So I had yet another action packed, filled to the brim, full of adventure weekend. To give you an idea of the craziness that ensued I've compiled a list. A list of words that descirbe the weird, wacky, and at times hilarious moments that went down. Here is goes: GIANT hill, slippers, zoo, orangutan, castle, sloppy kisses, kids, storybooks, castle, para-gliders, nausea, old men, and mysterious SUV.
I'll begin with Friday; the day of fun, friends, and freezing. It was our last day with the Octava class which was really quite sad. I enjoyed my time with them and made a lot of friends, friends who invited me out on Friday night. Three people in my class were turning 18 that day too so that just added to the adventure. I met up with some of the girls from my class at the bus stop with no idea what I was getting myself into to be honest but happy all the same to be doing something with people my own age. From the bus stop we continued on to a park in the middle of the city. You must remember though, that by this time it is already dark and rather COLD! because it is almost October. So all of us girls made it to the park in one peice shivering our fanny's off only to find a whole bunch of other people equally cold. From here the girls, being the logical ones, suggested we head to the city centre where we could go inside and warm up. However, little did I know how difficult it is motivate a group of slightly intoxicated teenagers to relocate. After 45 min of useless attempts to convince them it would be much warmer if we just walked a couple of blocks down the road, we left. We had had enough of freezing our butt off and instead had a wonderful evening in a cute little pub in the city centre. And that takes us to the end of Friday.
Saturday was probably the best day of all. It was another ridiculously amazing day trip with my family. We went out to Bojnice, which is a small city about an hour away from Zilina, which is known for two things; it's zoo and it's castle (strange combination I know). But I am getting ahead of myself here, there is a funny story to be told. On our way we stopped at a small village where a traditional slovak music festival was taking place. We got out, looked around, and took in all the sights and sounds. There was a huge pot over a fire, where they were preparing goulash (beside the pot was quite literally a mountain of potatoes! I've never seen so many in my entire life!), and many men in traditonal slovak dress holding long pipe like instruments. The slovak dress is beautiful with many colors and detailed embroidary, I loved looking at it all. There was one set of costumes I couldn't take my eyes off of in particular because it was a group of old men in belly shirts. Admittedly they were beautifully embroidered, traditonal slovak belly shirts, but belly shirts all the same! I thought it was funny and apparently I looked a little too long because before I knew it I was being ushered over and squished between these two large slovak men for a picture. I liked the idea, but was feeling slightly uncomfortable at how close we were when one of them planted a big sloppy kiss on my cheek! It was hilarious! I couldn't even believe it! Once I recovered and my face lost a few shades of red, I was released and found myself on the road again with my family.
In order to get to Bojnice we had to drive up these extraordinarily narrow, windy, moutain roads, which are bad enough on their own, let alone when you are in Slovakia where the speed limit is somewhere around 140km/h and they all drive like maniacs. I got soooooooo soooooooo soooooooo car sick, to the point where I felt like i was going to barf again. I was reliving the horrors of my arrival and it was not pleasant! So apparently I wasn't doing a very satisfactory job at hiding my nausea from my family since at one point my cousin turns to me and says "did you drink a little to much last night?" to which I reply "what?!". Then it hit me, I had been out with friends, got home late, in Slovakia everyone drinks (I mean everyone).... they thought I was hung over! So just to reassure you Rotarins, I wasn't. So then I had to go on to explain to them that I was car sick because I get motion sickness really easily, and I have no idea why and I don't know any other grown adult who gets car sick but I do and it's a pain in the arse! Good times.
So we finally made it to the castle and it was absolutely stunning! I loved it! We took a guided tour and I got to see all the beautiful architecture, tapestries, furniture, and art. It really was amazing. I took lots of photos and I will put as many as I can on here and all of them on Facebook.
After the castle it was Zoo time! This was really fun because the zoo was huge! It was like a hike through the wilderness and half way up a mountain just to see all the exhibits. Okay and my favorite part of the zoo was.....the orangutan! OH MY GOD it was the cutest thing I have EVER seen! Not the big orangutan but the four month old baby one! I wanted to scoop it up and take it home with me!
Once we were finished with the zoo we headed on home and I went to a movie with my friends from school in the cinema. It was really fun but guess what we saw? The Ugly Truth! It's really funny because here it just came out but I saw it in theatres in Canada months ago! So I saw it again and it reminded me of just how good a movie it is. I loved it.
