The small things

I've decided to make an effort to share some of my more comical moments while living abroad, in Slovakia. It's amazing how routine or mundane tasks can suddenly become unnecessarily complicated as you come to terms with the difficulties of settling into a small city in a foreign land. Below, I've shared a few of my most comical moments over the course of this past month.

Stories from September:

Question: "How did you meet your neighbors?" Answer: "Laundry."

Let me explain...

After moving into my apartment located on the campus of the school where I'm teaching, I was told that I could do laundry in the adjacent room, although they didn't have a laundry room key ready for me. After two weeks, I inquired again and was told that they were waiting on the maintenance man to make a copy. In the meantime, I was told to visit my Ukrainian neighbor on the fourth floor and ask to borrow her key.

Upon answering the door, my neighbor asked me if I spoke Slovak; "no, I hope to learn some", was my response. Evidently puzzled, she asked, "so only English?" - I also speak some Polish, yet although similar, the languages still have many differences that can actually foster confusion when trying to mix the two - so, to keep things simple, I replied, "yes, only English". 

Having anticipated a potential language barrier, I had Google Translate ready to go on my phone, had typed out my request, and had it translated into Ukrainian. After reading my request, she told me that she was currently using the washer, adding that she would bring me the key in about 40 minutes when she was done. "Okay, thank you; I live on the second floor", was my reply. 

Returning to my room, I felt a sense of accomplishment - I had met one of my neighbors and I believed that I had accomplished one of my minor objectives- get laundry done (or at least get the ball rolling). In the back of my mind, I pondered a few thoughts, "Did I communicate clearly?" "Did I frighten her, showing up at her door", "I forgot to introduce myself; I mentioned I was an English conversation teacher here as I described why I couldn't speak Slovak."

As promised, I soon heard a knock on my door and was given the key. After washing my clothes, I returned the key and introduced myself to my new neighbor.

Question: "Do you know when they will turn the radiators on" Answer: "When it gets cold and stays that way". 

Got it - oh boy. Living in Poland, I had learned about this - you cannot simply "turn on the radiator" - if only. No, you must wait for the heat to be turned on, as it's all run through a centralized heating system that allows hot water to course through the radiator system as winter sets in. 

According to a couple of the students I had chatted with outside, they told me it would "probably be sometime in October." In the meantime, I realized I had to take action to help save my freezing fingers and toes that greeted me every morning and would return almost every evening. 

Resisting the allure of the small space heaters that consume electricity like gremlins (remember, there's a war a couple hundred kilometers away, and all of Europe is coming to grips with both an economic and energy crisis) - so, in an effort to be both respectful and responsible, I could not allow myself to indulge in the luxury of a small space heater.

The answer? Blankets. Over the course of the past week, I walked to our neighborhood Tesco a few times and bought two of those big, fluffy, polyester, pink and creme color throw blankets. Although they didn't drive out the cold completely, they allowed me to embrace my inner Narnia as I wrapped myself up in a huge blanket or went to bed immersed in a cocoon. 

When this didn't quite take the edge off, I'd go to my half bath and turn on the little heating coil mounted on the wall - enjoying five minutes of warmth before I'd turn it back off and reimmerse myself in my polyester cocoon.

I know what you may be thinking - and no - I am not exaggerating, yet I'm not complaining either; I am sharing a comical yet very real reality that I'm still warming up to!

UPDATE: The radiators were turned on in October yet, as I am currently the only person in my building, they have been turned off and I have been given an electric heater. All is well on that front :)