it was, indeed, too good to last
Feb. 27th, 2014 02:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kareinaThe lovely snow (mostly blown in drifts, not so much fresh fall, mind you) of the weekend was doomed. Monday the temperatures went above zero. Exactly how high isn't certain (though my car claimed +8 on the start of the drive home from my Swedish class), but high enough for there to be deep puddles on all the roads and slush or ice, or both, on all the walkways. This not-so-lovely set of conditions has lasted all week--this morning was the coldest day all week, with temps of +2 when I woke up.
The one real downside of this weird months-too-early to be spring weather is that while I have been good about waking up early enough so that I can go for a decent walk before my morning class starts, I have only been going for short walks, because the icy pathways and roads are just no fun for walking.
The upside of that is that instead I have done extra sessions on the SFI computers playing with the program wherein it says a word and I am supposed to spell it. I am pleased to report that I am finding spelling in Swedish to be easier than in English--while there are a few weird sounds I just can't pronounce yet, compared to English the letters (or, in many cases pairs or triplets of letters, since changing the vowel which follows a consonant can have profound effects on the way the consonant is pronounced) are remarkably consistent in how they sound, so that one really can "sound out words", like they used to tell me to do in school when I was little, but which never worked for me. Now, in Swedish, it does.
I continue to be very happy that I am able to take advantage of the SFI program--yes, it takes a huge chunk of time, but it is making such a difference in my ability to converse and write in Swedish.
I am also enjoying working with my Master's student. We have been looking at his rock samples this week--my they are pretty! I love garnets.
In other news, we have finally, once again, decided which settings to go with for my modeling, and I have begun re-doing all of the figures showing the results. Hopefully that will be done soon and I will be able to return, again, to the writing part. The end of this project is in sight. Blurry from where I stand, but I can see it.
The one real downside of this weird months-too-early to be spring weather is that while I have been good about waking up early enough so that I can go for a decent walk before my morning class starts, I have only been going for short walks, because the icy pathways and roads are just no fun for walking.
The upside of that is that instead I have done extra sessions on the SFI computers playing with the program wherein it says a word and I am supposed to spell it. I am pleased to report that I am finding spelling in Swedish to be easier than in English--while there are a few weird sounds I just can't pronounce yet, compared to English the letters (or, in many cases pairs or triplets of letters, since changing the vowel which follows a consonant can have profound effects on the way the consonant is pronounced) are remarkably consistent in how they sound, so that one really can "sound out words", like they used to tell me to do in school when I was little, but which never worked for me. Now, in Swedish, it does.
I continue to be very happy that I am able to take advantage of the SFI program--yes, it takes a huge chunk of time, but it is making such a difference in my ability to converse and write in Swedish.
I am also enjoying working with my Master's student. We have been looking at his rock samples this week--my they are pretty! I love garnets.
In other news, we have finally, once again, decided which settings to go with for my modeling, and I have begun re-doing all of the figures showing the results. Hopefully that will be done soon and I will be able to return, again, to the writing part. The end of this project is in sight. Blurry from where I stand, but I can see it.