Slovakia celebrates the tradition of “Name Day” once a year, in addition to their birthdays. Each day on the Slovak calendar has a name designated to it, or occasionally two names if they originate from the same root (for example: Dominik/Dominikia). (Also, sometimes there are names that are designated to a date, but not listed on the calender. These names may officially be given to children in Slovakia.) I think this is a nice tradition, because it’s yet another reason for celebrating. And it's great because you don't have to know someone really well to know when their name day is, and you can easily look at the calender to see and then greet them! They consider it a big deal, yet not as big as birthdays. At first I thought that everyone in Slovakia would choose to name their child a name within the Slovak calendar because they would want their child to have a Name Day (called “Meniny” in Slovak) to celebrate. But I eventually learned that babies in Slovakia must be named one of the calendar names, or they won’t receive a birth certificate in the country (or at least they won't without going through legal procedures in efforts to legalize the name). Exceptions for this are sometimes names in minority languages, or a foreign name, if the parents can show written proof from their corresponding embassy that the name does exist. I had fun telling Zuzka about how Americans often try to give their children unique names, or common names with original spellings, just for the sake of being different.
“Ashley is the most common spelling, but there are like five ways to spell it, that I know of. Probably more too.”
“What? How else would you even spell it?”
“Ashley. Ashlee. Ashlea. Ashlei. Ashli. Ashleigh. I’ve heard of all of these spellings before.”
“Really? How do you even pronounce this?? Ashl-e-ig….”
“They’re all pronounced exactly the same, but each is spelled different. Crazy because sometimes no one knows how to spell their names their entire lives.”
A random fact and fun coincidence: The name day for December 26th is Steffan, which is the Slovak version of Steven. My dad is Steven, so his name day is December 26th, and it also happens to be his birthday! Crazy, both on the same day. Wow, I bet the Slovak would have quite the celebration for that! Sadly, there is no Slovak version of Ashley, so I don’t have a name day, and neither does my mom, Dixie. But my dad has his, and my brother has one too. The Slovak version of Jacob is similar, Jakub, and the name is celebrated on July 25th. Most people here assume that America has this system also, and that we celebrate Name Days. They’re always surprised to hear that we don’t. We have SO MANY names that there’s no way we could make a one year calendar for all of them.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Giggly Boys
When I found out that I would be helping teach English at the almost all-boys Electronic Studies High School in Liptovsky Hradok, I was a bit nervous. I’d had some previous experience teaching at a Slovak high school before in Ilava, and it was challenging a lot of the time. Although I had a lot of enjoyable experiences helping in Ilava, I found it difficult to teach students that were close to my age, and they were many times quiet and not so interested in participating. And because of the closeness in age (in comparison to the students’ traditional teachers), teaching 550 boys is intimidating for obvious reasons, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I started.
These days I can honestly say that I really enjoy it, and that many of my favorite days here have been spent at that school helping Zuzka with all of the giggly boys. Yes, giggly. I never knew 16-19 year old boys could giggle so much! They have proven to always be entertaining, and the classroom dynamic of them, Zuzka and myself has been really fun! I think teaching these boys on my own would probably still be fun, but the combination of Zuzka and me together makes it a lot more fun! I have enjoyed all of my teaching experiences thus far (between the Liptovsky Hradok school, the Hybe school, and my private or community lessons), but the classes with the boys are usually my favorite. Last Monday at school, while the boys were silently working on a quiz, one of them suddenly burst into laughter. I looked around to see who else he was joking or making eye contact with, but everyone else was concentrating on their work. The kid just started cracking up for no reason, which made me start to laugh a bit, which made Zuzka start to laugh too. These types of things happen pretty often. Some days it’s a big challenge to keep our composure during the lessons.
One of our favorite things to do with the guys in between exercises (or at the end of the lesson, which is usually a better idea because all focus is lost after this) is to have word pronunciation showdowns. The boys get to choose really complicated Slovak words or tongue twisters and write them on the board, and then I attempt to pronounce them in front of the boys. I usually end up butchering it and usually get laughed at, but occasionally I do a decent job and they applaud! I admit that the first week was planned, and Zuzka chose the word ahead of time and told me so I could practice, because “you deserve a bit of an advantage, because it’s only you against all those silly boys!” But that was only the first week. Then in turn, I get to choose difficult English words and phrases for them to try and spit out on the spot. Last week, one of the words was inconspicuous (which I knew they would butcher, because the “c” in Slovak is pronounced “ts” and it was all downhill from there). Hee hee. A bit evil, but all in good fun. :-) They give me some rough ones too. A few weeks ago I broke out "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." That was a good time, let me tell you! I also gave them “rubber baby buggy bumpers” to practice. Pretty funny!
In the past month or so, the boys have been preparing for the Maturita exam, which is the school-leaving exam every graduating senior must take to finish secondary school. The test has two parts: a written part, which takes place in mid-March, and an oral part that takes place in the beginning of May. In these past oral exam prep weeks, I’ve been going to school twice a week to give the boys extra conversation practice. During each class period, Zuzka gives the guys an assignment to work on, and she chooses two lucky boys every class period to come and have a one-on-one conversation. While I ask them practice discussion questions, she evaluates them and gives them marks. I have to say, these one-on-one sessions with the boys are the most entertaining parts of my week, hands down. I’ve met many different personalities and ran into a lot of reactions through this process. Some of them are bored with the whole situation, some are excited to speak to me, some ask me if I have a boyfriend or am married, some are nervous, and some are downright terrified to even sit near me. I keep thinking, what if my high school Spanish teacher would’ve said, “Ok Ashley, you have to take an oral quiz today, only in Spanish. And oh yeah, it’ll be with a native speaker of the opposite sex, around your age. And did I mention I’ll be watching and grading you as you speak?” Well, I probably would’ve wanted to crawl in a hole too, so I understand why some of them are so nervous. And some of them are SO nervous, like a tripping over words, shifting eyes to avoid eye contact with me, and noticeable perspiration on the forehead kind of nervous. Zuzka says that a few of them have pleaded desperately to try and get out of the situation, making excuses, or waving their arms in the air while mouthing “NO! PLEASE!”
