End of January

College basketball game

Skiing at Willamette Pass

Slovak food for my hostfamily-rezeň

Orientation Meeting Eugene

Konečne sa konal Rotary víkend v Eugene, v mojom meste, a tak som nemusela nikam cestovať. Toto stretnutie bolo spoločné aj s budúcimi outboundami, američanmi ktorí sa chystajú na výmenu budúci školský rok. Práve počas tohto víkendu sa všetci dozvedeli, kam pôjdu. Všetci si naraz otvorili obálku s krajinou, kde strávia svoju výmenu. Pozorovať reakcie študentov ako sa dozvedeli kam pôjdu bolo naozaj výnimočné.

Finally, our Rotary weekend was in Eugene, my hometown, so I didn’t have to travel anywhere. This meeting was also for outbounds, americans going on exchange next year. During this weekend they were assigned countries. Everybody got an envelope with their country and they all opened it at the same timer. Their excitement was palpable. They all seemed happy eventhough not everyone got their first choice. 

LA and Hawaii trip 

Hawaii
Spolu s mojou hostrodinou, starými rodičmi a strýkom sme strávili týždeň na Havaji. Bolo to naozaj úžasné. Zo studeného a zasneženého Oregonu sme sa presunuli do perfektého počasia. Po prvý krát som vyskúšala surfovanie a šnorchlovanie. Poviem Vám surfovanie je oveľa ťažšie ako sa zdá. Aj napriek tomu to bola sranda, dokonca sa mi podarilo postaviť sa a udržať sa na vlne zopár sekúnd. Každý deň sme jedli v skvelej reštaurácii, vždy sme išli na miesto s najlepšími recenziami. Bolo to naozaj super!

Kona airport

Kona sunset

Hawaiian tree

One of the best beaches

Lunch with the whole family

Together with my hostfamily, grandparents and uncle we spent a week in Hawaii. I can't say anything other than that it was amazing. The weather was great every day. For the first time I tried surfing and snorkelling. Surfing was so demanding, it is harder than it seems. Although it was hard I had a lot of fun and I succeeded in standing on the board. Every day we went to eat at a great restaurant, that I really enjoyed.

Los Angeles
Predtým ako sme išli na Havaj sme sa zastavili u starých rodičov v Los Angeles. Bývajú v štvrti Santa Monica, mne sa tam veľmi páčilo, keďže všade naokolo bývajú boháči. Každý dom bol obrovský, na ulici samé značkové autá, hneď by som sa tam presťahovala. Počas pobytu v LA som spoznala ďalších členov mojej hostrodiny. Dokonca sme spolu oslavovali židovský sviatok-Chanuka.
Prešli sme sa po slávnom móle-Pier, popri pláži a išli sme na nákupy. Aj napriek tomu, že sme v LA strávili iba tri dni veľmi sa mi tam páčilo. Je to veľmi pekné mesto a skoro celý rok je tam slnečno.

Los Angeles

LA Pier with my hostsiblings

LA street

Los Angeles sunset

Before flying to Hawaii we stayed in Los Angeles at our grandparents. They live in Santa Monica, I really like it there. Lots of rich people live there, therefore all the houses are very nice and big, on the streets you can see a lot of expensive cars. During our stay in LA I got to know more members of my hostfamily. We also celebrated Hanukkah, a jewish celebration. We went to the famous Pier, walked along the coast and shopped. Eventhough we stayed only three days I really enjoyed it. LA is a very nice city and the weather is also wonderfull.

Christmas time

Christmas
Akonáhle sa skončil Halloween ľudia začali s vianočnou výzdobou. Hádam každý druhý dom bol ovešaný vianočnými svetielkami. Moja hostrodina však nie je veľkým fanúšikom a tak by ste v našom dome žiadnu sviatočnú atmosféru nenašli. Jedlo na štedrovečernom stole bolo úplne odlišné ako u nás doma na Slovensku: jahňa, rebierka, losos, plnené zemiaky, sladké zemiaky, šalát, zelená fazuľa, ružičkový kel a ovocný šalát. Ako dezert sa podávali typické americké koláče (jablkový, čerešňový a pekanový) so zmrzlinou. Moja obľubená kombinácia je pekanový koláč so zmrzlinou. Tiež som napiekla zopár slovenských koláčov: kokosky, vanilkové rožky a perníky. Najväčším hitom boli kokosky.

Right after Halloween lots of people started to put up their Christmas decorations. People in the US are really into it. (Some people were crazy with their decorations, they had so many lights...) In the evening when the houses were lit up it was beautiful. However my hostfamily doesn't celebrate Christmas much, therefore our house didn't have any decorations. We had Christmas dinner together with friends. The food was totally different than in Slovakia: lamb, ribs, salmon, twice baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, green beans, Brussels sprout, fruit salad and for dessert apple, cherry and pecan pie with ice cream. I also baked some slovak cookies.

Crazy weather 14.12.2016

V stredu začínala škola o 2 hodiny neskôr kvôli námraze na cestách. Nie že by som nebola rada, že si môžem dlhšie pospať, ale predsalen posunúť školu kvôli námraze je nezmysel. No všetko sa to začalo až večer, keď sa strhla búrka. Namiesto sneženia, či dažďu sme mali mrznúci dážď. Také niečo som ešte nezažila, všade bol ľad. Ulice vyzerali naozaj ako z rozprávky, všetko bolo zamrznuté a zo všadiaľ viseli cencúle. Stromy sa lámali pod ťarchou ľadu a takisto potrhali elektrické vedenia. Ráno nás čakali dobré správy, škola je zatvorená. Nebolo sa čomu čudovať, keďže všade boli polámané konáre a takisto vypadla elektrina skoro v celom meste. Život bez prúdu nie je nič pre mňa. Okrem svetla, sme nemali ani len kúrenie, či teplú vodu. Bez prúdu sme boli viacero dní. Našťastie ostala škola zavretá v štvrtok aj v piatok, a tak sa nám predĺžili prázdniny. (Áno, tu v Amerike začínajú vianočné prázdniny už 19.12.) Mňa veľmi potešilo, že učitelia nám nestihli dať domáce úlohy na prázdniny.

On Wednesday the school was on a 2 hour delay due to icy roads. It is unbelievable that people in Eugene are scared to drive because of freezing temperature. The worst of it began in the evening when the storm started. Instead of snowing there was freezing rain, I haven't seen anything like that before. The whole town looked beautiful. There were icicles everywhere, even the threes were frozen. In the morninig we got lucky news, the school was closed. It was no wonder that school was closed, there were fallen branches everywhere and the power went out in most of the town. Living without electricity even  for a few days was a disaster, besides light we didn't even have heating and warm water. It was not for me. Since the power outages were widespread school remained closed until Friday. I was very happy,  because the teachers was no table to give out homework during holidays. (In the US winter break starts earlier (19.12.), but also ends earlier.)

Building gingerbread houses with family and friends