Vesele Vianoce a Stastlivy Novy Rok from Trnava!

22 December, 2005. 2:50pm. Trnava, Slovakia.
I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Trnava! (Vesele Vianoce a Stastlivy Novy Rok!)

We had a fair amount of snow here until Tuesday, but everyday since it's been too warm and raining so all of the snow has melted. Christmas is celebrated here on the 24th, so our chances of a white Christmas are beginning to fade.... This picture was taken last Sunday evening.

I just finished my first week at Obchodna Akademia (a short week, mind you). Today our classes were shortened and tommorow is a holiday. I thought the first week went better than I expected. For the most part the students and staff were friendly and receptive. I even recieved a chocolate bar from the 3N(2) class today, much to my surprise! I have a holiday from teaching now until the 3 January.

I will spend Christmas (on Saturday) with Miro's family. Tommorow I will meet a few senior students in the square, and they will help me to buy Miro and Anna a special present. Without Miro's generosity and help, I'd probably be back in Canada right now. Just today I recieved my new work permit from the Department of Labour in Trnava, so all I am waiting on now is my Temporary Residence Permit, which I hope will arrive in the early part of January.

This week also saw me move into a private room S.P.S. Stravebna. Now I have my very own bathroom and I am no longer living on a floor inhabited by teenage boys! This means I also have to invest in an alarm clock, since I can no longer rely on the 6.30am school announcements to wake me.... I am considering taking care of my own meals in the new year (even though I don't have a kitchen). The food at S.P.S. Stravebna is the worst I've tasted in Slovakia. For instance, Tuesday night's dinner was noodles with poppy seeds and sugar. Thank goodness some of my students told me what it was--it looked like noodles with cigarette ashes on top! The cost of food at the dormitory is very cheap, and this is clearly reflected in the quality of the food....

Thank you to everyone who has sent Christmas cards. Now I know that I gave out the correct address!!

I hope everyone will have a wonderful Holiday Season and a fantastic New Year!!

Christmas Market in Bratislava

18 December, 2005. 6.40 pm. Trnava, Slovakia.

Here's a picture of the Christmas Market in Bratislava.

A Few Pictures from Last Week

18 December, 2005. 6.15 pm. Trnava, Slovakia.

Here are a few pictures that I took last week in the Christmas Market in Trnava. The first is of a few of the booths where crafts, refreshments, and other goods can be purchased; and the second is of me with a few of the students from the 5N class at Obchodna Akademia. These girls will be graduating this year--they invited me and Brandon (the departing teacher) to join them in the square last Thursday afternoon. We drank medovina and tea.

I just returned from Partizanske tonight. I was visiting Mirka and her family there. Mirka is an English teacher at a grammar school there. Her husband made the best bryndzove halusky (the Slovak national dish) I've ever tasted! This dish consists of potato noodles smothered in goat cheese and topped with bacon (think gourmet maccaroni and cheese, although such a description hardly does it justice....). Partizanske is a nice little town of about 7,000 people. It used to be the centre of the the Bata Shoe Company in Slovakia, so the town is built around a huge old shoe factory. Today the factory is occupied by several different companies (some make shoes, others do not).

On Friday night I took a bus to Bratislava. Kristina met me at the bus station and we had a nice little talk. Her news was not nearly as terrible as I'd expected, although it was still disappointing. In any case, it looks like I might spend Christmas with her family and I'm very glad she had the courage to tell me what was on her mind. I spent Friday evening and Saturday afternoon in Jalka, a small village about 40 minutes from Bratislava. This is where Lubos lives. He has a nice house there and on Saturday we walked about 3 kms to an old flour mill which is now a museum. Saturday evening we went to the Christmas Market in Bratislava with his friends Dodo and Deniska (this couple spent their honeymoon, by the way, in Vancouver in 2002). It was a fun night--I tasted many new foods and drinks (I really must take a note pad next time and write down the names of these things). The Christmas Market in Bratislava is held in the main square and it is quite big.

I start teaching solo tommorow, so I should run home now and get prepared....

