Friday, November 11, 2011
11/11/11
One year ago today I landed in Prague. Oh the things that I've done in this one year. Probably the biggest "anniversary" I've ever had.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Yay for Czechs and all their state holidays! Everybody had Friday off and I took an early morning train to the smaller town of Cesky Krumlov with the gentleman of interest. I've been meaning to go for a long time since I've heard so much about it. It's really really pretty and small and easy to get around and touristy but not too touristy. I think it was a good time of year to go. Not too many people but still lots of languages heard out and about. We just saw the sights, ate food, skipped rocks on the river, chilled in a chill tea shop, went through a mirror maze, etc.
Came back to a friend having a friend in town. We took her out. And out, and out, and out, and I went to bed unreasonably late. Still, fun. Sunday was quite lazy, the extra hour was appreciated.
Classes as usual but the current big news is me moving! I wasn't even looking that hard but happened to come across a nicer, less expensive place with fewer roommates. It's a little further away from most of my friends' places, but then nothing is that far away in Prague. Still just a tram ride away, and it's going to be freezing soon anyway. I was wanting a bit of a change, though moving has been stressful. I was told once or twice yesterday that I was in a weird mood. All is well now though. I'm even using the internet with wifi, moving on up!
Came back to a friend having a friend in town. We took her out. And out, and out, and out, and I went to bed unreasonably late. Still, fun. Sunday was quite lazy, the extra hour was appreciated.
Classes as usual but the current big news is me moving! I wasn't even looking that hard but happened to come across a nicer, less expensive place with fewer roommates. It's a little further away from most of my friends' places, but then nothing is that far away in Prague. Still just a tram ride away, and it's going to be freezing soon anyway. I was wanting a bit of a change, though moving has been stressful. I was told once or twice yesterday that I was in a weird mood. All is well now though. I'm even using the internet with wifi, moving on up!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
It amazes me sometimes how I can learn about a band, look them up, download an album, and put it on my iPod to take around town with me the next day.
But that's not what I'm talking about today. Today I'm talking about my favorite Australian's birthday that was on Friday! Finnish Friend recently moved apartments and discovered an amazing steak house nearby. It's amazing because for some reason it's hard to get good beef in Prague. There's some good burger joints but nothing just awesome. These steaks though, it was incredible. So obviously they can get/make good beef here, they just don't seem to know how. And it was for a good price!
We then went to a club that J likes. Unfortunately and atypically they were charging a cover. I don't go to enough clubs to know what kind of places charge and how much but apparently it was an outrage. So we went across the street. Where we also had to pay a cover there (what is the world/Vinohrady coming to?!) but it was less and came with a free drink. We chatted, we danced, we drank wine, we stayed out way too late. To a point where I figured we should just stay out later and watch the sun rise over the Vltava like wild beautiful things but I was told it was too cold and got dragged home. Lame.
But J said it was the best birthday ever and for that I am glad. Just hung around on Saturday, got coffee and ice cream with a friend. Today has been relaxed as well. Went to J's with A to hear him play a lot of music he's been working on and gave our opinions. Tomorrow brings an early, most likely cold morning.
But that's not what I'm talking about today. Today I'm talking about my favorite Australian's birthday that was on Friday! Finnish Friend recently moved apartments and discovered an amazing steak house nearby. It's amazing because for some reason it's hard to get good beef in Prague. There's some good burger joints but nothing just awesome. These steaks though, it was incredible. So obviously they can get/make good beef here, they just don't seem to know how. And it was for a good price!
We then went to a club that J likes. Unfortunately and atypically they were charging a cover. I don't go to enough clubs to know what kind of places charge and how much but apparently it was an outrage. So we went across the street. Where we also had to pay a cover there (what is the world/Vinohrady coming to?!) but it was less and came with a free drink. We chatted, we danced, we drank wine, we stayed out way too late. To a point where I figured we should just stay out later and watch the sun rise over the Vltava like wild beautiful things but I was told it was too cold and got dragged home. Lame.
But J said it was the best birthday ever and for that I am glad. Just hung around on Saturday, got coffee and ice cream with a friend. Today has been relaxed as well. Went to J's with A to hear him play a lot of music he's been working on and gave our opinions. Tomorrow brings an early, most likely cold morning.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Mama I'm comming hoooommmeee!
Busting out the Ozzy title since yes, I'm going home in December! For Christmas! And food and family and animals and driving my truck! Huzzah! I'm getting really excited. Christmas here last year wasn't really Christmas. It was cold and depressing and while I did hang out with a lot of people it wound up not being very fun at all. Although I did make a few really good friends out of that lame party.
The city is getting colder! Last winter was brutal but I feel more prepared this time. I didn't know what to expect. Now I do, and I'm equipped. With better cold-facing clothes. And like, a job to keep me busy during the cold, short, dark days. And more friends, those will help too.
Got together with what is left of my TEFL class last night. One of them is leaving soon. And then there will be three. It was good to see them, it had been a while.
Today is Friday! Only one class and a substitution today. Last weekend I had two friends with birthday parties which meant late nights and late mornings (afternoons) and short days with 0 productivity. Not this weekend though! Me and the boy and Canadian friend are going boozeless! I've brainstormed many ideas of things to do/accomplish. And downloaded a few movies in case the weather gets particularly bad. I think it should be cold but nice though.
The city is getting colder! Last winter was brutal but I feel more prepared this time. I didn't know what to expect. Now I do, and I'm equipped. With better cold-facing clothes. And like, a job to keep me busy during the cold, short, dark days. And more friends, those will help too.
Got together with what is left of my TEFL class last night. One of them is leaving soon. And then there will be three. It was good to see them, it had been a while.
Today is Friday! Only one class and a substitution today. Last weekend I had two friends with birthday parties which meant late nights and late mornings (afternoons) and short days with 0 productivity. Not this weekend though! Me and the boy and Canadian friend are going boozeless! I've brainstormed many ideas of things to do/accomplish. And downloaded a few movies in case the weather gets particularly bad. I think it should be cold but nice though.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Life Plan, 2012!
Time be creeping like a shady hobo at Hlavni Nadrazi. We're already into October. The fall weather here is BEAUTIFUL. Love it. (Not "loving it" because you can't use the continuous form with state-verbs.) It'll be cold soon but I'm ready this time.
There's people in Prague moving on and sticking around. I think I might be one to stick a bit longer. When I started the TEFL thing I originally wanted to end up somewhere that speaks Spanish. Been doing a lot of research lately and Chile seems like the place. There's a school there I've been in contact with but the job would either start in January (too soon!) or August (quite far away!). I've got a place, a job, and friends here so I don't think I mind sticking around until next summer, then going home, then possibly doing Chile.
ANYwho, still lots of thinking to do. Last weekend I went to a live gig with J the Aussie. His work friend was the drummer and they were really good! The band after them was a fun Ska group that I actually really liked. We wound up going to a dance club which is actually not a terribly place. No cover, reasonably priced drinks, no weird looks when you dance like a moron. Canadian C's little brother was in town so Saturday we took him around to see the sights. Pretty fun weekend in the Prague. Tomorrow is Boston friends' 30th. He's a bit of a wild card, should be interesting.
Teaching-wise things are going well. I really enjoy it for the most part and have found my groove. Been substituting a bit lately too to make the extra bucks. ....Crowns.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sunday night.
Falling behind again!
Things are quite normal after the trip to the Balkans. Back to work, back hanging out with the regular crew, back to checking out the cool stuff going on in the city and whatnot.
Last week/weekend was all about Burcak to celebrate the beginning of wine-season. It's basically wine that isn't fermented yet. It still tastes a bit like wine but much sweeter and less alcoholic. There were festivals all over town in the parks and squares. Booths with stuff for sale, games/rides for kids, live music, etc. I also helped Finnish Friend move into his new place with a few others. He gave us free pizza!
This week was quite eventful, but it didn't really need to be. I happened to be out doing something with people for four nights in a row. General hanging out, friends' friends in town, going away/graduation party, trying to enjoy the last days in the beer garden fun. Last night was a quite night in with a depressing movie. Aaah.
