London calling

Takze tentokrat iba v slovencine pretoze sa ide ohovarat..., ale nie, proste len citatelia, o ktorych viem, tvoria dve skupiny: ty co citaju iba slovenske prispevky a ty co citaju iba anglicke prispevky, no a su aj taky ktori rozumeju obom jazykom, ale pravdepodobne si radsej precitaju tu slovensku verziu a tento clanok je len pre nich.

Nas squeeze team exploration pekne pokracuje a rozrasta sa. Tento vikend sa k jadru Katalin a Ja pridala nasa verna Martina a traja novacikovia: Guyla, David a Balint - celkom srandovna trojka, uz len tie mena zneju ako nejaka vtipna kreslena rozpravka... Vsetci traja su madarskej narodnosti zatial co prvi traja spomenuti su v podstate Ceskoslovaci, tak sme vytvorili nepisane dve skupinky. Nic v zlom, ale nasa skoro nadavka "ty si ale madar!" ma svoje opodstatnenie. Chlapci boli totiz trochu spomaleni a akoby z ineho sveta. Gyula sa zo vsetkeho tesi a vsetko pozoruje ako maly chlapec, David je naopak velky, rozumny, ale aj tvrdohlavy a netrpezlivy, zatial co Balint vyznel kludne a spokojne -neviem vsak ci to nebolo len preto ze si nebol isty svojou anglictinou.

S Guylom som cestoval v piatok hned po skole do Londyna. Tu v Harrogate si z neho skoro kazdy robi srandu a Sebastianovi a Nelly vyslovene lezie na nervy. Dost dobre som sa snim porozprval a snazil som sa mu trocha vysvetlit ze to jeho detinske spravanie spojene s poucovanim druhych moze naozaj ludi iritovat. Je vsak pravda ze to mysli dobre. Mna osobne to iba pobavuje a chalaniska mam celkom rad, len teda nema to tu lahke -cely jeho zjav akoby ziadal poznamky a nerespektovanie.

Dorazili sme neskoro v noci na Victoria station a vdaka detailnym instrukciam od Martini sme nasli jej skolu a intrak bez problemov. Vecer sme sa chvilku porozpravali a isli sme spat... pri lihani do postele sa ma Guyla spytal ci mi vadi chrapanie? Ja ze brutalne! A tak sa chalanisko bez slova zdvihol, zobral si madrac a spal v chodbicke... velmi mile gesto. Doteraz som vzdy trpel, alebo to riesil stuplami do usi, ktore som si vsak tentokrat zabudol.

Sobota bola celkom nabita. Najprv k nam dorazili Katalin so zbytkom a vidali sme sa na japosnku turistiku. Ked uz mam tu kameru tak by som ju mal aj vyuzit, nie? Ale co London je starodavne a historicke mesto, tak to stalo za to! Len ti ludia! Ako mravce, fuj... Londyn sa sice nepodoba na Chicago, ale svojou preludnenostou a velkostou som si pospominal na moj zivot vo velkomeste. Plus stretol som sa s Gonzalesom -ceskym kamosom z Chicaga a tak bolo na co spominat. Chalanisko je v anglicku par mesiacov, a tesne pred vikendom sa mi ozval ze je tu a ze ide do Londyna, ja ze tiez a tak sme si vymenili telefonne cisla... moc sa nezmenil: klasika ploskacka vo vacku a pobehovanie po meste. Domov soferoval 150 mil a to ze pil ho samozrejme vobec nevzrusovalo.

Na veceru sme skocili do China town, co zacina byt pomali moja klasika. V zahranici vacsinou jem zahranicne jedla... china, india, mexico... Na vecer sme planovali ist do baru, alebo na disku, ale nakoniec sme skoncili u Davida kde sme hrali konverzacno-herecke hry. Konecne banda ludi ktora sa vie zabavat aj bez alkoholu -aj ked mozne len preto ze sa nam ziaden nepodarilo kupit, pretoze vsetko bolo zavrete.

Nedela bola totalne spomalena, pretoze sme isli spat o 4tej rano a tak sme stavali o 10tej niektori na obed! S Martinou sme vytvorili akusi ceskoslovensku opoziciu a dost kruto sme sa zabavali na margo madarov -fakt som si nemohol pomoct, su to super chalani, ale niektore ich reakcie proste ziadaju komentar. Celkovo som si s Marinou dost dobre rozumel, co mi padlo ako balzam na dusu v tomto cudzom a velakrat nehostinnom prostredi... a hlavne prostredi samich chalanov, aspon teda co sa intraku tyka. Napisal by som aj viac, ale kedze si to bude asi aj ona citat, tak sa zdrzim komentara.
Z bytu sme sa vytrepali az po obede a tak to babi vzdali a nechali nas na pospas velkomestu. Nic to v Londyne sme sa stretli s Davidovou znamou Zitou (tiez madarka) a ona zavolala svoju kamosku,... fuha-neviem-ako-sa-volala... tato bola pre zmenu francuzka. Dievcatka boli pekne co len malina, ale aj patricne afektovane a tak som sa len prechadzal a pozoroval. Gyula bol v siedmom nebi. Uz som sa nedokazal, resp. nechcel preorientovat na ich hladinu. S Katalin a Martinou si rozumieme akosi bez slov, a tu to bolo len o slovach, celkovo dost zbytocnych slovach a tak som ich trochu posetril.
Zato na spiatocnej ceste som opat hodil hlboke debaty s Gyulom a chalanisko nie je vobec taky hlupi ako vyzera! Len ked ludia okolo sa vacsinou zujimaju iba o to ako ten druhy vyzera... Napr. hovoril ze pocity su hlboko za vedomim a ze je mozno az nemozne ich ovladat. Nuz nebit meditacie tak mu dam aj za pravdu...

A day that changed my life for the better.

The day took place back in 1999, it was, in June, 9th June to be precise. I can still vividly recall the memories and feelings that I had on that particular day. The reason why I remember the date is because it is my birthday, but that is not the point.

The reason why this day stand out from the haze of all the other days, I have lived so far, is elswhere. I was on a four week train journey around Spain and had been ther for already a week. Since it was a low budget trip I was quite tired and also fed up with all the tickets arrangements and with all the difficulties one has to face when travelling on one’s own in foreign country. A little discomfort and occasional rush is a daily occurrence.
But not on this day. No, I decided to enjoy it as much as possible. So after I woke up I went straight to the beach. Oh, how much I love hot Mediterranean sun on my skin and sea watter in which to swim! No rush, no train-timetable checking, no misunderstandings with nonenglish speaking Spanish people. No thoughts like where am I going to sleep, or what am I going to eat. Not today. Today is my birth day and I am going to celebrate it! Everything that I am doing, I am doing with absolute consciousness and peace in my heart. Just here and now. I am lying on a beach in a small Spanish coast at town, fully enjoying the richness of the moment. Later on that day I bought my self fresh, juicy tropical fruits, and walked down the street appreciating their unique taste. Simple things like this were giving me unimaginable pleasure.

Nothing more happened, nothing more interesting. So I must explain why it changed my life. Well, it was the first birthday that I really lived through and fully appreciated. The first time I was truly happy with myself. The first time it was no problem being alone and not being lonely. This day helped me to leave behind the teenage depressions and step forward towards a possitve future, and that I call a change!

