Week One: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Slovakia

One of the first classes I took in college was a course titled EHS 120. It was an introductory course for all incoming freshmen to take. These courses were usually held once a week, and were taught by a “guest” teacher. This individual could be a current professor, a student aide, a chair of a department, a prominent alumni, etc. My EHS 120 teacher fell into the “prominent alumni” category. Dr. King had been a star college basketball player in the 1950s, the former Dean of Men, and had retained a close relationship with Bradley University’s alumni department for years. Dr. King always came to class with a positive attitude and a desire to prepare the next incoming group of college students. Of all the lessons he taught during that one-semester course, one in particular stayed with me. Every week, Dr. King would challenge my classmates and me to recite something notable we had done in the previous week. Knowing that a new experience, such as starting college, can seem daunting, he wanted us to at least be able to identify one thing in a week’s time we could remember. This activity did not, in any way, end after the semester finished. Every time I ran into Dr. King afterwards, whether it be two or three years later, he would again ask me to recite something notable I had done in the previous week. I thought a lot about that activity when I was flying over the Atlantic Ocean just a few days ago, as I was in the midst of leaving my love ones for an extended amount of time. Thus, I wanted to create this blog to help me categorize my time during this new chapter of my life. Much as the EHS 120 course helped to put the daunting newness of college in perspective, my hope is that a weekly blog will help to put in perspective my trip away from the United States for a year-long stay in Slovakia.

Before I go any further, it may be a good idea for me to introduce myself. My name is Derek Cantù. I am from Illinois, and just recently graduated from Bradley University, in Peoria, with a Bachelors in History; Secondary Education. During my last year of college (my fifth year) I was starting to put serious thought into what I would like to do post-Bradley. My goal one day is to enter law school. However, I did not want to enter right away. I wanted time to spruce up my resume some more, and also since I had just finished with five years in undergraduate school, I was in no hurry to commit myself to a three-year-no-social-life-whatsoever contract immediately. Additionally, I wanted the opportunity to travel before pursuing law. My family had always been advocates for traveling, especially on summer vacations. Years ago, we devised a goal to explore all fifty states in America over the course of different summers. As of today, my family and I have been to forty-nine (only Hawaii remains on our list). Nonetheless, these trips were incredibly memorable. By having the opportunity to travel to beaches, amusement parks, Civil War battlefields, national parks, historical landmarks, professional sports games, mountain ranges, and museums, my family and I were able to witness firsthand the diversity of the United States. My vacations allowed me to experience America, but the U.S. was only one part of the world.

I had never been outside of the U.S. before, with the exception of a trip my family took to Niagara Falls in 2000, but I could still see New York from my hotel window. I wanted to see more of the world, especially since the world is so much more interconnected today than it has been. Therefore, I decided to apply for a grant that other Bradley students and faculty have applied for (successfully) in the past. During my last year of college I applied for a Fulbright Fellowship.

Fulbright, for those that do not know, is a U.S. State Department funded program that allocates grants for students every year to travel and work abroad. The program was started back in the 1940s by Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright in an attempt for American citizens (and international citizens) to create positive relationships in several countries. Today, Americans can apply to travel abroad to work on approved research projects or as English Teacher’s Assistants. Because of my degree in education, I thought an E.T.A. grant would be most appropriate.

As I mentioned previously, my specific Fulbright Fellowship took me to the Slovak Republic, also referred to as Slovakia. There were many reasons why I decided to travel to Slovakia. Initially, I was intrigued by a message written on the Fulbright website. On the website, there are a number of pages that describe the types of positions each country offers, a list of requirements, and the approximate length of stay. When I was researching the “Europe” homepage, I noticed a particular note. It stated that Fulbright asks for its applicants to have an open mind when deciding which country to pursue, and that certain countries were notorious for receiving few applications. A collection of country names was listed after this note, and Slovakia was one of them. Looking back, it’s appropriate that I would have selected such a country. I have always been one for “choosing the path less traveled”. If I was going to travel somewhere, I wanted it to be unique, a place that not many have traveled to. As I began to research more about this place, the more intrigued I became about Slovakia. This small Eastern European country has had a respectively prosperous future since the fall of communism. The Velvet Revolution and eventual Velvet Divorce symbolized Slovakia’s commitment to nonviolence when they peacefully broke away from first the Soviet Union, and ultimately divided Czechoslovakia into two separate nations. In recent years, Slovakia has again acted pragmatically by joining the European Union and eventually the Eurozone. The more I learned about the country, the more I wanted to visit. However, if there was one reason that could summarize my intentions for traveling to Slovakia it is because it was there. My goal was that I wanted have an experience of extreme newness. I wanted to live in a place with a new language, new people, new customs, new scenery, and to simply be in a new part of the world. It would not take long for me to realize one must sometimes be careful for what they wish for.

