High Water

OMG! I have just been talking to party representatives, because it was my homework from school this week. It's all terribly exciting, you know.

I can now inform you that Folkpartiet's chosen representative does not believe discrimination exists, the lady from Moderaterna thought that I was making up the laws about trans people to fuck with her because they sounded so weird, and that Kristdemokraterna's motto is totally "We Don't Discriminate But [offensive statement]" and also "we have gay people in our party too!" - I suddenly understand the appeal of bingo cards that much better, and believe KD are nearing full house. (They also denied that they had ever voted against LGBT rights. It's always FOR someone else's rights. Usually for the right of straight rich white men to be bastards to everyone else. Or for the rights of THE CHILDREN. Cute, anyway.)

Centerpartiet's dude was vague and confused on any question that wasn't to do with the environment and I was interrupted in my talk with him by a woman who came by to tell him that he was evil because a farmer refused to give her milk when she was a child. I do not even know. Vänsterpartiet were absent with an apologetic little note on their door about understaffing and a phone number, Miljöpartiet were present and probably the most competent, volunteering a lot of information for each question (am admittedly biased), and Socialdemokraterna at least had an answer on hand for every question I asked (Miljöpartiet are the only other one who gave an answer which really was an answer in every case) - particularly, their lady had a lot to say about the education and work placement systems for immigrants.

Everyone agrees that the schools in this kommun are crap.

I spoke with Kristdemokraterna last out of a certainty that my conversation with them would end in speachless rage, which naturally it did. (A child needs one mother and one father! Because men and women are SO inherently different that a child without both will be warped forever, I guess. OK, they only said the part about being so different, not the part about warping forever, but you know. It was really quite heavily implied.)

Other highlights: Moderaterna's answer to my question as to what the most important environmental issues in the kommun are? "Traffic should go outside town. We're building a road."

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O really.

& Kristdemokraterna's answer? "I'm afraid I can't talk about kommunal issues. But we're very good on the environment. A poll said so. We're as good as miljöpartiet!" ...I see. Uh... I am... feeling so convinced.

I must have earnt chocolate by now, right?

I'm really enjoying Birgitta Stenberg, although the book in question contains a lot of sailing and weather related words which are thoroughly specialised and need looking up, because seriously, I have not yet learnt the Swedish words west-coast fishermen use to talk about different types of wind. (Obviously a great failing of Sfi.) But she's both really interesting and really funny, and I recognise the sort of community she describes.


Yesterday our main teacher took me aside and said that she thought I should take the national test soon. I sort of freaked out at that point and my brain just went into a loop of "me! test! now? me? test! test?? now??? me?!" so I am actually not entirely clear on when. Possibly next week, or in a couple of weeks, or something like that. I'll seek clarification today. It is, in any case, soon enough that I've been shifted to doing test papers in class instead of the regular stuff, which means I am spared further political debate for the moment.

There is an up-side to this, which is basically that Sfi is too easy for me, and I'd been resigned to being vaguely bored and getting as much listening and speaking practice in as possible over the next few months until I could take the test; the next level should be more appropriate.

There is a possible downside to this too though: I'd hoped to get a work placement with the library via Sfi, and there obviously isn't time now. I'm going to have to ask if I can still get that sort of placement with the next level of education (SAS, svenska som andra språk, swedish as a second language), because otherwise, the only other way to get any such thing is via the jobcentre.

And jumping through the jobcentre's hoops is a whole world of OH GOD NO.

I really want that placement though!

You'll be pleased to know, though, that today I sat between a woman who is an active supporter of socialdemokraterna (social democrats) and a woman who is not sure if she will vote for miljöpartiet (greens) or vänsterpartiet (the left party). This made me feel considerably better, after various run-ins with kristdemokraterna (creepy "family values" bastards christian democrats) supporters and such over the last few days in school. We had a conversation about social justice! In terrible, terrible Swedish! On the other hand, in election terms, I do wish the polls were looking better for the red-green bunch...

In queer feminism news I also have to say that I'm finding Maud Lindström wildly theraputic at the moment. I'm almost tempted to make a project out of translating her lyrics, because man, does she ever get it. How certain experiences feel, really. And she's hilarious. I do like it when people are both right and hilarious. ♥

SFI is currently using themes which run for three weeks each. Our last one was, uncontroversially, "study techniques".

Our next one is "the 2010 election".

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We're going to have debates.

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One guy has already announced that his sister works for Folkpartiet ("The People's Party", right-wing) so we should all vote for them.

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This is going to go so well. And I am totally not going to get angry at all.