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.