I told Zuzka I felt bad that some of them were so nervous, and maybe it would be easier for them to have group conversation practice. But she always insists, “No, it’s great practice for them. And they NEED the practice, because they will have to speak on their own about these topics for 15 continuous minutes in front of judges.” One of the first boys I had a conversation with, Vlado, was quite nervous. I think he’s probably able to speak and understand a lot more than he showed me, but he couldn’t focus very well, when put on the spot. I will always remember his face (pink and pinched, like he was in severe pain) and the way he could barely lift his head to look me in the eyes. After class finished, I told Zuzka about how uncomfortable he was, and she gave me a smile and a sly little thumbs up! Haha! I was a bit surprised, but then she later explained why she was so amused by his squirminess. “Oh tough boy now, he thinks he’s so clever, always teasing and trying to point out other students’ mistakes. He needs to know that he has work to do.” I taught Zuzka the expression, “put him in his place” that day, and we had a quiet laugh together.
These days I can honestly say that I really enjoy it, and that many of my favorite days here have been spent at that school helping Zuzka with all of the giggly boys. Yes, giggly. I never knew 16-19 year old boys could giggle so much! They have proven to always be entertaining, and the classroom dynamic of them, Zuzka and myself has been really fun! I think teaching these boys on my own would probably still be fun, but the combination of Zuzka and me together makes it a lot more fun! I have enjoyed all of my teaching experiences thus far (between the Liptovsky Hradok school, the Hybe school, and my private or community lessons), but the classes with the boys are usually my favorite. Last Monday at school, while the boys were silently working on a quiz, one of them suddenly burst into laughter. I looked around to see who else he was joking or making eye contact with, but everyone else was concentrating on their work. The kid just started cracking up for no reason, which made me start to laugh a bit, which made Zuzka start to laugh too. These types of things happen pretty often. Some days it’s a big challenge to keep our composure during the lessons.
One of our favorite things to do with the guys in between exercises (or at the end of the lesson, which is usually a better idea because all focus is lost after this) is to have word pronunciation showdowns. The boys get to choose really complicated Slovak words or tongue twisters and write them on the board, and then I attempt to pronounce them in front of the boys. I usually end up butchering it and usually get laughed at, but occasionally I do a decent job and they applaud! I admit that the first week was planned, and Zuzka chose the word ahead of time and told me so I could practice, because “you deserve a bit of an advantage, because it’s only you against all those silly boys!” But that was only the first week. Then in turn, I get to choose difficult English words and phrases for them to try and spit out on the spot. Last week, one of the words was inconspicuous (which I knew they would butcher, because the “c” in Slovak is pronounced “ts” and it was all downhill from there). Hee hee. A bit evil, but all in good fun. :-) They give me some rough ones too. A few weeks ago I broke out "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." That was a good time, let me tell you! I also gave them “rubber baby buggy bumpers” to practice. Pretty funny!
In the past month or so, the boys have been preparing for the Maturita exam, which is the school-leaving exam every graduating senior must take to finish secondary school. The test has two parts: a written part, which takes place in mid-March, and an oral part that takes place in the beginning of May. In these past oral exam prep weeks, I’ve been going to school twice a week to give the boys extra conversation practice. During each class period, Zuzka gives the guys an assignment to work on, and she chooses two lucky boys every class period to come and have a one-on-one conversation. While I ask them practice discussion questions, she evaluates them and gives them marks. I have to say, these one-on-one sessions with the boys are the most entertaining parts of my week, hands down. I’ve met many different personalities and ran into a lot of reactions through this process. Some of them are bored with the whole situation, some are excited to speak to me, some ask me if I have a boyfriend or am married, some are nervous, and some are downright terrified to even sit near me. I keep thinking, what if my high school Spanish teacher would’ve said, “Ok Ashley, you have to take an oral quiz today, only in Spanish. And oh yeah, it’ll be with a native speaker of the opposite sex, around your age. And did I mention I’ll be watching and grading you as you speak?” Well, I probably would’ve wanted to crawl in a hole too, so I understand why some of them are so nervous. And some of them are SO nervous, like a tripping over words, shifting eyes to avoid eye contact with me, and noticeable perspiration on the forehead kind of nervous. Zuzka says that a few of them have pleaded desperately to try and get out of the situation, making excuses, or waving their arms in the air while mouthing “NO! PLEASE!”
I told Zuzka I felt bad that some of them were so nervous, and maybe it would be easier for them to have group conversation practice. But she always insists, “No, it’s great practice for them. And they NEED the practice, because they will have to speak on their own about these topics for 15 continuous minutes in front of judges.” One of the first boys I had a conversation with, Vlado, was quite nervous. I think he’s probably able to speak and understand a lot more than he showed me, but he couldn’t focus very well, when put on the spot. I will always remember his face (pink and pinched, like he was in severe pain) and the way he could barely lift his head to look me in the eyes. After class finished, I told Zuzka about how uncomfortable he was, and she gave me a smile and a sly little thumbs up! Haha! I was a bit surprised, but then she later explained why she was so amused by his squirminess. “Oh tough boy now, he thinks he’s so clever, always teasing and trying to point out other students’ mistakes. He needs to know that he has work to do.” I taught Zuzka the expression, “put him in his place” that day, and we had a quiet laugh together.
