well its been a day or two since my last post other than photos and so much has happened already!
School school school... i had my orientation yesterday. This was very good. My teacher is the english teacher so that was very helpful. She showed me around the school and gave me some pointers and tid bits of advice for my first day (which is coming up very fast--this wed!). You may be wondering what kinds of classes I will be taking and how they will work? Well this is a good question and sadly I don't have the answer yet. (OH how I wish I did though!) I will be getting my schedule on wed. Apparrently the first few days are mostly assemblies and presentation of the rules and stuff. So we will see I suppose....
The school itself is quite different than schools back home. It is in a quite run down building with small windows (but at least it has windows!) and crooked walls and doors and things. It definately feels like a school on the inside though. It kind of reminds me of the schools you would see in old movies. Like the classic classroom with the rows of desks and a chalk board at the front.
My class has 28 kids in it; 22 boys and 6 girls so that is going to be interesting. There is one other exchange student in my class from Mexico so I am excited to meet them too! I think we may become good friends in the beginning at least. So far all I know is that I will be in geography, history, physics, math, chemistry, and biology and probably gym. I have 6-8 classes in a day and so sometimes my day ends at 130 and sometimes at 300. I have to take the bus home from school. (I think i can handle this though, I did a test run with my cousin yesterday and it went well, the bus system is somewhat similar to ours not that I've ever really taken the city bus before BUT).
Some of the things that are quite different at my school are there are no lockers, just big cabinets that the whole class shares, you have to bring a pair of indoor shoes, and the gyms are just oversized classrooms rather than gymnasiums like we know. Another thing that is different is the lunch system. Most students (if not all) eat at the cafeteria but there are only ever two meals on the menu. You have to pre-purchase lunch tickets and then choose which meal you want that day and submit it to the lunch lady. Then at luch time you can have a bowl of soup, some salad, a drink, and your meal. It seems pretty good to me but I have no idea what type of food they have yet...hahah I hope its good.
Speaking of food, the food here is quite good, its just different. Its taken me a while to get used to it and I think my stomach is still adjusting. I never really feel hungry, but I dont know if that s because they are constantly feeding me or because I'm not used to the food! Today for lunch for instance we had soup with garlic broth, croutons in it, and cheese melted on top to start. Then we had fries and rice and pork smothered in a cheesy cream sauce. It was very good but also very filling and dense? i'm not too sure how to describe it. All of their vegetables are cooked all the time and they use alot of sauces and oils and cheeses. I've also learned that you never finish you're drink because as soon as you finish it they get you another one whether you want it or not so to avoid this you just leave a little bit in the bottom of the glass to look as though you are still working on it. But they never stop drinking. Whenever we go out we always stop for a drink (I usually have coke or Fanta or water but I discovered this non alcoholic wine/juice called vinea which I really like today) and they pour you these drinks from those little glass bottles (there only ever 200 ml or so). Its quite cute.
NOW I think its time for some random things ive noticed about Slovakia. Driving here is nuts! there are hardly any lights, instead they just put yield signs everywhere. the roads are extrememly narrow and there are no yellow lines seperating oncoming traffic. I have no idea how the people know where they are going and how they don't hit one another. It astounds me! and I thought I got motion sick at home, well here I haven't had a car ride when I didn't feel sick at the end of it. The roads are so small and windy and they drive quite fast. I hope I will adjust eventually and for now I am just thankful all of the car rides are short. And they park everywhere because apparently parking is expensive...so they park on the sidewalk in random little nooks and cranys wherever the car will fit pretty much and they can make their little cars fit in come very strange places! Another different thing is they wear slippers everywhere here. When you come in the front door you have to take your shoes off and put on a pair of slippers which they wear everywhere in the house and then if you go out on the veranda or balcony out back you have to take the slippers off and put different slipper/shoes on. So they pretty much just have piles of slipper sandal shoes at all the entrances. Even if you are a guest you put on slippers! It makes sense I guess, less mud on the floor... but I miss just going barefoot but i'm getting somewhat used to it. Okay and last random tidbit of info they greet you with kisses on the cheek in a more formal setting (which took me off guard but now I've come to expect it), when they put their hand out for a shake it is very limp and weak not like canada where it is a sign of confidence to have a firm hand shake.
well thats it for now! share more later!