Lake District

Squeeze team was very good idea. To be honest, at the beginning I thought it wouldn't last for long. I already met many other groups and teams of people outside Slovakia, and it was usually just temporary friendship. Only few exceptions, like Tomas Deli, are disproving the rule. I hope there will be more! First meeting of squeeze team was a big success so we decided to continue the action. Before I start to tell the story I have to say one thing: there is no exact definition of squeeze team -basically anybody who is open-minded and willing-to-travel can become a member. This time me, Katalin and Martina (Czech HMC teacher) decided to go to England's treasure land called Lake District. The highest mountains and most beautiful lakes are situated in this middle west part of England. It used to be peace of land responsible for many quarrels and hassles between Dukes and Kings because everybody wanted to have it in their shire.
Once again we went for the option which killed two birds with one stone: rent a car, which provides transport and accommodation... First plan was to meet at Friday night and sleep at my place in Harrogate since it is relatively close to the park. But my housemaster didn't really like the idea of two women sleeping in boys boarding house -strangely one would be OK! And the fact that they are teachers didn't help either. So we adjusted our plans and girls travelled over night. I picked them up on Saturday morning at 6:40... good time for starting the day, but it didn't happened. We didn't leave Harrogate until as late as 10 am. You know: shower, breakfast, renting car, shopping in supermarket...
But we managed to leave, and decided to go through Yorkshire Dales (another national park, even closer to Harrogate) just to have nice views from the car, rather than just go on highway. The weather forecast for the whole week was horrible -as Martina said: "It's going to rain dogs and cats" which obviously induce amusement among native speakers... Surprisingly for country famous for rain and fog it didn't look like it at all. In fact at mid-day it was so nice that I decided -as the driver of the car- for the whole team that we should do our today's hiking now. No matter we were just in the middle of our way, somewhere in the Dales. I just stopped on first parking lot available and we hiked small hill. I'm not sure but it was called something like Cam Heat... anyway it was just a nice walk beyond the village. Parking was ridiculously expansive so spent there only 2 hours. At least we just made it during the dry and sunny part of the day, because the forecast was slowly fulfilling... for the rest of the day we just drove towards the Lake district discussing where exactly we wanna go. Finally we decided to go to Coninston and tomorow go for peak with curious name: Old man of Coninston. Since we came to the town quite early and the dogs finally begun to fall we ended up in local pub, discussing, chatting and having fun. It's like healing balm for the soul to feel the mutual understanding, sharing common opinions and coming from similar backgrounds. Everything sounded so meaningful, so wise, so warm and nice! I'm sure girls will agree with me, even though the rum might made it easier for them to feel all of this.
We were looking for the place to sleep for a while but found one parking lot without the usual sign "no over night parking", eventually. The rain on the body of the car is lovely tune for peaceful night -well if you are trained and used to sleep in little more uncomfy conditions than warm bed with teady bear next to you...
The good spell was dwelling upon us, because the whole night rain ceased in morning and before we start to hike the Old man there was no rain at all. Everything was nicely washed out and refreshed. The air was chili and ground soaked, but the whole scenery was marvelous. I already mentioned that the altitudes in England are not that high, but the actual appearance of the mountains is not that bad. Old man is only 800m high, and the hills around it are not much higher, since the highest mountain in England (Scaffel Pike) is only 978m. But the numbers are not everything. Mountains here have only few trees so there are great views almost everywhere and they look massive and solid. They look reddish and brownish due to plant called Header, grass, fallen leaves and earth. Now they were full of autumn colours, bright and vivid. We didn't managed to reach the summit, because it was like 7 hours hike and we had only 5 if we wanted to be safe for the bus from Leeds to London. Well, it doesn't matter, because after few ours we reached clouds and the visibility was getting poor, so it wouldn't make much difference to get to the top, except the fact that we conquered the peak -witch just a human vanity anyway... The point was to be outside, to chat and to refresh our minds from monotonic days in the System! And we fulfilled this point, so it was all fine. On the way back we already discussed the further development of squeeze team... so this weekend we are meeting in London!
pics will come soon

len tak

Pomaly sa dostavam na anglicku uroven ironie, drzosti a urazania. Celkovo tu totiz prevlada komunikacia, ktora v sebe zahrna vsetky tri spomenute vlastnosti... vacsinou to na zaver odlahcia niecim ako "I was just kidding...sir". Naivne som si myslel, ze som vytrenovany z intraku a privatu, ale tu to nadobuda dalsiu dimenziu.O asistentoch som uz pisal… zmenilo sa len jedno… komunikujem s nimi menej a menej.
Anglicki ucitelia okolo mna su uplne ine kafe. Po profesionalnej stranke sa mam co ucit. Po osobnostnej, cest zopar vynimkam, je to bieda. Same “Hello, how are you”... pricom to “you” je povedane tri metre od teba... Tak to tu cele sledujem a pozorujem. Tiez som zaregistroval akusi pychu, alebo ego, ktore je tu kruto davane dolu, pretoze Slovensko tu znie asi ako Azerbajdzan u nas! Niektori si uz vsimli ze ucit viem, ale priatelstvo z toho nevznikne.Pomaly si zvykam aj na dennu, resp. tyzdennu rutinu... uz sa ani nesnazim o bohvie ake nadvazovanie kontaktov. S ostatnymi asistentmi sa stretavam len pri jedle a sem tam v skole, ale skoro vobec sa nenavstevujeme a akosi polavili aj v sportovani, a tak si valim pekne sam... v pondelok CPE kurz angliny, v utorok vacsinou Duty na intraku, v stredu lezenie na stene, vo stvrtok plavaren, v piatok Duty, v sobotu behanie po meste, cekovanie miestnych secondhandov a outletov (uz som nakupil zopar vychytavok...) a v nedelu po obede hry a aktivity (futbal, basketbal, bedminton) a vecer chapel. Sem tam sa niekto prida, co je mila obmena, ale uz mi je jasne, ze pocas celeho roka tu ozajstnych priatelov mat nebudem.
Tak isto viem, ze co sa prace tyka, sa to asi velmi nezmeni. Je jedno, ci pracujem vela, alebo malo, plat mam taky isty... co je trocha nebezpecne (hrozi zlenivenie) ...zatial sa vytazujem naplno, aj ked ani zdaleka nie ako v BA (tam to vsak bolo dobrych 120%, co nie je zdrave). Nasiel som si zopar hodin chemie, kde tiez asistujem. Nic uchvatne, len pozorujem ucitela a triedu a sem tam niekomu pomozem. Z anglickeho nazvoslovia som dost mimo, ale teoriu si na prekvapenie pamatam. Sporty su teda pravidelnostou a dost vela casu travim v izbe, bud za internetom, alebo citanim... alebo pozeram telku - BBC ako trening listeningu... Co sa kurzu anglictiny tyka, tam by som mohol zabrat viac, ale akosi to odkladam. Vzdy dam prednost kamosom na internete ktorym odpisujem dlhe maily, alebo vypisovanim na blog... ako teraz!Ozvala sa mi Evka, bol to velke prekvapko... a znamenalo to pre mna vela, pretoze od rozchodu to boli prve slova, ktore som od nej pocul z jej vlastnej iniciativy...
Pomaly rozmyslam, co dalej. Anglicko by naozaj bola hlupost opustit, aj ked so samotnymi prachmi neviem neviem, uz som kupil kameru, a hned mi beha po rozume aj laptop... hroza tie materialisticke tuzby a chtice! Takze moje nastavenie na sporenie sa zatial nekona. Na stastie dom je dobra motivacia, aj ked stale to je len materia! Cesta na vychod to trocha vyvazuje! Tiez by som si rad niekedy zablbol a nebol stale prikladom, a niekedy tu toho mam plne zuby, ale vtedy si vzdy spomeniem na Little Miss Sunshine, kde jeden chlapik hovoril chalaniskovi, co nerozpraval, ze tie najhorsie casy ta najviac posuvaju dopredu!!!

Skotsko, in medias res (preklad, ine obrazky)

Pondelok rano. Balime vsetky potrebne veci na 4dnovi vylet autom a v aute. Hura, auto sa stane nasim dopravnym prostriedkom a domov v jednom. Takze cena za prenajom vlastne zabila dve muchy jednou ranou... aj tak nie je mozne spat vonku v takychto podmienkach (5-10 C, vlhko, hmla... Britania...) bez spacakov. Takze sme zbalili periny (este nikdy som necestoval s niecim tak domacim...), mapy a teple handry a vyrazili sme.

Nasa prva destinacia bol Forth William, resp. Ben Nevis. Dramaticky efekt tejto hory, britskej najvyssej hory, je umocneny skutocnostou ze zacina stupat z nadmorskej vysky 9m na brehu jazera Loch Linnhe, az kym nevytvory monument 1334m vysoko nad mestom Forth William, co posobi tak trocha otcovsky. Samotne cislo neznie vela pre Europanov zvyknutych na Vysoke Tatry, Alpy pripadne Karpaty. Ale nez budes sudit, zober do uvahy, ze Skotsko lezi v severnejsom zemepisnom pasme, co vytvara klimu podobnu arktickym regionom, a nemal by si zanedbat ani fakt, ze zaciatok cesty je 9m nad urovnou mora, takze vyskovy rozdiel je presne vyska hory... Zapadne pravidla a bezpecnostne predpisy su trochu viac strnule, takze panika vo visitor centre sa nas pre istotu opytala, ci chceme zdolat ich pychu dnes? Bolo nieco okolo 14:00 a pocko bolo super (na Skotsko!). Pravdu povediac, vobec sme nepremyslali, jednoducho si to vybehneme nie? Ale ked nam tetula povedala ze to trva dobrych 7 hodin, pripadne 5 ak sme fakt vo forme, tak sme si to radsej rozmysleli. Dodala sice, ze sa to da stihnut aj za hodinu a pol, ale to je narodny rekord a ten asi neprekoname. Nema problema prideme zajtra!

Pre dnesok mozeme ocekovat Loch Ness. Dalsie senzacne a velmi zname miesto. Na mape sme nasli maly kopec, ktory sme sa rozhodli zdolat - nech sa dame do formy na to monstrum! Prijemna vychadzka. Spali sme na brehu jazera. Vecer sme si spravili malu disku okolo auta... traja ucitelia vypusteny z klietky! Jazero je temne a hlboke (280m!!!), obklopene kopcami. Cele Skotsko postrada stromy, takze kazdy kopec vyzera masivne a ponuka uchvatne vyhlady.

