Today was a holiday which meant NO SCHOOL! Yay! but it also meant that I had to find something to do with myself in which case it would have been much simpler if I had friends. But alas I dont really have friends so it was difficult. I spent the morning just lazing about the house which I, personally, enjoyed but I'm not sure my host parents felt the same. They kept asking me what are you going to do today? Co robis? Co robis dnes? SO I figured I should at the very least look busy so I went out to explore. This was well worth my while as I discovered a whole section of the city I didn't even know existed! I was so excited! Behind my house over a hill and in some trees there is this beautiful park! It seems really large and it had all kinds of beautiful paths into the wilderness with different monuments dispersed throughout. It was really cool! Now sadly I didn't really get to see all that much of it because I was on foot and it was almost an hour into my walk before I even made this discovery but in the future I will go back for! and maybe even on bike so I can really get somewhere. So that was the first of many random and somewhat stange discoveries I made today.
The second came just before lunch (obed). My mom was busy cooking lunch and my dad making a salad when they turned to me with serious expressions on their faces and asked; 'Paige, can you go to the store and buy us some cheese? We need 200grams of feta.' I laughed at first because I was expecting some important information to come from their lips but no they simply wanted some cheese. I was more than happy to go get some too! I was overjoyed to have something to do and honored to be given such responsibility (sad I know, but I really have no, nada, nothing, as far as responsibilities go here so far). My dad wrote down the type of cheese he wanted, how much he wanted and gave me some money and I was off.. woohoo! to the grocery store. On my way there (its like a 10 min walk) I was thinking to myself; 'okay you can do this. You can get the right kind of cheese, show them that you are capable, its all good.' So I got to the store found what I thought what I thought was feta and headed for home only to discover it wasn't! So then I had to go back to the store with my dad and we RETURNED the cheese! It was slightly embarrasing I must admit, standing at the returns counter. I couldn't understand what they were saying either and im not sure whether that made it better or worse to be honest. I'm pretty sure my dad told the lady that it was my doing because she looked at me kind of funny and snickered to herself. It was pretty entertaining.
Discovery #3: They eat cauliflower covered in batter then fried in grease. EVERYTHING, and I mean everything! is covered in some kind of bread here! Enough said.
After lunch, I went for a bike ride with my mom which lead to crazy experience #4. I was happy to be going out for the afternoon and I thought it would be a good bonding experience with my host mother. It turned out to be that and so much more. I went upstairs to throw on some sweatpants and I came down to find my mother decked out head to toe, in riding gear. I mean the shorts with the padded but, gloves, sunglasses, spandex shirt intense shoes. Everything. So I quickly realized my picture of a peaceful, leisurely bike ride around town was inaccurate. I also realized I needed to prepare myself to die. I am NOT in good shape, but let me tell you, if I do that every week I will be! We rode for over 2 hours I think and went all around the city and out to the river. It was actually really nice, burning thighs, sore butt, and aching back, aside. I loved being able to see the city and biking along the river was absolutely beautiful! So even though it was difficult, and I'm not sure whether I'll be able to get out of bed tommorrow I would definitely do it again. It was one risk worth taking.
Okay and the last discovery of the day, and quite possibly the most random, concerns mushrooms. Yes mushrooms. It seems that they are a big deal. Here I was thinking a mushroom is a mushroom, you can buy them at the store fresh or in a can, its as simple as that, but my host dad quickly fixed that. Apparently there are a lot of different kinds of mushrooms and a lot them grow naturally here. This seems to be somthing the slovak people are quite proud of in fact. Since arriving here I've come across the topic of mushrooms on several occasions, sometimes when I least expect it. At my babina's my uncle brought out this book of mushrooms to show me, when we were walking to the store for cheese our friend showed us a bucket of mushrooms he just picked from in the mountains, and on our bike ride I saw some people picking mushrooms in the ditch. Its so random, and kind of funny. Sadly I have not yet come across mushroom soup however, and those of you who know me well know that I love mushroom soup and used to eat almost everyday for breakfast. I MISS it!
Okay and I lied there is a sixth random discovery. They don't have peanut butter here! I tried to explain what it was and my cousin just told me; "well you could just make some, there are peanuts in the cupboard" and my dad told me "ahh here we have some!" but it was nutella. My dad doesn't understand and he insists that nutella is the same thing. Its really cute. I was trying to explain it further and I said that we eat it on toast at home and then I realized they don't really eat toast here either! Perhaps I will get my mom to send me some sometime... then perhaps they will understand. :)
Well I think thats more than enough reading for you.
good night!
p
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Disco Experience and Lunch with Babina
So as you might have gathered from the title, I had a pretty busy weekend! Two day trips! one on Sat and one on Sunday.