After the movie I slept over at Mariely's house which was super fun too because we had a total girls night. We ate chocolate and cold pizza and cake and watched House. It had Spanish subtitles so I made her day. She was so excited to be able to watch it and acutally understand everything that was going on. It was really great.
Sunday the day of heat, exhaustion, beauty. Mariely and I woke up closer to afternoon than morning and were enjoying ourselves while lazing in bed staring at the ceiling when her mom came in. She informed us (in slovak) that we were to get dressed and that someone (we didn't understand who) was going to pick us up in 45 minutes. She also said something about a hill but nothing else. We agreed and went about preparing ourselves for the day. Once we were ready her mother ushered out the door and pointed at the end of the road, motioning for us to go there, so we did, still not knowing exactly what was going on. Shortly after a lady in a mysterious SUV (with paul, the other exchange inside) pulled up beside us and motioned for us to hop in. We quickly got in and before we could even sit down we were speeding down the road. It turned out that the mystery women was Paul's host mom, soon to be my host mom so it was nice to get to meet her. Within minutes we arrived at the base of this giant hill. I would dare say it was a mini moutnain but all the same it was beautiful. At least I thought it was beautiful until I found out we were going climb it....ughhhhh. So up we went, sweating in the heat, and slopping around in my highly impractical slip ons. After an arguous climb we made it to the top and much to my surprise it was worth the climb. IT was soo incredibly beautiful up there! And of course I didnt bring my camera because nobody told me where we were going,but the others had their's so I will steal their pictures no worries. You could see the whole city from up there and we also got to watch a bunch of people go paragliding off the side of the hill. It was so cool and they made it look so easy! Paragliding is now officially on my list of things to do before I die. The view was indescribable. Simply breath taking.
So that brings my weekend to a close. I'm sorry that my post is pretty much a novel but I just don't wanna miss anything! and I LOVE to share! So more will come. I promise!
love,
p
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Rotary Rotary Rotary
It's official. I LOVE Rotary. They have ridiculous connections.
It's become apparent that the past few weeks, though action packed and ridiculously amazing, weren't really reality. Having fallen into somewhat of a routine I realized (days ago) that I was in need of some regular activities to keep me busy and more importantly allow me to meet people. And so I set out on a mission to find some things to fill my time. And boy oh boy did everything seem to just fall into place! I love it when that happens! Now I think I might have too much going on!
It all began one day (Tues I believe) when I noticed an article in the local newspaper. I always enjoy looking at the paper although I can never really understand what it says. I like looking at the pictures though and it makes me look busy while I sit awkwardly at the kitchen table waiting for dinner sometimes. This is however, beside the point. The point is I understood the heading of one of the articles because it read "something in Slovak and.... Helen Doron's School of English for Children". And then it suddenly dawned on me... 'Hey! why don't you see if you can volunteer there, I mean it's english and teaching and little kids, three things you know and understand!'. So within minutes (because you all know I like to get things done and I was really excited at the prospect of being able to spend some time with little kids) I was emailing the organization.
Now I had no idea what kind of response I would get or if I would even get a response at all. I mean I think I would of understood completely if they ignored my inquiry because think about it: there is this girl from a foreign country emailing you in another language asking if she can help out with the kids and claiming she comes from a ridiculously large family of nine children! But since I slipped in the little but apparently extremely useful word 'Rotary' all was well. It turns out that the main lady of this organization is friends with my rotary counsellor! Needless to say they are more than happy to have me help out around the centre and have offered me some really awesome opportunities! To start I will go there once a week for a couple of hours after school. They said I am welcome to attend some of the classes, to see what their method of teaching is all about. The method is actually very similar to how 'Signing Time' works for those of you who are familiar with it. It uses a lot of songs, and pictures, and actions in order to keep the kids attentive and to help them remember the words. I got to sit in on two classes on Thurs evening and I really enjoyed it. The kids are so cute and it was really fun getting down on the floor with them and playing. Plus I think it will be excellent practice for me because they speak simple slovak and they could care less if I make a mistake, so i can practice my slovak on them without being humiliated at the same time!
