Serendipity
We have had a couple thunderstorms here the last few days. I have not gotten to see many of them in the last few years. I forgot how much I love them. Even just real rain is nice...not the misty stuff we get in San Diego or the never-ending drizzle of London.
The other day I had to go to a different library to get a book for my paper. I went out that morning to run an errand and it was super hot (60s probably). So when I went to the library I wore shorts and flip-flops. The new library is really close, but I need to put air in the bike tires so I just rode the train...two stops. As I was getting off the train it started pouring down rain so I ran up to the station and figured I would wait it out. It was one pretty small rain cloud surrounded by blue skies. After about 10 minutes of rain it started to thunder and lightning...and hail. I looked again and the one little cloud seemed to have joined forces with all the others, and now it looked like it took up most of the sky. I tried to figure out which way they were moving, but it seemed like they were all moving to where I was...no uniform movement. To make things worse I looked at the ground and the hail was accumulating.
I did not bring any books or anything with me cause I was just going to grab the book at the library and come back...so I had nothing to do. I sat at the coffeeshop and got a "cup of joe." I got my hands one of the free train newspapers, Stockholm City, which I can read about 1/3 of, and just waited for the rain to stop...I had overlooked one key tragedy...it was soon to be brought to my attention.
The girl at the table next to me said something in Swedish...I did not understand what she said...I have talked about the role expectation plays in listening. When I am expecting someone to talk it is still hard to know what they say unless I am expecting a set of possible things that they might say...close the field a little bit. When I am not expecting someone to talk it is near impossible. I have to realize that they are talking to me, then see if I heard the particular sounds they made, then try to make intelligible words out of these sounds, and finally see if I know enough of these words to understand what was said...this all takes a bit of time and by now I look either strange or very daft. Usually I will say right away that I do not speak much Swedish and then do this whole process on my own afterwards. I did not understand what she was saying...it must have been funny cause she seemed to think it was, and I thought I heard "shoes"...so I told her that I did not really understand what she said. She repeated in English, "At least I am not the only one with the worst possible shoes today."
I looked at her shoes, sandals...whats the big deal? Sandals are not bad...then it hit me as I caught a glimpse of the 2 inches of hail that had accumulated on the ground at this point! I was basically going to be walking through ice barefoot to the library...It was pretty miserable, but then when I got to the library it all changed. The library was great! and probably a 15 min bike ride from my apartment. This means I can skip buying a train pass when I get back from London in June and just get one in July...saves much-needed money.
Oh yeah, I am going to London on Thursday. I am dreading it. I have to be there for 16 days cause it was two expensive to get a flight for any less. It is good cause I get time to prepare for 5 days before my first test...but bad cause I have to be in London. On the bright side, as of June 17th I will never be in London again.
Quick note about speaking Swedish...Yesterday when I got off the train a guy asked me where a museum was (in Swedish) and I understood him and gave him directions in Swedish and he understood me! It was maybe my most substantial conversation in Swedish. I was also watching Swedish tv last night and if I really pay attention I can understand just a little less than I understand when I am reading. If I watch the news and already know the stories then I have the anticipation factor so I can listen for particular words. I also have a couple acquaintances here now who sometimes speak to me in Swedish because they forget I do not understand most of it, then tell me in English...I am able to pick up a lot of the Swedish when its spoken to me. We talk in a blend of Swedish and English.
We have had a couple thunderstorms here the last few days. I have not gotten to see many of them in the last few years. I forgot how much I love them. Even just real rain is nice...not the misty stuff we get in San Diego or the never-ending drizzle of London.
The other day I had to go to a different library to get a book for my paper. I went out that morning to run an errand and it was super hot (60s probably). So when I went to the library I wore shorts and flip-flops. The new library is really close, but I need to put air in the bike tires so I just rode the train...two stops. As I was getting off the train it started pouring down rain so I ran up to the station and figured I would wait it out. It was one pretty small rain cloud surrounded by blue skies. After about 10 minutes of rain it started to thunder and lightning...and hail. I looked again and the one little cloud seemed to have joined forces with all the others, and now it looked like it took up most of the sky. I tried to figure out which way they were moving, but it seemed like they were all moving to where I was...no uniform movement. To make things worse I looked at the ground and the hail was accumulating.
I did not bring any books or anything with me cause I was just going to grab the book at the library and come back...so I had nothing to do. I sat at the coffeeshop and got a "cup of joe." I got my hands one of the free train newspapers, Stockholm City, which I can read about 1/3 of, and just waited for the rain to stop...I had overlooked one key tragedy...it was soon to be brought to my attention.
The girl at the table next to me said something in Swedish...I did not understand what she said...I have talked about the role expectation plays in listening. When I am expecting someone to talk it is still hard to know what they say unless I am expecting a set of possible things that they might say...close the field a little bit. When I am not expecting someone to talk it is near impossible. I have to realize that they are talking to me, then see if I heard the particular sounds they made, then try to make intelligible words out of these sounds, and finally see if I know enough of these words to understand what was said...this all takes a bit of time and by now I look either strange or very daft. Usually I will say right away that I do not speak much Swedish and then do this whole process on my own afterwards. I did not understand what she was saying...it must have been funny cause she seemed to think it was, and I thought I heard "shoes"...so I told her that I did not really understand what she said. She repeated in English, "At least I am not the only one with the worst possible shoes today."
I looked at her shoes, sandals...whats the big deal? Sandals are not bad...then it hit me as I caught a glimpse of the 2 inches of hail that had accumulated on the ground at this point! I was basically going to be walking through ice barefoot to the library...It was pretty miserable, but then when I got to the library it all changed. The library was great! and probably a 15 min bike ride from my apartment. This means I can skip buying a train pass when I get back from London in June and just get one in July...saves much-needed money.
Oh yeah, I am going to London on Thursday. I am dreading it. I have to be there for 16 days cause it was two expensive to get a flight for any less. It is good cause I get time to prepare for 5 days before my first test...but bad cause I have to be in London. On the bright side, as of June 17th I will never be in London again.
Quick note about speaking Swedish...Yesterday when I got off the train a guy asked me where a museum was (in Swedish) and I understood him and gave him directions in Swedish and he understood me! It was maybe my most substantial conversation in Swedish. I was also watching Swedish tv last night and if I really pay attention I can understand just a little less than I understand when I am reading. If I watch the news and already know the stories then I have the anticipation factor so I can listen for particular words. I also have a couple acquaintances here now who sometimes speak to me in Swedish because they forget I do not understand most of it, then tell me in English...I am able to pick up a lot of the Swedish when its spoken to me. We talk in a blend of Swedish and English.
posted by Lenin | 8:08 fm
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