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another 10 days just slipped by
Feb. 16th, 2024 07:28 amLately I seem to be too busy to sit down and type a post. What all has been distracting me?
Reengarda had our crafts day and annual general meeting last Sunday, which was well attended and went smoothly we have a new Seneschal, who I think will do a good job. The treasurer has made me his deputy, with the plan to get me trained up to take over from him next year, but, of course, we haven't actually started any of that training yet.
School continues to go well. On Wednesday last week Urban, our social studies teacher emailed us an assignment to work on, and mentioned that he had done so before lunch, so I started working on it during lunch, typing on my phone in GoogleDocs, and after I got home I opened the file on the computer and finished working on it, and sent it to him not long after Keldor got home from work, which meant that it arrived in my teacher's inbox just before he got home for the day, and he was really impressed that anyone had done the assignment so quickly, especially as he didn't think it was an easy assignment. The assignment included a link to the official web page for Swedish law, and asked us to look up certain laws (chapter and section provided) and answer questions as to what they mean. Law texts are, of course, written in a very formal version of the language, so I needed to look up a fair few things, so my approach to the assignment was to both copy in the definitions of the words I looked up, and then answer the question, and give my reasoning for my replies. Wednesday this week he gave me a print out of my work, with hand-written comments on it, and ended with the comment "Du har verkligen en analytisk blick. Snabbt och systematiskt jobbat. Otroligt bra." Needless to say, this praise really made my day!
Last week, when I had met with the director of Folkhögskolan and we discussed my study plan, we agreed that I may as well add a fourth course to my studies, as then I would have a full set to tick of the box of Swedish high school equivalencies, so if I ever again apply for an undergraduate course (could happen, it has happened before) they won't be able to say no because I don't have that (like they did last time, when I wanted to enroll in the physical therapy program). But since this Folkhögskola has only five classes to choose from, and one of them is English (which I don't need, and don't want to take, as I am enrolled primarily to improve my Swedish), and I am already taking Swedish, Social Studies, and History, that leaves only Religion as an option. A topic which doesn't really interest me. However, I suggested to the director that perhaps I could just do the class by writing an essay on Viking Age religion, which would tie in with my interest in history. He thought that was a good idea, and asked me to wait and discuss it with Urban after he'd had a chance to mention it. So I did, and brought the subject up this week on Wednesday, after he handed back my paper full of praise.
He agreed that it was a good idea, and he is looking forward to what I do with it. He suggests an essay on the reasons behind the transition from the "Asatro" (belief in the old Norse gods) to Christianity, but I had already considered perusing a thread that got mentioned in the History of Sweden CD I have been listening to in Swedish, where they draw parallels between the Norse gods and the Hindi ones, and suggest that it is no coincidence, but cross-pollination. It will be interesting to see where the paper actually goes after I do a bit of reading. I have already done some reading--the other two students who made it to class on Wednesday hadn't even started the assignment, so our teacher gave them the class period to work on it, and I borrowed a school laptop and started browsing google scholar for interesting things to read for my research. One paper I found was a comparison of Norse goddesses and their roles within their patriarchal society those of Turkish goddesses, who also existed in a very patriarchal framework, so perhaps I will be doing a cross-cultural comparison, if I can find one or three more in that direction. After all, this is more of a high school essay than a university one, and the main point (for me) is to practice writing in Swedish.
Between class time at school and, phone calls with Keldor during his commute to and from work, and listening to the history of Sweden at home I am making good progress on the decorations for what will be a gift that Keldor will receive if his time sitting vigil at Double Wars leads him to say yes to the offer of joining the order of the Laurel. He insists that he hasn't decided yet, and that he won't do so till after he hears what people have to say at the vigil, which is totally fair, it is a decision that should be made after due contemplation. But in the meantime, he knows I am working on *something*, for the occasion, but he doesn't know what (if anyone wants a sneak preview, send me a direct message; he sometimes reads my blog, and I don't want to friends-lock my posts as then some of my friends who do read it, but don't have DreamWidth accounts wouldn't be current on my news, so I can't share photos here till it is done, but I am pretty happy with how it is coming). (I have no plans for what I will do with it if he says no, but I guess I could give it to another laurel who would appreciate it, I can think of a few. Or perhaps auction it off and have an income for a change. Or something.)