Friday, April 25, 2008
My Reading List
Because I think it’s fun to swap ideas for reading material, I thought I would post a blog about what I’ve been reading this year, and what I hope to read by the end of it. Also, in return, I would appreciate any book recommendations from any of you! For the first time in quite awhile, I am reading in my free time and enjoying it. High school and college pretty much killed my desire to read, but now that I am out of school and have more time, I’m loving it again like I did before! I’m trying to read a variety of things, to mix it up a little. It’s basically a mix of classics and spirituality/faith based books to help feed the gap I feel from not being able to understand parts of church or Bible studies, and from not having people around to ponder over things and have discussions with. And some other random selections thrown into the mix as well. Some I've chosen, some were lent to me, some were just what I had access to.
BOOKS I’VE ALREADY READ:
“Animal Farm” by George Orwell
“Welcome Forward – Field Guide for Global Travelers” by Susan Lang and Rochelle Melander (*If any of my fellow volunteers are reading this, it IS the little orange book they sent us in the mail. Yes, I was THAT desperate for reading material. :-)
“When God Writes Your Love Story” by Eric and Leslie Ludy
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“To Kill a Mockingbird – the Cliffnotes” (*Because I am that big of a nerd, and really miss school. This made me feel like I was in a lit class discussion again, it was nice.)
“The Power of Praying” by Stormie Omartian
“The Pianist” by Wladyslaw Szpilman
“A Simple Path” by Mother Teresa
“Pride & Prejudice - PENGUIN READER” (*Penguin Readers are revised versions of classic novels, created especially for foreign English-language learners…so they are simplified and shortened. I read them instead of the originals because they were what I had access to.*)
“Schindler’s List - PENGUIN READER”
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” by Mark Haddon
“Searching For God Knows What” by Donald Miller
BOOKS I’M IN THE PROCESS OF READING:
“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Europe From a Backpack” edited by Mark Pearson & Martin Westerman
“Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis
“Insider’s Guide to Freelance Writing - Get a Freelance Life” by Margit Feury Ragland
BOOKS THAT ARE ON MY SHELF, WAITING PATIENTLY TO BE READ:
“Surprised by Hope” by Vickie Baker
“Leave Yourself Alone” by Eugenia Price
“1984” by George Orwell
“Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott
“The Sound of the Mountain” by Yasunari Kawabata
“The Reason for God – Belief in an Age of Skepticism” by Timothy Keller
“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte
“The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck
“Bridget Jones Diary” by Helen Fielding
“The Great Divorce” by C.S. Lewis
“Damn! Why Didn’t I Write That?” by Marc McCutcheon
“Soul Weavings – A Gathering of Women’s Prayers” edited by Lyn Klug
Ok, it’s a bit ambitious and ridiculous to be reading so many books at once, but we’ll see how it goes.
BOOKS I’VE ALREADY READ:
“Animal Farm” by George Orwell
“Welcome Forward – Field Guide for Global Travelers” by Susan Lang and Rochelle Melander (*If any of my fellow volunteers are reading this, it IS the little orange book they sent us in the mail. Yes, I was THAT desperate for reading material. :-)
“When God Writes Your Love Story” by Eric and Leslie Ludy
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
“To Kill a Mockingbird – the Cliffnotes” (*Because I am that big of a nerd, and really miss school. This made me feel like I was in a lit class discussion again, it was nice.)
“The Power of Praying” by Stormie Omartian
“The Pianist” by Wladyslaw Szpilman
“A Simple Path” by Mother Teresa
“Pride & Prejudice - PENGUIN READER” (*Penguin Readers are revised versions of classic novels, created especially for foreign English-language learners…so they are simplified and shortened. I read them instead of the originals because they were what I had access to.*)
“Schindler’s List - PENGUIN READER”
“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” by Mark Haddon
“Searching For God Knows What” by Donald Miller
BOOKS I’M IN THE PROCESS OF READING:
“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Europe From a Backpack” edited by Mark Pearson & Martin Westerman
“Mere Christianity” by C.S. Lewis
“Insider’s Guide to Freelance Writing - Get a Freelance Life” by Margit Feury Ragland
BOOKS THAT ARE ON MY SHELF, WAITING PATIENTLY TO BE READ:
“Surprised by Hope” by Vickie Baker
“Leave Yourself Alone” by Eugenia Price
“1984” by George Orwell
“Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott
“The Sound of the Mountain” by Yasunari Kawabata
“The Reason for God – Belief in an Age of Skepticism” by Timothy Keller
“Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte
“The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck
“Bridget Jones Diary” by Helen Fielding
“The Great Divorce” by C.S. Lewis
“Damn! Why Didn’t I Write That?” by Marc McCutcheon
“Soul Weavings – A Gathering of Women’s Prayers” edited by Lyn Klug
Ok, it’s a bit ambitious and ridiculous to be reading so many books at once, but we’ll see how it goes.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
"Neviem."
So I was sitting on a bench at the bus stop in Liptovsky Hradok (one of the neighboring villages to Hybe) the other day, thinking and reading my newest book, “Searching for God Knows What” by Donald Miller, when I heard somebody yell my name. I quickly looked up and saw my friend Vierka, and she asked me, “Kde ides?” (which is “where are you going?”). I opened my mouth to answer her and tried to speak, and after a few seconds, “neviem” (which means “I don’t know") came out. I kind of surprised myself, because I actually knew exactly where I was going. I was there waiting for my host mom to meet me at 2:15, and then we were going to the China shop down the street to search for shoes together, four buildings from the main bus stop, and then we were heading home to Hybe. Yet all I could manage to spit out was “I don’t know.” I think Vierka was a bit confused by my answer, and wondering why I was just sitting on a bench in Liptovsky Hradok alone, with apparently no plan or direction to head in. I just smirked to myself a bit, and then continued on reading.
