West coast trip
Definitely the best week of my exchange!

San Diego

San Diego Zoo

Cable car above the Zoo

San Diego beach

Gaslamp District

Los Angeles
Dineyland and California Adventure

Disneyland

Disney castle

California Adventure

Warner Brothers Studios and Hollywood

Warner Brothers- outdoor sets

Hollywood- Walk Of Fame

Universal Studios

The Simpsons

Harry Potter Castle

Las Vegas

Las Vegas sign

At night

Las Vegas strip

Cirque de Soleil-the best show I have ever seen

San Francisco

San Francisco panorama

Alcatraz Island

Alcatraz inside 

Rafting, Clear Lake, District Conference & frisbee party 

Môj pobyt sa celkom rýchlo blíži ku koncu. Ako som od mnohých študentov dopočula, druhá časť výmeny plynie oveľa rýchlejšie. Je to naozaj pravda. Ostáva mi tu necelý mesiac a cítim sa celkom vyťažená, vždy je čo robiť. To je aj dôvod prečo sa ozývam po dlhšom čase.

My stay is coming towards the end. I have heard from previous exchange students that the second half of the year goes by much faster than the first one. It is really true. I have less than a month left and I always have something to do. That’s also the reason I didn’t post for a while.

River rafting trip
Vrámci predmetu IOP (spojenie športu a literatúry) sme mali možnosť ísť na trojdňový rafting výlet. Dlho som uvažovala, či sa prihlásiť, keďže išlo o kemping. Tri dni bez tečúcej vody a elektriny neznie ako nič pre mňa. Nakoniec som sa rozhodla ísť. Výlet bol super. Rafting stál naozaj zato. Rieka bola celkom divoká. Dva krát počas výletu sa mi podarilo vypadnúť z člna. Nebolo to veľmi príjemné, keďže voda bola studená. Našťastie ma náš sprievodca rýchlo vylovil. Môj ďalší neobyčajný zážitok z tohto výletu, na ktorý som veľmi hrdá je, že som sa odhodlala zoskočiť asi z 10 metrového útesu do rieky. Najskôr zopár študentov vyliezlo na vrchol, ale neverila som, že by aj skočili. Nakoniec viac ako polovica triedy skočila. Ja som sa veľmi bála, no predstava, že sa môžem neskôr pochváliť skokom z útesu ma lákala. Dopad bol trochu bolestivý, no nič neľutujem.

A second before I fell out of the raft

Getting back to the boat

Our  camp

Dry landscape

As a part of my IOP class (integrated outdoor program) I had possibility to go on a rafting trip. I wasn’t sure whether I want to go as it was a camping trip. Three nights out without running water and electricity didn’t sound like something for me. I decided to go anyway and I am glad I did. I survived the hard camping conditions. Rafting was great. The water was fun, lots of rapids and water holes. During the weekend I managed to fall out twice from the raft. It wasn’t very pleasant as the water was super cold. Luckily our boat captain pulled me back into the raft very quickly. Another outstanding experience is that I jumped of a 10 meter cliff into the cold water below. At first, some of the other students climbed up, but I didn’t think that somebody would  actually jump off. In the end, the majority of the class too the jump. So did I! I was scared to jump but, the idea that I could say that I was brave enough to jump was tempting enough. Landing in the cold water was a little painful, but I don’t regret it.

Frisbee-End of the season party

Adventures with my new host family

Rowing on Clear lake

McKenzie River waterfalls

District Conference in Albany
Na konci mája sme mali posledný Rotary víkend spolu so všetkými študentami (inbounds a outbounds). Nás, inbounds (študentov na výmene) ešte čaká výlet po západnom pobreží na konci júna. Lúčenie bolo teda trochu smutné, keďže pravdepodobne sa s polovicou študentov už nikdy neuvidíme. Víkend patril však jednoznačne k tým najlepším z Rotary. Okrem oficiálnej stránky konferencie, kde sme prezentovali naše krajiny, mali talent show pre rotariánov (hostí) a prednášali reč sme mali aj celkom zábavné aktivity. Hrali sme minigolf, frisbee a poslednú noc nám Rotary zorganizovalo nočnú párty v Boys and Girls club. Myslela som si, že to bude niečo na spôsob diskotéky. Namiesto toho sme sa však ocitli v obrovskom detskom kútiku s nafukovacím hradom, basketbalom, futbalom, biliardom... Aj napriek tomu to však bola sranda.

