Hi everyone, sorry that it has been a while since I have written. Things in Slovakia are going well. The past week or so I have learned that Slovakia has strange weather during the change from winter to spring just as the US. We had a number of days that started clear with a gray sky, then there would be a light snow that turned into a heavy snow that a person could hardly see through, and then it would stop. This cycle happened a few times a day, but the snow has now disappeared again. We will see what comes with spring now that it is officially here.
Some of you may be wondering what the title of this entry means. Benelux = Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. These were the destinations of the spring break trip I took with two other lecturers. Each of these countries was a new country for the other two lecturers, Luxembourg was a new country for me. In Slovakia when a school has spring break depends on where the school is in Slovakia. Western Slovakia had spring break first, the second to last week in February; Eastern Slovakia had spring break the next week and Central Slovakia (where I am) had spring break the following week, March 2-6. The other two lecturers, Becky and Carsten, also teach in central Slovakia, so we decided to travel together.
We met in Bratislava and flew out from Vienna, Austria on Monday, March 2. We flew to Amsterdam and stayed there for two nights. I had been to Amsterdam before a couple of years ago, so I knew the city a little. It was neat to walk around and see something and be able to say, "I know this!" Seeing Amsterdam in the off season was also nice. We all had a great time there, there is a lot to see and do. We took part of a city walking tour, we did not realize at first that it would be a three hour tour. After an hour and a half we decided to break off from the tour so we could find something to eat and rest a little, we had to wake up at 3:30am for our flight. We also went to the Van Gogh museum, the Heineken brewery and other sites of the city.
We took a train to Brussels, Belgium which was a new city for me. We stayed in Brussels but took two day trips from there. We went to Bruges and Luxembourg. Bruges is a city on the northern coast of Belgium. We spent the day walking around the city and saw a Salvador Dali exhibit. I would like to go back to Bruges someday to see the town again and maybe experience it without as much construction. Even with the construction there is a lot to see.
Luxembourg was also a new city and country. We took a train there, I think it was a three hour ride one way. Unfortunately it rained almost the whole day we were there, so we did not do a lot outside. We did find some interesting museums. One was a national history of art museum. There were exhibits from the stone age to modern day. We also found the city museum which had a special exhibit on religion. There were video and audio clips of a few different people talking about what religion is to them and if it is important for them or not. There were also different exercises for visitors to do and at the end would find out what type of religious view they hold. After the museums the rain had stopped so we walked around the city some. From what I saw I enjoyed the city, and country; hopefully I can return sometime and be able to see more of the city and possibly the country.
The next big event here that I know of is Easter. I will have some visitors, my parents. Hopefully our time together goes well and travels go well. April will also be an interesting month because many teachers at my school, at least four, have their birthdays that month. I actually get to start the celebrations with my birthday at the beginning of the month. Now to figure out how to celebrate and what snacks to bring to school. Any suggestions are of course welcomed.
Some pictures from my Benelux tour. Enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=227616&id=682430592&l=1c31ba4c7c
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
In with the new...
It has been a little while since I wrote anything here, sorry about that. Well, as you can see by the title of this entry there are changes happening around Slovakia. Probably the biggest permanent change was the change in currency that happened at the beginning of January. Slovakia is now one of about thirty countries that uses the Euro. I do not know when the change was voted on, but there has been work happening for this change since I arrived in Slovakia. Some of the preparations became more apparent when it was closer to the new year. A set conversion rate between the Slovak Crown and the Euro was in place when I arrived. Starting in December every place that sells goods had to have prices displayed in both Crowns and Euros. The prices are still displayed in both currencies. I learned from one of my student's speeches that both currency prices being displayed will last until December, 2009. The last day Slovak Crowns were accepted as payment was January 17, 2009. Banks will continue to accept Crowns for deposit for a few months though, June or July I believe.
Another change that happened is hopefully not a permanent change. This has to do with Slovakia's gas supply. Some of you may have heard mention of this in the news. If not, I will briefly fill you in on what has happened there. Slovakia receives most of it's gas supply, for heating and such, from Russia. The gas is sent through a pipeline system that runs through the Ukraine. There was/has been a dispute between Russia and the Ukraine. Russia had been allowing the Ukraine to receive it's gas for a price lower than the rest of Europe and wanted to start charging the Ukraine the same as the rest of Europe. The Ukraine did not want to agree to the change in price. Russia then accused the Ukraine of stealing gas. Supplies were limited, but then were completely cut off starting January 7. This cut-off affected the Ukraine as well as a large section of Europe. Many countries were without any heat or had to minimize consumption. This happened when temperatures were below freezing, a few days it was as cold as -18C at night or a little colder. Slovakia was not impacted as much as some countries, but some people did lose their jobs because of factories not being able to have all their shifts. There had been an agreement for Slovakia to receive gas through pipelines that run through Poland and the Czech Republic. I am not sure if there has been any form of agreement reached between Russia and the Ukraine up to this point.
