Idioter med Biblar

Smörgåsbord, the Swedish way. This is Frida, Daniel and Hannah Norén's next-door neighbor.  She is studying to be a music and math teacher, and is a youth leader at a Lutheran church where her father is a priest. There are very few Swedes living in this neighborhood, which is full of immigrants, most of whom are on welfare. What are the chances they became neighbors like this?  It's all according to God's plan.

Over the river and through the woods. It was getting late after the bible study, so I walked grandmother Anna back to her apartment. It is literally over the river and through the woods!  Stepping out of the woods, we walked past this Vietnamese Buddhist temple.

Outside the front entrance to the Buddhist Temple.

"Bibliotek" means library. Right now it is Göteborg's official Gay Pride Week.  Even the public library in our neighborhood is promoting it. Swedes value individual freedom and support for the underdog. Gay pride is a manifestation of these two values.  Of course Swedes contradict themselves: they also value their socialistic system which strongly limits individual freedom and choices.  So while homosexuality is celebrated, it is also outlawed to preach against it, and bible believing Christians in general, are scorned. "Indioter med biblar." I probably don't need to translate that for you. While I was waiting to audition on Monday I stepped out into the hall from my practice room and overheard the chef from the cafeteria grumble these words to someone on the other end of his phone.

Photo Journalist?

A resident of Bergsjön riding the tram with her guard dogs. It can be a dangerous neighborhood. Almost everyone who lives here are immigrants, typically refugees.  This woman sounded like she was from the Balkans. Recently there was an Albanian mafia shooting (execution?) very close to where I am living. 

Community gardens in Bergsjön?

A Somali (I presume) Muslim girl juggling a soccer ball. She is wearing gloves, a hijab, a full length skirt, and a jacket. That's not because it is cold, because it isn't. And I'm sure she can juggle the ball better without the skirt.

Presumably another Muslim immigrant.

Circular stairwells are everywhere in Scandinavia it seems. It's one of those cultural distinctives I have trouble understanding as an American. They seem very impractical, but make for a great photo!

A view of a nearby residential neighborhood. Downtown Göteborg is in the distance behind the hill.

Fancy bird houses in the woods. This one is log cabin style.

Bergsjöbadet. This is from a platform about 10 feet above the water.  If I get a wetsuit, maybe I'll try jumping in. The water's got to still be pretty cold.

Local boys having fun. Bikes are very important for many people here in Sweden--there are bike trails and bike lanes everywhere--and like almost anywhere else, bikes here are especially important for the kids.  Yesterday I walked past a boy  riding with a little girl sitting on the frame. I saw them go down a big hill, out of sight. A few seconds later they both started howling. I ran to help, along with about twenty kinds playing nearby. The girl had gotten her foot stuck inside the front wheel, jammed up to the ankle between the fork. Talk about traumatic. I wish I had a photo for you, but I lent a helping hand instead. So much for photo journalism.

These boys were fishing.

Two new 10-year old friends I met on my run today. Roberto, a Roma (Gypsy) from Spain, and Tony, a Serbian. Both were born here.

Country gardens. Don't know what's in the little houses, but I'm hoping to find out.

Enjoying the Weather

Was out enjoying the weather today in Göteborg.  Here are some recent photos.

Stop! Hold your fire! 

Josef Löwdin and his wife, who prepared chicken and fish the Filippino way. There were some little dried fish too that smelled like cat food. That was an appetizer.

World's biggest bird bath

A Quick Exit

I'm not sure what the reasons were, but I was not asked to return for the second round of the audition.   I have my ideas about why this is.  I definitely could have played better than I did.  But who knows at this point whether that would have made a difference in the outcome.  You either pass or you don't.  75% of us didn't pass.  Often the judges are even more picky.  I think the orchestra may want  a dark, heavy "German" sound, not the lighter, more flexible "American" sound that I have.  I'll try to get some feedback tomorrow from the orchestra manager.  It is interesting that my feelings about how the audition went while it was happening were more negative than what I hear on my iPhone recording of the audition.

