It's been about a month since I've updated this blog, and this month I had a lot of opportunities for me that I was really lucky to take part in. And as the holidays come up, and I begin to go further into my exchange, I'm learning a lot. I've spent more than 100 days here, 106 to be exact, and I am getting closer to being 1/3 of the way finished with my exchange. As I look back on it, it seems like a quick blur, it's really shocking to me how fast my exchange is going, and at the same time, how slow it's going.
A really exciting event of this month was traveling to Martin, a city about 4 hours by train from my city, for a Thanksgiving Dinner. Being away from my family for Thanksgiving was something that I knew would be really hard for me, but thanks to Rotary it wasn't half bad. I took the train with my other American friend living in a village near me, and started the night by helping prepare everything. Some Americans were there earlier helping cook and clean, the Americans made Apple pie, and the Brazilians made some Brazilian desserts. It was as close as we could get to a Thanksgiving dinner, and even though I didn't get to spend it with my real family in America, I spent it with another family of exchange students. Along with this, another event I got to go to was a rotary meeting in Bratislava, Slovakia's capital, and meet with all the exchange students living in Slovakia this year. And by far this was my favorite part of the month. The plan was to sleep in Bratislava for two nights and travel to Vienna one day. The weekend began with a 6 hour train ride from Kosice to Bratislava with me and all the exchange students living in Kosice. A 6 hour train ride might not sound the most exciting, but when your with exchange students, it's always interesting. Over these couple of months of my exchange, the students all together in my city have become incredibly close, so I had no problem having to spend 6 hours with them. We spent the time talking and doing each others makeup while we blasted music in our little crowded train cabin. It was one of my favorite parts of the weekend. When we arrived in Bratislava, all the exchange students met in the train station, which looked more like an unchoreographed flash mob. With loud Brazilian music playing and everyone dancing with each other, we definitely became the center of attention of the train station. It was really great seeing all the students that I had became really close with in Trencin, during our first rotary meeting. After everyone arrived, we walked together to the Bratislava castle and then walked to the Bratislava Christmas market. It's easy to say that theses Christmas markets that are also in KOsice and Vienna, are the perfect amount of Christmas I need in my life. We walked around together in the rain and everyone really enjoyed it. After we went back to the hotel and got ready to leave for Vienna the next day. I am lucky enough to have already visit Vienna during my exchange, so this was not my first time touring it, but again it was still a really amazing place to be. We walked around the Christmas markets with all the exchange students, and took pictures, and went shopping. Like I said, exchange students always keep things interesting, so it was really fun to go with them. On sunday, we ended the weekend with a Slovak test, both writing and speaking, and it was great way to leave on a high note... I really think my host district is the only one giving their students language tests, which to me is a blessing and a curse, its pushing me to actually the learn the language, but on the other hand, Slovak is fucking hard. But we finished that and then we all said our goodbyes at the station and began our 6 hour train ride home, which again was super fun,thanks to all the exchange students I got to be with. Other then these too big event I haven't been up to too much. My family took me ice skating with my sister, which was interesting to say the least. Of course I have ice skated before, but successfully is another story. But by the end my 13 year old sister was no longer holding up her screaming 16 year old sister. But it was super fun and i'm really lucky my parents took me. During the week I am going to school everyday and usually doing stuff after. Every Tuesday and Wednesday I have language class with all the exchange students living in Kosice, which is really nice spending time and learning with them. Other days after school I like to go out with friends to the city. It's also really fun going out with people from Kosice because of how much they can teach you about Slovakia. Whether its new words in Slovak or a pet store around the corner where you can look at fish. Everyday I'm here I'm learning new things, and more about this amazing country. Like I always say I don't know what the future will bring me but I'm really looking forward to the rest of my exchange, and I'm really proud of how far I've come. Down below I'll leave pictures from this month. Also I made a video from my trip to Paris, so if you haven't seen it please check it out. Thanks for reading! www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs8QB4Bfgmo&feature=youtu.be
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Im expecting this blog to be a pretty long one this time due to the fact that I haven’t written one in such a long time, and things are always happening in good idea slovakia. I believe I have just finished my second month here and looking back it's a tangle of new memories, new places, new experiences, and good mix of ups and downs.