Bez ohladu na to, co budem pisat v najblizsich riadkoch, clovek by mal vzdy byt poriadne pripraveny na turu! Jednoducho pretoze je v horach. Ibaze ste totalne chtivi turisti a nemate vsetku tu potrebnu vybavu, tak potom proste chodte do toho! Ja som zdolal ten kopec v skejtackych teniskach, normalnych nohaviciach a vo vlnenom triku. To triko bolo teda riadne na chuja, ale co! Koho to trapi teraz? Spravili sme to za uctyhodnych 7 a pol hodiny hore a dole. Ziadna sranda! Ale je pravda, ze sme cely cas kecali, a tempo bolo tak do pohody. Podla cestovneho sprievodcu 9 z 10tich dni je vrch zahaleny v oblakoch. Pocas celej tury to vyzeralo, ze sa trafime do tejto predpovede a ze moc toho neuvidime - co je jeden z dovodov, preco sa ludia stveraju tak vysoko, nie? Bolo extremne veterno, zima a horna stvrtina Benu bola namocena v hustej mliecnej hmle. Ale mali sme naozaj stastie, pretoze tesne pred dosiahnutim vrcholu sa oblaky zacali vytracat a pocko spravilo jednu peknu 360tku, obnazujuc dych vyrazajuce vyhlady a ukazujuc prirodnu magiu -nazyvanu duha - tentokrat dokonca kruhovu. Ako to uz tak byva, cesta dolu bola ovela namahavejsia - hlavne cez tie nase skratky!

Streda. Opat sme sa raz zobudili na brehu jazera, ktore sa tu vsetky volaju Loch. Boli sme celkom zniceni, Ja zacinam mat celkom serioznu svalovku na lytkach. Nikde inde, jedine lytka, pravdepodobne to zapricinila ta schodovita cesta na vrchol Ben Nevisu. Neviete si predstavit lepsi step aerobik. Takze sme sa rozhodli pre trocha viac turisticky typ vyletu -vsetko z auta. Presli sme cely ostrov Isle of Sky, ktory nam bol odporucany ako jeden z highlightov Skotska. Ano, bol mily, ale kedze som stravil cely den na zadnych sedadlach auta, tak si pamatam tak akurat 15minutove zastavky na roznych miestach. Nezalezi, ake uchvatne boli, moc som si ich neuzil. Ako som mohol? Boli sme ako japonski turisti v Bratislave - fotky a wow citoslovce! Ale aspon sme spravili mnoho mil! Zamujimave bolo sledovat, co sa stane s tromi individuami zavretymi v limitovanom priestore po cely den, comu predchadzali dalsie dva dni spolu. Presne, ako som to uz zazil predtym, vyvinuli sme si vlastny jazyk a svojske vtipky... ako zvycajne spali sme pri nejakom Lochu.
Stvrtok. Vrchol tohto dna bol hned rano! Zastavili sme sa na kave a caji, ktore sme sa rozhodli vychutnat si na lavickach s uzasnym vyhladom na Atlanticky ocean. Dosiahli sme totiz koniec Skotska, smerujuc do mesta Tongue. Nevinny ranny caj sa premenil na extaticke kupanie sa v studenom oceane s vonkajsou teplotou menej ako 15 C na slnku!!! Utesy boli uzasne, plaz nadherna a ocean rozkosny a osviezujuci. Boli sme vo vode iba par minut, ale nasledujucu hodinu ci dve sme boli zenergetizovani ako po adrenalinovom soku z volneho padu.
Zbytok dna bol tiez bajecny. Vedeli sme ze sa nasa cesta blizi ku koncu a tak sme vela diskutovali a boli sme k sebe velmi mili. A samozrejme, ze sme si robili srandu z Britov a Skotov, vsak co ocakavate od troch cudzincocv na prvych prazdninach. Bolo to roztomile, uchvatne a tak dalej...

Skotsko, zaciatok (translation different pics)

Prvy half-term v Ashville nebol az taky tazky, ale predsalen som narazil na zopar tazkosti. Ako ste sa mohli docitat v poslednom prispevku. Takze prve prazdniny prisli v tom pravom case. Pripravoval som sa na ne skoro mesiac. Samozrejme nie doslova, ale bookovanie listkov dopredu je ovela lacnejsie. Jedine, co mi bolo jasne bolo, ze chcem cele prazdniny stravit na ceste - ved viete, ze to je moja vasen! Nemrhal som ani minutou a vydal som sa priamo do Skotska, presnejsie do Perthu, kde Katalin a Bogdan na mna uz cakali. Katalin je slovenska HMC ucitelka, uci niekde juzne od Londyna a Bogdan je rumunsky HMC ucitel, no a on je na skole kusok od Perthu. Oboch som stretol v Cambridge na orientation na zaciatku roka.

Nase dobrodruzstvo sa prave zacalo. Hned prvy vecer sme skocili na male obcerstvenie v lokalnom bare, kde sme sledovali ako Anglicko prehrava v majstrovstvach sveta v rugby - co je tu pravdepodobne najpopularnejsi sport. Boli porazeni Juznou Afrikou, samozrejme vsak ze rugby nebola nasa hlavna atrakcia. Hlavny bod programu bolo prebrat plan na nasledujuci tyzden, pretoze doposial sme sa starali iba o to, ako sa dostat k Bogdanovi. Rozhodli sme sa, ze si poziciame auto, zvazili sme to ako najrozumnejsi sposob, ako preskumat (viacmenej) obrovske Skotsko v rozmedzi par dni (presnejsie 4roch)

Den potom - bola nedela - sa zacal velmi pomaly, no ved co ocakavate od troch ucitelov, ktori si uzivaju svoje prve prazdniny? Ale podarilo sa nam vybavit vsetko podla planu a po dobrych anglickych ranajkach (prekvapivo po dvoch mesiacoch nemam ziaden problem rano zosupovat slaninu, resp. sunku a vajicka na ranajky!) sme sa vidali do mesta, kde sme si prenajali novy Vauxhall Corsa (v Europe znamy ako Opel) za celkom slusnych 35£/den s plnym poistenim - ktore sme s radostou uvitali, pretoze nikto z nas nesoferoval auto na lavej strane cesty. V skutocnosti to nie je az take zlozite, staci sa preladit na ovladanie prevodovky lavou rukou - prava ruka sa najprv vzpiera a z casu na cas sama posmatra po prevodovke, ale narazi akurat tak na dvere sofera! Inokedy ta zasa ide slak trafit, ked vidis toho debila, ako ide priamo na teba... az ked ta tesne minie, si uvedomis ze ty si ten "debil," pretoze nevies, ze tu je to cele naopak! Vsetky tieto "prekazky" sa daju prekonat viac menej v priebehu jedneho dna. Co vsak trva dlhsie je prisposobit sa tym uzuckym cestam, ktore tu maju! Hlavne cesty su ako chodniky v Amerike (aj ked tie su tam skor nadrozmerne!) a lokalne cesty su skoro ako jednosmerky! Avsak perfektne sa hodia do krasneho obrazka celej krajny, presne ako tie americke pasuju do Ameriky! Po case sme si na to zvykli...
Prvy den sme isli iba do blizkeho St. Andrews, co malo byt studentske mesto. Az na skutocnost, ze sme tam nestretli ani jedneho studenta, to bolo utulne skotske mestecko. Zopar obrazkov by vas mohli dat do obrazu... Nebolo to zle, ale ani nic specialne - super vsak bolo, ze som konecne travil moj cas s fajnovymi ludmi. Ja som rozumel ich a oni posobili, ze rozumeju mna, aj ked sme vsetko len nie rovnaki. Jedina nasa spolocna vlastnost je nasa tvrdohlavost, ale neboli z toho ziadne problemy!!! V skutocnosti sme mali vela srandy a vyvinul sa z nas dobry tym aj na dlhsie cesty.
Ale o tom v nasledujucom prispevku.