On the job search front I am working on a project plan for a PhD project in Experimental Archaeology. The University of Umeå has one position open for an Archaeology PhD student, in any speciality, so why not apply? I would be building on my Master's on Durham by continuing with soapstone, but this time I would be focusing on practical questions on its use and how its heat capacity translates to the size of the hot spot in a forge with a soapstone bellows stone, and to how long water in a pot keeps cooking, and probably other questions related to what/how one cooks in soapstone. I have till 10 March to get it turned in. I also applied for a summer job as a cook at the local restaurant/conference center/campground. They state in their ad that they are a flexible employer and are looking for people to help out with breakfast and lunches during the week and on weekends, and with things like weddings and conferences whenever they come up. So I sent them a letter explaining that I am applying because I live here, because I enjoy cooking, and because I took them at their word about the flexible part, saying that I want a job that lets me continue being a student, and leaves me time to engage with my Medieval Society. Then I gave them my list of weekends I wouldn't be available because I am either running events, or will be away for events, and said that that still leaves a fair bit of time that I am available, so if my available time matches any of their needs I would be happy to join their team. They sent a "thanks for applying, we will be in touch later in the recruiting period" letter (I applied a couple of weeks before deadline). I really should do a few more applications today though. Even though I won't get any unemployment benefits (it turns out that one only gets financial help from unemployment payments in Sweden if one applies straight away, since it is totally based on how much money one eared in the six months before losing one's job, and it has been a year since I actually worked, as I have been focused on finishing my degree).
The other distraction has been trying to finish up that paper for publication. The one that I had finished a complete draft on a year ago February, but my supervisor was too busy to give me feedback, and then I realized that A) the journal has a hard limit of 8,000 words, and the paper was well over 11,000 and B) I was out of funding. So I put the paper aside and focused on finishing the thesis as fast as possible to be able to finish the degree without having to pay tuition. The thesis is done (but still no word from the examiners about when the Viva will be), so why not finish the paper? I looked at the paper, and the only way I could see to trim around 2,500 words from it was to cut the scope of the paper in half--instead of focusing on two different types of accessory minerals, with three samples, from three quarries each, I tossed the less useful one and made it a paper focusing on only one type of accessory mineral. That removed around 1,500, and then I went through and did a hard edit to tighten up the text, which got me under 8,000 words. This made me very happy, and I let my supervisors know that I had finally achieved this goal and was ready to submit, and do they want to look at it before I do. This got my main supervisor to reply saying "please don't submit yet! We think you should try another approach, it is important to have all six samples in, three is really too few, give Kamal a chance to look at it and discuss it with you, please send him a copy of the full version before you cut anything". Sigh. I know they don't mean it that way, but it feels like this poor paper is being sabotaged left and right and will never get submitted, and I really feel that it needs to be. Kamal says that he might have a chance to look at it in March, he is super swamped for time right now.
But that catches us up to yesterday. Today is Friday, a whole day before me to try to get some things done, and then we have a weekend at home, plus (hopefully, a trip to Umeå on Sunday for acroyoga and fighter practice). The following weekend will be a trip to Luleå for a party, and the weekend after to southern Sweden for an SCA event.
Reengarda had our crafts day and annual general meeting last Sunday, which was well attended and went smoothly we have a new Seneschal, who I think will do a good job. The treasurer has made me his deputy, with the plan to get me trained up to take over from him next year, but, of course, we haven't actually started any of that training yet.
School continues to go well. On Wednesday last week Urban, our social studies teacher emailed us an assignment to work on, and mentioned that he had done so before lunch, so I started working on it during lunch, typing on my phone in GoogleDocs, and after I got home I opened the file on the computer and finished working on it, and sent it to him not long after Keldor got home from work, which meant that it arrived in my teacher's inbox just before he got home for the day, and he was really impressed that anyone had done the assignment so quickly, especially as he didn't think it was an easy assignment. The assignment included a link to the official web page for Swedish law, and asked us to look up certain laws (chapter and section provided) and answer questions as to what they mean. Law texts are, of course, written in a very formal version of the language, so I needed to look up a fair few things, so my approach to the assignment was to both copy in the definitions of the words I looked up, and then answer the question, and give my reasoning for my replies. Wednesday this week he gave me a print out of my work, with hand-written comments on it, and ended with the comment "Du har verkligen en analytisk blick. Snabbt och systematiskt jobbat. Otroligt bra." Needless to say, this praise really made my day!
Last week, when I had met with the director of Folkhögskolan and we discussed my study plan, we agreed that I may as well add a fourth course to my studies, as then I would have a full set to tick of the box of Swedish high school equivalencies, so if I ever again apply for an undergraduate course (could happen, it has happened before) they won't be able to say no because I don't have that (like they did last time, when I wanted to enroll in the physical therapy program). But since this Folkhögskola has only five classes to choose from, and one of them is English (which I don't need, and don't want to take, as I am enrolled primarily to improve my Swedish), and I am already taking Swedish, Social Studies, and History, that leaves only Religion as an option. A topic which doesn't really interest me. However, I suggested to the director that perhaps I could just do the class by writing an essay on Viking Age religion, which would tie in with my interest in history. He thought that was a good idea, and asked me to wait and discuss it with Urban after he'd had a chance to mention it. So I did, and brought the subject up this week on Wednesday, after he handed back my paper full of praise.