I'll start with saturday. We left early (ish) in the morning for Bratislava. This was my second visit to the capital city, which is rather large with lots of unique architecture. It has a really cool mix of the old and the new. I like it there but I don't think that I would want to live there.... too big! First we went shopping which of course I enjoyed. There are two large shopping centers so I got to alot of different shops. Then after our shopping extravaganza we went to Disco world 2009 dancing competiton. It was crazy! It was pretty much this giant dancing festival where dancing groups from across Europe come to compete. So it was actually really impressive! Mind you I really have no idea what is 'good' disco and what is 'bad' disco. I can't even begin to describe these dance moves though. There was freestyle which was a combination of breakdancing and jazz and hip hop and then there were groups which were more like hip hop than anything else. And I have never seen so much glitter in my entire life! I'm not even joking! All of the dancers were covered from head to toe, guys included, and there was also a lot of spandex and plastic/pleather pants! Very interesting indeed.....
So then on Sunday we swtiched gears completely and went for a nice Sunday brunch at my babina's (grandma's) house. This was really nice. She lives in a cute but quite old little flat in a smaller town about two hours from where I live. The house is the house where my host dad grew up so he was really happy to be able to show me where he came from and all of his family. I got to meet some of my cousins and my autns and uncles too which was really cool. They were all so kind and welcoming! I felt right at home. I think it was just what I needed, because that morning I had been feeling quite homesick but after being there for a couple of hours I felt much better.
But really I have never eaten so much in my entire life! There was so much food, so much good food! We had lunch which was goulash (yummmy!) followed by pork on dumplings smothered in a creamy sauce (yummier!). then after that there was cakes and cookies and crackers galore! Chocolate squares, rice crispies, peanuts, cheese pretty much anything you can imagine and more. You could literally eat your heart out. Needless to say I really enjoyed myself (and felt only a few sizes larger by the time I left!) :)
And now it is sunday night and tom is school so I should sleep some, so when I'm bored out of my mind I'm less tempted to nod off. So good night! and thnaks for listenting (really!).
p
I'll start with saturday. We left early (ish) in the morning for Bratislava. This was my second visit to the capital city, which is rather large with lots of unique architecture. It has a really cool mix of the old and the new. I like it there but I don't think that I would want to live there.... too big! First we went shopping which of course I enjoyed. There are two large shopping centers so I got to alot of different shops. Then after our shopping extravaganza we went to Disco world 2009 dancing competiton. It was crazy! It was pretty much this giant dancing festival where dancing groups from across Europe come to compete. So it was actually really impressive! Mind you I really have no idea what is 'good' disco and what is 'bad' disco. I can't even begin to describe these dance moves though. There was freestyle which was a combination of breakdancing and jazz and hip hop and then there were groups which were more like hip hop than anything else. And I have never seen so much glitter in my entire life! I'm not even joking! All of the dancers were covered from head to toe, guys included, and there was also a lot of spandex and plastic/pleather pants! Very interesting indeed.....
So then on Sunday we swtiched gears completely and went for a nice Sunday brunch at my babina's (grandma's) house. This was really nice. She lives in a cute but quite old little flat in a smaller town about two hours from where I live. The house is the house where my host dad grew up so he was really happy to be able to show me where he came from and all of his family. I got to meet some of my cousins and my autns and uncles too which was really cool. They were all so kind and welcoming! I felt right at home. I think it was just what I needed, because that morning I had been feeling quite homesick but after being there for a couple of hours I felt much better.
But really I have never eaten so much in my entire life! There was so much food, so much good food! We had lunch which was goulash (yummmy!) followed by pork on dumplings smothered in a creamy sauce (yummier!). then after that there was cakes and cookies and crackers galore! Chocolate squares, rice crispies, peanuts, cheese pretty much anything you can imagine and more. You could literally eat your heart out. Needless to say I really enjoyed myself (and felt only a few sizes larger by the time I left!) :)
And now it is sunday night and tom is school so I should sleep some, so when I'm bored out of my mind I'm less tempted to nod off. So good night! and thnaks for listenting (really!).
