My Squandered Holiday
23 February, 2006. 2.05pm. Trnava, Slovakia.
This week is "Spring Break" for most secondary schools in Slovakia, and the weather is acting accordingly. Regretfully I didn't plan anything this week and therefore I've been hanging around Trnava. I was reluctant to travel alone, yet again, and when I was unsuccessful in convincing any friends to come along to Prague or Budapest (my first choices), I hesitated. As I've been teaching my students, "He who hesitates is lost." I am a perfect example. But the week hasn't been a total bust. At least I'm getting some time to think (and write, and read)!
Last week I celebrated Valentine's Day by giving all of my students (at Obchodna Akademia and SUT) sweets. Valentine's Day is generally not celebrated here so I was surprised when I recieved a chocolate bar from one of my university students. Not surprisingly, she's an English teacher and is thus more familiar with British and North American "traditions." After my evening class at SUT, my Valentine's Day became very interesting, and a little scandalous.... Let's just say it included a "secret rendevous" at a local restaurant, followed by the cinema (where we watched "Hovari sa" which is the Slovak subtitled version of "Rumour Has It"). Nothing more, and that's all I'll say here....
On Wednesday I attended my first ever professional football (soccer) match. Because the pitch in Bratislava is under reconstruction, the Champions League match between Petrzalke (a part of Bratislava) and Sophia (Bulgaria) was held in Trnava. My Canadian friend, Yuri, who lives in Trencin, came down for the match. It was a cold evening, but it was fascinating to note that football fans are indeed as crazy as they appear in movies! Unfortunately the match was won by Sophia.... But perhaps it was fitting because there were clearly more Bulgarians in the crowd than Slovaks!!
On Friday I had tea with two members of my favourite Slovak band, the Funny Fellows. I met Zuzana Haasová and Roman Feder (and their little daughter Romana) at the MAX centre. There we chatted for an hour and I purchased two of their CDs. You might recall that I saw this group perform at the Christmas Market in Trnava in December. I've been looking for their CD ever since and when I had no luck I sent them an email via their website, http://www.funnyfellows.sk/ . I was surprised when Roman answered back that they'd be happy to meet me one day and sell me the CD personally! Well, it turns out that they thought I was another "Brendan Edwards"--one who is a rather famous banjo player, apparently. But I don't think they were disappointed because as it turned out, Zuzana is also looking to take some private English lessons, so in the future it looks like she will be my student!
Friday night I joined Mila, Petra, and two new friends, Lucia and Marta, at Penzion na mlyne (Mill Hotel) to watch Lucia Lužinská and the All Time Jazz Trio. This was an excellent concert! But again, I shouldn't have been surprised, whenever Mila suggests a cultural event, it is always good....
This week has been rather uneventful, except to say that the nation is in mourning after the Slovak Hockey Team's unexpected loss to the Czech Republic. Despite having a far superior team (and a perfect record in the preliminary round), the Slovak team always suffers from a mental block when it comes to playing the Czechs....
This week is "Spring Break" for most secondary schools in Slovakia, and the weather is acting accordingly. Regretfully I didn't plan anything this week and therefore I've been hanging around Trnava. I was reluctant to travel alone, yet again, and when I was unsuccessful in convincing any friends to come along to Prague or Budapest (my first choices), I hesitated. As I've been teaching my students, "He who hesitates is lost." I am a perfect example. But the week hasn't been a total bust. At least I'm getting some time to think (and write, and read)!
Last week I celebrated Valentine's Day by giving all of my students (at Obchodna Akademia and SUT) sweets. Valentine's Day is generally not celebrated here so I was surprised when I recieved a chocolate bar from one of my university students. Not surprisingly, she's an English teacher and is thus more familiar with British and North American "traditions." After my evening class at SUT, my Valentine's Day became very interesting, and a little scandalous.... Let's just say it included a "secret rendevous" at a local restaurant, followed by the cinema (where we watched "Hovari sa" which is the Slovak subtitled version of "Rumour Has It"). Nothing more, and that's all I'll say here....
On Wednesday I attended my first ever professional football (soccer) match. Because the pitch in Bratislava is under reconstruction, the Champions League match between Petrzalke (a part of Bratislava) and Sophia (Bulgaria) was held in Trnava. My Canadian friend, Yuri, who lives in Trencin, came down for the match. It was a cold evening, but it was fascinating to note that football fans are indeed as crazy as they appear in movies! Unfortunately the match was won by Sophia.... But perhaps it was fitting because there were clearly more Bulgarians in the crowd than Slovaks!!
On Friday I had tea with two members of my favourite Slovak band, the Funny Fellows. I met Zuzana Haasová and Roman Feder (and their little daughter Romana) at the MAX centre. There we chatted for an hour and I purchased two of their CDs. You might recall that I saw this group perform at the Christmas Market in Trnava in December. I've been looking for their CD ever since and when I had no luck I sent them an email via their website, http://www.funnyfellows.sk/ . I was surprised when Roman answered back that they'd be happy to meet me one day and sell me the CD personally! Well, it turns out that they thought I was another "Brendan Edwards"--one who is a rather famous banjo player, apparently. But I don't think they were disappointed because as it turned out, Zuzana is also looking to take some private English lessons, so in the future it looks like she will be my student!
Friday night I joined Mila, Petra, and two new friends, Lucia and Marta, at Penzion na mlyne (Mill Hotel) to watch Lucia Lužinská and the All Time Jazz Trio. This was an excellent concert! But again, I shouldn't have been surprised, whenever Mila suggests a cultural event, it is always good....
This week has been rather uneventful, except to say that the nation is in mourning after the Slovak Hockey Team's unexpected loss to the Czech Republic. Despite having a far superior team (and a perfect record in the preliminary round), the Slovak team always suffers from a mental block when it comes to playing the Czechs....
posted by BFRE at 2:02 p.m.
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