I realize this sounds like a cheesey little story I could’ve just easily made up to nicely segue into this paragraph, but it actually did happen. Sort of ironic, because of what I was reading, and very in keeping with the life confusion I’ve been feeling this year. As the end of my year gets closer and closer, I’m thinking more about my future, and my lack of plans. I’ve had mixed emotions about next year: sometimes quite excited at the possibilities, sometimes really nervous because I don’t have plans and have no real way of searching for future options here in Slovakia, sometimes happy to go back home and see everyone, sometimes sad to leave here, sometimes all of the above at the same time. And in the midst of all of these feelings, I’ve been praying a lot, asking for help and guidance. And with passing time I feel more and more at peace with this beast of a situation called “my future,” and I’m learning to really put more trust in Him. It has been difficult at times, to say the least. For the first time in my life I’m not automatically heading into another planned year (usually more school, or this planned year of volunteer service), and I’ve been feeling lost. But I’m realizing how much better it feels to not put pressure on myself to control something I ultimately can’t control, and to trust God to put my foot in the direction I need to go, whenever that time comes. I had a great conversation with one of my best friends last week, and she’s taught me about the peacefulness that comes when you pass your worries on to Him, and just trust. This peacefulness is a pretty beautiful thing, really. So, for those of you who are curious as to what I will be up to next year (myself included in this group) and where I will be going, I will tell you. I really have no idea. But I’m feeling pretty content about that at the moment. :-)
I realize this sounds like a cheesey little story I could’ve just easily made up to nicely segue into this paragraph, but it actually did happen. Sort of ironic, because of what I was reading, and very in keeping with the life confusion I’ve been feeling this year. As the end of my year gets closer and closer, I’m thinking more about my future, and my lack of plans. I’ve had mixed emotions about next year: sometimes quite excited at the possibilities, sometimes really nervous because I don’t have plans and have no real way of searching for future options here in Slovakia, sometimes happy to go back home and see everyone, sometimes sad to leave here, sometimes all of the above at the same time. And in the midst of all of these feelings, I’ve been praying a lot, asking for help and guidance. And with passing time I feel more and more at peace with this beast of a situation called “my future,” and I’m learning to really put more trust in Him. It has been difficult at times, to say the least. For the first time in my life I’m not automatically heading into another planned year (usually more school, or this planned year of volunteer service), and I’ve been feeling lost. But I’m realizing how much better it feels to not put pressure on myself to control something I ultimately can’t control, and to trust God to put my foot in the direction I need to go, whenever that time comes. I had a great conversation with one of my best friends last week, and she’s taught me about the peacefulness that comes when you pass your worries on to Him, and just trust. This peacefulness is a pretty beautiful thing, really. So, for those of you who are curious as to what I will be up to next year (myself included in this group) and where I will be going, I will tell you. I really have no idea. But I’m feeling pretty content about that at the moment. :-)
Monday, April 21, 2008
New Worship Experiences
So I’ve had a few new and unique worship-going experiences lately that I’d like to tell you about! (*Random sidenote: This picture is from a few weeks ago, when fellow volunteer and friend Kristen came to visit. This is me and Hybe! Don't we look cute together? Hehe.)
It has been amazing to be part of a church community again for the past four months, but in the past month or so I admit I have been especially frustrated. I love being in worship services, and I really enjoy singing the hymns, following along in the Spevnik (like our Lutheran Book of Worship), but the language barrier has been a roadblock lately. My Slovak understanding and speaking ability are coming along, slowly but surely, although I still don’t understand enough of the language to really get anything out of the sermons, Bible studies, hymns and songs, youth group discussions, etc. My frustration sort of goes in waves, like for a few weeks I will be content and just attempt to understand what I can with a good attitude, and then other weeks I get so frustrated and stop listening and trying to understand all together, assuming I won’t get much out of it. I hit a peak of frustration during the Easter season. As wonderful as it was, I felt especially irritated that I could understand almost nothing from the 5 services I attended during the week. A friend of mine told me, after one of the services, “Oh, Pastor did such an amazing job today! The sermon was so wonderful, I almost cried, and I really wish you could’ve understood it.” Very frustrating. For this special time of year, I really wished I could’ve understood more, but I just need to have more and more patience for dealing with the reality of my situation.
After the Easter season, I was quite excited to meet up with my fellow friends and volunteers in Secovce. We stayed together with Mary for the weekend, caught up, and had a great time! One of the highlights for me was going to church…an ENGLISH service in the city of Kosice! Yay! Although we got a bit lost trying to find the nursery school (where the small service was held), we eventually made it, and it was great! It was smaller and informal (so small that the Pastor actually took time out during the beginning of the service to call us and make sure we could find the building), and great! We saw the good ole’ green LBW’s again (who knew this could be so wonderful?!) and we were given…..BULLETINS! Wow, this was quite exciting too. Bulletins do not exist in Slovak church services, so this was a nice piece of home, and we appreciated being able to actually follow the service. There were about 15 of us present, and after the service we met for fellowship time, met each other and ate great cakes and other desserts. I think I forgot how much I enjoy meeting new people, when you can understand them and there’s no language barrier to deal with! Almost everyone there was volunteering through ELCA programs (not necessarily Young Adults, but just the teaching program for all ages as well). I had the chance to meet many cool people, volunteers of all ages, and I even met a few from the Midwest (including a woman who graduated from the University of Wisconsin too! From Steven's Point. Small world.)
This past weekend I had another opportunity to attend a service in English, and it was so great! I met up with my friend Zuzka at a church in Bratislava, and while the service was in Slovak, there was an English option available to me. In a small window booth in the corner, a man sat and translated the entire service into English, live! It was very impressive, because the ideas in the sermon were quite difficult to translate, especially on the spot. So me and maybe 10 others wore a headset to tune into the radio station he broadcasted from, so we could listen and understand along with everyone else. This service was more of a contemporary one, which is a change I was welcome to and excited about! The pastor used a projector to project self-illustrated sketches onto the wall that coincided with his sermon, and they were quite good! It was very interesting, and the Pastor put out many good questions and ideas, in regards to Heaven and eternity, and what that means for us, here and now on Earth. The youth choir (ages 9 to 18) sang 3 separate times, one song in English, one in Czech, and one in an African dialect. Very cool! It was a really different atmosphere, and a unique experience, I think. I also had the opportunity to meet some great people here too, among them were Zuzka’s friend Ellen (who she worked with in Canada for a year, as an au pair), her husband, and their two children, Hanka and Filip.
