Well, that worked out nicely...

So, for the past few weeks, my life has revolved around whether or not I am about to be kicked out of the country. Basically, my school did not do its research properly and now all the Canadian teachers are in danger of being kicked out of the European Union and not being allowed back in for three months. Two weeks ago, a lawyer took us to the foreign police to get our visas extended... how did we do it, you ask? Easy! We told them we all had explosive diarrhoea and were too sick to travel. We had a doctor’s note and everything. Ta-da! Just like that, we were allowed to stay in the country until December 26^th. Beautiful.

On Saturday (November 27^th), I went to Vienna to meet up with Pat and check out my first ever Christmas market. It was freaking awesome. The Christmas markets, so far, seem like an excellent excuse to stand around drinking hot wine, eating decadent foods, and shopping for things you don’t really need. The market in Vienna was beautiful and really amped up my excitement about all the other Christmas markets there are to see in the next few weeks. That night, I headed back to Bratislava for an American Thanksgiving celebration. More delicious food and a fair few bottles of wine later, I came to the conclusion that American Thanksgiving kicks Canadian Thanksgiving’s ass any day.

On Sunday, without a care in the world except a very minor (or maybe not so minor) post-Thanksgiving hangover, I headed to the bus station to pick up Kristelle. It was so exciting to see her! She was jet-lagged and I was exhausted, so we didn’t get much accomplished that day other than napping, introductions to my friends, and discussing the shenanigans of the evening before.

On Tuesday, Kristelle began volunteering at my school and everyone instantly loved her. Despite her telling them that she had worked with children many times before, they were in awe that she was so good with kids. That very same night, I received a phone call from the Human Resources lady at school, informing me that I was no longer allowed working at school because it was illegal (if I’m too sick to travel, I’m too sick to work, right?) and that I would have to leave the country immediately. Awesome. Several phone calls (both within Bratislava and to Canada) later, we came to the conclusion that I could go to school on Wednesday, but would be spending the day traveling to consulates and embassies begging to be allowed to stay legally. That never happened. Instead, by the end of a rather stressful day, I was informed that I would be allowed to continue to teach my class, but with an assistant in there with me full time. If anyone asked, we would tell them that my assistant was in fact the teacher and that I was at school just for the day to check on some paperwork. It still didn’t seem like the best plan to me (no one could be so stupid as to fall for that, really) but I went along with it, because I couldn’t come up with anything better.

The next problem that arose was that the assistant they had picked out for me did not want to leave his current job. We had a meeting, he put up a fight and he ultimately got what he wanted... he is staying right where he is and leaving me stranded in Grade 1. A few hours later, Catherine, our vice-principal and provider of common sense, came to me and asked whether Kristelle would like to be paid to be here. I couldn’t say for sure, but really, who would turn down money on their holiday? The next day, Kristelle was officially announced as my new Grade 1 assistant, allowing me to stay in the country until at least Christmas. After Christmas is a different story... if my papers don’t come through on time, then I will have to wait for them in Canada... I might even be there for up to a month!

Anyway, so now that I don’t have to flee the country, Kristelle and I are back on track to visit all the Christmas markets. Last night, we went down to the market in Bratislava. The shopping is kinda crappy – lots of doilies, ugly angels, and homemade shot glasses – but the food, drink, and atmosphere was delightful. It was incredibly crowded, though, so we are planning on going back during the day in hopes that there will be fewer people around and more opportunities to find nice things.

Next weekend, we are going to Prague to see the market as well as the world’s biggest castle (we think). The weekend after that, we will go to Budapest for yet another market and, hopefully, we will be able to squeeze in a trip to Vienna to complete the market madness! In the meantime, we are hanging out in Bratislava, drinking hot chocolate and eating meals that we make up as we go. Super!

See you all in 17 days!

Steph :)