p
Thursday, September 10, 2009
continuing along
Okay so a random story of the day is what I'll start with. Gym Class. Need I say more? Here, gym is old school. The gymnasium looks really sketchy, pretty much like out of a movie made in the 50's. The floor boards move when you walk and the mats we used looked like ancient artifacts. It was interesting to say the least. And the instruction is comparable to my surroundings. Today we all had to get weighed and measured... god only knows why. So that was really a confidence boost when all the girls on this half of the planet are super skinny. I'm not even kidding, here everyone is super small, so in my class of girls I'm pretty sure I weighed 8 kg more than the next biggest girl. This was wonderful especially considering I haven't even gained the exchange 30lbs yet. Hahaha oh well, I guess I'm just representing the world view of Canada and the US as 'large' nations. The first question everyone always ask me when they find out I'm from Canada is; Do you speak French? and then follows; "Is it true that all you eat is fast food? Do you know how to cook?". Its really funny hearing some of the stereotypes people have. Also at the orientation weekend all the Americans were counting when I said 'eh' which I do apparently say but not as often as they would have liked. BUT back to gym class. After being measured and weighed I was informed that for the first few weeks we have to undergo fitness exams. fun. Today we had to count how many sit ups we could do in one minute and next we have to count push ups and we have to run for 12 minutes and we also have to record how far we can jump. Why?????? I dont understand why this is all so important!? But I must say gym class is much better than some of my other classes. At least we get to move around and its a change of scenery. Also my gym class has some of the girls from the other class in it so I made some new friends which was an added bonus.
What else... well I've got the bus schedule down which is really nice. I kind of like taking the bus now. I'm adjusting but I really really really miss Lenny (my car)! This week has been a little rough. I think the novelty of exchange is beginning to wear off and now the reality is sinking in. Its a weird feeling though because its not like I'm overly sad or anything and I am really happy to be here and still amazed at all the new things I come across but I miss some of the little things from home, my car included. I miss the food! and always having what I want in the house. I miss talking in full english sentences! I think I might come home with a bad slovak accent speaking broken english. It s so funny because I constantly catch myself speaking in an accent and I usually have to speak very slowly and in simple terms for my host parents to understand. Plus I'm always thinking of the simplest ways to say things because my slovak vocab is so limited (admittedly its growing everyday but its still a long way from descriptive). the peope here must wonder 'where is that girl from?' 'she speaks strange!
Because of the language barrier I constantly find myself in strange predicaments. Like today for instance I was sitting innocently on the bus minding my own business when this group of old ladies come on and start muttering in slovak. Now I've gotten pretty good at just glazing over and blocking out the slovak because I don't understand it. So it took me a while to figure out that they were muttering at ME! Once I figured that out I tried to understand and I told them I dont' speak slovak very well but they kept on until they looked very irritated with me. Eventually, however, they just sat down. I think they wanted me to move seats but i have no idea why because there was plenty of room for everyone and the bus was almost empty. But i guess I ll never know now!
This evening I went to a film at the cinema as they call it. We saw the proposal. It just came out in theatres here because they get the movies much later than us. We say a preview for Knowing too 'coming soon to theatres' which was funny because we rented that movie a couple of weeks before I came here. The proposal was HILARIOUS though. I loved it! I have to say I think its my new favorite movie. I don't know if it was actually a good movie though or if Ive just been so deprived of english tv that I would think anything was good hahaha. It s convenient here though because most of the movies (the ones that aren't dubbed) are in english with czech subtitles so I can actually enjoy them! It was really nice going out with friends though, it helps take my mind off home.
This weekend I am going to Bratislava again to watch a eurpean finals disco dance competition so this should be interesting. Apparently my host sister was a world champion dance competitor and my host brother is the mc at this competition. I would like to point out though before you all jump to conclusions like I did, that disco here is not people jumping around in spandex and neon colors. Thats just what they call pretty much any dance I think except the tradtional slovak dance whcih they call folk. But I will be able to more fully describe what this really is after my weekend is over as i will have experienced it for myself. I think I will also get an opportunity to go to some disco clubs......yikes!... it will be interesting!
And on Sunday I am going to my grandmas house for a celebration of some kind so I'm excited for this too! It will be good Im sure!
Well its late here and I have school tom so I should go get some sleep. thnks for listening! really!
p
What else... well I've got the bus schedule down which is really nice. I kind of like taking the bus now. I'm adjusting but I really really really miss Lenny (my car)! This week has been a little rough. I think the novelty of exchange is beginning to wear off and now the reality is sinking in. Its a weird feeling though because its not like I'm overly sad or anything and I am really happy to be here and still amazed at all the new things I come across but I miss some of the little things from home, my car included. I miss the food! and always having what I want in the house. I miss talking in full english sentences! I think I might come home with a bad slovak accent speaking broken english. It s so funny because I constantly catch myself speaking in an accent and I usually have to speak very slowly and in simple terms for my host parents to understand. Plus I'm always thinking of the simplest ways to say things because my slovak vocab is so limited (admittedly its growing everyday but its still a long way from descriptive). the peope here must wonder 'where is that girl from?' 'she speaks strange!
Because of the language barrier I constantly find myself in strange predicaments. Like today for instance I was sitting innocently on the bus minding my own business when this group of old ladies come on and start muttering in slovak. Now I've gotten pretty good at just glazing over and blocking out the slovak because I don't understand it. So it took me a while to figure out that they were muttering at ME! Once I figured that out I tried to understand and I told them I dont' speak slovak very well but they kept on until they looked very irritated with me. Eventually, however, they just sat down. I think they wanted me to move seats but i have no idea why because there was plenty of room for everyone and the bus was almost empty. But i guess I ll never know now!