I began the month with a trip to Vienna Austria with my classmates from school, which was a whole other world compare to the small Minturn Colorado I've been growing up in. Needless to say it was a very new experience for me, seeing these huge buildings designed to every little detail, being surrounded by these stores that I wouldn't dare step foot in due to that belt over there that costs more than my whole exchange, and being around crowded streets with cars that won't always stop for you when your in the street like they do in Minturn. Nevertheless, these new experiences were what made the trip so great, learning about these new places I had never dreamed about going to. I think my favorite part of Vienna would be getting to experience everything with my exchange student and classmate from Peru, Gabriela. Everything for us is so different compared to our regular lives back home and it's really funny to watch each other slowly understand and learn more about different these cultures. After this trip I had a week more of school and then a small holiday after. School here is, to put it lightly, a challenge. I am grateful that my school is so involved with me and tries their best to include me in what there doing, but I won't lie, it's does become discouraging when a paper that would take a regular classmate to do in 5 minutes can last me more than an hour. I am trying my best to keep up but some days I am left upset and frustrated because of this language barrier, but I do understand this is a big part of exchange and just another thing I will have to overcome. And I'm really excited for when I can understand what my classmates are talking, and who knows, maybe even ass to the conversation. But thankfully I was given a very much needed holiday where my host family took me on a quick trip to paris which I'm so grateful for. We decided to drive there which was about 10 hours overnight, which was amazing as it sounds. The first day we spent walking around Paris and seeing all the monuments that you have seen your whole life in books and movies, like the Eiffel Tower and The Louvre. Something I've come to really enjoy is just that shocking bewilderment you feel when you finally get to see these amazing landmarks that you have only dreamt about it. Walking towards the eiffel tower was mesmerising, it was like seeing the picture in the book come to life. After sightseeing, we ended this great day with your everyday pickpocket in the Paris train station. Yes the naive american exchange student who carelessly left her wallet, that holds very important things to her life, in her pocket, was stolen from. I was always told that when I'm Europe be careful with your things because of the danger of pick pocketers, which of course I always brushed away with that common thought of, that would never really happened to me. But of course my 5 minutes in the train station resulted in me coming back to the hotel with 30 euros less, no bus or train pass, and my cards in someone else's hands. But thankfully after about a week of being back in Slovakia, I have a new wallet that I intend to keep in my own hands. The next say, was planned for us to go to DisneyLand that was about 10 minutes away from our hotel. I had been to DisneyLand in America once when I was around 5, so this was really my first time being in such a place and being conscious of it. When people say that DisneyLand is the place where dreams come true, they really mean 20 minutes of dreams paired with 6 hours of waiting in lines. But even though most of our time was spent waiting, I did really enjoy being with my family, especially my sister who fell in love with the amusement and excitement Disneyland offered. Finally, after a 8 hour day of excitement, we popped back into the car where we would drive through the night once again, and I don't know how my host dad did it but he got us there. The funny part of this though was where we were going. When your an exchange student, something you do a lot is just go with it, even if you have no idea what's going on. So I was under the influence that after France we were traveling to Germany, which would be around another 10 hours stacked on our travel time. So when I wake up I can see that everything was in German, the signs, the billboards, so obviously I thought we were in Germany. And when it came to visiting Germany, of course I'd love to see it, but after driving that much, I wasn't exactly ecstatic about being there. So as I'm sitting in the car, with my neck about to break from my awkward sleeping positions, and with yesterdays makeup and clothes on, somewhat wishing that Germany was postponed to another trip, I see the sign that says Bratislava, (the