Bystrianska Cave

Now that the sun is out and the grass is slowly reclaiming its green, the American teachers are coming out of winter hibernation. So, this past weekend, we went on a field trip to Bystrianska Cave. (Slovakia has an impressive network of show caves - this cave was the first of a few that we are looking forward to visiting.)

We were not allowed to take pictures, so I pulled these of the Slovak website to share with you.







Perhaps the best part about the cave was the bats! There were little bats the size of your middle finger hanging upside down throughout the cave. At the end, however, we met this guy:



Slovakia is home to over 2,400 caves. Only 400 of them have been thoroughly explored, and of these, 12 of them have been converted into show caves. There are a few more - including an ice cave - that the T-town crew will explore in the next few months. Hopefully, we'll meet more bats!

Three times the birthdays. Three times the fun.

Two weeks ago my friends Rachel, Heidi and I had birthdays on March 10th,12th, and 13th respectively.

Here is a picture of Heidi and Rachel, the other two birthday girls!



To celebrate, the T-Town crew decided to back to the Dubravsky's cabin in Kokava Linia. We left early on Saturday morning, and we were back in Tisovec on Sunday night. Our trip was quick - but we all had some much needed fun and relaxation. The weather was cold in Kokava, and instead of making gulas outdoors, we opted for chili indoors.

We spent Saturday afternoon sitting on this couch: laughing and playing.



We finished our evening this birthday cake that Becky made for the three of us.



On Sunday morning, we had a snowball fight and made snow people. These masterpieces are Betty and Rudy Dubrowsky, our friends who own the cabin.







Eric, sicko that he is, made a snow mouse in light of the fact that he discovered I hate (read: am terrified) of mice - particularly their tails.



If you look closely, you can see its claws. Lovely, huh?
I think he was channeling the giant nutria from The Princess Bride.



All mice aside, my 23rd birthday was wonderful thanks to my T-town family. I enjoyed, as always, spending time with six of the coolest people in Slovakia.
Thanks guys : )

Are You Smarter Than A Second Year? (Round One)

Last semester, I highlighted the events and discussions of my third year class. This semester, I would like to share with you what we have been talking about in my second year class. If you are a second year student at EGT, you will take one semester of church history with the town pastor and one semester of Old Testament with yours truly.

I really enjoy teaching both second years and Old Testament. For some of them, my class will be the first time they have delved into the drama of the OT. For others, my class will be a review of the stories – but with an additional challenge, because my class is taught in English. My second years have only had a year and a half of academic English, and for this reason, it is challenging for both me and the kids to communicate content. A typical Old Testament lecture begins with a broad question that each of the students will write a short response to and then we will discuss the question as a class. Past questions include: Do you believe in love at first sight? Think of a food that reminds you of a story, and share both the food and the story with the class. What’s the worst trouble you have ever been in, and what were the consequences? Describe one household rule – spoken or unspoken. If you could eat one food for the next forty years of your life, what would you eat? These questions serve a couple of purposes. First, they get the students thinking and talking in English. This helps them transition from their Slovak language classes – and it allows them some additional English practice. (I always tell the students if you want to be a good English speaker, then you should speak English. If you want to be a good English writer, then you should write in English) Second, the questions are somehow related to the Old Testament passage that we will discuss in class. I often use the question to introduce content. It’s also fun to watch the students make the connections between our discussion at the beginning of the class and the story we are studying.

A typical Old Testament lecture involves bizarre drawings on the board, lots of acting, and some Bible reading. For the most part, I treat an OT lecture as story-telling time – with the added bonus of class discussion and real life applications.

The students come to class having read and answered questions from the Bible passage we will be studying and discussing. My students are expected to take notes in class so that they can create an Old Testament storybook with one page describing each lesson we have together. The storybooks are checked with each test that we have. In order to get a 100% on this project, each student should turn in his or her book on time. Each page should have the details of the lesson written out in good, second year English and it should include a picture of an event in the life of Israel. I have drilled into students’ heads that Ms. Large does not grade messy work. After the first part of the storybooks were collected with the first tests, some of my students found out that I mean that.

Here are some of students’ books. Get ready to be impressed with their work. I know I am.



















Now that you have this background question, I invite you to take on the challenge: see if you can answer some of the questions from my second year’s first Old Testament test, and ask yourself, “Am I smarter than a Second Year?”

Section One – Matching

1.Ishmael
2.Isaac
3.Esau
4.Rebekah
5.Leah
6.Rachel
7.Jacob
8.Moses
9.Egypt
10.Midian
11.Joseph
12.Zipporah
13.Aaron
14.Zilpah
15.Bilhah
16.Abraham

a. the place where the Israelites lived as slaves
b. Abraham and Sarah’s son
c. Jacob’s first wife
d. the man with whom God made a covenant
e. Esau’s brother; the man who had 12 sons
f. the brother of Moses
g. Leah’s maid, who gave Jacob 2 sons
h. Jacob’s second wife
i. the place to which Moses ran after he killed the Egyptian
j. the place where the Israelites lived as slaves
k. Isaac’s oldest son
l. Rachel’s maid who gave Jacob 2 sons
m. the man who led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt
n. Jacob’s favorite son; the oldest son of his wife Rachel
o. Moses’ wife
p. Abraham and Hagar’s son

Section Two – Fill in the Blanks

1.God’s name is _______________. It means “I AM.”
2.Jacob wrestled with God and was given this name: ________________.
3.We believe the Exodus happened around the year ________________ BC.
4.The Hebrew word “Seder” means ____________________.
5.In God’s covenant with Abraham, God promised him __________________, _____________, and _______________.
6.Jacob tried to steal his brother’s _________________.
7.Jacob worked for a total of _________________ years before he could marry Rachel.
8.________________ was the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham.