Another change that has happened did not affect the whole country or other parts of Europe. This change did affect the school I work at though. We started a new semester and with that came a new schedule. I still teach the same students, but the days and times I meet them, as well as the rooms we meet in, have changed. I am almost through my first week with the new schedule. So far it is going well, it may take a little time to get used to.
Between the end of the previous semester and the start of this semester we had a half year break. Last Thursday my school had a church service at 8am and then that was it for school until Monday. Since I had a long weekend it seemed a good time to do something. Jenny, my flatmate, had a friend that was visiting for two weeks and was going to be flying out of Krakow Saturday. They asked if I wanted to go with to Krakow, and I said yes. The three of us left Thursday afternoon for Krakow and arrived there that evening. Jenny and I headed back to our apartment Saturday and spent the day traveling and resting. A seven hour train ride and getting up at 3am to go to the airport can take a lot out of a person.
I am looking forward to what this semester brings for myself and my students. At the end of the semester I asked for feedback from my students and was very surprised and happy with some of their responses. Many students said how my class was their favorite, they like the relationship I have between myself and the students in that I actually listen to and ask for their opinions, one said the thing they did not like from the semester was when our conversation classes were cancelled and another said they thought our conversation classes were not long enough. Can you imagine, a student wanting to be in class longer, I guess I must be doing something right. I hope I can continue what I am doing and that my students continue to give their thoughts and opinions in class.
Another change that happened is hopefully not a permanent change. This has to do with Slovakia's gas supply. Some of you may have heard mention of this in the news. If not, I will briefly fill you in on what has happened there. Slovakia receives most of it's gas supply, for heating and such, from Russia. The gas is sent through a pipeline system that runs through the Ukraine. There was/has been a dispute between Russia and the Ukraine. Russia had been allowing the Ukraine to receive it's gas for a price lower than the rest of Europe and wanted to start charging the Ukraine the same as the rest of Europe. The Ukraine did not want to agree to the change in price. Russia then accused the Ukraine of stealing gas. Supplies were limited, but then were completely cut off starting January 7. This cut-off affected the Ukraine as well as a large section of Europe. Many countries were without any heat or had to minimize consumption. This happened when temperatures were below freezing, a few days it was as cold as -18C at night or a little colder. Slovakia was not impacted as much as some countries, but some people did lose their jobs because of factories not being able to have all their shifts. There had been an agreement for Slovakia to receive gas through pipelines that run through Poland and the Czech Republic. I am not sure if there has been any form of agreement reached between Russia and the Ukraine up to this point.
Another change that has happened did not affect the whole country or other parts of Europe. This change did affect the school I work at though. We started a new semester and with that came a new schedule. I still teach the same students, but the days and times I meet them, as well as the rooms we meet in, have changed. I am almost through my first week with the new schedule. So far it is going well, it may take a little time to get used to.
Between the end of the previous semester and the start of this semester we had a half year break. Last Thursday my school had a church service at 8am and then that was it for school until Monday. Since I had a long weekend it seemed a good time to do something. Jenny, my flatmate, had a friend that was visiting for two weeks and was going to be flying out of Krakow Saturday. They asked if I wanted to go with to Krakow, and I said yes. The three of us left Thursday afternoon for Krakow and arrived there that evening. Jenny and I headed back to our apartment Saturday and spent the day traveling and resting. A seven hour train ride and getting up at 3am to go to the airport can take a lot out of a person.
I am looking forward to what this semester brings for myself and my students. At the end of the semester I asked for feedback from my students and was very surprised and happy with some of their responses. Many students said how my class was their favorite, they like the relationship I have between myself and the students in that I actually listen to and ask for their opinions, one said the thing they did not like from the semester was when our conversation classes were cancelled and another said they thought our conversation classes were not long enough. Can you imagine, a student wanting to be in class longer, I guess I must be doing something right. I hope I can continue what I am doing and that my students continue to give their thoughts and opinions in class.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Christmas break adventures
A late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! I hope you all had a great time over the holidays and were able to enjoy celebrations with friends and family. From what I read on the internet, and heard from some people, it was very cold in parts of the U.S. It has gotten colder here in Slovakia. The high the past few days has been around -4C (~24F). As I said in my last blog entry, I had plans to travel to Denmark over my break. I traveled to Bratislava in the morning of December 20th. I was met at the train station by two fellow lecturers and we went to where I would be staying overnight to drop off my bags before traveling to Vienna for the day to visit the Weihnachtsmarkts there, Christmas markets.