Minigolf

Boys and girls club

At the end of May we had our last Rotary weekend.  All exchange students came together (inbounds and outbounds). Us, the inbounds, are still have one trip to make around the west coast at the end of June. Saying goodbye in the meeting was sad because I realized that I probably won’t see half of the students ever again. However, the weekend was definitely one of the best rotary meeting events yet. In addition to the formal part of the conference where we presented information about our countries, there was a talent show for Rotarians (guests). We also held speeches and we had also some fun activities. We played minigolf, frisbee, and had an all night party in Boys and Girls club. I didn’t know what the Boys and Girls club was before that. I was surprised that it was actually a huge indoor playground with bouncy house, pool, table soccer, basketball, and more. Spending the whole night just playing was really fun. I tried to stay up all night but failed. Most of us were really tired and slept for couple hours.

Last trimester

Odkedy som naposledy písala o škole sa toho veľa zmenilo. Mám celkom iné predmety, až na španielčinu, ktorú mám počas celého roka. Ďalej mám hodinu ekonómie, drámy a IOP. Z ekonómie som trochu sklamaná. Očakávala som, že to bude zaujímavejšie. Našťastie máme však jednu skvelú aktivitu, ktorá trvá počas celého trimestra. Na simulátore burzy, investopedia, kupujeme a predávame akcie. Mne sa to veľmi baví, keďže hodnoty sú rovnaké ako na skutočnej New York-skej burze. 

Americké školy sú veľmi populárne divadlom. Avšak, aby sa človek dostal do skutočnej show musí byť celkom dobrý herec, prípadne spevák. ak ide o muzikál. Ja som sa teda aspoň prihlásila na hodinu drámy. Učíme sa krátke 5 minutové scény, ktoré následne prezentujeme. Tiež musíme povinne vidieť všetky školské divadelné predstavenia. V tomto trimestri boli 3. Všetky sa mi veľmi páčili, keďže herectvo je naozaj na vysokej úrovni.

Najzaujímavejší predmet je IOP. Je to dvojhodinovka (respektíve 140 minút), ktorá je spojením angličtiny a športu. Každý druhý deň máme angličtinu. Čítame knihu a v škole o nej diskutujeme. Tá zaujímavejšia časť je však šport. Vždy robíme niečo iné. Hráme ultimate frisbee, futbal, rugby, kickball, plážový volejbal, hokej na kolieskových korčuliach, sprout ball (typ vvbíjanej), bicyklujeme sa alebo lezieme. Raz sme dokonca namiesto telocvične liezli po skutočných skalách. Najskôr som sa celkom bála, ale keď som úspešne vyliezla na vrchol bola som na seba hrdá. 

Rock climbing

Play at school

Since my last post about school, a lot has changed. My classes are completely different except Spanish, which I have throughout the whole year. Other classes I am taking are economics, drama and IOP. I am a little disappointed in the economics class. I expected it to be more interesting. However, throughout the whole class we compete in an online stock market game. It is really fun because it is realistic, and uses same data from the real stock market in New York.

Theater in American schools is very popular. However, getting into a show requires acting skills or singing, if it’s a musical. I decided to take at least one drama class. Sometimes we learn 5 minute scenes and other times we get an interesting assignment related to improvisation. We are also required to see all the school plays. This trimester there are three. It’s really fun because the actors are very good.

