The beginning of the end....

Well not really, although I think I will indeed be working my butt off this semester. I've now been to all my classes and have my 4 day weekend! Which will actually be spent doing all the reading and assignments due next week because yes, there really is that much to get done. But it really shouldn't feel like work because I'm in love with the subject matter. At least that is my hope.

My first course is Intro to New Testament Greek which I have twice a week. So my most recent task has been trying to memorise the Greek alphabet using some homemade flash cards. I think I'm starting to catch on which is good because we're already expected to be able to "read" - that is sound out - greek words and passages. Our textbook is highly motivating though. After only 4 chapters we've already learned 26 words which means we can already read 11.65% of the New Testament. This is because there are actually only 5,437 total different words in the New Testament, and the word and (kai) occurs 9, 153 times and accounts for 6.7% of the total word count. So I guess I still have a ways to go before I can actually read and understand but it's encouraging none the less.

Wednesday was a longer day. I had Intro to the Old Testament in the morning. The profressor for this course formerly taught at Waterloo Lutheran Seminary (until her position was cut because of financial reasons - so now Waterloo doesn't even have an Old Testamant professor - which is kind of ridiculous and especially unfortunate). But it's nice to know I'm not the only Lutheran on campus. We have several former Lutherans but none that have stuck with it ;) I think this course will be a fair bit of review for myself but also learning some crucial things. Like the order of the OT books, historical timelines, etc. Plus exploring all the crazy stories which is half the fun.

Wednesday evening I have a Church and Ministry course. I'm still not entirely sure what will be covered in this course as we don't have any books or a syllabus. We are spending the first two weeks of class introducing ourselves. This means sharing as much or as little as you would like. Our first class was pretty intense. Hearing someone's story is such a powerful experience. And being able to recognise our shared experiences and our differences is so cool. Unfortunately it's a larger class (as are all of my classes - between 30 and 40 people) and so is not quite as conducive to sharing but it seems to be working. Next week the other half will be sharing their stories (myself included). One common theme that seems to be shared is the amazing courage people have to take this leap of faith and come to seminary. It doesn't seem to have been an easy decision for anyone I've met yet but we're all glad to be here. This class will also be a really good balance as the rest of my timetable is heavy on the academics.

My days become longer as the week progresses. Thursday I have 3 classes! We'll that's also because Greek is twice a week (Tues & Thurs) as opposed to once a week like the rest of my classes. Thursday mornings begin with Systematic Theology. I have yet to totally understand what the Systematic part is. On our syllabus the professor titled the course Intro to (Systematic) Theology. He hasn't yet explained why the parentheses but next week our class topic is "what is theology?" so perhaps that question will be answered then. This should be a fun class where we get to delve into those questions of who is god, why is there suffering, what does all this mean for our own life and action. We'll see what kind of answers I come up with at the end of the semester.

In the afternoon I have Greek once again. Yes, the alphabet is coming along. And I've also learned how to pronounce the diphthongs. Thursday night I have Intro to the New Testament at St. Michael's college (it's one of the Catholic colleges at the Toronto School of Theology). The professor seems really great - somewhat of a free spirit and very excited about the New Testament. It seems that this course won't be so much an intro to the books of the New Testament as an intro to the different methods of studying the New Testament. I think this will also be some review for me since I've taken a similar course in my undergrad, from an equally amazing but completely different professor, so I'm looking forward to getting some new insight and different perspectives. Provided I'm still awake by the time this class comes around ;) Thursday is a very long day.

And now my weekend begins. Today my plans include picking up some spider plants from a woman I met on craigslist, going to the bank so I can pay my U of T bill, and heading to the library to use their printer. Tonight is Foot Liberation Night at Emmanuel College. There will be an hour long Salsa class followed by a dance in the chapel. The great thing about this program is that it includes people of all ages and all life circumstances. This event is a family event and will have things for the kids to do. They will also have a cash bar for the rest of us ;) I think I will fit in here just fine, even if I am Lutheran.