We are still wearing our winter coats, and coming home tonight, I shivered all the way home. (I quit wearing my warm neck scarf and gloves and hadn't done up my coat - we had the car.) But this is a month that is unpredictable. On the way to the center, it hailed! As we were getting out of the car, there was a bolt of lightening!....and then a very dramatic crash of thunder. SK asked a passerby how often Denmark gets thunder and lightening. Her reply was "Almost never."
I am not complaining....I like it!
We got our shopping done and took everything to the center, where I made a lime sheet cake.... with a quick communication to Melissa about how it is done. I also chopped up about 8 heads of broccoli and several red onions for that fun broccoli salad my sweet friend Valerie taught me how to make. I like to stir the onions and broccoli up with the sweet mayonnaise dressing the night before. Tomorrow afternoon I will add sunflower seeds, bacon, nuts and craisins.
SK was supposed to go out with the young elders this afternoon, but the investigator was ill, so it was put off for a week. With the extra time, we read our little Danish "novels" which will be the fodder for our book reports in another couple of weeks. That will be a part of our end-of-the-module test....or simply put, the end of level one.
The course is offered by the government of Denmark and is free. It is 12 hours a week and the textbook is free. That is amazing to me. We will have this upcoming test to see if we are ready for module 2. But otherwise, it is a bit of mystery to me (who was raised on a system of grades) how people are motivated to stay with the class. Some people are absent at least once or twice a week regularly. Others struggle through, seeming to understand little. Some don't do their homework. But most of the group still shows up.
We feel an obligation to the government to at least last the course, so that money spent on teaching us Danish isn't totally wasted. And I really want to learn to speak and understand Danish. But there are several in the class who (as far as I can see) don't really need to learn the language in the short time they will be here. I am surprised by their persistence.
When a class member hasn't spent any money on the course, and when no grades are given, and when the course is not a requirement for anything, how do you keep them motivated? I guess the only way is in their own minds... they want to learn.
Time for bed...tomorrow is our big day. Friday will be a very late activity night. Saturday is a conference day, and Sunday we will be with the young missionaries to watch several sessions of conference and have a meal together. Then the week starts again with Family Home Evening.
Fifteen years ago today my dear mother passed away. She left a void that can never quite be filled....in this life. I am so grateful for the Gospel and the promise that we will meet again.
How many modules are in your danish class? If you don't pass, do you stay n the level one course? Since it's not about the grades, and it's not about the money...maybe it's about the personalized bookmarks and Danish piñatas!
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your blog titles! A few posts ago you said the saying "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." I have thought about that several times since then. I'd never heard the second part! I'd only heard the first part, in a song on "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." It says:
March comes in like a lion, what else?
Still the snow never melts.
April showers will come, so they say,
But they don't, and it's May.
You're about to forget the whole things
When all at once, one day it's spring.
It's nice to think about Grandma.
There are at least 5 modules, and maybe more. By the time you are in module 5, you are studying to be an astrophysicist at the University of Copenhagen.
DeleteI loved the reference to "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." Did you know the end of April Showers?....bring May flowers.
Astrophysicist--haha!! We'll see if you get there. :)
DeleteOh, Lia, I forgot about that song! I never noticed those lyrics. I love it. I love your titles, too, mom. They always make me curious.
ReplyDeleteIt IS nice to think about Grandma. I think of her often when I am playing the piano!!
Hey...I am glad the titles are of interest to you! I think of Grandma when you play the piano too.
DeleteI love your titles too - and your mom must have been a wonderful woman to have such a great daughter!
ReplyDeleteAs for hookey - sounds like you've got a LOT going on for the next several days. You will be ready for another "sluff day" (as we called it). Have never had lime cake. Is it as good as lemon??? L&P
She was a wonderful woman, and I wish I could be more like her. But thank you for the sweet compliment!
ReplyDeleteI like the lime better than the lemon cake. I'll have to send you the recipe!
L&P