Election Blues
30 January, 2006. 8.53 pm. Trnava, Slovakia.
Who voted for those fools?! I won't go on at length expressing my extreme disappointment about the political state of Canada, but I want to vow here publicly that when I return to Canada I will become politically active. Clearly something is very wrong with the political landscape in Canada if a man like (gasp) Harper can become PM. Not to say that I'd make a very good politician, but I can see no other alternative--how else can one express their vision and hopes for their country? I care too much to ignore politics, but at the same time I feel that wasting my energy in complaining and frustration will do no good either. Maybe I should start another blog expressing my political ideas.....
In the meantime, Slovakia has been treating me well. Several interesting things happened last week. Last Monday I was beckoned to the Foreign Police Office in Trnava as I was told my Temporary Residence Permit was ready. How foolish of me to believe it could be ready so soon.... Instead of telling me on the phone that I needed to jump through two more hoops, I had to learn this after walking all the way to the other side of town. To make matters more complicated, (ironically enough) no one at the Foreign Police Office speaks a single word of English. No wonder they are so efficient. So while one woman insisted on speaking to me in Slovak (when it was clear I could not understand her) two other women sat behind the glass giggling--one in particular had a good laugh while she was taking care of the important police business of reading the latest Avon catalogue.... At the very least, I was able to use some of the Slovak my 1E students taught me: pero (pen) and papier (paper), which was enough to make her understand that I wanted her to write down this latest set of instructions. With my Slovak instructions in hand, I then walked all the way back to Obchodna Akademia where I was told that I would have to have a medical exam at the "Department of Foreign Diseases" in Bratislava, and that I needed to purchase a special 5o Sk stamp at the Post Office in order to complete my Temporary Residence Permit ordeal. I was warned by the Evangelical Americans in Trnava that this might happen, but I naively thought that because I had already passed a full medical exam in Canada before I left (which was officially translated into Slovak and submitted as a part of my original application) that I wouldn't have to endure any more doctors. Wrong. The Americans told horror stories of q-tips in intimate places and special bags for various unpleasant body fluids, so I was less than thrilled to learn that I would have to visit the hospital in Bratislava. Well, despite the turnout of our latest election, I am still proud to be Canadian. I can only assume that because Americans are special people, they get a special medical exam in Slovakia. I am happy to report that my test did not include any q-tips or specially labelled bags. In fact, I was in and out of the hospital within 40 minutes--this included a blood test and a chest x-ray. So assuming that I have not acquired any "foreign" diseases in the last three months (two of which, I might add, have been spent in Slovakia!) I will have my Temporary Residence Permit by the end of this week. I hope.
Tuesday evening saw the official first class of my English Conversation course at the Slovak University of Technology. I had a class of about eighteen students, all adults except two. Much to my surprise, one of these students was Zuzanna, an old friend from Canadian Summer School. She was a student two years ago in Modra and while we kept in touch via email, I had not seen her since my return in November. The class went well, and Mila tells me that feedback has been excellent so far.
On Friday night I attended an opera at the National Theatre in Bratislava. Mila, the deputy-head of the Language Department at the Slovak University of Technology, invited me to attend. Although the opera ("The Masked Ball") was in Italian, with Slovak sub-titles, I still enjoyed the event. The National Theatre in Bratislava is a small theatre but it is lovely. And I used the occassion to buy a new semi-formal winter coat. After my zipper incident a few weeks ago I felt I could take advantage of the January sales to look for something nice and new. With luck I found a good coat that had been marked down from 3,000 Sk to 900 Sk. I am quite pleased with my bargain-hunting abilities.... On the bus to Bratislava and back, I sat with a woman who runs her own private language school. Mila recommended to her that I might be a good candidate to help her with a language CD project that she is working on. We spoke about the project on the bus and I will begin recording the English segments of this CD on 6 February. It should be quite interesting!
On Saturday afternoon I once again returned to Bratislava, this time to visit Miro & Anna and Marek & Kate. As it is my 30th birthday this Wednesday, we had a small party at Marek & Kate's flat. I hope to have another party for my Trnava friends this weekend. In Slovakia it is custom that one throws their own party and supplies all of the drinks and snacks....
Who voted for those fools?! I won't go on at length expressing my extreme disappointment about the political state of Canada, but I want to vow here publicly that when I return to Canada I will become politically active. Clearly something is very wrong with the political landscape in Canada if a man like (gasp) Harper can become PM. Not to say that I'd make a very good politician, but I can see no other alternative--how else can one express their vision and hopes for their country? I care too much to ignore politics, but at the same time I feel that wasting my energy in complaining and frustration will do no good either. Maybe I should start another blog expressing my political ideas.....