Scotland, in medias res

Monday morning. Pack all things necessary for 4 days trip by car and in the car. Yeah, car became our vehicle and house in one. So the price of rent covered the price of hotels as well, cause it is impossible to sleep outside in this kind out weather (5-10C, humid, foggy... Britain...) without sleeping bags, as naugthy British would say, we killed two birds with one stone... So we packed duvets (I have never ever traveled with some thing more homelike ...), maps and warm clobbers and departed. Our first destination was Forth William, or more precisely Ben Nevis. The dramatic effect of Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain, is emphasised by the fact that it begins its rise from sea-level on the shores of Loch Linnhe, to tower 1,344m (4,406ft ) above the town of Fort William, providing an almost paternal presence. It doesn't sound much for Europeans familiar with High Tatras, or Alps, or whatever other mountains. But before you judge, consider the fact that Scotland is more northerly latitude which creates climate similar to Arctic regions and you shouldn't neglect that the starting altitude is 9m, so you literally climb the whole 1340m. Western rules and safety precautions are little more rigid, so the guide at the visitor center asked us, if we want to climb it today. Well, yes? We were not really thinking about all these facts, we just wanted to go for a walk. It was something around 2pm and the weather was nice (relatively in Scotland, though!). She told us that the hike might take 7 to 8 hours, even though the good time is 5 hours and national record is 1 and 1/2 hour! So we were forced to change our plans. No problem, we will come tomorrow.For today we can check the Loch Ness. Another spectacular and well know place. We founded on a map small hill, which we decided to climb to get in shape for Ben Nevis. It was a lovely walk... We slept on the banks of Loch Ness, which can be characterised as dark and deep (280m), surrounded by hills. At the night we had a small dancing party around the car... teachers unleashed after two months! All Scotland lacks trees, so any kind of hill looks massive and offers amazing views.No matter what I will say in next few lines, one should be always well prepared for any hikes! Just because you are in mountain region! Only if you are really keen hiker, and don't have all the necessary equipment with you, then go for it. I did it in skateboard sneakers and regular trousers with cotton shirt! The last mentioned sucked a lot, but who cares now! It took us respectable 7 and 1/2 hours up and down - as the lady mentioned, but well we were talking all the time... anyway it is not short at all. According to the travel guide, 9 out of 10 days the summit is covered with clouds. During the whole climb it looked like we were not going to see much from the top, which is one of the reason you are doing the effort, isn't it? It was extremely windy, cold and upper quarter of Ben was dipped in thick milky fog. But we were really lucky because few meters before reaching the summit, the clouds started to vanish and as we get to the top, the weather turned 360 degrees, revealing breathtaking views and showing natur´s magic called rainbow - this time circular! As usually, the way down was more tiring and quite bones damaging, well especially on the shortcuts we took!Wednesday. Once again we woke up on the shore of a lake, they call them Loch here. We were quite wasted, I was starting to feel serious muscle fever on my calves. Nothing else, just calves, I guess it's from the steps-like-track on Ben Nevis. You can't imagine better step aerobic! So we decided to have a little more tourist-like trip in a car. We drove all around Isle of Sky, which was recommended as one of the highlights of Scotland. Yes, it was lovely but I spent all day in the back of our car, so all I remember are just few 15min. stops on various places. No matter how spectacular they were, I didn't really enjoyed them. How could I? We were like Japanese tourists in Bratislava -taking pictures, and making wow sounds! But at least we covered lot of miles! What was good on it, was that we were exploring what happens when 3 individuals close them self in rather limited space and spend there whole day - antecedent by other two days together. As I experienced before, we developed our own language and particular jokes... As usually we slept near some Loch.Thursday: The highlight of this day was the very morning! We stopped for coffee and tea, and decided to enjoy them on benches with marvelous view of Atlantic ocean. We reached the top of Scotland and we were aiming to town Tongue. The innocent morning tea extended into ecstatic swimming in the cold ocean with outside temperature not more than 15C on the sun! The cliffs were amazing, beach marvelous and ocean lovely and refreshing. We were in the water only for few minutes but during the next hour or two we were energized as after adrenalin shock from free fall.
The rest of the day was lovely, too. We knew that our trip is slowly coming to the end, so we discussed a lot and were really nice to each other. And of course, we made fun of British and Scottish people, well, what do you expect from three foreigners on theirs first break! It was lovely, marvelous and so on...

Scotland, getting started

The first half-term at Ashville wasn't that hard, but I had to face some difficulties, eventually. As you might have read in the last article. So half-term break came at the right time. I was preparing for it almost for a month. Of course, just because booking tickets is much cheaper when you do it in advance. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to spend it entirely by travelling – well, you know that's my passion! I didn't waste a minute and went straight to Scotland, precisely Perth, where Katalin and Bogdan were already waiting for me. Katalin is Slovak HMC teacher, she was located somewhere south of London and Bogdan is Romania HMC teacher, he is at school close to Perth. I met both of them at the Cambridge orientation at the beginning of the school year.Our adventure was just about to begin. Right that evening we went for a small refreshment into local bar, where we saw England loosing worlds final in rugby - which is here probably the most popular sport. They have been beaten by South Africa, but anyway rugby wasn't the attraction. The aim was to discuss the plan for following week, because so far we were only worried about how to get to Bogdan's place. We decided to rent a car, as it sounded as the most sensible way how to explore (more less) vast Scotland within few days (exactly 4).The next day - it was Sunday - started very slowly, well what do you expect from tree teachers having first holidays? But we managed to do everything as planned, after good English breakfast (surprisingly after 2 months, I have no problem eating bacon and eggs in the morning!) we went to town and rent new Vauxhall Corsa (in Europe known as Opel) for quite decent £35/day with full insurance - which we gladly welcomed, because none of us drew a car on the left side of route. Actually, it is not that difficult, you just need to switch into left hand gear shifting -at the beginning the right hand seems to pop out accidentally, looking for the stick, but finding nothing but drivers door! And sometimes you get terrified that the stupid idiot in front of you is driving straight into you, it only after he miss you, that you realize that you are the one who should be called stupid for not knowing that here it is the other way around. All of these "hindrances" can be over come within one day, or so. But what takes longer, is to adjust into the tiny narrow streets and routes they have here! The main routes are like American sidewalks (here they call it pavement, but anyway they are rather to vast in America!) and the local routes are almost like one way streets! Well, but they fit well good together with the whole landscape, as the American do with American countryside. We get used to them... eventually.For the first day we went only to nearby St. Andrews, which was meant to be a students town. Except of the fact that we didn't meet any students, it was lovely little Scottish town. Few pictures should give you the picture... It wasn't bad, but nothing really spectacular - the great fact was that I was finally spending my time with fine people. I understood them and they looked like they understand me, even though we were all but different. The only common characteristic was our stubborness, but it didn't cause any problems at all! Actually we had lot of fun and ended up as a good team for longer journey.

But this will come in the following article.

Temna strana

Posledny tyzden bol hrozny. Od pondelka po piatok, to vyzeralo ako keby som kazde rano vykrocil tou nespravnou nohou. Neviem presne opisat co sa dialo, ibaze sa veci vymikali mojej kontrole. Mozno praveto je ten problem, mozno sa snazim mat vsetko pod kontrolou, no nech je to co chce, skusim to dat vsetko von formou tohto blogu.
Uz som tu dost dlho na to aby som sa stotoznil s dennou rutinou, ale nie dost dlho na to aby som pochopil vsetko co sa deje okolo mna. Vsetko sa to zacalo v pondelok. Chvalil som sixth formerov, ale asi unahlene, v pondelok ma prekvapili. Aj napriek tomu ze to bola hodina po teste, cize clovek by predpokladal ze ucivo maju zopakovane, ziaci nemali ani potuchy, pripadne iba matne tusili o com som im hovoril. Ak by to nebolo ucivo priamo nadvezujuce na poslednu hodinu tak by som nemal namietky. Samozrejme ze moj problem nie je len ucenie. Cely den sa vliekol ako ukrainsky vlak a ja som sa citil akosi osamelo a smutne.

