When a song encapsulates a time in your life.

Hi everyone, I was listening to some music recently when I came across a song that I like, but that really resonated with me. As I listened, it seemed like the song was telling the story of my life as I came to the end of my life in America.Have you ever had something like this where you really feel as though the song is telling your life as you listen?

The song in question is called Chances and it's by an Australian folk artist called Xavier Rudd. I highly recommend that you have a listen to his work if you have time.

Sometimes this video is finicky on Blogger so you can enjoy it on Youtube here:-)

The lyrics that I thought I heard (which I later found to be slightly different) were:

At times in life,

You'll connect with someone's soul,

And have to move on.

At times in you'll feel

The need to fly and fly

Though you may hurt someone

You were there

Your chances were clear

Choices were made in spite

Of times that were spent

Feelings were mixed

Amongst your support base

A heart was lost

But a heart found its place

This is a recipe of life

Made up of five months of people's peace

And people's vibes

Well now it's each now to their own

Well your heart will know.

I had been going through a lot of different things at the beginning of 2011 when I was gearing up to leave America. One major point that struck me with respect to this song is that I almost entered into a relationship with someone. We felt a strong connection with each other at the time but it didn't become anything. In hindsight was very much the better result for both of us, but she instilled in me the spark for travelling again.

I made the choice to leave America and come to Europe to live in a country I'd never been to before. I made that choice despite my friends in America being mixed about whether they wanted me to go.I'd spent something around five months living a non-married life after separating from my ex-wife. I felt like it was a new phase of life for me, but also something of a holding pattern. I was enjoying things but I wasn't moving forwards towards anything that I really wanted. I took a chance and took myself away from the familiar, into the unknown and it felt right, despite the fear. I know that I 'hurt' some friends with the sadness of parting and I felt the same too. In fact I recently found a notebook containing a worried note written as I sat in Washington Dulles waiting for my flight. I remember sitting there, wondering why I was doing it, why I was leaving what I'd become familiar with, what was going to come, whether I would find what I needed and if my heart would find something or someone that could make me truly happy.

A heart was lost....that heart then found its place.

It's often said that home is where the heart is.

I'm home again.


Thank you for reading my little tale. I hope that you enjoyed the song and perhaps I've made you remember a time that a song represented a moment or time in your life. Music is great :-)

Pete 

Homestead farm or just a home farm?

It's been a long weekend here in Slovakia because of a public holiday tomorrow. Since many people took today off as well to get four days it gives us teachers a break. Not the best for the bank account perhaps but nice to have a chance to relax.

I spent the weekend in southern Slovakia in the village of Muzla. It was really great to have some proper summer weather of 25-30C (which has continued in Bratislava too). We went to a memorial on Friday (my first Catholic ceremony I think) and then spent time with the family having mixed conversations in Slovak, Hungarian and English, all the while enjoying copious homemade wine and the energetic attention/attacks of the little kids. We spent most of Saturday afternoon outside with hammers and fingertips cracking walnuts, hazelnuts and some almonds All of them were collected from the garden trees or from the treesaround the village. We are also loaded down with other fruits and vegetables from the garden that we can take back to Bratislava and enjoy.

Yours truly about to get down to work on the walnuts.

Hurry up with the walnuts, there are lots of hazelnuts that need to be shelled as well

Fresh garden vegetables ready to come back to Bratislava with us.

Frozen berries from last year destined to be part of refreshing smoothies.

Nuts and mint.

To me it marks a stark contrast to another 'close to nature' experience that I had while I was living in America. I used to live in Maryland and went with people I knew at the time to a great place - Homestead farm, Md. It is a great day out for the family and you can buy or pick great fresh produce through most seasons. I enjoyed going there and by no means do I mean to belittle it in this post.

Here I am looking youthful in America.

What struck me is just how far many of us in the UK and US (to pick the countries I have lived in for a longer time) are from the source of our food. My girlfriend's family were surprised that such a commonplace activity for them is considered a day out by many in the area of Homestead farm, Md. To them, gardening, harvesting, peeling, drying, preserving and pickling are just normal parts of life and to make them a day out sounds as strange as having a day out at Starbucks might seem to those in a big city. 

Now before it seems that this is some idyllic praise of the village life, I must point out that a lot of the people down here farm and grow because they must. Unemployment is fairly low in Bratislava but outside the city there are a lot of people with limited income. Just as an example, where I can charge 20 Euros for an hour of teaching in Bratislava, here you could expect about 5 Euros max. Compare that to Bethesda, Md where I lived for a while and still recall my ex pointing out a lady wearing about ten carats of diamonds in her wedding and engagement rings. There is no doubt that in such an affluent neighbourhood people can take things like Homestead Farm, Md as a fun diversion or day out. 