I’m thankful to have had these really great opportunities, along with the Hybe church experiences that I love! It was a breath of fresh air to be able to attend English services, and to have new adventures. :-)
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Poland Retreat
Although this is late, I still wanted to tell you about the retreat event I attended in Poland.
In mid-January, our group of YAGM volunteers met up in Wisla Poland for our mid-term seminar. There are 5 of us American YAGM program volunteers, combined with the 4 German volunteers in our group, and we were also joined by our fellow YAGM in Germany, Toby. Our group met up with two other groups: Slezka Diakonia from the Czech Republic, and Evangelical Lutheran Diakonia from Poland. There were about 20 of us all together, and the retreat lasted for almost a week. Some of the topics we covered in our seminar sessions were cultural identity, successes and failures at our projects and placements, conflicts, our relationships with people, the values hierarchy (something we discovered being abroad).
So here are some of the highlights and/or activities we did during the week:
-Went for a horse ride on the sledges
-Walks in nature and a trip to Aqua Park to swim
-Had a bonfire, drank cider and ate Polish sausages cooked over the fire
-Trips into Wisla to visit the downtown area and shop around
-Playing “get to know each other” games
-A group country presentation, complete with a skit that represents specific and quirky things about our country
-T-shirt making
-Making posters out of magazine cut-outs for our individual placement sites
-Drawing a stereotypical “German” and “American” in our separate groups
-Discussing possible negative scenarios that could happen at our placement, and how to solve those problems
-Creating songs and skits
-Group worship and music
-Watching the movie “Crash” and discussing stereotype issues
-Looking at our own individual experiences for the year and making a pie graph to display the “things we didn’t realize about ourselves” and how big of an impact those realizations have had on our current lives
It was a really great experience! I enjoyed being here with these other volunteers, getting to know about them, hearing about their experiences as well. I really appreciated the time we had to relax and reflect, and to cover a bunch of these topics. Back in January at that time, so many of these issues were going through my head, like failures and successes in our placements, stereotypes, problems and solutions, and etc. And the timing of the seminar was really great, because I had just finished my time in Koseca and was struggling to make sense of what had happened and why. I found some needed peace at the seminar, being able to share my ideas and struggles with my fellow volunteers, and I was able to head back to Hybe refreshed, and more ready to start a new life after it.
If you’re interested in seeing some photos from the seminar, please check out this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059488&l=2ae77&id=184900177
Thanks SO MUCH for reading and keeping up with my happenings!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
the Misconceptions of Americans. Part 2
“AMERICANS DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SLOVAKIA.” This has been frustrating at times. They assume we Americans have NO idea they exist as a country, and I’ve felt a bit of judgment behind those comments. Like maybe we’re not the most intelligent people because we aren’t as aware of other countries. This isn’t true. Of course some people don’t know of Slovakia, or where it is, but that’s because it’s a very small country that hasn’t had impact on worldwide issues. But many people from the U.S. DO know Slovakia exists, they DO know where it is, and many have ancestry here (including myself), or have traveled here. I’ve tried to explain to them that the reason they know SO much about the U.S. is because we are everywhere. We are in their music, their movies, their television programs, their news, our products in their stores, and the list goes on and on. Slovakia is so small and has NO influences on the U.S. whatsoever. Slovak students have been taught things about the U.S. for as far back as they remember, because we are an influential and powerful country.
And then the subject of the film “Hostel” comes up. For all of the people who didn’t know of Slovakia before they saw this movie, they were probably better off not having ANY opinions of the country. The movie is terrible! I wouldn’t suggest this to anyone (unless you want to see it, just for the sake of seeing how ridiculous it is). The movie set in Slovakia (most likely the only American-made film to be based here) and is about a youth hostel in Bratislava. These American guys come to Slovakia as tourists and end up getting lured into this hostel, where they are tortured (quite disgusting, body parts being removed with a chain saw, while they’re still alive) and eventually killed. And for some Americans, this is the ONLY glimpse of Slovakia they’ve seen. How sad. I understand why Slovaks are angry about it.
“AMERICANS ARE A BIT CRAZY BECAUSE THEY’RE ON THE GO ALL THE TIME.” This is in terms of living situations, as well as traveling. In some of the textbooks we taught out of in Ilava, they even had articles about our living and traveling habits to use for discussion practice. “It’s Tuesday, so we must be in Munich” is the name of one of the articles. They think the whole idea of backpacking is insane. When they take trips (“go for holiday”) they go to one place and stay for a long time. They have a much slower lifestyle. They think taking on an entire city (yet alone country) in a few days is ridiculous. But Americans do it a lot. It’s exciting, it’s “how you DO Europe” and they don’t understand this. They are so surprised when I tell them how many countries I’ve been to in Europe, and I try to explain to them it’s because of the fast-paced traveling. Coming to Europe for a few weeks and going to 5 or 6 countries is totally doable in our eyes. Mostly for the younger generations, but I feel like this is a pretty broad American mentality. (They’re pretty horrified at my willingness to hang out/sleep in airports and train stations, in order to catch earlier or cheaper flights/trains. Pretty funny.)