The next day was Sunday so those of us in Bratislava went to church and I made a brief stop at the coffee hour afterwards. But then Carsten and I had to get ready to leave for the airport. Our flight was at 3, so we wanted to be at the airport around 1 to make sure we had enough time for check in and such. We had to wait for a little while but it gave us time to arrange things in our bags so we could store our coats in our backpacks for the flights and grab a little something to eat.
We had two flights to get to Denmark. We flew from Bratislava to Prague to Copenhagen. When we got into Copenhagen we bought train tickets to Middelfart where Carsten’s aunt and uncle met us and they took us back to their house in Strib. We stayed there most of the time we were in Denmark. Carsten’s family is very nice, friendly and a lot of fun. I really enjoyed my time there learning about Denmark, meeting Carsten’s family and getting to know Carsten better.
I was able to see many sites around Denmark. We were on Fyn which is the island just east of the Jutland Peninsula. We visited Ribe, Middelfart, Koldinghus, the West Coast of Denmark, Vejle, Legoland and a few other places. I was able to experience Danish traditions for Christmas like holding hands and walking around the Christmas tree while singing. I also helped with some of the food preparations and so learned how to do things I had never done before like peeling boiled potatoes, making a carrot-cabbage-orange-raisin salad and making marzipan candies. There were others too, but those a just a few examples. I was informed by various members of Carsten’s family that I was now a part of their family too, which was very nice to hear. I also received some very nice Christmas presents that were unexpected. I have many pictures from my time in Denmark and I will post links at the end for many of them.
At the end of the time in Denmark Carsten and I traveled back to Copenhagen to see my friend Ditte. Ditte and I met and became good friends while I was living in Germany. We were in the same seminar group and worked/volunteered at the same place in Germany. Ditte was the only person in our group from Denmark and I was the only person from the U.S. in our group. Carsten and I spent the night at her apartment and she and her boyfriend took us to the airport the next day. Our flight was at 9:30am and we were told the Copenhagen airport can be busy so we aimed to get to the airport by 7:30am. Ditte and Uffe were not sure what rush hour would be like so we left at about 6:50am and ended up making it to the airport around 7:20. It was a good thing we got to the airport with a little extra time because of what happened at check-in. When we went to check our bags and get our boarding passes the clerk told us we needed to go and pay for our bags. We were both surprised and perplexed by this. When we flew out no one said anything about needing to pay. We each had one bag each and had a limit of 20 kilos (44lbs.), Carsten had 16 kilos (35lbs.)and I had 15 kilos (33lbs.). The man that was assisting us at the window we were sent to was very confused by this situation as well. He told us we did not need to pay and stamped and signed where he needed to so we would be sure to have our bags on the plane with no problem. We were both relieved by this and thanked the man for his assistance.
We arrived in Slovakia with no problem, as did our bags. We went to the bus stop and were glad we had some Euros on us. On January 1, 2009, the Euro became the currency of Slovakia and the ticket machine no longer took Slovak crowns. However, at stores people are able to pay with crowns until January 16. Once we got to the train station we said our good-byes and I headed for my train while Carsten went to see some fellow lecturers until it was time for him to catch his bus. I ended up making it back to Liptovský Mikuláš with no problem on a very warm train. Carsten did not have as much luck. None of the lecturers ended up being home but he caught an earlier bus only to end up waiting in 5F (-15C) weather for 105 minutes or so. He was very cold when he got home and could not warm up until the next day.
I had a wonderful time in Denmark. I had a lot of fun, learned a lot about Denmark and was able to experience some new traditions. I was also able to talk to some family members during the time too when they were at family Christmases. That was very nice. Once again I hope that you all had a wonderful time over the holidays and that 2009 is a wonderful year. I look forward to finding out what will happen this year and adding more stories to my blog.
Sites in Denmark-http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=200654&l=580e6&id=682430592
Christmas-http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=200585&l=5279e&id=682430592
Sites in Denmark-http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=200691&l=611cf&id=682430592
New Year's Eve-http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=200714&l=4b6d3&id=682430592
The next day was Sunday so those of us in Bratislava went to church and I made a brief stop at the coffee hour afterwards. But then Carsten and I had to get ready to leave for the airport. Our flight was at 3, so we wanted to be at the airport around 1 to make sure we had enough time for check in and such. We had to wait for a little while but it gave us time to arrange things in our bags so we could store our coats in our backpacks for the flights and grab a little something to eat.