Also, I have a new roommate. There's four of us again. She's British and very sweet. I think we've got the best dynamic we've had so far in this place. Never been too close to any of my roommates here but we all get along which is great.
Monday tomorrow. The weather should be nice this week, but alas, winter is coming.
Things are quite normal after the trip to the Balkans. Back to work, back hanging out with the regular crew, back to checking out the cool stuff going on in the city and whatnot.
Last week/weekend was all about Burcak to celebrate the beginning of wine-season. It's basically wine that isn't fermented yet. It still tastes a bit like wine but much sweeter and less alcoholic. There were festivals all over town in the parks and squares. Booths with stuff for sale, games/rides for kids, live music, etc. I also helped Finnish Friend move into his new place with a few others. He gave us free pizza!
This week was quite eventful, but it didn't really need to be. I happened to be out doing something with people for four nights in a row. General hanging out, friends' friends in town, going away/graduation party, trying to enjoy the last days in the beer garden fun. Last night was a quite night in with a depressing movie. Aaah.
Also, I have a new roommate. There's four of us again. She's British and very sweet. I think we've got the best dynamic we've had so far in this place. Never been too close to any of my roommates here but we all get along which is great.
Monday tomorrow. The weather should be nice this week, but alas, winter is coming.
Monday, September 19, 2011
The Amazing Balkans Roadtrip That Can't Be Beat!
Time to get on the ball and talk about the Balkans trip!
The locations: Serbia. Macedonia. Albania. Montenegro. Bosnia. (Drove through Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria.)
The participants: Myself. A, British. J, Aussie. B, Floridian. K from South Carolina joined us in Bosnia for the last weekend.
The ride: Trusty red Honda hybrid.
The tunes: Just about everything. (We drove a lot.)
We took off on Tuesday the 30th. We'd all been to Budapest so we just stopped for lunch in a smaller Hungarian town and took a look around at the cute stuff to see. Drove all the way to Belgrade and stayed in a very nice hostel. Had a four bed dorm all to ourselves. There was a really nice bathroom, kitchen, and garden area to sit and visit and hang out. Belgrade is a strange city. It has all the new world feel of a McDonalds on the corner and all the old world war-torn feel of bombed out buildings just sitting there doing nothing. They've brought in the new but haven't cleaned up the old. It gave it an eerie feel. We enjoyed a couple of days there though. Walked along the river, went to the semi-famous ? cafe, sampled the beer, and hung out in markets and cool center streets. The most interesting thing was St. Sava Cathedral. It's the largest Orthodox cathedral in the Balkans and one of the largest in the world. And it isn't done yet. Before leaving we hung out on a small lake with a rocky beach. I did some swimming and sunning.
Moved on to Macedonia and stayed with B's friend in Skopje, the capital. She lived in a nicer area than what drove through to get there. Lots of shanty-town-esque houses and gypsies out and about. People cleaning car windows for money and little kids carrying babies around. The first real feel of Eastern European Adventure Time. It helped that everything there is in cyrillic so it's hard to read street signs...if you can find any. Anyway, her family was very hospitable, but her parents didn't speak English. Her father gave us homemade rakia (local liquor) and advice on what to do in town. There happened to be a Beerfest though, so guess where we went! Lots of different kinds of beer to try, lots of people, and a crappy Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band to jam to. Fun stuff.
The next day we saw a bit more of the city center and said our goodbyes and moved on to Lake Ohrid. A touristy, but really beautiful lakeside town from which you can see Albania across the lake! Our hostel was more like a mom and pop bed and breakfast (minus breakfast). There was a cool old center with an ancient theater and lots of churches. We basically hung out on the lake for two days. SUNBURN. I still have flakes of skin making a break for it after that one.
Into Albania! I'm so glad I wasn't driving. And that my mother couldn't see the roads we were driving on into/over the mountains. Thin, windy, not always guard-rails, cows randomly filling up the road. etc. There were some really beautiful, mountainous views though. Tirana happened to be a happening city though. Lots of cocktail bars and markets and a little kid carnival, etc. Albanians are extremely friendly and they love Americans. American flags all over the place, excitement when me and B told people where we were from. Unfortunately the city center was basically under construction, so no hanging out in the square.
Then we moved on to Montenegro. BEACHES!!! We found a great hostel with a big common area and patio. Aussies galore! J usually says how Aussies are everywhere but we hadn't run into any up until this point. There was a married couple, two sisters, a guy on his own, and a girl with her American boyfriend. A couple of Germans were there too. The guys who ran the place were very cool and friendly as well, and had obviously worked hard to make it a cool place. Music played all the time, books on shelves, a big equipped kitchen, two computers with internet, etc. We wound up staying there two nights. Basically just hung out on the beach and explored the town a bit. Moved north to another small beach town and stayed in a cheap but decent hotel for one night.
Bosnia! The drive into Bosnia was really incredible. We basically drove alongside a mountain next to a huge glacial lake below us. It was bright blue and dammed off (is that even a word/phrasal verb?) at the end of it. Looking across the lake you could see caves in the mountain side. Really beautiful and scenic. We stopped in Sarajevo for a few hours to look around. I wish we'd stayed longer it was so cool! Lots of markets and people and things to do. Once again, it's a little weird with the old signs of war still around. Bullet holes and much bigger cannon blasts in the sides of buildings can still be seen. They call them Sarajevo roses. Then onto Bana Luca where our friend S lives. His parents were also very hospitable and his mother cooked for us. He took us around the town and one night there was an outdoor concert at the fortress. Apparently it was Yugoslavia's first rock group and they'd been around since the '60's. Even though we couldn't understand the words, they were really good and everybody around was singing along. We stayed at his for three nights and mostly took it easy. (It was nice having an Eastern European Maminka cooking for us.) Sunday we drove all the way to Prague. Pretty uneventful but it went smoothly.
It was a great trip, but I think any longer than two weeks would have been too much. It felt like forever since we'd started out until the end of it. It was nice to be out of Prague for a while though, and spend time with my friends. And especially see new places I probably never would have thought to go to before. (Occasionally we'd say something like "Guys, we're in Albania....Why are we in Albania?!"
The locations: Serbia. Macedonia. Albania. Montenegro. Bosnia. (Drove through Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria.)
The participants: Myself. A, British. J, Aussie. B, Floridian. K from South Carolina joined us in Bosnia for the last weekend.
The ride: Trusty red Honda hybrid.
The tunes: Just about everything. (We drove a lot.)
We took off on Tuesday the 30th. We'd all been to Budapest so we just stopped for lunch in a smaller Hungarian town and took a look around at the cute stuff to see. Drove all the way to Belgrade and stayed in a very nice hostel. Had a four bed dorm all to ourselves. There was a really nice bathroom, kitchen, and garden area to sit and visit and hang out. Belgrade is a strange city. It has all the new world feel of a McDonalds on the corner and all the old world war-torn feel of bombed out buildings just sitting there doing nothing. They've brought in the new but haven't cleaned up the old. It gave it an eerie feel. We enjoyed a couple of days there though. Walked along the river, went to the semi-famous ? cafe, sampled the beer, and hung out in markets and cool center streets. The most interesting thing was St. Sava Cathedral. It's the largest Orthodox cathedral in the Balkans and one of the largest in the world. And it isn't done yet. Before leaving we hung out on a small lake with a rocky beach. I did some swimming and sunning.
Moved on to Macedonia and stayed with B's friend in Skopje, the capital. She lived in a nicer area than what drove through to get there. Lots of shanty-town-esque houses and gypsies out and about. People cleaning car windows for money and little kids carrying babies around. The first real feel of Eastern European Adventure Time. It helped that everything there is in cyrillic so it's hard to read street signs...if you can find any. Anyway, her family was very hospitable, but her parents didn't speak English. Her father gave us homemade rakia (local liquor) and advice on what to do in town. There happened to be a Beerfest though, so guess where we went! Lots of different kinds of beer to try, lots of people, and a crappy Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band to jam to. Fun stuff.
