#8- Mikuláš

Well I made it back to Bratislava safe and sound after my trip back to the States for Thanksgiving. My sleep schedule has been messed up ever since I got back here but I’m slowly getting back on Slovak time. It felt good to be home for a couple weeks, back to normal life, back to the comfort zone. But I missed my wife a lot while I was home also. So I felt an even bigger relief when I made it back to the airport where Deni picked me up in Vienna. The first thing she made me aware of was the next holiday I could look forward to, Mikulaš.


Mikulaš is on December 6. It is the day in Slovakia where Mikulas, whom we call Santa, brings children candy for when they wake up in the morning. The story goes that the children have to clean their shoes at night before going to bed. Then if they have been good, Mikulas puts their favorite candies in the shoes. If they have been bad, he puts coal there. It’s of course very similar to what Santa putting candy or coal in stockings in America, except Mikulas does not come on Christmas at all. Christmas is held on December 24 instead of the 25^th and the presents are not brought by Mikulas. They are brought by Jesus. Another difference is that they don’t open the presents in the morning. They open them in the evening instead. It’s very interesting.

So on the morning of December 6, I woke up and almost immediately went to the kitchen because I was starving. After grabbing some soda out of the refrigerator, I set it down on the table and was surprised to see a nice little Christmas tree with a ton of chocolate underneath! Under the tree were several of my favorite chocolate bars, along with a big chocolate Mikulas and some other Slovak chocolates and candies. Best of all, there were two tickets to the Ministry of Sound party (House dance party) that is coming here this month. I never cleaned my shoes but I must have been a good boy this year.

Later on in the evening, we drove down to the city center where the annual Christmas festival is held. From late November until December 23, loads of people head down to the market where one can meet with friends and family, eat a number of foods, and drink hot wine or rum punch. So we met with a few of Deni’s friends and packed ourselves like sardines into the cans that were the crowds of people. The food was so good, and so cheap. Deni and I shared a couple ciganska sandwiches (see #4-Devin) with mustard, and had some klobasa (sausage). They also had a lot of other foods that we did not partake in. After this week, we will have about 2 weeks of holiday from work, so we’ll probably end up going back there again. I’m personally not much of a fan of that many people in one place, but I just might have to go back because of the food.

#7- Dr. Pepper and 007

So the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, opened up here on Thursday. Usually the movies here open later than in the US, but for some reason this one opened here a week and a day earlier. We decided Friday that we wanted to go. Usually you can reserve your tickets online and even choose what seats you want. But for James Bond, they changed it. You had to buy the tickets. Not wanting to rack up all kinds of international fees, and currency changing fees on my credit card, we decided just to take the day out and cruise around the local mall, Aupark.

So we got to Aupark around 1:00, and the place was getting jam packed. We proceeded upstairs to the movie lobby and purchased the seats we wanted. By this time it was lunch for us and we were hungry. So we headed over to the food court and we had trouble deciding what we wanted. Originally we thought about McDonalds because we hadn’t had it in about 2 months, but we ultimately decided against it since I can eat all the McDonalds I want next week when I go home. We almost went for some chicken wings at KFC, but again, we decided against it.

Finally we stopped at a German schnitzel place. I ordered some chicken cordon bleu, and she ordered čiernohorský rezeň. What is that you ask? Well regular rezeň is basically either a fried piece of breaded chicken or pork fillet. Add the čiernohorský to the word and it’s fried in something like beer batter, rather than normal breading, and shredded cheese is sprinkled on the top. It’s delish! Rezeň is the Slovak word for the German food, schnitzel by the way. A lot of people surprisingly mistake schnitzel for being some sort of sausage. But nope, that’s not that case folks!

So anyway, my point in all this is that as we were about to order, I looked over in the refrigerator and saw a beautiful bottle of Dr. Pepper! I know, I know. What’s so exciting about that Sean? Well you see, I’ve been outside of the US for 3 months, and Dr. Pepper just happens to be my beverage of choice. Oh, and they don’t have it here. So when I saw that bottle I told Deni, “It’s Dr. Pepper, we’re getting it!” So of course we did and we enjoyed a tasty lunch with the sweetness that is Dr. Pepper. So since this was a German place, I expect that it’s the reason why they had it. I will keep my eyes open though.

