End of winter adventure

It is now truly spring, the snow has melted away; except on the mountains, and the temperature is above freezing. It is a nice time of year when we get to see everything coming back to life again. At the end of winter/beginning of spring I had a little adventure. As most of you know, this is my second year in Slovakia and I live in a town really close to the High and Low Tatras, they are part of the Carpathian mountain range. Anyways, skiing is very popular in Slovakia especially around here. Schools even take one or more classes of students for a ski week. My school actually has two ski weeks, one week is for the Second year and Sexta students (about 15-16 year olds) and the second week is for the Tercia students (around 11 years old).



The students and most of the gym teachers go and stay at one of the ski resorts from here and ski or snowboard all week. A week or so after both ski weeks (two weekends ago) one of the largest ski resorts had a special, 15 euros for 2 1/2 days of skiing. That is a really good deal since it usually costs around 20 euros for a day. I decided I would go skiing with the group going from school. I had my jacket, hat, gloves, layers, sun glasses and some borrowed snow pants. This was my first time skiing in March and my first time skiing on a mountain. I was excited, but nervous too.



The ski resort was really crowded and when I saw where we had to go just to get to the runs I knew I was in for something very different than I had ever done before. You see, there is a chair lift part way up the mountain to get to the first level of ski hills and then more ski lifts to get to other parts of the mountain. I had skied before, but it had been a while since the last time and so I was nervous. I ended up going with a group of friends who are also teachers and we were having a good time. However, my day of skiing came to an early end. During our second run of the day I was going faster than I wanted and when I tried to slow down I lost control and ended up crashing, but the ground broke my fall nicely. I got pretty banged up but was able to walk away from it, though no one would let me walk on my own. The ski rescue person who came after one of my friends called them was very nice. He didn't speak much English, but he was very helpful. My friends also took good care of me. After I was released from the ski rescue people we returned my skis, boots and poles and they took me for some lunch. Then we went to the hospital for an X-ray just to make sure I was really alright. My face stung a little and I had a slight head ache that would come and go and my left wrist hurt, but the rest of me felt fine.

The X-ray showed that my wrist was not broken so it was sprained. They wrapped me up and told my friend who told me what I should do for it. They took me home and I took it easy for the rest of the day. The next day I was pretty sore, but within two days I felt fine except for my wrist. It is still healing, but I have full motion and can use it some, it hurts from time to time so ice and Ibuprofen help with that. Hopefully whenever I end up skiing on a mountain again I will have get to really enjoy the day and not get injured.

Winter/spring activities

My oh my, it is now March. When I woke up Monday morning it was hard to believe that it was the start of a new month. There have been some fun and interesting things happening here since the last time I wrote.

At the end of January and the beginning of February is ball season here in Slovakia. My school held a ball January 29 that I went to. It was fun to get dressed up and having fun. The school here had two different balls, one was the one I and many teachers and parents and a few students went to. The other ball was a ball for all the students of the various High Schools in Liptovsky Mikulas. That ball was the weekend after the ball I went to.

Around the time of groundhogs day in US there was a Slovak spring tradition happening. I went to run some errands and as I was getting closer to the town square I head a cow bell. I was wondering where the sound was coming from and then I found out. There was a small parade of people dressed in traditional clothes ringing cowbells and singing songs. I met a student on the street and asked her what was going on. The student explained to me that it was a tradition going back a number of years and would usually happen in villages. People would go from house to house asking for bread and sausage as they prepare for the Lenten fast and to celebrate the coming of spring. Unfortunately I did not have a camera with me so I could not take any pictures of this, but here is a site that has examples of traditional costumes from around Slovakia. http://library.thinkquest.org/22618/1e.html

Last week was Spring break for Central Slovakia. I know, it seems a little early but Eastern Slovakia had Spring Break the week before my school and Western Slovakia has Spring Break this week. I'm not sure if it is true, but I was told once that Slovakia divides itself into three weeks for break so the ski resorts are not overrun with people; I was also told this is why the breaks happen so early. The weeks rotate throughout the country each year so one area does not always have a really early break.

For my break I went to Konstanz, Germany to visit a friend. It was a great time in a beautiful area. Konstanz is located on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) and on the Germany-Switzerland boarder. The week there with the natural beauty, my friend and the German language and food seemed to go too fast. It was very relaxing and enjoyable and should have helped to rejuvenate me for the remainder of the school year.

Here are some pictures from the ball and my spring break trip.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=378572&id=682430592&l=36110f15c1

A recap of the holidays, happy 2010!

Hi everyone. Is it really mid January already?!? My how time can pass quickly. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year!

I enjoyed my Christmas and New Years a lot. I was fortunate enough to be in Denmark again this year. Christmas break started in Slovakia after school on December 22, so I got to Denmark on December 23; just in time for the festivities to begin. The family I was with was so friendly and wonderful again this year. We enjoyed ourselves a lot.

This year I was able to see some areas of Denmark I didn't see last year. I spent a day in Odensee and went to the Hans Christian Andersen museum. I learned somethings about H.C. Andersen I didn't know. Did you know that he also wrote novels and plays? I did not know that about him. I also got to see Copenhagen this year, last year all I saw was the train station and airport. It was nice to see the city, even if it was only for a few hours. I was able to meet up with a good friend of mine who is from Denmark, we met while I was in Germany in 2005-2006. It was nice to be able to visit with her some.

New Year's Eve this year was spent in Aarhus. The fireworks were not as scary this year as they were last year. It didn't seem like there were as many, which might have had something to do with that. Oh, there was snow this year too! I was told that this was the first time in about 10 years that there has been snow for Christmas.