Preco osomelo? Nemam tu toho spravneho partaka. Ostatny asitenti su v pohode, ale nie su to presne moje typy ludi. Madarsky chlapik Guyla je trochu spomaleny a malo uprimny. Viem ze sa snazi byt dobrim prikladom pre ziakov a dobrym priatelom pre nas, jeho spravanie je vsak cudne, a to hlavne poslednou dobou. Mal na navseteve kamarata z Madarska, co pre nas znamenalo ze Guyla zrazu zmyzol. A ked priatel odysiel Gyula zrazu bol. Teraz sa snazi akosi vynahradit cele toto zmyznutie, co vyznieva este cudnejsie. Francuzka asistentka Nelly na mna posobi trochu nudne, je to asi len preto ze je pasivna, resp. jej aktivity su uplne ine ako moje. Sebastian, Nemecky asistant, je asi najviac v pohode, ale niektore jeho komenty a nazory su dost prudke. A potom tu je este Paula zo Spanielska, no aj ona je OK, ale akosi nevieme nadviazat hlboke rozhovori. Neberte to v zlom, ja ich mam rad, co chcem povedat je ze sa asi znas nestanu najlepsi priatelia. Uzil som si snimi vela srandy, mozno sa dobre vztahy len rozvinu... uvidime. Chyba mi dobry kamos na konstruktivne debaty -nie kritiku, nie staznosti, nie plytke rozhovori o vsednom zivote...
Pondelok pokracoval kurzom anlgictiny (Cambridge Proficiency English(CPE)), co ma uplne priklincovalo. Nie len ze je to velmi tazke, ale trva to 2 a pol hodiny! Asi vsetci viete ze moja gramatika, ani ta slovenska, nestoji za vela. Tento kurz ma vysoke ciele a doslova sa rype v gramatike ,dokonca aj niektori native speakeri ho povazuju za narocny. No posudte, moje prve skore s Reading bolo 12/25 a s Use of Englisch 8/18, co nie je dostatocne ani nahodou. Ostatny asistani studuju Anglictinu na Vyske, takze to zvladaju ovela lepsie, ale tiez hovorili ze to bolo tazke.
Nemohol som sa dockat vecera a beztarostneho zaspania z celeho tohto desu, dufajuc ze zajtrajsok bude lepsi. Ale nebol! Niektori ludia v skole ma zacinaju fakt nudit, alebo stvat? Nie vsetci, ale niektri ucitelia, ako napriklad moja sefka, Head of Maths Jully, su malo uprimny a napr. ona ma kritizuje za chyby ktore sama robi... Uz ma nebavi jej spravanie a moja pretvarka. Ako ucitelka nie je najhorsia, ale je velmi slabo zorganizovana a neuveritlene busy, co prenasa aj okolo seba. Tlaci ma aby som sa ponahlal s ucivom, co vedie k nepochopeniu uciva ziakmi a mojej nervozite na hodinach. Na skole je vsak mnoho kvalitnych ucitelov, obidivujem hlavne ich klud a pozitivisticky pristup, ktory u nas tak chyba! Da sa snimi perfektne porozpravat, ale prilezitosti na dlhe rozhovori je malo. Najhorsia vec na skole je asi ze nie som dostatocne oceneny, som len akysi asistant. Napr. tento tyzden som ucil iba 4 hodiny matiky, a pozoroval hordy hodin nudnej Jully. Tak som nevahal a poprosil zopar ucitelov chemie ci by som mohol participovat na ich hodinach (samozrejme pocas mojich volnych hodin). Na co Jully reagovala: "Ok, len aby si stihal pripravy na tvoje matematicke hodiny". Kurnik sopa, to akoze som uplny debil, alebo co? Cela skola je priserne prisna. Pravidla su na uplne vsetko. S mnohimi sa ztotoznujem, ale niektore su minimalne cudne: napr. nemozem byt v triede zo studentom bez toho aby bola na dverach sklenena tabula, taktiez nemozem mat studentov vo svojom byte v Mallinson house, jedine ze by som nechal otvorene dvere -vsetko pre moju bezbecnost!!! Internet je cenzurovany. Opet, pochopitelna zalezitost ak by to nebolo predimenzovane. Napr. som potreboval prelozit slovicko twat, ktore sa normalne nachadzalo v knihe, a boom, internetovy slovnik ma nepustil dalej. Mimochodom to slovo je drsna nadavka, ale aj tak! Nepozeral som nevhodne obrazky, necital nevhodny text, iba som potreboval prelozit slovo. Tak isto bol zablokovany aj yahoo a vsetky chat stranky, resp. studenti nemaju na tieto stranky pristup a ja musim na kazdu stranku poziadat odblokovanie. Takze yahoo fungovalo az po tyzdni co som prisiel. Cudne je ze do teraz som bol schopny prezerat si svoj vlastny blog, ale par dni do zadu naskakoval filter aj na moj blog!!! Ze chat filter! Do kelu aj snimi, to nie je chat, to je moja stranka. Takze teraz pisem na slepo, pretoze stranka kde to pisem funguje, ale vlastna stranka blogu je nedostupna. Proste pakaren. Uz som poziadal o odblokovanie, ale to potrva tak tyzden.
Posledna kvapka k celemu mojmu "fasa" pocitu bol moj naivny pokus o pomoc Samovi a Deanovi (studenti z mojho intraku) dostat sa do posilovne. Musia mat oficialne potrvdenie ze presli uvodnym treningom. V stredu vecer, po tom co som si zaplaval, som hodil ockom do posilovne. Bolo tam zopar studentov a tak som snimi hodil rec. Prisiel Sam a ze nemoze cvicit.
Dean: " preco?"
Sam: " Nemam potvrdenie."
Ja: "Mal si trening?"
Sam: "Jasne"
Ja: "Takze jedine co potrebujes je podpis?"
Sam:"NO"
Ja: "Som opravneny ti ho dat?"
Dean: "Asi hej"
Sam:" Asi iba ako ucitel telocviku, musis povedat ze si ucitel telocviku."
Ja: "Tak sa nanho zahram, podme tam" Tak sme isli na recepciu. Vsak predsa chcem pomoct, nie? Naivne som si myslel ze to je len na jeden vstup do telocvicne. Na recepcii vsak bol sefko celeho sportoveho centra a povedal nam ze podpis musi byt od ucitela ktory viedol trening. Tak som to nechal tak a povedal som Samovi nech pride zajtra aj S podpisom. Hned ako som odisiel som sa vsak citil uplne na hovno. Preco som vlasnte klamal? Bolo to take dolezite?
Na druhy den prisiel Niel (sef vsetkych intrakov, a sef mojho intraku) a povedal mi ze Dean a Sam maju pruser, pretoze sa nevhodne spravali v posilovni a boli drzi... a este som pocul ze si povedal ze si ucitel telocviku, je to pravda? Ah jaj, a tu to mam. No je to pravda, a moj blbi pocit z celeho tyzdna PRAVE dosiahol svoje maximum. Citil som sa ako maly chalpec vinny z klamstva plus este viac nahovno.
Proste to nie je moj tyzden. Ale ziadne strachy, teraz je uz tyzden zamnou a urcite pride spusta dobrych. Dalsi clanok sa bude volat "Svetla strana". Ja viem, viem, vyplakavanie a stazovanie sa nie je to co chcete citat, ale ked sa tak citim? Nebojte sa vsetko bude v pohode. Vsetko co potrebujem je trocha vsimavosti a pokoj v srdci!

Dark side

I just have had a tough week! Since Monday till Friday it looked like I was waking up on the wrong side of the bed. I can't really explain what's wrong, but things were just not running as I expected. Maybe that's the problem, maybe I'm expecting too much, well whatever, I'll just get it out through this blog and hope it will be over.

It all started on Monday (8/10). I am here long enough to slip into the routine, but not long enough to understand everything what's going on around me. Last time, I was praising sixth formers, well but maybe too soon, surprised me on Monday. In spite of the fact that it was a lesson after a test, they had no clue, or just blurred idea about the stuff I was talking about... well if it was not connected to the previous lesson I would have no objections. Obviously it wasn't just this. The whole day was moving very slowly and I felt somehow lonesome.

It's probably because I have no real friend, for good constructive talks. No complains or pointless coments! Good discussion. The other assistants are fine, but they are not exactly my types. Hungarian lad Guyla is little slow and not really honest. Even though he is trying to be the best example for students and caring friend to us, his behaviour was rather strange, specially during last few weeks. His friend from Hungary visited him, and Guyla suddenly disappeared. Now he is trying to bridge the gap, which looks even more strange. The french assistant Nelly looks in my eyes boring, it's probably only because I find here too passive. Which is not a negative characteristic, she is just different then me. Sebastian, German assistant, is probably the most alright person, but still some of his statements are quite harsh. And there is also Paula from Spain, well she is fine, but we don't talk too much. Don't get me wrong, I like these guys, what I am saying is just that we are probably not going to be the best friends forever. I had lot of fun with them, and maybe the good relationship will be developed as time goes on... will see.

Monday, after school, we started our Cambridge Proficiency English (CPE) course, which nailed me, completely! I find it very hard. All you lads know that my grammar sucks, even in Slovak. This course have very high aims, so even native speakers may find it hard. Well my first scores from Reading was 12/25 and from Use of English 8/18 which is not satisfactory at all! The other assistants are actually studding English in they home countries, so they were coping much better, even though they sad it is hard for them.

I couldn't wait to get into the bed and just past out! Hoping that next day will be better. But that was not over! I'm starting to get sick of some people I am working with. With some of them I am in contact since beginning and I will remain till the end, because they are my bosses. Specially the Head of Maths Jully. There would be nothing wrong on that, if she were sincere. Maybe she is, but I was really annoyed, by some of her behaviour, like pushing me and rushing my lessons, which is leading to students confusion and me being nervous. Then there are people which I am just discovering as very trustworthy and discussion worthy persons.

The worst think in school is that I don't have enough challenge, and I am taken as assistant. For example this week I thought only 4 periods with upper 6, and observed tones of Head of maths lessons, so I asked chemistry teachers to attend some of their lessons. After I told her, she was like: "just make sure that you have enough time to do your job here at maths department". I am like, what the hell? Well and whole school is too strict. There are rules for everything. For example I can't be in room with one student if there is glass panel on the door, neither can I have boarders in my room at Mallinson house -it's for my safety!!! Or the Internet is filtered. It would be all right if it was not little too much, for example bare typing of vulgar world into online dictionary will filter the whole page, or I wasn't able to check my yahoo account at the beginning. Lastly I wasn't able to check my blog, so even this post is written without me seeing it on the page. I am able to access only the blog making page, but not the actual blog! Isn't it ridiculous?

The last drop into all of this was my naive attempt to help Sam and Dean (boarders from Mallinson house) to get into gym. They are supposed to have induction and they need a written proof of it. On Wednesday night, after I swam a little, I drop into the gym just to have a look. Sam told me that he can't go in because he doesn't have his proof of induction signed.