So later on in the evening, we went back to the movies and proceeded to the concession stand. They were offering some James Bond combo so we bought it. It was a small nacho and a half liter can of Heineken for 79 Slovak crowns. That’s somewhere around $4. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve never been able to go to the movies and spend only $4 on a snack and drink. So anyway, we saw Bond, and it was good. It wasn’t great, it wasn’t bad, just good. I’m not going to give a complete review of the movie but I did think the action sequences and fights were pretty good. I just don’t think it lived up to Casino Royale though. I guess that’s typical with sequels. I just felt like it was missing something and it just wasn’t as exciting. However I still think Daniel Craig is an excellent James Bond and I hope they can pump another movie out in another 2 years because I’m very interested in where they will take him next.

So that’s it for now. I’ve still got a lot of catching up to do, but that will probably have to be put on hold since I’m going home on Thursday. So I’ll probably won’t write until December. See ya then!

#6- Halloween

Hey there. I hope everyone had a happy Halloween. Unfortunately they don’t really celebrate Halloween here in Slovakia. I found that a couple clubs were having Halloween parties with mask contests, and some of the stores sell fake plastic pumpkins, but that’s pretty much the extent that they celebrate. November 1, or All Saints Day is a much bigger event for Slovaks. On this day everyone goes to the cemetery to visit loved ones and they put flowers on the graves. It’s not a celebration at all actually. It’s really considered to be a very sad day. And to make it worse, it’s filled with traffic everywhere you go because everyone is traveling to other towns and cities where their loved ones were buried.

But anyway, I was driving a long in the smartie on Thursday afternoon, and I heard an advertisement for Palace Cinemas. They were having a special scary movie night in celebration of Halloween. And the best part about it was that all movies after 10:00 pm on Friday only cost 1 euro! They had movies starting as late as 2:00 am.

We didn’t like the choice of scary movies they had that night so we decided to go to Max Payne instead. I had mixed feelings about whether to see it or not, so since the prices was so cheap, we just went for it. So the first interesting thing about the theatre that night, was there was a small party in the lobby. They had a live DJ blazing some electronic dance music and the place was extremely crowded. I almost didn’t want to see the movie anymore because I wanted to stay out in the lobby. The second interesting thing to note is that they have a bar in the lobby if you feel like drinking. Or you can buy the Slovak beer, Zlatý Bažant, at the concession stand. This isn’t just something for Halloween by the way. But particularly that night, I think they made all their money on alcohol considering the ticket prices were so low.

The third and most interesting thing about that night was that I have never gone to the movies and seen drunk people. But there were plenty of them that night. People were drunk before the movie even started. Some of them were even obnoxious, but fortunately, once the movie started, everyone calmed down. I thought it was hilarious though. It’s a sight I don’t think I’ll see back at home. Max Payne was extremely disappointing but at least it didn’t cost much. But as the movie ended and we walked back out into the lobby, I enjoyed listening to some more music before going home.

I’ve still got a lot to catch up on from the past few months, so stay tuned!

#5- Sprechen Sie Englisch?

Most of you know by now that my profession here in Bratislava is teaching English to Slovak folks. I never would have thought in a thousand years I’d be teaching anything, much less English. But the opportunity just kind of fell into my lap and I’ve come to find out, it’s not as difficult as I thought. So here’s how it happened:

It was Monday, September 8….my birthday by the way. Deni had taken me out to a nice Greek restaurant called Taverna for dinner where I enjoyed some souvlaki (kebab) meat and saganaki (fried cheese square), and Deni chomped down on some octopus. After dinner Deni took me to a nice bar called Film Café. They do show dvds on a plasma screen, but mainly it’s called Film Café because of the way it’s decorated. Every wall is covered from top to bottom with movie posters or photos of famous actors and actresses. They’ve even got a wall dedicated to Al Pacino and Robert De Niro at the entrance. But of course my favorite part is the spidey statues. They’ve got one hanging on the ceiling as you walk up the steps outside the seating area, and one on the ground in the seating area.