I had a scary dream last night.  I dreamt that my left arm was amputated at the elbow.  I think I understand it a little. Seven years ago I was playing for the Malmö Opera when I broke my left elbow and had to get surgery.  Eventually I  lost my job, illegally. I had, up to that point, for a long time been asking God for guidance about whether to continue working as a musician or to go to seminary.  I remember thinking he might have to allow me to lose a hand in order to get me to stop playing, since he wasn't simply telling me what to do.   I think it is the same fear being played out now in my dream.  Well, if God wants me to stop playing, I hope he brings me to that decision a little more gently!  Please, no amputations!

The important thing to remember is that God hasn't taken a vacation.  He knew all along what would come of the audition, and it's not like he took his eye of the ball or had his hands tied, even though he didn't tell me not to take the audition. "Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, everyone of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts,  O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  If I would count them, they are more than the sand.  I  awake and I am still with you." (Psalm 139:16-18) Instead of lining me up for a new job, and a new role in ministry with Göteborg's International Baptist Church, I trust that he has some other reason(s) for me being here. Foremost on my mind is the work I'll be doing with the church. I'm going to take a few days now to re-calibrate and prepare myself for the evangelism outreach, small group leadership, and sermon which I'll preach in a few weeks.  I plan also to take some really great photos, which I hope you will enjoy.

Opera House 

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Opera House

The "Lipstick" building as seen from the Opera House

Countdown

Nearby

Where I'm staying 

Electric Volvo!

Just got out of church.  There were about 10 people for the service this evening.  One, an asylum seeker from India (near Bombay) named Hamit.  His family was killed in Muslim-Hindu violence there about 10 years ago.  He was Hindu but after this and some other hard experiences with life he began searching for truth.  He ended up running across Daniel and the church plant's book table which they set up in the market every week. Since then, he's been reading the Bible, coming to church, and looking for answers from Daniel, Omid and the other Christians who know the faith well. He wants "to go to the deep." I look forward to having more discussions with him.  

But now it is time for bed.  It is 9:20 pm. I hope I can sleep. It is early for me, but I had some trouble getting to sleep last night, so I am feeling tired.  I'll wake up early tomorrow, at 7 am, after some time with the Lord, and a quick breakfast, I'll head for the tram and take a 20 minute ride into the city. I'll get to the Opera house by 9.  That's when all the bassoonists auditioning will draw numbers. There are four rounds to the auditions. The first is Mozart's Bassoon Concerto, mvt 1 and 2.  The second is Saint Saens Sonata, mvt 1 and 2.  The third and fourth rounds are orchestra excerpts which the committee will choose from a list of 19 they made available to us several weeks ago.  

I feel well prepared. Happy with my reed(s). Starting to feel a little anxious, but trusting that the Lord's will will be done, and confident knowing that this experience has been soaked in prayer.

God natt (good night)!

Welcome to the 40's

A friend on Facebook wrote "welcome to mid-life."  But I protest. I'm in great health, and my grandmother who wasn't in great health lived to be 94, so if the Lord tarries a while longer, I won't reach my mid-point for another 5 years at least.  We can celebrate my mid-life then. Together.

It may sound depressing to spend one's birthday, especially one's 40th, all alone as I am here in Göteborg.  But I'm getting some good work done in preparation for the audition on Monday with the opera.  I wanted to come early in order to get over the jet lag, and have some time to adjust my reeds to the atmosphere here.

I'm sorry I wasn't clear in my last post about why I am here. There are four reasons for my being here. First, I have been thinking about returning to Scandinavia for ministry once my MDiv is completed.  Göteborg seemed like the best option because there is a Reformed Baptist church that's just recently been planted in Göteborg.  Second, coming here to Göteborg as a musician may be the best or even only way for me to get into the country.  I could try raising support as a missionary, but that's not easy and not very appealing, nor is it necessarily the best way to form relationships and develop credibility with (nominal/pagan/atheistic) Swedes.  I wasn't expecting the Göteborg Opera to have an opening, but sure enough, when I looked a few months ago, they had just announced it. So I've decided to audition since it comes at a time that fits in with my school calendar (summer break).  Even though I had a really rough go of it as a musician trying to get tenure in Sweden 5-7 years ago, I've decided not to let that stop me from trying again.  Daniel and Hannah Norén, the church planters here, have also lent me their apartment.  I met them last summer, which you can read about in one of the last blog posts from last summer. They would like me to come join them in the ministry. Which brings me to my third reason.  I want to spend some more time with the church to get a better sense if it is a good fit for me. And the last reason is that I can get my "cross-cultural ministry field study" required for the MDiv completed if I take a couple weeks to do ministry with the church here. Daniel and Hannah are back in the US at the moment, but I'll be skyping with Daniel now and them to talk about how things are going.  I'll also be working closely with a few of the other leaders in the church plant.