He agreed that it was a good idea, and he is looking forward to what I do with it. He suggests an essay on the reasons behind the transition from the "Asatro" (belief in the old Norse gods) to Christianity, but I had already considered perusing a thread that got mentioned in the History of Sweden CD I have been listening to in Swedish, where they draw parallels between the Norse gods and the Hindi ones, and suggest that it is no coincidence, but cross-pollination. It will be interesting to see where the paper actually goes after I do a bit of reading. I have already done some reading--the other two students who made it to class on Wednesday hadn't even started the assignment, so our teacher gave them the class period to work on it, and I borrowed a school laptop and started browsing google scholar for interesting things to read for my research. One paper I found was a comparison of Norse goddesses and their roles within their patriarchal society those of Turkish goddesses, who also existed in a very patriarchal framework, so perhaps I will be doing a cross-cultural comparison, if I can find one or three more in that direction. After all, this is more of a high school essay than a university one, and the main point (for me) is to practice writing in Swedish.
Between class time at school and, phone calls with Keldor during his commute to and from work, and listening to the history of Sweden at home I am making good progress on the decorations for what will be a gift that Keldor will receive if his time sitting vigil at Double Wars leads him to say yes to the offer of joining the order of the Laurel. He insists that he hasn't decided yet, and that he won't do so till after he hears what people have to say at the vigil, which is totally fair, it is a decision that should be made after due contemplation. But in the meantime, he knows I am working on *something*, for the occasion, but he doesn't know what (if anyone wants a sneak preview, send me a direct message; he sometimes reads my blog, and I don't want to friends-lock my posts as then some of my friends who do read it, but don't have DreamWidth accounts wouldn't be current on my news, so I can't share photos here till it is done, but I am pretty happy with how it is coming). (I have no plans for what I will do with it if he says no, but I guess I could give it to another laurel who would appreciate it, I can think of a few. Or perhaps auction it off and have an income for a change. Or something.)
On the job search front I am working on a project plan for a PhD project in Experimental Archaeology. The University of Umeå has one position open for an Archaeology PhD student, in any speciality, so why not apply? I would be building on my Master's on Durham by continuing with soapstone, but this time I would be focusing on practical questions on its use and how its heat capacity translates to the size of the hot spot in a forge with a soapstone bellows stone, and to how long water in a pot keeps cooking, and probably other questions related to what/how one cooks in soapstone. I have till 10 March to get it turned in. I also applied for a summer job as a cook at the local restaurant/conference center/campground. They state in their ad that they are a flexible employer and are looking for people to help out with breakfast and lunches during the week and on weekends, and with things like weddings and conferences whenever they come up. So I sent them a letter explaining that I am applying because I live here, because I enjoy cooking, and because I took them at their word about the flexible part, saying that I want a job that lets me continue being a student, and leaves me time to engage with my Medieval Society. Then I gave them my list of weekends I wouldn't be available because I am either running events, or will be away for events, and said that that still leaves a fair bit of time that I am available, so if my available time matches any of their needs I would be happy to join their team. They sent a "thanks for applying, we will be in touch later in the recruiting period" letter (I applied a couple of weeks before deadline). I really should do a few more applications today though. Even though I won't get any unemployment benefits (it turns out that one only gets financial help from unemployment payments in Sweden if one applies straight away, since it is totally based on how much money one eared in the six months before losing one's job, and it has been a year since I actually worked, as I have been focused on finishing my degree).
The other distraction has been trying to finish up that paper for publication. The one that I had finished a complete draft on a year ago February, but my supervisor was too busy to give me feedback, and then I realized that A) the journal has a hard limit of 8,000 words, and the paper was well over 11,000 and B) I was out of funding. So I put the paper aside and focused on finishing the thesis as fast as possible to be able to finish the degree without having to pay tuition. The thesis is done (but still no word from the examiners about when the Viva will be), so why not finish the paper? I looked at the paper, and the only way I could see to trim around 2,500 words from it was to cut the scope of the paper in half--instead of focusing on two different types of accessory minerals, with three samples, from three quarries each, I tossed the less useful one and made it a paper focusing on only one type of accessory mineral. That removed around 1,500, and then I went through and did a hard edit to tighten up the text, which got me under 8,000 words. This made me very happy, and I let my supervisors know that I had finally achieved this goal and was ready to submit, and do they want to look at it before I do. This got my main supervisor to reply saying "please don't submit yet! We think you should try another approach, it is important to have all six samples in, three is really too few, give Kamal a chance to look at it and discuss it with you, please send him a copy of the full version before you cut anything". Sigh. I know they don't mean it that way, but it feels like this poor paper is being sabotaged left and right and will never get submitted, and I really feel that it needs to be. Kamal says that he might have a chance to look at it in March, he is super swamped for time right now.
But that catches us up to yesterday. Today is Friday, a whole day before me to try to get some things done, and then we have a weekend at home, plus (hopefully, a trip to Umeå on Sunday for acroyoga and fighter practice). The following weekend will be a trip to Luleå for a party, and the weekend after to southern Sweden for an SCA event.