The next day we saw a bit more of the city center and said our goodbyes and moved on to Lake Ohrid. A touristy, but really beautiful lakeside town from which you can see Albania across the lake! Our hostel was more like a mom and pop bed and breakfast (minus breakfast). There was a cool old center with an ancient theater and lots of churches. We basically hung out on the lake for two days. SUNBURN. I still have flakes of skin making a break for it after that one.
Into Albania! I'm so glad I wasn't driving. And that my mother couldn't see the roads we were driving on into/over the mountains. Thin, windy, not always guard-rails, cows randomly filling up the road. etc. There were some really beautiful, mountainous views though. Tirana happened to be a happening city though. Lots of cocktail bars and markets and a little kid carnival, etc. Albanians are extremely friendly and they love Americans. American flags all over the place, excitement when me and B told people where we were from. Unfortunately the city center was basically under construction, so no hanging out in the square.
Then we moved on to Montenegro. BEACHES!!! We found a great hostel with a big common area and patio. Aussies galore! J usually says how Aussies are everywhere but we hadn't run into any up until this point. There was a married couple, two sisters, a guy on his own, and a girl with her American boyfriend. A couple of Germans were there too. The guys who ran the place were very cool and friendly as well, and had obviously worked hard to make it a cool place. Music played all the time, books on shelves, a big equipped kitchen, two computers with internet, etc. We wound up staying there two nights. Basically just hung out on the beach and explored the town a bit. Moved north to another small beach town and stayed in a cheap but decent hotel for one night.
Bosnia! The drive into Bosnia was really incredible. We basically drove alongside a mountain next to a huge glacial lake below us. It was bright blue and dammed off (is that even a word/phrasal verb?) at the end of it. Looking across the lake you could see caves in the mountain side. Really beautiful and scenic. We stopped in Sarajevo for a few hours to look around. I wish we'd stayed longer it was so cool! Lots of markets and people and things to do. Once again, it's a little weird with the old signs of war still around. Bullet holes and much bigger cannon blasts in the sides of buildings can still be seen. They call them Sarajevo roses. Then onto Bana Luca where our friend S lives. His parents were also very hospitable and his mother cooked for us. He took us around the town and one night there was an outdoor concert at the fortress. Apparently it was Yugoslavia's first rock group and they'd been around since the '60's. Even though we couldn't understand the words, they were really good and everybody around was singing along. We stayed at his for three nights and mostly took it easy. (It was nice having an Eastern European Maminka cooking for us.) Sunday we drove all the way to Prague. Pretty uneventful but it went smoothly.
It was a great trip, but I think any longer than two weeks would have been too much. It felt like forever since we'd started out until the end of it. It was nice to be out of Prague for a while though, and spend time with my friends. And especially see new places I probably never would have thought to go to before. (Occasionally we'd say something like "Guys, we're in Albania....Why are we in Albania?!"
Sunday, August 28, 2011
It's time for a road trip!!!
To the Balkans! To sun, and beaches, and mountains, and treacherous roads, and hostels, and road music and road food! With my boo and two of our besties! For two weeks!
Waking up early tomorrow morning, packing up the car, and hitting the road for Belgrade. There's some small places here and there I think we'll stop at to look around or eat so it'll be a pretty chill drive, albeit long. B is pretty much the picture taker extraordinaire, documenting all semi important events, but I'll try to take a lot as well.
Update in a couple of weeks! Watch this film while I'm gone.
Waking up early tomorrow morning, packing up the car, and hitting the road for Belgrade. There's some small places here and there I think we'll stop at to look around or eat so it'll be a pretty chill drive, albeit long. B is pretty much the picture taker extraordinaire, documenting all semi important events, but I'll try to take a lot as well.
Update in a couple of weeks! Watch this film while I'm gone.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Nudity!
It totally makes sense to have the nude section of the lake earlier on the trail than the regular people section of the lake right? Thought so. Europe, the things I've seen.
One of the first people I met here is heading home later this week. Back to Texas actually. The weekend was much about her trying to see as many people as she could for goodbye festivities. I didn't make the fun on Friday because of the craziest weather ever. It was a cycle of storms and beautiful clear skies all day long. Did get some pre-production on a short film idea done though.
Surprisingly woke up at a decent hour on Saturday and went to a lake (see above) in a nice natural park a little ways outside of the city. Lots of sun and water and beer and games on the grass (beach). Good to spend time with the Texas girl before seeing her off. Went to the beer garden in the evening and almost everybody I know in Prague was there.
Lazy Sunday so far, just cleaning up my room and doing laundry and getting ready for classes this coming week. Going to a restaurant called Cantina tonight for food and fun with the gang. Haven't been there since The Amazing Jicin Adventure when we got stuck in the snow and needed the warmth of the place. Should be fun!
It's been a good one! Had a not so great week at work. Not so much with teaching as stuff with my school. I like teaching, I like having a job, but the school I work for isn't just stellar. It has lots of good points but lots of room for improvement as well. If I was going to stay longer I'd probably look for a different school but it's fine for now.
One of the first people I met here is heading home later this week. Back to Texas actually. The weekend was much about her trying to see as many people as she could for goodbye festivities. I didn't make the fun on Friday because of the craziest weather ever. It was a cycle of storms and beautiful clear skies all day long. Did get some pre-production on a short film idea done though.
Surprisingly woke up at a decent hour on Saturday and went to a lake (see above) in a nice natural park a little ways outside of the city. Lots of sun and water and beer and games on the grass (beach). Good to spend time with the Texas girl before seeing her off. Went to the beer garden in the evening and almost everybody I know in Prague was there.
Lazy Sunday so far, just cleaning up my room and doing laundry and getting ready for classes this coming week. Going to a restaurant called Cantina tonight for food and fun with the gang. Haven't been there since The Amazing Jicin Adventure when we got stuck in the snow and needed the warmth of the place. Should be fun!
It's been a good one! Had a not so great week at work. Not so much with teaching as stuff with my school. I like teaching, I like having a job, but the school I work for isn't just stellar. It has lots of good points but lots of room for improvement as well. If I was going to stay longer I'd probably look for a different school but it's fine for now.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Get used to it, Klaus!
We finally had a couple of mostly-sunny if super humid days this weekend! A bit of rain Saturday morning but then sunshine the rest of the time. Until this second at least, I hear it raining outside!
Went to my first gay pride parade (Prague Pride!) on Saturday. It was fun stuff but I kind of expected (and hoped for) more....gayness. No Dr. Frankenfurter-esque outfits that I could see. Mostly just people marching and waving rainbow flags and holding signs. A lot of which made fun of Mr. President of the CR. He had some things to say about the ordeal and even more to say about the mayor of Prague who totally supported the week of events. There were cops everywhere, and while there was a skinhead spotting here and there I don't think there were any altercations.
Also played some pool and did the whole fun with Youtube routine with several people. It's amazing how long that can go on, and how funny it can be.
Laid back Sunday, just cleaned the flat since the owners were busy on Friday when I usually do it. A bit of money in my pocket until I get paid this week! I'm watching the funds closer and closer since classes have slowed down. :P Early morning tomorrow but I'm kind of looking foward to the week. Seems like I've had the Sunday evening blues for a while but they must be bothering somebody else right now.
Also, been here nine months! Woooo!
Went to my first gay pride parade (Prague Pride!) on Saturday. It was fun stuff but I kind of expected (and hoped for) more....gayness. No Dr. Frankenfurter-esque outfits that I could see. Mostly just people marching and waving rainbow flags and holding signs. A lot of which made fun of Mr. President of the CR. He had some things to say about the ordeal and even more to say about the mayor of Prague who totally supported the week of events. There were cops everywhere, and while there was a skinhead spotting here and there I don't think there were any altercations.
Also played some pool and did the whole fun with Youtube routine with several people. It's amazing how long that can go on, and how funny it can be.
Laid back Sunday, just cleaned the flat since the owners were busy on Friday when I usually do it. A bit of money in my pocket until I get paid this week! I'm watching the funds closer and closer since classes have slowed down. :P Early morning tomorrow but I'm kind of looking foward to the week. Seems like I've had the Sunday evening blues for a while but they must be bothering somebody else right now.
