them sounds so alike that sometimes one can't really hear the difference. Of course when one is just starting out to speak the language and speaks it slowly and in broken sentences, the teacher can catch bad pronounciation a lot better. And catch she did! She spent a good 10 minutes just trying to get him to pronounce between 2 vowels to the point where you could tell she was getting so frustrated with him.

And it all started with an innocent question posed by oh so silly Muhammad of what that particular word (that he couldn't pronounce right) meant. After the 10 frustrating minutes, Anita asked him 'Förstår du nu?' (Do you understand now?). And Muhammad smiled and said, 'Ja, jag vet. Jag vet. Men vad betyder det?' (Yes, I know. I know. But what does it mean?). And we burst out laughing cos those 10 minutes didn't really affect Muhammad as much as it frustrated Anita. Plus the fact that the word was bloody difficult to explain. What's the word you ask? Well, it is RÅKAR which means IT HAPPENS in English. You know, like when someone drops a plate sending it crashing to the floor and all you can say is, it happens. Yeah, how does one explain that to another who doesn't speak any language you speak?

Ha ha! Serves that wicked witch from the West right!

And I just got bad news from her. It appears that we most likely have to attend about 10 weeks of C class before we can move on up to D class. Damn...9 more weeks of her...ugh! But a large part of me knows that it is for our own good and I accept that. I'm even relieved that I have so much time before moving on to the final level of school. At least I'll learn more and get more used to the language. But in C class it is more about building up our vocabulary and understanding longer pieces of text which is great but one gets so so tired of flipping a thousand times through the book for every piece of text. I really do feel mentally and physically exhausted when I get home from school.

Today was my 2nd day in my new 3rd level class. The majority of the class (11 out of 13 actually) came from my 2nd level class so we know each other and everyone's idiosyncracies which makes lessons fun since the teacher, Anita is pretty strict and rather rigid. She reminds me of my discipline mistress in secondary school, Mrs Veronica Siaw. Well at least Anita is not mad about Rocco Barocco and doesn't wear nightgowns to school.

We aren't allowed to talk or help out classmates who are stuck in a question. She keeps saying, 'Jag prata inte på dig, eller hur? Jag prata med honom. Bara honom.' (translated: I'm not talking to you, am I? I'm talking to him, only him.). Oooh..tough lady. Not to say that she doesn't smile or laugh but just like Mrs Siaw, the smiles and laughs come from her own jokes (which other people don't necessarily find very funny).

There is an Iraqi man in my class called Muthana and he was the source of all our humour today. I would say that Muthana is a special sort of man, found mostly in the Arab world and certainly amusing to the common man (unless you're his teacher). Muthana is a man who will tell you things whether you want to know or not. He wants you to know he understands and he adds on to whatever the teacher says just to show how clever he is. Unfortunately, he is not all that clever and most of the time, his additions are inappropriate or simply do not make sense. I'm not sure if it's his thick accent when he speaks Swedish or just that he can't put a proper sentence together but I honestly can't understand 80% of what he says. And he usually repeats what he says (which are usually singular words or 2 word sentences) twice in a row.

Anita was trying to go through a piece of text and explaining difficult words to the class but of cos Muthana being the way he is, cuts in so often that Anita has learnt to ignore his sudden bursts of something, which hasn't stopped him. He likes referring to his dictionary and showing Anita the word she was trying to explain to show that he got it. Hai...at least he's the comic relief in class.

During one of our breaks, I was sitting with Vlasta, Knut and Nadine in class when Muthana came up to us with textbook in hand asking what the answers are (at least that's what I think he was asking). We tried to tell him that he's not allowed to write in the textbook and we haven't done any of those exercises cos it's not even the right chapter. But all he said when we told him he has to write his answers on paper and not in the book was, 'Jag vet. Jag vet. blah blah blah....' (translation: I know. I know. ..gibberish..). Then finally Khaldoun, another Iraqi in our class (whom I think is pretty attractive looking), stepped in and told him in Arabic that he can't write in the textbook. Guess what? Muthana still kept on saying, 'Jag vet. Jag vet...arabic blah blah...'. Finally Khaldoun couldn't take it anymore and went off saying he didn't understand what Muthana was saying either. And once again he flew down on us and once again we tried telling him to write his answers on paper (more people got involved this time) when finally..I think a lightbulb went off in his head and he turned to us and asked, 'Jag kan inte skriver här?' Jag måste skriver bara där?' (translation: I can't write here *points to textbk*? I can only write there *points to workbk*?)

Finally the man got it!! And he went away.

