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August 30, 2004
School and a Surprise
Today was the first day of classes, and boy was it a learning experience.
All told, there are about 40 of us in the Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability program, ranging from people in their twenties to mid-fifties. There are at least a dozen nationalities represented, but half the program consists of North Americans (11 Canadians and 10 American) so there is a definite cultural skew. We have diversity beyond mere skin color, too—there is a confirmed lesbian (Lisa has a wife named Liz—must get confusing at home!), a hearing-impaired man, and a physically-disabled man. There are slightly more women than men, but that's standard for the field of corporate social responsibility (and sustainability to a lesser extent). There are several married folk, and even some who have left their spouses in charge of multiple children for the duration of the program. Some have families that will join them later in the fall, others are planning on spending the entire year alone—even counting holiday breaks. Thankfully, there are only a few truly annoying people, which I will describe in detail:
* Person "A" (I'll refrain from using names, just in case it comes back to haunt me) participates in class to an absurd excess. For "A", every rhetorical question has an answer, for which everyone else in the class is breathlessly waiting to hear how it will be solved. "A" even sometimes spontaneously proposes his own rhetorical questions, or more likely, his own "metaphor"—a metaphor which no one understands. "A" has a personal anecdote to share for every topic of conversation in small group exercises. He deems himself leader (even using a podium while everyone else sits around a small table), but is "uneasy with the authoritarian nature of leader/group, and would like to see the group dynamic evolve into a co-leadership mentality as a metaphor for sustainable development." I kid you not. It's farcical.
* Person "B" is…
Well, truth be told, next to "A", all others pale in comparison. Suffice it to say that we have:
* a solitary drinker (I know this from previous events, not class)
* a person who wants to wait until everyone in the group has arrived before making ANY decisions, as if newcomers might not want chairs in the common room
* a person who prefaces everything with, "I don't know if this is a good idea…". EVERY TIME SHE SPEAKS.
Actually, I really like the group, even if there are some annoying tendencies (none of which *I* possess, of course!).
And now, a description of the class itself. We met at 8:30 a.m. in our standard classroom (not to be confused with our common room), which resembles a typical high school biology classroom—lab tables everywhere, each on a successively higher step, creating a small amphitheater effect. There were the ubiquitous technology problems (which they later lamely used as a metaphor for the relationship between technology and sustainability—I secretly rolled my eyes at that), so we didn't actually get started until 8:45 a.m. Once we did get started, there was about an hour of introduction and program history. Then we did a brief series of self-introductions (it was then that I first realized what a liability "A" was going to be) and broke up into a bunch of small groups.
The groups were based on sustainability topics suggested by individual students, and were designed to get us talking in an open and frank manner (as if most of us needed any help). I went to the "Green Metrics and Indicators" small group discussion (others topics included Energy, Agriculture and Industry, Sustainable Community Development, Culture, and Transforming Society/Paradigm Shifts), where we talked about the need for sustainability leaders to be adept at using economic, social and environmental indicators, and especially comfortable with translating one type of metric into another (kilowatts of energy saved = $$ saved). It was pretty interesting, but I didn't feel like I was learning anything—but I think the point of the exercise was just to build some energy and excitement around topics we would be covering later.
By then it was almost noon, so we quickly went over the logistics and timeline of the program (winter break is December 22-January 9). Among the more interesting events is this Friday, when the Swedish Crown Princess Victoria will be joining our class as a guest student. Ooh-la-la royalty! All the guys are pretty enthusiastic, as she's reported to be a "bit of a hottie" (and I quote directly from one of my classmates).
At that point, people were ravenous, so we broke for lunch with plans to meet back in the common room at 3 p.m. I ate lunch in Villa Oscar with some classmates, where I had a strange potato scramble thing with a huge plate of tomatoes and cucumbers. Yum, yum, yum.
After lunch, I went to the library, where I uploaded some previous journal entries and replied to some emails. I'm thinking that I won't get internet at my place, since there will be a lot of forced downtime as part of my class schedule (which is turning out to be FREAKISHLY hectic—4-6 hours of class EVERY day, plus all associated reading, "independent learning", and the odd Swedish mystery situation). Since I'll be spending the majority of down time at the library or in the common room, I can do all my internet stuff there—which will, in turn, force me to do schoolwork at home. At least, I hope so.
At 3 p.m., we met back in the common room to discuss how we wanted to design it. As with most large group discussions, especially with "sustainability types", it was pointless and too long. We were told that the tables and chairs given to us last week were actually given in error—and we had to put them all back where we found them. This un-move left the room barren of any good taste, and once again left us with a blank slate for design. The building supervisor is going to check the school storage to see if there is any spare furniture for us to use (for real this time), but in the meantime, we're basically left to our own devices. There is a segment of the group that wants to buy couches and make the room into a comfortable study/debate area, but others are gung-ho on waiting for a few weeks to see how the program develops. And above all, there is a feeling that we need to be "sustainable" about how we develop the room, so initial plans to purchase a printer specifically for the program was delayed indefinitely, as was all purchases.
I gleaned all of this information in between running back and forth to the International Office to check on the status of my package. I was super-excited to see a whole stack of huge boxes in the reception area, but none of them were mine. I was on the verge of tears when one of the International Office representatives told me that the "Shipping Office" address given to me (and other Sustainability students) was wrong and had resulted in packages being returned without delivery. But luck was on my side when I met Jessica, the best-ever International Office employee. Unlike some of the others, she speaks fluent Swedish and English and was able to handle my case. After scrutinizing my customs order, she located a tracking number (that I thought was the customs form number—silly me), made multiple calls to the Swedish Postal System, and located my box at a private post office in Karlskrona. The ironic thing was that the box had been delivered on AUGUST 16—two full days before I even left! It had just been sitting there for two weeks, as a result of the "Shipping Office" address problem mentioned earlier. It seems that this problem has been partially resolved (maybe the post office figured it out once a plethora of boxes started arriving), because my letters and other peoples' boxes, bearing that same address, have made it to the school. Perplexing.
Anyway, I hopped on the bus to the Centrum and triangulated the location of the post office by asking random shop owners. I ended up at the train station, where there is a little convenience store across the hall. I asked the lady behind the counter if she knew where the post office was—she looked at my address and the number the International Office had given me and walked back to her pantry and pulled out my long-lost box!! The back story is that all airmail in Sweden is handled by a private company with little stations all over the place—when they couldn't figure out where my box was supposed to go, they dropped it off with this lady. Who knows how long she would have kept it, at some point she would have needed that space for her groceries or something.
The moral of the story, Dear Readers, is to send all future packages to my Kungsmarksvägen address (which I am thrilled to give you!), rather than my initial International Office address.
Blissfully happy to have my bed items back, I traipsed back to the bus station and caught a ride home. I had just made it inside when the drizzle (it has been gray and wet all day) turned to a downpour. I made a lovely dinner of steamed broccoli, pasta (with tomatoes, cheese, and basil), and the remainder of my chocolate bar.
It's just after 7 p.m. now and I've done the dishes, cleaned my room, and am now ready to put my bed together (well, I'll still have the crappy cot, but at least I'll have excellent pillows!) and read my book.
Tomorrow our classes are in Annebo, which is a complex between my apartment and the school campus. So it will take me a little less time to get to class, assuming I can figure out where I'm going. I just hope it stops raining before the morning—I don't want to be stuck in class all morning with wet clothes. They keep the windows open for fresh air, and a little breeze can make it quite chilly. We're doing more small group activities (which I am growing to dislike a little more each time I have to do one), and won't really start lectures until Friday (which is starting to look like Christmas).
And with that, I bid you adieu. To you and you and you.