We had two flights to get to Denmark. We flew from Bratislava to Prague to Copenhagen. When we got into Copenhagen we bought train tickets to Middelfart where Carsten’s aunt and uncle met us and they took us back to their house in Strib. We stayed there most of the time we were in Denmark. Carsten’s family is very nice, friendly and a lot of fun. I really enjoyed my time there learning about Denmark, meeting Carsten’s family and getting to know Carsten better.
I was able to see many sites around Denmark. We were on Fyn which is the island just east of the Jutland Peninsula. We visited Ribe, Middelfart, Koldinghus, the West Coast of Denmark, Vejle, Legoland and a few other places. I was able to experience Danish traditions for Christmas like holding hands and walking around the Christmas tree while singing. I also helped with some of the food preparations and so learned how to do things I had never done before like peeling boiled potatoes, making a carrot-cabbage-orange-raisin salad and making marzipan candies. There were others too, but those a just a few examples. I was informed by various members of Carsten’s family that I was now a part of their family too, which was very nice to hear. I also received some very nice Christmas presents that were unexpected. I have many pictures from my time in Denmark and I will post links at the end for many of them.
At the end of the time in Denmark Carsten and I traveled back to Copenhagen to see my friend Ditte. Ditte and I met and became good friends while I was living in Germany. We were in the same seminar group and worked/volunteered at the same place in Germany. Ditte was the only person in our group from Denmark and I was the only person from the U.S. in our group. Carsten and I spent the night at her apartment and she and her boyfriend took us to the airport the next day. Our flight was at 9:30am and we were told the Copenhagen airport can be busy so we aimed to get to the airport by 7:30am. Ditte and Uffe were not sure what rush hour would be like so we left at about 6:50am and ended up making it to the airport around 7:20. It was a good thing we got to the airport with a little extra time because of what happened at check-in. When we went to check our bags and get our boarding passes the clerk told us we needed to go and pay for our bags. We were both surprised and perplexed by this. When we flew out no one said anything about needing to pay. We each had one bag each and had a limit of 20 kilos (44lbs.), Carsten had 16 kilos (35lbs.)and I had 15 kilos (33lbs.). The man that was assisting us at the window we were sent to was very confused by this situation as well. He told us we did not need to pay and stamped and signed where he needed to so we would be sure to have our bags on the plane with no problem. We were both relieved by this and thanked the man for his assistance.
We arrived in Slovakia with no problem, as did our bags. We went to the bus stop and were glad we had some Euros on us. On January 1, 2009, the Euro became the currency of Slovakia and the ticket machine no longer took Slovak crowns. However, at stores people are able to pay with crowns until January 16. Once we got to the train station we said our good-byes and I headed for my train while Carsten went to see some fellow lecturers until it was time for him to catch his bus. I ended up making it back to Liptovský Mikuláš with no problem on a very warm train. Carsten did not have as much luck. None of the lecturers ended up being home but he caught an earlier bus only to end up waiting in 5F (-15C) weather for 105 minutes or so. He was very cold when he got home and could not warm up until the next day.
I had a wonderful time in Denmark. I had a lot of fun, learned a lot about Denmark and was able to experience some new traditions. I was also able to talk to some family members during the time too when they were at family Christmases. That was very nice. Once again I hope that you all had a wonderful time over the holidays and that 2009 is a wonderful year. I look forward to finding out what will happen this year and adding more stories to my blog.
Sites in Denmark-http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=200654&l=580e6&id=682430592
Christmas-http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=200585&l=5279e&id=682430592
Sites in Denmark-http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=200691&l=611cf&id=682430592
New Year's Eve-http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=200714&l=4b6d3&id=682430592
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Cabbage soup party
It is the time of year where people start having many Christmas parties to go to. I have had one, it was for the school I am working at. Every place of business, or most every place of business, in Slovakia has what is called kapustnica. Kapustnica is the name of a cabbage, or saurkraut, soup; it is also the name for the Christmas party. Some fellow teachers were telling me about kapustnicas their husband or boyfriend went to. One teacher's husbands business had its kapustnica in Bratislava because the business is headquartered there. They had the typical dinner of cabbage soup and then went out to a club. Another teacher said her boyfriend's work had its kapustnica at Route 66 Bar and Grill, yes that is one of the restaurants here in Liptovsky Mikulas. The gymnasium and basic school had a joint kapustnica since we share a principal.
