Into the world came a new feeling

Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:40 EST (UTC -5)

After sending my last post through the tubes, I went to see Gerda Disappeared, a recent video adaptation of Claude Piron's classic adventure that starts with simple words and gets more complex with each chapter. Apparently my new friend Katja had tipped off the organizers of the Summer Esperanto Study that it was my birthday, so they presented me with a T-shirt and a round of applause. I was glad to get the T-shirt for free because I almost bought it in the bookshop earlier that day. The video was unbearably long and stupendously cheesy, but it would probably be useful for beginners.

Katja's and my rooms were next to each other, and they had a common balcony. Katja had been saying throughout the day that she wanted to spend some time there. After the video, it was late, so we made our way upstairs. She borrowed a lighter from someone, but it wasn't for smoking. She had candles.

We took a couple of chairs out to the balcony. Katja set the candles on a sort of ashtray-like thing that looked like a table. She also brought out juice and cookies. Her roommate joined us for some food and drink but then went to bed.

It was late; it was dark and quiet. Stars twinkled above the darkened trees. The city lights of Modra flickered in the distance. Further away shone Bratislava. All was calm around us. Silence... then, magic. It was the best birthday present.

On Tuesday, we went on an excursion to a castle called Smolenice. Castles are usually old, but this one was mostly from the 20th century. We actually didn't get to see very much of it because it's apparently used as the headquarters of some scientific organization. The highlight was going up to the tower and seeing the town all around.

For the second part of the excursion, we went to a cave called Driny. We had to walk through the woods a bit to get there, but it was worth it. The cave was cool... literally!!! It looked a bit like every other cave I've been to, but that was all right because I enjoy chillin' with stalactites and stalagmites (or 'tites and 'mites if you want to sound hip). I didn't take too many pictures inside the cave because the tour guide said we would have to pay for the privilege. Lame.

On Wednesday, I didn't go to class in the morning because I wanted to sleep in. I needed to pay for upcoming excursions, but I didn't have much cash handy. After dinner, Katja and I took a walk into town, which took about 45 minutes. As we reached the town square, it was getting very dark, and I realized why. There was a huge storm coming.

After I got some money from an ATM, we bought some ice cream. Then it started to rain, so we took refuge in a bus shelter. Well, Katja didn't mind the rain, but I did. I was worried that we would be stranded. So

awweee jordan did u kiss in the rain??? No. Don't interrupt me.

So I decided to start looking for a bus that could whisk us away. Actually, Katja didn't want to get on the buses that passed by because she was enjoying the show. There was some lightning and a little rain. Then, as the clock tower chimed, all the lights went out everywhere. They came back on eventually, and the storm subsided. We decided to walk back.

There were street lights along much of the road but not all of it. At one point we were going uphill with no lights. I could hardly see. It felt like something out of a dream. Once we were almost there, it started raining again. I went to bed not long after that.

On Thursday, we went on an excursion to a castle called Devin. This one was on the outskirts of Bratislava, at the confluence of the Danube and some other river. (I don't have much online time, so I can't do fact checking, okay?) It actually was a genuinely old castle that was largely destroyed by Napoleon (the rascal) and not rebuilt.

After the castle, we checked out the old part of the city, which was situated on the blue Danube.

There were lots of narrow and/or pedestrian streets. The main landmark was a church.

It was nice to walk around, but it was also a little tiring, especially because we had to wait a while for our bus to come back.

That evening was International Evening, where participants could share details their respective cultures. It was essentially an informal talent show with mostly musical acts. Andy gave a piano accompaniment for some guy on a traditional song from somewhere, and then, to represent our dear United States, he did a jazz number on his own. The evening went on for quite a while, so Katja and I left early.

On Friday, there was an all-day excursion to Vienna. It was also Katja's last day (she had to take a train from Vienna), so we wanted to make it a good one.

The highlight of the morning was our trip to the Esperanto Museum, which I totally didn't know existed.

It showcased a small part of the Austrian National Library's collection on Esperanto and other constructed languages. Besides interactive exhibits about the history and structure of the language, there were old posters for Esperanto congresses, copies of the book that introduced Esperanto to the world, and some products with Esperanto names. (Ever heard of Movado watches? The name is Esperanto for "movement"—i.e., the Esperanto movement—and about half of their models still have Esperanto names.)

