The Journey Begins

This Summer at the Crow Reservation in Lodge Grass, Montana a wise native man who worked as a Janitor at the School Calvary helped out at told us in their language there is no way of saying good bye.  What they send others off with is "Till next time."  He explained how that could mean see you tonight, see you tomorrow, in 2 years, or when we meet in heaven, but it was never good bye.  I aimed to convey the message he taught us as I was saying "see you later" to my lovely friends and family, but hopefully not for that long!

Upon arrival to Chicago I asked the kind lady at the information desk what I should do with my 7 hours of layover until my flight oversea.  She laughed and said "Don't stay in the airport!"  She encouraged me to go downtown to explore the Air and Water show on North Avenue Beach.  I'm not sure when I would get the chance to see that again, so I joined the 2 million people headed to the beach in my flannel shirt, hiking boots, and carry on to the 95 degree beach and got to experience a pre-adventure, adventure!

Airshow in Chicago

My view off the porch at Cormenius University, Bratislava

All the first year teachers!

left to right top:  Bishop, Trevor, Max, Martin, Arden

bottom: Claudia, Melody, Dominic, Aaron, Kathrine

I am writing from Bratislava, Slovakia (4,752 miles from Amor) just across the border from Vienna, Austria where I flew into.  ECAC (Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession) personnel picked me up from the airport and delivered me to Comenius University where our week of orientation is held.  Comenius has degrees in theology and social work and were kind enough to host a half dozen wide eyed American's for the week.  There is not a huge difference in landscape from home, they have many fields of corn and lots of wind turbines between Vienna and Bratislava.  The main difference is people speak Slovak!

Our orientation included teaching English Language Learners, Life Skills for Central Europe, Slovak Language training, and some tours of Bratislava.  It was a bit of a rude awakening to discover that I have been using English so long but couldn't explain why I say the things I say such as "I would like to go camping this weekend" instead of "I this weekend would like to go camping."  It sounds better isn't very good education to pass on.  Now I report back that time most often goes at the end of a sentence.  We also learned classroom management skills, incorporating hearing, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking creatively into our lessons, as well as many other teaching tips.  I am up for suggestions from those of you with experience!

My Slovak has miles to go, but like all big things, we must start small.  Dombry Den is a greeting to say "good day.  Please is prosim, and thank you is ďakujem.  With my arsenal at three words, I am banking heavily on my charades skills!

Pastor Arden has been passing on many years of experience and wisdom of living in Central Europe such as take your shoes off at the door, do not cross other peoples's arms to shake hands, gifts mean a lot (but if you bring flowers odd numbers are best, even means someone has died), strive to live in community with our students, town, and fellow missionaries, and rely on God to empower us, comfort us, teach us, and work through us.

Thanks to all for providing the opportunity for me to reach out to students in Slovakia and teach them our language while they teach me.  Friday morning Aug 21, my apartment mate Daniel and I travel by train to Liptovsky Mikulas to move into our apartment, go hiking in the Tatras with a teacher Daniel knows from last year, and learn more about our expectations from the school I will be at for the school year.

Love and greetings to all!  God Bless

Marty