My most interesting class is IOP. This class is two periods long (140 minutes) combining sports with English.  Every other day we have an English lesson. We are reading a book and discussing it at school. The more interesting part of class is the sports. Every time we do something different. I really enjoy it because I get to try out a new American sport each time. So far we have played ultimate frisbee, rugby, football, soccer, kickball, beach volleyball, inline hockey, sprout ball, and we also go biking or rock climbing. We have even climbed at real rock locations (one time) instead of the rock wall in the gym. At first I was a little scared but when I reached the top I was proud of myself .

Burlington tournament

Seattle
Cestou do Burlingtonu sme sa zastavili v Seattli. Prechádzali sme sa po centre a navštívili sme slávny trh, Pike's market a uličku polepenú množstvom žuvačiek.

Pike's market

Gum wall

On the way to Burlington we stopped in Seattle. I was very happy to walk around downtown, see the famous Pike's market and gum wall, an alley with lots of wads of old chewing gum.

Tournament
Turnaj bol celkom náročný. V sobotu sme hrali 4 hry, z toho tri sme vyhrali.  Postúpili sme k tím najlepším tímom. V nedeľu sme teda hrali 3 hry, všetky sme však prehrali. Celkovo sme sa umiestnili na 8-mom mieste asi z 18-tich tímov. Mne sa počas tohto turnaja mimoriadne darilo. Frisbee som chytila viac krát ako na všetkých predošlých turnajoch dokopy. Dokonca som raz skórovala bod!

The tournament was very exhausting. On Saturday we played 4 games. We won 3 of them. On Sunday we played in a championship bracket. We lost all of the 3 games. The teams were very good. Over all we ended up in 8th place of the 18 teams playing at the tournament. For me, this tournament was very successful. I caught the disk more times than in all the previous tournaments combined. I even scored a point! This tournament was my personal best.

April

Prom
Povedala by som, že prom je najväčšia školská udalosť roka. Na prom môžu ísť iba juniori a seniori (tretiaci a štvrtáci). Aj preto sa to chápe ako niečo výnimočné. Všetci sa pripravujú v predstihu. Dievčatá si niekoľko mesiacov pred promom kupujú krásne šaty. Všetci sú vyobliekaní, akoby išli na ples. Chlapci v oblekoch a dievčatá v šatoch a opätkoch. Aj napriek tomu však ide o školskú diskotéku. Mne sa táto kombinácia modernej hudby a formálneho oblečenia zdala celkom čudná. Zvykom je pripraviť sa na prom (make-up) spolu s kamarátmi a ísť na večeru. Samotný tanec trvá od 8 do 11 večer.

Prom is the biggest social event at our school, probably in most American high schools. It is something special because it is just for seniors and juniors. Everybody is preparing for it in advance. Girls are looking for a nice dress... Everyone looks fancy. Boys wear suits and girls fancy dresses and high heels. Although everyone looks super formal, it is just another school dance. To me the combination of formal clothes and modern music was kind of funny. Before the dance students get together with their friends, get ready for the dance and have dinner. The dance is then from 8 to 11.  

First time at a baseball game

My Birthday, Slovak dinner and Easter

Surprise Birthday Party
Deň sa začal hrôzostrašne. Do školy som musela ísť na bicykli, čo by nebol žiadny problém, keby nelialo ako z krhly. Kým som teda prišla do školy bola som úplne premočená. Na hodine IOP sme bicyklovali, preto som ráno musela svoj bicykel dopraviť do školy. (IOP je dvojhodinovka kombinujúca hodinu angličtiny a športu, príspevok o škole bude čoskoro...) Po dvoch hodinách na bicykli som bola absolútne vyčerpaná a to ma ešte čakal dvojhodinový frisbee tréning. Po tréningu sme s Linou bicyklovali ku mne domov. Kým som prišla domov bola som na konci so silami. Keď som vkročila dnu privítali ma kamošky so slovami "Happy Birthday". Moja najlepšia kamoška Lina mi tajne zorganizovala narodeninovú oslavu!  Bola som naozaj prekvapená, ani vo sne by mi nenapadlo, že sa na mňa niečo chystá. Prekvapenie bolo o to väčšie, že som sa už celkom zmierila s tým, že tohtoročné narodeniny veľmi neoslávim. Oslava bola super!

