Bird Carrying a Bear

Mural we pass on our way to school each day.  What does it mean?

Every day on our way to school we pass this mural of a bird carrying a bear.  Dahlia thinks it's a message about animals helping each other.  Ben thinks it's about the free market democratic Slovenia carrying the weight of former communist tendencies, but in an amiable manner.  What do you think?

Turning a corner
A few days ago Dahlia said that if she were given the choice now, she'd want to stay in Ljubljana for the rest of the school year.  This is a major breakthrough as she's persistently wanted to go home ASAP up until now.  Starting school and initiating friendships makes a big difference.

The school is an easy place to make friends since even the students who've been there the longest are still relatively new.  In Dahlia's class there are only 2-3 students who attended this school last year.  Everyone else is new, including a Russian girl who started today.  Apparently kids come and go all year.


Passing for Slovene
Because we live in a normal, non-touristy neighborhood, and shop for groceries and walk the dog, we are often mistaken for Slovenes.  People ask me for directions, comment on Bobo, and greet me in Slovene at stores.  My brain is so taxed trying to remember (and teach) Spanish, that I've barely learned any Slovene, so the ruse does not last long.  Still, it's fun to be seen as a local at times.


When Hard Work Isn't Enough
Two things are slowly dawning on me as a teacher.  First, no amount of hard work compensates for a lack of knowledge and experience.  Second, when the teacher isn't having fun, neither are the students.

I'm all for the noble struggle, and learning requires effort, but it should be fun and lighthearted at times too.  I've been working hard, not always alert to diminishing returns  The effects put me in a tired grumpy mood, which is not an asset for my teaching (or anything else).  My revised goals are to strive for just average days, where the students hopefully learn a little and we all have some fun too.

Georgia put it well - "They don't expect you to be an amazing teacher, and they don't expect you to be the worst teacher either, so it's Ok to have ups and downs and be somewhere in the middle overall." She says stuff like this to me when she comes downstairs at 11:30pm to tell me to go to bed!


And now I should go back to planning lessons instead of blogging!

Ljubljana Wine Festival

This week was the 60th anniversary Ljubljana Wine Festival, when Ljubljana lives up to its name as the "city of vine and wine."  The list of events included wine tastings, chef's pairings, and "events for the children" including "an introduction to the life of the vine" and "responsible drinking."  Needless to say I convinced the girls to accompany me to the festival.  I didn't haul them them all the way to Europe to miss out on underage wine tastings.  Here are some "before" pictures of our tastings.

I don't have to worry too much about responsible drinking based upon the "after" pictures.

They actually liked dessert wines much better, and I tasted some yummy wines, so a good time was had by all.  Vino!

Venice!

We took a day trip to Venice yesterday - my first time visiting there.  It was thronged with tourists, but so cool, I could see why.

We started by enjoying some fresh pasta.  Yummy!  Ben found this place through Trip Advisor.  It was take-out, but that was fine because we had great weather, and the sit-down places really gouge you on prices.  Then some amazing gelato.  I had the pistachio which tasted so fresh, nutty, and creamy - definitely the best I've had so far.  Another Trip Advisor find.

We waited in line to visit St. Mark's Basilica, but got turned away at the door.  On a Saturday in the height of the tourist season, they arbitrarily decided to close up at 3pm.  Go figure.  We visited the Doge's palace instead, which was incredible, and still got to see the gold mosaics at the entry of the basilica, which are amazing.

The incredible opulence of the palace and civic rooms, the long-lived Venetian dominance, the history of trade, wealth, power, religion, culture, exclusivity - it was a history major's delight.

Georgia got tired of posing for photos...

Aside from gelato, the thing the girls will probably remember best about Venice is our first Letter Box adventure.  Georgia's teacher introduced this to them a few days ago.  It's like an analog version of geo-caching, with rubber stamps.  You get the clues on-line, then go find a box in various places around the world.  So we gave it a try and found the box in a park in Venice.  Ben's eagle eyes found it.  Fun!

We've had three outings on the last three weekends.  Psyched to be taking full advantage of our year abroad and Ljubljana's central location.

Loving Ljubljana

Sunset with Slovenian flag.

We survived the first full week of school.