After the break, Anita went on to a different exercise where we had to fill in the blanks and she called upon us one by one to give her the answers to the various sentences. But everytime she called on Muthana to give the answer, he not only gave her the answer to his question but also the rest of the answers which of cos made the rest of us laugh since Anita had reminded us at least twice before to answer just our own question. One could see the exasperation rising in her eyes but even though she got even more strict with us, at least she doesn't raise her voice...well maybe just a little.

Once Muthana gave her the right answer but pronounced it wrongly. Anita tried correcting him but standing in front of him and getting him to repeat what she said which in itself is a challenge.

Anita: Titta på mig. Pen-väs-sare. Sa pen-väs-sare. (translation: Look at me. Pe-cil-shar-pener. Say pen-cil-shar-pe-ner.)

Muthana: Jag vet. Jag vet. Pen-vas-säre. Jag vet! (t: I know. I know. Pencil-sher-pa-ner. I know)

Anita: Nej Muthana. Väs-sa-re. Inte vas-säre.

Muthana: Jag vet. Vas-säre. Pen-vas-säre. Och rak-nä-re *answer to the next qn*. (t: I know. Sher-pa-ner. Pencil-sher-paner. And culcalator.)

Anita: Sigh...Muthana (by this time the rest of the class have started laughing and some tried helping.), pen-väs-sare. Titta på mig. Pen-väs-sare.

Muthana: Jag vet. Jag vet! Pen-vaas-säre!

Anita: Hai...Nasta fråga, Tatsawan *girl sitting behind Muthana*? (t: Sigh..next question, Tatsawan?)

Muthana is a man in his own little world where his way is the best way and everyone should just accept that that is the way Muthana is. Not many things in whichever language can really go into him cos he's so stubborn and sure of his answers.

So we let him be. So long as he doesn't write in the damn textbook!

A friend once asked me to show and tell my new home. How my apartment looks like, how the town looks like and just how everything is like here. It definitely is very different from Singapore in almost every way but that doesn't necessarily mean something negative.

The conveniences found in Singapore and especially in Holland Village where I had lived all my life certainly cannot compare to Askersund. But the charm found in both places are certainly fight for top place in my heart. Holland Village has the rustic charm of a small, hip estate with its small streets and numerous restaurants and cafes (something I absolutely LOVE about HV). And while Askersund is FAR from hip and its small streets are not cramped with restaurants and cafes, it does hold its own brand of charm. It has a natural charm accentuated by the lake and sudden bursts of forest every now and again.

But I do love the location of our apartment and largely bcos of that I am not planning on buying a house anytime soon. And husband agrees with that (thank goodness!). Our apartment is just behind the town district building that faces the town square so we are really close to the pulse of town. I really like the town square with its cobble stoned streets and old style buildings. The middle of the square is now a large parking lot and it's also where the town places its Christmas tree...a huge, tall thing that reaches up to the tallest building on the square.

In the summer, there is a fountain with a big statue in the middle of it spewing out water right in front of one of the 2 town bakeries, the bookstore and a hair salon. But in the winter, they remove the statue. I didn't even know that one could do that! So now it just looks like a huge tub in the middle of town. I think they'll put the statue back come summertime and then I'll upload a picture with the fountain fully installed, water and all. We live to the right of the fountain and husband works in a store to the left of the fountain so that makes things very convenient in terms of travelling to work.

Husband dear works in an electrical appliance store called Åhlins and for such a small town, the store actually does quite well. And even though it means that he works slightly longer hours and on most Saturdays, I still like the fact that he works so close to home and he doesn't need to drive so much now. We save money AND the environment! They wear a uniform there which is the same colour as the front entrance, blue. But he and another colleague of his, Anton, choose to wear a bright red fleece jacket over the nice blue polo t-shirt which I frankly think makes husband look a tad too gay for my taste. For some reason Anton seems to be able to carry it off a little more manly-ish than Mathias can. Hmmm...I wonder why....?

Every once in a while, there is an old guy called Ova who comes in who works at the local recycling plant. He's famous or rather infamous in town and many of the stores and cafes use him when ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Ova used to work as a trashman but he's retired now and works part time at the nearby recycling plant. In his spare time (which he has a lot of), he works for some of the stores here including Åhlins collecting all the big and card board trash like boxes and old TVs or fridges. He is a very interesting character for oh so many reasons but mostly cos he's not the cleanest man in town (with horrifically gross blackish nails), his one of a kind greeting to anyone he deems deserving which sounds more like a muppet with a stuck nose and his oh so unique sense of humour.