capital of Slovakia ). So once again I decided to just go with it until I convinced myself that germany shares a border with Slovakia... But finally I decided to whisper my sister, where are we, and she let me know that we were in Austria, not Germany, obviously, and of course I was shocked along with a little relieved with the fact we were going home. So moral of the story, never underestimate the little knowledge an American can have of the geography of Europe. Overall it was a short but really nice trip, that I'm so grateful for. My favorite part, easily was the cheese. French cheese is a a whole new experience in itself. Both nights in the hotel was spent with my family talking while eating the best bread and cheese that I've tasted, and its defiantly going to be something I will miss until next time I will visit France. Which will be around March, when I go on Eurotour with rotary, where I will be purchasing as much cheese as I can fit in my bag. Now after my trip, I'm back to my regular week in Slovakia. With a new wallet and bus pass, I'm back at school just trying to learn Slovak and enjoy my exchange. So far it's been really great and finally after two months, I'm getting into a routine and getting more and more comfortable in my new home. Today marks my first month of my exchange. And my first month has by my surprise wandered very far from the expectations I had built before my departure. With no real knowledge of my future life, at home I had seemed to go through the worst possibilities, desperately trying to prepare myself for the worst situations. I had imagined scenarios of me being isolated and alone, so homesick that it hurts, and so helpless and confused. Of course these are all aspects of exchange that I have felt, but in extremely smaller doses.
For me, I have no time to fixate on all of these "regular exchange issues," due to me being surrounded by positive and welcoming energy wherever I go. In Slovakia, people are always prepared to help you, weather it be a stranger on the street who you ask for directions, or your classmates that has already explained 5 times what we're working on in math or why we can't charge our phones in class. I can see how easy it could be to slip into the belief that you are a burden to most on exchange, but the people here are always doing an amazing job of making me feel welcomed. My family always makes me feel like I'm always wanted inside their home, which is one thing that I hold as very important. and because of them being this caring towards me, I have settled down a lot quicker than I expected. Nights when we are all together talking and yelling and laughing about whatever have been the best nights of my exchange. Recently was my host sisters birthday and we spent the night together dancing to blasted music and singing as loud as possible, and it's quite easy to say that It was one of my favorite nights of my exchange. On nights when it's not always easy and I'm dealing with different challenges they're always prepared to help me in anyway they can, with always providing tough love that builds me up to continue with a smile on my face. Another group of people I'm beyond grateful to have met are all my friends I have met either through exchange, school, sports, or my family. Everyone here is so proud of where they're from and always want to show me what Slovakia has to offer. My classmates this weekend took me out to a festival in Kosice called Biela Noc, which was followed by meeting exchange friends at a disco and dancing with some of my now closest friends. my classmates are some of the kindest people I have met, they're so excited and happy to have me here, and are always helping me with whatever they can. The following day my host dad took me to see the Košice Peace Marathon, the oldest marathon in Europe and second oldest marathon in the world. Its really amazing to see such large events here after living in such a small town, but each event is even more exciting then the next. Here I am always busy with something, which just makes me more and more excited for the future of my exchange. At least once a day I have moments to myself where I collect my thought and realize what an amazing life this is. A year ago I was walking home from my bus stop after school, and now I am walking through the streets of Kosice Slovakia looking up at the St. Elizabeth's Cathedral. Most days I feel like one of the luckiest kids in the world, and I can easily say that Slovakia is definitely the perfect place for me. It has officially been a whole week of living in Kocise Slovakia, and it has been a very full week. A week full of amazing amounts of high points, a hand full of low points, and many new challenges.