A Week of Ups and Downs

16 December, 2005. 12.50 pm. Trnava, Slovakia.
I just finished my first week on the job--or at least shadowing the American teacher I will be replacing. It was an interesting week, although awkward at times. Brandon (the teacher I'm replacing) is well-liked in the school by students and staff, so I witnessed many long and tearful goodbyes. I tried to bow-out when I could, to give him some private time with his students. Next week will be a challenge since it is not only the last week before the Christmas holiday, but I will have to make a good first impression with the students and staff. I have some big shoes to fill. Brandon has been a great help, and I can see why he will be missed....

The week began with a visit to the Ralbovska family. I helped pani Ralbovska and Janka with some translations. It was a difficult job for me because the translations were all about architecture and building. There were lots of technical words that I didn't know. For example, "statics"--which wasn't in my paperback edition of the Oxford Canadian English Dictionary. But I think we did a decent job. Pani Ralbovska is an English teacher, so her translation skills are quite good. Janka was one of my first students at Canadian Summer School in 2003, and her English has improved with every year. On Monday afternoon I visited pani Ralbovska's school. Her students are 11-14 years old. It was fun to meet them and I hope I can visit the school again. Some of the students are remarkably gifted in English.

On Wednesday evening I visited Modra. This is the town I taught in for the past three summers, so it has a special significance for me. I met Vladana there, a student from Canadian Summer School who has her own wine and garden supply store in the town. It was great to see Vladana, and beginning in January we will have regular private English lessons together. Thursday evening I briefly joined Brandon and five students from the 5N class at the Christmas market in Trnava. We drank metovina (a warm honey wine) and chatted a little. This class is graduating this year, so these girls are among some of the more mature students I will be teaching. I'll attach a picture from this outing very soon....

On the down side of things, this week has not been a good one in terms of my relationship with Kristina. After my all-too-brief visit to Piestany last weekend, I suspected something was wrong, and when I heard only silence from her all week, I knew something was up. Sure enough, she wrote me yesterday to ask that we see each other this weekend so she can tell me something "in person." After a few clarifying SMS messages, it was clear that her news will not be good. So tonight, if there is time before I go to see Lubos, I will meet with her in Bratislava. I'm not entirely clear on why she has to tell me "in person" (since I already know what she's going to say), but I hope it is because she is truly a sincere and caring person. I also hope she can explain to me her reasons, since we've barely had time to get to know each other since I arrived. This is a big disappointment for me, of course, since we got along very well this past summer and had a very nice email correspondence throughout the Fall. Upon my arrival she was very affectionate and (apparently) sincere, so I am confused as to what has changed. Maybe in the past I was an exotic foreign fling, but now I'm a crazy foreigner who moved to Slovakia. Slovaks have a great insecurity about their country and few can understand why someone from North America would come here for more than a visit....

So, tonight I'll go to Bratislava. Maybe I'll see Kristina, but the purpose of the trip is visit with Lubos. I'll stay with him (in his house outside of Bratislava) until Saturday afternoon. On Sunday I will go to Partizanske to visit another old student, Mirka. She's an English teacher and she has graciously invited me for lunch. And then there will be the matter of preparing for my first full week as a solo teacher.... Being it's Christmas, I figure some Christmas-themed lessons are in order. I welcome ideas....

Oh, and the weather, by the way, is about +2 and very wet. It's been raining all day today.... Hope everyone is having a white Christmas season back home....

Christmas Market in the Square

13 December, 2005. 8.30 pm. Trnava, Slovakia.

Here's a picture (not a very good one, mind you) of the big clock tower in downtown Trnava. In the foreground you can make out some of the small booths that are currently hosting the Christmas Market. Every city of this size, or bigger, hosts a Christmas Market in their main square for the entire month of December. Some of the treats you can buy include a variety of home-made candies, warm wine and other alcohol, handcrafts, and jewelry. I'll try to take some better pictures soon. If I'm lucky, we'll get a good dumping of snow.... It snowed yesterday, but by mid-day today it had all melted.