Paige
ps I'm going ot the capital city, Bratislava, today so I will probably have lots of pictures to put up later!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Some pictures
The Mall....
There are rows upon rows of these flats.
more flats. They are everywhere!
The view from behind my house
The water parkWednesday, August 26, 2009
Settling in
Ahoj! well things are definately starting to fall into place. I think I am starting to understand how things work and what the next few months will be like. A routine is kind of evolving which is good.... very good.... i like routine a lot! Right now of course it is different, but once I start school it will be good I think.
Lets see... so much happens in one day! Its hard to remember all of the stuff I think about and see and do! It s all so amazing! My day today started early. very early. I woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep so I just decided to get out of bed and be somewhat useful. I think it was because of the time change and probably partly because I am so excited and nervous and confused all at the same time. I just watched some tv and made myself breakfast (meat and cheese on toast). I was able to eat with my mom before she went to work and then I had the house to myself for a couple of hours because my host brother was still sleeping. (he usually sleeps until noon or so and he was out late last night playing poker and watching a hockey game so he was still fast asleep). It was nice having some time to myself, to just be. I studied some slovak and read and fell back asleep until matej woke up. Then I met dushana at the mall down the street from our house for lunch and we went and had her car washed and photographed beacuse they are going to sell it.
Now to some of the more interesting stuff... We went to the 'foreign police' this afternoon to try and look after my visa stuff. It was very interesting this trip. The police building was very very very old and somewhat sketchy looking. Bricks were falling out all over the place, windows were broken and bars were left everywhere as though it was once a prison. I couldn't quite believe that we had to go in there... but we did and matej says "welcome to slovakia, we're a very poor country you know" so he must have saw the look on my face. It turned out to be okay though. I now have a temporary visa for 90 days until all my other paper work goes through and we have to talk to the rotary people about the application process I think. it was kind of funny because I was just sitting there the whole time while these three adults were bickering over my head and I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about! I just have to trust that they will take care of it I guess.
In the evening we went to a water park which is this giant outdoor pool area with slides and parks and multiple pools of varying depths. This was very cool especially since it is very hot here right now. I think today it was 32 degrees. I met my little cousin barbara (she is 8) and my aunt Kate and my other cousin Jakub (he is 14). This was really cool too. Jakub is going to be the one who helps me out with school and stuff because he is going to the same schoool as me. He has pretty good english and we made a deal so that I will talk to him in english if he talks to me in slovak.... so together we should make a pretty good team.
Speaking of school I am looking forward to tomorrow morning when I am going to register for school. I will find out when it starts and learn how to take the bus and what classes I am taking and stuff like that. My school website is gvarza.edu.sk if you want to see some pictures of it. Jakub says there are around 400 students and there are eight grades so it is pretty small. It should be interesting!
Evenings are the best I think right now because that s when my parents come home so I get to help with supper and we get to sit on the veranda and visit (they drink wine and vojto smokes a cigar) and share stories and stuff. It is really fun getting to know the family and where they come from and learning the language. The language is actually coming very fast. All you have to do is put a little effort in and you start to pick up on little things especially since I am surrounded by it all the time. The most frustrating part about the language is that I don't know what everyone else is saying most of the time and it is tiring trying to get what I want to say across. Although my dad has quite good english, it is hard work understanding him sometimes, so it all takes a lot of concentration. None of it is mindless anymore that is for sure! but with time it will get easier I'm sure.... after all it is only day 3! I can hardly believe it!
So that s whats up! Glad to share!