Deni had invited her best friend from her childhood, Peta (pronounced Petya), and her boyfriend Jano (Yano). She knew that Jano had spent a lot of time in the US and Australia, and would be able to speak with me in English about a lot of different things. It turns out that Jano had been an English teacher for an agency for about 3 years. He knew they were looking for native English speakers to teach there so he asked me if I would be interested. Of course at first I didn’t really think it was for me and told him I’d give it some thought. But the very next day he called and told me the agency would really like to meet with me.

So I went in a few days later and had a very short interview. They weren’t so interested in where I had worked in the past or any of the usual things companies looked for. They were only interested to see if I knew how to teach. So they gave me some books and asked me to make a short lesson plan. After 10-15 minutes they took me to a classroom and asked me teach. I did the best I could with what I was given and they asked me if I could start the next week.

So since then I’ve been teaching English to Slovak people anywhere from the pre-intermediate to advanced levels. I mostly do conversational classes so I don't have to bang out the grammar all day long and bore both the students and myself to death. The best way to learn to speak is to speak, and that's what they do. The funny thing is that I couldn’t take all the classes they wanted me to take at first. So I asked Deni if she would be interested in doing it. She went in for the same interview process that I did and they hired her as well! Now Deni is loving it and she teaches lower level classes that require the use of Slovak during classes.

A lot of people have asked me if I teach everyday and if I teach to children. The answer is no to both. We only teach adults in a business setting. We also do not work every day. We work when the classes are and the agency slowly adds more classes to our schedule all the time. Oh by the way, I didn't have any more pictures to add so I just put a random one up of me and Deni driving in the Smartie......

#4- Devin

One Saturday afternoon at the end of August, Deni and I took a short trip out of the city to a town called Pezinok. In this small little town is a race track for go-karts. Now I’m not talking about your everyday family go-kart track. These are fast go-karts. I’m talking about a top speed of 75 mph. Deni and her father used to race every weekend until Deni’s go-kart was mysteriously stolen from the garage at the course. Anyway, the track was closing for good and we were there to watch her Dad for one last time. While we were there some people told us that there was a festival the next day held at Devin Castle. Deni and I were already planning on making a visit there, but since there was a festival going on, we decided to go the next day.

So let’s take another look at the map of Bratislava. In the 4^th district, there is a borough called Devin. Technically this is a part of the city, but if you went there, you wouldn’t think it was the city at all. It felt like it took forever to drive there, and there wasn’t a whole lot around other than a few houses here and there. A lot of rich people live in this area. I imagine people live there because it’s quiet.

The castle was up on a hill and the festival took place at the bottom of the hill. This was something like the Renaissance Festival we have back at home, but on smaller scale. Everyone was dressed up in costumes, there were stages with different singing, dancing, and fighting performances, and of course food and beer. On the sides of the walk ways, there were actors pretending to do different things from different time periods. Some of them even sold things to onlookers.

Deni and I were mostly interested in the castle so we quickly observed what was going on at the festival and then continued up the hill to take pictures and read about the history of the castle. The thing about history for me is that it’s always interesting to me at the time, but I never remember it the next day. But never mind. We enjoyed the castle, and continued back down the hill to check out the performances. While we watched the different dramas and dances, we ate what is called ciganska pecienka, or gypsy cutlet. This is a delicious piece of pork grilled with some spices that are unknown to me, slapped on a fresh roll, and then covered with mustard. The option is also there to eat it with onions.

Later we left the festival and enjoyed a little bit of shopping just outside of the gates. Venders were selling a lot of different products. We purchased a small bottle of medovina, wine made from honey, and some small Slovak souvenirs. Then we continued down to the restaurant and enjoyed some ice cream.