He can go up to someone and as a form of greeting just show them his thumb and index finger like one would measure how much is an inch apart. And if that someone foolishly proceeds to ask him what that means, he casually explains that that is the distance between a woman's anus and her p**sy. And then he will laugh and walk away. Why anyone would find that funny is anybody's guess but since he (like bugs) is so vital to the everyday running of the town, he gets away with it. But nobody really wants him in their store, especially the cafe owner who quickly makes Ova his usual cup of coffee and a bag of pastries (work benefits) when he sees Ova's car round the corner. The cafe owner would then proceed to walk out to Ova even before the fellow has come out of his car to pass him his coffee and freebies. The old man thinks it's respect but everyone knows it's for the sake of their own health. Heh heh.... In the picture, he is bald and clean shaven but please do not be fooled. He is usually scruffy with messy hair under a dirty hat with a long dirty looking gray beard. Mathias found out the reason why he was so clean shaven that day he took the picture (as evidence that Ova can look relatively clean) is bcos he had some rash on his head and shaving everything off just made it easier to put the cream on his head. But that is just a temporary thing, he assures. And that is his false teeth sticking out cos when Mathias told him to pose, he ask 'Teeth in or teeth out?'. And like any normal human being husband had thought he meant to smile or not to which the man foolishly says 'Teeth out'. So of cos, with his brand of humour, Ova the trashman pulled out his false teeth and let it dangle for the camera.

Next time I will tell you about 2 other interesting characters of the town, Fat Lena and Dottie. And also feature the best part of town, its harbour! Till then....

When I first started school 7 weeks ago, I gave myself the time schedule of graduating from Class A in 2 months and being moved up to Class B. Who would have thought that I would move ahead of schedule and get to the B class within 3 weeks. And now after spending 4 weeks in Class B I have been told that I will start in Class C next week after the Easter holidays.

Wow...I guess all that studying and headaches of the tests worked out well for me. I have realised that I do much better in terms of writing, reading out loud and understanding written text. But I still have trouble listening to conversations and speaking. And that is frustrating but I know I know..everything takes time. In our last lesson, Klass the teacher wanted to have one last test with those who will be moving to Class C (there will be 10 of us). He wanted to have a one on one conversation with us. Uh oh, I thought. That can go bad. But it turned out quite alright. I am used to the way Klas speaks so I can understand most of what he says. But I did tell him that I do have trouble with conversations and I usually can only understand 75-80% of what is said in class. And of cos he says it all takes time. But I was so pleased when he told me that I learn really quick and according to him am one of the best students in the program. Yay!! Well, I dun really believe that compliment 100% but it is pleasant to hear that.

So anyway, barely 2 months after starting school, I am now gonna start in the 3rd level (there are 4 in total). And who knows, I may graduate from all 4 levels come summertime. I know it will be easier to get a job if I have the certificate from school.

Vlasta and Knut will be moving up with me but Som, the thai lady, will have to stay unfortunately. I will miss Klass a lot cos I think he's such a great teacher and I will definitely miss the classroom that has a wonderful view. On our last day of school before the Easter weekend, it started snowing and the view was just spectacular! Large flakes of snow falling past the windows covering most of the road and trains and the snowfall is so thick I could no longer see the distant hills and fields. This is a view that only those in Class B has the privilege of enjoying. Hai....I will miss it.

In answer to a dear friend's questions, the shelter actually told us she likes prawn cheese so I guess it is safe to give her that. And I think it's chocolate that is toxic to dogs and cats. Anyway, they also told us that she likes ham but since we don't eat pork here, I tried chicken ham and she loved it!

Too bad I still can't pet her yet cos she's still so afraid of people. She was an abandoned kitten that they had to catch using a trap so she's got major trust issues. But she is not too afraid that she will be a difficult pet. Her sister Alana on the other hand, will be a very difficult pet. That kitten is even more afraid of people and hisses everytime someone tries to get close. Either that or she hides away and never comes out. Sussie is a super curious cat so she still comes out to check out the place and smell things.

It appears that Sussie is more of a night prowler than anything else. She seems very inactive during the day time and spends the hours under the sofa sleeping. Actually I heard her snoring away yesterday. So cute!! She is definitely a part of the family since snoring runs heavily in the Sjöberg clan. Grandma Sjöberg can no longer stand to sleep in the same room as Grandpa and Father Sjöberg has to use some Darth Vader looking device when he sleeps cos he snores so bad. Young Mr Sjöberg is just lucky that his wife sleeps like the dead and doesn't even notice his snoring unless she gets up to pee at night. Then she realises the extent of snoring...it's LOUD!

