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Best and Worst : from the perspective of a spoiled American

A few things I love and hate about Prague (and hate is a strong word)

Love:
1) the people
2) the architecture
3) the nightlife
4) the beer
5) the beer gardens
6) runs on the river
7) the parks
8) the public transportation
9) teaching
10) the people

Hate:
1) the shopping (just no good)
2) lack of ice (better get used to this)
3) the food (I never want to see dairy, bread, or gravy again - guess I'm going to the right place)
4) lack of air conditioning (hate to say this but its humid as hell and I take 2 showers a day)
5) the service industry (they seriously just don't care- makes sense)

Time Flies

Since it’s been 2 weeks since I’ve last written, I will sum up some highlights of my time here. Two weekends ago we met a great group of expats at Zlute Lazne, a kind of man-made “beach” along the river. We were going to stop by and ended up staying all night. It was a night of drinks, dancing, bon-fires, and new friends.

Dan being burried in the Sand

Kate and I on the "beach"

The week after was spent in class, planning, and teaching in the evenings. The students are amazing and we’ve gotten to know them well through one-to-one lessons that we are required to complete for our certificates. I met with a University student and we worked on a little grammar and a lot of slang. I also met with an older gentleman who is trying to get a new job so we worked on interviewing. The TEFL class has definitely been more stressful than I thought it would be so many-a-night has ended with a couple pivos in local beer gardens.

We, of course, went out last Friday night, but the highlight of the weekend was definitely Saturday. A handful of us have taught an amazing mother and son and they invited us to their cottage for the day. Cottages are extremely common as travel outside the city used to be very restricted. We took the train to a small city about an hour outside of Prague. We spent the day outside, and took a long hike in the woods to look for mushrooms to gather. This is very common in CR but we were about a month early in the season and came back empty handed. We hung out the rest of the day, working on English, learning about each others' lives, and eating, eating, eating. We ended the evening roasting Czech sausages on the fire. I was so pleased to have this experience; a peak into the lives of the Czech people. They are warm and thoughtful and wonderful.

Our student Vlada and his Younger BrotherCzech Woods

The Boys

Iain and I Looking for Mushrooms

Our students, Vlada and Jitka

This week has been our last week of teaching and I’m so pleased to be done with the stress of lesson planning and being observed. I passed the dreaded grammar exam and tomorrow is our last official day of class. Wednesday night we had a celebration dinner with all of the TEFL teachers and students. It was great to hang with the students outside of the classroom. These people are amazing. They all have a drive to learn English, all for very different reasons.

This weekend is our last night Prague and I am getting extremely sad to leave the city and especially all of the amazing people I’ve met. It hasn’t hit me that I will be in China by Tuesday. The plan is to spend the weekend hanging out in the city and saying farewell to friends. Stay tuned for a recap.

Busy Girl

So I'm having a bit of trouble finding time to write lately. My days have been full and I've had little time for leisure and fun. Every day I wake up at 6ish and try to get a run in. I am in class all day and then have to teach all evening. 12 hour days are a bit painful, but I feel that I'm actually learning how to become a teacher. Not an easy task, I might add. Apparently, giving power point presentations with supporting data and analysis is not what English learners are looking for. I've realized my creative side has been somewhat suppressed over the last few years as a business student and analyst so I'm trying to free my mind a bit. This does not include the consumption of any hallucinogens.

Now for the fun stuff. Last week flew by and the weekend came quickly. Kari and did indeed party it up to celebrate.... life I guess. Friday afternoon was spent strolling around the city and taking in people, architecture, sounds and smells. We ended up with the entire TEFL class at a beer garden boasting a panoramic view of the city and cheap but tasty beer. This place is probably reason enough to move to Prague and stay forever. There are beer gardens all over Prague and they are so much fun. I'd like to come back to Minneapolis and open one in the Walker Sculpture Garden. Stay tuned.

Crazy TEFL class

My Teaching Group, Kelly and Steve

After sipping on a couple Pivos (beer) we headed to a pretty famous club called Cross Club. Cross Club is full of various moving mechanisms, flashing lights and the interior of whole club looks like some weird science fiction movie. We danced to Reggae and had a blast.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. I need some solid sleep and hope to run far and get more familiar with the city. It feels good to be here a second time. I don't feel extremely obligated to see the big tourist sights again so I can just hang out and absorb the city around me.

Language School and Hip Hop nights

Yesterday was the first official day of class. It is held at The Language House, a small, old building about 10 minutes from our hotel. There are 15 students in total, 1 from Canada, 2 from England, and the rest from the states. The students range from recent college grads, to married couples, to a guy in his late thirties looking for a change. It seems like a pretty good crew and I'm happy with the situation.