Also, been here nine months! Woooo!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Quiz Pro Quo, taking care of quizness.
I don't think I left a square mile vicinity for most of this weekend.
Saw Captian America on Friday. Wooo! Chris Evans! America! Things blowing up! Howard Stark! Killin' Nazis! Chris Evans! Red lipstick! Chris Evans! Trailer for The Avengers at the end!!!
Helped a friend move on Saturday. Now if I moved flats it would take a couple of hours, mostly travel time, and a few bags of clothes and stuff. Apparently Finnish Friend inherited tons of furniture from his last roommates. They hired a truck, it took hours, we cooked a huge chicken dinner and went straight to the beer garden afterwards. It was actually really fun. There were no plans for the day and lots of people were there, so it was kind of just a nice party with some manual labor on the side.
Sunday I rearranged my room and went to the monthly pub quiz. We dominated. Our team of five nationalities is such a rich combination of culture and knowledge. I was happy to win but even happier that it was fun. The last time the regular Quizmistress was on vacation and one of the bartenders took over. He made it way too hard and obscure though. It should be difficult, but enjoyable. So yeah. 500 Crown prize which nearly paid off our tab. J was a generous soul and picked up the extra 33.
Saw Captian America on Friday. Wooo! Chris Evans! America! Things blowing up! Howard Stark! Killin' Nazis! Chris Evans! Red lipstick! Chris Evans! Trailer for The Avengers at the end!!!
Helped a friend move on Saturday. Now if I moved flats it would take a couple of hours, mostly travel time, and a few bags of clothes and stuff. Apparently Finnish Friend inherited tons of furniture from his last roommates. They hired a truck, it took hours, we cooked a huge chicken dinner and went straight to the beer garden afterwards. It was actually really fun. There were no plans for the day and lots of people were there, so it was kind of just a nice party with some manual labor on the side.
Sunday I rearranged my room and went to the monthly pub quiz. We dominated. Our team of five nationalities is such a rich combination of culture and knowledge. I was happy to win but even happier that it was fun. The last time the regular Quizmistress was on vacation and one of the bartenders took over. He made it way too hard and obscure though. It should be difficult, but enjoyable. So yeah. 500 Crown prize which nearly paid off our tab. J was a generous soul and picked up the extra 33.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
No Class Wednesday sounds like a band name.
The work is pretty slow these days. Enjoying the break but I think it'll be both difficult and good to get back in the swing of things once more classes to pick up roll around. 4 Class Tuesdays keep me on my feet, but there's a nice break of No Class Wednesdays right after. Yesterday was the nicest day we've had in a while too so I made sure to get some sun. Way too much rain and cold for summer so far. :P
I may have another vacation coming up too. To the Balkans! Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia! There was a fun burger night this weekend in order to plan the trip. "Plan" here means look at a map to see exactly where stuff is, and guesstimate gas-mileage. As for what we're doing yet, I'm not sure. But we've got more time to figure out what's there. I'm thinking mountians and beaches. Whee!
Also, Captain America comes out today! Cowboys and Aliens on the 28th. Woof.
I may have another vacation coming up too. To the Balkans! Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia! There was a fun burger night this weekend in order to plan the trip. "Plan" here means look at a map to see exactly where stuff is, and guesstimate gas-mileage. As for what we're doing yet, I'm not sure. But we've got more time to figure out what's there. I'm thinking mountians and beaches. Whee!
Also, Captain America comes out today! Cowboys and Aliens on the 28th. Woof.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Summer?
Well July was kind of a messed up month. Lets see what August has in store.
It needs to start feeling like summer again in Prague. I'd normally never complain about cool temperatures and lots of rain but after the cold winter here I want some heat and sunshine.
This month I've also gotten to a point where I need to figure out What's Next. For most of my time here it's just been get a job, stay busy, make friends, hang with friends, see the city, travel a bit, teach teach teach, etc. Lots of things to be distracted with. I know I want to have stayed here a whole year, and I know I'm going home for Christmas. I've put off thinking further than that for a while, but I've had a lot of good talks with friends here who either know they're leaving soon or have stayed a long time. The thing is, it's a great city and a great life, this whole experience has surpassed my expectations by far. And while there is a steep learning curve, people seem to get to a point where they don't progress. I think about the city when I first got here and how different it is to me now. After a year I don't think it's going to change more from there, or bring anything better than I've already had. Staying longer would bring just as good times, but this isn't a situation where I should stay or go just for other people.
SO. It's a big world, and I really enjoy teaching English. I'm looking into what the situations are like in other countries. Lots of jobs in South America. Lots of demand (and money) in South Korea. The very tentative plan is to figure something out before going home at the end of the year, spend time with friends and family for a while and make the next move. And enjoy Prague while I have Prague.
I have a feeling I'm going to be listening to a lot of Noah and the Whale in the near future.
It needs to start feeling like summer again in Prague. I'd normally never complain about cool temperatures and lots of rain but after the cold winter here I want some heat and sunshine.
This month I've also gotten to a point where I need to figure out What's Next. For most of my time here it's just been get a job, stay busy, make friends, hang with friends, see the city, travel a bit, teach teach teach, etc. Lots of things to be distracted with. I know I want to have stayed here a whole year, and I know I'm going home for Christmas. I've put off thinking further than that for a while, but I've had a lot of good talks with friends here who either know they're leaving soon or have stayed a long time. The thing is, it's a great city and a great life, this whole experience has surpassed my expectations by far. And while there is a steep learning curve, people seem to get to a point where they don't progress. I think about the city when I first got here and how different it is to me now. After a year I don't think it's going to change more from there, or bring anything better than I've already had. Staying longer would bring just as good times, but this isn't a situation where I should stay or go just for other people.
SO. It's a big world, and I really enjoy teaching English. I'm looking into what the situations are like in other countries. Lots of jobs in South America. Lots of demand (and money) in South Korea. The very tentative plan is to figure something out before going home at the end of the year, spend time with friends and family for a while and make the next move. And enjoy Prague while I have Prague.
I have a feeling I'm going to be listening to a lot of Noah and the Whale in the near future.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
England!
It's been busy since I got back but time to talk about England!
Thursday, (the 7th) we flew to Bristol. There was a chatty, very good at English Czech guy with us on the plane. He liked that we liked Zizkov and bought us expensive plane beer and told us about his life. A's friend Steve and his girlfriend picked us up when we landed. Steve had a really cool place, all the houses in Bristol were adorable with their squished togetherness and eclectic doors. We just chatted and chilled out the first night, reveling in milk and bread that tasted like it should.
Friday: Rain. We went into the city which is a pretty cool place. A needed a big fried English pub breakfast, so that's what he got and he was a very happy boy. Saw this original Banksy on a wall, ooo! Went to a super cool music/movie/bookstore. We met with two of A's friends from university. They were lots of fun. Just got a drink and chatted a lot and all headed home. Steve made chilli and we played Cranium with him and his girlfriend. Also watched an episode of "East Enders" which is big there.)
Saturday: Rain. We got up, said our goodbyes to Steve, and splurged on a bus to get into town. Got some more English breakfast type food at a nice little place and wandered around until it was time to go. Hopped the bus to Plymouth. He read and listened to music while I mostly looked at the ridiculously green, hilly English countryside. His parents picked us up from the bus stop, and took us to their huge lovely home. A's older brother and brother's girlfriend were there as well. Along with two little kittens, a new addition to the family! We visited and got tasty fish'n'chips for dinner.
Sunday: A's brother is some sort of financial director, but during the hurting unemployed recession months he put together the Tamerton Trail. A historical walk through their village. It was really cool and even A saw and learned things he'd never known before. That evening some of A's parent's friends were having a party to raise money for somebody's marathon for cancer or something. We all paid "a fiver" and socialized and had drinks. Some middle aged British guys were controling their middle-aged guy music (mostly American) and they were impressed that I'd seen Tom Petty in concert. People aren't much different wherever you go I think.