This evening I went to a film at the cinema as they call it. We saw the proposal. It just came out in theatres here because they get the movies much later than us. We say a preview for Knowing too 'coming soon to theatres' which was funny because we rented that movie a couple of weeks before I came here. The proposal was HILARIOUS though. I loved it! I have to say I think its my new favorite movie. I don't know if it was actually a good movie though or if Ive just been so deprived of english tv that I would think anything was good hahaha. It s convenient here though because most of the movies (the ones that aren't dubbed) are in english with czech subtitles so I can actually enjoy them! It was really nice going out with friends though, it helps take my mind off home.
This weekend I am going to Bratislava again to watch a eurpean finals disco dance competition so this should be interesting. Apparently my host sister was a world champion dance competitor and my host brother is the mc at this competition. I would like to point out though before you all jump to conclusions like I did, that disco here is not people jumping around in spandex and neon colors. Thats just what they call pretty much any dance I think except the tradtional slovak dance whcih they call folk. But I will be able to more fully describe what this really is after my weekend is over as i will have experienced it for myself. I think I will also get an opportunity to go to some disco clubs......yikes!... it will be interesting!
And on Sunday I am going to my grandmas house for a celebration of some kind so I'm excited for this too! It will be good Im sure!
Well its late here and I have school tom so I should go get some sleep. thnks for listening! really!
p
Sunday, September 6, 2009
craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy fun!
Well here I am again! with a whole bunch more to share with you all! This weekend (as I mentioned before) was my first orientation meeting.... and it was AMAZING! It was so cool meeting people from all over the world the best part was that they actually totally understood what I was going thru. We had a blast talking about all the things we thought were different about here and our homes, sharing funny stories, hard times, and solutions. I think it was really goood. It reminded me that I'm not in this alone, there are a lot of others going through the exact same things.
So who was there? There were a lot of Americans! I never expected so many but there were alot! There were supposed to be 59 of us total from the district (which covers slovakia and czech) but a few couldn't make it out. So there were probably around 20 americans, there were 3 Canadians (myself, 0ne from kelowna, and one from dawson creek), like 10 mexicans, and 7 brazilians, one girl from Japan and one from Taiwan, and 2 from Australia.
And what did we do? Well there were a couple of presentations but really what we did was stay up all night long, hike halfway up a mountain, eat really interesting food, dance up a storm, and raft down a river. It was a crazy weekend and I am SO TIRED!! But I made a lot of really great friends and a couple good rotary connections.
Okay, I'll start with the food. It was good but very different. They tried to feed us traditional slovak and czech food so we had sauerkraut on four pieces of sourdough bread with pork one night and then schnitzel and potatoes another night and some chocolate yogurt! for breakfast. We had this strange tea stuff with every meal too. All of it was pretty good except I just couldn't quite handle the sauerkraut meal. I really hate looking at soggy bread, and so the thought of eating just grossed me right out, I just couldn't do it. But there were a lot of people who didn't really like that meal so one of the girls at our table pretended to be vegetarian and got the vegetarian meal which looked much more appetizing and we all shared that so we didn't have to starve. It was funny and a good bonding moment :).
The rafting was really cool. We went down the Vah river on this wooden box with benches on it essentially. There were two tour guides on the boat/raft thing stearing and paddling wearing traditional slovak dress and apparently this mode of transportation is traditonal for the slovak people because they used to use it way back in the olden days. After the raft which was freezing cold I might add because we got wet and it was only 12 degrees that day, we took this long walk half way up a mountain to a castle. This was really cool beacuse you could see so much from on top and I took some really beautiful pictures which I will post eventually here for you to see. It was strecno castle, the second castle Ive visited since I've been here.
Once we were done at the castle they made us walk all the way home which was actually quite a ways (we took a bus to the castle so I dont know why we didn't take one home!). By the time we got back to the hostel we were staying at we were not only tired from the five hours of sleep we had gotten the night before but also exhausted from hiking up a moutain and walking all over the place! Then we had to dance that night! It was really fun though even though I was absolutely wiped out. The dance was ridiculously fun because there were all the different cultures so we had all kinds of music going and the mexicans would teach a dance from their country and then the brazilians one from theirs and then there was some slovak music and some american music of course. Eventually we all made it to bed but most of us not until the wee hours of the night.
Then it was hometime at 1030 on sunday. The weekend really went by so fast! I was so bagged at the end of it all and really excited about the prospect of coming home but when my host bro picked me up he informed me that we were going for lunch at my grandma's house. So I was like oh okay but it turned out to be really nice actually.