Aside from helping out in the classrooms they also said that if I was willing they would arrange to have a free drop in class with me 'a native english speaker' for the parents and the older students. This way whoever is interested can come and ask me questions, learn more about exchange or Canada or whatever else I decide to talk about, and practice their english. All in all I'm pretty excited about this opportunity and I think a lot will come of it!
The second awesome thing that clicked into place had to do with soccer. I had been asking around if there was a girls futball team anywhere in Zilina, and more specifically one that played just for fun. I hadn't received much of a response from anyone however until I asked one of the Rotex girls and they said they knew some girls on a team. So I got a chance to talk to these girls and they said they would love to have me on their team. Most of the team members are only 16 but I'm okay with this because it's either I play on their team or I play for the women's league which is apparently really intense. They meet tues and fri at 3:30 for practice for now and then once the season starts I'm not sure when the games will be. But I'm happy to be able to be a part of a team and it's really nice to be in my position. You can try new things and if you're terrible at it (like I am at most of the things I've tried here) it's all good because a)nobody cares and b)nobody knows you well enough to say anything and c)everyone just assumes you've never done anything like it before and that you don't have that in your country. It's Fantastic!
And the third and final thing that fell into place (thanks to my amazing counsellor once again) was church. She took me to this presbyterian church down the road from where I live and introduced me to all the people there. It was really good but funny at the same time. They of course asked me what church I attend in Canada and I had to try and explain to them what the United Church was. This would have been difficult in itself. let alone the language barrier! But after some interesting descriptions and some googling they seemed to understand. If you could all have been flies on the wall I'm sure you would have found it quite amusing. I know I was laughing on the inside.
The church is a very new building (and beautiful) and it turns out they offer a lot more than just sunday services. They have youth services and a whole swack of programs running all year long. By the looks of it they offer a whole bunch of different youth group activities so I'm pretty happy about this as well. I think it will be a good way to meet some people my age who aren't busy drinking and smoking all the time. It has been a little difficult up until this point finding people who I really want to be friends with, people who are my kind of people, but I think I will be able to find some here for sure. And they didn't all look like extreme church folk either which is always a good sign. I am most excited about some of the classes they run though. They have a cooking class and they asked if I would be willing to teach some of the youth how to prepare some Canadian dishes or desserts. I said of course, but then I realized I'm not too sure what dishes are Canadian. SO if you have any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated!
As always I will keep you updated. We will see if these activities turn out to be as good as I hope they will!
love,
p
It's become apparent that the past few weeks, though action packed and ridiculously amazing, weren't really reality. Having fallen into somewhat of a routine I realized (days ago) that I was in need of some regular activities to keep me busy and more importantly allow me to meet people. And so I set out on a mission to find some things to fill my time. And boy oh boy did everything seem to just fall into place! I love it when that happens! Now I think I might have too much going on!
It all began one day (Tues I believe) when I noticed an article in the local newspaper. I always enjoy looking at the paper although I can never really understand what it says. I like looking at the pictures though and it makes me look busy while I sit awkwardly at the kitchen table waiting for dinner sometimes. This is however, beside the point. The point is I understood the heading of one of the articles because it read "something in Slovak and.... Helen Doron's School of English for Children". And then it suddenly dawned on me... 'Hey! why don't you see if you can volunteer there, I mean it's english and teaching and little kids, three things you know and understand!'. So within minutes (because you all know I like to get things done and I was really excited at the prospect of being able to spend some time with little kids) I was emailing the organization.
Now I had no idea what kind of response I would get or if I would even get a response at all. I mean I think I would of understood completely if they ignored my inquiry because think about it: there is this girl from a foreign country emailing you in another language asking if she can help out with the kids and claiming she comes from a ridiculously large family of nine children! But since I slipped in the little but apparently extremely useful word 'Rotary' all was well. It turns out that the main lady of this organization is friends with my rotary counsellor! Needless to say they are more than happy to have me help out around the centre and have offered me some really awesome opportunities! To start I will go there once a week for a couple of hours after school. They said I am welcome to attend some of the classes, to see what their method of teaching is all about. The method is actually very similar to how 'Signing Time' works for those of you who are familiar with it. It uses a lot of songs, and pictures, and actions in order to keep the kids attentive and to help them remember the words. I got to sit in on two classes on Thurs evening and I really enjoyed it. The kids are so cute and it was really fun getting down on the floor with them and playing. Plus I think it will be excellent practice for me because they speak simple slovak and they could care less if I make a mistake, so i can practice my slovak on them without being humiliated at the same time!
