Mirinda thinks that Jhouma from SFI class isn’t calling me Garbby. She claims he’s calling me ‘gubbe’, Swedish for old man. If so, he is a very cheeky fellow. It would explain why he grins every time he says it, I suppose. I just figured he was a naturally over friendly guy who has no English and only slightly more Swedish.
He arrived late to class today, which is unlike him, as opposed to most people in class who seem to see time as a little more flexible than the rest of the world. It can be very annoying. Today, however, was more about people leaving early than arriving late.
Cheryl, a very unlikely name for someone in my class, left at half-time along with the snorter and the new Iraqi woman who, Dina said, had tummy trouble. I was a bit concerned about the snorter who was, unfortunately, sitting quite close to me. Her snorting took on a more sinister tone when she started coughing and hacking as well.
Gulmacki even asked her if she was okay. At least, I assume she did. It was in Arabic and while my Arabic comprehension is definitely improving, it’s still not good enough to recognise whole sentences. The snorter replied with something that may have been regarding her ultimate survival. Then she packed up and left. While I hope she’s not desperately sick, I couldn’t help but cheer inside at her leaving.
During the break, I was chatting with Dina, who makes a refreshing change to the general class make up. The fact that she speaks English helps. She told me that she learned English while working rather than at school. I find that extraordinary.
Because of that, Dina can’t really read in English and has no idea of sentence construction or, in fact, what a verb is. While the teacher was trying to explain it to her, she (the teacher) asked me what a verb was in English. I said it was an “action word” thinking this would help. Dina still looked confused.
The upshot of all of this was a distinct lack of learning Swedish. The class did allow me to discover how many Swedish words I have learned, however. We had to parse sentences and write down the differences between words, depending on their usage. The teacher suggested we write down the meanings of words we recognised in our own language. I was quite amazed by the extent of my vocabulary.
Anyway, class went on its chaotic journey through to half-time before I went outside to sit and drink my coffee and enjoy the breeze and sunshine outside the classroom.
Back at home, we met with a couple of heating experts who are going to advise us on the best way to get the house comfortably warm in the winter rather than chilly like last year. Hopefully, they’ve come up with a few workable options for us to try.
At any rate, Lukas said the house shouldn’t be as cold as it was last year. He wants to find out where the warmth is going. To do this, he’s going to come back with his amazing infrared camera to shine it over the walls and look for the escape hatch.
Until then, we have to get a few things sorted. Given all the things we’ve had to do to the house so far, I’m thinking by the time we finish, it’ll be time to leave.
I’ll explain what a Nicktor Night is tomorrow.