Finally, as August was coming to a close, my trip to Europe was upon me. To say that I traveled by trains, planes, and automobiles would be an accurate statement. In short, I began my trip by boarding a Peoria Charter bus from Bradley University to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. I believe it was appropriate that I start my journey leaving from Bradley, as I owe a great deal to the numerous Bradley faculty members who helped me craft a strong application for Fulbright. After a tearful goodbye to my family, I arrived in Chicago, where I boarded a plane to Warsaw, Poland. From Warsaw I flew to Prague, Czech Republic, and after a long layover, flew from Prague to Slovakia’s capitol, Bratislava. It was when I exited the airport in Bratislava that the extreme culture-shock began to hit me. During the taxi ride to my hotel for the night (two taxi rides to be specific, since the first one took me to the wrong hotel), I glanced out the windows to bear witness to my new country. I saw giant billboards written in a language I could not speak, graffiti painted upon so many walls, and grey skyscrapers that looked like they were left over from the time of Gorbachev. Granted, I had only seen a tiny portion of the city, but for a split second I thought I had time traveled back to the 1980s. Finally, I reached my hotel and the site of modern accommodations welcomed me when I entered my room. I had a comfy bed, a hot shower, and most importantly TV. I even got news channels that broadcasted in English such as CNN (the international version, a.k.a. Wolf Blitzer-less). Nonetheless, I could not argue that I was a long way from home. But, being that this is 2014, I still had plenty of ways of connecting back to the good old USA.

If it were not for modern innovation in telecommunications, my trip may have turned out quite differently. I was not only armed with an account with Skype, but also other services such as Tango, ooVoo, Google Hangout, Facebook Messenger, and HeyWire. Being able to contact my family was nothing short of a Godsend. That first night in Bratislava I shared with them travel stories, an assurance that I was safe, and informed them of my nervousness of being in a new land. My dad is the only other person in my family who has traveled abroad before. He, and number of colleagues, traveled to Turkey last year for a short stay. I relied on him extensively when I was preparing for my trip. He taught me valuable information, such as what international converters would work, how much to pack, where to exchange my money, what apps to download, and which travel agencies are the most competent. Most of all, however, Dad gave me some sage advice. Before I even left America, my dad warned me about the emotional side to culture-shock. He said that for the first two weeks, I may be asking myself, “why the heck am I here?” But, once I started getting more accumulated to my surroundings, and once I started getting into a regular routine, the foreignness of my new home would begin to subside. His advice is proving true, but I have definitely had my share of “what the heck am I doing here” moments.

After my night in Bratislava, I headed for the train station for my ultimate destination of Nové Zámky. As a Fulbright Fellow, I did not have total say on where in Slovakia I would end up. Altogether, there are eight Americans (including myself) that are spread out across Slovakia, working as E.T.A.’s. Although some are based in Bratislava, others are in places such as Nitra, Martin, or Košice. Nové Zámky lies on the southwest part of the country, about an hour south of Bratislava. It has a population of around thirty thousand people, so I was not headed off to an incredibly small village. When my train finally arrived at the station in Bratislava, I did feel a sense of relief that my journey could officially begin. It was a short train ride, which took its passengers past series of farmland. Unlike its northern neighbor, the Czech Republic, Slovakia’s economy is more agrarian. I knew it would not be long before I arrived at my stop, so I played a game with myself guessing which of the small villages we passed would be the one that my train would slow down to, and I would get off and spend the next year in. Finally, the train did stop and I had to collect my suitcases.

 As I reached the bottom step of the stairs leading away from the station, I saw my cooperating teacher for the first time, and one of his colleagues. Jozef is an extremely friendly person, as was his fellow English teacher Alena. They both greeted me warmly and offered to help carry my slew of bags to the waiting car. When we got outside, Jozef lit a cigarette and informed me of the itinerary for the weekend.

I had actually arrived in Slovakia at an unusual time. It was Thursday, and the upcoming weekend was going to be a four-day weekend, as Friday and Monday were state holidays in remembrance of the Czechoslovak uprising against Nazi forces in 1944. Therefore, the school year would not start until the following Tuesday. In regards to my temporary living accommodations, I would spend the long weekend at a local establishment, the Stardust Hotel. We would first drop my suitcases at the Stardust, and then go and buy me a Slovak mobile SIM card for my international phone. So, I loaded my suitcases into Jozef’s car and off we went. Much like I did on the train, I glanced out the window and, for the first time, imagined what it would be like to live in such a city for a year. I started to see series of shops, once again adorned with words in a language I could not speak. Jozef and Alena began to ask me about my flights and about how my parents felt about sending their son across the world. As we turned the corner I saw the town square. It is a huge, and rather open plaza with a Christian statue in the middle. Surrounding the rectangular plaza were a series of shops and cafes, with the exception of the east side, where a tall Catholic church stood. I would learn later the church had been a hallmark of the town since the 1580s. Eventually, we made our way to the Stardust. Lucky for me, as I was informed by Jozef, the staff at this hotel could speak a good deal of English. I had heard that Slovak people were welcoming, and the hotel staff were shining examples of this. So after I went to my room to drop off my bags, and after Jozef had another cigarette, we walked to the cellular store.