When I had first flew into Kosice, I had many different emotions crashing over me, it was my first time seeing in person what my life will look like for the next year. I walked from my plane into one of the smallest airports I've ever seen, with one area to pick up your luggage, and another to exit the actual airport. There my first host family was waiting for me with a sign and open arms. Through out this whole week they have been the reason why I have kept my positive attitude. They're incredibly helpful to me in every single way and they have done a great job of making me feel like part of the family since day 1. My first hours were spent talking with my family and trying my first Slovak dish, Bryndzové Halušky, which is very different, but very delicious as well. My family showed me around my new home, introduced me to the cat, Tidy, and finally let me sleep for I had been up for the past 24 hours. The following day was spent touring around the center of Košice, which was nothing like I had seen before, every building seemed to be perfected with amazing precision and detail. My favorite site was the Cathedral of St. Elizabeth. Everywhere you looked was a image of beauty, with stained glass windows, becaustiful statues, and details everywhere you look. The rest of the week was filled with meeting new people, and figuring out the challenges that I was gonna face through out the year. Basketball practice was my first look into what its like to be a complete alien, a total stranger, which is something I'm not use to. But as the week went on my conversations with the team became longer and I began to feel right at home with a new team. And the same for my new school, with time things seem to just get better and better. The first day of school was most defiantly my 15 minutes of fame, I was the talk of the school and everyone was very excited to have me there. Despite the hour commute to school and the early mornings starting at 5:00 AM, I'm very happy with my school life. Of course its very challenging for me, not knowing slovak and always being behind my other classmates, everyone there is ready to help me as much as possible. As for my Slovak, its defiantly something that is going to take a while to catch onto. Every word comes with a crazy pronunciation and total new form of grammar that is really challenging. but my family is extremely helpful when it comes to learning my language. Even though they are very hard on me, its because of them that I am practicing my slovak at all. And as for the future, it is still filled with many unknowns. Im very happy here and I know that its something that makes me who I am but of course its not easy. But one thing I'm very very sure about is that when I finish my exchange, I will be a stringer, smarter, more experienced human who has grown immensely over this past year. My official departure date is August 27th, 2017. On that day I will be flying from Denver into Munich Germany, then the following day I will be flying to Vienna Austria then finally into Košice Slovakia. As of now I seem to be prepared as much as I can for something so big, I have met and spoke with my family who will be hosting me for half my year, studied my language as much as I could, and have booked my air tickets, but with all this preparation prepared is the farthest thing from what I am feeling.
My main feeling lately has been an equal amount of pure excitement and dread. I am throwing myself into the unknown, you can look at your town, read about the culture, talk to your classmates who you will be joining, but no matter what it is still something you have never experienced before until you are actually there. And that unknown that I am braving is what is igniting these feelings. I am ready to see what my next year of life will look like, and see what I have brought upon myself and some days just the thought of being on that plane into Košice fills my body with amazing amounts of energy. But with all that energy comes with the doubts and fears that I am also left to face in my year abroad. I like to think of it as a year of new, new family, new home, new school... But the excitement of something being new also comes with the speculations and fears of how you'll react to all these new changes. But I will take this excitement and dread and use it to fuel myself for the next 21 days I have left in America. Everyday I am shocked with how quickly the days are going down until my departure, and also somewhat dismayed. It seems like yesterday I was telling my family that I wanted to travel abroad like my older sister sister who traveled to Chile 2014/2015, and now I am waiting on my plane tickets in the mail and starting to say goodbye to friends. It feels like an hourglass running out too fast to even catch and I know as soon as I know it I will be boarding my plane. With these 21 days I hope to accomplish a good amount of stuff that I have so typically put into the last seconds of my hour glass. I want to see all my friends and give my last goodbyes, spend as much time with my family, make as much money as possible, learn as much Slovak words as I can, but again I have 21 days left, which doesn't allow me to get everything done that I would like. But I feel like no matter how much I get done all never feel like my "Before I Leave' checklist will be complete, which is something I'm going to have to accept as a foreign exchange student. I'm looking forward to see what these next 21 days will do to my emotions, what my next year will look like, and how I will learn and grow through this experience. It is definitely something that carries a lot of intimidation and looks down upon on me as I am still a student who hasn't faced the situation that I will in the next year, but also a piece of me and who I am that I am passionate about and so happy that I have the opportunity to take part in. |
AuthorRotary Youth Exchange Student traveling to Slovakia from the USA. Archives
December 2017
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