November will go down as the most amazing month of 2011 for me. It was action packed from start to finish and except for having to say some sad farewells it was amazingly happy.
A short visit home at the beginning of the month meant lovely time spent with Dad, Mel and Rose and Matt, Marie, Charley, Hannah and Luke and also some all too brief time spent with friends. After returning to Slovakia I was thrown straight into my new job as Year 6 teacher at Forel International School, Bratislava and it has proved to be a wonderful new beginning. I am thoroughly enjoying the experience of being a class teacher again. The children are lovely although also challenging at times. The other staff are proving to be great colleagues and I am becoming more and more involved in the life of the Bratislave International Church which has been such a comforting, spiritual home since I first moved to Slovakia. Now that my life is back on an even keel again I can start to give back to all the lovely people in the church who supported me through my first two months in Trnava. One of the ways I have found to serve is to provide cakes for our get together after the service on Sunday. It is so nice to have an excuse to bake cakes, which I love doing but it means that I am not eating them too much!! I still get to lick the wooden spoon though - shame I haven't got Luke here to do it for me!!
Having had a couple of exciting weeks settling into my new job I then had the joy of welcoming Mel, Kevin, Rose and John to my life in Bratislava. Well actually we started off in Vienna and spent three nights there and managed to vist 4 of the 24 Christmas markets. Vienna is a trully beautiful city, so well preserved and a new archtiectural treasure to see round every corner. The Christmas markets were fascinating with sights, sounds and smells assaulting the senses at every turn. Sadly, a lot of the goods on sale were not locally made and were extremely expensive but it was a wonderful experience and we managed to find a few affordable treasures to bring home!! Kevin discovered a taste for bratwursts and Mel and John were rather taken by the potato pancakes!! Rose just found the whole experience fascinating and behaved like an angel and of course found many people to charm with her ready smile.
We also had to take the decision to rebook my visitor's flight home because of the 'general strike' due to take place on Wednesday. Having made the decision and booked the flights for Tuesday it was great to be able to tell Matt that he was getting to see them all again having thought he had already said goodbye to them for a year at least. My loss was his gain and it caused great excitement from the household in Southampton.
Sunday morning found us on a bus heading for Bratislava and another Christmas market to visit. Before that we settled into our city centre temporary home and then paid a visit to my apartment at Karlova Ves, in the suberbs of the city. Having shown off my lovely pad and also cooked them all a traditional Sunday roast then it was off back to the city centre.
On Monday I went off early to work leaving the others to explore Bratislava alone. They had a great day enjoying the views from the castle, walking the cobbled streets of the old city and sampling the local cafes!! In the evening we visited the Christmas market which had a different atmosphere to the ones in Vienna and the predominant feature was definitely food!! We had a lovely evening and again managed to make some purchases! The next morning was sad as I had to say goodbye and that is always hard but it had been a great visit and I was glad that they had a bonus visit back at Matt's until the flight to Canada on Thursday.
The rest of the week flew by and before I knew it, it was Saturday and along with 6 other members of the church, I was on a train heading for Budapest and another Christmas market!!!! It was my first visit to Hungary and Budapest and I will certainly be going back again in the spring to explore the city properly. This day was dedicated to serious Christmas present hunting in a wonderful although very damp market. Here there were some beautiful, local crafts for sale and everyone was spoilt for choice when confronted by stall after stall of items made from ceramics, wood, straw, paper, metal and almost any other material that can be used to make beautiful items. Of course, there was also plenty of food and hot, aromatic drinks to tempt us away from shopping, but only for short periods. To escape the rain and rest our feet we ventured into an amazingly glamourous restaurant with enormous crystal chandeliers and delicious hot chocolate and cakes - on my list to visit again when I return for a spring visit. Then it was back on the train and safe return to BA in time to catch the last bus home which was packed with 'happy' students who live further up the hill from me.
So now it is December, the second Advent candle has been lit and I even decorated my apartment today. A small, sophisticated amount of decorations but enough for me at the moment. Oh I also went to church , baked another cake and went to the Pastor's birthday party. Life here is never dull and 'I'm loving it'. Talking of McDonalds - my clever grand daughter has been selected to work in the McDonalds in the Olympic Village next year. Well done Charley!!
My flights are booked for returning to UK just before Christmas - thanks for agreeing to pick me up in the early hours of the morning dad - good thing the National Express actually stops in Wymondham.
I hope to see lots of friends and family whilst I am home and I look forward to welcoming some of you to my new home at some time in 2012.
Have a wonderful Christmas and may 2012 be a great year for you all.
No comments:
Post a Comment