Monday: No rain that I can remember! We took a bus into Plymouth where I ate a pasty, mmmm. Bought new watches at a magical place called Argos. Looked at the sea. Went to a favorite place for tea. Walked along the Barbican. And went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 since it's dubbed for children here in Prague. (Alright, not as good as the first one.)
Tuesday: We rented a car! A hadn't driven since leaving and was a little nervous, but quickly got back into the swing of things. We drove to Dartmoor and got some lunch before going on the moors. Very very cool stuff. Just big, windy fields with rocks jutting out and sheep and cows and wild ponies roaming around. Then we went to a beach called Looe where the water was dirty and freezing and kept moving around what with the waves and all. I hate the ocean. A swam and I had a nice time reading on the beach.
Wednesday: We still had the car and drove to Lands End, the most western tip of England. I expected more beach but it was cliffs and rocks. Could have been a filming location for a pirate movie. Then to Penzance where A's brother lives. The very cool girlfriend is a local and showed us around. Also a coast town, cool historic buildings and houses, pubs. We got pizza before crashing for the night there.
Thursday: Rain. Drove back to Plymouth and returned the car. A was very relieved he didn't crash it. We made shepherds pie for dinner and watched Torchwood with the parents and played with the kittens. Said goodbye to the parents.
Friday: Hopped a bus to London! Long ride, but it was good. We got there pretty late but found W and H's place pretty easily. Which was good because according to W: "It's not a 'dangerous' neighborhood, but you probably don't want to be wandering around with London A/Z out at 11 at night.".
Saturday: Rain. We did typical London touristy stuff. And the Film Museum, which was alright but not stellar. The TARDIS and Daleks on display made it worth it. Found a pub the friends recommended in the pouring rain. That night we tried going out to a club but got there too late and would have had to wait in line for hours. I was glad, since I wasn't in the mood for a club. We wound up going to one of W's friends places and then just back to W's.
Sunday: More Rain. Mostly hung out with W, H, and W's sister R. There was a small festival in the neighborhood of Shorditch. I've never seen so many hipsters in my life. No touristy stuff other than a quick nerdy trip to Baker street for me.
Sunday: Up and off. I had a lot of fun but was really ready to get back to Prague. Too bad we brought the rain back with us. :P
Thursday, (the 7th) we flew to Bristol. There was a chatty, very good at English Czech guy with us on the plane. He liked that we liked Zizkov and bought us expensive plane beer and told us about his life. A's friend Steve and his girlfriend picked us up when we landed. Steve had a really cool place, all the houses in Bristol were adorable with their squished togetherness and eclectic doors. We just chatted and chilled out the first night, reveling in milk and bread that tasted like it should.
Friday: Rain. We went into the city which is a pretty cool place. A needed a big fried English pub breakfast, so that's what he got and he was a very happy boy. Saw this original Banksy on a wall, ooo! Went to a super cool music/movie/bookstore. We met with two of A's friends from university. They were lots of fun. Just got a drink and chatted a lot and all headed home. Steve made chilli and we played Cranium with him and his girlfriend. Also watched an episode of "East Enders" which is big there.)
Saturday: Rain. We got up, said our goodbyes to Steve, and splurged on a bus to get into town. Got some more English breakfast type food at a nice little place and wandered around until it was time to go. Hopped the bus to Plymouth. He read and listened to music while I mostly looked at the ridiculously green, hilly English countryside. His parents picked us up from the bus stop, and took us to their huge lovely home. A's older brother and brother's girlfriend were there as well. Along with two little kittens, a new addition to the family! We visited and got tasty fish'n'chips for dinner.
Sunday: A's brother is some sort of financial director, but during the hurting unemployed recession months he put together the Tamerton Trail. A historical walk through their village. It was really cool and even A saw and learned things he'd never known before. That evening some of A's parent's friends were having a party to raise money for somebody's marathon for cancer or something. We all paid "a fiver" and socialized and had drinks. Some middle aged British guys were controling their middle-aged guy music (mostly American) and they were impressed that I'd seen Tom Petty in concert. People aren't much different wherever you go I think.
Monday: No rain that I can remember! We took a bus into Plymouth where I ate a pasty, mmmm. Bought new watches at a magical place called Argos. Looked at the sea. Went to a favorite place for tea. Walked along the Barbican. And went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 since it's dubbed for children here in Prague. (Alright, not as good as the first one.)
Tuesday: We rented a car! A hadn't driven since leaving and was a little nervous, but quickly got back into the swing of things. We drove to Dartmoor and got some lunch before going on the moors. Very very cool stuff. Just big, windy fields with rocks jutting out and sheep and cows and wild ponies roaming around. Then we went to a beach called Looe where the water was dirty and freezing and kept moving around what with the waves and all. I hate the ocean. A swam and I had a nice time reading on the beach.
Wednesday: We still had the car and drove to Lands End, the most western tip of England. I expected more beach but it was cliffs and rocks. Could have been a filming location for a pirate movie. Then to Penzance where A's brother lives. The very cool girlfriend is a local and showed us around. Also a coast town, cool historic buildings and houses, pubs. We got pizza before crashing for the night there.
Thursday: Rain. Drove back to Plymouth and returned the car. A was very relieved he didn't crash it. We made shepherds pie for dinner and watched Torchwood with the parents and played with the kittens. Said goodbye to the parents.
Friday: Hopped a bus to London! Long ride, but it was good. We got there pretty late but found W and H's place pretty easily. Which was good because according to W: "It's not a 'dangerous' neighborhood, but you probably don't want to be wandering around with London A/Z out at 11 at night.".
Saturday: Rain. We did typical London touristy stuff. And the Film Museum, which was alright but not stellar. The TARDIS and Daleks on display made it worth it. Found a pub the friends recommended in the pouring rain. That night we tried going out to a club but got there too late and would have had to wait in line for hours. I was glad, since I wasn't in the mood for a club. We wound up going to one of W's friends places and then just back to W's.
Sunday: More Rain. Mostly hung out with W, H, and W's sister R. There was a small festival in the neighborhood of Shorditch. I've never seen so many hipsters in my life. No touristy stuff other than a quick nerdy trip to Baker street for me.
Sunday: Up and off. I had a lot of fun but was really ready to get back to Prague. Too bad we brought the rain back with us. :P
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Happy Fourth!
My Fourth of July in Prague consisted of watching Battlestar Galactica with my sci-fi friends, playing Rock Band, and shooting off a single rocket in a drizzly residential street then fleeing from the scene and cracking up with my cohorts. Pretty good methinks. Also watched "Independence Day" today. Such a good flick to go back to!
Like I mentioned, yesterday and today were public holidays. I basically cleaned my flat/room and organized all of my school stuff. Woohoo! Teaching one class tomorrow then hopping on a plane and going to England! I went with my family as a kid and remember quite a lot. Haven't been there as a legal adult with a genuine British person though. The plan is basically to eat fish'n'chips, drink British beer, visit the genuine British person's friends and family, and generally wander around. First, I need to delete old pictures off of my camera after getting them on my computer.
Like I mentioned, yesterday and today were public holidays. I basically cleaned my flat/room and organized all of my school stuff. Woohoo! Teaching one class tomorrow then hopping on a plane and going to England! I went with my family as a kid and remember quite a lot. Haven't been there as a legal adult with a genuine British person though. The plan is basically to eat fish'n'chips, drink British beer, visit the genuine British person's friends and family, and generally wander around. First, I need to delete old pictures off of my camera after getting them on my computer.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Hmm, lazy on the updating lately.
Last weekend was a friend's one year anniversary here in Prague. Much fun was had at the beer garden, then a smaller bar where we might have disturbed other patrons but the bartender loved us. This weekend has been chilly and rainy. Lame! It started on Thursday with a mini-farewell for J who is going to be traveling for like a month, also lame! Went to a TEFl potluck last night at Letna and met a bunch of new people which was nice. We had a good view of a random (maybe?) firework show somebody was putting on. Mostly been bumming around today since it's, yeah, still cold and rainy. Don't know if anything is going on for the 4th tomorrow.