So I was like "did you have induction? ".

Sam:"yes of course"

Me: "So I guess I can sign it for you can't I?".

So we went to the reception, but Sam told me that I should pretend that I am a P.E. teacher. Well, whatever, I just wanna help, right? At the end we were told that it have to be signed by the person who did the induction. So I just left. But I immediately realized that I did wrong and knew that I should have not lie. On the other day Neil (head of boarding dropped by, and sad that Sam and Dean are banned from gym, because of their rood behavior. I am like: oh yeah, I was there, but I left, what happened? Neil: " Well they were rood, and had inappropriate behaviour..., but the stuff from gym sad that you sad that you are a P.E. teacher, is that right?" Dam it! I felt really stupid and humble. My bloody bad state of mind peaked right now. I felt guilt, during the rest of the week, which even increased my shitty mood.

But no worries, week is over and I'm sure that plenty of good ones will come. Next post will be called "Bright side". I know, I know crying and complaining is not what you want to read about, but I just felt like this. Don't worry I'll be fine. All I need is little of mindfulness and peace in my heart.

School activities 2

As I already mentioned the schools activities doesn't focus only on sports. There are many other opportunities how to develop one's potentials. For example this Wednesday there was another annual event called Sponsored walk. I heard about it from here to there for last two weeks but could really get the point. It is only after I've done it I know what it is about. It is an event which has a very venerable goal to achieve: raise money for charities. But what's good on it is that it doesn't do it the usual way, like you just go and ask for donation. The whole school from 4 year old junior pupils till the 19 years old senior students, teachers and even some parents goes for a nice 16km walk around the Harrogate countryside. So once again I didn't waited till somebody will invite me and signed for duty on cross-walk, where I made sure that everybody would cross the street safely. After I was frozen to bones and everybody was gone I joined the last group of teachers. I didn't took long till we get to the edge of the town and hit a nice park with beautiful views. But that wasn't all. The marvelous pictures were just to come. Somewhere further down the public track we crossed some rough farms. The landscape we were in was exactly the one you are probably imagining right now: huge lawns (almost typical smooth English lawns -surprising for such harsh conditions), stone walls and brick houses. The climate was also copybook England -chili wind, cloudy sky and occasional drizzles.

During the walk I got to know the history of the whole idea. It started 35 years, originally it took place on may state holiday -so the whole families can join the walk and it was also longer about another 15 km. As time went on there were some adjustments done to it, but until 5 years ago it was left unchanged.

How are the money raised? Students are asking literally anybody they can for sponsorship. The sponsor can give anything they want so it may be as symbolic as 1£ and as generous as 100£. Last year the total amount was 25,000£!!! There are always 3-4 different charities where the money goes. This year there is already promise for 17,500£ but that's only what is promised on the sponsor slips. Usually the students raise more.

At the end of the walk I was little tired and frozen, but nicely refreshed and enchanted. It wasn't really a hike, we only walk in one level, but still it was quite long and the weather was as I described. It was a great occasion to chat with colleagues and to have a look on my surroundings. Looking forward to explore more.

School activities 1

What I fancy on this school is the vast range of activities it offers to students. Sports are playing important role in the school life, but it doesn't stop there. Many schools in England are focusing only on one sport for boys (rugby, football or basketball) and one sport for girls (netball, swimming or hockey). Ashville tries to cover every common sport and leave the choice on students. Some every week day afternoon three is different sport fixture or practise. They even distinguish two types of physical education: one is called P.E., which consist of academic p.e. and then sports and the other one is called Games which aims to prepare a school team for particular sports. So every student goes through every sport and theory of sport and body behavior during p.e., but also work on his own interests in his favourite sport during games.

This Monday there was an annual staff vs. students hockey fixture. So I didn't hesitate and took part in it! Well it was only after I got to the pitch, that I realized that English hockey have nothing in common with our ice hockey neither the floor ball which I played several times at Lewis. Rules are quite complicated, there are many restrictions and the pitch is huge.

For example you can't touch the ball with other side of the stick, or with your feet. If it happens than the opponent gets the ball. That literally means that after one hour of playing I barely touched the ball, without ruining my teams changes to win. Who do you thing was the winner? Yes, it's obvious, that students are in better shape -their stamina can't be compared with 45 year old teacher. And of course their technique is developed during p.e and games so it was a small miracle that after the first half the score was 0:0. But after our endurance started to vanish the umpire whistled three goals in the second half and the game was over -I didn't even get sweat. Well at least I participated.

dva extremi

Dni si pekne plynu... ani nie prilis rychlo ani nie pomaly, just right! Uz poznam vsetkych 29 chalanov z mojho intraku (Mallinson house) a je tu celkom sranda. Samozrejme ze zatial viem pramalo z ich skutocnych vlastnosti, ale aj prvy dojem je dolezity. Vacsina z nich je z Hong-kongu, pripadne azie hrstka anglicanov, jeden cech a jeden nemec. Dost rychlo vsetci pochytili anglicky typ humoru -najprv ta urazia, pripadne povedia nieco nemiestne, ale vzapeti na to nasleduje I was just kidding. Dost sa tu "dba" na aroganciu a zosmiesnovanie druhych, ale kedze to robia vsetci tak sa proti tomu da rychlo obrnit a jednoducho si na to zvyknut. Tazke to vsak musi byt pre mladych cinanou, ktori sem chodia vo veku 13-14 rokov, ich anglictina je vacsinou velmi slaba, kulturne rozdieli ovela vacsie ako medzi Slovenskom a Anglickom, no a samozrejme ich vek... Asi najlahsia cesta ako to zvladnut je proste pridat sa do prudu a sekat frajera...

Zacal som ucit samostatne. Kvalita niektorych ucitelov na skole nie je bohvie aka a tak som rad ze si mozem robit veci po svojom a nemusim sa iba tupo pozerat ako niekto iny uci -je to sice uzitocne ale nie 20 hod. tyzdenne. Zatial mam na starosti year 10 (cca 15. rokov) a lower 6 (17nast). Ti prvi spomenuti sa mi snazia spravit peklo zo zivota zatial co ti druhy su uplne super.

Desiatakov je v triede 21 co je zhruba max. cislo na skole a sme v malej triede kde sa zmestime len tak tak. Nie je tam Smart board a meotar som dnes utieral od dobre stareho prachu... Pracujem s nimi na Transformaciach (posunutie, otocenie, zvacsovanie...) co je ako stvorene pre Smartboard, ale prave ja ju nemam. Zatial co v niektorych inych triedach sa ani nepouziva, pripadne sa pouziva len na normalne pisanie. Detska kecaju kedy mozu, uz som zopar poslal za dvere, davaja zostavaju zajtra "poskole" (Cez prestavku budu upratovat triedu) a jeden dostal green slip co je celkom seriozny zapis. Celkovo sa snazia robit vsetko co najpomalsie. Niekedy mam pocit ze nerozumeju ani jednoduchemu zapisu prikladov z knihy na ktorych maju pracovat (176/2,3). Vstupny test dopadol velmi slabo, neviem ci koli ich neznalosti, alebo nezaujme... Ich pristup je proste mam v pazi. Mna to neustale utisovanie a upozornovanie vyvadza z rovnovahy, neviem sa sustredit, bud robim chybi v matike alebo v anglictine, ziaci maju z toho zmetok a hodina je proste zabita.

Uplny kontrast je lower 6 (year 12). Tych mam v triede 11 je to uz vyber studentov ktori robia A-level maths (ekvivalent nasej maturity). Nie len ze su velmi bystri a chapavi (samozrejme ze nie vsetci), ale maju aj zaujem a da sa snimi perfektne diskutovat. Najdolezitejsie je proste ze sa pytaju ked nerozumeju, a pocitaju ked im dam zadanie. Niektore triky a finty sa tu ucia inac, takze vela krat si v podstate vymiename sposoby riesenia prikladov. Studenti maju prirodzeny respekt a zdravy zaujem. Po kazdej hodine som doslova ocareny a z triedy odchadzam s krasnym povznasajucim pocitom. Mam totiz dostatok kludu na to aby som veci mohol dobre vysvetlit, tym padom ziaci chapu co sa deje, za cim nasleduje ich samostatna praca a tym padom sa stiha spravit vsetko co sa ma. Proste radost ucit!

S tym prvym pristupom som sa uz stretol aj na slovensku takze si myslim ze som schopny to zvladnut aj ked tu som samozrejme ze vo vacsej nevyhode -nie len koli jazyku a tomu ze som cudzinec, ale aj koli mojmu postaveniu na skole -som len akysi asistent... Ten druhy pristup je pre mna zatial skoro uplne novy. Som si isty ze by som podobne nieco zazil vo 4-taku a 5-taku na seminaroch aj na Lewisovi, pretoze mnohi ziaci tam boli super, ale ucil som tam iba nizsie rocniky a tak sa to az to takychto krasnych extremov nevysplhalo.

