Hello from Bratislava, Slovakia! We have arrived and are starting to settle in. We haven't received any of our household goods yet (e.g., furniture, pots and pans, etc.) so it is kind of like camping indoors at the moment! We are sleeping on air matresses on the floor and making do with a couple of plates and glasses, etc. Honestly, it is kind of fun! It will be nice, though, when we have all of our things from home - especially Lee's Beyblades! ;-)
We spent our first week getting our bearings in the area and exploring Old Town, which is about a 10 minute walk from our house. The old buildings are beautiful and there are many outdoor cafes all throughout the city. Lee is starting to get a taste for cappuccinos! The streets in Old Town are all made out of cobblestone and the church bells ring every hour. Sometimes it feels like we have walked into a fairy tale.
Several of you asked about the time difference in Slovakia vs. NC. I found a great website that will convert the times and even take into account Daylight Savings Time - http://www.timezoneconverter.com. Bratislava is 6 hours ahead of Cary, so, when we are having lunch in Slovakia, you all are just waking up in NC!
I have added some photos, some of which were taken by Lee. We don't have Internet access at home yet. When we do, hopefully, I will be able to update more often. We are planning on exploring the area outside of Bratislava this weekend. We are going to go to the country of Austria (about five miles away) and do some shopping. We hear that they have many more American foods in the grocery stores there than in Bratislava. We are surprised by how much we have found here though - Kettle potato chips, Jif peanut butter, Toll House chocolate chips (you see what kind of junk food we eat!). My friend, Lucy, took me shopping in a Korean grocery store in Bratislava yesterday and I found a treasure trove of American food there - in the "International Food" aisle! :-)
One funny thing happened this week. Our dog, Sasha, escaped out of our fenced-in yard, jumped off our walled garden (about 7 feet!), and chased two nuns down Gorazdova Street (there is a church and a convent at the end of our street). I don't know any Slovak yet, so I couldn't apologize to the poor nuns. I'm not sure, but I think they might have called her "devil dog!" ;-)
My former students will also be happy to know that I am now in their shoes - I am once again a student! Twice a week, my husband and I are learning Slovak from our tutor, Pani Jitka. She is very nice and patient and doesn't giggle at my bad Slovak. It is good as a teacher to be reminded of how hard it is to be a student sometimes! Lee is picking up the language much faster than his parents. He is also taking German in school so that he can act as our interpreter with our cousins in Germany!
That is all of the news for now. We miss you all very much and think of our Mills Park family often.
Talk to you soon! Dovidenia -
Mrs. Fiedler & Lee
P.S. Millie says, "Hi!" :-)
We spent our first week getting our bearings in the area and exploring Old Town, which is about a 10 minute walk from our house. The old buildings are beautiful and there are many outdoor cafes all throughout the city. Lee is starting to get a taste for cappuccinos! The streets in Old Town are all made out of cobblestone and the church bells ring every hour. Sometimes it feels like we have walked into a fairy tale.
Several of you asked about the time difference in Slovakia vs. NC. I found a great website that will convert the times and even take into account Daylight Savings Time - http://www.timezoneconverter.com. Bratislava is 6 hours ahead of Cary, so, when we are having lunch in Slovakia, you all are just waking up in NC!
I have added some photos, some of which were taken by Lee. We don't have Internet access at home yet. When we do, hopefully, I will be able to update more often. We are planning on exploring the area outside of Bratislava this weekend. We are going to go to the country of Austria (about five miles away) and do some shopping. We hear that they have many more American foods in the grocery stores there than in Bratislava. We are surprised by how much we have found here though - Kettle potato chips, Jif peanut butter, Toll House chocolate chips (you see what kind of junk food we eat!). My friend, Lucy, took me shopping in a Korean grocery store in Bratislava yesterday and I found a treasure trove of American food there - in the "International Food" aisle! :-)
One funny thing happened this week. Our dog, Sasha, escaped out of our fenced-in yard, jumped off our walled garden (about 7 feet!), and chased two nuns down Gorazdova Street (there is a church and a convent at the end of our street). I don't know any Slovak yet, so I couldn't apologize to the poor nuns. I'm not sure, but I think they might have called her "devil dog!" ;-)
My former students will also be happy to know that I am now in their shoes - I am once again a student! Twice a week, my husband and I are learning Slovak from our tutor, Pani Jitka. She is very nice and patient and doesn't giggle at my bad Slovak. It is good as a teacher to be reminded of how hard it is to be a student sometimes! Lee is picking up the language much faster than his parents. He is also taking German in school so that he can act as our interpreter with our cousins in Germany!
That is all of the news for now. We miss you all very much and think of our Mills Park family often.
Talk to you soon! Dovidenia -
Mrs. Fiedler & Lee
P.S. Millie says, "Hi!" :-)
RSS Feed