I started teaching this week--or at least shadowing the American teacher who I'll be replacing (his name is Brandon, and he's from Atlanta). Tuesdays are killer, as I'll have 8 hours of class in a row. School starts at 8am here and my days will go no later than 2.30pm. Lunches are only about 25 minutes and often students (and teachers) are finished their day a lot earlier, depending on the day's schedule. Strangely enough, I'm living in the same dormitory as several of my students. The students (overwhelmingly girls, by the way) at Obchodna Akademia are specially selected for their high marks, so many come from a fair distance away. Some take the bus or train every morning for 45 minutes or more.... The food at my residence is horrible, but it is very cheap. You get what you pay for, clearly.

My evenings are generally still pretty free, but I am beginning to make inquiries about starting private lessons. My friend, pani Ralbovska (an English teacher at a primary school), has been helping me with this. We are even considering offering lessons together. Time will tell if this works out or not. In any case, I know that I can make a minimum of 200 crowns an hour for private lessons. That will be a real help financially, considering teachers' salaries here are very low (nevermind what my salary translates into Canadian $$!!). A few of my old students from my time here the last three summers have begun to contact me. Unfortunately none are right here in Trnava, but a few are reasonably close.

This weekend I have plans to join a tour group that is heading to Vienna. I've been to Vienna before, but I figure a guided tour can't hurt me. Besides, I need to start taking better advantage of my free time and making new friends! On Sunday I'll visit an old student in nearby Partizanske. No plans for Christmas as of yet, although I think I'll spend Christmas day, at least, with Miro's family. The departing American teacher has offered me two tickets to Italy at a very reasonable price, but the dates are not particularly convenient. I'm sure I'll think of something....

Fireworks

11 December, 2005. 3:05pm. Trnava, Slovakia.
Those gunshots that I thought I heard? They're actually fireworks (much to my relief, since I keep hearing them all over the city, and at greater frequencies everyday). Turns out it is Slovak tradition to celebrate Christmas with fireworks....and, well, lots of people are just celebrating early I guess.... Funny thing is, these are just "big bang" fireworks--I've never seen any actual lights in the sky accompanying the noise.....

What else is new? Well, to be truthful, not a hell of a lot. I hate to admit this, but I'm actually bored! I've been in Trnava now for less than a week, and I swear I've walked every street. I don't start working until tommorow, so I've had a lot of free time on my hands. Foolishly I didn't use this time to travel somewhere else....but I had little things to do in the meantime--like get a phone, and pay brief (too brief) visits to friends. For instance, this weekend my big highlight was supposed to be a trip to Piestany to visit Kristina (this is where her parents live, and where she spends most of her weekends). Well, for reasons I don't completely understand, I was only in Piestany for two hours! Now I don't know whether to be happy I saw Kristina even briefly, or annoyed that I wasted my whole weekend for a two hour visit!! I still have a lot to learn I guess--and dating protocol is only the half of it.... But I start working tommorow, thank goodness. That'll keep me busy.

A funny thing about my residence: during the week, the place is a madhouse, crawling with teenagers. But by Friday at 5pm, the place is completely dead! I swear, I'm the only person in the whole building this weekend! And on Friday I received my very own key to the showers...it's funny how such small things can give a person pleasure....

As for the drama with the Canadian Language School, there's nothing new to report since they emailed me demanding more than 6,000 crowns in retribution. But I've been advised to ignore this email. I didn't sign a contract, so I see no way that I can be considered responsible for paying this money. Oh, and just to clear up a little confusion: the Canadian Language School is NOT the same outfit that I've been working for the past three summers. Each summer since 2003 I've worked for the Canadian Summer School in Modra. This is a very different school. My friend Miro, who has done so much for me over the past two weeks, is a principle organizer of the Canadian Summer School. With the exception of one dud teacher, I've had nothing but positive experiences with the CSS in Modra, and I fully intend to work for them again this summer. You see, in Slovakia, "Canadian" is a popular way to sell products--particularly for language schools. The CLS, for example, in actuality only employs about two Canadian teachers--the rest are Americans, Brits, Ozzies, Slovaks, and even a South African. Slovaks prefer Canadian English to American or British because Canadian English tends to be a mix of both. "Canadian" also helps to sell hot apple and pear drinks. At the restaurant that I had lunch at today, there was a card on the table advertising "authentic Canadian" hot apple drink. I tried it, and it's really just warm apple juice....