I can't say, however, that I felt entirely at home in that area with some of the people who lived there. Those I knew personally were very welcoming and ordinary people, albeit often at the top of their respective professions and earning power, but from observing some of the gargantuan houses that are quite prevalent there I felt out of place. Perhaps it was a symptom of the simpler life feelings I have (An example here)but I feel much more at home now. I would support this as one of the reasons why living in Slovakia is like a welcome trip to the past and makes you feel more in touch with the natural world. For more reading, have a peek at this wonderful article which asks: 'Is Slovakia stuck in the 1950s? 13 examples of how it is.' 

The garden starting to bloom. I can't wait to enjoy the results in the future.

I'll leave it here by urging those of you in the US to visit places like Homestead Farm, Md or other such places. It's a great day out that you can enjoy with families and friends. For those of you who live with greater access to the natural surroundings, take advantage of them and enjoy the outdoors.

Best wishes,

Pete

A simple and versatile First Conditional lesson plan for teachers.

Need a quick lesson plan about the first conditional? You're in luck because that's what you get today.

I'm part of a teacher's group on Facebook and somebody linked to a blog post: Writing Your Own Materials - Plusses and Pitfalls.. Now, my school does not use textbooks for anything past our lowest level courses, so we have a lot of lesson material to go through and to come up with as well.

Since I know that other teachers out there may be in the same boat, here is the start of a lesson plan that you can take and run with in many different settings. It just requires knowledge of the first conditional from your students and needs very little planning time from the teacher.

The entire lesson is simple and I taught it several times with about four lines of plan. Here it is, somewhat expanded due to explanation:

Quickly remind students about basic first conditional construction (If + present simple, future with will). I then put up the concept of a promise conditional with a good result and a threat/warning conditional with a bad result.

Then you tell them that there is an empty piece of land somewhere in the local area. For Bratislava I used Petrzalka, the big district on the south side of the Danube. You are the mayor and they must persuade you that their building choice is the best by promising good things if you build their option, and threatening with the negatives of the other options. Give them a couple of examples and they will soon get the idea.

For buildings I chose: A library, a bar/nightclub, a football stadium, a park, a casino and a swimming pool.


I've taught this to low pre-intermediate students, a higher pre-int one to one and some advanced teenage students. At first the students come up with very simple things but it soon develops.

- If we build a library, children will get smarter but if we build a nightclub it will be noisy for people living nearby.
- If we build the stadium, we will make money from the games but if we build the casino the mafia will come into the city (their idea, not mine)

I introduced some vocabulary (littering, vandalism, create jobs etc.) and prompted them a little when they were struggling for ideas but otherwise it was all their creativity.

For the lower level students we talked a little bit about what they had come up with and left it there, but for the more advanced students I had them create reasons in teams and then debate/defend their position compared to the other side. They really enjoyed it and came up with some great concepts. It got a bit heated at times since they are teenagers but it was a good time for all.




So in conclusion if you want a four line first conditional lesson plan:
- Review threats and promises using first conditional.
- There is a new building site, give students the options of what to build.
- They must make their choice look better by promising good things that will result.
- They make the other choices look worse by threatening about bad things that will result.

*** - Higher level students should then debate/discuss the results.


I hope this lesson plan helps other teachers who need something to let students creatively use first conditional.

Best regards,

Pete

Advice on public transport in Bratislava.

I wrote about this subject a while back when I first got to Bratislava and started living here. Since that time I've experienced the transport system a lot more and I have some advice about public transport in Bratislava for those who are moving here or those who are just visiting.

I've been in Slovakia for just shy of nine months now and picked up a lot more experience with the public transport system. Hopefully this post will help people get around in the city while you're here.

Let's quickly review the three options for transport within the city:


The buses are much like those you'll find in other cities and they serve many many locations. If you go to Petrzalka, which the area on the south side of the Dunaj/Danube, you'll need to go on a bus of some sort as there are no electric lines running there as of yet. I most frequently ride the number 50 bus to Aupark (a big shopping/business centre) and the number 70 bus. These are both popular routes and you have to be ready for crowded buses in the peak commuting hours. You'll find a mix of bus ages here with some of them (like the articulated bus above) being extremely modern and sporting comfy seats, nicer decor and even TV. Others are a bit older with some lovely seat patterns that look like they're from my childhood, but they are still a comfy form of public transport.


