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.