I'm barely going to work for the next couple of weeks. Tuesday and Wednesday are state holidays so some companies are just giving Monday off as well. I'll work Thursday but then that evening I'm flying to England with the boy! Back to his natural habitat where I'll learn that "it's not all chimney sweeps and hungry children". I'll be able to understand what people are saying! And I'll have to keep in mind that they'll know what I'm saying too.
Last weekend was a friend's one year anniversary here in Prague. Much fun was had at the beer garden, then a smaller bar where we might have disturbed other patrons but the bartender loved us. This weekend has been chilly and rainy. Lame! It started on Thursday with a mini-farewell for J who is going to be traveling for like a month, also lame! Went to a TEFl potluck last night at Letna and met a bunch of new people which was nice. We had a good view of a random (maybe?) firework show somebody was putting on. Mostly been bumming around today since it's, yeah, still cold and rainy. Don't know if anything is going on for the 4th tomorrow.
I'm barely going to work for the next couple of weeks. Tuesday and Wednesday are state holidays so some companies are just giving Monday off as well. I'll work Thursday but then that evening I'm flying to England with the boy! Back to his natural habitat where I'll learn that "it's not all chimney sweeps and hungry children". I'll be able to understand what people are saying! And I'll have to keep in mind that they'll know what I'm saying too.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Vienna take 2. Part 1.
Because if things go terribly wrong at the Czech embassy tomorrow I want to record the fun times had so far before hand.
Arrived in Vienna by train and made it to our host C's place with no problems. We hung around for a bit then went out with her to meet up with some of her friends. Went to a nice outdoor restaurant with good Austrian beer and the best burger I've had in Europe. The Czech Republic can't do beef. This was BEEF. They all spoke English but mostly stuck to German. We didn't mind, C has a lot of couch surfers and we didn't expect her friends to get to know us or anything. We didn't stay out too late and headed home to crash.
Saturday the boy and I just wandered around the city. She lives close to the center and wander we did. Took pictures of main attractions and watched people. Then we got a little further from the big stuff and just took in the more residential streets. We found a nice Italian restaurant tucked away in a corner street. Awesome food and cheaper than stuff near the center. We met up back at her place in the evening to go to a film festival she knew about about music/bands. 11 Euros for as many films as you wanted to see. We watched ones of Fiest, P.J. Harvey, Arcade Fire (The Suburbs), and Noah and the Whale. Surprisingly P.J. and Arcade Fire were my least favorites. Just plain boring or weirdly done. The Fiest one was all about how she records/performs, who she works with, etc. Really interesting stuff. I'd never heard Noah and the Whale but the film was the entire album played to a story/narrative that was really interesting. It was my favorite. We got schnitzle and beer right in the cinema later. We could have caught a tram but the wait was as long as the walk so we hauled home in the rain with one umbrella between the three of us. Spent a couple of hours at home listening to music. That's how C and I hit it off before after all.
Today we had a "Before Sunrise" plan. I've never actually seen the movie. According to the boy "it's not a chick flick, it's a haunting, bitter story of human emotion and fleeting connection". I'll have to take his word for it until I watch it. We found exactly where some of the scenes were filmed and went there to take pictures. It was actually really cool because the locations took us down streets we'd never have gone to before and we saw even more cool stuff along the way. And walked in the footsteps of Ethan Hawk! ;) Only did five out of around twenty things but not a bad idea at all.
He left for Prague in the afternoon and I met back up with C to meet yet another Couch Surfer who just wants to meet some new people. He was pretty cool and lived on the outside of the city. It was still in the city limits but didn't feel like it at all. Narrow hilly streets and vinyards on the sides. We got a great view of the city (which isn't as pretty as Prague from far away) and drank wine and ate some traditional Austrian bread with different spreads on it at a cool outdoor place. It had rained earlier and was getting windy and chilly again so we took the bus and then metro back to her place.
Got to do lots of fun/local stuff I'd have never known about if we hadn't been hanging with a local!
Embassy tomorrow. Fingers are crossed that all goes well.
Good things about Vienna. It's clean; less graffiti, dog crap, and homeless people than Prague. The bad; it's expensive. Stupid Euro. Eh well, free accomodation with a cool person can't be beat.
Arrived in Vienna by train and made it to our host C's place with no problems. We hung around for a bit then went out with her to meet up with some of her friends. Went to a nice outdoor restaurant with good Austrian beer and the best burger I've had in Europe. The Czech Republic can't do beef. This was BEEF. They all spoke English but mostly stuck to German. We didn't mind, C has a lot of couch surfers and we didn't expect her friends to get to know us or anything. We didn't stay out too late and headed home to crash.
Saturday the boy and I just wandered around the city. She lives close to the center and wander we did. Took pictures of main attractions and watched people. Then we got a little further from the big stuff and just took in the more residential streets. We found a nice Italian restaurant tucked away in a corner street. Awesome food and cheaper than stuff near the center. We met up back at her place in the evening to go to a film festival she knew about about music/bands. 11 Euros for as many films as you wanted to see. We watched ones of Fiest, P.J. Harvey, Arcade Fire (The Suburbs), and Noah and the Whale. Surprisingly P.J. and Arcade Fire were my least favorites. Just plain boring or weirdly done. The Fiest one was all about how she records/performs, who she works with, etc. Really interesting stuff. I'd never heard Noah and the Whale but the film was the entire album played to a story/narrative that was really interesting. It was my favorite. We got schnitzle and beer right in the cinema later. We could have caught a tram but the wait was as long as the walk so we hauled home in the rain with one umbrella between the three of us. Spent a couple of hours at home listening to music. That's how C and I hit it off before after all.
Today we had a "Before Sunrise" plan. I've never actually seen the movie. According to the boy "it's not a chick flick, it's a haunting, bitter story of human emotion and fleeting connection". I'll have to take his word for it until I watch it. We found exactly where some of the scenes were filmed and went there to take pictures. It was actually really cool because the locations took us down streets we'd never have gone to before and we saw even more cool stuff along the way. And walked in the footsteps of Ethan Hawk! ;) Only did five out of around twenty things but not a bad idea at all.
He left for Prague in the afternoon and I met back up with C to meet yet another Couch Surfer who just wants to meet some new people. He was pretty cool and lived on the outside of the city. It was still in the city limits but didn't feel like it at all. Narrow hilly streets and vinyards on the sides. We got a great view of the city (which isn't as pretty as Prague from far away) and drank wine and ate some traditional Austrian bread with different spreads on it at a cool outdoor place. It had rained earlier and was getting windy and chilly again so we took the bus and then metro back to her place.
Got to do lots of fun/local stuff I'd have never known about if we hadn't been hanging with a local!
Embassy tomorrow. Fingers are crossed that all goes well.
Good things about Vienna. It's clean; less graffiti, dog crap, and homeless people than Prague. The bad; it's expensive. Stupid Euro. Eh well, free accomodation with a cool person can't be beat.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Strikers gonna strike.
A few main trams and buses are still running, but the majority of the transportation system in Prague is Shut Down today. Some of my friends are hoofin' it to work or working from home if they have that kind of job, but my students and I all agreed it would just be easier to cancel class. Slept late, took care of some work stuff from my room, and having a picnic and beer garden time later!
I'm looking at a new flat today too. Living in a crap shack in the Czech Republic was fun for a bit. Kind of a different-country-lifestyle experience. Slumming it for fun, that kind of thing. It's gotten old though. I get along with the roommates but don't really dig their cleanliness/noise levels. If I don't find a new place then this one will do. I have a huge room. The location and neighborhood are great. I walk outside and step on a tram, grocery store next door, things to do nearby. The one I'm looking at is in a good location too. Between two main metros and not far from a good tram stop. One roommate, Spanish girl. A little less than what I'm paying now. It'd be nice to have a bigger kitchen and living area too. We'll see how it goes!
Music night with the boys tonight! The challenge was to pick six male and six female significant/favorite solo artists. I discovered I don't listen to that much chick music so it was kind of difficult! Should be fun, it always is!
Just one class tomorrow then hopping a train to Vienna! Getting mah visa. Getting legal. Getting six more worry free, free to travel months here!
