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.