I have an address now, for those interested (I think):

c/o
Stredna Priemyseliva
Skola Stavebna
Lomonosovova 7
TRNAVA 917 08
SLOVAKIA

It remains to be seen if I'll actually recieve any mail at this address....

Hope the weather is fine back home, and thanks for all of your interesting comments and emails!!

A Shot in the Dark

8 December, 2005. 10:55am. Trnava, Slovakia.
Were those gunshots? In the early morning and evening I swear I hear gunshots. I must be near a shooting range, or a military training facility (I hope!). I’ll have to ask about this.... I’ve been in Trnava now for three days. When I first imagined coming back to Slovakia to work for a year, this was the city I imagined. I am most familiar with it, it’s close to Bratislava, and it’s only a couple of kilometres from the little town of Modra where I’ve spent a lot of time the past three summers. Even better, the Ralbovska family lives here. They’ve been friends for almost three years now and pani Ralbovska was instrumental in finding me a job. Janka helped me get my very own mobile phone last night. Since it doesn’t look likely that I’ll get my own internet access anytime soon (thus ruling out communication methods like Skype and Google Talk, at least for the moment), this is the only way to actually here my voice (if so desired). My mobile number is 0908 442 782.

Trnava is a nice city, also known as “Slovak Rome” because of its prominent churches. One of Pope John Paul II’s last international visits was to Trnava. The city is on the Small Carpathian Wine Route. The landscape is rather prairie-like, believe it or not, but the nearby Carpathian hills are visible on clear days. Bratislava is 45 kms away.

I spent a good part of the day yesterday at Obchodna Akademia, meeting with the teacher I will replace. Oddly enough, his name is Brandon. He seems like a straight-up guy. He’s from Atlanta, Georgia, and already the students are picking up on our different accents. The school is a very good one–certainly one of the nicest I’ve seen in Slovakia. The students are hand-picked and the main area of academic focus is economics. All students major in a second-language–either German or English. My job will be to lead conversation classes–23 lessons a week. This will give me plenty of time in the evenings to give private lessons, I hope.

Right now I am living in a high school dormitory, across town. The school specializes in building and construction. The people are nice here, but I am anxious to get a private room. At the moment I have a room to myself, but I must use communal bathroom and shower facilities. The shower facilities are only open from 3:30-9pm, which is a real pain. And there’s no need for an alarm clock here–every weekday morning at 6:30 an announcement is made to wake-up the students and then the radio is played through the intercom for a full hour. But the price is very affordable and I can get my meals here, if I wish. The biggest difficulty will be laundry–there are no laundry facilities here, so for the moment pani Ralbovska has offered to help me.

There have been no new major developments with regards to the drama with the Canadian Language School, except to say that Miro continues to fight in my corner. His commitment to my cause has been simply incredible. I would truly be lost without his help. One interesting note: when we were visiting the Department of Labour here in Trnava to get me a new working permit, the woman in the office (who is the only person who gives such permits in Trnava) noted that the Canadian Language School has NEVER applied for a working permit for any of their foreign teachers. This means that technically all of the foreign teachers who work for at the CLS Trnava branch are illegal!! And the CLS people had the nerve to tell me I was illegal!! Incredible. I feel awful for their teachers, who probably have no idea..... CLS demands more than 6,000 crowns from me, but since I signed no contract, they don't have a leg to stand on. Maybe I should mention to them that I know about their situation with the Department of Labour.....

UPDATE; Intimidation by the Canadian Language School

4 December, 2005. 1.45pm, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Only moments ago, I received an intimidating email from the owners of the Canadian Language School. Their unprofessional behaviour continues to amaze me.... A word of warning to would be English teachers in Slovakia; DO NOT GET INVOLVED WITH THESE PEOPLE!!!

Wish me luck....