The trams can get really busy too, perhaps because they have the advantage of not getting bogged down in traffic. The tram lines run through a good amount of the city and they coincide with the bus and trolley stops quite well so you can hop from one to another quite easily. The older trams have hard plastic seats that make it uncomfortable to turn around and chat with a friend behind you but the newer ones are nice. I usually stand on the trams though as they have less sitting and more standing room than the buses. I like having this option of non-road based public transport as it gives good flexibility.


I frequently use the trolley buses to get around as they run right past our apartment heading downtown. You need to be careful when on the trolley bus as they are electrically powered. That means that they can accelerate very quickly and without any telltale rumbling noise from the engine. I've nearly slipped over a couple of times when I've not paid attention while waiting at a red light. To be honest, I think the drivers enjoy being able to quickly head off when the lights change. It keeps you on your toes at least. One downside of the trolley buses is that the electric connector poles can slip off the overhead wires from time to time. This will add a couple of minutes to your journey as the driver must don a reflective jacket, go around to the back of the bus and fiddle with the cables there until it's all reconnected. Not a big deal for the tourist but it can be annoying if you're on a tight schedule for work. I studied Environmental Sciences in university and so I really like the electrification of the public transportation in Bratislava. I've seen it in a few other European cities and it's probably the best way to electrify transport.



Autobusova Stanica, the main bus station is a real hub for getting around. Many buses and trolleys stop here, lots of people get on and get off, and you can also catch coaches to other cities from inside. If you need to get to the old city from my area (Ruzinov, a few km east) you can get off at the Autobusova Stanica and walk downtown in about ten minutes. The main buses that I see people taking or catching here are:
- the number 50 to Aupark (a big shopping centre).
- the number 70 to Novy Most (the new bridge, close to the old town)
- trolley number 208. Get off a Kollaro Namieste and you're at one end of Obchodna, a big shopping street.
- trolley number 202. This terminates at Rajska (sounds like rye-ska) and you're then on the eastern edge of the downtown area.

For those of you who plan to stay longer in Bratislava, you can walk upstairs in the Autobusova Stanica, go through the doors ahead of you, then turn left and go through the doors there. You'll find a small office not two metres past the door where you can buy a ticket that you can keep and just top up, much like the Oyster card in London. If your Slovak is not so good, here's a simple phrase to get a three month ticket "Prosim si trojmesačný lístok." Because my job involves travelling to different companies to teach so I get the three month card and then I don't have to worry about not having a ticket or not being able to find a machine.


Now if you don't have a long term pass, these are the machines that you need. It's really important to have a ticket before you get on the bus because there's no buying them on board. Unlike the buses I used to catch in England, the driver is there just to drive the bus. It's your responsibility to have a ticket that is accurately punched and appropriate for the ride. For reference, there are two tickets that I normally recommend for visitors.

- 15 minute ticket. It costs 70 Eurocents. Be very aware of how long your bus journey takes when you use this ticket. You don't want to be caught out by an inspector taking a 16 minute journey and have to pay a fine.
- 60 minute ticket. It costs 90 Eurocents and I always keep a couple as backup in case I lose my card or someone needs a ticket at a stop that doesn't have a machine. I consider it my good deed for the day when it happens.

As a backup, you can also get an SMS ticket if you have a phone that works over here. The instructions can be found on this page. I haven't done this yet and it's a bit pricier but it's a good option to have in case you're out of tickets and need to get on the bus.


Whichever ticket you get, be sure to punch it in one of these machines on the bus/trolley/tram. You just slot the ticket in, it beeps and your ticket is marked. Make a note of the time it was punched if your journey will get you close to the expiration time of the ticket.


WARNING TIME.

A piece of advice. The public transport in Bratislava (mostly) runs on time because you don't have to wait for the driver to sell a ticket to each person. They stop, let people off, let people on and then get on with the driving. This means you can get on the bus without a ticket no problem. Nobody will stop you.

Then again the inspectors may get on the bus with the other passengers and then you have a problem.

Inspectors work in groups and arrange it so that they are among the last to get on the bus. There will be one of them at each door of the bus and they tend to look a bit like bouncers in a nightclub. They don't wear uniforms so you won't know they are there (unless you know a few of them by sight as I do now). About thirty seconds after the bus has left, once everybody has punched their tickets, the inspectors feed in a special ticket that locks out the machines. If your ticket is not marked, you will not be able to mark it. They check printed tickets and also have scanners to check electronic tickets so make sure you have a valid ticket. If you don't have a ticket you'll be fined (50 Euros I think) and they will keep you on the bus if need be. I've seen people miss their stops because they didn't have the cash on them. I presume they go back to the station or perhaps the police come but I don't know for sure.

