The days are still sticky and hot, solidly clinging to summer. Where I grew up with school days that sometimes started late from the cold, some school days here end early from heat. I’m glad we are not quite back to school as I write this because I’m not sleeping well; neither is our 5-year-old, who usually wakes up hot at some point and pads across the apartment to sleep the rest of the night in the big bed.
Our summer has been full. We sent three teachers and the church pastor’s family back to the US (which involved some apartment cleaning and preparation) and greeted a new pastor couple plus a new teacher and their spouse. Fresh from a course on teaching English, the new teacher needed less of an orientation than some, but orientation was a week to share Slovak specifics and get tapped into networks and resources, including time with colleagues and students, a brief introduction to the Slovak language, and a walking tour featuring communist history and architecture.
Teachers are back in school August 24, students September 4. The start of an academic or calendar year is always bittersweet. This year marks a dramatic shift – the longest-serving CETs at 12 and 13 years have now left the program and the English library at school will feel empty without the presence of its long-term librarian. In fact, my family becomes the longest-serving current CETs at 6 years. And yet…this year also brings the return of a dear friend, students I have missed now returning to my classroom, both children advancing a class in school, energetic newcomers, and always, always partners to share the experience.
A refrain through my time and how I frame orientation has been “remember your resources” – materials shared, the internet and AI tools, and most importantly, the community. Although the community is transient, its heart remains solid and genuine, with the mission of accompaniment readily present: mutuality, inclusivity, vulnerability, empowerment, and sustainability. As stated in an ELCA resource on accompaniment, “Accompaniment bears fruit when we truly walk the road together. The Accompaniment Values come into play when we have to make decisions, share resources, recognize expertise, tell stories, and build networks as we engage God’s mission.”
Thanks be to God!
Naomi (Sveom) and Nick Sveholm teach English at a bilingual high school in Bratislava, Slovakia with ELCA’s Central Europe Teachers program. CET posts twice a week at www.facebook.com/elcacet and www.instagram.com/elcacet