So anyway, Sussie comes out to play and curious after about 6 or 7 in the evening. but she doesn't come out if we are in the room. She boldly comes out from under the sofa if we are not in the livingroom and then once she's out she goes exploring. We leave almost all the doors open so she can explore and feel comfortable and comfortable she is certainly becoming. We found her on our bed last night, happily relaxing amidst the comfy comforters. but of cos as is Sussie, she ran away the moment any of us entered the room. So we left her be as we watched TV in the livingroom.

Husband says that Sussie is in a bit of a dilemma now. She is still very shy of people and will run away whenever we get too close. She doesn't let us pet her and she doesn't feel comfy enough yet to letus play with her. But every now and again she meows out loud for us if she can't find us or she knows that we are looking for her to tell us where she is. Husband says that she so badly wants our attention and affection but she is too scared and shy to come close to us.

Ah..dilemma dilemma dilemma...

She seems to find the computer chair a very comfortable spot nowadays. Last night while I was in the kitchen and husband was in the toilet, I started looking for her but I couldn't find her in all the usual places. Seeing how small the apartment is, I was baffled and wondered where she was. I decided to give her her space and went back into the kitchen. Suddenly I heard a loud meow from the livingroom and when I went out to look, I realised she was sitting on the computer chair. I didn't see her cos the computer chair is black!! All I could see were her 2 bright eyes even though the lights in the living room were switched on...amazing.

Mathias told me that she tricked him this morning after I had left for school. He was sitting in front of the computer when he heard a loud meow from the window. So he went over to check on Sussie when suddenly he heard a scurry and realised that she had run to the computer chair and sat down! But of cos when he came close, she ran away. So he went back to the computer when a few minutes later he heard a loud melancholic meow from the window again. Not knowing that it's a once bitten twice shy moment, husband went over to the window AGAIN to check on her. And AGAIN he heard a scurry across the room and in seconds the computer chair was occupied again. So he gave up and got ready to go to work.

She's so smart right?? Now..if only she'll let us come close.

Despite all the tests, I have had a pretty interesting week and especially weekend.

Husband and I had decided that we will get a cat but we had thought perhaps in the summer when the weather is warmer and we have more time off from school and work. Just so we can spend more time with the cat. But knowing impatient and persistent me, I managed to convince the husband that perhaps getting a cat before summer would be nice. He thought about it and agreed that perhaps instead of June, we can get the cat in May.

Fair enough, I let that one go...for a few days. After that I continued to argue and whine my case to him and convinced him that perhaps looking through the nearby cat shelters wouldn't hurt. He agreed and said maybe we can go look at cats in the shelters sometime in April. I then started oh so subtly chancing upon the websites of the nearby shelters when the husband just happens to look at the computer screen. Of cos all this while whining (subtly and elegantly of cos) about how a nice kitten would be lovely. Husband agreed and we got the address but he wasn't sure when would be a good time to go.

I convinced husband that 2 Saturdays ago was an excellent day. He agreed and we went off to Hallsberg where they had a good cat shelter called Spinnhuset. They had a lot of beautiful and big cats and unlike what I had previously thought, all the cats were very comfortably set up in their own cage or sharing with a sibling with their own litter box, scratching post tower, a whole range of toys and what not. Not a single meow could be heard from the cats who were either snoozing away or lazily looking out the window. It was a very very calm environment and I couldn't even tell it was a shelter except for the fact that there were cage like doors swung shut so the cats couldn't run out since some of them didn't have a great temperament.

And surprise surprise, when we got there, husband pretty much fell in love with a semi grown kitten, Sussie. She's a black kitten of about 7 months and has a small face, is quite lean but a pretty long body. She looks older than 7 months bcos of her long body. And so even though he was the one hesitating all along about when to get the cat, husband was the one who came up to me with a sheepish grin and asked, 'So..shall we sign the adoption papers today?'

The adoption process is to me pretty good that ensured a decent home for each cat. We didn't automatically get the cat but had to wait for the chairperson of the shelter to call us to conduct an interview to see if we were suitable. We paid 700Sek (abt SGD140) when we picked Sussie up but that included all vaccinations and sterilisation. And if the cat is too young to be sterilised (like Sussie), they will give us a voucher to be presented to the vet so that the sterilisation bill gets sent to the shelter instead of us. Good huh? And if for whatever reason, it does not work out between the cat and its new owners, the new owners can always return the cat back to the shelter. The shelter lady told us of one of the cats who had been returned 3 times by different owners cos it didn't work out. For some reason, the cat just refuses to eat when it's at a new home. It literally starves itself so they have to choice but to return it to the shelter where it does eat. Upon filling out of the adoption papers (which we did 2 Saturdays ago), we had to wait at least 5 days in which time we can always change our minds about the cat. But we didn't change our minds about Sussie and barely 3 days later we got the call from the chairperson asking when we can pick her up.