In my experience you're more likely to be inspected on the more crowded routes. I've been checked about ten times on the number 50 bus but only a couple of times on the trams, perhaps because I ride the latter less frequently. In bad weather I've noticed that the inspectors are more active. I guess people get on the public transport to avoid the rain.

In any case, the advice for public transport in Bratislava is to have a valid ticket with you when getting on board.



The last piece of advice I'll impart for now is to check out the route of the public transport that you're using and make a mental note of which stop you need, and the approximate travel time. Here's an example from the number 50 bus stop at Aupark. In this direction I get off at Autobusova Stanica so I have an eight minute ride. Most of the buses have automated announcing systems that tell you which stop you are at as you arrive and then tell you the name of the upcoming one when you leave. Some of them don't have this.Keep a mental note of the number of stops you've passed compared to how many you need. Usually the stops aren't very far apart but missing the stop where your connection is can be very annoying.

Here's a point of Slovak language that confused me for a while. The word for bus stop is Zastavka. The announcer kept reading this out amongst and it really threw me because I thought it was the name of a particular stop that wasn't on the scheduled route. It was a bit worrying.


To sum up

Getting around Bratislava on public transport is really easy and convenient for the most part. You can mix and match your methods to get to almost any part of the city in very little time. Everything usually runs on time, even in rush hour, the transport options are comfortable and you'll save yourself time vs walking and money vs taking taxis. Key points:

1 - Have a ticket that's valid
2 - Check the stops ahead of time. Know where you're getting off as best you can.
3 - Don't mess with the ticket inspectors. It's not worth it.


For anyone who has read these pieces of advice for using the public transport here in Bratislava and has further questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch and ask in the comments section below. I will do my utmost to help out with any information or answers that I can.

Very best wishes,

Pete


Your key website for checking the actual buses and so on within the city will be this one.You can type in a bus number or stop name in the search button in the top right.

The touch of spring.

I love the moment when you step outside after a long winter and feel the first warmth of spring. There's something in the air...a smell perhaps or just an essence but it's nice. We've come out of the cold of winter and the piles of snow and it's warm here! At the moment it's sitting pretty at 21 degrees C and the sun is shining.

We're in the countryside in my girlfriend's home village and it's easier to see the change of seasons here. The fields and gardens that were covered with ten centimetres or more of snow are now clear. There's no ice left, the first shoots and snowdrops are arriving, and everything is ready to start growing again.

It's easier to see the cycle of life when you're in the countryside. All around the village I can see people starting to get the soil ready for planting. The apple trees in Edina's mothers garden are starting to bud, some neighbours have cobs of corn in big trays outside to dry in the sun and the green is returning to the plants bordering the fields. I'm excited to spend a lot more time outside.



Next time we come down here to the southern part of Slovakia we'll be in the garden working hard. I'm looking forward to it as a nice break from and variety compared to the mostly mental challenge of teaching English.

The garden needs work

Spring is here and has put a smile on my face. I hope you are all enjoying the changing seasons.

Yours truly enjoying the sun and the fields.

Letting go of the past

Sometimes it's hard to let go, especially of people.

It's a problem for me particularly. I didn't think I was the kind of person who had the need to maintain contact with friends, but apparently I am. I put energy and effort into keeping in touch with people, particularly those who are abroad and I know that I won't see any time soon. It is reciprocated far less often than I'd like and that upsets me. Perhaps it is some stereotypical English politeness but that people often omit even the courtesy of a modest reply annoys me greatly. I think that an element of it is that I have great respect for those with the courage to simply state that they won't keep in touch. To me it shows a level of regard for the other party beyond that of those who will let a friendship wither away slowly. I am not the kind to do either very often as I'd prefer to put that energy in to maintain what was there and was good before.

In a way I think it's a continuation of what I had as a child. My parents tell me that I used to be a child who was terribly resistant to change. When a toy seemed to be out of favour it had to be moved to the upper shelves, then to the hall shelves, then to the spare room and finally to the attic over the course of weeks or months. If I noticed or protested about this change, the offending toy had to be quickly returned with the assurance that I had simply misplaced it. I grew out of this over time with many things and I think I've largely stopped it with respect to things in my life. In fact my life has become quite minimalist with respect to things and I like that. For anyone interested in culling some of the excess items from your life, I have to suggest moving to a new country on an airline with minimal baggage allowance. You quickly find out what you actually need ;-)

Then again it seems like I'm not so good at letting go of friendships as they change over time. It bothers and upsets me that people let this happen, though I shouldn't be suprised any more. As distance becomes a factor in our lives then things change and only the strongest relationships remain close. It's not something that can be changed and so I've taken this experience as a chance to move onto new things and change this negative aspect in myself. I can't keep holding on to what once was there and expect that it will still be so. Those people who are important to me have stayed in my life and will continue to do so. Those who are not important will fade to occasional contacts and that will be fine too.



