Teaching/Learning......Learning/Teaching

After the blistering heat of last week, we are back to my kind of weather......cold, rainy, and blustery.

SK, Carolyn and Rori left early for Odense (home of Hans Christian Andersen).....they left in the rain.  It was dramatically cloudy and dark this morning....a perfect day to stay inside.  And I was content to do just that.  Content, because I had a lot to get done.  I would have been delighted to accompany them to Odense.....one of my very favorite places in Denmark.  I adore that beautiful little city.....even the walking street is charming.  But I needed to keep my focus on some things here, lest I really get behind on things.

Their trip was an all-day excursion, taking them to the charming little Hans Christian Andersen Museum and Childhood Home, the Saint Hans Church (where the Carl Bloch Gethsemane alterpiece resides), and the Egeskov Castle.  The Castle is surrounded by magnificent gardens and grounds, including a great playground, a few various and sundry museums (like an old car and old motorcycle museum), a great little gift shop, and some cafes.  The inside of the castle is not as spectacular....but it did have a giant doll house that was outstanding.

These three images are from the internet, but this is really what it looks like!

They got home in the evening, where SK taught them how to play Nines.  It proved to be as popular with them as with everyone else.  It is an enjoyable game, laid back but with an element of competition that keeps it interesting.  It is fast moving enough to keep your interest, and yet slow moving enough that you can visit while you play.

I stayed home and worked on several projects for the mission, the temple, the branch and Institute.  I spent a fair amount of time on my talk for Sunday.  This is far more difficult than I had heretofore thought.  I have ten minutes to give my talk.  I have written it in English, and it lasts just about ten minutes.

My problem is the language.  If I spend a LOT of time between now and Sunday, I will be able to translate it, and give it in Danish.  But I will need help with pronouncing it....and that means some time with SK rehearsing!  I am not sure if it is worth tackling.

On the other hand, if I give it in English, someone will have to stand at the pulpit with me and translate - sentence for sentence.  I will speak a short thought, and Anna will repeat it in Danish.  It is tedious at best.....so many in the branch speak and understand English...and for them, it means hearing every sentence twice - in English then Danish.  Confused?

Oh well.....I will think about it tomorrow (pay no attention to the "Gone With the Wind" reference.)

In the afternoon, I went to the center and spent some quiet time there.  There was enough time to do some cleaning, and then I worked on the lesson for next week.  It is about Wilford Woodruff...a remarkable man.

A couple of young women came early and we chatted for awhile.  I love talking to those kids!  Once again we had a very small turnout.  It is vacation time....many are out of town....many were probably kept home by the cold and rain.....and there is a youth activity this week in the stake that many of our YSAs are involved with - in leadership positions.

This evening, our lesson was about John Taylor.  Our teacher and the director of the institute is an amazing instructor.  I always enjoy his lessons.  He taught tonight in Danish...he normally does.  But from time to time if there are more than a few English speakers he switches to teaching in English as easily as switching volume levels.  So I listened intently.

An interesting word in Danish is laer....teach.  The same word means learn.  When you speak of teaching and learning, the words can be interchangeable.
I will learn (laer) Danish.
I will teach (laer) Danish.
That may explain why, occasionally, I hear native Danish speakers say (in English) things like, "He will learn me Danish."

When I prepare to teach, that is when I learn the most, which is why I have always loved the process of teaching.  With the talk (about enduring well) on Sunday and the lesson next Thursday about Wilford Woodruff, I should have a sharp untake in learning.

I'll let you know.....