<3 p
Lets see... so much happens in one day! Its hard to remember all of the stuff I think about and see and do! It s all so amazing! My day today started early. very early. I woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep so I just decided to get out of bed and be somewhat useful. I think it was because of the time change and probably partly because I am so excited and nervous and confused all at the same time. I just watched some tv and made myself breakfast (meat and cheese on toast). I was able to eat with my mom before she went to work and then I had the house to myself for a couple of hours because my host brother was still sleeping. (he usually sleeps until noon or so and he was out late last night playing poker and watching a hockey game so he was still fast asleep). It was nice having some time to myself, to just be. I studied some slovak and read and fell back asleep until matej woke up. Then I met dushana at the mall down the street from our house for lunch and we went and had her car washed and photographed beacuse they are going to sell it.
Now to some of the more interesting stuff... We went to the 'foreign police' this afternoon to try and look after my visa stuff. It was very interesting this trip. The police building was very very very old and somewhat sketchy looking. Bricks were falling out all over the place, windows were broken and bars were left everywhere as though it was once a prison. I couldn't quite believe that we had to go in there... but we did and matej says "welcome to slovakia, we're a very poor country you know" so he must have saw the look on my face. It turned out to be okay though. I now have a temporary visa for 90 days until all my other paper work goes through and we have to talk to the rotary people about the application process I think. it was kind of funny because I was just sitting there the whole time while these three adults were bickering over my head and I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about! I just have to trust that they will take care of it I guess.
In the evening we went to a water park which is this giant outdoor pool area with slides and parks and multiple pools of varying depths. This was very cool especially since it is very hot here right now. I think today it was 32 degrees. I met my little cousin barbara (she is 8) and my aunt Kate and my other cousin Jakub (he is 14). This was really cool too. Jakub is going to be the one who helps me out with school and stuff because he is going to the same schoool as me. He has pretty good english and we made a deal so that I will talk to him in english if he talks to me in slovak.... so together we should make a pretty good team.
Speaking of school I am looking forward to tomorrow morning when I am going to register for school. I will find out when it starts and learn how to take the bus and what classes I am taking and stuff like that. My school website is gvarza.edu.sk if you want to see some pictures of it. Jakub says there are around 400 students and there are eight grades so it is pretty small. It should be interesting!
Evenings are the best I think right now because that s when my parents come home so I get to help with supper and we get to sit on the veranda and visit (they drink wine and vojto smokes a cigar) and share stories and stuff. It is really fun getting to know the family and where they come from and learning the language. The language is actually coming very fast. All you have to do is put a little effort in and you start to pick up on little things especially since I am surrounded by it all the time. The most frustrating part about the language is that I don't know what everyone else is saying most of the time and it is tiring trying to get what I want to say across. Although my dad has quite good english, it is hard work understanding him sometimes, so it all takes a lot of concentration. None of it is mindless anymore that is for sure! but with time it will get easier I'm sure.... after all it is only day 3! I can hardly believe it!
So that s whats up! Glad to share!
<3 p
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The first real day...
Well there wasn't much of a day left when I finally got out of bed, but it was still fantastic. I slept until one today which was very nice! I needed it! Both of my host parents went to work in the morning around 8. They both work as book keepers for a big company I think (I'm not too sure what this means but thats what they call it). My dad (who I will refer to as Vojto from now on) also works some at home in his office for another company I think.
When I woke up there were problems with the water because a pipeline burst down the road so I had to wait to have a shower and stuff. Not too long though--thank goodness! THEY FOUND MY LUGGAGE though today so it was so nice to be able to unpack all of my things into my room and have some comforts from home. I'm settling in quite nicely I'd say.
I went shopping yesterday for some essential clothing items... aka underwear and a clean shirt (without puke on it) which was interesting because since my brother is the only one who speaks english well he was the one that brought me. Hahaha so I went underwear shopping with my brother-good times!
Seeing the mall was nice though. It's one of two malls in my city. I think its probably around the size of Kingsway? or so. The new builidings here are not very aesthetically pleasing on the outside. The mall looks like a big industrial plant with no windows or anything on the outside but inside it was very nice. It has many floors and lots and lots of shops. some canadian shops too like tommy hilfiger and stuff. I will go back another time though and really explore it, this time we just went in and out, not too much looking around. But I think I will be able to go to the mall when I want to because it is just down the road from my house.