The canteen, cafeteria, was all decorated, the tables had white table clothes, there were many bottles of wine and everyone had a shot to start the evening off with. We all brought a secret Santa present, we were supposed to bring something that started with the letter "a" and it should not have cost more than 50SK (roughly $2.36). I brought a fake apple like you can find in the floral section of a store and a box of apple Cinnamon tea (apple in Slovak is jablko, but I was told I could use English or Slovak for the gift). The gift I received was a bottle of Nivea lotion and a bottle of Nivea body wash. Neither start with "a" in Slovak, which many people pointed out to me. They also pointed out that it is a good product.
We did the exchange of presents after our meal of soup and bread. We had some desserts too. While we were eating the bottles of wine were opened. There were probably about 18-20 tables, each with three or four people, and each had either red or white wine. After the gifts were opened and some visiting started our entertainment for the evening started. Two teachers from the gymnasium played guitars and sang for us. A number of people sang along with the songs, I sat and listened since I did not know any of the songs. It was fun to hear songs in Russian, Czech and Slovak. There were even one of two Roma (Gypsy) songs played. It was fun being there, experiencing this event and seeing my colleagues really enjoying themselves.
One of the things I found most entertaining about kapustnica was that the school day was shortened because of it. Classes were five minutes shorter, lunch period classes were cancelled, 8 year program classes meeting 7th period were cancelled and 5 year program classes meeting 8th period were cancelled. All so the teachers could have a party. I have never worked in a school in another country, so I do not know if this would happen, but I cannot imagine it would happen many places.
Oh! I have some exciting news. This morning the other two lecturers and I woke up early to catch a train at 6:42 to go to the town of Ružomberok. We had to go to the Foreign police this morning for some special business. I now have my working visa! It took a really long time, but now I am kind of a European Union (EU) citizen until the end of June. I can now sign books and such at school. This is very important and exciting.
Later I plan to write about my Christmas experiences. I will not be back in the USA for Christmas, I will be staying in Europe. I will not be in Slovakia though. I was invited by a friend to go to Denmark so I will be with him and his family for Christmas. We will fly out together on Sunday, December 21 and fly back Tuesday, January 6. I also have plans to visit a good friend of mine who is from Denmark. We met while I lived in Germany, we were in the same seminar group and worked and lived at the same place. We are very excited because we have not seen each other since we each left Germany in the summer of 2006. I am really looking forward to my Christmas break in Denmark.
Pictures from Kapustnica can be found at:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5119927&l=6c3ef&id=682430592
The canteen, cafeteria, was all decorated, the tables had white table clothes, there were many bottles of wine and everyone had a shot to start the evening off with. We all brought a secret Santa present, we were supposed to bring something that started with the letter "a" and it should not have cost more than 50SK (roughly $2.36). I brought a fake apple like you can find in the floral section of a store and a box of apple Cinnamon tea (apple in Slovak is jablko, but I was told I could use English or Slovak for the gift). The gift I received was a bottle of Nivea lotion and a bottle of Nivea body wash. Neither start with "a" in Slovak, which many people pointed out to me. They also pointed out that it is a good product.
We did the exchange of presents after our meal of soup and bread. We had some desserts too. While we were eating the bottles of wine were opened. There were probably about 18-20 tables, each with three or four people, and each had either red or white wine. After the gifts were opened and some visiting started our entertainment for the evening started. Two teachers from the gymnasium played guitars and sang for us. A number of people sang along with the songs, I sat and listened since I did not know any of the songs. It was fun to hear songs in Russian, Czech and Slovak. There were even one of two Roma (Gypsy) songs played. It was fun being there, experiencing this event and seeing my colleagues really enjoying themselves.
One of the things I found most entertaining about kapustnica was that the school day was shortened because of it. Classes were five minutes shorter, lunch period classes were cancelled, 8 year program classes meeting 7th period were cancelled and 5 year program classes meeting 8th period were cancelled. All so the teachers could have a party. I have never worked in a school in another country, so I do not know if this would happen, but I cannot imagine it would happen many places.
Oh! I have some exciting news. This morning the other two lecturers and I woke up early to catch a train at 6:42 to go to the town of Ružomberok. We had to go to the Foreign police this morning for some special business. I now have my working visa! It took a really long time, but now I am kind of a European Union (EU) citizen until the end of June. I can now sign books and such at school. This is very important and exciting.
Later I plan to write about my Christmas experiences. I will not be back in the USA for Christmas, I will be staying in Europe. I will not be in Slovakia though. I was invited by a friend to go to Denmark so I will be with him and his family for Christmas. We will fly out together on Sunday, December 21 and fly back Tuesday, January 6. I also have plans to visit a good friend of mine who is from Denmark. We met while I lived in Germany, we were in the same seminar group and worked and lived at the same place. We are very excited because we have not seen each other since we each left Germany in the summer of 2006. I am really looking forward to my Christmas break in Denmark.
