SuperSonic weekend

The Fall Festival at the elementary school was fun. I spent my weekend with Brenda and Chris, their kids Tucker and Aniah and their superSonic dog. Attended a baby shower (the baby is due on our Independence Day), went to Primitive Baptist Church, ate oysters for the first time.

I was absolutely and horribly tired Friday evening, however, the tiredness somehow disappeared when I got to my hosts' house near Sparta - they live on Pioneer Ridge Road. I should have gotten a picture of that. The house is actually quite new but it kind of blends into the landscape as if it had been there for centuries.

I loved playing games with the kids and I had a lot of fun because Chris has wonderful sense of humor. They complimented me on my English language. It's always nice to hear things like that. I learned a new expression: "to run a joke into the ground" - I think I do that a lot...

The gift "cake" made of diapers.

Brenda took me to a Baby Shower in Sparta on Saturday. The people were all very nice and the snacks were good. I liked the gifts and decorations - they were lovely. Baby showers make me wonder if Estonians are a bit superstitious - I didn't even want to tell people I'm pregnant until there was only a couple of months left but they have a Baby Shower here when the baby boy is due on Feb 24.

After getting back from Baby Shower they drove me around and took me to the shore of the New River. I've mentioned it in my very first post about the US here. The weird thing about the New River is that it's one of the oldest rivers in the world. I wish I had had time and opportunity to travel in a boat on the river... I'd like to see that bridge across the New River.

I have officially been to five states in the US now: Washington DC (taxation without representation), North Carolina (First in Fight), Georgia (well I spent about 2 hours at the Atlanta airport), Illinois (Chicago) and

VIRGINIA

I absolutely adore the landscape here near Sparta - it's hilly. Sometimes it reminds me of 

Östersund, Sweden or Alsfeld, Germany - the places that I've really loved...

I wouldn't mind having a house here with the view of the valley and mountains!

Today in the morning we went to the Primitive Baptist Church near Sparta. I sort of liked it but after about 1.5 hours the sermon was getting a bit tedious because the guy who was speaking was really old and monotonous. However, the songs were nice and the fact that the sermon ended by everyone shaking hands with everybody else in the room and saying "Bless you" was really heart-warming. I think I'm totally blessed for the next week. At least I hope so.

The evening was sensational because I ate OYSTERS for the first time in my life. I got them out of the shell and I even tried a raw one with some hot sauce. The cooked ones were really delicious. I met a lot of nice people with whom I will hopefully communicate via FB or maybe Skype.

Time for bed now. Tomorrow I have to be at school again and teach. 

There will be a post about the school-life as well ... SOON.

Fall Festival @ Sparta Elementary

I'm having a great time at Alleghany High School. Lucas is an absolutely wonderful teacher! I'm learning a lot from him and I'm learning quite a bit by just reflecting on what I do in class and why.
I enjoyed today's Fall Festival at Sparta Elementary School, where his daughter goes to. The day was just a little tiresome as it started already at about 6 (I had to get up, have a shower and pack my stuff) but all in all it was really OK.
I had my first chance to teach somebody here - I did the beginning of the poetry lesson by giving them words to write a beginning of a story with and read the Estonian poem out loud.
The most curious feedback about what Estonian sounds like was like Chinese and Italian combined and of course several of the kids told me that it sounds like one long word or sentence.  It was really interesting.
I took quite a lot of pictures today but I have no strength left to find and upload them, so you'll have to wait for the next time I write.
I'm going to a BABY SHOWER tomorrow, to CHURCH on Sunday and am probably going to dress up for HALLOWEEN on Monday. IT'S GOING TO BE A BUSY TIME! :D
But I enjoy being busy and everybody knows I like to TALK a lot. *it means that all the sales people in Sparta, NC know where I come from and what I'm doing in Sparta. :)

This is SPARTA

Meeting with partner teachers. Lunch at Dining Hall. Work on Planning. Ride to Alleghany County. Sparta High School with a Trojan sports team. Alleghany Inn. Black Cat and Mirrors. Talk/Chat with Aida, Kristel, Pablo, Ingrid, Kristjan and others.

I didn't feel very happy in the morning. It was quite hard to hide that and be all smiling and happy because I didn't like the fact that I have to spend 7-8 days away from my friends. Me and Kristel are the only ones who have to go on our internships alone - all the others have the company of other TEA-fellows.

We met our partner teachers in the Student Union building and listened to interesting lecture by Sarah as well as heard about the educational systems of other countries. I loved the presentation by Thailand. Angsana told us that they have to wear a different "uniform" each day. I remember that Tuesday is the pink or purple day because these are the colours of their province and on Friday they have to wear their national costume. Jahan also told that in their country teachers have to wear the national costume with embroidery in the front. I was surprised to hear how many countries have school uniforms. Turkmenistan, Thailand, Jordan, Argentina and I think many others but my mind was wandering a bit during the presentations because I was thinking about the lesson planning session. I did all the talking about Estonia (I wasn't particularly happy about it, because I hadn't prepared as well as I would have wanted) and Kristel was my silent moral support.