I found some nice quotes about letting go.

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened. — Dr. Seuss
Doctor Seuss is as observant and succinctly effective as ever. I will keep the happy memories and the good times that have happened.

Celebrate endings – for they precede new beginnings. — Jonathan Lockwood Huie
This one rings with truth through and through. I've been to many places and through different stages of life. One thing that has always been constant is the positive results of change in my life from new beginnings. I've been to new countries, tried new things, faced fears, made mistakes, learned a lot, lost love and gained a love that is far better for me.

Laugh when you can, apologize when you should, and let go of what you can’t change. Life’s too short to be anything… but happy. - Anonymous
I laugh a lot, I've screwed up a few times and apologised, and now I'm learning to let go of the things and people that I can't change.

I'll end on a positive note urging you to make the most of the relationships that are important to you and keeping ties strong among family and close friends. Life is about the wonderful moments you share with others and being happy.

Take care and enjoy life,

Pete :-)

I'm a bad consumer. I don't want new things...

Hi everyone,

I've been thinking about something a fair bit recently and it struck me fully last night after a discussion with my girlfriend, Edina.

I'm a bad consumer.

By that I don't mean that I'm necessarily unethical or somebody who buys in an irresponsible way. It's quite the opposite in fact; I don't generally buy a lot of things and I don't generally want a lot of things.


Here's the item I discussed with Edina that got me to realise what I am. It's a Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E-325 and is a pretty neat laptop with good features (13.3" screen, AMD Fusion processor, great keyboard etc.). I work at Lenovo teaching English and a friend there let me know about a deal that is coming up which would give me a good saving on this laptop.

Initially I was jumping at the idea as I have been thinking about getting a replacement for my old Dell laptop for a couple of months now. It slipped off the coffee table a few months ago and the wifi card stopped working, a factor which accompanies missing keys, green lines on the screen and no battery.

The deal showed up and I nearly jumped at the chance but then I thought about it. A question hit me. Why do I need a new laptop? I'd been thinking for so long that once my old laptop kicked the bucket I'd get a get new one and that was that but when I asked myself why, there weren't so many good answers.

Now I will point out that I make a lot of use of the internet for work and communication with family, but I can generally use my school's PCs or Edina's laptop at home. What would a new, shiny laptop bring me except perhaps some slightly snappier performance or the ability to play some newer games? The latter tempted me for a bit, before I realised how little time I have these days to indulge in video games. Why then should I spend money on something that I really don't need, but only want?



Phones are another thing that struck me as I considered my disinterest in much of modern consumer society. I'm a geek when it comes to new technology with respect to interest in it, but I simply can't justify any kind of need for me to spend on any kind of fancy phone. Edina recently bought the little Samsung phone above for the princely sum of 9.90 Euros. It's nothing fancy but it does the job. My phone (a Nokia something or other) was comparatively pricey at 25 Euros but again, it does what I need.

Now compared to something like the recently released Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the phones we are both rocking are dinosaurs. I love the look and idea of the Nexus but as I thought more about it, I wondered what I would really do with such a phone. Okay, texting and calling are nothing new so this phone would give me access to the internet, email, a camera and the numerous applications.

Perhaps it's a symptom of the relatively simple life that I live as an EFL teacher, but I just don't see what this will bring into my life. I don't get a huge number of emails to deal with daily, facebook doesn't run my life, I have a camera that handles the relatively few pictures I choose to take and I don't have any real need for GPS or map applications.

I should interject here to say that I'm not against buying things per se and that I don't think people who buy such tools or other trappings of modern life are bad. It's more that I find the advertising and desire for so many things that set other people's excitement buttons going don't do it for me. In a similar way I don't want to buy many clothes or have a fancy car. I'm a much more practical and simple person in many aspects of my life, though not all of course.

Instead I decided to save the few hundred Euros/pounds that a new laptop would set me back and use them to help repay my student loan. It's about time I got on with that and it will be good to remove its looming presence. When the time comes that I want to apply for a mortgage and look at investing in property, the last thing I need is to have problems because of an existing loan.


I guess my final thought would be that I feel like people should really consider why they want various things in their life and whether it is something that is really necessary for the way you live. Far be it from me to tell you what to do or not to do but make sure you spend your money and time on things that really matter to you.

Pete