In their conversation books, they also had an article about how many times Americans move in their lifetimes. Again, their lifestyle is much slower than ours, less focused on careers and education, more focused on family and tradition. They typically stay in their family’s house until they start their own family, and then their main goal is to find a new place nearby to settle and live for the rest of their lives. The article told them about how Americans are constantly on the go, looking for better or different schools, universities, job opportunities, vacation spots, etc. I think there is a lot of truth to this too. They asked how many times I’d moved in my lifetime, and they were pretty shocked to hear 8 times (2 in my baby years, 1 through childhood, 3 places in college, and 1 post college, plus Slovakia), especially because I’m only 23.
***This is random, but fun. We were speaking about shopping habits in the U.S., and I was telling them about Wal-Mart and other big chain stores. I told them we hired “Wal-Mart greeters” to smile and stand at the front of the store to welcome customers, and they thought this was crazy.
“Why? What do they do that for?”
“Well, because they want the customers to have a nice experience. For workers to be friendly to customers, so they will want to shop there again. And it’s a nice job for older people, or people with special needs who can’t really work in demanding jobs.”
“So their job is to just stand there? What do they do?”
“They just smile. They even have a special vest with a smiley face on it.”
“What?! HAHA!”
The idea of customer service in Slovakia is pretty much non-existent. In fact, after spending seven months here, I would say that not only does customer service not exist, but they are many times downright rude. I sort of feel like I’m inconveniencing them by being in their shop, and they seem irritated to have to deal with me. One of the English teachers I worked with, Mirka, told the students about her trip to Canada a few years back.
“All of the workers in the stores were just so NICE. It was the strangest thing, smiling all the time. And when I went to pay, and they tried to carry my bag for me, I was a little concerned that they were stealing my things! It was a nice change actually. It was strange to see the big change, once I got back to Slovakia. Everyone was grumpy again. I think it’s nice that they smile.”
When I was talking about customer service with the other volunteers, they were laughing about how small shop owners (and post offices, MAN, those post offices…) just sort of close their shops whenever convenient. We can’t figure out why they don’t want to make money, why they aren’t really friendly to their customers, why they wouldn’t stay open as much as possible, in hopes of making more sales. But they just close up, if they have to run errands, or go to the dentist, or whatever they do. The post office is open for like a one-hour slot a day sometimes, and I’ve waited in the hallway of the city building for them to open more then a few times. They’re usually late to open.
That's all for now. I have a feeling there will eventually be a part 3. Until next time! :)
And then the subject of the film “Hostel” comes up. For all of the people who didn’t know of Slovakia before they saw this movie, they were probably better off not having ANY opinions of the country. The movie is terrible! I wouldn’t suggest this to anyone (unless you want to see it, just for the sake of seeing how ridiculous it is). The movie set in Slovakia (most likely the only American-made film to be based here) and is about a youth hostel in Bratislava. These American guys come to Slovakia as tourists and end up getting lured into this hostel, where they are tortured (quite disgusting, body parts being removed with a chain saw, while they’re still alive) and eventually killed. And for some Americans, this is the ONLY glimpse of Slovakia they’ve seen. How sad. I understand why Slovaks are angry about it.
“AMERICANS ARE A BIT CRAZY BECAUSE THEY’RE ON THE GO ALL THE TIME.” This is in terms of living situations, as well as traveling. In some of the textbooks we taught out of in Ilava, they even had articles about our living and traveling habits to use for discussion practice. “It’s Tuesday, so we must be in Munich” is the name of one of the articles. They think the whole idea of backpacking is insane. When they take trips (“go for holiday”) they go to one place and stay for a long time. They have a much slower lifestyle. They think taking on an entire city (yet alone country) in a few days is ridiculous. But Americans do it a lot. It’s exciting, it’s “how you DO Europe” and they don’t understand this. They are so surprised when I tell them how many countries I’ve been to in Europe, and I try to explain to them it’s because of the fast-paced traveling. Coming to Europe for a few weeks and going to 5 or 6 countries is totally doable in our eyes. Mostly for the younger generations, but I feel like this is a pretty broad American mentality. (They’re pretty horrified at my willingness to hang out/sleep in airports and train stations, in order to catch earlier or cheaper flights/trains. Pretty funny.)
In their conversation books, they also had an article about how many times Americans move in their lifetimes. Again, their lifestyle is much slower than ours, less focused on careers and education, more focused on family and tradition. They typically stay in their family’s house until they start their own family, and then their main goal is to find a new place nearby to settle and live for the rest of their lives. The article told them about how Americans are constantly on the go, looking for better or different schools, universities, job opportunities, vacation spots, etc. I think there is a lot of truth to this too. They asked how many times I’d moved in my lifetime, and they were pretty shocked to hear 8 times (2 in my baby years, 1 through childhood, 3 places in college, and 1 post college, plus Slovakia), especially because I’m only 23.
***This is random, but fun. We were speaking about shopping habits in the U.S., and I was telling them about Wal-Mart and other big chain stores. I told them we hired “Wal-Mart greeters” to smile and stand at the front of the store to welcome customers, and they thought this was crazy.
“Why? What do they do that for?”
“Well, because they want the customers to have a nice experience. For workers to be friendly to customers, so they will want to shop there again. And it’s a nice job for older people, or people with special needs who can’t really work in demanding jobs.”
“So their job is to just stand there? What do they do?”
“They just smile. They even have a special vest with a smiley face on it.”
“What?! HAHA!”
The idea of customer service in Slovakia is pretty much non-existent. In fact, after spending seven months here, I would say that not only does customer service not exist, but they are many times downright rude. I sort of feel like I’m inconveniencing them by being in their shop, and they seem irritated to have to deal with me. One of the English teachers I worked with, Mirka, told the students about her trip to Canada a few years back.
“All of the workers in the stores were just so NICE. It was the strangest thing, smiling all the time. And when I went to pay, and they tried to carry my bag for me, I was a little concerned that they were stealing my things! It was a nice change actually. It was strange to see the big change, once I got back to Slovakia. Everyone was grumpy again. I think it’s nice that they smile.”
