The Mountains

Anyone who has lived in a large city for an extended amount of time knows that a trip to the countryside to  breathe fresh air and have some open space around you is much needed from time to time. Thankfully I had a chance to do just that this past weekend along with approximately 35  high schoolers and seven other adults. We took a bus four hours away from the city and into the refreshing beauty of nature for the annual secondary retreat.

We stayed at a retreat center near the tourist city of Bran. This city is famous for being the setting of Bram Stoker's book Dracula. Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to explore the town, but I didn't feel like I missed out on too much! On Friday we spent basically the whole day rock climbing and hiking with the kids. I definitely got my exercise in, and the scenery was incredible.

I know it's a lot of pictures, but I thought it was too beautiful not to show you ;)

The retreat was a lot of fun for me, as well as the kids as far as I could tell. We enjoyed being in the mountains, having fun together, and listening to some great speakers. Unfortunately late Friday night and early Saturday morning about half of the group, including me, started feeling the effects of some sort of food or water poisoning, and by Saturday afternoon it was time to return to the city. Riding a bus through the mountains with a load full of sick kids is not fun, but we made it! By the time we got back to Bucharest, pretty much anyone who hadn't gotten sick yet did. So, Monday ended up being a no-school day for all of the secondary students as we were all still recovering. I hope I get a chance to visit this area again...but next time without getting sick.

To the Black Sea and back

Last weekend I decided it was time for some exploring. Thankfully I found someone who was willing to be my adventure buddy. (She is also with ABWE in Bucharest.) We headed out to a place I have wanted to visit for a long time...the Black Sea. We caught the 7:52 train out of Bucharest and spent 2:45 hours watching the Romanian countryside go by. We got out at Constanta, a Romanian Black Sea port with the intention of finding a beach and relaxing the day away.

We had been told that we could simply catch a taxi at the train station and ask them to take us to the nearest beach. However, once we got there the taxi drivers seemed a bit too aggressive, which is not usually a good sign. So we decided to walk a bit first and see if we could find the sea on our own. As soon as we walked out of the train station, we saw this...a harbor. Obviously we couldn't go swimming here, but we figured if we headed in the direction of the sea we would eventually find it. 

Now it may have been a good idea to look at a map of the city before we came, or we could have checked our phones' GPS to see where we were, but we just didn't feel like it. So we wandered about 15 minutes and found some ancient Roman ruins.

Five minutes from here was the sea. It was that easy!

We spent the next couple hours relaxing on the beach and exploring a little bit. 

Yes, that is a mosque. Constanta is not that far from Turkey.

We caught the train back in the evening, and I enjoyed seeing a lot of shepherds with their sheep, goats, or cows while we road by. It was a fun excursion, although I am still peeling from the sunburn a week later. 

I am a teacher

Since I have already completed two and a half weeks of teaching, I guess it is about time to show you my school. As a first year teacher, and not having textbooks for all of my classes, it has been a big adjustment for me, and I have a lot of prep work. However, I am enjoying teaching, and I am sure it will only get better, as I become more comfortable in my role. So without further ado...here is Bucharest Christian Academy.

BCA is currently building a new school, so this particular building is just temporary. It has three floors and on the bottom floor are the offices, library, computer lab, and lunch room. On the second floor are the elementary classes, and on the third floor are the high school classes. Some of the classrooms are a bit cramped, but all in all this building is meeting the needs of the school quite well.



Here is the ESL room. I teach ESL grammar on Tuesdays and Fridays, and ESL reading everyday.
We have seven students in the ESL program this year from Korea and China, and they range in age from 12-24 years old. They are all pretty low beginners, but I am already starting to get more than just blank stares from them :)

My desk is in the hallway since we don't have a lot of room in the classroom.

Third period I teach study skills with the 7th and 8th graders. The textbook for this class keeps getting lost in the mail, so it's been interesting getting material together for them to do. In the afternoon, I tutor a third grade Chinese boy. I also teach 1st and 2cnd grade History three times a week, and tutor another 1st grader in ESL.  It's a lot of work, but I am really enjoying getting to know my students and the other teachers. Next week I am going along as a chaperon on a weekend retreat to the mountains with all the high school students, so I am sure I will have some interesting stories to report from that!

Observations, Adjustments, and Realizations

Observations

• Sewing needles, pens and tissues are readily available from peddlers on the trams.
• Anything can be sold on the side of the street, including baby bunnies.
• When walking in a busier area of town, it might be a good idea to have a tuba with you that you can play to let people know they are in your way.
• I saw a total of nine black people this past week.

Adjustments

• It takes 40 minutes, 2 subways, 1 tram, and some walking to get to school each day.
• I don't have textbooks for all the classes I teach.
• Simple things like buying food can be really intimidating when you don't have a clue what the cashier/vendor is saying to you. 
• I have students who are required to call me Miss Fessel...weird.
• The lock to my door is often stuck, so I need to figure an extra 5 minutes or so when going somewhere, just so I can get in and out of my apartment.

Realizations

• No matter how many different subway systems you've navigated before, you will have to spend some time getting lost and going in the wrong direction, before you've learned your way around.
• Romania and Poland are two different countries that, while more similar to each other than the US is to either, they will have different products in the grocery stores.
• No matter how many different countries you have visited or lived in, there is still a learning curve when moving to a new place. 

Conclusion: I wrote this about a week ago, when I was really getting discouraged about all the little things that I wasn't getting right away. It takes time to become accostumed to a new place, and I knew that in theory. I even knew that in practice....I had been through this before in Poland, but I still let it get to me. I really just missed the comfort of familiarity.
I have a lot of new things to get used to: a new job, a new country, a new language, a new roommate, etc. There really isn't one thing that is the same in my life right now as what my life was like a month ago. I am not writing all of this because it's easy to complain, it's easy  to get overwhelmed under the circumstances. However, God has been teaching me so much lately that I need to really depend on Him and His strength to get me through. Step by step and day by day I learn a little bit more and eventually my life here will become familiar. I am so blessed that God has chosen to bring me here to Romania, not only to use me as an ESL teacher, but also to teach me to trust in Him more fully.