As that blasted Song says, "Make new Friends"!

Things have been fairly chaotic over the past week or so. First, I went to school last Wednesday, only to discover that:
1. I was to be in class 4B (Year 4 class B), the only class of people my age who take French.
2. My class teacher (that's like an advisory teacher at my old high school, and homeroom teacher in most schools), who is also the French teacher, is Pani Kastikova (I think I spelled that correctly).
3. And, oh, by the way, you don't actually need to be in class until... Monday.
So. I didn't go to school Thursday or Friday, and didn't really stay very long on Wednesday. On the bright side, this left me open to getting more sleep. On the downside, I still got to spend a lot of time undergoing mild panic attacks about what my new classmates would think of me. Yikes.

Friday was the start of a new adventure. The Rotarian Orientation Meeting went from Friday evening until Sunday morning. So, around 15:00 on Friday, Beth, Carlos, and I piled into the back of Carlos' host parents' car, and were driven to the lovely Slovak village of Strečno. The hotel we invaded, er, well, more like conquered, was nice enough, although its showers leaked, making the entire bathroom nice and damp, which in turn made it smell lightly of mildew. Yick. At any rate, we put up our things, ate dinner, and then headed into the conference room to meet with our fellow exchange students. I believe the total headcount for the entirety of District 2240, consisting of both the Czech and Slovak Republics, was somewhere in the fifties, consisting of students from the countries of Brazil, Mexico, Taiwan, Japan, Canada, the United States, and Australia. The breakdown according to size was something like fifteen Mexicans, eleven Brazilians, three Canadians, one Japanese, one Taiwanese, two Aussies, and twenty-three Americans. Don't hold me to those numbers other than the Japanese, Taiwanese, and Aussies. I'm pretty sure on the number of Canadians as well. At any rate, lots of Americans. Most of the time, everyone huddled with their compatriots. However, there were a few exceptions. I was one of them. I became friends with Misae and Sophia, the Japanese and Taiwanese students (they later banded together, and declared themselves to be the "Asian" students. No one likes to be alone, after all.) Misae is in Martin, Slovakia, and Sophia is in the Czech Republic. Neither of those locations are brilliant in terms of distance for us to get together. Misae is closer than Sophia with about... three hours from Bratislava to Martin. At least I'll get to see her on our weekend get-togethers, which go by country. We won't get to see Sophia until at least March, when we have the ski trip.
Me and Misae, in between lectures.

Other than making new friends, we got to sit and listen to extremely boring lectures that most of us had already listened to at least once (they were about things like culture shock, the rules, you get the drift), go for a boat ride on the Váh River, and see Strečno Hrad, the Castle of Strečno. The boat ride was so much fun! We had boat paddler/guides who were wearing traditional dress, and told us amusing stories and the like, and the Rotex (Former exchange students who were organizing the weekend) translated for us. I even got to paddle the boat and wear one of the hats for a while!

Me paddling the boat. Raft. Thing.

Such fun, that. The castle was also very cool. There were some amazing views, and I took a lot of pictures. Or at least, I did until my camera started to die on me. So irksome.
We also got to have a dance, and while I did dance some in the beginning (I wound up getting pulled into a group of Brazilians because I got along with one of the Aussies. Long story, but basically it meant that I really did dance, because the Brazilians all have entirely too much energy for their own good. So do the Mexicans. Not the point.), I wound up joining a group of people including Misae, Beth, and some Americans named Tim, Jenn, and Alanah playing Skip-Bo!, which, for those who don't know, is a long cardgame, which, while not being perfect, is better than dancing sometimes.
On Sunday, we headed home. I already miss Misae and her cheerful attitude, as well as Sophia. Thank God for Facebook!

So, on Monday I went to school, where I was to be presented to a classroom full of new and strange people for the first time since I was in, oh, let's say.... third grade. Needless to say I was as nervous as all get out.
My assessment: My classmates are nice people. Sure, some of them don't always think about school, and in certain classes, those of them can be, shall we say, less than keen on paying attention. The second French class (they split into two groups for foreign languages and science labs. I just go to both language classes. I'm pretty sure I'd only be in the way in a lab) gave me flashbacks to sixth grade French classes. For those of you that remember my sixth grade French class, yes, I mean all aspects of it. For those of you that don't.... well, I'll explain some other time. As I was saying though, my classmates don't always include me in what's going on (mostly because they need to speak in Slovak, and it escapes them that I don't understand them when they're not focusing on the fact), but when I look completely lost, and say "prosim?" or "čo?" in plaintive tones, they tend to explain what's happening to me. I've even been included marginally in the planning for the class Green Ribbon Party, which is sort of like a cross betwen a class graduation party and Prom. I got to look at announcements, which are very different from our graduation invitations, not so formal for one thing, and joined in the "Oh no, we are SUCH toast!" drama which took place today when we were informed that the place we had booked for the party wouldn't be available. I like to think I have made a few friends, with Adriena (better known as Dada), Niki, and Valéria. Of the three, I can communicate best with Valéria, who spent last year as an exchange student in France. Thus, I am getting a great deal of French practice.

Things are much more relaxed in some ways at the gymnázium than in the US. If you don't need to pass the... dang it, I forgot the name in Slovak, because I've heard it more often in French. At any rate, it's the Slovak equivalent of the French Bacalaureat. These are end of school tests covering your knowledge of a specific subject area. As I was saying, if you don't need to pass your exam in a subject area, then you don't always pay attention. It's very odd. It's also leads to a fair amount of chaos, generally lead by the sports players, of which there are several amongst the 37 odd members of my class.
On the downside, I also get to have a joy I have not experienced since third quarter of my Freshman year of high school: Physical Education is alive and well in Slovakia, and required for all years at my gymnázium. I had my first gym class today, and I have to admit, it wasn't as horrible as in the US. They don't make you run as much, and we played badmiton, which while it has a racket like tennis, is not really compatable with it. Niki was my passing partner, and she and I laughed at my inability to hit backhands, and consistent hitting of the ball with too much power.
Lunch generally isn't too horrible, either. Normally, Beth and I eat together, because we don't have to go to Seminar classes (lecture classes. The school figures we're pathetic exchange students who don't speak Slovak, so there's no point in us going. I don't mind; it means that I get to wake up a little less than two hours later most days of the week, because the first two periods are seminar periods), and both our classes have one during the same period. Today, however, I didn't have a seminar period during the day, so I had to eat in the cafeteria after class. Most, no, scratch that, all of my classmates had just gone ahead and gone home. I had to eat lunch by myself. Not the most pleasant experience, I assure you. I'm bringing my book next Wednesday!

And that's all there is. There isn't anymore.