Yes, I am the ‘lost ’ girl. I decided to leave my home for a year and discover a new place –England, I decided to live a new adventure. For a long time I couldn’t believe that I really did it. But now I have been here for month and it seems like forever to me. I know all of you learn about England, so I will not write things like: ‘They drive on the left side ’ or ‘The Capitol city is London’. But I want to show you a piece of my experience.
Departure
At the air port I was not scared. After many checks, I met other students that were going to study abroad, and together we left Slovakia (actually it was Vienna’s airport) so there was no reason to be scared. The best of this trip was that we were only in England for a few minutes and we had already seen two famous people. Then we went to the Winchester for two Welcome days.
The first week - family
I met my family on the 30th of August in small town called Yateley. I am living with my host sister and her parents. My host sister, Jodie, is in my form (this is something like a class, but they don’t have actually classes) my host mum is a teacher, so nothing has changed for me (if you know what I mean) and my host dad works as a driver for Tesco. We also took a trip to Windsor and the city was beautiful.
The second week - school
After meeting my family I was pretty shocked. Many of the pupils in Slovakia are unsatisfied because they have too much work at school, too much homework.
Imagine if you had to learn during the summer, like normal students here. I am attending the sixth form A level, I can compare it to our “nadstavba”. You study for 2 years and then there are 2 options to choose from: collage or the sixth form, and sixth form is more difficult then collage. So , it means you have to study more.
One lesson is 50 minutes long. After 2nd period you have a 20 minute break and you can spend it in the common room, which is a room for students to meet in, play billiards, watch TV, go out and play badminton, or if you want you can go home and then come back. During our hour long lunch it is the same. This timetable is good because you have free time during the day. For example I have two and a half hours free every second day (Tuesday, Thursday) and you can go home as well (but you should study). In England they have three terms, and after each term they have a week long half term holiday. The last term ends on the 23rd of July.
"The best thing about an English school is that you can choose your subjects."
The best thing about an English school is that you can choose your subjects. They have so many choices. For example: Government and politics, dance, graphics, textiles, design and technologies, psychology and many many more. I have chosen English language, computing, photography and film studies. The way teachers are treat us is so different from Slovakia.
Third week - eves
I don’t know about eves much but I know that they don’t have St. Nikolas day, no sweets for me. :(
by Tamara Salibová
Year 1, Issue 1