The girls are making friends, getting used to a new school and a very different setting.  I'm getting a little more organized with my teaching - learning how to deal with classroom management and pacing, trying to re-teach myself some topics I haven't thought about in a LONG time, e.g. latitude and longitude, estar v. ser, the writing process, and how hunter gatherers evolved to farmers.  Whew!

Ljubljanans are Active!

We were ready to kick back Friday evening.  I took a run with Bobo in a nearby park.  In addition to the normal joggers, walkers and hikers, I saw a bunch of kids ski-jumping.

This may explain why Slovenia does so well in the Winter Olympics!

I continue to be impressed with how active people are in Ljubljana.  Seems like everyone is biking, walking, jogging, playing tennis, soccer, doing calisthenics.  Ben has enjoyed his weightlifting encounters (see previous posts).  Badminton is big too.

I have managed to exercise a little bit every day, to keep my 5-year streak alive, but I'm doing a lot less than normal, which is not good.  Hopefully I'll work fewer hours as I get more used to the job, and then I'll have more time to move.

Friday Night downtown

After I got back from the run and Ben got back from a wine festival, where the girls also got introduced to the 'wine life', we all biked downtown to enjoy the weekly Ljubljana Food Festival.  We arrived a little late, so most booths were closed, but we still had a nice dinner, followed by cakes at our favorite bakery.  (There are amazing gluten free cakes here!)  Then we biked back home.

Downtown is super lively every night.  Cafes, bars and people line the river, along with live music, various performers and vendors; it's great people watching.  I'm glad we live close enough to enjoy it as much as we want, but far enough away that we can have peace and quiet in a residential area too.

Getting to Know Slovenes

We are getting to know some Slovenian people through school and work.  I am woefully ignorant about the history of this part of Europe.  I am learning fast though.  I've heard a lot of interesting thoughts on Tito, Communism, religious and political freedom.  Slovenes I've talked to are very positive about the U.S., especially our freer economy.  There are still a lot of state-owned entities here, and a lot of regulation.

A few differences
At lunch one day I was admiring a student's homemade feast of meatballs and vegetables.  It looked delicious.  He said it was a Czech specialty, and the meatballs were made from horse meat.  Nobody thought that was odd at all.  Biking home from school I pass this cafe:

It is exactly what it sounds like.  Horse burgers, meatloaf, even horse meat tortilla wraps.  I know rationally speaking this is no different than eating cows, but I am not ready to try it yet.

More soon.

Indya

Dahlia turns it up to 13

This year was bound to be a watershed year for Dahlia wherever we spent it.  She turned thirteen in April and was heading into 8th grade, so she was naturally going to continue her lovely journey into the teen years and young adulthood whether in the U.S. or Europe.

It does tend to stand out a little more here, because her school and the general setting are so different.  Dahlia is a very prepossessed young woman.  She works hard at the things she does.  It is important to her that she make a good impression.  She dresses for success.  She likes to quote life-affirming aphorisms.  She has told me multiple times that "the glass is not half full, it's totally full if you count the air and the liquid!"  She is the oldest cousin on both sides of our family and she is the oldest among her neighborhood peer group, so she has always led every game and handled every group social activity.  Dahlia is a type A, first born kid all the way, and she has doubled down on all of that here in her new life and small, international school.  She is super American, blond, sharp-witted, and pretty among her peers.  Here's her first day outfit if you doubt my opinion on the matter:

She's gotten super into tea, making iced or hot tea every morning for herself to bring to school (usually no caffeine or low caffeine green tea).  She's gotten super into hair bows.  She's gotten super into pictures where she looks coquettish.

 

Sometimes it can all be a little much for Georgia to handle.

Overall it has been such a pleasure to watch her blossom.  When the girls were little I loved to see glimpses of the women they would someday become.  Now that they are getting older I no longer see glimpses, I can see full grown women quite clearly on the horizon, and as of yet we're very. very grateful for what we have.

Pomilujem šibka Americanski.

About six months ago my buddy and colleague Glenn convinced me that I should add some weight training to my exercise regime. He argued that there's natural muscle loss in middle age, that lifting would help strengthen the muscles around my hurt knee and my bad back, and that I could use some more resistance training. And, of course, that I could and should get ripped.

