Holy Hannah!

Wow, this has been a very eventful week, and I have tons to blog about now. I haven't been feeling very well all week (for different reasons) which is why I haven't had the energy to blog ... but I guess I'd better give you an update now!
This entry will be thematic in structure, I think it's easier to do it that way, than in chronological order ... So here we go! :)

The Exam on Wednesday
Yes, Wednesday was the big Greek-day! :) I was in a complete state of panic all day, not sure where that comes from, but I have been feeling terrible just prior to written exams lately. Guess that's not all bad, considering how I did on my last exam though! :) I had planned to get to Uni early and spend the morning studying, but things at home (also studying, but still) ended up taking quite a long time ... and when I got to the Department I met some fellow Greek-students and we ended up having coffee and chatting instead. That's not usually my last-minute-exam-preparation, so that made me even more nervous and hyper!
As for the exam, I have stated to almost everyone that I will not say anything until I get it back! I think it will get way to complicated if I try to make some kind of assessment of it now ... I'm hoping we'll get them back on Monday, so you'll get my thoughts on that then! :)

Some Bad News
The bad news this week is that I'm missing out on mine and Annika's annual Gothenburg-Liseberg-Christmas tradition! :( We usually spend one day in December there, as we don't meet very often, we exchange Christmas presents and just try to get in the Spirit of Christmas as best we can ... but yesterday I got the stomach flu and can now not stay that far away from a bathroom! :( It really sucks - we've had this tradition for a number of years now, and I really wanted to go ... and also, I sooo don't have time to get sick! :( I try to "cure" myself as best I can, but I'm still feeling pretty rotten! :(

Family Related - Some Semi-Bad News
I got some not-so-great news from my Dad the other day. My two little sisters, 'M' and 'I' had been playing together, 'M' is a quite lively four-year-old and she drags 'I' along in wild games. They had been jumping from 'M's bed, and 'I' had landed badly ... the spent an entire day in the Emergency and they thought she might have a broken ankle!! Considering the fact they leave for a 2-week long trip to Florida in two days (!) the timing was the worse possible!! After lots of X-rays and examinations and consultations, it turns out it was "only" a crack in one of the bones of the foot! She's not suppose to support her leg at all though (not easy explaning that to a 2-year-old though!), and there were talks of having to cancel their trip!! They will be going now though, they got clearance from the doctors, but I imagine the trip will be a bit rough considering someone will have to carry her pretty much around the clock ...
I talked to my Dad again yesterday, and she seems to be doing a little better - so I'm hoping they can still enjoy their trip!!

What About Studies?!
Okay, here's an update on studies ... On Thursday morning, I accompanied Lena on an essay seminar. I really had nothing to do with it, as it was a seminar for Systematic Theology and History of Christianity (sorry, these are my translations, so the subjects might have another 'official' English translation), but Lena had invited me, and I really wanted to see how a seminar like this worked, as this is what I'll be doing with my own essay in January. And it was good to have been there! I felt the seminar wasn't great at all ... actually ... it was completely non-structured, and confusing and strange, but that gave me an idea of what I don't want to experience (and from what I can tell, our seminar will be more structured)! It also gave me great ideas on how to perform both as an opponent on another essay and as a respondent on my own! I have gotten tips from other before, but it is something completely different to actually see it for yourself! So even though I didn't like the seminar as such, it was really good to have been there.
I the afternoon we had the introduction to our next Greek-course, on The Galatians. I was completely exhausted so even though this was more theological than linguistic, I didn't get much of it ... The general structure of the course is yet to be determined, as this was a general introduction, but I have made up my mind on how to study these two weeks before Christmas holidays, and I hope I can make it work.
The idea is to show up on Greek lectures (we have added lectures as well, so I think there are 8 or 9 left before the holidays), but not do anything else. I will not prepare text or read the literature, and the reason for this is two-fold. Partly, it's because of the examination on this course. We will not have a regular written exam, but instead to an interpretation-report on part of the Galatians. This is something we do at home, and it will include both a language-oriented part (we have to do a translation of the text and motivate it) and a theological part, where we use various commentaries and literature - and fact of the matter is, this is something I can do without having to prepare for every single lecture! The other reason is that I have to write the major part of my essay in less than two weeks!!!! I have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done, but there's also the part of actually doing it! I have a meeting with the professor on December 16, and I have to have gotten a lot done until then, if there's going to be a point to the meeting at all - and I know I won't be able to get much done during the holidays (and right after that, we have to be finished)!
So, compromising all these thoughts: The idea is to attend Greek lectures for 2 hours a day, and the other 22 hours I will work on my essay (possibly managing a few hours sleep every night too??)!

The Spirit of Christmas
A little about the season to come! Because to tell the truth, my 'spirit of Christmas' this year is a big, fat Zero! I generally don't like Christmas one little bit, and for various reasons it's even more complicated this year, but I can usually stand the 'preparation' for Christmas, the decorations, the Christmas music, shopping for gifts and all that, but this year I'm completely anti everything!! I think it has to do with the fact that I'm so genuinely exhausted that I can only barely try to keep up with what I have to do ... just the mere thought of spending several hours decorating and fixing here is just too much right now! So I'm hereby declaring my apartment Christmas-free this year! Granted, I can go so far as to listen to Christmas music - and naturally I'll be getting Christmas gifts for those near and dear to me ... but that's it! It might sound harsh, but to tell the truth, I have never been that big of the Spirit of Christmas - and as for getting in the spirit here and now, what's the point? I have to study 24/7 up until the lectures ends, and then I'll be gone and not home until all the holidays are over ... so really, what is the point?

Last But Not Least - Some GOOD News!
Here's me hoping you have managed to get this far, because I have been saving the best till last! :)
I had an email yesterday, which to me meant more than a lot that have happened to me lately - and I don't think I have grasped it completely even now! The email came from a woman conducting postgraduate studies at our Department (New Testament Exegesis), I know who she is because she has been involved in the Mentor-activity this semester, but I have been fairly sure she doesn't know me. Well, this email said she's responsible for the Mentor activity on the Department, she's now looking for a Mentor for the Hebrew course next semester, and when she had discussed this my name had "come up", so she basically asked if I wanted to do it!!!!!!!! *GASP!*
I know I have been thinking about it - we've had the greatest mentor in Greek-studies this semester, which inspired me as well, but I have been going back and forth with it ... can I handle it, it's a great thing to do, but will I cope, how much time and energy will it take etc.
But being asked to do it?!?!!? That is SO cool, and I'm still in awe!! I have no idea how she got my name, because I've basically only discussed it with my closest friends, but still .... There's no way I can turn it down, obviously, and I think it will be merit to take with me, and somehow I just have to make this work!!
Well, I won't go on and on about it - this entry has been long enough already, but for those of you reading Swedish, I will make an entry of this in my ~ Cogito, ergo sum! ~ blog later on, so keep an eye out there - it will be more detailed, as it is easier to talk about specifics in Sweden!

Wow, this was some entry to get through! :) But at least I'm up-to-date again now, so hopefully I can blog more regularly after this! :) I'm feeling not only stomach-flu-sick but also completely exhausted, this semester has well and truly caught up with me now, but I know I won't be able to wind down until about January 20, so I guess I'll have to hang in there somehow! :)

I hope you are all doing well and are enjoying your weekend!