I have officially been in Slovakia for two months, and will make a new overall update about my exchange. Routine has absolutely kicked in for me, and I feel completely comfortable here, as if it truly is my home. Part of that is because of my amazing and welcoming host family, and also because I've learned to figure out the whole town and can responsibly survive on my own here if need be. There really aren't days here that I don't have anything to do. In fact, I kind of wish I had more free-time, but I that's only a good complaint. Slovak kids are super nice, like seriously. They invite me out all the time and we have such a great time together. I've been so lucky to be able to travel somewhere new every single weekend. On weekdays, my calendar is filling up with events and activities that I do. Winter is coming, and Slovakia is already quite cold. I'm trying to enjoy every walk home from town and every minute I can spend outside until it'll be too cold. I've gotten the opportunity to talk to so many Slovak English classes and tell them about my life. The saddest thing is EVERY SINGLE TIME, the first questions they ask me are "why Slovakia?" Or "do you regret coming to Slovakia?" And of course, the answer is absolutely not! Sure, Slovakia isn't as known as France, or as big a Brazil, but I'm enjoying everything about this beautiful little country. Being an American in Slovakia also means I get special privileges. People are always giving me free stuff, trying to become my friend, or inviting me places simply because I'm a foreigner. Constantly people in the city center who I don't even know are saying "hello" to me, or other things in English, cause somehow, the whole town is learning about the "crazy boy from New York" who's spending a year in Slovakia. I get the weirdest looks (in a good-way) in public everyday for speaking English. I get even weirder looks when I speak Slovak with the people, who could never imagine an American boy speaking such a random and difficult language. That brings me to my next topic, language. Slovak language absolutely does suck. BUT, I'm not having a lot of trouble with it. Some aspects of the language are so easy. For example, they only have about 3.5 spoken word tenses. Present, future, past, and present-future. Other grammar aspects and pronunciation does suck as well, but is much harder in the Polish language, which is already quite similar with Slovak. It's amazing for me to think about my first few weeks here when I struggled to make sentences, and now I'm telling full stories and communicating fluently with people who can't speak English. The more Slovak I learn, the more different it feels from Polish, but for sure, Polish helps me to speak more fluent in Slovak and remember vocabulary words easier. I am trying my hardest to be completely fluent by the end of my exchange, which I know is possible! While I've been missing small things about USA, and people especially, I'm really not homesick. I'm too busy and enjoying myself too much to think about the things I miss from back home. The hardest thing for me here was having to adjust to the lack of freedom, between Rotary rules and my inability to speak the language/know the country. Back home in USA I was traveling every weekend, representing my Rotary district and living very independently. Here, I needed to readjust to relying on people for many things out of my control and not having the same freedoms, in exchange for the great opportunity. Traveling hasn't been a hard rule for me anyways, since my family or Rotary are bringing me to travel every weekend anyways. I am so excited for the next 8 months in Slovakia and what they have to offer! Exchange is the best decision someone can ever make and I'm so proud of myself for doing it all on my own!
Každý deň, skusím hovoriť viac aj viac Slovenský takže môžem hovoriť lepšie aj uciť sa viac. Teraz, som bol v Slovensko pre 2 mesiacov a chcem napisať trošku po Slovenský. Slováci ludi sa mi opytajú kazdý deň, “prečo Slovensko?” Oni neuvedomujú aké ke krásne Slovensko. Milujem Slovensko, aj som štasťný pretože študenti v Trenčíne sú najlepšie! Ďakujem vas, že vy ste moje kamarátki aj pretože cítim sa tu dobre.
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AuthorNick Bilotti Archives
March 2019
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