Accomodation and the rest

Tak zakladne veci ohladne mojho rocneho pobytu su vybavene a ja som ako tak zabehnuty do skolskej rutiny. Takze sa mozem vrhnut aj na veci ako je tento blog. Este som nepisal o byvani, ze ano?

Kym nebudem mat hotovy dom na Kontrcinej Lucke, tak toto tu bude urcite najluxusnejsie byvanie–jednoznacne to je najvacsi veget aky som kedy mal. V amerike som sa mal super -skoro vzdy som mal izbu sam pre seba, tu vsak mam mali, ale zato trojizbovy bytik. Je sucastou boarding house Mallinson. Rozlozenie izieb je jednoduche: kuchyna, obyvacka, spalna + satnik a kupelka. Najvacsi luxus vsak je ze neplatim najom a zakladna vybava je sucastou bytu. V amerike som platil celkom seriozne najomne plus som si musel kupovat skoro vsetko okrem pracky… Tu mam aj pracku, aj susicku aj zehlicku -vsetko pekne dolu v suterene. K vybave domu patria aj pocitace, spolocenska miestnost a studovna. Nezaostavaju ani nastroje na mrhanie casu ako stolny futbal, tenis ci play station. Jedine co mi asi vadi je ze mam telku v obyvacke co znamena ze niekedy do nej cumim -zatial mam vyhovorku: listening to proper english.

Vynahradza to sportova hala, ktora je sucastou skolskeho arealu. Su vnej dve telocvicne a bazen. Tento weekend bol uplny zabijak. Hrali sme bagminton, basketbal, volejbal a samozrejme som bol aj plavat. Svalovku mam hlavne na svaloch, ktore su okolo pistal na nohach zbytok sa da zvladnut. Neviem ci som tam niekedy vobec svalovku mal?! Takze chodza je celkom "radost". Na zaciatok to bolo dost z hurta. Zatial nemame skoro ziadne povinnosti a v podstate sa tu ine ako sport ani robit neda. Co som este nevychytal je stena na lezenie. Na vsetko tu maju predpisi a pravidla a tak na stene sa moze liezt iba s autorizovanou osobou (su dve na skole) a nemoze sa tam liezt pokiel je v hale iny program (basket, futbal...) co vlastne znamena ze stena zapada prachom. Nevadi skusim omrknut skaly v okoli.

Uplny vrchol celeho tohto blahobytu je ze mam v skole tri krat denne jedlo, takze vpodstate nemam kde minat prachy. Najblisie az ked pride zima a budem si musiet kupit teple veci, plus po mesiaci, dvoch by som si asi mal kupit aj nove sako a nohavice, pretoze zatial chodim stale v tom istom. Vyzera to fakt super, aj co sa finnancii tyka aj vsetkeho ostatneho. Dom v Kotrcinej sa v podstate uz stavia!

Zaciatky na Ashville

Zaciatky na Ashville college

Anglicke stredne skoly su vacsi veget ako u nas, ale nie az tak ako v USA. Je to hlavne koli tomu ze studenti maju vacsiu volbu predmetov, ktore chcu studovat -teda aspon v poslednych rocnikoch, system je tu mierne iny, ale celkovo je to podobne ako u nas. Ucitelia ucia pomerne klasickym sposobom, ale pomerne velky doraz sa kladie na samostatnu pracu studentov a maju k dispozicii neskutocne technicke aj didakticke pomocky, takze celkovy obraz je neporovnatelny s nasim skolstvom. Do skoly chodia 13 rokov, z coho 1-6 je junior school, 7-11 senior school a 12-13 je 6th form. Nieco na styl naseho prveho stupna, druheho stupna spolu s ucnovkou a potom nadstavba na maturitu -v tych prvych rocnikoch sa iba hrajkaju. Dnes som bol na hodine v year 10 a robili tam zlomky!!! To su ziaci vo veku okolo 14-15 rokov!!! idu totiz do skoly ked maju 4 alebo 5. Dost som nechapal. Studenti z hongogu sa totalne nudili a anglicania robili trivialne chyby. Je pravda ze to bolo len opakovanie z minuleho roka, ale aj tak, u nas sa to uci v sedmicke... Bol som vsak aj v year 12 a ty makali na grafickych kalkulackach a z funkcii prave brali vysiu trigonometriu co je secant, cosecant... ja som to na Lewisovi ani nerobil.

Celkovo mam inac pocit ze ma trosku podcenuju, pretoze zatial mam nastarosti iba urobit nastenku "welcome to maths department" a iba chodim na hodiny a pozorujem. Plus ma na intraku zaucaju do tzv. duties, ale zatial ich este nerobim. Je to dost vela checkovania, ziaci maju presny rezim dna v ktorom je urceny aj cas na domace ulohy... ty najstarsi to maju OK, ale ty mladi maju fakt vela obmedzovania. Paci sa mi ze studentov so 6th form zapajaju do skolskych aj internatnych aktivit. Maju pomerne velke prava (hovori sa im Prefects), je to cela hierarchia.

Podmienky pre ziakov aj ucitelov su tu neskutocne. Maximum v triede je 24, ale v skutocnovsti je to 21, priemer je tak 12, mnohe triedy, resp. skupiny maju len 8 ziakov no a minimum je jeden ziak. Je tu jeden asistent na nemcinu (mlady chalanisko) a on ma hodinu iba s jednym ziakom...

Co sa tyka roboty -vacsi veget si ani neviem predstavit. Vsetci su tak busy ze na Nas (spolu s Language assitatmi s ktorymi travim najviac casu) nemaju cas. Ja zatial nemam ani duties na intraku ani timetable v skole. A tak sa snazim si vyplnit cas ako sa da. Na nastenke pracujem uz dva dni a este stale nie je hotova!!! Moc sa mi nechce, ale spravim to. Ovela viac ma bavi chodit na hodiny checkovat ich teaching stile a pomahat ziakom pocas samostatnych prac. Cele to vsak stoji na tom kam pridem. V podstate by som sa kludne mohol zasit niekam do PC room nic nerobi, ale to samozrejme ze nechcem. O samostatnom uceni sa tu este ani nehovori -ze potom neskor. Ono je to asi takto lepsie, lebo sa mozem kludne asimilovat, ale zase na druhej strane dufam ze budem ucit, vsak koli tomu som sem prisiel. Domaci ucitelia inac ucia celkom klasicky tak ako u nas... maju len perfektne podmieky a su (tym padom) ovela milsi aj trpezlivejsi.

Kazde rano tu mame tzv. assembly. Je to mix kazdodoennych oznamov, prikazov a budovanie komunity pomocou spolocnych modlitieb -vsetci musia nahlas spievat, este stastie ze nas je v hale cca 800 a tak sa tam lahko stratrim. Myslim si ze na Lewisovi bolo super ze nikoho nenutili modlit sa. Kto tak citi nech tak robi, ale kto tak neciti a musi tak robit, tak sa vlastne pretvaruje...co nie je zrovna najlepsie.

Dolezity ludia na skole su headmaster (riaditel), senior deputy head (zastupca riaditela) a chaplain (farar) -aj ked toho az tak nevidno. Ja sa najcastesie stretavam s hlavou Maths department a veducim Boarding houses. Najviac casu vsak travim so zahranicnymi asistentami na jazykoch. Headmaster aj deputy head su dost ironicki a conzervativni, ranne kazne su moralisticke a snazia sa byt velkolepe... ale chaplain je v pohode jeho prednasky su celkom k veci. Niekedy je to OK, ba dokonca az super, ale niekedy je to vymivanie mozgov! Alebo moralizovanie. Musim uznat ze sa snazia studentov vychovavat k zodpovednosti, slusnosti a vsetkym ostatnym uslachtilim cielom, ale sposob ako to robia mi moc nepasuje. Je to take zastarale a zkostnatele. Dost sa tu dba na uniformi a celkove vystupovanie, cize stale pocut "uprav si koselu", "zapni si gombik" alebo "nebez". Keby to bol jeden, alebo dvaja ziaci tak si poviem ze to ma zmysel, ale podoba sa to skor na kto z koho, resp. vsak nikto to tak nerobi.

No ale dobre nebudem ohovarat. podmienky su tu uzasne, vysledky ziakov dobre az velmi dobre a aj ich spravanie je dokonale uspokojive (cim nemyslim nasu dvojku zo spravania)
Najvacsia pecka je ich Smart Board. Pocul uz na slovensku, ale videl som to az teraz a sanka mi veru spadla. Vyzera to normalne ako biela tabula, ale funguje to ako pocitacova obrazovka, na ktoru sa projektorom premieta obraz z pocitaca. Daju sa vsak rukami, resp. prstami chytat a presuvat predmety, pohybovat sa vo windows, alebo aj pisat elektronickym perom. Vsetko nakreslene sa da zvecsovat, kopirovat a dokonca aj prehodit do pocitacoveho pisma... a to som to zatial vydel len na jednej hodine, uvideme co vsetko to este dokaze. Take moznosti, to sa nam ani nesniva.