The museum, while tiny, doesn't treat Esperanto as a curiosity; it keeps Esperanto-speaking visitors in mind. The text accompanying the exhibits was in German, Esperanto, and English; brochures were available in Esperanto; and one of the guys who worked there spoke to us in Esperanto.

Since we couldn't all fit in the Esperanto Museum at once, half of the group went upstairs to the Globe Museum, which was larger and actually kind of interesting.

After a cafeteria-type lunch at some cafeteria-type restaurant, Katja and I split from the group (don't worry, it was okay) so we could do some stuff on our own. First, she needed to go to the train station to get her tickets out of town. Then we were pretty much free to wander around for a couple of hours. We went to the park at City Hall, where I had enjoyed Indian food and beer with Andy and his relative a week before. After that, we strolled back toward Schwedenplatz, where the bus would be waiting.

We arrived there early, so we had enough time to kiss on the banks of the Danube. Then we went to the bus so Katja could get her things and we could say goodbye with one last kiss. Just like that, my week-long dream was over. The ride back to Slovakia was quiet.

That evening, the Summer Esperanto Study came to an official end. We sat in the candlelit cafeteria and sang some songs. Afterward, there was some crazy fun and dancing, but I went to bed early again. I had had some long days.

On Saturday, the people who were left said their goodbyes, and the lucky few of us who were going to the 65th International Youth Congress of Esperanto (IJK) hopped into their cars or a chartered van. Six hours later, we were in the city of Liberec, which, while in the Czech Republic, is not near Prague, which you're going to tell me is a wonderful city.

At the IJK, Andy and I met up with Matthieu, who we stayed with while we were in Paris. Then we went to get dinner. During the meal, I realized that this was a high-profile Esperanto event and wondered which famous names might be there. Just then, a man came to our table and greeted us in English and then in Esperanto. I didn't recognize him, but he introduced himself as Chuck Smith. I was ecstatic; he's perhaps best known as the founder of the Esperanto Wikipedia. He said he had read my blog post about my visit to Croatia and was looking forward to getting to know us.

At the official opening of the IJK, a local choir sang some traditional songs, including some in Esperanto (for which they had to read the words).

There were also a lot of opening remarks by various people in charge of the event. The theme of this year's IJK is freedom (liberec' happens to be the Esperanto word for freedom), and the fact that we were in a formerly authoritarian country did not go unnoticed. (Ironically, at least to me, next year's IJK will be in Cuba.)

It was late, so I decided to get the key for our room. But it turned out that Andy and I weren't assigned to the same room even though we requested it. I was a bit peeved at first, but then I came around to the idea that maybe we should start seeing other people. So after spending some time in the 8th-floor bar drinking unbelievably cheap but good Czech beer with SES friends, I went to meet my roommate and hit the hay.

On Sunday, I woke up and decided that the morning program didn't look very interesting. Not having Internet access, I, um, wrote most of this. (How meta.) After lunch, Andy and I attended a course on how to teach Esperanto. Since we spent the last school year teaching Esperanto for our club, I thought it would be a good idea to learn how it should really be done. The lecture lasted three hours, but it's only the beginning. Using what we've learned, we have to design a lesson plan and teach a group of beginners.

After that, I attended a lecture in keeping with the theme of freedom; it was about OpenStreetMap, which I might just start using now.

In the evening, a local band played a show in a club-like place that's right nearby on the grounds of this university or wherever we are. I got a cheap beer and enjoyed an hour of loud rock 'n' roll (probably in Czech, but who could tell?). They did say "hello," "thank you," and "goodbye" in Esperanto.

After that, they finally got Internet access working in the lobby of our building, but my computer lost the connection and couldn't find it again, even after rebooting.

This morning, I attended lectures on the following subjects: farming and all the doom and gloom that go with that subject, the Esperanto movement in Africa, and a new news site in Esperanto. After lunch, I decided to chill and write, um, the rest of this.

Someone I met yesterday told me it was strange that Esperanto was "only" my second language (rather than, say, my third or fourth). I knew that Esperantists tend to be interested in learning languages (or, to put it humorously, Esperantists are the people who need Esperanto the least), but I had no idea how right she was. There's an event going on right now where people chat with each other, but they're not allowed to use Esperanto or their native languages. I can't participate unless I want to trot out a little stutterin' high school Spanish. ¡Qué va!

Tomorrow is the big excursion day. I'm going on the all-day excursion to Prague, which I've heard is a wonderful city from just about everyone I've ever met. Don't disappoint me, Prague!