Halloween

pumpkin carving

pumpkin pie

Art gallery-exhibition "El día de los muertos"

Friday

Učiteľ španielčiny zorganizoval pre svojich žiakov exkurziu do art centra. Výstava bola na tému "El día de los muertos"(deň zosnulých), je to veľmi známy sviatok v Mexiku. Ja som si predstavovala celú výstavu úplne inak, očakávala som tmavé a smutné obrazy. Opak bol však pravdou, všetko bolo veselé, na mnohých obrazoch boli zobrazené veselé kostry...autori sa snažia oslavovať...

Our spanish teacher took us to an exhibition in an art gallery. The topic was "El día de los muertos", it is a very famous celebration in Mexico. I imagined the exhibition to be completely diffrent, I was expecting dark and sad paintings. It was the exact opposite, everything was bright and colorful.

Flick or Treat Freesbee tournament
V sobotu sa konal freesbee turnaj pri príležitosti Halloweenu. Súťažilo sa v dvoch kategóriach, menej a viac skúsení. Naša škola mala zastúpenie v oboch kategóriach a verte, či nie obe družstvá vyhrali. Ja som bola tiež veľmi prekvapená, keďže som netušila, že náš tím je taký dobrý. Víťazstvo sme išli spoločne osláviť večerou do fastfoodu.

 On Saturday a Halloween freesbee tournament took place. It was our first tournament as a school this season. We competed in two categories varsity and junior varsity (more and less experienced players). Suprisingly we won in both categories. After the tournament was over we all went to celebrate our victory with fastfood.

Halloween

Monday

Keďže Halloween padol na školský deň mnoho študentov išlo v kostýme do školy. Niektorí učitelia dokonca rozdávali cukríky žiakom v maske.

Na chémii učiteľka predviedla špeciálny Halloweensky pokus s tekvicou.

Večer sme išli s Mayou a Linou trick or treating (v Amerike veľmi známe, deti v kostýmoch zvonia na dvere, potom vykríknu „trick or treat“ a dostanú cukríky). My sme boli možno na toto trochu staré, ale keďže na Slovensku a ani v Taliansku takáto tradícia nie je, rozhodli sme sa to zažiť. Lina bola diabol, Maya sa preobliekla za včielku Mayu a ja som bola zombie. Niektoré domy boli krásne vyzdobené, ľudia si dali naozaj záležať. Dokonca v jednom dome bol haunted house. Bola to garáž preplnená halloweenskymi dekoráciami. Strašili sme asi hodinu, takže sme veľa cukríkov nenazbierali, no aj to sa ráta.

trick or treating

Since Halloween was on a school day some students wore their halloween costumes to school. Some teachers even gave candys to students wearing a mask.

Our chemistry teacher prepared a special halloween experiment with a pumpkin.

In the evening I went trick or treating with Maya and Lina. Here in America it is very polular, people decorate their houses and they are expecting children to come. We might have been too old to go trick or treating, but since we don’t do it in Slovakia or Italy we decided to go anyways. Lina was dressed as a devil, Maya was dressed as Maya the Bee and I was a zombie.

Orientation meeting, Homecoming, Tournament and Slovak food

Orientation meeting in Corvallis
7-9.10.2016

Po škole sme sa stretli všetci študenti z Eugene a Springfieldu. Rotariánka Holly nás odviezla do asi hodinu vzdialeného mesta Corvallis. Stretli sme sa na parkovisku, odkiaľ si nás vyzdvihli host-rodiny. Najskôr som bola prekvapená, že spíme v host-rodinách, keďže na Orientation meetingoch na Slovensku sme boli všetci po kope, v penzióne... V host-rodine som bola spolu s Marion z Belgicka a Tinou z Nórska. Každá sme dostali vlastnú spálňu s veľkou posteľou. Host-rodina bola veľmi milá.

V sobotu sme sa stretli všetci študenti v kostole (nie nemodlili sme sa, kostol nám poskytol jednu zo svojich miestností). Ja som sa s väčšinou stretla po prvýkrát, keďže som zmeškala prvé stretnutie v Auguste. Doobedu sme mali aktivity vo vnútri. Potom sme mali sme skorý obed pizzu, keďže nás čakala skorá večera. Po obede sme išli do parku a urobili sme si mnoho fotiek s vlajkami a našimi Rotary sakami. Potom sme si povymieňali odznaky na saká, konečne je na mojom saku pár odznakov. Vymieňanie si odznakov je tradícia výmenných študentov Rotary. Každý vyrobí, alebo kúpi odznaky s motívom, alebo typickým znakom svojej krajiny. Večer sme išli na futbal. Vďaka Rotary sme boli na hracej ploche, keď na ihrisko vybehli domáci hráči. Bol to jedinečný zážitok. Cez polčas sme vyšli pred štadión, kde sme opäť mali kopu jedla (tailgating). Po predĺžení náš tím zvíťazil.