I enjoyed this short walk because I was able to see more of the downtown square. There were plenty of small boutiques, cafes, fountains, and rows of patio umbrellas that almost all read Coca-Cola. I also noticed as we were walking down the street that music could be heard over a loud speaker. To my surprise it was not a Slovak tune, but rather Nicki Minaj. After about a five minute walk, I stepped into the cellphone provider Orange. It was a small shop, but modern, which made me feel at ease. Much like a child going on a ride at Disney World, I found myself just looking at all different directions, soaking in the fact that I was actually here, in Europe, doing a normal task like buying a SIM card. As we waited in line, I looked out the window trying to put a face to my new neighbors. Everyone seemed young and appeared to have casual demeanors. Finally, after about ten minutes, our number was called and I eventually had a new SIM card for my phone, with a starting plan of 10€. Afterwards, that was it. We made plans to meet tomorrow. I would go look at a house that one of Jozef’s colleagues was renting that was in town to see if I was interested in staying there for the year. We also agreed that we would meet up after seeing to house to have coffee together. But, in reality, that was it. I made my goodbyes, and thus I was on my own for the night.

That first long weekend in Nové Zámky caused me to learn a lot about myself very quickly. On Friday Jozef, Alena, and I went to the colleague’s house to investigate whether or not it was suitable for me. At the time, the place was unfurnished, but looked like it had promise. As anyone in real estate knows, it’s all about location, location, location. The house was twenty (walking) minutes from work, twenty (walking) minutes from a supermarket, five minutes away from different restaurants and shops, and right next door to a teacher from my new school and his girlfriend, who spoke okay English. What is more, there was plenty of room, a nice finished bathroom, and it was gated and had video surveillance on the street. We told the teacher that we would let him know, but I was almost positive I would not find another place that had all these benefits. Afterwards, Jozef, Alena, and I went to a small restaurant to chat about the upcoming school week. I have never been one for coffee, so I instead had a nice Slovak beer called Zlatý Bažant. Jozef and Alena discussed with me how the school works, the backgrounds of the students, the levels of understanding students had of English, how well technology worked in the school, and other such topics. Then, much like the day before, we said our goodbyes. The only exception was Jozef offered to drive me to the nearby supermarket so I could shop for snacks and such. This store that he drove me to, by the way, became a bit of my support system after a while. Tessco is a chain that is big in Europe. In many ways, it was like a small Walmart. There was a good amount of food, a good amount of toiletries, and a good amount of electronics. What was even better was this Tessco was next door to a tiny mall and a series of other stores. This aspect of over-commercialization reminded me of America, and thus made me feel more comfortable. I would make a number of stops to Tessco over the next few days, and continue to do so now. Nonetheless, when Jozef dropped me off, he asked what I wanted to do for the remainder of the long weekend. He and Alena had kids of their own, and were busy getting ready for back to school. He asked if I wanted to explore the city on my own over the next few days, and to be honest, I really did. If I am going to live here for almost a year, I have to be willing to blaze my own trail. So I agreed to play things on my own, but always had his contact info if I needed him. I would find out over that weekend what it truly meant to blaze my own trail.

To understand this next part of my journey you have to have an understanding of the popular game called Minecraft. In Minecraft, players interact in a sandbox-design world, meaning they can create anything they want and do anything they want. In freeplay, there are no challenges, no bosses to battle, nor quests to go on. It is just your avatar, dropped into a digital world. One of the first tasks people do when they play Minecraft is to collect supplies to build a shelter. The reasoning behind this action is in this world, at day one can go explore and see the changing terrain of the never-ending digital world. At night, however, the world becomes more complicated. Monsters appear in the world out of thin area, and if one has not built a shelter, they are vulnerable to attacks by “creepers”, “zombies”, and “crossbow wielding skeletons”. Over the long weekend, I felt like I operated under a Minecraft mentality. Now, do not get me wrong, I was not afraid of the actual people of Nové Zámky. They were actually very nice. I have never seen the horror movie Hostel (which by the way is based in Slovakia) but I know its depictions of Europeans as homicidal towards Americans was bull. What I mean by a “Minecraft mentality” is I became apprehensive to leave my shelter (the hotel room) for too long. My understanding of the Slovak language is little, although I had dedicated a good part of the summer for studying. The buildings and shops I walked by were unfamiliar. I had no real agenda for the weekend, and what is more, I was alone. There were no friends I could meet up with at the bar. I did not have my family to explore the town with. It literally was just me, myself, and I. My language barrier really became that, a barrier.