It was my host moms mother and she is a very sweet lady. She made us soup and chicken and potatoes and this cheese thing and fed us homemade pickles and cake too! I was soooooo unbelievably full when she was done with me! I'm beginning to understand the meals more now. This is how it works. You eat whatever pretty much for breakfast but lunch is what is REALLY important to them. Its like they go out of their way to make sure you are fed lunch, and it should always be a full hot meal. That is why we eat at school at the end of the day because if your parents aren't home to prepare a luch for you then you eat at school (or you go to grandmas...). Its really cute because the are always concerned about whether or not you had enough to eat, everyday my host parents ask me 'how was lunch? did you get enough to eat? Are you sure its okay?' and everyday I assure them I'm fine. Then they don't eat supper really at all. In my family my mom cooks a big meal on Sunday (for lunch) and we eat together and then we have the left overs for the rest of the week for supper and half the time my mother doesn' t even eat anything at all! So its taking me some time to adjust to this new eating routine but its coming. I'm so used to semi starving all day and then coming home and eating a big supper so this is definately different, but in a way it makes a whole lot more sense. Eat the most in the middle of the day and you'll have more energy for the rest of the day....
well my eyelids are feeling rather heavy at the moment so im going to have a nap before my parents come home from their weekend trip to bratislava to golf.
dobru noc! (good night)
p
So who was there? There were a lot of Americans! I never expected so many but there were alot! There were supposed to be 59 of us total from the district (which covers slovakia and czech) but a few couldn't make it out. So there were probably around 20 americans, there were 3 Canadians (myself, 0ne from kelowna, and one from dawson creek), like 10 mexicans, and 7 brazilians, one girl from Japan and one from Taiwan, and 2 from Australia.
And what did we do? Well there were a couple of presentations but really what we did was stay up all night long, hike halfway up a mountain, eat really interesting food, dance up a storm, and raft down a river. It was a crazy weekend and I am SO TIRED!! But I made a lot of really great friends and a couple good rotary connections.
Okay, I'll start with the food. It was good but very different. They tried to feed us traditional slovak and czech food so we had sauerkraut on four pieces of sourdough bread with pork one night and then schnitzel and potatoes another night and some chocolate yogurt! for breakfast. We had this strange tea stuff with every meal too. All of it was pretty good except I just couldn't quite handle the sauerkraut meal. I really hate looking at soggy bread, and so the thought of eating just grossed me right out, I just couldn't do it. But there were a lot of people who didn't really like that meal so one of the girls at our table pretended to be vegetarian and got the vegetarian meal which looked much more appetizing and we all shared that so we didn't have to starve. It was funny and a good bonding moment :).
The rafting was really cool. We went down the Vah river on this wooden box with benches on it essentially. There were two tour guides on the boat/raft thing stearing and paddling wearing traditional slovak dress and apparently this mode of transportation is traditonal for the slovak people because they used to use it way back in the olden days. After the raft which was freezing cold I might add because we got wet and it was only 12 degrees that day, we took this long walk half way up a mountain to a castle. This was really cool beacuse you could see so much from on top and I took some really beautiful pictures which I will post eventually here for you to see. It was strecno castle, the second castle Ive visited since I've been here.
Once we were done at the castle they made us walk all the way home which was actually quite a ways (we took a bus to the castle so I dont know why we didn't take one home!). By the time we got back to the hostel we were staying at we were not only tired from the five hours of sleep we had gotten the night before but also exhausted from hiking up a moutain and walking all over the place! Then we had to dance that night! It was really fun though even though I was absolutely wiped out. The dance was ridiculously fun because there were all the different cultures so we had all kinds of music going and the mexicans would teach a dance from their country and then the brazilians one from theirs and then there was some slovak music and some american music of course. Eventually we all made it to bed but most of us not until the wee hours of the night.
Then it was hometime at 1030 on sunday. The weekend really went by so fast! I was so bagged at the end of it all and really excited about the prospect of coming home but when my host bro picked me up he informed me that we were going for lunch at my grandma's house. So I was like oh okay but it turned out to be really nice actually.
It was my host moms mother and she is a very sweet lady. She made us soup and chicken and potatoes and this cheese thing and fed us homemade pickles and cake too! I was soooooo unbelievably full when she was done with me! I'm beginning to understand the meals more now. This is how it works. You eat whatever pretty much for breakfast but lunch is what is REALLY important to them. Its like they go out of their way to make sure you are fed lunch, and it should always be a full hot meal. That is why we eat at school at the end of the day because if your parents aren't home to prepare a luch for you then you eat at school (or you go to grandmas...). Its really cute because the are always concerned about whether or not you had enough to eat, everyday my host parents ask me 'how was lunch? did you get enough to eat? Are you sure its okay?' and everyday I assure them I'm fine. Then they don't eat supper really at all. In my family my mom cooks a big meal on Sunday (for lunch) and we eat together and then we have the left overs for the rest of the week for supper and half the time my mother doesn' t even eat anything at all! So its taking me some time to adjust to this new eating routine but its coming. I'm so used to semi starving all day and then coming home and eating a big supper so this is definately different, but in a way it makes a whole lot more sense. Eat the most in the middle of the day and you'll have more energy for the rest of the day....
