When the Road Doesn't Quite Lead Where You Expected...

Predjama Grad (Yes it's a castle in a cave!)

Last week I had my parents visiting me. We had a great time together getting to see lots of different parts of Slovenia. I really enjoyed introducing them to the country I love so much. I also enjoyed getting to see places I'd not been before such as the Postojna caves and the Predjama castle. They really are well worth a visit if you ever visit Slovenia.
Most importantly, they were able to come to my church and meet some of the people I work with. They were even invited along to the youth group on Friday evening where they were interviewed!

I'm sad that they're gone but I know it won't be too long before I see them again as I'll probably have a short break in England over the Christmas holidays. The only sad part of their time with me is that I managed to twist my knee getting up off the sofa to let them into my flat. It's not too bad but I just need to be careful with it.

I thought this week I would be starting to get into my new routine now that the term has started properly. I was all set to write about my experience at the language school where I was due to start this week. Unfortunately that experience was very short lived! I had paid for the course and filled in a written placement test. I arrived on Tuesday morning where I had the introduction before we were taken one by one for an oral test. After I had finished my test I went and had coffee with some of my new classmates. I began to get a bit worried at this point because we had been told there would be only two classes and everyone I spoke to were complete beginners. We had been told that we would find out what groups we would be placed in before class on Thursday so I arrived in plenty of time only to find that I wasn't in either group!

Basically I was way too advanced for the beginner class but the other group were nearly fluent and so there was nothing for my level. There had been a misunderstanding and I should have been emailed so I didn't turn up. I'm actually grateful I did go along though because I was able to get the contact details of someone I met on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll be able to keep in touch with her.

My walk from the bus stop

Fortunately I have already been in touch with my previous private tutor and I'll be starting lessons with her again next week. It's not quite what I expected but I'm sure I'll make quick progress with her. I've also been promised a refund from the language school. I guess I'll try there again next semester. Anyway, as I was leaving the school and starting to make my way home I was trying to sort all this out and wasn't really paying a huge amount of attention to the buses. To be fair, the bus I got on had the wrong destination on the front and so I thought it was going my way. It wasn't! The next thing I knew I was at the end of the line, the wrong end of the line. Due to my stubbornness and slight embarrassment I didn't want to just get back on the bus and go the opposite direction, instead I decided to walk to the next bus stop. Thirty minutes later I was slightly regretting my decision especially with my sore knee but it was a lovely day and I explored a part of Ljubljana I'd never been to before. It was also slightly surreal to be surrounded by fields in the middle of the city!

This week has been a learning experience for me. Even though things are not going as I planned, I know that God has a reason for it all happening this way. I just need to keep trusting him through these changes to my plan!