School started again on January 11. It was a time for final projects and tests. The semester officially ends at the end of January and the next semester starts in February, but grades were due the 21st, at least at my school. Some classes might be taking it easy for a class or two while others just keep chugging along.

Oh, I have had the chance to try out the Slovak medical system this year. I had some problems with my right ear from the flight back from Denmark, it would not pop. After close to a week of no luck popping my ear I went to see a doctor and a fellow Slovak teacher came with to translate. The doctor popped my ear and we all thought that was the end of the problem. I was given a prescription for some drops and was told to come back if I still had problems after 4 days. I gave the doctor my insurance card and so all I had to pay was 17 cents for my drops. Well, my ear was still hurting, so I went back to the doctor and found out there was a small problem of inflammation. I was given three prescriptions this time and paid a little under 6 euros for the medicine. I have to say, it was nice not having to fill out any paperwork and only paying a small amount for medicine. Slovakia has a government run/supported system and I would say it worked well for me.

Here are some pictures from my year so far, various trips including Christmas and New Years.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=324612&id=682430592&l=eeef317ca6

Time flies

It is hard to believe it is already December. I looked and my last post was all the way back in October. Sorry for letting it go so long in between posts. So, what has happened between the last posting and now?

Well, in the last post I told about the snow we had. That snow melted away a week or so after it stopped snowing and we haven't had any more snow since. The mountains do have snow on their peaks, but not enough for the ski season to start just yet. People are starting to think there will not be much snow this winter. I remember some people saying that last year too but we ended up with a pretty decent snowfall, so we will see what happens.

At the end of October every school in Slovakia has a long weekend for Fall Break. It happens to coincide with Halloween, which is kind of nice. Halloween is not celebrated in Slovakia, but they have a tradition for All Saint's Day where people place candles and other decorations on the graves of family members. The cemeteries around Slovakia look very pretty this time of year.

For Fall Break this year myself and four other lectures took a trip to Dublin, Ireland. That was a very nice trip. One thing that was kind of cool was getting to spend Halloween in the birthplace of Halloween. There are many activities for kids and then Halloween night in the Temple Bar area there is basically a huge block party for adults. It was neat to see and experience some of that, but the crowd can be an interesting one. There are people in all sorts of costumes there and street performers as well as kids trick-or-treating for money.

The five of us were all interested in seeing the city and some of the sights around Dublin. We walked a fair amount and took tours of the Guinness Brewery as well as the Jameson Distillery. We also took a bus tour along the Southern Coast which took us to an old mansion which is now full of boutiques. There is a huge garden in the back that we were able to walk through. Even though it was the end of October the grass was still very green and some flowers were still blooming.

Since the Dublin trip things have been pretty normal, but sometimes it seems the weeks go by very quickly. Last week the Primary school I teach at once a week had their English Olympics, it is a scholastic competition with various parts such as reading comprehension, listening, vocabulary, grammar, a role play and a picture story. As the native speaker I read the text aloud for the listening comprehension section and also took part in the role plays. In one scenario I was the parent of the child and they were to convince me they should have a room to themselves even though that wasn't really an option. In the other scenario I was also the parent, but this time the student was to convince me they should get to spend their summer holiday on their uncle's farm instead of on a family trip I found even though they were at their uncle's last summer. This week the High School has its English Olympics. I don't know the role plays yet, but I wonder if I will be a parent again. Maybe it will help prepare me for the future if I have kids.

We also have a kind of open house this week. It is a day for parents (parents of current students can come too) and prospective students to come to the school. I found out on Friday that myself and the other two lecturers here will be interviewed during a session that day. I was given some possible questions, so now just need to figure out what I will say.

This weekend Liptovsky Mikulas had a Christmas market and festival. There were many artisans out selling their work, rides, food, drink and concerts. Since the town is named after St. Nick they have the festival the weekend of St. Nick's Day, December 6. One tradition they have with St. Nick that I was not aware of before is that he goes around with a little devil. The good kids get a present from St. Nick and I think the bad kids are taken away or something like that.

With the start of this week it will be two and a half weeks till Christmas break. Our break start December 23 and classes start again January 11. I think the time leading up to break will go quickly. I am currently thinking of Christmas oriented plans to do with some of my classes. I am looking forward to the Christmas season and break. I will not be traveling home for Christmas, but will be with a very nice family. Last year I was able to spend Christmas in Denmark and will be doing that again. I am looking forward to learning more about the Danish traditions and the new experiences that will come with the trip.

Here are some pictures from my adventures so far this year.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=324612&id=682430592&l=eeef317ca6

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.

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.

The summer is over?!?

Greetings everyone! How time flies. The summer has come and gone. I left for home on July 2 and arrived back in Slovakia August 19. As is the same with many people I had a full summer. I was happy to see a number of relatives and friends while I was home.

I have arrived back in Slovakia and have been at school for planning the next school year for two days. The class schedules are still being figured out, so I have been creative figuring out what and how to plan. It has been nice getting to see my colleagues though and catch up a little. All of the teachers here have extended a very warm welcome back.

School starts on September 2 in Slovakia, for religious schools as well as state schools across the country. Classes do not actually meet on the 2nd though. My school will have a church service that day to open the school year. We also have a “new” building; the interior was being renovated over the summer. One floor of the building is ready for use, so the General Bishop of Slovakia and the Eastern Bishop of Slovakia are coming to officially open that building for the school year. There will be some classes using that building and the rest of it will be worked on gradually so the school can use all of it at some point. I am looking forward to what happens this year.