When I was talking about customer service with the other volunteers, they were laughing about how small shop owners (and post offices, MAN, those post offices…) just sort of close their shops whenever convenient. We can’t figure out why they don’t want to make money, why they aren’t really friendly to their customers, why they wouldn’t stay open as much as possible, in hopes of making more sales. But they just close up, if they have to run errands, or go to the dentist, or whatever they do. The post office is open for like a one-hour slot a day sometimes, and I’ve waited in the hallway of the city building for them to open more then a few times. They’re usually late to open.
That's all for now. I have a feeling there will eventually be a part 3. Until next time! :)
Thursday, April 3, 2008
We're Famous!
Here is a link, from my church's website to see pictures of me and my family! They came to visit me in March! FABULOUS!! :-) I will write more about it sometime soon, and put up more links to pictures. Here is a picture that isn't on the website, but one from my mom's collection (us in the church together with my host mom and Zuzka). But for now, check us out on the church website:
http://www.ecavhybe.sk/index_soubory/Page34356.htm
(From 1 to 4)
Photo 1: Me, my brother Jake, and Johny and Zuzka Ziskova, good friends of mine from Hybe
Photo 2: Me and Sara (the pastor's daughter...she's so cute!)
Photo 3: Me with some members of the adult choir, at one of the rehersals (I sing with them, and sometimes help direct them or play piano for them), and my parents and brother in the background.
Photo 4: Dinner at the pastor's house! From left to right: My dad, Zuzka, me (looking really excited that my family's there!), my mom, and my brother.
Happy Thursday everybody! :)
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
March Newsletter
Greetings everybody! I can’t believe March is already finished and I’m writing a newsletter again. I thought that February went fast, but March literally lasted about a week and a half (in my mind). It was a pretty exciting month for me! It was really fun to be here in Hybe for Easter celebrations! This was my first major holiday spent engaged in a church community, and it was wonderful. We went to Maundy Thursday service (called “Zeleny Stvrtok,“ in Slovak, which translates to “Green Thursday“), as well as Good Friday morning and evening service (called “Velky Piatok“ in Slovak, which translates to “Great Friday“). Some of the younger kids in the congregation prepared a little skit for Friday evening’s service, and dressed up in costumes. I was happy to take communion with everyone at Friday’s service also. During Easter Sunday service (called “Velka Noc“ in Slovak), I sang with the adult choir, the two songs we’ve been practicing for many weeks, and they went really well! It’s been a joy to sing with the older folks of the congregation I also attended Easter Monday service with my family, and I sang with a group of girls from Mladis, which is the older part of the youth group from our congregation. We sang a traditional Czech song, and Mat’a (one of the girls) played guitar to accompany us. Neither the adult choir or youth group sing in church on a regular basis, usually only special occasions, so I think everyone really appreciated the music during services!
In addition to the celebrating with the church congregation, I celebrated some with my host family as well. I spent the Thursday and Friday before Easter hanging out with my family at home, helping clean and getting in on all of the food preparation and baking. I’m not exactly a chef or baker (haha, I think many people would agree with this), so I watched on as my host mom made three different cakes. My host sister Katka made a chocolate layered cake, her first cake ever! She was very proud of it, and it tasted great! Starka prepared pork for Sunday dinner, as well as potato salad. The potato salad they make is very similar to ours, except they use tartar sauce, and they prepare it for both Christmas and Easter meals. On Friday, we’re not allowed to eat meat, so we had potatoes and fried cheese for dinner, which I was quite excited about. Fried cheese is one of my favorite meals here, (and a pretty common meal in Slovakia in general) and my host family knows that I enjoy it so they make it quite often. On Easter Sunday we went to visit my host mom’s sister, Hana, and her family for coffee and cakes. Baking cake is a tradition in Slovakia year-round, but during holidays it doubles! So many cakes, so many kinds, so good. In return, Hana’s family came to visit us on Easter Monday afternoon, to share even more cakes and treats.
One of the most unique and fun parts about my Easter in Slovakia was experiencing the tradition of being “watered.“ So it is a tradition here for the boys and men to “water“ the girls and women in their village, which means they soak them with water. Either they squirt water at them, or dump cups or pails of water on them, or they drag them to the bathroom and throw them into tubs full of water. I’m happy that I got watered, but glad it wasn’t an extreme case like the bathtub scenario. We were all sitting around in the kitchen, reading and relaxing on Monday afternoon (when the watering traditionally happens, the day after Easter) when two of the boys from the youth group came to the house. Jozo and Pet’o came and rang the door bell and everything, all formal and said “dobry den“ (good afternoon, in Slovak) as they came into the kitchen. I wasn’t really paying much attention because I was engaged in my book, and I wasn’t really expecting the watering to happen that day because I assumed that it would’ve happened on Easter Sunday, if it was going to happen at all. I didn’t realize that it traditionally took place the day after. I didn’t even realize that as soon as the boys came into the kitchen, my host sisters and mom left immediately to go upstairs and change into “bad clothes“ that could get wet from the water. Starka finally got my attention though, and I realized that the boys had grabbed coffee mugs from the shelf and filled them with water. They didn’t even tell me or wait for me to stand...they just one at a time came over to me and dumped a mug of water down my shirt, one down the front side and one down the back. It was pretty amusing, and they didn’t even care that I was sitting on the couch in the living room, and that dumping water all over me meant soaking the couch and cushions. Starka just laughed hysterically.
