Vino Festival

This past weekend, a fellow lecturer from Mikuláš and I went to Bratislava for the weekend. Four of the twenty American lecturers had birthdays between last week and this week. Carla's was the 17th, Carsten and Laura’s were both the 21st and Sean’s is the 29th. Carol, Jenny and I were invited to Bratislava to celebrate and go to a wine festival with the crew. Jenny decided to stay in Mikuláš for the weekend but Carol and I went on our way.

Friday after school we packed and went to the train station hoping to get on an IC (InterCity) train, but it was full. We were able to get tickets for a regional express train that left at 14:14 (2:14pm). An IC train stops only at major stops; Mikuláš is fortunately one of those. A regional express train makes more stops so takes a little over 4 hours instead of 3 hours to Bratislava. Our timing ended up being perfect though. When we got to the apartments in Bratislava and made it up stairs the group was just about to pray before they started the Fiesta, it was Mexican night.

Saturday morning some of the girls and I went shopping at the local mall. I wanted a fall jacket and Becky was in need of some hiking boots. We looked around for a little while and were successful. In the early afternoon, around 2, we meet up with the boys to head to the wine festival. There ended up being about 12 people in the group.

We walked to a tram stop and took it into Rača which is kind of a suburb of Bratislava. We arrived at the festival around 2:30 and ended up staying until about 8:30. There were a lot of booths set up. The wine that is sold at this particular festival is called burciak. It looks somewhat like juice and also tastes like juice but with an added fizz, which is the alcohol. The way the wine is made is different than normal wine though. Burciak needs to be drunk in 3-4 days otherwise it goes bad.

The wine festival was a lot of fun. We all tried wine from various booths and had some food as well. I also tried Metovina which is a warm honey wine. It was very good, but does not taste as good once it gets cold. This was a good drink for the day because it was cool and rainy.

After the group left the festival we headed back to Bratislava and hung out at one of the apartments before going to find some more food. We thought it would be a good idea to have something since none of us had eaten since around 3 and it was now close to 9. We went to Pizza Pan (Pan means man or Mr. in Slovak) which I was told used to be Pizza Hut. The food was good; we ended up ordering in pairs because none of us could eat a whole pizza ourselves at that time. Overall the weekend was a lot of fun. It was nice to see people from orientation again and to help people celebrate birthdays.

Some of the crew (L to R, back row) Jon, me, Carsten, Larry, Maika, Becky and Jana.



The girls (Lto R) Becky, Maika and Rachel




Leaving Rača on the tram: me, Carsten, Larry, Jon and Becky

Two long weekends in three weeks...

This past weekend was a pleasant surprise in that it was a long weekend, again. The weekend wasn't as long as the first long weekend though, we only had Monday off as an extra day this time. Monday was a national holiday because it was, "The Day of Mary's Seven Sorrows." Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the patron saint of Slovakia and so there was a national holiday because of this. We were told somewhere in the Bible there is a list of the seven sorrows of Mary, neither myself nor the other two American teachers knew what they were or where one could find them in the Bible. We did not mind having the day off though.

On Thursday Jenny and Carol found out that a Slovak English teacher would be taking us to the High Tatra's on Saturday. Jenny called me with this news, I was not at school because somehow no classes were scheduled for me Thursday. I ended up at school later because I locked myself out of my apartment, I was let back in later though.

The Slovak teacher met myself and the other two around 10 Saturday morning and we left for a short drive to the High Tatras. Marek, the Slovak teacher, led us on a walk and what he thought was a short-cut to some stores. Well, the path was a short-cut, but it led to a hotel and we couldn't go anywhere else from there. Jenny and Carol hadn't climbed all the way up though so they got to watch Marek and I climb down, it wasn't very far but the dirt was very loose which made climbed down interesting.

After walking some more we drove to another area around the mountains and had lunch. The food was very good and very filling. After lunch we went to a Folk museum and were able to see how people lived 200 years ago. This was fun to see, life was not very different from lives of those in other European countries.

Sunday and Monday were days spent hiding inside the apartment. Outside was cold and rainy. The temperature was, and still is, a little less than 50 F. I know in a few months that temperature will feel very nice. Right now with the rain it is a cold that chills to the bones.

Marek is the second teacher to take the three of us somewhere for the weekend. It has been nice being able to get to know some of the teachers outside of school and being able to see a part of Slovakia with a native guide.

Some pictures from the weekend and Mikuláš
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158190&l=2bc6d&id=682430592
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158201&l=8cca8&id=682430592

The first week

This is the end of the first week of teaching for me. I was a little nervous to begin with, but it wasn't anything too bad. I had many classes of introductions of myself, classes to me and class expectations. I am teaching six different classes: 1a, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b and Kvinta. The way the school here works is that there are usually two classes per year of the five year program, i.e. 1a/b, 2a/b, 3a/b, 4a/b and 5a/b. In each class is normally no more than 30 students, the 2b class has 31 students though. For conversation classes the class is split into two groups so I usually work with 15 students per class hour. This year is a little different in the system set-up because there is only one first year class, there is no room for a second group of 30 students for first year so there is only a 1a.

The 1s are basically the equivalent of freshman in the US High School system. They have English conversation three times a week. The rest of the years have English conversation two times a week. The 5th years are the seniors but tend to be 18, 19, 20 and sometimes even 21 years old when they graduate. At the end of their schooling they have a test called the Materita to take, it is their graduating exam. Because of this the 5th years have special seminars to prepare them for the test.