I'm looking at a new flat today too. Living in a crap shack in the Czech Republic was fun for a bit. Kind of a different-country-lifestyle experience. Slumming it for fun, that kind of thing. It's gotten old though. I get along with the roommates but don't really dig their cleanliness/noise levels. If I don't find a new place then this one will do. I have a huge room. The location and neighborhood are great. I walk outside and step on a tram, grocery store next door, things to do nearby. The one I'm looking at is in a good location too. Between two main metros and not far from a good tram stop. One roommate, Spanish girl. A little less than what I'm paying now. It'd be nice to have a bigger kitchen and living area too. We'll see how it goes!
Music night with the boys tonight! The challenge was to pick six male and six female significant/favorite solo artists. I discovered I don't listen to that much chick music so it was kind of difficult! Should be fun, it always is!
Just one class tomorrow then hopping a train to Vienna! Getting mah visa. Getting legal. Getting six more worry free, free to travel months here!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Seldom seen kid.
So no Vienna this weekend. Again. The bad news is that Monday is a holiday so the embassy is closed. The good news is I found out about it and didn't waste a trip! WHEW. I swear if I'd gone all the way over there and it was locked up on Monday morning there would've been blood.
Had a pretty low key one. Or, I should probably say civilized one. Mostly. Stayed in on Friday and watched "Manhatten" which I'd never gotten around to before.
Saturday had actual productivity happen before noon! Went swimming at a place that charges a crown per minute. Not bad at all! It was great to go swimming again. Olympic sized pool and people old and young were just doing laps. Nice facilities. It felt great!
Also saw "Paul" finally. It's Simon Pegg and Nick Frost but no Edgar Wright, so me and fellow lover of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" were a bit nervous. We expected crap but it was surprisingly awesome. Jason Bateman has the best swearing-a-blue-streak line I've ever heard.
Starting at 7pm on Saturday was Museum Night where all of the museums were free until 2am. Got together with a group for the fun. We got some beers at Letna and went over to the nearby National Technical Museum which I'd wanted to go to for a while. The line went around the block. But the Agriculture Museum next door didn't have a line at all! We wandered around a bit before getting bored and heading out again. We figured all of the good museums would have just as crazy lines and called it a night.
Today was pretty lazy. Anything attempted to do failed, except for making smoothies! Work as usual tomorrow. The transportation system threatened a day-long strike but they've moved it to Thursday. Just in case anybody wanted a three day weekend. :P
Had a pretty low key one. Or, I should probably say civilized one. Mostly. Stayed in on Friday and watched "Manhatten" which I'd never gotten around to before.
Saturday had actual productivity happen before noon! Went swimming at a place that charges a crown per minute. Not bad at all! It was great to go swimming again. Olympic sized pool and people old and young were just doing laps. Nice facilities. It felt great!
Also saw "Paul" finally. It's Simon Pegg and Nick Frost but no Edgar Wright, so me and fellow lover of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" were a bit nervous. We expected crap but it was surprisingly awesome. Jason Bateman has the best swearing-a-blue-streak line I've ever heard.
Starting at 7pm on Saturday was Museum Night where all of the museums were free until 2am. Got together with a group for the fun. We got some beers at Letna and went over to the nearby National Technical Museum which I'd wanted to go to for a while. The line went around the block. But the Agriculture Museum next door didn't have a line at all! We wandered around a bit before getting bored and heading out again. We figured all of the good museums would have just as crazy lines and called it a night.
Today was pretty lazy. Anything attempted to do failed, except for making smoothies! Work as usual tomorrow. The transportation system threatened a day-long strike but they've moved it to Thursday. Just in case anybody wanted a three day weekend. :P
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
I think I just had a sickeningly, awesome, perfect day. The kind of day people think is going to be their whole experience as an English teacher in Prague. But isn't. But I now know can actually happen. Got up, had a great class, got my papers taken to the translation company where the people were super nice, grabbed a snack. Went paddle boating on the Vltava, ate lunch, and took a nap with somebody I like. Went to another good class. Went home for a snack. Went out to dinner and a Tesco run with somebody else I like. Found stuff I needed. Went home and played with new stuff. Worked on a painting I'm doing for somebody else I like and listened to new music. Going to bed now. And maybe turning off my phone before I get a text saying I'm fired and being deported and somebody else I like has died or something.
But here, have some Nick Cave.
But here, have some Nick Cave.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Expat.
The film is finished! I know/interact with most of these people on a regular basis. If you've got a spare 51 minutes, then enjoy. It was just a fun project but I really think it's going to be a huge souvenir for all of us to re-watch years from now and remember everybody with.
http://vimeo.com/24678112
The weekend was enjoyable but not that eventful. Dinner and drinks with people, went to a pub to watch a friend play keyboard in his band's gig, watched a thunder and lightening storm from across the river (very cool!), tried to do the paddleboats, failed to do the paddleboats because they needed a better ID than our opencards, watched Doctor Who (OMGWTFBBQ!!!!!11), did the monthly pub quiz and didn't do our best. I also dog-sitted....dog-sat? all weekend for the people who's flat I clean. It's smaller than a rat, but hey a dog's a dog. He was fun and I got paid!
The week is looking pretty easy, I'm doing testing with most of my classes so that's easy. I'm going through it with them and explaining corrections as we go instead of just sitting in awkward silence though. I think it's better. Finally found where the translation place has moved to, so I'll do that during my gap tomorrow. Might try to get the paddleboats in as well. We will paddle the river, oh yes we will.
http://vimeo.com/24678112
The weekend was enjoyable but not that eventful. Dinner and drinks with people, went to a pub to watch a friend play keyboard in his band's gig, watched a thunder and lightening storm from across the river (very cool!), tried to do the paddleboats, failed to do the paddleboats because they needed a better ID than our opencards, watched Doctor Who (OMGWTFBBQ!!!!!11), did the monthly pub quiz and didn't do our best. I also dog-sitted....dog-sat? all weekend for the people who's flat I clean. It's smaller than a rat, but hey a dog's a dog. He was fun and I got paid!
The week is looking pretty easy, I'm doing testing with most of my classes so that's easy. I'm going through it with them and explaining corrections as we go instead of just sitting in awkward silence though. I think it's better. Finally found where the translation place has moved to, so I'll do that during my gap tomorrow. Might try to get the paddleboats in as well. We will paddle the river, oh yes we will.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Oh for....
It's days like today that I realize I'm (eventually) going to go home with atrocious language. The students in both of my classes cancelled after I got to the offices. One class did give me warning by e-mail but sometimes weird Czech names get sent straight to the junk folder. The printer in the teacher's room wouldn't work for ages and I was going to try to get my invoice in today. After finally getting everything sorted I was missing one signature on yesterday's class which I'll have to get before getting stuff in now. And by get I mean forge and take it back tomorrow.
But y'know what? It's music night with the boys! And I'm about to have a chunk of change in my pocket for dog-sitting and flat-cleaning this week. BTW, I made about 20,000 czk in May. That's like, almost respectable.
Also, it looks like I won't be losing as many classes for the summer as I thought. Technically the classes "end" but if the company still wants to pay for the lessons and the students still want to take them with me (which they seem to!) then I should be fine. Still going to look for some private students though.
So, (probably) going to Vienna again not this weekend but the next. I went to get some documents translated into Czech but in true CR fashion the company wasn't where the website said it was. (Add that to the profanity-causing-list of today). I'm trying get some people together to actually do touristy stuff before I stick around and go into the office on Monday. Definitely going to England in July! And then may or may not go with other people to some smaller trips here and there. I can't leave the Schengen zone until I get the visa in my passport. I'm about ready for a vacation after this week, it's draggin' @$$.
But y'know what? It's music night with the boys! And I'm about to have a chunk of change in my pocket for dog-sitting and flat-cleaning this week. BTW, I made about 20,000 czk in May. That's like, almost respectable.
Also, it looks like I won't be losing as many classes for the summer as I thought. Technically the classes "end" but if the company still wants to pay for the lessons and the students still want to take them with me (which they seem to!) then I should be fine. Still going to look for some private students though.