well my eyelids are feeling rather heavy at the moment so im going to have a nap before my parents come home from their weekend trip to bratislava to golf.
dobru noc! (good night)
p
Friday, September 4, 2009
Okay so I almost had another mini panic attack last night haha (not really but it WAS ann anxiety inducing experience to say the least!) My family and I were off to visit some family friends and they happen to live in one of those many blocks of flats that are around. So I was secretly very excited to get to finally go inside one of these buildings (I was very curious to find out whether or not they look as in rough shape on the inside as they do on the outside....). Much to my surprise the the living areas of the flats were actually very nice! This particular flat was beautifully decorated (in all IKEA! I might add :)) with new flooring and windows, so it looked warm and inviting.
On the contrary, the halls and corridors outside the living areas are not so inviting, nevermind the ELEVATOR! Now this is where my horror comes in. We had to get on this little tiny tiny tiny elevator thing (we being three full grown adults) to get to the seventh floor. Now some of you may know that I am not a huge fan of elevators in the first place as I had a recurring dream of being trapped in a glass elevator as a child, but anyways.... I was horrified to discover that this was actually the contraption we had to take up seven floors. It was literally only one meter by one meter in size and its one of those ones where you get in close the door but it doesn't really actually seal the elevator because you can see and feel the wall moving on the side. And when you got into the thing it sunk more than a few inches and it creaked and squealed the whole way up. Boy oh boy am I glad I don't have to take that up to my house every single day! I still can't quite believe we made it all the way up. I just kept having these visions of the whole thing (myself included) plunging to its demise.
Other than that not too much has happened since yesterday. More school today. it went until 1230 or so then we went for lunch. I think school is going to be trying. Its very difficult to understand anything thats going on and very few of the teachers (except for the english teacher who is AMAZING And my favorite!) translate anything or explain anything. I would say they don't even acknowledge my presence but I think they do sometimes and I just have no idea what they are saying! Every so often I hear the words exchange student and then everyone laughs usually so I'm not too sure if its good or bad.
We got our schedules (which are subject to change) today so I kind of know what I'm in for now at least. There are a lot of subjects! In geography we are supposed to learn ten new words in slovak each class and then in Math we will be tested on them instead of trying to comprehend math in slovak. (which is almost impossible I found out today). We (being the mexican and I) are also going to give a presentation on our home countries to the class at the end of the year in Slovak. So I'm excited for this because it will actually give me something ot work on. Every student in the class was assigned a country and that is like our final project I think. And in English we get to give presentations on ourselves and where we come from and things like that so that will be good. I'm glad some of the teachers are trying to accomodate us and at least attempt to integrate us into the classroom. If they didn't I don't know if I would make it to the end. You have no idea how long five hours is when you have no idea whats going on and no way of figuring it out. Today was the longest day of my life!!! School is boring as it is and then when you can't even understand the language, well then its just a blast....* note to self-bring something to do!
Now I am getting ready to go to my rotary orientation meeting. It is three days long in Strecno. I am very very very excited! It looks like it will be a really fun weekend! I can't wait to meet all of the other exchange students from all over the world! So my next post won't be for a while but ill fill you in eventually! JUst brace yourself for my return because i will probably have a lot to say!
P
On the contrary, the halls and corridors outside the living areas are not so inviting, nevermind the ELEVATOR! Now this is where my horror comes in. We had to get on this little tiny tiny tiny elevator thing (we being three full grown adults) to get to the seventh floor. Now some of you may know that I am not a huge fan of elevators in the first place as I had a recurring dream of being trapped in a glass elevator as a child, but anyways.... I was horrified to discover that this was actually the contraption we had to take up seven floors. It was literally only one meter by one meter in size and its one of those ones where you get in close the door but it doesn't really actually seal the elevator because you can see and feel the wall moving on the side. And when you got into the thing it sunk more than a few inches and it creaked and squealed the whole way up. Boy oh boy am I glad I don't have to take that up to my house every single day! I still can't quite believe we made it all the way up. I just kept having these visions of the whole thing (myself included) plunging to its demise.
Other than that not too much has happened since yesterday. More school today. it went until 1230 or so then we went for lunch. I think school is going to be trying. Its very difficult to understand anything thats going on and very few of the teachers (except for the english teacher who is AMAZING And my favorite!) translate anything or explain anything. I would say they don't even acknowledge my presence but I think they do sometimes and I just have no idea what they are saying! Every so often I hear the words exchange student and then everyone laughs usually so I'm not too sure if its good or bad.
