Ignorance is ????

So, last week, I was having dinner with some other teachers from the states and we started talking about how nice it is to not know the language sometimes. You walk by a group of “punk” looking teenage boys and think, “What nice young boys,” because you have no idea what they are saying. They could be talking about the beautiful blue sky, how lovely the flowers smell and how they are going to go home and clean the house for their mothers. Or they could be swearing and talking about how much they hate school, teachers, parents and everyone older than them. The great thing is, I have no idea. So I assume the best and think that the punk teenagers are talking about flowers and house cleaning. Ignorance is bliss.
And when the telemarketer calls, you can just start talking in English and they are sure to hang up on you. Ignorance is bliss.


Interesting fact #6
Stop lights here work differently than in the States. They still go from green to yellow to red, but instead of going straight from red to green, they have this “get ready to go” function. So, when the light is red, and about to turn green, the yellow light goes on as well as the red. Then the red and yellow lights change to green. Although it is supposed to be just a get ready to go light, the red-yellow combination light seems to mean give it as much gas as you can so you can scream through the intersection as fast as you can. Or, if you are a bus, the red-yellow means go, since it takes you so long to get going.

Ignorance is bliss… Or is it…
On the other hand, sometimes I feel like a dope. Our school announced that they were holding a bowling event for all the teachers. Kind of a teambuilding thing. Great, I thought, I love to bowl (even if I’m not very good at it). We found it with relatively no problems. We got there and put our stuff in the locker and another teacher took us to get our shoes. She asked us what size shoe we wore. Seems like such a simple question. It’s very humbling to have to say that you do not know your own shoe size. We had to pull off our shoes to see if the European size was written on the inside. Ignorance is humbling.
Or when I went to a café and confidently ordered my drink in Slovak, after all it’s only a hot chocolate. And then, the waiter asks something. Something simple like, “Would you like whipped cream on that?” And I ask, “Co?,” (what in Slovak). He repeats and of course I don’t understand, so I have to say that I only speak English and he just shakes his head. Ignorance is humbling.

On a simpler note, having to ask someone what is on the lunch menu everyday, getting someone to write down exactly what to say when you go to buy a train ticket and then after practicing it, ending up having to give the paper to the ticket agent or having someone buy you baking powder so you will know what it looks like.

Interesting fact #7
Related to the fact above, right of way on the streets. Vehicles have the right of way. No questions asked. If you are a pedestrian, watch out. Cars actually speed up when they are approaching a person crossing the street. No kidding. They have no mercy on the elderly, children, dogs, even mothers pushing strollers. I have seen buses honk at an elderly man crossing the street. And while there are zebra crossings (crosswalks), it seems like it is an optional thing. I have learned to look both ways, two or even three times and when in doubt… RUN!

Lessons in ignorance
So, I have come to believe that God has something to teach me in all of this ignorance. First and foremost, to depend on him. I am realizing more and more every day how completely I need to depend on him. Second, to depend on other people. I like to be independent. In the States, it is a quality that is valued quite dearly. It is good to be independent and not good to be dependent. God, however, is teaching me the beauty in being dependent on others. Sometimes it is for something as simple as choosing something off a menu, other times it requires a leap of faith, such as signing a power of attorney over to someone I met only a month ago. Please pray that these humbling moments would be for me opportunities to rest in the fact that God is in control and not get frustrated by the lack of control. Thank you for all of your prayers. They have not gone unheard.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4)

More Space Pictures

I just finished putting up this bulletion board today. Yeah! I am so proud of my students as they worked really hard, and had a lot of fun with this project. They made "Planet Earth Space Capsules," filled with things from earth that would be important for aliens to know about. They then wrote letters to the aliens explaining what they put in the capsule and asking the aliens questions. An explanation for the aliens... An look at what is in the capsules. Lots of sweets, a bus ticket, some alien vitamins, "nature" (acorns, pincone and stick), and toys.

Something to drink, something to eat, something to play with, a lock,

a coin, and some school supplies.

We decorated the outside of our capsules with pictures of important people, places and events.

A sample of the letters, this one is from Daniel.

A letter from Paulina.

And one from Miso Toman.

Michaela put her letter in this box, so creative.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Blast Off!

In fifth grade, we have been studying space. We are learning space vocabulary such as astronaut, weightlessness, and Star Trek. We have been having heated debates about such topics as “Is Pluto really a planet?” and “How many planets are there in our solar system?” We have also been designing our own aliens and Planet Earth Space Capsule. My fifth graders have a very good command of English and for the most part, are able to understand and make themselves understood. So, we are really able to do some fun things.

Last week, I decided it would be fun to try our hands at “being” astronauts. So, I set up three different stations, each one a simulation of what it would be like to be an astronaut. The first station was how it would feel to be an astronaut sitting in the space ship, waiting for hours (sometimes as many as seven or more) to blast off. To accomplish this, we took the classroom chairs and sat them down with the backs on the ground. My students had to take turns sitting on them for 10 minutes at a time. It didn’t take long for them to complain that their legs hurt. And I let them know that to be an astronaut they would have to sit like that for a really long time.

The second station was what is like to sleep in space. I had them wrap a scarf around their eyes, stand against the wall and fold their arms across their chests. Astronauts sleep this way because there is limited room and they have to cross their arms so they don’t float up as they sleep.

The final (and my favorite) was what it is like to wear a space suit. I brought in three of my sweaters (white, black and purple), my heavy wool coat and two pairs of gloves. The students had to put on all three sweaters, the coat and finally the gloves. Miso (pronounced Misho), one of my boys, started modeling in my sweaters, doing a very nice cat walk impersonation of a model. The last task was to get out their exercise books, open it up and write, “My name is…” This was to help them realize how difficult it is for astronauts to do repair work on a space ship. We had a grand, somewhat chaotic, but definitely bonding time.

This week, we are completing our Planet Earth Space Capsules. We are designing them so that the aliens would know what Earth is like. They decorated shoe boxes with pictures of important people, things and events and then added some fun artifacts inside. The last step is to write a letter to the aliens that will be included in the box, explaining life on earth to an alien. Since, I have a boy heavy 5th grade class, this unit has been fun for them. They are broken into two groups, each with 10 students. One group is even, 5 boys, 5 girls, but the other group is 2 girls, 8 boys.

Interesting Fact # 5
Bratislava has four bridges, the Stary (old) bridge, the Novy (new) bridge, the Koaická bridge and the UFO bridge. This bridge looks has what looks like a flying saucer suspended above it. It is actually a restaurant and café inside the saucer and on the top is an observation deck. For just 100SK(Slovak krowns), you can ride a super fast elevator to the top. It feels very strange as the elevator does not go straight up and down, but has a gentle slope. From the top, you can see all of Bratislava and into Austria and Hungary. It is a beautiful sight, especially at night. I went to the top with our head English teacher and my roommates. After spending 20 minutes at the top, we went inside and had coffee. That was where we found the best view of the city. But, it is something you have to experience for yourself. So, for those of you who are planning to visit, we will definitely go and I will show you the best view of Bratislava from the UFO.

Having fun in Space!

Patrick pretends he is steering the space shuttle into space.

Pretending to sleep on a sapce ship is harder than it looks Miso.

Nina takes a turn napping.
Patrick is catching some zzz's in style.

How many sweaters and coats do you need to feel like you have a space suit on?

Now for the gloves... Jakub smiles Simon because he thinks purple is his color.

It's hard to write neatly with so many layers on. Good job, Peter!