Pictures from Kapustnica can be found at:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=5119927&l=6c3ef&id=682430592
Sunday, December 7, 2008
St. Nick's in Mikuláš
For those who are not familiar with the holiday of St. Nick's Day, it is a celebration that takes place on December 6. The night of December 5 children put out shoes or socks and hope that St. Nick comes and leaves them goodies. Usually the goodies are candy or other types of presents. In my family we would always leave wooden shoes by the front door. When I went to college my St. Nick goodies came in the mail instead. Well, Slovakia also celebrates St. Nick's Day, but instead of Nick (Nikolaus) they use the name Mikuláš because that is the Slovak form of the name. Does that name sound familiar? If you answered yes then you are right! The town I live in is named for St. Mikuláš, so they have a celebration each year at this time. The whole country actually celebrates the day, but not everywhere has this particular celebration. Some Slovak families use St. Nick's as a day to gather and open their presents. One of my friends who is Slovak, I met him when I lived in Germany, called on his way to his parents. He showed some real dedication because he had just gotten off work and was going from Bratislava to his parents (I think it is about an hour away), opening presents, going back to Bratislava that night, sleeping a little and going to work again. I am not sure if it is as big a tradition in every one's family, but it is in his.
OK, so you might be wondering what Liptovský Mikuláš does for its celebration. The name of the celebration is Mikulášsky Jarmok. It went from December 4-December 6. There were carnival rides set up in one square in town and there were booths set up throughout the entire downtown area of Mikuláš. The people at the booths were selling crafts and some sold food and drinks, Medovina or Punč. The market and carnival opened Thursday and Friday there were different performances happening on stage in one of the squares. Since Saturday was the last night and the actual day of St. Nick there were big closing performances. The first performance at 7pm was a fire show. There were a number of performers who did routines with sticks on fire. After they were finished there was a concert of the band Desmod. They are a Slovak group that does hard-rock, soft-rock and I was told punk too. I went to both of these and it was a lot of fun. I could not really understand the songs since they were in Slovak, but I recognized a couple from the radio. It was a lot of fun to be around for something that is special like this.
For pictures from Mikulášsky Jarmok visit the following site: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187008&l=ade98&id=682430592
Video of the Fire Show and Desmod.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thanksgiving...Slovak style
This time of year brings many traditions and is the start to the holiday season in the United States. One of those traditions is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is not traditionally celebrated in Slovakia. However, this did not stop there being various Thanksgiving celebrations around Slovakia. The school I work ar had a special Thanksgiving worship service. There is usually one church service for the whole gymnasium once a month, and November's theme was Thanksgiving. I helped one class learn two songs for the service, "Lord, I lift your Name on High" and another song I can't remember the name of now. They did a good job with the songs and motions. The service was held on Tuesday and was the kick off to Thanksgiving festivities around Mikulas anyways.
It was decided that the English department would have a Thanksgiving dinner, so myself and the other two volunteers were incharge of this. Our Vice Principle knew where to get a turkey and assisted Carol with the baking of the 30lbs. bird. I was in charge of mashed potatoes and ended up making 3kg. (6lbs.) of mashed potatoes and put together a relish tray. Jenny was in charge of the squash and corn. The Slovak teachers all brought food as well. They brought food such as bacon flavored chips, brownies, various cakes, cheese and ham rolled sandwiches, wine and soft drinks. We ended up having 15 people or so at my apartment for the dinner. We had a lot of fun, but Jenny's and my fridge became stuffed with leftovers...which still have to be eaten.
We cleaned up the apartment Friday night, packed and got some sleep for the early train to Bratislava. We had tickets for the 7:22 train, which actually left at about 7:20 so it was a good thing we were there in time. We had our second Thanksgiving dinner at 1pm in Bratislava and our train was to get us there in plenty of time to prepare our food and get ready for the dinner. I made a fruit salad with vanilla pudding for this dinner, it turned out well if I don't say so myself. The train arrived basically on time, around 10:30. Preparations were in full swing when we arrived. There were four or five turkies for the dinner. There ended up being 32 people at this dinner, volunteer teachers, ELCA personell, YAGMs (Young Adults in Global Mission) and some volunteers from Germany. We all had a fun time and ate too much.