We got our schedules (which are subject to change) today so I kind of know what I'm in for now at least. There are a lot of subjects! In geography we are supposed to learn ten new words in slovak each class and then in Math we will be tested on them instead of trying to comprehend math in slovak. (which is almost impossible I found out today). We (being the mexican and I) are also going to give a presentation on our home countries to the class at the end of the year in Slovak. So I'm excited for this because it will actually give me something ot work on. Every student in the class was assigned a country and that is like our final project I think. And in English we get to give presentations on ourselves and where we come from and things like that so that will be good. I'm glad some of the teachers are trying to accomodate us and at least attempt to integrate us into the classroom. If they didn't I don't know if I would make it to the end. You have no idea how long five hours is when you have no idea whats going on and no way of figuring it out. Today was the longest day of my life!!! School is boring as it is and then when you can't even understand the language, well then its just a blast....* note to self-bring something to do!
Now I am getting ready to go to my rotary orientation meeting. It is three days long in Strecno. I am very very very excited! It looks like it will be a really fun weekend! I can't wait to meet all of the other exchange students from all over the world! So my next post won't be for a while but ill fill you in eventually! JUst brace yourself for my return because i will probably have a lot to say!
P
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Okay well first things first, I think I had THE best sleep ever last night! I dont know why, it wasn't even very long, but I actually felt somewhat refreshed after it! So that was a good start to the day.
Next on the agenda was breakfast..... Last night, on our way to a surprise Rotary meeting which I will talk about later, my family and I stopped at the grocery store. I thought we were just picking up some things but NO, it was a special stop for Paige! I think they think I'm not eating or something because they wouldn't let us leave until I had picked out some things for breakfast. I honestly don't have a very large appetite in the morning and have been just fine eating my single cup of yogurt but I guess they took that as I don't like anything in the fridge..... So I had to come up with something. So today for breakfast I had some dinner rolls and meat and cheese which was good, it was however no match to my usual canadian grilled cheese sandwich or tuna on toast but it will have to do until they let me (and I figure out how) to use the stove here.
After breakfast it was off to school. I'm liking having somewhat of a routine now. Its nice and makes the day go by much more smoothly. School was rather uneventful and a painful repeat of yesterday but the teacher assured me that lessons should start sometime next week (or whenever the time tables are made). So we will see I guess. I have to say I am definately getting better at going with the flow because here I have pretty much no other option.
Oh but let me talk about the JOLLY FESTIVAL!!!!! It was sooooooo super cool and amazing and it made me so unbelievably happy. I think we could learn a thing or two from these europeans! So this festival happens every year in my city, Zilina, and is famous across the entire country of Slovakia. It runs from wednesday all the way through until Friday night and the whole time there are different workshops running, acts, plays, activities, and so much more. Different youth and adults from around Zilina come together for weeks before hand to plan all these workshops and pull off the festival. Its coordinated by an organization called Harmony (which I want to find more about!). So all over the town square they had stuff going on that was completely adapted for people with disablities. There was painting, a hippie section with tie dye and acting, dancing, chanting, singing, and silent acts just to name a few of the activities. But my personal favorite was in the center of the square, where there was a fashion show going on. The people with disabilities could pick any outfit creation they wanted from these giant boxes of costumes and clothes and then strut their stuff on a runway they had set up. It was the sweetest thing ever, and those of you who know people with disabilities, know how much fun they can be when the spotlight is on them! I just imagined Jane up there singing into the microphone and showing everyone her beautiful princess dress! The best part was that a huge part of the community was there to show support, there were people clapping and cheering for them, egging them on. It was really cool to see and I can only imagine the awareness it brings. I'm not gonna lie though, it did make me more than a tad bit homesick but I think the happiness and excitement balanced it out. Also on Wed night there was this really great concert and all kinds of people showed up to dance and celebrate. It was really cool to be a part of it!
I am also happy to report that I had my first meeting with some Rotarians last night. This was very nice! they are all such kind people! We met in the city square (this seems to be where everyone goes for everything) and had ice cream and chit chatted. I met my councillor and she is quite possibly one of THE nicest and understanding people I have ever met. She has never been a councillor before but she has hosted many exchange students with Rotary and both her sons have been out on the exchange before so she knows alot about the experience. It is nice to know that I have yet another contact if ever i need to talk or help or whatever. We found out we will be attending a Rotary club meeting on Monday so I am very excited for this! I hope that we will be able to attend the meetings weekly, partly because I like to know whats going on and also because I am in desperate need of some things to fill my time with. I am also very curious to see the differences between the operation of the club in sherwood park and here. My next major exciting thing that is going to be happening is my orientation weekend (this weekend) at strecno. I am so excited! There are 56 other exchange students I think in the czech and slovakia and I will get to meet them all! and they are from all over the world so that makes it even cooler!