V nedeľu sme mali prednášku o miestnej univerzite. Potom nasledovalo lúčenie a cesta domov. Bol to veľmi krátky víkend, ale zato veľmi zábavný.

big american sandwich

Friday after school all exchange students from Eugene and Springfield met. Rotarian Holly drove us to Corvallis. It is a small town one hour from Eugene. We met in a parking lot, where our host-families for the weekend picked us up. I was in a host-family with Marion from Belgium and Tina form Norway. We all got our own bedrooms with big beds. The host-family was very nice.

On Saturday we all got together in a church, we played games and socialized. We had an early lunch period. Guess what we ate? Pizza. Later we went to the park and took lots of pictures of everybody with their Rotary blazers and holding our flags. I got some new pins for my blazer. It is a Rotary tradition for exchange students to give each other pins. Everyone makes or buy some pins reminiscent of their country. We went to a football game in the evening. Thanks to Rotary we were standing on the field while the players were introduced. It was an amazing experience. During halftime we walked outside the stadium to join a tailgate party. Our team, the Oregon State Beavers, won in overtime. There was a presentation on Sunday about Oregon State University. After that we said goodbye and returned home. It was a very nice, but short, weekend. I wish we had more time together. 

Homecoming
21.10.2016 Friday 

V škole sme mali upravený rozvrh, každá hodina bola asi o 10 minút kratšia. Medzi 4 a 5 hodinou sa konalo zhromaždenie v telocvični. Na začiatku pár žiakov zaspievalo hymnu. Následne vyhlásili zopár oznamov. Zábavnou časťou bola súťaž. Každý ročník zastupovali 4 študenti. Absolvovali štafetu vtipných úloh. Po nich nasledovali učitelia. Nastúpili 4 tímy, každý tím za jeden ročník. Nakoniec triedy dostali body podľa umiestnenia.

Večer sa konal homecoming dance. Bolo to niečo ako školská diskotéka. Ako som sa dopočula na niektorých školách je to veľká udalosť, každý sa nahodí, namaľuje… Tu to bolo však voľnejšie. Niektorí sa nenamáhali a kludne prišli v rifliach. Tancovalo sa v školskej jedálni. Témou bolo glow in the dark. Pri vstupe dostal každý svietivý náramok, vytvorilo to jedinečnú atmosféru, keďže všade bola tma. 

homecoming assembly

Our day schedule was a little bit different today. Every class was 10 minutes shorter. Between the fourth and fifth periods there was a homecomig assembly. At the begining some students sang the national anthem. After that a student made an annoucement. The fun part of the assembly was class competition. 4 students representing each class competed in a relay race. After the students had finished the race it was our teachers turn. There were 4 teachers for every class. Classes got points depending on how well they did in the competition, therefore each class cheered their team on.

In the evening there was a homecoming dance. I have been looking forward to it for weeks. It is like a school disco. In some school it is a big event, boys wear suits and girls wear dresses. In our school the dresscode was more casual. Some students even wore jeans... The dance was in the school cafeteria. The theme was “glow in the dark“. At the entrance everyone got luminous bracelet, it created a special atmosphere, because the room was dark. 

My first freesbee tournament

22.10.2016 Saturday

V sobotu sa konal prvý freesbee turnaj. Nebol to však klasický turnaj, išlo v prvom rade o to, aby sme sa pripravili na skutočné zápasy. Zúčastnili sa tri školy, nehrali sme však proti sebe, boli sme rozdelený do  náhodných 4 tímov (mix chlapci aj dievčatá). Hrali sme tri zápasy, každý trval asi hodinu. Bol to naozaj vyčerpávajúci deň. Večer sa konal teambonding u našej kapitánky. Cieľom bolo lepšie sa spoznať, aj spolu s chalanmi, keďže sa blížia naše spoločné zápasy. Bola som prekvapená koľko ľudí sa zúčastnilo teambondingu (asi 20), keďže na zápas sa ráčilo prísť ani nie desiatim. Postupne sa Emina obývačka zapĺňala, najskôr sme iba sedeli, jedli naše snacks a rozprávali sa. Potom niekto navrhol, aby sme si išli hádzať lietajúci tanier. Mne sa vôbec nechcelo, keďže som bola pol dňa na turnaji. Išli sme do areálu univerzity, kde sa nachádza viacero ihrísk. Aj napriek tomu, že bolo asi osem hodín večer a už bola tma, sa v areáli nachádzalo viacero športovcov. Hrali sme sa pár zábavných hier s lietajúcim tanierom.

The first ultimate freesbee tournament took place on Saturday. It was not a regular tournament, the main purpose was to get ready for the real game. Instead having each school play against each other, the players were randomly divided into 4 teams (mixed boys and girls). We played three games, each game lasting approximately one hour. It was very exhausting day. In the evening there were teambonding exercises at our team captain’s house. The goal was to get to know each other better as we have some mixed tournaments coming up, where boys and girls would play in the same team. I was surprised how many people showed up (around 20), because at the tournament there weren’t more than 10 students. At first we ate snacks, that we brought and talked. Later someone suggested to go to throw a disk. We went to the practice fields of the local university. Despite the fact that it was eight o’clock in the evening and it was already dark, a lot of people were playing on the fields. Even though I was very tired from playing so much freesbee all day and I didn’t feel like throwing a disk at all, it was still fun.