Today I hung out at home with my brother and his friend. I watched them play cards and we talked about slovakia and canada and stuff and then Vojto (dad) took me to the city square which is full of shops and pubs and old buildings and stuff. this was pretty cool and interesting. i will put pictures up eventually when I figure out how to do it. then vojto and I went to try and figure out a cell phone for me, so I now have a phone which is very nice!
today also I had my first real slovak meal. It was very good! It was potatoes (the best potatoes I have ever had i might add) baked in the oven in very thin slices with spices and fish. The fish was served cold in this mayo like sauce and sauerkraut stuff. It looked very weird but I tried it and it turned out to be delicious! We also had this interesting drink, it is supposed to be very good for your health but I didn't really like it. It pretty much tasted like sour cream in milkshake form. it tasted okay but it was very thick and filling, very different!
Now I'm just at home for a little bit by myself, my parents went to 'fitness' they call it and will be back in half an hour. Tomorrow I'm going swimming with my cousin and matej so this should be fun! I'm excited to see how it goes. So the adventure continues... but so far so good! I really like this city. It is sooooo beautiful and quaint and the people seem to be friendly enough. I think it will be a good home for eleven months.
love p
When I woke up there were problems with the water because a pipeline burst down the road so I had to wait to have a shower and stuff. Not too long though--thank goodness! THEY FOUND MY LUGGAGE though today so it was so nice to be able to unpack all of my things into my room and have some comforts from home. I'm settling in quite nicely I'd say.
I went shopping yesterday for some essential clothing items... aka underwear and a clean shirt (without puke on it) which was interesting because since my brother is the only one who speaks english well he was the one that brought me. Hahaha so I went underwear shopping with my brother-good times!
Seeing the mall was nice though. It's one of two malls in my city. I think its probably around the size of Kingsway? or so. The new builidings here are not very aesthetically pleasing on the outside. The mall looks like a big industrial plant with no windows or anything on the outside but inside it was very nice. It has many floors and lots and lots of shops. some canadian shops too like tommy hilfiger and stuff. I will go back another time though and really explore it, this time we just went in and out, not too much looking around. But I think I will be able to go to the mall when I want to because it is just down the road from my house.
Today I hung out at home with my brother and his friend. I watched them play cards and we talked about slovakia and canada and stuff and then Vojto (dad) took me to the city square which is full of shops and pubs and old buildings and stuff. this was pretty cool and interesting. i will put pictures up eventually when I figure out how to do it. then vojto and I went to try and figure out a cell phone for me, so I now have a phone which is very nice!
today also I had my first real slovak meal. It was very good! It was potatoes (the best potatoes I have ever had i might add) baked in the oven in very thin slices with spices and fish. The fish was served cold in this mayo like sauce and sauerkraut stuff. It looked very weird but I tried it and it turned out to be delicious! We also had this interesting drink, it is supposed to be very good for your health but I didn't really like it. It pretty much tasted like sour cream in milkshake form. it tasted okay but it was very thick and filling, very different!
Now I'm just at home for a little bit by myself, my parents went to 'fitness' they call it and will be back in half an hour. Tomorrow I'm going swimming with my cousin and matej so this should be fun! I'm excited to see how it goes. So the adventure continues... but so far so good! I really like this city. It is sooooo beautiful and quaint and the people seem to be friendly enough. I think it will be a good home for eleven months.
love p
Monday, August 24, 2009
The Trip....
and oh what a trip it was! By the time I arrived in Zilina I had not slept for over 48hours (other than for a couple of broken hours of sleep at a time on the plane or on the airport floor). I would have to say the flight from Toronto to Paris was the best. It was really cool because everything was in French (since I was flying with air france) and there were so many people from ALL over the world on it. I sat beside a very nice elderly couple from Romania. They didn't speak very good english but we were able to communicate a little bit with gestures and pictures. It was really cool hearing all of the languages coming together... I think there was hungarian, romanian, czech, french, and english all at the same time!
