Untold Stories (Until Now): Part One

26 May, 2006. 9.25am. Trnava, Slovakia.

This month is just flying by, and I still feel exhausted after the trip to Prague a few weeks ago. Everyone here talks about the "Spring tiredness." In Canada I always considered Spring to be a time of renewal and exhileration, but maybe I'm more and more influenced by Slovak traditions/beliefs everyday.... But in truth I think my weariness has been caused by a weighted mind. I've been losing a lot of sleep of late trying to make a decision about this summer and my future in Slovakia. Unfortunately I feel a great duty to finish my PhD, but not a lot of excitement about it. My heart says "stay where you are happy" (teaching here in Slovakia), but my mind says "finish what you started in Canada." So the fight between my heart and mind has been making me weary of late. And then there's the ticket back to Canada on 10 July that I purchased about two months back.... 10 July is much too soon!! The past seven months have passed much too quickly! And although I've been really busy seeing and doing as much as I can, there's still tonnes to see and do. So one thing seems clear: if I don't return to Slovakia this Fall, I will be back eventually. It's not a matter of "if," but a matter of "when."

So, this is the first of my "untold stories." There are a few others (much more interesting, I promise).

This weekend I will visit Nové Mesto nad Váhom, which is just north of Trnava on the way to Trencin. I will visit another old Modra student, Jana, who promises to take me on a tour of a few castles....

Praha, at last

12 May, 2006. 3.36 pm. Trnava, Slovakia

First some photos...

With Livia at the Gate entering the Old Town

Our Prague tour guides. We were a little early and caught them resting...

With Livia, Gina (from Texas), Daniela, Mila, and Beth (from Alabama) on Wenceslas Square.

Last weekend, from 6-8 May, I finally made it to Prague. After coming to Slovakia four times, and being here now for six months, many people find it hard to believe that I've never before been to Prague. Well, now I can say I've been. It's a beautiful city, of course, and it's jam packed with tourists from all around the world. I'm sure there are twice as many tourists as Czechs in Prague!

I went to Prague with about 40 Slovaks from Trnava and two Americans on an organized bus trip. We left on Saturday morning at 5.30 am, and arrived in Prague by the early afternoon. On the way, we stopped in Benesov to visit Konopiste castle. This was the last residence of Franz Ferdinand, and it was his favourite hunting getaway (as can be witnessed by the thousands of animal heads on the walls!!). The castle has a lovely grounds and it was a beautiful day for a short walk.

Our residence in Prague was a small hotel in the suburbs, and after a short rest to freshen-up, we headed into the centre of Prague. My colleague and good friend Mila was a fantastic tour guide for the Americans and me. In the evening we had dinner and several beer at the famous Czech pub, U Fleku. They brew their own dark beer there and it is simply the best dark beer I've ever tasted (and I'm generally not a big fan of dark beers!). But like almost everywhere we went in Prague, U Fleku is full of tourists. Václavské namesti (Wenceslas Square), famous for the events of 1968 and 1989, is now packed with tourists, as is Karluv most (Charles Bridge), the castle district, and Staré mesto (Old Town). The only place we found to be a little quieter was Vysehrad and the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul.

On Sunday, Gina, Beth, and I walked around the city for more than 14 hours. It was an exhausting day, but we did our best to see as much as possible. I broke away from Gina and Beth early in the evening to check out the Museum of Communism. It was small, but quite well done--particulary from a Czechoslovak point of view.

All in all our trip was far too short. I've been exhausted all week as a result and I am looking forward to a quiet weekend.... In comparison to Budapest, it's really tough to pick a favourite. But, I'd have to say that the food was much better in Budapest, and there were far fewer tourists in Budapest (and it was cheaper too)....

By the way, my favourite Czech beer? Gambrinus...

Some of my Obchodna Akademia students

4 May, 2006. 9.15pm. Trnava, Slovakia.

Lucia and Monika from 3N(1)...

Lucia, Marion and Danny from 5N(2)...

The 1E "Hooligans," Adriana, Michaela, Silvia, Martina, Simona, Andrea, Dominika, Michaela, Eva, and Linda.

To Provoke or Procreate

4 May, 2006. 2.00pm. Trnava, Slovakia.

Just this morning I encountered another funny mistranslation (or rather, pronunciation slip-up) that I thought I'd share.... In one of my most entertaining and enjoyable classes at Obchodna Akademia (1E--again, mainly young teenage girls) I began the class (as usual) with a little informal small-talk. This class has a great sense of humour so it's easy to get a few laughs from them (although whether they are laughing with me, or at me, I'm never quite sure). Sometimes, however, they can get a little too silly and if I'm not careful the class can easily get started on the wrong foot (i.e. they get too excited and rambunctious). Today was one of those days when they got a little out-of-control, so I had to tell them politely to calm down. One of the more clever students in response said "Mr. Brendan, you shouldn't provoke us." At least, that's what she meant to say. Her pronunciation, however, of "provoke" was something like "procrate" which sounded a lot like "Mr. Brendan, you shouldn't procreate us." When I explained, politely, her pronunciation error, she responded "It's true, you shouldn't provoke or procreate us!" It seems to me that such a conversation/situation could never happen in a Canadian classroom without both sides (teacher and students) feeling more than a little uncomfortable.... In this case, it was just really funny!