Slovak food

Konečne som sa odhodlala urobiť aj nejaké slovenské jedlá. Pripravila som krupicovú kašu, burizonový koláč a halušky. Všetkým najviac chutil burizoňák.

krupicová kaša-semolina poridge

burizonový koláč-puffed rice caramel cake

halušky-typical slovak potato dumplings with cream cheese and bacon

Slovak dishes, that I prepared for my hostfamily.

Rotary meeting, Ducks, Rodeo, Freesbee

Rotary club meeting
20.9.2016 Tuesday

Prvý krát som bola na stretnutí môjho Rotary klubu, Eugene downtown. Je to najväčší Rotary klub v meste. Na bežné stretnutie príde okolo 100 ľudí. Ja som však jediná výmenná študentka, a tak som do spoločnosti vekovo vôbec nezapadla.

Finally, I went to the meeting of my Rotary club, Eugene downtown. It is the biggest one in the town. Usually there is around 100 people attending. I am the only exchange student there, so I was by far the youngest person.

Ducks game
24.9.2016 Saturday

Rotarián Ritch ma pozval spolu so svojím kamarátom na futbalový zápas. Pred štadiónom sa hmýrilo mnoho ľudí. Všetci boli oblečený v zelenom, aby podporili domáci tým. Na parkovisku bolo mnoho stánkov, každý sa stretol so svojimi kamarátmi a spolu sa zabávali. Chvíľu sme sa prechádzali, kým sme našli našu partiu. Podávali mäso, grilovanú zeleninu a cornbread (muffin z kukuričnej múky).

Presunili sme sa na štadión. Aj napriek tomu, že štadión je naozaj obrovský, zaplnil sa do posledného miesta. Dozvedela som sa, že kapacita je viac ako 50 000 divákov. Je to naozaj obdivuhodné, koľko ľudí fandí futbalu v takom malom meste. Na začiatku sa konal otvárací ceremoniál. Najskôr zahral početný orchester štátnu hymnu, potom rozvinuli obrovskú vlajku USA. Zrazu vybehlo na ihrisko mnoho hráčov, bolo ich naozaj veľmi veľa. Nakoniec sa predstavil maskot nášho tímu, Duck (kačka).

Pomaly som začínala rozumieť pravidlám amerického futbalu, aj keď niekedy som bola zmätená…

Hra bola veľmi dlhá, keďže každú chvíľu sa pozastavil čas. Oficiálne sa hrá 4 krát 15 minút. Počas zápasu som sa zabávala vystúpeniami cheerleaders.

Rotarian Ritch took me to a football game with one of his friends. In front of the stadium were many people. Everybody was wearing green to support our team, the Ducks. There were a lot of tailgate partys, people meet their friends,  drink and eat before the game.  After a while we met up with Ritch’s friends.

Shortly before the game we went to the stadium to find our seats. Although the stadium is very big it was full. Before the game started, there was an opening ceremony. First a big band played the national anthem, then they unfurled a big American flag. Suddenly all the football players ran onto the field. In the end the mascot of our team, duck, showed up. Despite the game was very long I still can’t say that I understand the rules. Cheerleaders were dancing during the game, they were great.

Rodeo 

2.10.2016 SundayMoja host-mama, Raquel, ma zobrala na ródeo. Na začiatku bol veľkolepý ohňostroj počas ktorého sa predstavili jazdci. Na moje prekvapenie prišli súťažiaci až z Brazílie, Austrálie, či Nového Zélandu. Cieľom bolo udržať sa na rozzúrenom býkovi osem sekúnd. Potom boli súťažiaci ohodnotení. Čím viac sa býk točil, tým viac bodov dostali. Pre mňa to bol zaujímavý zážitok, ale musím povedať, že na býka by som teda nevysadla. Nie každému vystúpenie vyšlo podľa predstáv, a tak niektorí súťažiaci ledva odišli po vlastných nohách.

My host-mum, Raquel, took me to rodeo. At the beginning there was a firework, during which the riders were introduced. Surprisingly there were riders from Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. The goal was to stay on the bull 8 seconds. Then the competitors got points for their performance. The more the bull turned, the more points the riders got. For me it was interesting, but I wouldn’t like to be a rider. Some competitors weren’t successful and they could barely walk after their performance.

Frisbee

Konečne som si vybrala klub, do ktorého  sa chcem zapojiť, Ultimate Freesbee club. Tréningy sú tri krát do týždňa. Nanešťastie pre mňa, trénuje sa vonku a zima je pred dverami. Keďže som nikdy nehrala freesbee moc mi to nejde, ale musím uznať, že každým dňom sa zlepšujem. Dokonca som sa už naučila hodiť forehand. 

I joined The Ultimate Frisbee club. Practices are three times a week. Unfortunately it is outside and the weather is getting colder every time. Because this game is new to me, I am not very good at it. But I can say that I am getting better every time. I have already learned how to throw a forehand, what is a big success to me.