Yay!! So we picked up our Sussie last Saturday and brought her home. She is a very shy and extremely careful little cat and is no longer as small as in the picture. I have been unable to take a newer picture of her since she keeps hiding under the sofa and refuses to come out when we are around. But she is very very active at night and is curious and playful when alone. So I guess we just give her time and it'll work out. At least she eats and has a pretty expensive taste when it comes to special treats cos she likes smoked chicken ham and prawn cheese. Mum in law calls Sussie the luxury cat. heh heh...

This week is gonna be tough. It's full of tests, listening and written. Oral tests, I guess are a daily occurence since Klas, my teacher, speaks in nothing but Swedish and expects all of us to understand. But that is the best way to learn quickly and somewhat effectively I have found. And a good dictionary close at hand is crucial in class. I dunno where I will be without my trusty albeit tiny dictionary. I have a big, satisfying dictionary at home but I can't lug it to school everyday cos it's just too heavy.

So anyway, we had a letter writing test yesterday and this time I couldn't use my dictionary. Oi oi oi! (Swedish expression for alamak!). But I got through it and I must say my letter sounded pretty good too. But I did kick myself at home afterwards when I realised I had spelt lägenhet or apartment in english wrong. I had missed out on those 2 tiny dots on top of the a. Darn! For the sake of just 2 dots I have ruined my letter. Oh well, never mind. I am a lot more relaxed during these tests now cos I don't want to move to the next class. Not yet anyway. I just don't feel ready to move up yet even though Klas did mention to Mathias that he feels that I may be ready to move to the C class.

What?? Again?! No lah...don't want lah. Not yet. If I move again after barely 4 weeks in my B class, then I just feel like I haven't learnt enough. Not from Klas anyway. Plus I heard the teacher in C Class can be quite a witch. Ugh...not looking forward to that. And anyway, my classroom is so pretty, I really don't want to move. But I can tell that my class is getting full. When I started there, there were probably 6 or 8 seats empty and today there are only 2 empty. And that's cos some people are absent today.

Part of the test would include prepositions..and I HATE Swedish prepositions. I hate them almost as much as I hate onions! Actually, come to think of it, Swedish prepositions and onions share the same compartment in my heart. I hate them and I never want to see or taste them...but at the end of the day I know that life is just easier with them around. So I tolerate their existence and use them to the most minimum of my ability. And note that it is SWEDISH prepositions. even though English prepositons can be a bitch sometimes, at least they follow some sort of logic.

Yes, I said logic. Swedish prepositions follow no rule of thumb, logic or anything in between. There is almost no way of intellectualizing it. And if you try, as Knut will put it 'Katastrof!' and 'Hjärnan (brain) explodera!!'. I have tried asking Klas, Mathias and even come desperately close to asking the mother in law to tell me why you use this particular preposition here but not there even though it essentially means that same thing. Example, you ask? Sure! Plenty!

Take for example, Swedish preposition på (paw). It is supposed to essentially mean on. Like on the street, on the table. But it is also used to indicate location like at the library, at the disco, at the store..but not just any store. You have to indicate specifically the store name to be able to use på with it. If you're just gonna use the generic store...then it's a different preposition. Gosh, don't even get me started on that one. Oh yeah, på is also used to tell someone to come on around and say hi to me. And there is just no logical way of thinking when one can use på. One just has to know.

That is the one phrase that I keep hearing over and over here from Swedish speaking people. Some things in the language (esp prepositions!) you can't explain. You just have to learn it, remember it and regurgitate it when the time comes. Ugh!

So anyway, that is my nightmare with the Swedish preposition. But other than that, I think I've been doing quite alright. Except for the fact that I still have a lot of trouble understanding conversations in Swedish. It is really very tiring concentrating so hard trying to decipher and make out words. Especially when the Swedes are famous for either mumbling through words or shortening them. And a lot of words sound so similar that it can be pure hell just trying to figure out which topic of conversation they are on. Double Ugh!!

Tests, tests and more tests...I'm just looking forward to the end of Monday...my last day of all these tests. then it'll just be back to endless writing exercises.