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...