Aside from helping out in the classrooms they also said that if I was willing they would arrange to have a free drop in class with me 'a native english speaker' for the parents and the older students. This way whoever is interested can come and ask me questions, learn more about exchange or Canada or whatever else I decide to talk about, and practice their english. All in all I'm pretty excited about this opportunity and I think a lot will come of it!
The second awesome thing that clicked into place had to do with soccer. I had been asking around if there was a girls futball team anywhere in Zilina, and more specifically one that played just for fun. I hadn't received much of a response from anyone however until I asked one of the Rotex girls and they said they knew some girls on a team. So I got a chance to talk to these girls and they said they would love to have me on their team. Most of the team members are only 16 but I'm okay with this because it's either I play on their team or I play for the women's league which is apparently really intense. They meet tues and fri at 3:30 for practice for now and then once the season starts I'm not sure when the games will be. But I'm happy to be able to be a part of a team and it's really nice to be in my position. You can try new things and if you're terrible at it (like I am at most of the things I've tried here) it's all good because a)nobody cares and b)nobody knows you well enough to say anything and c)everyone just assumes you've never done anything like it before and that you don't have that in your country. It's Fantastic!
And the third and final thing that fell into place (thanks to my amazing counsellor once again) was church. She took me to this presbyterian church down the road from where I live and introduced me to all the people there. It was really good but funny at the same time. They of course asked me what church I attend in Canada and I had to try and explain to them what the United Church was. This would have been difficult in itself. let alone the language barrier! But after some interesting descriptions and some googling they seemed to understand. If you could all have been flies on the wall I'm sure you would have found it quite amusing. I know I was laughing on the inside.
The church is a very new building (and beautiful) and it turns out they offer a lot more than just sunday services. They have youth services and a whole swack of programs running all year long. By the looks of it they offer a whole bunch of different youth group activities so I'm pretty happy about this as well. I think it will be a good way to meet some people my age who aren't busy drinking and smoking all the time. It has been a little difficult up until this point finding people who I really want to be friends with, people who are my kind of people, but I think I will be able to find some here for sure. And they didn't all look like extreme church folk either which is always a good sign. I am most excited about some of the classes they run though. They have a cooking class and they asked if I would be willing to teach some of the youth how to prepare some Canadian dishes or desserts. I said of course, but then I realized I'm not too sure what dishes are Canadian. SO if you have any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated!
As always I will keep you updated. We will see if these activities turn out to be as good as I hope they will!
love,
p
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
First and foremost I apologize for my delayed posting. (Even though it was prob a well earned holiday for most of you from my often lengthy and detailed descriptions.) And the reason for my tardy response: rotary has been keeping me busy. In the grand scheme of things this is probably a good thing because the busier I am the less time I have to wallow in homesickness and tears. And I'm not gonna lie, at this point I could probably swim in the amount of tears I've produced. I've been crying alot but as a wise woman once told me (aka my mom) "the more you cry the less you have to pee!" so I'm not too worried. I guess its all just part of the whole roller coaster exchange process. Man oh man though, sometimes I wish I could stop and get off for a bit, then keep on trcukin' but unfortunately no such luck. Guess I just have to keep pushing through; tears, happiness, frustrations, and excitement included.
And while we're on the topic of tears I might as well share a funny story. My host dad walked in on me crying for the first time today which was an awkward encounter. I mean I'm sure he knew it would happen eventually (he does have a 17 year old daughter)but I feel for the poor guy. I had just had a long day at school and could feel the tears welling when he walked into my room and was like "what are you up to?" "How was school today?" and that was it. I was a gonner. And he goes "oh oh oh are you crying? Are you okay?". It was really sweet and I didnt really know what to say because NO I wasn't okay! I was missing my home and my family and friends! but it wasn't like life or death or anything (which was what my father was concerned about). Of course, boys just don't get it. But it all worked its way out. My dad evacuated the room as quickly as possible and just softly told me to meet him downstairs when I was ready and that was that. I guess that's one way to tell your host parents your feeling homesick.