Section Three – True or False

____ Jacob had 13 children.
____ Sarah laughed when God told her she would have a son.
____ Moses’ mother put him in a basket and sent him down the Nile River.
Pharoah’s daughter found him, and he was raised an Egyptian prince.
____ God shared with Moses his name from the burning bush on Mt. Sinai.

Section Four – Short Answer

1.What is the Torah? What does the word “torah” mean in Hebrew?
2.Why is Abraham known as “Father Abraham?”
3.What instructions did God give to Moses for Passover?
4.Why were the Israelites in slavery in Egypt?
5.What is the Seder meal? (Who celebrates is? What does this celebration remind them of?)

Because cheating is rampant in the second year class on test days, I usually make anywhere from 2-4 different tests. The questions above are in no way a complete test - instead, they are samples from each of the four tests I gave a couple of weeks ago. I hope you enjoyed this brief trip into the Old Testament : ) Stay tuned for more "Are You Smarter Than A Second Year" as the semester progresses.

Spring Break in the Alps

Last week, EGT had spring break. It seems a little silly to have a week off of school after having been on winter break just over a month and a half ago. I really wasn't ready to go on another extensive travel trip, but this was our second to last big break and I didn't want to waste the time. The American teachers scattered themselves across Europe. Becky and Eric went to the Ukraine. Whitney and Rachel went to the England and Scotland. Mark stayed in T-Town to work on seminary applications, and Heidi and I travelled to Austria to stay with the host family she lived with when she studied in Austria during high school.

The first leg of our journey was a six hour bus trip to Bratislava. We spent the night there with Phil and Sue, a sweet retired couple, who are also missionary teachers for the ELCA is Bratislava. The next morning, Heidi and I went with them to the Little Church for worship in ENGLISH in the city. It was lovely to hear a Lenten message in our own language. I took notes on the sermon and I have enjoyed reading and re-reading them throughout the last week.

The second leg of our journey consisted of an hour long bus ride to Vienna and then a five hour train ride to Innsbruck, our first destination. Heidi's host brother, Emanuel, a twenty-four year old student at the university in Innsbruck, met us at the train station and took us back to his flat. We spent two days with Emanuel in Innsbruck and enjoyed every minute of it!

On Monday, we spent the morning hiking and the afternoon riding a cable car to the top of the Alps.

On our way up the mountains, we stopped by an old Jewish cemetery.





After about an hour of hiking, we hopped on the cable car and headed up the mountain. This me, a little stressed. I have issues with heights.



This is the view from the cable car window.



These are the Alps.







Here is a bird's eye view of Innsbruck.





On Tuesday, we went on a hike through the hills of Austria and into the Alps.

These hills were ALIVE with the sound of music.


"High on the hill was the lonely goatherd. Lay ee odl Lay ee old oo."



"When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad!"



"Do, a deer a female deer. Ray, a drop of golden sun! Mi, a name I call my self. Fa, a long, long way to run. So, a needle pulling thread. La, a note to follow so. Ti, a drink with jam and bread. And that will bring us back to do."



"Edelweiss, edelweiss. Every morning you greet me. Small and white, clean and bright."



"Climb every mountain, ford every stream."



The trail we took led us up the mountain to a small chapel. Along the way, we passed the Stations of the Cross.



Here's the prayer chapel.





We had a snow ball fight at the top of the mountain, and then we came back down to do some shopping in town and to make dinner togther. Emanuel told us to "style up" (his phrase) and then he took us out for drinks.



On Wednesday, Heidi and I took a train from Innsbruck to Bregenz, Austria. Heidi's host family lives just off the Lake of Constance - which, I have decided, is my favorite place in all of Europe.

We spent Wednesday evening walking around the lake. The mountains in the distance are the Swiss Alps.







On Thursday, we took the train to Lindau, Germany and spent the morning exploring. We had coffee with Klaudia, Heidi's host mom, and then we walked home.

This is the small town of Lindau.



In Lindau Harbor, there is a lighthouse.



This is the lion that guards the harbor.



The Lake of Constance is full of swans : )



Later that afternoon, Heidi and I hiked Pfander, the mountain in her family's backyard. We took the cable car down, and Heidi's host mom picked us up at the foot of the mountain.

This is the cross at the very top of Pfander.



This is the reward we got for our hike. What a view!






Then, we went into the Alps to buy CHEESE. After spending five minutes in the cheese place, I can say with complete confidence that I know where the phrase, "Who cut the cheese?!" originated from. The cheese STUNK. I made sure that the cheese Heidi brought to take home was vacuum sealed. (I was worried about getting kicked off the train on the way home.)

The woman who worked in the cheese place was sweet enough to show us around.
This is the cheese locker room. The rounds of cheese (which are very, very heavy) sit in this room to age for one year. Three times a week, a worker will wash the cheese down with salt water to help enhance its flavor.





On Friday, Heidi and I spent the morning in Bregenz. We walked into town and did some shopping. We hit some second hand stores and enjoyed the ability to buy things that we couldn't get in Tisovec.

On Saturday, Heidi's other host brother Sebi came home from Switzerland to spend the day hiking with us. We hiked a small mountain a couple of towns away.

Because the weather was nice, the ice was melting. The trails were a muddy mess.



Still, the view is always worth the trip.



On our way home from the hike, Sebi took Heidi and I into Switzerland to buy some swiss chocolate. Later that evening, we had dinner with Heidi's host family and then hopped on the night train to Vienna. 22.5 hours, two bus rides and a train ride later, we were finally home in Tisovec. I have never been in a more beautiful place than the Alps. I think I'm in love. Still, I'm happy to be back in T-Town. T-Town is also beautiful in the spring time.