Birthday and Thanksgiving!!

Tim's November 29th birthday was celebrated in grand style here at school last Friday!!  

This bulletin board greeted us as we came to school early Friday morning.  It was put up secretly after we left the building Thursday, we suspect by Pat'ka and Katka, the English department heads across the hall from us.  So, everyone in the school found out about Tim's birthday, even if they hadn't already known!  

The birthday cake - homemade German Chocolate - came out really well this year.  I used Gold Medal flour that Tim's mom had sent last year, which I had saved for this occasion, so that probably helped make it taste more like at home.  I only had a large rectangular pan, so I cut that in half and made two layers, which worked out just fine.  
We shared it with all the staff, and everyone enjoyed it!  

There was a small celebration in Tim's office with the headmistress, pastor, and some of the English staff, and later more colleagues joined the party during our long break.  
(One of the breaks between classes every day is 15 minutes long, so people can eat breakfast.  Or in some cases, have a birthday party!!)  

Miro and Tim both wore gray V-neck sweaters on Tim's birthday!  (Janka, in the background, is deputy headmistress, and she sings in my church choir - beautiful voice!)

Tim's half of the II.A5 class came to sing him "Happy Birthday", and they gave him a box of delicious Slovak chocolates covered in sticky notes with nice things written on them!  

Other classes came all together to wish Tim a happy birthday too, if they didn't have him for class that day.  And the ones who did have class on Friday all gave him chocolates and sang of course. There was pretty much a steady stream of colleagues and students coming by his office all day long also, wishing him well and bestowing gifts.  A couple of packages and cards had arrived earlier from the U.S., so I saved those for him to open on Thursday night, closer to his birthday.  It was really a special day for the Birthday Boy!!    :-)  

After school, we got home in time to change clothes and make sure we hadn't forgotten to pack anything for our trip to Bratislava.  The train left about 3:15, so we had to leave school much earlier than normal for us!  We had a relaxing ride - it's so enjoyable getting to sit back and watch the scenery go by on a train.  No driving, no traffic, no worries!  When we got to our hotel, they were having computer problems, so we couldn't check in.  They offered a free coffee (we had hot tea) at their restaurant, and we took that opportunity to hook into their wireless and facetime with all our kids while they were eating lunch together at The Café in Ames on Black Friday!!  It was awesome that they could wish their Dad a Happy Birthday in person via technology.  

Many of the American lectors gathered Friday evening at the flat of two of the Bratislava teachers - Kyle and Ånna.  It was great getting together and seeing everyone!  

Kyle and Ånna (he's the intern pastor/religion teacher in Bratislava, and his wife teaches there too) hosted, and the others are teaching in Cieszyn (Poland), Tisovec (Slovakia), and Bratislava.  It was a fun reunion!!  

On Saturday morning, Tim and I, plus two other gals, arrived early at the Bratislava Lyceum (the Lutheran high school) to help peel potatoes, as requested by the headmistress.  Well, the cook, bless her heart, had already peeled them all by herself!  So, we phoned the others and told them not to come help set up, since the four of us had plenty of time to do it.  

We had fun arranging all the eating and serving areas, then setting the tables.  I had dried and pressed some colorful leaves that I'd collected back when they fell from the trees, so those were part of the decorations.  

Each place setting had little decorations on the plates - Shirley brought the turkeys and mints - and my mom sent the candy pumpkins and mini-Reece's cups.  Mom sent a big box filled with Thanksgiving items - napkins, candies, decorations, table runners, etc. which really made the tables look festive!  Thanks, Grammy!!   :-)  

Ivana, the church choir director, had requested that we have a choir rehearsal prior to the dinner, so everyone else arrived in time for that.  She's an awesome musician - a native Slovak who is a St. Olaf grad!!  It was fun again this year singing with the group under her direction, to prepare for Sunday's service.  

Here's the dessert end of the table - YUM!!  And the decorations for this table were all straight from West Des Moines, Iowa!!  

Loading up the plates with turkey and all the trimmings.  We were especially grateful to the school cook who prepared the turkey, stuffing, and potatoes; all the teachers brought the rest, pot-luck style.  There was a wonderful variety of delicious foods, and there were plenty of leftovers despite having about 35 people sharing in our American Thanksgiving meal here in Bratislava!  

There was even some entertainment after dinner, including "pin the beard on the turkey", involving a moving turkey.  The songs were great too, and there was a sing-a-long for a while before we played a loud and rollicking, wild and crazy game of "The IT Game" - a Bratislava Thanksgiving tradition.  Let's just say it's an awesome game for a big crowd, like 20-30 people, so if you want details, I can send you the rules!  

If you've ever been away from home, family, and country for a major holiday, you will understand how important and meaningful it was for all of us to gather together to celebrate our Thanksgiving with familiar foods shared by fellow Americans.  It was also great to renew acquaintances and share experiences, especially for the 'rookie' group who all went through orientation together just a few short months ago.    

After we all pitched in to clean up after the dinner, everyone headed to wherever we were staying for an hour or so to relax a bit, then we met at the Christmas market in the old part of Bratislava.  We walked around, enjoyed the atmosphere, then finally decided to go back to Kyle and Ånna's flat again, since everyone was just standing around in the cold talking anyway.  It was fun spending more time with this awesome group of Americans!  

Sunday morning we all met early for church for another choir rehearsal, since we were singing an anthem, plus responsorial psalm, etc.  The service was so uplifting and inspiring, as a beginning to the Advent season when we focus on the gift of Jesus our Savior.  After church, there is always a fellowship hour next door at a coffee shop, so we got to do a little more visiting before beginning our good-bye's.  Seven of us went out for a short lunch before we had to head to the train station.  As it turned out, the two gals returning to Poland and Matt in Martin were all on our train, and we were lucky enough to all be in one compartment for the first hour and a half or so of the ride.  All in all, it was a weekend we had looked forward to with great anticipation, and our expectations were all met or exceeded!   It is a relief to have all the planning and organizing for the meal behind us too.

Monday afternoon we were still at school at sunset, sad to say, but the view from Tim's office window was spectacular.  Unfortunately, the photo can't capture the beauty of the brightly glowing sky over the distant Low Tatras.  

Tuesday, Tim's birthday was extended, as a wonderful and thoughtful birthday letter from Beth was delivered to the school.  Then after school, we did some tidying up (as they say around here) in our flat, and I put up our Christmas decorations!  

We bought the nativity last year at a Christmas market, and Pat'ka's mother made the advent wreath for Tim's birthday gift.  The other decorations were gifts last year.  

The table-top Christmas tree looks very festive!  

And today an American Christmas card arrived in the mail here at our flat!  
Thank you, Mr. Garner!!  

Wednesday nights are generally our free nights, and today after school I started right in on baking some goodies!  Last year I brought two different kinds of cookies to every class we taught, so I'm planning on doing the same thing this year.  It may not be before Christmas for every class, but eventually our students will all be treated to some American goodies, starting tomorrow!!