Thanksgiving away from Family and the place I first called "Home"

-

My Thanksgiving message to family & friends:
My first Thanksgiving away from my family, home, and country took place in 2019. At that time, I would not have envisioned that I'd be spending another Thanksgiving outside of the US only three years later, in 2022. Yet, I am profoundly grateful for the opportunities afforded to me as I have continued expanding my horizons, traveling the world, and embarking upon new adventures (such as teaching high school students - something I hadn't envisioned a few years ago).
In addition to being grateful for those that I miss and love beyond measure, including my family - Especially my Mom & Dad - and my friends, this year I am also grateful for the seven classes of students I have the pleasure of teaching at Obchodná akadémia in Rožňava, Slovakia. 
This picture was taken with my II A (Sophomore) class earlier this month. On the day this photo was taken, I walked into my Friday morning class with them a few minutes early and was surprised to see this message they had created using the paint app on the computer. 
Teaching has been (and continues to be) quite an adventure. I am frequently met with challenges, surprises, and heartfelt moments, unlike anything I would experience working in a non-educational setting. I'll have much more to say about my teaching experiences soon; I've started to keep a journal, and I intend to share a few stories on my blog. As I commemorate Thanksgiving a few thousand miles away from my family and the place I've known as "home," I just wanted to share this message of gratitude as I am with my family and friends in thought and spirit.
Thank you to all of you who have stayed in touch via Facebook or text. Each day, one of my foremost desires is to make the most of my time here. That is also exactly what I've been praying for, that God help me make the most of my time here. I've had a wonderfully fulfilling first three months of this adventure, and I look forward to the next seven months as I continue my Adventures in Slovakia.
From Slovakia with Love,
Nate



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beard or no beard?

-
 I recently learned that many of my students were not at all fans of my decision to shave my beard. After growing a beard for the past four months, I figured that the time had come to say "goodbye" and return to my cleanly-shaved self. My timeline for this matter was also accelerated by the fact that I've got a special Fulbright conference next week where I'll be interacting with stakeholders at NATO and the European Commission, and I figured that I'd look more professional if I were clean-shaven.
Read more

An Unwanted Adventure: Visiting the Local Hospital

-
This past week, I had an opportunity to experience another first in Slovakia.  More than that, it was a “first while abroad.” Although I managed to avoid hospitals and doctor’s offices in France and Poland, my days of evading foreign medical care came to an end today in Slovakia. After slipping and falling yesterday, I gashed my tow and turned my apartment into something that looked more akin to a bloody crime scene. The suspect, in this case, was the innocent-looking shower mat that took me for an unexpected ride in which I landed on my back with blood pouring forth from a wound in my toe. After using paper towels and borovička (a traditional alcoholic vodka-like drink) to clean the wound, I tried in vain to stop the blood as I limped around. With a bit of mixed success, I (against my mother’s advice) decided that I’d tough it out because I didn’t want to burden anyone, and I thought I could “fix it” and allow the wound to heal on its own. Additionally, I have taken an odd pride ...
Read more

Influences Matter

-
Who's in your orbit? Teaching has reinforced something that I've long considered a simple truth: the people we surround ourselves with or listen to matter; stated simply, influences matter. During a recent lesson with a group of young students, I asked them what influencers they listen to. This class self-reported using TikTok as their primary social media source. Although I do not have a TikTok account, I am vaguely familiar with the platform, and I realize that, like many social networks, its algorithms have a tendency to show us more of what we like to see as it learns from viewing habits.  My next question was, "What influencers do you watch?" This is where things became more interesting. Many of the young men in this class reported watching Andrew Tate videos. I'm a bit jaded as I have never watched a Tate video; I've only seen clips from news articles I have read about the Tate brothers. With this disclaimer out of the way, I'll continue. I asked wha...
Read more