Thankful List:: October 2012... a little bit late...

• Managed my first solo trip to the Slovak doctor,
• None of my students are ill this week,
• Hungarian bread on sale for 50 cents a loaf,
• Erik's left over chicken soup,
• The friendly chat with the pharmacist (in Slovak),
• The books Autumn lent me,
• Time to read the books Autumn lent me,
• My nose isn't stuffy,
• Erik's allergies are gone,
• Only a little bit of coughing last night,
• We already have probiotics in our fridge,
• I missed being at work while I was away,
• My first paycheck from one company and my last paycheck from another company,
• A couple more ticket restaurants,
• Good lunches 90% of the time,
• Bus drivers who know how to bypass a bit of traffic,
• A pretty view of the Danube during my commute to work,
• All the sunny days and not-rainy days.
• Huge patches of green grass that I never noticed before,
• Lots and lots of trees in this city,
• Everything changing color,
• All the ways Erik and I have been able to easily adjust to each other,
• The knife promotion at TESCO,
• A solution for our microwave problem,
• Erik's tips and pay bonuses,
• Erik's cleanly habits,
• Laundry soap on sale,
• Parents who don't tolerate bad behavior,
• The beautiful red sunset on a Friday evening,
• Getting to stand at the bus stop so often and for so long..maybe someday I'll learn to be patient,
• Indian summers,
• Friends,
• Good hair days,
• The silver sliver of the moon,
• Getting to ride over the Danube twice every day,
• When I get a seat on the bus,
• Being a native speaker,
• The lake near our flat,
• The low cost of living,
• Frozen pizzas on sale,
• Freezer space (to store frozen pizzas),
• Sale on Nivea lotion,
• Living so close to a bus stop,
• Erik and I always get to go home to the same place,
• Not being tied to my phone,

I know, it's pathetic that I wrote this in October, lost it, and haven't written a single thankful list since then. The winter actually hasn't been that bad, and there've been more than just a few things to be thankful for.

Here are the highlights:

  In November I switched from teaching kindergarten aftercare to teaching some 2nd and 3rd grade classes. That was good because I could get off work a little bit earlier to come home and spend more time with Erik, and it came with a teeny bit more money too. One of my students brought me chocolate on my first day, which was a definite bright spot for me.
Also in November, one call from the foreign police added an interesting twist to the following months, even until now. Apparently I was living and working illegally because I lost my work permit when I changed jobs.. the fact that I'm married to a Slovak doesn't change too much, except that I'm allowed to apply for permanent residency, which is what we're doing now. Long, long, story, but the good part is that we had to take some urgent trips out of the country! We went to Belgrade, Serbia first. Turns out that the reason we went was kind of null in the end, but it was still kinda fun. I liked it anyway (Erik didn't like it that much). We stayed at a nice hostel, and got to do a lot of walking, and we were almost (but not actually) ripped off by a taxi driver. The disappointing thing about Belgrade was that people were smoking everywhere, especially in the buildings, and it was chilly outside so we often had to choose between protecting our lungs or being warm and comfortable. We asked someone why everyone smokes so much..he said, "We are proud that this is a free country and we have the right to smoke anywhere!" That's one way to look at it, I guess...

Back to the thankful things...

• We ate good cake for breakfast,
• We found a nice restaurant that sold us take-away food so we wouldn't have to eat in their smoky building,
• Some signs were in cyrillic, which was fun and exotic for me,
• The nice hostel,
• No problems during the air travel,
• I think former Yugolsavia is interesting, so I was happy to see some of it!

December was pretty much normal, except for the holidays that everyone loves... We spent Christmas in Hungary, and ate cold orange soup with whipped cream! Nothing's quite like Christmas at "home" with the traditions you've grown up with your whole life, and I was a little sad to be spending my second one in a row away from my family in Arizona. But at the same time, I'm thankful that Erik's family lives relatively nearby and they welcome us with open arms.  We enjoyed letting them beat us at Monopoly, playing other games (which we sometimes won) and eating lots of food.

January and February have been pretty cold and gray, with lots of snow. I'm not allowed to work because of the unresolved immigration stuff, but it looks like we're almost to the end of the drama with the application process for permanent residency.  I've enjoyed having time off to relax and practice house-wifery, but I think I'm going to be glad to go back to work again.

The Thankful highlights:

• We got to go on a quick trip to London... drank Starbucks, went shopping, met Erik's friends, visited his old church, ate Indian food, bought books in English, and re-entered Slovakia as a tourist,
• Rachel came to visit!
• We've been building new and stronger friendships with others in Bratislava,
• I've discovered hundreds of uses for vinegar by reading about them on the internet,
• Erik is done with his driver's ed course, and takes the exam tomorrow! (I've gained respect for European drivers- all their signs and intersections and laws make the American driving credentials sound like the Lego Land driving school)
• The days are getting longer and we've even seen the sun a couple times this week!
• Despite having to cancel Slovak lessons while I'm out of work, I've had plenty of opportunities to speak Slovak, or at least smile and nod when people speak to me :)

Check back later because I might add pictures to this post...