Autumn Has Arrived

Dobre Den (Good day),

It is certainly autumn in Slovakia. The leaves are turning and falling. The morning are getting colder and the afternoons not so warm. The sun sets before seven now. I have been told that during winter, I will leave for school before the sun rises, and leave after it sets. This does not sound too exciting.

Two weekends ago, I went to a town about a half hour away from Bratislava for a get-together the vice prinicipal hosted. This was the first time I experienced Slovak hospitality. The host kept insisting that we eat and drink. At one point, I wanted to say that I could get anything I wanted on my own, but I realized that consistently asking if people wanted something was part of the Slovak culture.

This last weekend was a weekend full of relaxing. Saturday, I went out into Bratislava and found a park and read a book for a while. It was a little chilly, but I enjoyed it.

Fall break is coming. If anyone has any suggestions of amazing places to visit, please let me know.

I have been playing a lot of chess lately with Larry. It isn't always fun, though. When we first started playing, Larry didn't tell me that he was really good. I haven't even won yet. He is like a computer. I thought I was going to beat him once, but it didn't happen. A few days ago he told me that when he was younger he beat the 4th ranked chess player in Arizona. Larry always pulls something out of his sleeve. Nearly every other day, he'll say, "Oh, did I tell you about the time I..." then he says something extraordinary like "made a 2 million dollar sale." Then a few days later he'll have another story just as crazy.

Well, hope all is well with all of you.

Dovidenia