But it hasn't all been sad and tearful. This weekend was AMAZING. On Friday I went with a Rotex and the other exchange students to Martin (a neighboring town) for a fair. It was really fun and there were rides and super yummy carnival food and tons of booths to look at. I got some really beautiful jewelry and we ate deepfried cheese! I also had my first encounter with the Gypsies. They were everywhere! For those of you who don't know, the Gypsies are a visible minority here in Slovakia. There is a lot of unrest about them and their rights and such. It's all very similar to the aboriginal people in Canada. But they look like East Indian people and all the little kids were super cute! I just wanted to scoop them up and take them home with me! It's difficult to figure out what's really happening with the Gypsies though because the issue is very touchy and controversial and some people are very prejudiced against them. So perhaps with time more will become clear. I also want to find some books on it but finding any kind of book in English here is quite difficult.
On sat we went to Liptosky Mikulash (a mountain town) with some of the other exchange students and some Rotarians. My counsellor drove the three zilina exchangers down and we had a wonderful day jam packed full of adventure. First we had a meet and greet with some of the Rotarians (very early in the morning I might add) from the three cities and then (much to my surprise, but really I shouldn't be surprised anymore) out came the alcohol. Yes, the adults had shots at 8 in morning before we embarked on our adventure in the wilderness. Now I haven't said all that much about the alcohol here yet but boy has it been something I've needed to adjust to! No joke, the men (and women for that matter) really do drink beer like water and wine really does come out at every occasion. Its crazy! Needless to say I think I will be desensitized to alcohol by the time I come home.
So after the hard liquor was gone we split into our groups. Some went hiking, some biking, and some played tennis. All the exchange students opted for the hiking because the tennis and biking looked rather intense. The hike wasn't long, nor was it strenuous (thank god) but it was beautiful. I put lots of pictures up on facebook for those of you tech saavy enough to see them and for those of you who aren't I will post some of them here.
After the hike there was alot of sitting and chatting and of course more alcohol. This went on for the entirety of the afternoon, and then my counsellor collected us and we piled into the car and headed for our next stop: a friends house. Here we met for chocolate, and cake, and bubbly water (which is absolutely everywhere here!) and yet another chit chat. This one was really nice though becuase the lady had an 18 year old son who had very good english so we were able to participate. A couple of hours passed and we headed out on a mission to find hlushky. My counsellor was not satisfied that Mariely's (the exchange student from mexico)first encounter with hlushky was at the school cafeteria so we stopped at a traditional slovak kitchen. This was delicious! I like hlushky, especially when its not made in the school! Then finally we were headed for home, with a short stop at a traditional slovak market where we saw some goats and fancy pigeons. By the end of this day I was so tired but really happy! It was one of the best days I've had so far I think!
On Monday was our second Rotary meeting which was yet another expereince to add to everything. For those Rotarians reading back home, it's very different here. It feels more like an elite of powerful executives than a collection of business men and women coming together to make a difference. This could be for any number of the following reasons:
a) I'm a severe minority. Being, one, a woman, and two, young. (It really is a sea of white hair, ties, and beards)
b)I was only able to understand the words 'exchange student' and 'family' in the whole hour and a half I was trapped in the board room. (When everything is in a foreign language it tends to seem a whole lot more mysterious)
and c) NO ONE SMILES, laughs, or even smirks. I think there was one time when some of the men let out a little giggle and the others proceeded to glare at them as they clearly percieved it as a rude interuption.
So there are no fines, no funny jokes to start of the meeting, and no happy bucks but I am confident that they get things done. I wouldn't want to mess with this Rotary Club, that's for sure!
And my last comment; school has been pretty good this week. Since my class is in France I have been in Octava (the grade higher) and I am liking it. The classes have been really relaxed and at times we have not even had a teacher (because apparently subsitutes don't exist over here) since they are in France. I think I will be able to make quite a few friends in this class too. It has been a little easier since they are all my age and they have had exchange students in their class before.