There is also an eight year program in the school here in Mikulas. Kvinta is the fifth year of the eight year program. Their English is at a similar place of the first years in the five year program, but I do not think they are the same year. I believe a student in Kvinta is usually 12 or 13. The eight year program is made up of prima, sekunda, tercia, kvarta, kvinta, sexta, septima and octava. Students tend to be 18, 19 and maybe 20 when they graduate from this program, they also take the maturita.

Since my school is a bi-lingual school various subjects are taught in English. Occasionally a native speaker will teach a subject other than conversation, but not always. Myself and the other two teachers from the US only teach conversation though we may be asked to substitute for another subject.

This week has been interesting getting to know the students a little and see the difference in English skills and confidence between the years. I hope to be able to see and experience changes with both, skills and confidence, within the students throughout the year.

Wednesday brought the first "real" day of teaching. That is, I had classes other than introductions to teach. I was more nervous for this, but I think I did alright. I changed somethings from when I taught 2b to 2a for instance. I have even come up with an idea for my 3rd years to do for their first project. I discussed the idea with the other teacher of 3s and after some editing came up with the project. I think it should be interesting for the students and will have them practicing their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills of English.

The schedule for classes is not yet finalized. For example, we were given the schedule for Wednesday Tuesday afternoon. Because of this we had classes, or didn't at times that will most likely change. On Monday I had two classes, Tuesday I had two classes, Wednesday I had four classes, Thursday I had no classes and Friday I had four of my own classes and substituted for a class. I taught for five straight periods today. It wasn't too bad, but I don't think I would want to do that every day.

This weekend is a long weekend again. Monday is the day of Mary's seven sorrows. She is the patron saint of Slovakia and it is a national/bank holiday so there is no school. Tomorrow a Slovak English teacher will be taking myself and the other two teachers to the High Tatras. We are going to walk around a lake area some and the rest of the area. It should be very nice, hopefully the weather cooperates. There were going to be some students taking us somewhere on Monday too, but the plans have not yet been made. It will be interesting to see what all ends up happening this weekend!

The start of school, a physical and preparring for classes

This past week was the official start of school in Slovakia. The first day of school was Tuesday, though classes did not really start until Thursday. Tuesday there was a worship service in the local Lutheran church for the staff, students and families. Wednesday was a day for the students to receive their books and learn their class schedule for the next day. Scheduling here is an area where people need to be flexible. All of the teachers have their schedule for classes tomorrow, but none of us know the schedule past that day yet. We should find out more tomorrow.

Wednesday, while the students and teachers were busy the American teachers were on a trip to the Doctor. Patricia, the Vice-Principal took us to Martin to the hospital where we had our physicals. The tests were pretty standard; blood was drawn, our hearts were listened to, they felt around our stomachs and we had a chest X-ray. I caused some concern for the Doctor, nurse and Patricia during the first item.

While my blood was being drawn I let them know that it hurt. The nurse finished the tune she was filling and told Patricia, she was our fearless translator, that my vein was destroyed. I think what they meant was that my vein collapsed. After that Patricia was making sure I was fine after every other test. I was except for my arm hurting. Now I am the bearer of a large bruise (roughly 3"x3"). It seems to slowly be getting better, which is good. It should make teaching on Monday interesting.

Thursday and Friday were observation days for myself, Jenny and Carol. We went to classes that we would be teaching. It was a way for us to see the students and have an idea of what teaching in Slovakia is like. I enjoyed all the teachers and the students seem to all be very good too. Some are talkative and others are a little unsure of their English. So far it seems that it will be a good year.

Pictures

This weekend was full of hiking around different parts of the Liptovsky area. There was a long weekend in Slovakia because of two holidays which happened to fall on Friday and Monday. Friday's Holiday was more of a remembrance than anything. It is a day to remember a battle that happened during WWII and served as a turning point in attitudes of the people. The holiday on Monday, September 1 is Constitution Day.

Before the weekend, myself and the other two teachers from the U.S. asked if stores would be closed for the holidays and what would be good to do on our days off. We were told that stores would most likely be closed, a few big supermarkets might be open though. As for what to do, a couple teachers had plans for us. One, who is the school Chaplin, invited us to her house on Friday for lunch. She lives in a village near Mikulas, about 7 miles or so. Patka, our assistant principal picked up myself and the two other teachers and took us to the Chaplin's house. She and her husband were very welcoming and happy to have us visit.

We had a wonderful lunch of chicken and noodle soup, "American" potatoes, a chicken and vegetable dish and crepes for desert. In between the lunch and desert Darček, the chaplin, took us on a short hike to see parts of the village and countryside.

Saturday the day was spent with Anka, my mentor teacher; her boyfriend, and a school friend of hers. We went to a near-by town where there is a castle and was a festival happening. There were people dressed up as people from the Middle Ages and there were sword fights and archery competitions. We all walked up to the castle ruins as well. The path was a little steep at some points, but we all made it fine. Overall it was a nice weekend to be able to see parts of the surrounding area.

Here are links to where on-line albums of the pictures can be found.

Pictures from orientation in Bratislava are at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150661&l=a862f&id=682430592
and
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150743&l=1fa3f&id=682430592

Pictures of my apartment are at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150747&l=2e3c5&id=682430592

For pictures of a castle I visited Saturday the link is:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=152523&l=163ef&id=682430592

Pictures of hiking around Liptovsky are at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=152511&l=385e0&id=682430592

As I post more pictures I will add the addresses to the blog and may add pictures directly to the blog.