This flight ended up being delayed over an hour and since I only had one hour for my connection in Paris it meant I had to really boogy across the entire ariport to catch my next flight. I almost missed it and was pretty much running like crazy across the paris airport. So I can't say I really experienced paris much but I'm just glad I made the flight. Then after this flight I had two smaller flights within europe. From Paris to Prague and Prague to Zilina. These went by very quickly and pretty smoothly.
This is where the adventure starts though...... the last flight was on a very very very small plane and you all know how I get motion sickness pretty easily. WELL after 20 some hours of travelling and then ending up on a very little flight my stomach was not too pleased with me. I managed to hold back my barf on the plane until I got home but ughhhhhhhh I still feel so sick! What a nice way to greet my host family; Hello nice to meet you my name is paige.... do you have a toilet I can barf in? It kind of sucked but I just asked to lay down for a couple of hours, took some gravel and now I'm feelin quite a bit better.
Now all i have to worry about is my luggage. Unfortunately it did not make it on the small plane and so it is lost somewhere in Europe. Pretty mcuh my entire life is in that luggage so I really hope I get it back. I don't have pjs for tonight or a change of clothes and I'm pretty sure I smell kinda bad having travelled in the same clothing for the past 26 hours...... I'm going to go shopping with my host mom dushana right away here so I can buy some essentials while they look for my luggage. I REALLY hope I get it back!!!!!! but all I can do is wait I guess.
As for my host family, my host parents are FANTASTIC! they are really nice and understanding and helpful. my host brother is reallly good about things too. He has really good english which is really helpful right now especially considering the whole luggage predicament. My host dad says his english is not too good but i can understand him and I've been helping him out from time to time so I think it will work well. I am well set up in a beautiful bedroom (my host sisters) with internet, a tv, a computer, and a big bed. I think I can get used to this life for sure! It is quiet but very nice.
Well I have to go shop.... what a shame... such a hardship! Talk to you all later!
Love Paige
This flight ended up being delayed over an hour and since I only had one hour for my connection in Paris it meant I had to really boogy across the entire ariport to catch my next flight. I almost missed it and was pretty much running like crazy across the paris airport. So I can't say I really experienced paris much but I'm just glad I made the flight. Then after this flight I had two smaller flights within europe. From Paris to Prague and Prague to Zilina. These went by very quickly and pretty smoothly.
This is where the adventure starts though...... the last flight was on a very very very small plane and you all know how I get motion sickness pretty easily. WELL after 20 some hours of travelling and then ending up on a very little flight my stomach was not too pleased with me. I managed to hold back my barf on the plane until I got home but ughhhhhhhh I still feel so sick! What a nice way to greet my host family; Hello nice to meet you my name is paige.... do you have a toilet I can barf in? It kind of sucked but I just asked to lay down for a couple of hours, took some gravel and now I'm feelin quite a bit better.
Now all i have to worry about is my luggage. Unfortunately it did not make it on the small plane and so it is lost somewhere in Europe. Pretty mcuh my entire life is in that luggage so I really hope I get it back. I don't have pjs for tonight or a change of clothes and I'm pretty sure I smell kinda bad having travelled in the same clothing for the past 26 hours...... I'm going to go shopping with my host mom dushana right away here so I can buy some essentials while they look for my luggage. I REALLY hope I get it back!!!!!! but all I can do is wait I guess.
As for my host family, my host parents are FANTASTIC! they are really nice and understanding and helpful. my host brother is reallly good about things too. He has really good english which is really helpful right now especially considering the whole luggage predicament. My host dad says his english is not too good but i can understand him and I've been helping him out from time to time so I think it will work well. I am well set up in a beautiful bedroom (my host sisters) with internet, a tv, a computer, and a big bed. I think I can get used to this life for sure! It is quiet but very nice.
Well I have to go shop.... what a shame... such a hardship! Talk to you all later!
Love Paige
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