Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The First Snow

It is October, right? So what is all this white stuff on the ground and falling from the sky?!? Why is the high for the day 2 C? We had what in Slovakia is called an Indian summer, warm summer like temperatures in the fall, for about a week and then the weather changed. For close to a week, maybe a little longer, it has been cloudy and rainy here in Mikulas. Then the temperature dropped and the rain changed to snow right before my eyes. The snow started on Monday and it is still snowing.

Most of the time it is flurries, but there are times when the wind starts blowing and the snow gets really heavy. I can't remember how many people told me today that this has never happened before, snow in early/mid October. The grass is not completely covered yet, but you can definitely see the snow. At some point I want to play Baseball with my first years as a part of our conversation class, but that will have to wait until it is warmer outside. Can you believe I get to teach how to play baseball and American football as part of conversation class? It fits in with US Realia, which is basically a unit to talk about the US and what life is like there. Since sports are presented as a major part of life and society in the US my students get to learn about two of the most popular sports. One student asked me which was more popular, football or baseball. I told the student it would probably depend on who they talk to and where they are in the country. Any other answers I can tell my student?

At the end of the month comes Halloween, as I am sure students in the US are well aware of. I plan on having a Halloween party with both of my first year groups. I think it will be fun to plan. It was a lot of fun last year. I was able to purchase a printer this year with the assistance of my church back home, Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Schaumburg, maybe I can put it to use for the parties for games and the like.

A snowwoman in the field near my school.


One of the damaged trees on the walk to school.

Some of the students are a little shy to speak in class still, but I hope activities like these help make them feel a little more comfortable with their English. I know some of the students are worried about making mistakes, but I told them it is a part of learning. They all have a lot of potential, they just need to use what they have.

My other classes are going well. I taught all my other students last year. It is nice to be with them again. It will be interesting to see changes from what they were like last year and what they will be like this year.

One goal of mine this summer was to learn how to look older than my students. I thought I was doing a decent job so far, until one of the football days. My students kept yelling back and forth in Slovak even though they should have been speaking in English. A student informed me they couldn't tell who was their teacher and who was their classmate because I look so young. She is 16 and her classmates are 14 or 15. I guess there are worse things then looking 10-12 years younger to some people. I got a good laugh out of it anyways.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. If anyone has Halloween party ideas please let me know.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

A month in

A little over a month of school has gone by. How does time go so fast? I guess that must mean that things are going pretty well. I am enjoying things this year so far. I have some great classes. We are having a good time so far. Students can be very entertaining.

I have also been able to do some traveling already too. I have gone on two hikes since returning to Slovakia, visited another town (Basnka Stiavnica) and gone to Germany for Oktoberfest. The hikes were fun and a good workout. Banska Stiavnica is a town about two hours away. It is an old mining town and very hilly. The group I was with had a great time. We took a tour of an old castle, toured a mine and had fun visiting around lunch too. We left Mikulas about 8:30am and got back to Mikulas about 9pm or a little latter.

The Oktoberfest trip was a lot of fun. I also got to visit Nuremberg that trip and just look around the city some. When my group arrived at the beer tent around 10:30 there were already plenty of people there and enjoying beer. I had a liter beer and half a chicken. Then that evening it was time to head back to Slovakia and get ready to teach again.

The next big things happening this month are planning Halloween parties for a couple classes as part of US Realia and a trip to Dublin, Ireland with some fellow Americans over our Fall Break. I look forward to fun times and great memories with both of those.