So to finish things up, I'm happy and have this overwhelming feeling of pride that I've made it through my first month. This is officially the longest I've ever been away from home, let alone completely surrounded by a different language and culture. It has been rough but I didn't exactly expect it to be smooth sailing. That said, when I'm feeling down, now, I can just look back at all I've done, felt, and experienced and say, "piece of cake! I can do that 9 more times no problem!" :)
well ahoj!
p
And while we're on the topic of tears I might as well share a funny story. My host dad walked in on me crying for the first time today which was an awkward encounter. I mean I'm sure he knew it would happen eventually (he does have a 17 year old daughter)but I feel for the poor guy. I had just had a long day at school and could feel the tears welling when he walked into my room and was like "what are you up to?" "How was school today?" and that was it. I was a gonner. And he goes "oh oh oh are you crying? Are you okay?". It was really sweet and I didnt really know what to say because NO I wasn't okay! I was missing my home and my family and friends! but it wasn't like life or death or anything (which was what my father was concerned about). Of course, boys just don't get it. But it all worked its way out. My dad evacuated the room as quickly as possible and just softly told me to meet him downstairs when I was ready and that was that. I guess that's one way to tell your host parents your feeling homesick.
But it hasn't all been sad and tearful. This weekend was AMAZING. On Friday I went with a Rotex and the other exchange students to Martin (a neighboring town) for a fair. It was really fun and there were rides and super yummy carnival food and tons of booths to look at. I got some really beautiful jewelry and we ate deepfried cheese! I also had my first encounter with the Gypsies. They were everywhere! For those of you who don't know, the Gypsies are a visible minority here in Slovakia. There is a lot of unrest about them and their rights and such. It's all very similar to the aboriginal people in Canada. But they look like East Indian people and all the little kids were super cute! I just wanted to scoop them up and take them home with me! It's difficult to figure out what's really happening with the Gypsies though because the issue is very touchy and controversial and some people are very prejudiced against them. So perhaps with time more will become clear. I also want to find some books on it but finding any kind of book in English here is quite difficult.
On sat we went to Liptosky Mikulash (a mountain town) with some of the other exchange students and some Rotarians. My counsellor drove the three zilina exchangers down and we had a wonderful day jam packed full of adventure. First we had a meet and greet with some of the Rotarians (very early in the morning I might add) from the three cities and then (much to my surprise, but really I shouldn't be surprised anymore) out came the alcohol. Yes, the adults had shots at 8 in morning before we embarked on our adventure in the wilderness. Now I haven't said all that much about the alcohol here yet but boy has it been something I've needed to adjust to! No joke, the men (and women for that matter) really do drink beer like water and wine really does come out at every occasion. Its crazy! Needless to say I think I will be desensitized to alcohol by the time I come home.
So after the hard liquor was gone we split into our groups. Some went hiking, some biking, and some played tennis. All the exchange students opted for the hiking because the tennis and biking looked rather intense. The hike wasn't long, nor was it strenuous (thank god) but it was beautiful. I put lots of pictures up on facebook for those of you tech saavy enough to see them and for those of you who aren't I will post some of them here.
After the hike there was alot of sitting and chatting and of course more alcohol. This went on for the entirety of the afternoon, and then my counsellor collected us and we piled into the car and headed for our next stop: a friends house. Here we met for chocolate, and cake, and bubbly water (which is absolutely everywhere here!) and yet another chit chat. This one was really nice though becuase the lady had an 18 year old son who had very good english so we were able to participate. A couple of hours passed and we headed out on a mission to find hlushky. My counsellor was not satisfied that Mariely's (the exchange student from mexico)first encounter with hlushky was at the school cafeteria so we stopped at a traditional slovak kitchen. This was delicious! I like hlushky, especially when its not made in the school! Then finally we were headed for home, with a short stop at a traditional slovak market where we saw some goats and fancy pigeons. By the end of this day I was so tired but really happy! It was one of the best days I've had so far I think!
On Monday was our second Rotary meeting which was yet another expereince to add to everything. For those Rotarians reading back home, it's very different here. It feels more like an elite of powerful executives than a collection of business men and women coming together to make a difference. This could be for any number of the following reasons:
a) I'm a severe minority. Being, one, a woman, and two, young. (It really is a sea of white hair, ties, and beards)
b)I was only able to understand the words 'exchange student' and 'family' in the whole hour and a half I was trapped in the board room. (When everything is in a foreign language it tends to seem a whole lot more mysterious)
and c) NO ONE SMILES, laughs, or even smirks. I think there was one time when some of the men let out a little giggle and the others proceeded to glare at them as they clearly percieved it as a rude interuption.