As you see from the photo, for the time being, I've transformed their place into a music studio and reed making workshop.

It is time for me to get to bed now. I'm adjusting to the new time zone well, which is important since I'll need to be "on" for the whole day of auditioning on Monday, if God grants that I make it through all four rounds of the audition.

Välkomna Tillbaka (Welcome Back)

I arrived in Gothenburg just a few hours ago.  There was a delay because my flight from Milwaukee wasn't going to make my connecting flight to Frankfurt, so the airline put me on a bus to O'Hare Chicago for a much later flight.   The bus ride and delay lead to a frightening moment when I realized a few minutes after I stepped into the O'Hare terminal that I had forgotten to take my bassoon off the bus!  A frantic few minutes of phone calls to Coach USA together with prayer ensued, when suddenly a whisper of hope struck me: maybe the bus had circled around to the bottom level to pick up passengers? I can't tell you how relieved I was to discover this was so. I was able to retrieve my bassoon after all, and spent the next four hours relaxing from the rush, sinking into the feeling that maybe God really does want me to take this audition. After such a close call, it is hard not to get religious about it!  I eventually took advantage of the lost time to delays and decided to set up my stand and practice in the seating area.  My niece told me over the phone that I could make some money to buy a house this way. And I was tempted to ask if  anyone knew how to play piano, since there was a baby grand sitting beside the bar playing the Cheers theme song. I could have had an impromptu recital if there was a willing volunteer.  But I figured I'd had enough excitement for the day.  To my surprise, hardly anyone paid attention to my quiet noodling, except for one father that thought it was neat and wanted his little boy to listen. 

When I arrived in Frankfurt's airport, I got a good look at the behemoth Lufthansa double-decker A380-800's rolling in, after sitting down to a hot bowl of spicy miso veggie soup with a glass of orange juice and a shot of espresso...the little restaurant also serves lots of beer, but I passed on that.  Most of the other travelers, even at 11 am, were guzzling. Unlike my last experience at Frankfurt's airport's McDonald's, where a manager ridiculed me for asking what was in the veggie patty, the waiter here was as friendly and helpful as any server I've had. That was a delight. I bet he likes the beer.  They don't serve that at McDonalds. It was good I passed on the beer, though.  As it was, my stomach had enough trouble dealing with the espresso-OJ-spicy soup concoction. 

When my bus arrived in Gothenburg from the airport, row upon row of gay pride flags were flying to greet us all around the city.  I'm not sure what the reason for this is.  I don't remember seeing them the last time I was here a year ago.  I wonder if they'll have a Christian flag celebration.  We're an oppressed minority too, after all.

After a 20 minute tram ride I found Daniel and Hannah Norén's flat. I visited them last year, around this time. If you look back at my blog last year you can see the crab fishing we did at the beach.  This time, though, they are in the US, and I get the flat all to myself. The neighborhood is mostly muslim immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East.  The tram ride photo shows the glaring contrast in cultures: in the background is a poster of a topless woman advertising her invisible bra. Mothers covered in their hijabs, with their children, ride it out. The Noréns neighbors Simon and Frida welcomed me in for middag (dinner), together with their little "Nana," once I arrived at the flat. They are a delight. We ate Swedish meatballs, potatoes augratin, and salad.   Since then, I have unpacked my belongings, and watered the plants, and practiced a bit too.  

I've charged up my phone now, which is +46 762546058.  You call me or send a text to this number.  

Tomorrow is my birthday!