For the rest of the pics go here

#3- Movies and Phones

Hey folks, Sean here. So how about I start off today by talking about cell phones here. There are 3 cell phone companies here. Orange and T-Mobile are the 2 that pretty much own the market. Then there is a fairly new company called O2. As far as I can see, Orange and T-Mobile are pretty much the same as phone companies at home. They charge the same monthly fee for some amount of minutes. There is also a contract involved in order for customers to buy a cheap phone. It says Verizon all over it. I’ve always hated paying a monthly fee for some amount of minutes that sometimes I don’t even use, and I’ve never been a fan of being locked into a contract. So I decided to sign up for O2.

They have a program where you only pay for what you use. I know Verizon has a program similar to this but the difference is that you have to pay $2.99 per day that you actually use the phone with Verizon. With O2, you don’t. You pay for the minutes that you call. If someone calls me and I answer, I don’t pay anything. I only have to pay for calls going out from my phone. Since most people are calling me so far, my bill is very cheap. I bought a new Sony Ericsson phone which I really like. I guess there is really nothing that special for me to say about it, but I like it a lot. That could also be because I had such a bad experience the past couple years with phones. Never again Motorola!!!One of the first things I wanted to do when I got here of course, was to go to the movies. Palace Cinemas to be exact. It doesn’t matter where I am in the world, I gotta have my movies! The first movie I watched here was Mama Mia. This movie came out here a few weeks after it was released in the states. The more popular movies either come out at the same time, or very close to it. Other less popular movies can come out a lot later. Zohan came out only a few weeks before the release of the dvd back home! A movie like Quantum of Solace is going to come out the same week. Movies are released on Thursdays here rather than Fridays. You will also not find any movie times starting after 10:00 pm which is a negative if you ask me. I miss going to those midnight movies.

But to add a positive, you can reserve your tickets and SEATS online here. It is not a requirement to buy the tickets online. You can buy the tickets online or just reserve your seats. They actually have a seating chart online and you can see which seats are already reserved or sold. After you reserve a seat, you have to be present at the ticket counter 30 minutes before show time, or they could sell your seats. The good thing about it is that you don’t have to show up an hour early to MAYBE get a good seat. After you pick up your tickets, you know you have seats and no one else can take them. So then you can feel free to go shopping in the mall or whatever, and you can go in the theatre when you choose.

All children’s films are dubbed in the Slovak language. All other movies have subtitles which are either in the Slovak or Czech languages. Deni tells me that the subtitles are not translated that well and sometimes they say something completely different. I would imagine that some movies, especially comedies, would have to be this way in order for the people to find it funny. Deni can’t wait for Madagascar 2. She loves the first movie so much she watched it 2 days in a row last week.

Ok so now I’ve made it to just before September. Next time I’ll tell you about the neat little festival that went to in late August.

#2- Podunajske Biskupice?

So it’s about 1:30 in the morning. I’ve always been a night person so this is the best time for me to sit down and focus so I can try to inform everyone what’s been happening. There’s so much. So let’s see, where should I start?

Well like I said last time, me and Deni are living in a place called Podunajske Biskupice. That’s pronounced Po doon eye skay Bees koo peet say. We’re currently renting a small flat (what they call an apartment), in a Panelak (apartment building), from a woman who actually used to be Deni’s German teacher years ago. She recently refurbished the flat with new paint, floors, etc., before we moved in, so it’s pretty nice. We live in what they call a 2 room flat, which really means 1 bedroom. When you walk in the door, there is a small room for jackets and shoes. To the left is the bathroom and to the right is a small walk in closet. If you continue forward you walk into our bedroom. It’s kind of weird because if you want to go to the kitchen you have to walk into our bedroom first. Once in our bedroom, the kitchen/living room, is on the left. It is typical in Slovak flats to have a door for every room in the house. For example, to go into the kitchen/living room, you actually have to go through the door. I was surprised to find out that most Slovak people don’t use dryers to dry their clothes. It’s not that people can’t afford them, but it’s just not in their culture for some reason. In the electronic stores they sell a million different washing machines but only about 2 or 3 different dryers. Also, the dryers that I saw were combination washer/dryers. You can see what a typical panelak looks like over on our side of town above.