The day didn’t start very well. I had to ride a bike to school. I wouldn’t mind if it wasn’t raining so hard. By the time I got to school I was soaking wet. In IOP (2 period long English and sport class, I’ll post about school soon) we were riding our bikes, that’s why I had to bring the bike to school. After two hours of bike riding I was completely exhausted but I still had Frisbee practice to go to. Afterwards Lina and I biked to my house. By the time we got there I was at the end of my tether. As I walked in my friends greeted me with the words “Happy Birthday”. My best friend, Lina, organized a surprise birthday party for me! I was really surprised, I thought it is gonna be just a regular day. The surprise was even bigger as I was already reconciled that this year I am not really celebrating my birthday. The party was great!

Easter in the US
Veľká Noc v Amerike nie je veľkým sviatkom, žiadne Veľkonočné reklamy, žiadna záplava zajacov v supermarketoch, dokonca ani v škole sme nedostali jediný deň voľna. Možno aj preto, že niektorí ľudia tu oslavujú židovský sviatok Passover. Ale aj tak si myslím, že by tu mali zaviesť Veľkonočné prázdniny. V podstate tu Veľká Noc znamená len Veľkonočnú nedeľu. Vtedy deti hľadajú vajíčka, ktoré v noci schoval "Veľkonočný zajac". Namiesto Veľkonočnej večere sa tu skôr uprednostňuje obed, my sme však mali brunch. Prišlo aj zopár rodinných kamarátov. Potom sme všetci hľadali vajíčka (na moje želanie).

Easter in the US is not a big deal. I didn’t see any Easter commercials, any huge department in the grocery store devoted to Easter goods, as I am used to. We didn’t even get a single day off in school. In Slovakia we get a whole week off! Maybe it‘s because America wants to be different and not focus on Christians, as some people celebrate Jewish celebration called Passover. But I wish we have had the holidays anyway. Basically Easter is here just the Easter Sunday, when family gets together for a lunch rather than for dinner as it is in Slovakia. Famous tradition over here is Easter egg hunt, that Easter bunny hid at night. I was also looking for eggs with my host family. I know one could say that I am too old for that but well I wanted to experience it. If you want to see how the Easter in Slovakia is like click here.

Slovak dinners

Na konci júna pôjdeme spolu všetci výmenní študenti na koncoročný výlet po západnom pobreží. Keďže tento výlet je celkom drahý rozhodla som sa zorganizovať Slovenskú večeru (pre Rotariánov z môjho klubu). Najskôr som sa toho celkom bála, variť pre viac ľudí? kde sa všetci pomestia? No nakoniec všetko dobre dopadlo. Moji hostrodičia mi pomohli s organizáciou a kamošky s varením. Môj Rotary klub ma naozaj veľmi podporil, záujem o večeru bol taký veľký, že nakoniec boli dve večere po asi 20 hostí. Podávala som pagáčiky, ako predjedlo, guláš, ako hlavný chod, a ako dezert burizonový koláč a perník. Akcia bola naozaj úspešná, nielenže všetkým veľmi chutilo a pýtali si recepty, ale vyzbierala som aj dostatok peňazí na výlet. 

Pagáčiky-appetizer

Guláš-Slovak pork stew

Desserts

At the end on July all the exchange students are going together on West Coast trip. As it is pretty expensive I decided to do a fundraiser, cooking Slovak dinner for Rotarians from my club. At first I was concerned how is it all gonna work, cooking for many people, fitting in our house. Everything turned out well after all. My host parents helped me with organization and my friends with cooking. My Rotary club really supported me, the demand was so big that instead of having one dinner, we had two. About 20 guests each time. The event was very succesful, not only did everybody like the food and they asked for recipes, but I also raised enough money to go on the trip. 