Thus, I confined myself mostly to my room for four days, only going outside to explore every now and then. My days were filled playing games on my iPad, snacking, trips to Tessco, and watching a great deal of TV, including Two and a Half Men in German and a Slovak reality show where contestants from across the country moved to a farm so as to get more in touch with Slovakia’s humble roots. I knew this could not be my mindset for the entire time I was over here, because what a waste that would be. At the same, though, I reasoned with myself that there was no rush. If I was only going to be here in Slovakia for a couple of weeks or a month, yes, I would be proactively exploring this new country, trying to soak in everything within my limited timeframe. But, that was not the case. I am going to be here for ten months. I don’t have to feel obligated to fit in everything at once. But alas, I had to at least be more willing to “leave my shelter”. My hope was once school started on Tuesday, I would start to fall into more of a routine, and thus begin to feel more at home. In many ways, this thought did come to fruition.

Much like in the United States, the first day of school is more of a formality than anything else. Class schedules are still being organized and many of the teachers are still in the midst of getting their lessons prepared for the upcoming year. To be honest, I did not even meet any students that first day. As a Fulbright E.T.A., grantees are only allotted to work sixteen to eighteen hours a week, maximum. Therefore, my day usually ends around noon. Nonetheless, I was able to be introduced to a number of faculty members, including one of the directors of the school. The director truly embodied the definition of “hospitable”. She even was kind enough to invite me to visit her winery later that afternoon in a great display of welcoming me to Slovakia. As I had predicted, once the school year started I began feeling more at ease. That evening, the director, her husband, and a number of university professors from Bratislava all showed me around the director’s vineyard, and together we sampled (a great deal of) delicious wines. One of the highlights from that evening was going down to the cellar to taste a wide variety of wines while fruit flies buzzed over our heads

The "Secondary Medical School" not only caters to students who want to pursue a career in health care, but is also bilingual, teaching classes in both Slovak and Hungarian languages

As the week progressed, I began to get more of an understanding of my students’ abilities in English. Again, being that this was the first week, and being that students had not yet received their textbooks for their classes, my lessons revolved more around introductory conversation. My cooperating teacher is responsible for approximately twenty-four different classes, so each day that week I had the opportunity to introduce myself to new groups of students. I invited my classes to ask me anything they wanted about myself, my reasons for coming to Slovakia, and any questions they had about American culture. When I would receive multiple “deer in the headlights” stares, I powered through and asked the students about their hobbies, Nové Zámky, and stereotypes they may have heard about Americans, good or bad. 

View of my house from the front

It was also during this week that I moved into the house I had visited the previous Friday. My landlord, who is also a fellow teacher at the school, is named Milan. As I mentioned, this house was at the moment unfurnished, but Milan worked throughout the week to help me feel more at home. It seemed like every day I came home a new piece of furniture awaited me. Perhaps a desk one day, and a couch another. I am still currently waiting on a few essentials, such as a refrigerator and better internet connection so that I can contact my family back home without too much frustration. Even so, I am thankful for what I do have, such as a bed, a drying rack, a closet, and a shower. Milan does not speak much English, but it does not stop him from wanting to do everything he can to improve my temporary living space. I will always remember how the both of us struggled to build the IKEA bed he bought for me, which is a difficult task on its own even if we could speak the same language. It has taken some time, but I am becoming accustomed to my new house.

In closing, my brief time in Slovakia thus far has already taught me so much. I am having to get used to doing with less, such as not having access to ordinary services like Netflix or Hulu, which I did not know do not operate outside U.S. IP addresses. I am having to get used to not seeing my family every day in person, although the nightly Skype meetings still remain the highlight of my day. I occasionally catch myself operating under a “Minecraft mentality”, but then force myself to explore more, to interact more, or simply to walk around more. I still have access to forms of entertainment during my down times, such as YouTube and a Slovak version of Frozen (don’t judge, the movie is awesome). Just like my time at school, I find it is good to stay busy. In late September I will be taking my LSAT for law school, in Budapest, Hungary of all places. Therefore, much of my downtime is dedicated to some much needed studying. I even attended a local church service this weekend, thereby not only satisfying a social need but a spiritual one as well. This upcoming week I will be headed off to Bratislava to meet with the other Americans who were crazy enough to leave the States for almost a year. At this moment in time, when I am at the starting point of the marathon, my journey in Slovakia can seem rather daunting. But, if I remain open minded, and if I maintain a positive outlook, I am certain this time in Europe will be one I will never forget. Ferris Bueller really put it best when he said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”