Some other things that made me really happy in the past 24 hours are: I learned how to take the bus from my house to school and from my house to the city centre and back again! You have no idea how AMAZING this is though! I had forgotten how much I love my independence! It has been (and will continue to be I'm sure) such a humbling experience to be so reliant on others for everything. I am also going to work with my host dad to find some slovak lessons for me to take. This will help me with the language I think and also with meeting some people and getting me out of the house! I cant wait! WOW I always sit down and think, hmmmmm it will be a shorter post today but then I start writing and its like it all falls out... and there's no holding it back!
bye bye
P
Next on the agenda was breakfast..... Last night, on our way to a surprise Rotary meeting which I will talk about later, my family and I stopped at the grocery store. I thought we were just picking up some things but NO, it was a special stop for Paige! I think they think I'm not eating or something because they wouldn't let us leave until I had picked out some things for breakfast. I honestly don't have a very large appetite in the morning and have been just fine eating my single cup of yogurt but I guess they took that as I don't like anything in the fridge..... So I had to come up with something. So today for breakfast I had some dinner rolls and meat and cheese which was good, it was however no match to my usual canadian grilled cheese sandwich or tuna on toast but it will have to do until they let me (and I figure out how) to use the stove here.
After breakfast it was off to school. I'm liking having somewhat of a routine now. Its nice and makes the day go by much more smoothly. School was rather uneventful and a painful repeat of yesterday but the teacher assured me that lessons should start sometime next week (or whenever the time tables are made). So we will see I guess. I have to say I am definately getting better at going with the flow because here I have pretty much no other option.
Oh but let me talk about the JOLLY FESTIVAL!!!!! It was sooooooo super cool and amazing and it made me so unbelievably happy. I think we could learn a thing or two from these europeans! So this festival happens every year in my city, Zilina, and is famous across the entire country of Slovakia. It runs from wednesday all the way through until Friday night and the whole time there are different workshops running, acts, plays, activities, and so much more. Different youth and adults from around Zilina come together for weeks before hand to plan all these workshops and pull off the festival. Its coordinated by an organization called Harmony (which I want to find more about!). So all over the town square they had stuff going on that was completely adapted for people with disablities. There was painting, a hippie section with tie dye and acting, dancing, chanting, singing, and silent acts just to name a few of the activities. But my personal favorite was in the center of the square, where there was a fashion show going on. The people with disabilities could pick any outfit creation they wanted from these giant boxes of costumes and clothes and then strut their stuff on a runway they had set up. It was the sweetest thing ever, and those of you who know people with disabilities, know how much fun they can be when the spotlight is on them! I just imagined Jane up there singing into the microphone and showing everyone her beautiful princess dress! The best part was that a huge part of the community was there to show support, there were people clapping and cheering for them, egging them on. It was really cool to see and I can only imagine the awareness it brings. I'm not gonna lie though, it did make me more than a tad bit homesick but I think the happiness and excitement balanced it out. Also on Wed night there was this really great concert and all kinds of people showed up to dance and celebrate. It was really cool to be a part of it!
I am also happy to report that I had my first meeting with some Rotarians last night. This was very nice! they are all such kind people! We met in the city square (this seems to be where everyone goes for everything) and had ice cream and chit chatted. I met my councillor and she is quite possibly one of THE nicest and understanding people I have ever met. She has never been a councillor before but she has hosted many exchange students with Rotary and both her sons have been out on the exchange before so she knows alot about the experience. It is nice to know that I have yet another contact if ever i need to talk or help or whatever. We found out we will be attending a Rotary club meeting on Monday so I am very excited for this! I hope that we will be able to attend the meetings weekly, partly because I like to know whats going on and also because I am in desperate need of some things to fill my time with. I am also very curious to see the differences between the operation of the club in sherwood park and here. My next major exciting thing that is going to be happening is my orientation weekend (this weekend) at strecno. I am so excited! There are 56 other exchange students I think in the czech and slovakia and I will get to meet them all! and they are from all over the world so that makes it even cooler!
Some other things that made me really happy in the past 24 hours are: I learned how to take the bus from my house to school and from my house to the city centre and back again! You have no idea how AMAZING this is though! I had forgotten how much I love my independence! It has been (and will continue to be I'm sure) such a humbling experience to be so reliant on others for everything. I am also going to work with my host dad to find some slovak lessons for me to take. This will help me with the language I think and also with meeting some people and getting me out of the house! I cant wait! WOW I always sit down and think, hmmmmm it will be a shorter post today but then I start writing and its like it all falls out... and there's no holding it back!
bye bye
P
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