After eating and cleaning up some there was a skit about the Macy's parade that takes place in NYC each year. The skit was very entertaining. We also played the "IT" game. It is a really fun game that is pretty easy to play. People are told ahead of time if they want to play they are to bring three wrapped gifts for the game. Everyone puts their gifts on the table and people sit around the gifts. Dice are needed for the game it is best to have multiple pairs, especially if there is a large group. The dice are dispersed in pairs throughout the group. Each person is to roll the dice and pass them to the right. If the person gets a pair they can take a gift. This continues until all the gifts are claimed. Then everyone opens the gifts they have and go around telling the group what they have. This is so people can know what the options are for stealing. The dice are to be rolled and passed again, but this time if a person rolls a pair they can "steal" a gift from another person. The "IT" is also put ino the mix, but is not revealed what "IT" is. In order for a person to claim it they must roll two 6s. This round happens for three minutes. At the end people can keep whatever they still have. I ended up with a vanilla sented candle, a make your own pom pom pets craft set and a 2009 calendar with a different flower for each month.
After the game we finished any dishes that were left, moved the food to the various fridges and got ready to go to the Christmas Market. There was a large group that went so we set a time and place to meet and went on our way through the market. Of course before we did that we all got a glass of punč, it's a warm wine drink. There were a number of booths selling various items. There were some trees decorated with lights too.
There has been a large amount of work going on in Slovakia preparring for the Christmas season. This past week decorations were put on the light poles outside my apartment building. The schools have also been getting in the spirit too. The gymnasium has a Christmas tree already up near the entrance. The canteen in the basic school has garland and lights up too. It seems Slovakia is getting ready for Advent and Christmas. The snow has come for the season too.
It was decided that the English department would have a Thanksgiving dinner, so myself and the other two volunteers were incharge of this. Our Vice Principle knew where to get a turkey and assisted Carol with the baking of the 30lbs. bird. I was in charge of mashed potatoes and ended up making 3kg. (6lbs.) of mashed potatoes and put together a relish tray. Jenny was in charge of the squash and corn. The Slovak teachers all brought food as well. They brought food such as bacon flavored chips, brownies, various cakes, cheese and ham rolled sandwiches, wine and soft drinks. We ended up having 15 people or so at my apartment for the dinner. We had a lot of fun, but Jenny's and my fridge became stuffed with leftovers...which still have to be eaten.
We cleaned up the apartment Friday night, packed and got some sleep for the early train to Bratislava. We had tickets for the 7:22 train, which actually left at about 7:20 so it was a good thing we were there in time. We had our second Thanksgiving dinner at 1pm in Bratislava and our train was to get us there in plenty of time to prepare our food and get ready for the dinner. I made a fruit salad with vanilla pudding for this dinner, it turned out well if I don't say so myself. The train arrived basically on time, around 10:30. Preparations were in full swing when we arrived. There were four or five turkies for the dinner. There ended up being 32 people at this dinner, volunteer teachers, ELCA personell, YAGMs (Young Adults in Global Mission) and some volunteers from Germany. We all had a fun time and ate too much.
After eating and cleaning up some there was a skit about the Macy's parade that takes place in NYC each year. The skit was very entertaining. We also played the "IT" game. It is a really fun game that is pretty easy to play. People are told ahead of time if they want to play they are to bring three wrapped gifts for the game. Everyone puts their gifts on the table and people sit around the gifts. Dice are needed for the game it is best to have multiple pairs, especially if there is a large group. The dice are dispersed in pairs throughout the group. Each person is to roll the dice and pass them to the right. If the person gets a pair they can take a gift. This continues until all the gifts are claimed. Then everyone opens the gifts they have and go around telling the group what they have. This is so people can know what the options are for stealing. The dice are to be rolled and passed again, but this time if a person rolls a pair they can "steal" a gift from another person. The "IT" is also put ino the mix, but is not revealed what "IT" is. In order for a person to claim it they must roll two 6s. This round happens for three minutes. At the end people can keep whatever they still have. I ended up with a vanilla sented candle, a make your own pom pom pets craft set and a 2009 calendar with a different flower for each month.
After the game we finished any dishes that were left, moved the food to the various fridges and got ready to go to the Christmas Market. There was a large group that went so we set a time and place to meet and went on our way through the market. Of course before we did that we all got a glass of punč, it's a warm wine drink. There were a number of booths selling various items. There were some trees decorated with lights too.
There has been a large amount of work going on in Slovakia preparring for the Christmas season. This past week decorations were put on the light poles outside my apartment building. The schools have also been getting in the spirit too. The gymnasium has a Christmas tree already up near the entrance. The canteen in the basic school has garland and lights up too. It seems Slovakia is getting ready for Advent and Christmas. The snow has come for the season too.
Mikuláš with the first real snow.
