Voting, elections and Halloween

I was able to register as an overseas absentee voter, and received my ballot. I put it in the mail today, so it should have no problem making it to the US by the deadline, 14 days after the election is the cut-off for overseas ballots. I used this experience, me receiving an absentee ballot, as an example for two of my classes. I told them the process I had to go through to get the ballot and the process for mailing in the ballot.

With my 3s, we are currently discussing politics and the election that will be held in the US. I first asked my students what they could tell me about their own political system. I learned that Slovakia is a democratic parliamentary state. There is a parliament in Bratislava, the capital city, and a type of parliament for the various regions of Slovakia. There is a President as well as a Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is connected to the parliament while the President is a kind of figure head, but is the one other foreign dignitaries would meet with when coming to Slovakia. I believe both the President's and Prime Minister's term of office is four years, elections are not held at the same time though. Elections for the President happen one year and two years later there are elections for the Prime Minister. People must be 18 years old to vote and register by signing a paper stating they are 18 or older and show an ID card.

I asked my students what they know about the political system of the US. They knew a little, that we have a President and Vice-President, they knew that George Bush is currently the President, they didn't know Dick Cheney's name. They also know of Barack Obama and John McCain. My students knew that the term of the President is 4 years, they did not know that there is a term limit, there is not one in Slovakia.

So far in class we've talked about the history of the political system some. Such as, how it started and why there are only two major parties and not more. We are currently discussing the process it takes for a person to be nominated to run for President. They thought the process of having a popular vote and an electoral college is confusing. I'm trying to explain how this works and how there are special shows that report on the polls and who has won which states. I'm not sure they understand yet, maybe I can find something on line. If anyone has suggestions please let me know. Tomorrow there is a woman coming from the US Embassy to talk to students about the visa process for going to the US and also about the election. Perhaps she will be able to explain things a little more clearly.

My 1s are getting ready for a new unit in our class. Today they took a test over a play we read, "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street". They all seemed to think the test was difficult. I told them that next Monday we would be having a special class. It is the class closest to Halloween for them, and we are supposed to talk about Halloween as a US custom. Therefore, we are going to have a Halloween party. They were all very excited to hear that, even though they don't really know anything about Halloween. It isn't celebrated here so it will be a new experience. I told them to think about what they would want to do for the party and to let me know Friday when I meet with them again. I gave some ideas; games, favorite candy, etc. I'm trying to remember fun and easy Halloween games to play with them. Once again, if anyone has suggestions please let me know. I asked if we should dress up in costumes, some wanted to and one or two said no, I'll have to check on that again.

The other classes are going well too. My 2s are starting their music unit. They are to choose a favorite song and bring the lyrics to class to share with everyone. We'll play the song and the students will tell us a little about the artist and the song itself. Kvinta is working on describing people. Last class we talked about personalities. I asked them to write about the personality of a person they know and then share what they wrote with the class. It was entertaining, but I don't think there was a good understanding of what a personality is, I'll have to work on that one. My basic students are talking about interests. Last class we named off different interests or hobbies. The students are all well behaved and helpful, which is good. The class itself will be a challenge to plan for because of the different English levels in the class. Some students are just beginning to learn English while others have had English classes for two years. I guess it is similar to teaching in a one room school house, but for 90 minutes a week. It can be difficult to get much done in 45 minutes Thursday and 45 minutes Friday. It is working so far, so that is good.

I haven't gone on anymore hikes recently, but that will soon change. The end of October brings Fall break to Slovakia. That means there is no school the 30th and 31st. Myself and a volunteer teacher in Tisovec, a town 2 hrs South of here, are making plans for a hiking exchange. He, Carsten, and the other US lecturers are planning to come to Mikulas on the 30th and we will do a hike here. Carsten, myself and maybe Becky plan to do a hike from valley to valley which takes about 6 hours. The others plan to take a less intensive hike, no ladders and not lasting 6 hours. Then we will go to Tisovec and the people there will take us on a hike around the area. I am excited about this and Carsten is as well. This is his third year in Slovakia and he has yet to come to Mikulas. I will have to write how the hiking exchange goes after that weekend.