In the meantime, Slovakia has been treating me well. Several interesting things happened last week. Last Monday I was beckoned to the Foreign Police Office in Trnava as I was told my Temporary Residence Permit was ready. How foolish of me to believe it could be ready so soon.... Instead of telling me on the phone that I needed to jump through two more hoops, I had to learn this after walking all the way to the other side of town. To make matters more complicated, (ironically enough) no one at the Foreign Police Office speaks a single word of English. No wonder they are so efficient. So while one woman insisted on speaking to me in Slovak (when it was clear I could not understand her) two other women sat behind the glass giggling--one in particular had a good laugh while she was taking care of the important police business of reading the latest Avon catalogue.... At the very least, I was able to use some of the Slovak my 1E students taught me: pero (pen) and papier (paper), which was enough to make her understand that I wanted her to write down this latest set of instructions. With my Slovak instructions in hand, I then walked all the way back to Obchodna Akademia where I was told that I would have to have a medical exam at the "Department of Foreign Diseases" in Bratislava, and that I needed to purchase a special 5o Sk stamp at the Post Office in order to complete my Temporary Residence Permit ordeal. I was warned by the Evangelical Americans in Trnava that this might happen, but I naively thought that because I had already passed a full medical exam in Canada before I left (which was officially translated into Slovak and submitted as a part of my original application) that I wouldn't have to endure any more doctors. Wrong. The Americans told horror stories of q-tips in intimate places and special bags for various unpleasant body fluids, so I was less than thrilled to learn that I would have to visit the hospital in Bratislava. Well, despite the turnout of our latest election, I am still proud to be Canadian. I can only assume that because Americans are special people, they get a special medical exam in Slovakia. I am happy to report that my test did not include any q-tips or specially labelled bags. In fact, I was in and out of the hospital within 40 minutes--this included a blood test and a chest x-ray. So assuming that I have not acquired any "foreign" diseases in the last three months (two of which, I might add, have been spent in Slovakia!) I will have my Temporary Residence Permit by the end of this week. I hope.
Tuesday evening saw the official first class of my English Conversation course at the Slovak University of Technology. I had a class of about eighteen students, all adults except two. Much to my surprise, one of these students was Zuzanna, an old friend from Canadian Summer School. She was a student two years ago in Modra and while we kept in touch via email, I had not seen her since my return in November. The class went well, and Mila tells me that feedback has been excellent so far.
On Friday night I attended an opera at the National Theatre in Bratislava. Mila, the deputy-head of the Language Department at the Slovak University of Technology, invited me to attend. Although the opera ("The Masked Ball") was in Italian, with Slovak sub-titles, I still enjoyed the event. The National Theatre in Bratislava is a small theatre but it is lovely. And I used the occassion to buy a new semi-formal winter coat. After my zipper incident a few weeks ago I felt I could take advantage of the January sales to look for something nice and new. With luck I found a good coat that had been marked down from 3,000 Sk to 900 Sk. I am quite pleased with my bargain-hunting abilities.... On the bus to Bratislava and back, I sat with a woman who runs her own private language school. Mila recommended to her that I might be a good candidate to help her with a language CD project that she is working on. We spoke about the project on the bus and I will begin recording the English segments of this CD on 6 February. It should be quite interesting!
On Saturday afternoon I once again returned to Bratislava, this time to visit Miro & Anna and Marek & Kate. As it is my 30th birthday this Wednesday, we had a small party at Marek & Kate's flat. I hope to have another party for my Trnava friends this weekend. In Slovakia it is custom that one throws their own party and supplies all of the drinks and snacks....
posted by BFRE at 8:49 p.m.
2 Comments:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
Glad you're having such a great time there, although you sound pretty busy, and don't bother to rush back. I'm sure the government will be around for another year or so. :p M.P. Edwards, eh? I think that could work, although you do know you'll be labelled an "intellectual snob" by the far right, right? Just warning you ...
Again, have a great birthday! Maybe I should quit depressing people on their special days ...
Ah, Brendan...it's not so bad as all that. Harper's sworn in, the sun still rises and sets, our local rep is suddenly a cabinet minister. Westerners will soon be storming Ottawa, I tell ya - I smell a mass migration to the centres of power, rednecks will overpower the East and Ontarians will lose their distinctive accent and cowboy boots will become fashionable in Montreal!
Do I sound convincing?
Well, have a happy birthday and hopefully I at least supplied a laugh.
Jen J
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