The Mikuláš Thanksgiving dinner 
Bratislava Thanksgiving
Bratislava (Blava) Christmas Market
Sunday, November 23, 2008
The beginning of winter
Last weekend was a long weekend in Slovakia. Monday was the Day of Freedom and Democracy which is a national holiday. My flatmate and I were discussing the holiday and what it could mean. Freedom and Democracy, which freedom would be celebrated? Freedom from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, freedom from the Soviet Union, or freedom with Slovakia becoming its own nation state? I asked students what the day was for. They told me that it commemorates the day Communism left Czechoslovakia. This is not the same time as the Velvet Revolution. Communism left Czechoslovakia in 1989, I think, and then in 1993 the Velvet Revolution happened which separated Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic (aka Slovakia). I asked if there were any special celebrations that happen, but they said no. The day is simply a state holiday and so everyone has the day off.
I was not sure what I would do for the weekend at first, but I was invited along on a trip and said yes. Last Friday, Jenny, Carol and myself boarded an IC train for Bratislava and were on our way for an enjoyable weekend. Jenny had plans to visit her sister in England who was there at the time and so she rode with Carol and I and then made her way to the airport. Carol had plans to go to Vienna, Austria and asked if I wanted to join her. I said OK and we made the plans. There is a Vincent van Gogh exhibit at the Albertina Museum until December 8, so we planned to go see it. We found out that some other lecturers were planning on going to the exhibit as well. We were able to meet up in Vienna and go to the exhibit all together. There were a lot of people there, and it was really warm in the exhibit. The paintings and sketches were amazing though. I recognized some of the paintings, but not all of them. On Sunday Carol, a lecturer based in Bratislava and myself went to an exhibit on Georges Barque who was a cubist painter. I do not think I had seen any of his paintings before, so it was very interesting to see his work.
Carol and I spent Sunday evening in Bratislava at the apartment of some of the lecturers, one of them was my roommate at orientation. We had dinner at the apartment of a friend of the girls there who works at the US Embassy. He, the Embassy employee had come to speak at my school about the new Visa program between the US and Slovakia, so we had met before but it was nice to chat again. Monday was a low key morning, Carol and i got our things ready for the trip back to Mikulas. We had lunch with a few of the lecturers in Bratislava and then caught our train. We got back to Mikulas around 4:30 and it was already dark like night. I looked out the window and commented on it raining. When Carol and I got off the train we realized it was not rain, but snow. We were surprised at that. By the next day we had about an inch of snow. Wednesday it rained though and the snow disappeared. However, it has been snowing again. There was some snow yesterday and it was cold, the high was -1 C and has been snowing all day today so far. The grass is still peaking through a little, but it makes the area look pretty. I am guessing the mountains have more snow on them, but I cannot see them so do not know for sure. They have been covered by clouds since yesterday afternoon. If the weather continues like this it brings hope of a good ski season.
I was not sure what I would do for the weekend at first, but I was invited along on a trip and said yes. Last Friday, Jenny, Carol and myself boarded an IC train for Bratislava and were on our way for an enjoyable weekend. Jenny had plans to visit her sister in England who was there at the time and so she rode with Carol and I and then made her way to the airport. Carol had plans to go to Vienna, Austria and asked if I wanted to join her. I said OK and we made the plans. There is a Vincent van Gogh exhibit at the Albertina Museum until December 8, so we planned to go see it. We found out that some other lecturers were planning on going to the exhibit as well. We were able to meet up in Vienna and go to the exhibit all together. There were a lot of people there, and it was really warm in the exhibit. The paintings and sketches were amazing though. I recognized some of the paintings, but not all of them. On Sunday Carol, a lecturer based in Bratislava and myself went to an exhibit on Georges Barque who was a cubist painter. I do not think I had seen any of his paintings before, so it was very interesting to see his work.
Carol and I spent Sunday evening in Bratislava at the apartment of some of the lecturers, one of them was my roommate at orientation. We had dinner at the apartment of a friend of the girls there who works at the US Embassy. He, the Embassy employee had come to speak at my school about the new Visa program between the US and Slovakia, so we had met before but it was nice to chat again. Monday was a low key morning, Carol and i got our things ready for the trip back to Mikulas. We had lunch with a few of the lecturers in Bratislava and then caught our train. We got back to Mikulas around 4:30 and it was already dark like night. I looked out the window and commented on it raining. When Carol and I got off the train we realized it was not rain, but snow. We were surprised at that. By the next day we had about an inch of snow. Wednesday it rained though and the snow disappeared. However, it has been snowing again. There was some snow yesterday and it was cold, the high was -1 C and has been snowing all day today so far. The grass is still peaking through a little, but it makes the area look pretty. I am guessing the mountains have more snow on them, but I cannot see them so do not know for sure. They have been covered by clouds since yesterday afternoon. If the weather continues like this it brings hope of a good ski season.
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