S anglictinou nemam problem, ale ten ich yorksirsky dialekt je dost iny od americkej anglictiny na ktoru su zviknute moje usi, sem tam mi uplne ujde co vlastne hovorili (pri asseblies je to mozno aj vyhoda). Ako domacu ulohu si asi dam prelozenie celeho tohto prispevku...

Byvanie nemohlo byt lepsie. Moj boarding house (vola sa ze Mallinson House) je na skolskej pode cca 7 min. pesi od hlavnej budovi. Dostal som krasny aj ked jednoduchy trojizbovy bytik -kuchyna, obyvacka, spalna, satnik ako polka izby a kupelka. Je v nom zakladne vybavenie a dolu v dome je pracovna a vsetko ostatne co by som len mohol potrebovat. Housemastrova manzelka mi dokonca nakupila aj zakladne veci do kuchyne a dali mi intrakove uteraky. Ranajky, obed, veceru mam vskole... vyzera to ze prachy nebudem mat vobec kde minat. Spolu somnou je tu este jeden house tutor -v pohode chalanisko, hra Ruggby!

Skola je cca 30 min. pesi od centra Harrogate. Este som mesto moc neocekol, zatial som behal len po bankach a job centroch, ale vyzera dost super. Hned som skocil do sekacu aj do antikvariatu... uricite ho podrobim hlbsiemu prieskumu. York a okolie ma caka tiez.

Celkokovo teda, mam sa viac ako fajn, pozdravujem vsetkych ktori ste si precitali tento blog sluziaci skor ako hromadny mail. Dufam ze sa tiez mate super, a ze sa vam dari.

1.B during brake

The school year started and so together with this fact my life style changed. It is already an year plus tree weeks since I came back to Europe. The people which I called buddy's before I came back would hardly recognize me. Even I'm (nicely) surprised of the big change that happened. I came from the jungle with big dreams about far-away journeys and exotic lifestyles. I wanted to finish university but there wasn't even a slightest thought in my mind to actually go and teach in Slovakia. I knew that I want to teach but I wanted to go out and more less continue in exploring other countries. Well, but during the winter in dormitory I calmed down, and realized that, the life style I lived in USA wasn't the best for me. Sure, I knew it for a while but only now I was able to see it clearly. Some of you (like Monica from Chicago) couldn't imagine me in front of a class teaching math... Well with the visage I had in state one would need a lot of imagination . As I sad, lot of changes happened a in my life. Not only that my outward form is completely different, but also my inside belief is a little more realistic and calm. So it happened that my opinion on being a teacher in Slovakia changed too. I'll be honest, the main reason why I started to look for the job here, was because it was the easiest option, and also because I knew that work experience in this branch is necessary. And where should I get it? Wouldn't it be waste of energy to go aboard again, and start from zero, when I can start here and get a support from my parents and friends. Plus the knowledge of the system in your own country is important. Isn't it ? Such and much more, but similar train of thoughts was running in my head during the last year. So I decided to be a teacher in my native country. The rest was easy -well at least it looks like, because I was hired at the first school I was interested in. And it is also the best school I could get. I'm sure it wasn't that easy... I have to thank to God of Luck for his blessing... my qualities was recognized. Now I only heaved to fulfill them. The challenge is big. My employers are very bright persons, and my pupils are sharp as well.

Math lesson

Challenge is big, but that's what makes the life unique experience. Choosing the easiest options isn't the right way. (Yes I know I just confessed that I started to look for the job in Slovakia because it was the easiest option, yes, yes I'm not a superman... ) Going beyond your capacities isn't good either. The best is to stand on the ground but trying to reach as far as possible... That's what I'm doing now. Fortunately I'm standing on the stable platform, but to satisfy the expectation as mine so mine employers and also mine students I have to stand on tiptoes and stretch my hand above my head... Teaching is taking all of my energy and power. I need to use all of my knowledge and skills, and still I'm not doing the best job I think I could. It gives me the highest satisfaction I ever experienced. Non of the previous job was even close, neither none of the other activities, except traveling... I discovered that to be a teacher is my life profession. There is no necessity to say any strong words. One month is definitely not enough to say anything like "I will be a teacher till end of my life", and if the circumstances doesn't change I will probably be forced to do something else, or somewhere else. But what I know now is that I'm happy... Even I'm tired, and frustrated little bit because it isn't that easy. I didn't had any big expectation, and I was almost positive that it will be hard -why should I have it easy, when I wasn't really nice to my teachers... It isn't a problem it is only that I have to get used to. There will always be nice students who do everything somebody tells them, and there will always be also the opposite ones, and it is good that it is like that because balance is important. So I'm thankful to all of them, I'm thankful for their patients with me. I'm really trying to do my best. School is my life now. I don't do any thing else. I let go my PhD studies, and all other side project. Some of them I would like to get back... Now I'm just waiting when will my hectic life style calm down little bit so I can do sport again, that I could draw again, and of course travel again. Everything needs time. Now I have to focus to the topic. And my topic is called MATH. So all my daily activities turns around this subject. If I'm not dealing with actual mathematic problems, than I'm dealing with other school thinks... And there are always thousand of them, like tons of questions from the students, or doing the paper work, or attend the staff meetings, or just taking the necessary brake from neverending talking... The weekdays runs in speed of light and the weekends gives me just enough time the do minimum of necessary relaxation one need to survive. OK, OK now I exaggerated a little, but this is how I see it now. I'm sure that it will calm down latter. And that it will be only better. Even now I'm doing really good. The feedback energy is so big that it makes everything running alright. YEAH EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT... EVEN MORE ALRIGHT THAT IT IS NOW. VOW

Morocco

I'm back from another exciting journey. It was shorter than the last one, but much more intensive and real, because I was limited with money, and because I visited different countries of course. It was also harder and more difficult, but therefore I like it more, and I have really nice and “strong” memories. The trip can be divided into 3 main parts: hitchhiking there and back –this was the most difficult part, because I was alone, so I was thinking a lot..., plus I made more than 8000 km criss-cross Europe, so I was thinking a lot..., I had to talk to many drivers, I had to stand many hours on the sun, and some also in the rain! ...but I like it, so it's not such a big problem for me as it could be for somebody else. I made it in 6 days from Bratislava to Algeciras and in 5 days back -well actually in 4 days from Malaga, but it took me whole 24 hours to get from Algeciras to Malaga -shit I waited 19 hours on one gas station (with 3 euros -witch I spend for the train from Bratislava to Galanta)!!! Second part was the days in Barcelona and Urie's house with nice Spanish people. It was different part because everything was secure, calm and Griss took care of me -thanks a lot. This was like a party & relax part, I liked it a lot, but it also meant some extreme for me. The third part was actual Morocco. This was the most hard core part - exciting trip to wild world of Arab's and Berber's. I met my two friends -Ivan&Lubka, so for this two weeks I wasn't alone. We went through a completely new and unexplored world. I smelt the aroma of Africa and tried the taste of poor and dry country. Country too close to Europe, so too jealous for wealth (off course nobody knew that we are from poor Slovakia). We don't have too nice feelings about the Moroccians people, because they are already too greedy and completely unresponsible, and spoiled by tourism! Beyond all they'r "hospitality" and "Bon Jour" there was graving for profit from us, or directly getting the cash. I can understand that they need to live from something, but if they're hiding business behind so famous unconditional hospitality, than I'm sad, and if it is just everywhere than I'm pissed of! Almost all of them had this mask: "Hello how are you? Welcome in Morocco…. Come to my hotel, or come and by this so I can have profit from you, or give me one dirham", and if we wasn't responding correctly, then they was pissed, and they was saying that we don't understand they'r mentality!!! One kid even sad "F*** of" after we sad we don't have much money… I know this little bit from Turkey, or Central America, but in Morocco it was just 100 times stronger, it was everywhere, and all the time. It's sad but we didn't met anybody who would be behaving really without any conditions!

But anyway it was an excellent and interesting trip. We explored the North Africa. First we went to Fez -this city lives still now like it does 1000 years ago!!! Big and Chaotic medina (old town) with lot of shops, and people. Lot of new smells and views for me… It remind me little bit Nicaragua because we met lot of travelers. From there we went to Merzouga, small town on the edge of desert -–small part of Sahara. AAAAAaaaa this was just too hot to bear, but we wanted to try it. For one night we made a trip into the desert. Strong and hot wind, plus send everywhere that's what I remember . Than we went to High Atlas mountains. First we visited famous climbing spot Todra Gorge and latter I hiked J. Toubkal (4160m). I did it alone because my friend catched altitude sicknes -she couldn't breath and start to feel really dizzy, latter she was vomiting and get a strong diarrhea too. It was really bad for here but , she get through it. During the descend from the peak I swapped my tent for beautiful berber carpet! From there we went to Marakesh, also big and old town, but already too modern and not so interesting as Fez. The last stop was amazing waterfalls called Ozzoud. Well but I thing the pictures will tell you more.