During the lunch in the Great Dining Hall we had a conversation about education and countries with my partner teacher Lucas and Kristel's partner teacher Ethel. I learned new things there as well. AND I ate the corn dog for the first time! It was like an Estonian "viineripirukas" but on a stick.

The work on planning didn't take us very long because Lucas wanted to leave early in order to get to Sparta. But we talked about what he does in the classroom and what I would like to do there. I'm a bit worried about the poetry lessons but I'm sure I'll learn a lot from him.

I decided to use my grandmother's poem about the Maple Tree as a basis because I just couldn't find a better poem that has been translated into English and would have the right theme to be able to start talking about Estonia.

The ride to Alleghany county was beautiful! The nature is still wonderful with its many colours and the hills - I just love the hills here so much! 

We talked a lot about my country and things I could do while I'm here and also Lucas told me a bit about the countryside and his family. The 1.5-hour drive went so quickly!

We arrived in Sparta just in time for the Halloween storytelling evening in the library. SPARTA is really a very small town with only 2000 or so people and I wasn't really expecting much of the storytelling evening for kids in the library BUT I was amazed at how good the lady was who did the storytelling. She told altogether about 3 stories and they were really ACTED out and she included children in the storytelling and the kids absolutely loved it! I met Lucas' grandmother and his three kids as well. They were really cute!

Sparta High School is the place I have to go to at 7.30 tomorrow. It's a rural high school which means that a lot of the kids come not from the town of Sparta but from all over the Alleghany county. I think it will be a really interesting experience teaching here. Tomorrow I will only observe the classes but already from Thursday I'll take part in teaching as well. So, wish me luck!

Alleghany Inn is supposed to be a hotel but it feels more like a motel. It has two floors and every room has a different entrance. Mine is on the first floor. It's really weird to step outside from your ROOM. But I only have to spend a couple of nights here. Then there is homestay for two nights I think and then HALLOWEEN and trick-or-treating which should be a lot of fun!

I'm a bit scared of the room as it has like HUGE mirrors and I don't like mirrors. There used to be a time when I only had one small mirror in my apartment in Estonia. I'm not very keen on the fact that it's there and it's enormous.

There is a black cat outside my door who wants to be petted. I liked the cat. It reminded me of home. I think I miss my cat as much as I miss my family and Estonian food. 

Why Estonian food - because I'm really tired of the buns, bagels, muffins, toast, sandwiches etc. A regular Estonian potato salad with black bread would make me really happy.

I had dinner ALONE at JB's which is practically next to the hotel. The sad thing is that I don't get any breakfast here - so I should go to the fast food place and eat there in the morning I guess. But it's late and I think I need the sleep after today's excitement.

Que sueñes con los angelitos mes amigos!

Kristel wrote about today as well here - you can see some pics of me there as well.

Aaaand ... TOUCHDOWN

Poetry, songs, beautiful weather, parade, tailgating, adopting streets, American football and freebies. Last couple of days has seen it all.

It's Saturday and I'm sitting in the lobby again - near the fireplace where I really enjoy being. There have been only a few nights when I haven't been here during the evening. Past two evenings have been wonderful with lots of people and much laughter. I love laughing. It makes you feel safe and loved.

On Thursday was the Read Aloud Day in Estonia. I talked to Piret in the morning (Estonian morning) and she told me that she's about to read something and then I had an idea: we should also celebrate the day by reading poetry in our own languages. Finally, I managed to get together about 8 people in the evening and we read poetry and translated it and discussed it. I absolutely loved that evening as it showed how close we have become to one another.
The poem that I read was written by my grandmother before I was born but it has always so-to-say "spoken" to me. You can read the Estonian version of it here and I translated it to English later (I was pretty satisfied with my translation - it can be seen under the notes on my FB page).

 The Poetry Evening in the Lobby of Holiday Inn Express in Boone

Rinna, me, Soythip, Margaret, Jahan, Kristel, Aida and Pablo taking the picture
Countries: Cambodia, Estonia, Thai, Turkmenistan, Argentina and Guatemala

As I already mentioned - I loved that evening. And next evening we had Songs Night as part of the series of Cultural Nights. Every country had to play a song in their language and talk about it and share dance moves or something else. We were joined by Hugo from Argentina and two more ladies from Turkmenistan.
We decided to play:

Ruja - Teisel pool vett

I feel that this is one of the most powerful songs in Estonian language and also it has a story behind it that can be told to people. I still get goosebumps just by listening to it.

Kristel played a song by V2gilased that was more like folk music. 

Saturday started beautifully with no clouds in the sky but frost on the ground. Later on in the day it got warmer.

While waiting for the Homecoming 2011 parade we took a lot of pictures and shopped a bit (I got a book by Neil Gaiman from a second-hand bookstore).

The parade was GREAT! They have a real sense of community here. Everybody was out there looking, participating.