Spring arrives   

Po dlhom čase sme konečne mali prázdniny. Moji hostrodičia mi pripravili celkom zaujímavý program. Najskôr sme išli do Ashlandu, mestečko známe divadlom a Shakespeare-ovským festivalom. Divadlo každoročne ponúka množstvo hier od Shakespeara. My sme videli predstavenie Shakespeare in Love, vtipnú komédiu o Shakespearovom živote. Nasledujúci deň sme sa zúčastnili na prehliadke zákulisia. Bolo to naozaj zaujímavé. Ako som sa dozvedela toto divadlo, respektíve divadelný komplex skladajúci sa z 3 divadiel, je najlepším divadlom v Oregone. Našou ďaľšou destináciou bol Bend. Cestou sme sa zastavili pri Crater lake. Je to jazero v kaldere sopky. Údajne jedno z najkrajších miest v Oregone. My sme však šťastie nemali, keďže celé jazero bolo zahalené v hmle. V Bend sme navštívili Smith Rock, oranžové skaly. Mne sa tam veľmi páčilo, možno aj preto, lebo sa konečne oteplilo a na oblohe nebolo ani obláčika. Prázdniny sme zakončili mojím frisbee turnajom, tiež v Bend. Celkom sa nám darilo. Umiestnili sme sa na druhom mieste, síce len zo štyroch...

Smith Rock

Meeting with my international friends

Me eating an Oreo at the tournament

Our frisbee team

Crater lake covered with fog

Place where we stayed in Ashland

Shakespear in Love

Outside theater in Ashland

After a long time, we finally had a break at school. With my host parents, we made a small tour around Oregon. First we went to Ashland to see a play Shakespeare in Love. Ashland is a small town famous for its theatre. We also did a backstage tour which was really interesting. The theatre consists actually of 3 theatres; one of them is outside. Our next destination was Bend. On the way there, we stopped at Crater Lake. It was supposed to be the highlight of our trip, one of the prettiest places in Oregon. However when we got there, the whole lake was covered with fog. In Bend we went to Smith Rock; this was my favorite part of this trip. I also met my Exchange student friends, Alicia from Spain, and Frong from Thailand. My spring break ended with my frisbee tournament also in Bend. For the first time the weather during a tournament was very nice. I even got a funny sun tan. 

20-24.3.2017 Finals week

Celkom to teda beží. Skončil sa druhý trimester, už mi len jeden ostáva. Ako je mojím zvykom, dostala som samé Áčka, hurááá, a ani si to nevyžadovalo študovať na testy. Jediný normálny test sme mali na španielčine. Na hodine literatúry a počítačov sme mali záverečnú prezentáciu. Na literatúru si každý pripravil prezentáciu o komikse. Najskôr sme sa učili teóriu a potom sme to mali aplikovať na knihu podľa vlastného výberu a v podstate sme mohli rozprávať o hocičom. Ja som vždy z prezentácii nervózna, a preto som so sebou nebola spokojná, no pani učiteľka ma aj napriek tomu pochválila. Na počítačoch som len odprezentovala svoju prácu za celý trimester. Konkrétnejšie, ukázala som moje vlastné web-stránky, keďže som študovala web dizajn. Na hodine Americkej histórie sme namiesto záverečného testu mali aktivitu o zhodení bômb na Hirošimu a Nagasaki. Na poslednej hodine, International Foods, sme museli čistiť a robiť inventúru kuchýň. Keďže ja neznášam upratovanie, chopila som sa zoznamu kuchynského náradia a iba som zapisovala. 

Time is running fast. The second trimester ended, only one to go. As usual I got all A’s. It didn’t even require any effort to study for the finals. My finals were very easy. I had basically the only test in Spanish. In Literature and in Computers we just did presentations. In Literature we learned about comics. The task was to talk about our comics, what we read and how the comics compare to what we have learned. Even though I wasn’t satisfied with my presentation, the teacher said I did a great job. The presentation in my Computer class was very easy. I just showed the whole class what I did throughout the trimester. To be more accurate, I showed websites that I created using various tools. In US History, the final was a discussion about dropping the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In International Foods, we had to clean and make an inventory. I grabbed the list for inventory and was checking everything, since I hate cleaning.