So there are no fines, no funny jokes to start of the meeting, and no happy bucks but I am confident that they get things done. I wouldn't want to mess with this Rotary Club, that's for sure!
And my last comment; school has been pretty good this week. Since my class is in France I have been in Octava (the grade higher) and I am liking it. The classes have been really relaxed and at times we have not even had a teacher (because apparently subsitutes don't exist over here) since they are in France. I think I will be able to make quite a few friends in this class too. It has been a little easier since they are all my age and they have had exchange students in their class before.
So to finish things up, I'm happy and have this overwhelming feeling of pride that I've made it through my first month. This is officially the longest I've ever been away from home, let alone completely surrounded by a different language and culture. It has been rough but I didn't exactly expect it to be smooth sailing. That said, when I'm feeling down, now, I can just look back at all I've done, felt, and experienced and say, "piece of cake! I can do that 9 more times no problem!" :)
well ahoj!
p
Thursday, September 17, 2009
The Boulder
The past few days were a little rough for me. I was homesick, feeling a little lonely, and just kinda down in general. Then (sorry but I'm just gonna be completely honest here)I got my period and it seemed to fix a lot. You gotta love hormones. Ughhhhhhhhh. not. So now instead of feeling like a person whose been completely squished like a pancake by the boulder they were so desperately trying to push up a hillside, I feel more like I've propped my boulder in place and have stopped to smell the flowers along the way. Soon enough my boulder will start to slip, I'm sure, and I'll have to tend to it again (hopefully it won't squish me this time though), but until then I really am enjoying the daisies.
Moving away from the extended metaphors now and onto some of the more juicy information like the cafeteria lunch special today. Oh my GOD! It was kind of really gross! It was Hlushky, which is the national dish of Slovakia. It is pretty much potatoes and cheese but the potatoes taste more like pasta to me. I have had Hlushky before and I quite enjoyed it, but apparently there is such a thing as 'good' hlushky and 'bad' hlushky and on a scale of 1 to 10 this was probably a 2. It wasn't horrid or anything but it kind of felt like I was camping and we had limited supplies and we had to make due with an old pot and a campfire. They put bacon in it which had the potential of making it better, but it didn't help, all you could taste was the bacon grease. YUM. The sad thing is, when I think about it I'm pretty sure my brothers alex and dan would have loved it. It was similar to their morning hash browns smothered and fried in bacon grease.
Needless to say I went hungry today. But that leads me to my next topic: weight gain. YIKES! I think I could do with going hungry a few more times. Although I don't have a scale and I'm not %100 sure I would guess I've already gained 5 lbs or so. wonderful. Lets just say my midsection has a few extra curves at the moment. But curves are good right? A desirable feature on a woman? Nope not like this they aren't. Oh well I don't really mind, as long as I don't come home looking like a wooly mammoth it's all good.
So in an attempt to slow the progression of my transformation into a beast, I've joined the fitness club at my school. I think this should be fun and I know it will be good for me. I just hope it's not too hardcore. I'd rather not die of exhaustion. This doesn't appear like it will be a problem however, because although all the girls in my class are ridiculously skinny, they don't seem all that enthused about physical activity. You should see our gym class. It's really quite pathetic. We had to do push ups today and our teacher made us do man push ups. Well that was a mistake. I think we all made it to 4 and then collapsed into puddles on the floor in giggling fits.
I've also decided to join the school Tourism club and the English Drama club. I can't quite believe I willingly signed up to perform in front of people (the thought of it makes me shudder) but I figured hey! this is a year to take risks. So I'm gonna try something new! Wish me luck. The tourist club should be excellent. It's kind of strange name for it, but what we will do is go out to the mountains and surrounding areas for hikes and nature-esque type things. It's going to be a good way for me to get exercise, see the country, experience the nature, and make friends so I'm excited. I just hope it turns out to be as good as I imagine it to be. I'm not sure whether or not it will. My school seems to have a lot of good intentions but I think it often doesn't follow through with the implementation part. So we will see.