Beginning of the parade. The same orchestra played at the Homecoming Football match as well.

After the parade we went tailgating. Which means that we got some free food and a lot of freebies including sunglasses and a T-shirt.

Approaching the gate.

Football was powerful. I liked the way the WHOLE TOWN was wearing the colours - Black and Yellow!

A picture from the stadium as well.

You can read more about the Appalachian State Mountaineers here. They have a mascot called Yosef who used to have a pipe in the seventies but now "it's not politically correct anymore" as one of the guys told me during the parade. They crowned the Homecoming King and Queen during the game and the cheerleaders were great. I loved the game although I didn't understand much. Should have done some private learning about American Football before I went to the game...

The day has been so long and I'm really tired. I hope I'll have some time to blog tomorrow or some other day soon. I have so many good memories of today. And of course - OUR team won! :)

Take care!

Gangsta's Paradise - Chicago

Finally we got some time off from studies and could make plans to travel. Several people from our group decided to go to New York but I got an invitation from an old classmate (we were good friends in elementary school) to come to Chicago, where she's been living for the past 11 years. Of course, I decided to go there. Who wouldn't? It's an offer you couldn't refuse!

We took a bus to Charlotte with Pablo and Kristel and had a great time there as well. It was warm but a little windy. Went to Starbucks of course and to some Irish pub.

What happens next?
My fish and chips - REGULAR plate is in the foreground.

Charlotte is not a big city  about the size of Tallinn but it is a financial centre of North Carolina and is also called Hornet's Nest (due to some historical stuff) and also Queen's City because it was named after the wife of one of the Geogres who ruled England.

I liked the square with the statutes of the founders and many other things BUT I didn't like the feeling of being constantly threatened by almost-homeless people. A guy talked to me near the place where we had lunch and said that I shouldn't be afraid of black people - they just find me cute.... Aww. It would have been a nice compliment but the guy wasn't exactly the Romeo. Grrr.

At about 7pm Pablo and Kristel saw me off at the bus stop and went to find their bus station. I got on the bus and drove to the airport. I had to spend the whole night there which was not one of my favourite experiences because they were building downstairs and vacuuming upstairs. Which means, I didn't get much sleep. I read a book by Bill Bryson about small-town America, which I liked very much. At times I wondered outside to take pictures of the moon.

Can you see the wolf in the sky? I could. That was kinda spooky because it was full moon.

Finally it was 4am and I got through security and at 6.30 am I boarded a plane and went to Atlanta, where we had a stopover, and then quickly through that Matrix kind of airport with people thronging and hustling-bustling I got to the right gate and onwards to Chicago.

Kristiina, my classmate, picked me up and drove me to the lakeside where I got my first pictures of Chicago.

Lake Michigan and Chicago cityscape

Kristiina lives next to Estonian house, which meant that in the first evening there I could go to sauna and drink some Estonian beer. (In Estonia I actually don't drink much beer but it tasted like home in Chicago).

Next day was the busiest. We went to the Willis Tower - one of the highest skyscrapers in the world.

At the top there are like glass boxes where you can look down on the town. Uhh. Scary!

The evening came too soon. Last place we visited was the Navy Pier and also saw fireworks and went up on the Ferris Wheel, which I liked A LOT.

Chicago at night

The trip was over too soon of course, but I really would like to go back someday because I absolutely adored the place and I didn't have the chance to visit so many places :(

The trip back went without a hitch and I am back at Boone with my friends and we are sharing our first impressions of the greatest cities in the world. 

Once upon a time in America

I've been there in the US for about exactly 3 weeks now.
I like this place a lot. I think it is mainly due to the wonderful Appalachian State University and its professors and lecturers who have all been amazing but also thanks to the great friends I've found among the members of our group of 22 teachers from 10 countries.

If you asked me, which of the things I've enjoyed most so far, I'd say that the hike that we had on Sunday. The weather was wonderful and we hiked on Boone Fork Loop Trail. Here you can read some more about it in a blog of someone who likes to hike on that trail a lot and here is the short Animoto video that Kristel made about the hike:


I haven't had time to sort my images and make a similar one but I'd like to. Pablo wrote about the hike too.

Here are the people that we hiked with - 6 are TEA-fellows and Sarah (her daughter and her friend) is one of the staff who looks after us here in the Appalachian.

Jahan, Margaret and me - on the rocks. :)

The colours were breathtaking and the weather great.

A short pause for a snack - on the rocks :)

I think Americans really love hiking and camping. I've seen that in so many movies and TV-series. You know when father takes his son camping and fishing in the mountains or forests somewhere. There were a lot of people out hiking, having a picnic or a barbecue and also camping in tents or caravans.
Most recently I saw exactly similar camping grounds in  the Vampire Diaries - so I think if you believe anything there is in the movies, I have to keep an eye out for werewolves in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains...

I'd love to write more but my lunch-break will end soon. 

So I have to continue later with my observations on the US life and stuff.