Anyhow, when he heard about our trip to Slovenia he challenged me to "find an old Yugoslavian gym from the Eastern European days.  No more soft American gyms for you!"  I am happy to report that I found the place.  Directly around the corner from us is one of Ljubljana's "Sportni Parks."  There appear to be three or four of them in a city just a little bigger than Knoxville.  The one near us has a bunch of clay tennis courts, soccer fields, and an olympic size outdoor track with stands and all.  Underneath the stands are some offices and what appear to be old olympic training facilities, called the Atletski Klub Olimpija.

In multiple places in the basement workout area they had these funny old-fashioned signs showing proper form for various track and field events.  Here is the one for the shotput (I think).

The indoor facilities included a weight room!  After some confusion with various staff members who spoke very little English they comped me and allowed me to lift.  The last staff member added ominously that if I wanted to return I'd have to pay five euros, with a heavy emphasis on "if."

Throughout the experience I kept hearing Glenn's voice calling me a soft American.  There were no weight machines (there was one broken one in the corner with no cables).  Glenn: "Machines make you weak!"  There were no handheld dumbbells, only the large olympic bars and heavy plates.  "Dumbbells make you weak!"  There were almost no light weights at all.  There were only two 2.5 kilo plates (roughly 5.5 pounds) and the next lightest plate was 15 kg (roughly 35 pounds).  "Light weights make you weak!"  The equipment was super old and the benches were all torn up.  "Clean or new equipment makes you weak!"

Here's the overview.  Note the basement windows and the lone fluorescent light.  "Soft light makes you weak!"

Here's a close up of the squat cage.

Here's one of the benches.  Needless to say I used this for my rows (and of course I just lifted a single plate, because there were no dumbbells), because "nice benches and barbells make you weak!"

I did, however, draw the line at what I think was the shower.

It was hilarious and super fun all at the same time.  I felt like Rocky working out in the Russian hinterlands in Rocky 4.

Growth Mindset

Ben and the girls have had some fun touring around Slovenia, including a trip to Lake Bled that involved paddle boarding and hiking - we must go back when I can go too!  You can read Ben's blog posts here too.

My blogging has slowed down a bit since I have been a tad overwhelmed with all my teaching duties.  Students returned Thursday, and tomorrow we start our first full week.  I am pretty well-prepared... for Monday anyhow.

I am teaching Writing, one class for middle school, one for secondary students, European History 1500-1800, Ancient Civilizations (cave men to the rise of Rome) Geography, Spanish I and Spanish II.  I have a few English Language Learners, although in most cases English will be their 3rd or 4th language.  I have a few students with special needs.  It is a lot!

I'm sharing with my students, and trying to remind myself too, that it's Ok to struggle - in fact struggle is the way we grow our minds.  This is the whole growth vs. fixed mindset thing that is trending, as Dahlia would say.  It seems like a good way to think about this year, as far as our family's adjustment to life abroad and for teaching.   Together we will embrace the challenge, see effort as the path to mastery, etc. etc..

My biggest fear is that I'll muddle through the curriculum but the kids will be bored to tears.

Georgia took this photo of Dahlia.  Granted it was 8th (last) period of the first full day of school, so could be fatigue.  But still!

Today we are sad to miss UT's home football opener.  We've always gone ever since we moved to Knoxville.

As consolation, we took a day trip to Piran, a quaint beach town that flourished under Venetian rule for several hundred years.  Piran was valuable for its salt works.  Salt has a long history in the northern Adriatic, which may explain why our landlords have about 8 different kinds of salt around the kitchen.  The town has beautiful well-preserved gothic architecture, narrow alleys, amazing views of the Adriatic.  Touristy, but not too bad.

Main square - glad G remembered to wear Orange!

Lots of graffiti in Piran too.

European bathers just put their towels down on the sidewalk and that's their beach.  No sand.  

Ben had read that Slovenian law said all beaches had to be public, so we found a rather chi-chi beach-like setting across from some casinos.  We didn't want to pay for towels, umbrellas, etc. so we changed in the car and strolled in like we belonged there.  No problems!  And the water was lovely.

  

Slovenian RV.  

It was the beginning of some kind of music festival in Piran.  A large crowd of slightly tipsy folks with accordians and a tuba made a pleasant parade through the town.  Not a good photo, but fun to see and hear.

Today's Lesson:
Don't order shrimp unless you don't mind shelling it yourself, head and all.
Many stores are closed Sunday, or have abbreviated hours.

In case you missed it, here's our Georgia, wearing her ski helmet and goggles while biking.