Stuff!
Docu stuff
Firstly, for Swedes I recommend watching this, Dokumentärfilm - Koranen, del 2 av 2 @ svtplay.se [NB: available online 'til 24th of October]. I had not seen part 1 (nor could I find it on svtplay), but I don't think it is necessary. Basically, about the seemingly various guises and interpretations of the Koran.
I found what one woman in particular said, as very interesting. She said in Cairo in the 1970s, no woman wore a hijab or any other head/face covering veil.. whereas the situation nowadays is quite different. Also, a European linguist believes that mis-translation (due to many different language/alphabet remnants), may be the cause of the odd phrasing of the most popular verse/claim that women should cover up, according to the Koran. I was really upset learning of how some use the Koran to support female genital mutilation, since some of those that they interviewed said there was no support of that in the Koran, that it rather was an African tribal custom predating the Koran/islam.
In short, a religion that focuses on reflection, knowledge and change for the better.. yet there are of course those with different interpretations and results.. sadly all religions have this, people wanting to use religion as a base and excuse for their own destructive causes :/
Uni stuff
I did not apply in time for a spring term course (applications were due the 15th of Oct, so any course application sent in after that will be considered a late application), but considering I have yet to decide.. I suppose it's no biggie. And naturally, the Beginner's course in Arabic (Nybörjarkurs i arabiska I) I had my eyes on, had already started, ie a fall term course. I don't feel much like starting in the middle of a language course, even if it's 50% paced. I will however add it to my fall term courses of interest list.
However, there is a course called Mode - identitet, makt, motstånd, 15.0 hp (Fashion - identity, power, opposition) that seems promising.
*spanks self in the writing of program essay as well*
Must finish.. muuuust, and must get properly started too. I just find I could've done things better, this and that, when I think of it. But, it is not a quantitative study after all, if so I would've taken aaaall of the courses on a certain level and listed their course literature options. So, academic blinders on, check. OCD-ness, still there, check >_<
Language stuff
And then, I spoke to jinxle, and she mentioned Māori language courses (yus, note the cute wittle macron there, will be a curious feeling writing that, compared to ä, that some Swedes does write as ā, only then more out of quickness when writing by hand, like the dots over the ä being merged as one, 'cause in Swedish the vowel a and the vowel ä are two different vowel sounds, ä is not merely an a with an umlaut or so). Interest sparked alright! It's easy to forget that Sweden has no actual tuiton fees for regular schooling.. so I browsed some online Māori language resources. So far Te Whanake - Māori language online seems to be most promising. Has a series of Textbooks and Language Audio CDs available, but these resources do cost a bit. Oh, The Māori Dictionary was quite neat too.
So far based on first impressions, Māori makes me think of a very poetic sounding version of a combo of Finnish and Japanse! There are so many short words, that can mean many many things. Like not only pearls, but seashells and more, on a string. Whereas, Swedish is fond of compound words, and has more chunky words, with uh stuff baked into words. So, Māori is more like English in that sense, yet has more 'loose' parts, like denoting singular or plural..
English: the cat (a cat)
Swedish: katten (en katt)
Māori: ko te ngeru (te ngeru)
..as if I have understood things right, according to this site He Kupu o te Rā, Ko is for denoting a specific something and Te is the Māori word for 'the - singular'..
I think I need to find some of my old linguistics stuff and read up on grammar and so again...