Tommorrow my entire class leaves for France without any of the exchange students. *tear* I so wish I was going! But I totally understand why we can't go. It was too short notice, and money, and room, and such. Still it's sad. So since my classroom will be empty we (being myself and the other exchange students) are being shipped off to a different grade level, Octava B. I'm actually excited for this because it means we get to spend a week with a different group of people who are much closer to our age. We had an opportunity to meet them at the beginning of this week and they all seem really great. It's a good way to make friends I think. Oh and I just have to add because some of you will appreciate it; surprisingly enough my business cards make for excellent networking tools. I've been handing them out all over the place, so I guess Rotary really does know what they are doing! :)
This weekend I am looking forward to a day trip with my Rotary councillor and some other Rotarians. I think we are going to a neighboring town to do some hiking, biking, and sight seeing. It will be very nice, and I'm looking forward to getting to know my councillor a little better plus her son might be coming... and let's just say, well, he's not an eyesore. It will be good I'm sure.
So thats all I've got for now, but I know there'll be more. There always is!
<3 p
Moving away from the extended metaphors now and onto some of the more juicy information like the cafeteria lunch special today. Oh my GOD! It was kind of really gross! It was Hlushky, which is the national dish of Slovakia. It is pretty much potatoes and cheese but the potatoes taste more like pasta to me. I have had Hlushky before and I quite enjoyed it, but apparently there is such a thing as 'good' hlushky and 'bad' hlushky and on a scale of 1 to 10 this was probably a 2. It wasn't horrid or anything but it kind of felt like I was camping and we had limited supplies and we had to make due with an old pot and a campfire. They put bacon in it which had the potential of making it better, but it didn't help, all you could taste was the bacon grease. YUM. The sad thing is, when I think about it I'm pretty sure my brothers alex and dan would have loved it. It was similar to their morning hash browns smothered and fried in bacon grease.
Needless to say I went hungry today. But that leads me to my next topic: weight gain. YIKES! I think I could do with going hungry a few more times. Although I don't have a scale and I'm not %100 sure I would guess I've already gained 5 lbs or so. wonderful. Lets just say my midsection has a few extra curves at the moment. But curves are good right? A desirable feature on a woman? Nope not like this they aren't. Oh well I don't really mind, as long as I don't come home looking like a wooly mammoth it's all good.
So in an attempt to slow the progression of my transformation into a beast, I've joined the fitness club at my school. I think this should be fun and I know it will be good for me. I just hope it's not too hardcore. I'd rather not die of exhaustion. This doesn't appear like it will be a problem however, because although all the girls in my class are ridiculously skinny, they don't seem all that enthused about physical activity. You should see our gym class. It's really quite pathetic. We had to do push ups today and our teacher made us do man push ups. Well that was a mistake. I think we all made it to 4 and then collapsed into puddles on the floor in giggling fits.
I've also decided to join the school Tourism club and the English Drama club. I can't quite believe I willingly signed up to perform in front of people (the thought of it makes me shudder) but I figured hey! this is a year to take risks. So I'm gonna try something new! Wish me luck. The tourist club should be excellent. It's kind of strange name for it, but what we will do is go out to the mountains and surrounding areas for hikes and nature-esque type things. It's going to be a good way for me to get exercise, see the country, experience the nature, and make friends so I'm excited. I just hope it turns out to be as good as I imagine it to be. I'm not sure whether or not it will. My school seems to have a lot of good intentions but I think it often doesn't follow through with the implementation part. So we will see.
Tommorrow my entire class leaves for France without any of the exchange students. *tear* I so wish I was going! But I totally understand why we can't go. It was too short notice, and money, and room, and such. Still it's sad. So since my classroom will be empty we (being myself and the other exchange students) are being shipped off to a different grade level, Octava B. I'm actually excited for this because it means we get to spend a week with a different group of people who are much closer to our age. We had an opportunity to meet them at the beginning of this week and they all seem really great. It's a good way to make friends I think. Oh and I just have to add because some of you will appreciate it; surprisingly enough my business cards make for excellent networking tools. I've been handing them out all over the place, so I guess Rotary really does know what they are doing! :)
This weekend I am looking forward to a day trip with my Rotary councillor and some other Rotarians. I think we are going to a neighboring town to do some hiking, biking, and sight seeing. It will be very nice, and I'm looking forward to getting to know my councillor a little better plus her son might be coming... and let's just say, well, he's not an eyesore. It will be good I'm sure.
So thats all I've got for now, but I know there'll be more. There always is!
<3 p
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
ummmmm.. I can't think of a title right now so it will have to be titleless...
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
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
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
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