Before the boys left they also sprayed us with strong perfume, which is another tradition. It’s tradition for the boys to spray something that smells strong or terrible at the girls. Around Easter time, in grocery stores in Slovakia, you can buy special green bottles with terrible smelling juice spray, specific for the tradition. As the boys left, family friends of the Turcanovas came to visit. My host mom called me into the living room right away and introduced me to them. As soon as she did, the men in the group squirted me in the chest with water from a water bottle, and then sprayed cologne into my hair. Pretty funny tradition, I think. Another part of the tradition is that the girls or women have to give the boys and men chocolate or money after they are watered and sprayed, so we gave them chocolate bunnies and eggs that my host mom had ready to hand out. There is another part to the whole tradition that the people of Hybe don’t do. It is tradition for the boys or men to hit the girls or women with sticks, in addition to the spraying and watering. Ha, I’m glad that tradition didn’t stick around in this area, although I’ve seen that many people have the sticks with ribbons tied to them and use them as decoration in their homes during Easter time.
A highlight for me this month was also the history book party event. A man who lives in Hybe just recently finished writing his second book, a history book about the village. In celebration of the book release, the town had a ceremony to celebrate. The celebration took place in a fairly small room (or at least too small for an event like this) in the city building of Hybe. I went to the celebration with my host family, and by the time we got there the whole room was filled with people, as well as the hallway leading into the room. The only place we could manage to squeeze into was the back corner on the right side, right next and literally IN two trees. It was quite funny. My host sister Katka and I giggled quite a bit as we swatted branches out of our faces, and tried to arrange them under and between our arms. Anyways, the ceremony was nice. My friend Vierka, who works as an assistant to the mayor of Hybe, opened the ceremony with a welcome message and poem (although I couldn’t understand much of it). Both an accordian player and violin player played a piece of traditional Slovak music, and Stanislav Ziska spoke a bit about the book and his process of writing it. At the end of the ceremony, we all stood in line to shake his hand and receive a free copy of the book! It was awesome! It’s a nice hard cover book with a lot of pictures (which is great, since I’m not able to read most of it). After the ceremony, everyone gathered in another small room (even smaller than the first) to have a reception, complete with cakes, fruit, alcohol and many other drinks and snacks. This is pretty typical of Slovak celebrations: everyone gathering in a small room around a giant table full of food and drinks, always standing instead of sitting because there isn’t enough room, and socializing and toasting to events. Anyways, the book is a really nice keepsake, and even more special because my host sister Janka had him sign it personally to me. Stanislav Ziska is also my host sister’s history teacher, so that’s pretty fun. She says he is a really great teacher and he is a big reason that she enjoys history so much.
Something new that happened this month was the start of my community English classes. The pastor and a woman from the church thought of the idea to open up a basic English class for whoever was interested in the community, so we held a meeting to see who was interested. It turns out that quite a few people were interested, so the one community class for beginners turned into three community classes (beginner, intermediate, and second intermediate). They have been an interesting challenge, because even though the classes are split up into different levels, there is still a broad mix of ability within the classes.There are mostly adults in my beginner class, and a mix of teenagers and young adults in my two upper level classes. It has been going pretty well and it’s been another great opportunity to meet more people in the community.
Here are some other random highlights for this month: I got my first Slovak Bible! It’s a children’s Bible, so hopefully I will be able to read and understand all of it by the time I leave in August. That is one of my goals. My host sisters and I bought matching kiddy toothbrushes! We were pretty exciting. I love how my family enjoys buying matching things. It’s hilarious, and it really makes me feel like part of the family. I have a green rabbit toothbrush, Janka has a blue puppy toothbrush, and Katka has a purple elephant toothbrush. Good times! I was interviewed for two papers, and for the church magazine (that’s usually published 4-5 times per year). The magazine for our church is called, “Zvon,“ which literally means “bell“ in Slovak. The newest printed edition came out on Easter Sunday, including my interview and picture! Wow, I felt sort of famous! The interview is also published on the church’s website, in both Slovak and English. You can find the interview on the church website (link provided on my blog), as well as on my blog itself, under the posting title “My Interview.“ And, this month I took my first trip “out back“ to see the Turcanova’s animals! I asked my host sisters, sometime in early February, if we could go visit their animals (they live in a little barn that is connected to their garage, right behind the house). They thought I was a little strange, but said yes. And so we finally went in March! They have two rabbits (which they eventually butcher and eat), a cow (which they maybe butcher and eat?? I’m not sure), twelve chickens (or so...they say they don’t actually know), three sheep, and two pigs. One big pig (who they will butcher in a few weeks, to restock their freezer’s meat supply for the upcoming months), and a little pig (who will be butchered next year sometime). I thought it was nice to go back there, just to see how many animals the Turcanovas had, and just because I think it’s fun that the barn is attached to the house (and they live right in town by one of the grocery shops). But from my excitement and interest, they made the assumption that I’ve never seen or been around farm animals before. I tried to explain to them the area in which I live, but I think they still think I’m a bit crazy. But we got to go visit the barn anyway, so I was a happy camper! I also have become a regular at a community aerobics class, held at the school gym on Monday nights. This has been a really nice way to get involved in activity without the language barrier being a roadblock, and it’s been a nice way to work off the steady Slovak diet of meat, potatoes, and chocolate cake.
One more really fun event for the month was the youth choir recording a cd! The younger kids and teenagers are all grouped together to make the youth choir, and they have been practicing these 18 songs for months and months. They finally recorded a cd a few weeks ago, recording all 18 of the songs, complete with flute and recorder additions and solos from the Pastor and some of the kids. And, from me! When I arrived in Hybe back in January, the kids in the youth choir learned a song in English to sing for me in church. Well, we sang this same song for the cd recording, but instead of letting the tape recording sing the main part for them, I sang it and the kids filled in the rest of the song and joined in at the chorus. It was pretty fun, and I hope it sounded ok. We are all anxious to see how the songs turn out! Will keep you posted, and hopefully you’ll get a chance to listen to us sing in the future.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for all of your support! This month I’ve been updating my blog more often, and fixing it up, so please check it out when you have a chance! Ok, hope you all had a fantastic March, and a blessed Easter!
God Bless,
Ashley
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