One Week In

4 December, 2005. 1.30pm. Bratislava, Slovakia.
What a week. I landed in Vienna last Sunday after a marathon trip that took me from Toronto to Chicago, from Chicago to Copenhagen, and then Copenhagen to Vienna. An 18-hour airline trip. As planned, I was met at the airport by Lubos and the “Supersisters”–Sylvia and the lovely Kristina–who were kind enough to take me Bratislava, where we met Miro and Anna (good news: Anna is pregnant!!). We had dinner together in Bratislava and had drinks with Marek. On Monday, Miro took me to Trnava, where I met with my friend pani Ralbovska and we spoke with the Headmaster of the Obchodna Akademia to speak about a possible teaching job. On Monday evening I met Kristina and her friends in the Christmas Market in the old town in Bratislava. We drank warm wine and then went to the Slovak Pub for several pivo. Early Tuesday morning I was picked-up by the owners of the Canadian Language School and whisked away to Zilina. As I expected, they remained elusive in offering much information about my duties and tried to get me to sign a year-long contract. Having already told them about my displeasure with their last-minute decision to move me to Zilina, I told them I was now considering taking another job if they could not move me back to Trencin or Trnava. They acted surprised at this news and told me I could not be moved until March, at the earliest. I told them I needed a day or two to think about this, and to consider my legal options. In the meantime, I was set-up in a small flat with a nice older woman (who spoke very little English) and I later met the manager of the school in Zilina to tell her about the situation with the owners. She was not surprised and told me that the owners often pull tricks like this to deceive the teachers. On Wednesday I met the other teachers at the Canadian Language School in Zilina and they told me of some of the lies and crazy situations they had been subjected to by the owners of the school. Without much hesitation, I called pani Ralbovska in Trnava and asked her to contact the Headmaster of the Obchodna Akademia once again to tell her I was interested in their job offer but needed to determine my legal status with the Foreign Police. With an incredible amount of assistance from Miro, Miro’s friends and contacts, pani Ralbovska, and the Headmaster in Trnava, I was smuggled out of Zilina to Trencin where Miro and I met with the Foreign Police. As it turned out, the Foreign Police in Trencin were very familiar with the shenanigans of the Canadian Language School and were sympathetic to my plight. Although my documents for a Temporary Residence Permit were not yet in their hands (after unnecessary delays from the Slovak Embassy in Ottawa), they assured us that it would be no problem to change employers. And so, baring any further difficulties or disasters, I will be working at the Obchodna Akademia in Trnava (a state-run Economic High School) as a regular staff member.
I am told there is an expression in Slovak that translates loosely as “bad start, good ending”–it seems this saying is appropriate in my case. Although my dealings with the Canadian Language School were highly unpleasant, I have witnessed an incredible amount of good-hearted assistance and favours from several Slovaks. Without their help, I would simply be miserable in Zilina, or worse, back on a plane to Canada. It strikes me that without the friends and contacts that I made over the last three years in Slovakia, that I would be in a very uncomfortable situation. Even the manager of the school in Zilina indicated that it was probably the intention of the owners of the Canadian Language School to locate me in Zilina all along–even though I made it clear several months ago that I would only consider working in Trencin or Trnava. Their last minute change to my location thus seemed very suspicious and deceitful. When even the Foreign Police indicated that this school had made problems for other foreign teachers in the past, I felt vindicated and immensely relieved that I’d made the decision quickly to escape their trap. Although Zilina is a very nice city, nestled at the foot of the Tatra Mountains, it is more than two-hours from Bratislava where I have many friends. I was upfront with the Canadian Language School about my desire to remain close to Bratislava from day-one, but was treated very unprofessionally. Despite this unpleasant beginning, I feel I am in a much better place now. Trnava is a city that I am familiar with, it is the home of the Ralbovska family who have been great friends since 2003, and Obchodna Akademia is a recognized state school (instead of a private language school) where I have been hired as much for my professional qualifications as for my abilities as a native-English speaker. And, of course, now I am within an hour of Bratislava, which will make for easy weekend trips to visit Kristina, Miro, and the like.
This weekend I am once again in Bratislava, staying with the very hospitable Miro and Anna. I introduced them to my Corner Gas DVD’s late on Friday night, and pretty much ever since Miro has been watching these and enjoying them tremendously. I am pleased that he finds them so amusing! Last night I met Dano, a student from Canadian Summer School. I hope to meet with other old students soon.