There are a lot of different options for the internet and TV. For the first couple of weeks we were just trying to find out the prices and options and which company we wanted to go with. We ended up getting high speed from T-com which is the same company as T-Mobile. Since we could get all the English channels on cable tv, we decided not to get digital cable or fibernet. The rest of the channels come in German, Hungarian, and Czech, which I don’t watch. All the Slovak channels come free for everybody. We get CNN, BBC, MTV, and VH1 in English, although these channels are the European versions. I enjoy MTV much more because they actually show music videos. What do you know! There is also another music video channel that I watch often. It’s an all request channel where people text in the music videos they want to see. The music is much more diverse on that channel I would say. Just the other day I saw an electronic dance song from Cyndi Lauper! You will find Deni in front of the TV every week night watching her favorite Slovak TV show, "Panelak".

So what I am driving these days? Me and Deni decided back in April to purchase a Mercedes Smart. They’ve only recently started selling in America but they’ve been in Europe for quite some time now. The two of us came across one with automatic transmission and we just couldn’t pass it up. We appropriately named her Smartie. Although we are mostly driving Smartie around from place to place, Deni still has her Seat Ibiza. We use that car when we need to carry bigger things. Smartie is only good for holding a few bags. I love cruising around in it. Plus, we save gas and we’re able to find parking spaces a lot easier. Speaking of parking spaces, cars here are allowed to park their wheels on the sidewalk. It’s actually completely necessary. If the cars aren’t halfway on the sidewalk, there isn’t enough room on the streets for cars to drive. Where Deni’s work office is, there is a small place between a street sign and a tree. That’s where you will see us parking. We put the entire Smartie on the sidewalk right in between. We’ve managed to find other parking spaces similar to that when there was nowhere else to park. It’s great!

Well it's late and I have to hit the sack. I'm still not caught up to the present time. To be continued............

#1- The Beginning

Sean here. I’m a little late with starting this new blog since I’ve been living in Bratislava for almost 2 full months now. But it’s better late than never I guess. I thought this blog would be a good idea to keep in touch with everyone back home and a way to inform everyone of the major things going on in our lives. Most likely if you are reading this blog, you already know that Deni and I were married at the Sandals Montego Bay Resort in Jamaica on July 24, 2008. Prior to our marriage, we both decided that we wanted to move to her home country for a year or two before permanently living in the US. So after our honeymoon and a short stay back at home, we took a flight and moved to Bratislava.

So first, I’d like to explain where I am and a little about this little big country where I currently reside. When I told everyone that I was moving to Slovakia and that my wife is Slovak, most people asked, “Where is Slovakia?” Of the people who didn’t ask that, they generally said something like, “Ah, Czechoslovakia. Cool!” And then there were a few people who knew exactly what I was talking about. Since Slovakia isn’t one of the more known countries in the world, I didn’t expect anyone to know what I was talking about.

So anyway, I’ll show you!

Slovakia or the Slovak Republic is it’s own free state which had once been apart of Czechoslovakia until 1993. Czechoslovakia peacefully split into two parts which are now called the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic after the end of communism in the country in 1989. Slovakia is sometimes referred to as “The Heart of Europe”, and is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria on the west side, Poland to the north, Ukraine on the west end, and Hungary to the south.

Slovakia itself is divided into 8 different regions. Deni and I live in the Bratislava Region. And as most of you know, we live in Bratislava, the capital city.

Bratislava is divided into 5 different districts. Each district is divided into boroughs. If you look at the picture, me and Deni live in the 2^nd district in the borough called Podunajska Biskupice. We are very close to living in Vrakuna. Deni’s parents live in the 1^st district in Stare Mesto. This is also where the city center is and where Bratislava Castle stands.

So anyway, I’ve given you a little information about Slovakia and where we are living. I’ll leave it at that for now. Stay tuned for #2 coming soon to hear more about what we have been doing and some things about Slovak culture.