Class itself should be pretty challenging. Its been awhile since I've been a student so I'm definitely going to have to get back into study mode as you are not guaranteed a pass. The Language House is so reputable because it is challenging and they pack as much into 4 weeks as possible. In fact, I'll begin practicing teaching real students on Thursday! More to come on class.

So in the afternoon , we all took a tour of the city. It wasn't historical, more "here is where you mail a letter," however we did head up to the Prague castle and saw some beautiful sights. After a sweaty tour (its humid here and as a result, my hair is even more massive than usual), we all had a welcome dinner together which ended with a shot of Becherovka, a traditional Czech liquor. It was strong.

Prague Castle

Becherovka

So I'm sure you all know how obsessed I am with underground rap... or not. But a couple of fellow students from the East coast asked if Kari and I would cheer them on at a freestyle battle hosted down the block. Why not, right? Well we were definitely the only Americans in this hole-in-the-wall club. This was an experience. Crowded tables, smoky air, cheap beer, and an ongoing rap battle all night. All the guys rapped in Czech except for our 2 Americans, and they were all dressed like Kanye West. Kari saw that a rapper was wearing a Laker hat and tried to start up conversation. Well he didn't know anything about the Lakers. "I wear this for show." I love the honesty.

I felt a little out of my element to say the least, but we ended up having a blast. I talked to a very passionate young man (because he was one of few who spoke English) and he told me all about his quest to put Czech hip-hop on the map. Well good luck to you! The night ended pretty early and all I could think about was on my first true night out, I had a totally new and crazy experience. I'm hoping it's a good sign.

Exploration and Jet Lag

The marionettes welcome us

I want to be friends with the guy on the big chair

Yeah, I'll be here for a month

Traveling Companion

Well yesterday was our first full day in Prague. I didn't get to sleep until 5 am the night before so Kari and I both slept late and then began to explore our surroundings. We are a 15 minute walk to the very center of the city and we both had to pinch ourselves to fully realize where we are. It is a truly beautiful city.

After a few hours of being completely wowed by the buildings and winding streets, we had a few beers with a few Englishmen who asked if it got above freezing during the summer in Minnesota. I learned the word "tonk" (shit) as in "that was tonk." We taught them SOL (shit outta luck). It was a lovely exchange.

I thought that the strong and delicious Czech beer would sedate me enough to sleep through the night but I ended up awake from midnight until 5 am... again. However, rather that sleeping until noon, Kari and I got up right at 8 am... mainly so we wouldn't miss free breakfast again. We chowed down and then went for our first run in Prague.

Now, I grew up under the rule of Bonnie Erickson who maintains that the only true way to get to know a city is to run it. Its totally true. We made our way through the city and to the river. The surroundings were all extremely familiar from my last visit. I thought that I would really miss running the lakes in Minneapolis, however running the Vltava is a truly mind-blowing experience. I can't wait to run again tomorrow and hopefully most days in this fairytale-like city. Kari and I also got a little more comfortable with our surroundings. So mom, you'll be glad to know that as usual you were correct. Lets hope Dalian is as runner-friendly.

Arrival

After 21 hours of travel, I find myself laying in clean sheets with my computer in front of me. I have made it to Prague with my traveling companion Kari and yet I don't think it's hit either of us that we are about to embark on a crazy adventure and won't see the U.S. for almost a year. We have come to Prague to get our TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) certification before we head off to Dalian, China to begin our jobs as English teachers at a university for a school year. Everything has gone to plan thus far, however I'm wondering when the freak-out session will occur.

I have yet to reflect on how much has changed since six months ago. I have yet to get neervous that I have no idea where I am in Prague. I have yet to really consider how painful it will be to not see my family and friends for such an extended period of time. I have yet to really wonder how difficult it will be to try and learn an extremely difficult language from scratch. I am literally planning on taking the experience one day at a time but know in the back of my head that this will be the most overwhelming year of my life in terms of experience and emotion.

Kari and I had a long trip but nerves about losing luggage and getting lost were put at ease. We were picked up from the airport and brought directly to our hotel. The hotel is a lot smaller than the pictures portrayed but will do just fine for the month. It is close to our school and provides clean linens and wireless internet. That's pretty much all a girl can ask for. After an extended nap, we set out to find some dinner as we hadn't eaten since the crusty croissant on the plane earlier in the morning. Having no gauge for where we are in Prague we found a small basement restaurant a few blocks away with English translation on the menu. We were the only patrons in the restaurant and dined on salad, salmon risotto and fish. The carbs sedated us just enough to decide to head directly back to the hotel to try and get on Czech time. School starts on Monday so we have the entire weekend to get acclimated to the city. As I get ready for a hopefully sound sleep, I can't help but wonder when the full force of all of this will hit me.

Packing for a year = fun fun fun

Last pic with the crew in its entirety

Bye to my cousin... thanks for the ride!