So, (probably) going to Vienna again not this weekend but the next. I went to get some documents translated into Czech but in true CR fashion the company wasn't where the website said it was. (Add that to the profanity-causing-list of today). I'm trying get some people together to actually do touristy stuff before I stick around and go into the office on Monday. Definitely going to England in July! And then may or may not go with other people to some smaller trips here and there. I can't leave the Schengen zone until I get the visa in my passport. I'm about ready for a vacation after this week, it's draggin' @$$.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
I do like scary movies, actually.
I think watching the first three Scream movies back to back last night might be more unhealthy than all the junk food we ate. But still, it was fun. Especially since we'd all seen them and yelled things at the screen the whole time. Oh, the 90's.
Friday was a friend's 4 year anniversary party. She's one of those that came here after college and hasn't left yet. But she just finished her masters and says there might not be a 5th. Hence the party. It was supposed to be outside but unfortunately it was raining and we had to go indoors. It was still fun, we paid for a buffet (which wasn't very good so a friend and I stole some bread on the way out). Then we all went to Sedm Vlku, one of my favorite places here. Hadn't been there since my birthday! A lot of people wound up crashing at her place since it was closest. One of those fun mornings here where you order pizza for breakfast with 6 other nationalities and don't leave the house until 3pm.
Tonight is my friend's "World Premier" of his expats film. All the people interviewed in it (and more) are going to go over and watch it. Should be fun but I know everybody is nervous about hearing and seeing themselves talk. I'm excited about it though.
Friday was a friend's 4 year anniversary party. She's one of those that came here after college and hasn't left yet. But she just finished her masters and says there might not be a 5th. Hence the party. It was supposed to be outside but unfortunately it was raining and we had to go indoors. It was still fun, we paid for a buffet (which wasn't very good so a friend and I stole some bread on the way out). Then we all went to Sedm Vlku, one of my favorite places here. Hadn't been there since my birthday! A lot of people wound up crashing at her place since it was closest. One of those fun mornings here where you order pizza for breakfast with 6 other nationalities and don't leave the house until 3pm.
Tonight is my friend's "World Premier" of his expats film. All the people interviewed in it (and more) are going to go over and watch it. Should be fun but I know everybody is nervous about hearing and seeing themselves talk. I'm excited about it though.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Abba a Qveen!
I've been to a Czech hockey game. I've seen some sweet live music here. I ride the tram everyday. But little entertainment could compare to being part of a live studio audience at Cesko Slovenska Superstar. Prague's version of American Idol. We went on a good night too. Each contestant sang one song from ABBA and one from Queen. And they dressed up accordingly. Actually a pretty big and professional production. Lots of fans with signs, lots of cameras moving around and setup. We couldn't understand the judges reviews of course, but it was still fun to hear them singing songs we knew (or some, I don't know a lot of ABBA.) There were several times where my friend and I would turn to one another slowly with a disbelieving look on our face. Then tried not to giggle hysterically. I have lots of moments here where I think "If you had told me a year ago that I would now be..." and this was definitely one of them. Here's a sample:
Saturday I went to the zoo, which was very cool! It was pretty hot but there was lots of shade and benches and ice cream to be had. Not a lot of English heard, mostly Czech families which was also cool. Got some Czech Mex and drinks with friends. Stole lots of new music to get through too. ....Too much Nick Cave to handle right now. Watched the new Doctor Who. Watched "I Love You, Phillip Morris". Tried to read more of the non-fiction I'm currently toting around town. Failed. Played with a new friends' dog. Lately I've been getting the Sunday Evening Blues where I'm bummed the weekend is ending and I have to go to work the next day. But then actaully getting up and going to work isn't as bad as anticipating it. I enjoy most classes and when you have a good one it feels really good afterwords. Just have to get over that Sunday bump.
(And yes, it's spelled "Qveen" because that's how it sounds with a Czech accent and it's amusing.)
Saturday I went to the zoo, which was very cool! It was pretty hot but there was lots of shade and benches and ice cream to be had. Not a lot of English heard, mostly Czech families which was also cool. Got some Czech Mex and drinks with friends. Stole lots of new music to get through too. ....Too much Nick Cave to handle right now. Watched the new Doctor Who. Watched "I Love You, Phillip Morris". Tried to read more of the non-fiction I'm currently toting around town. Failed. Played with a new friends' dog. Lately I've been getting the Sunday Evening Blues where I'm bummed the weekend is ending and I have to go to work the next day. But then actaully getting up and going to work isn't as bad as anticipating it. I enjoy most classes and when you have a good one it feels really good afterwords. Just have to get over that Sunday bump.
(And yes, it's spelled "Qveen" because that's how it sounds with a Czech accent and it's amusing.)
Saturday, May 14, 2011
It's my birthday too now.
Cheers to the best 25 years the planet has seen! And cheers to my esteemed gentleman friend (among others) throwing a semi-surprise bash for me!
The birthday started at Thursday's music night with the boys. Right after midnight The Boy pulled two tickets out of his wallet. To a cool concert? Nope, even better; Cesko Slovenska Superstar. Which is apparently the equivalent to American Idol here. One of his students gave them to him. It'll either be the best or worst thing ever. I'm excited.
Friday I was told to go to the boy's place around three. Shortly after I arrived his roommate B showed up with flowers in one hand and a leash on the end of a huge muscular Amstaff in the other. Pretty much every time I see a dog I name the breed or want to pet it or just say "awww!". B has been here a few years and Boy asked B if she knew anybody with a dog. I don't think he expected her to bring a beast of solid muscle that came with an entire page of instructions. Ekko is really sweet and loving and adorable. With people. But he kind of wants to kill any other boy dog he sees. And he was ours for the day! Not only did he come with instructions, he came with a muzzle so no worries. We walked him around and let him roll in the grass and dug our heels into the pavement whenever we saw another dog he didn't like the look of. I think Boy thought he'd bombed when he knew we weren't going to be able to realy play or take him to any parks (this is Prague, everybody has a dog, and most are stupidly off-leash). But I had a lot of fun. It was hot anyway and Ekko seemed a little confused about who we were and where his daddy was, so we took him home after a while and just played with him in the flat. He knows B and relaxed more there.
Part 3 of the birthday fun was going up to Petrin hill which I'd never gotten around to doing before. I'd mentioned that to Boy and he wanted to take me. I don't know why I'd never gone but it's beautiful! There is a train that takes you straight up but we took the hike since it was so nice and pretty. I didn't know what was going to happen there but I was pretty convinced it was just going to be us, other friends "had plans" or "work" or were "going out of town" or whatev which I was cool with. However, we turned a corner and took a path and there stood C and J! And they had booze! We found a table and a while later B and a few others showed up with Ekko again. Boy and I went up to the top of the tower which offered a great view of the city. After that we all got dinner (ate outside since we had a dog but it was nice). The waiter was completely enamored with him and brought him a bowl of water and asked us if it was okay to give him a bone. That dog was one happy boy. He didn't even notice other dogs around with that greasy, meaty thing in front of him.
Then to a favorite bar in our hood, Zizkov. Mojitos galore! P tried to teach me how to say "It's my birthday" in Czech, but I kept saying "It's my I don't understand!" We all got pretty sleepy after a while and headed home.
Great birthday in The Prague! Had a lazy day and while I should take care of some stuff I kind of want to keep riding the birthday wave tonight. We'll see if anything happens.
The birthday started at Thursday's music night with the boys. Right after midnight The Boy pulled two tickets out of his wallet. To a cool concert? Nope, even better; Cesko Slovenska Superstar. Which is apparently the equivalent to American Idol here. One of his students gave them to him. It'll either be the best or worst thing ever. I'm excited.
Friday I was told to go to the boy's place around three. Shortly after I arrived his roommate B showed up with flowers in one hand and a leash on the end of a huge muscular Amstaff in the other. Pretty much every time I see a dog I name the breed or want to pet it or just say "awww!". B has been here a few years and Boy asked B if she knew anybody with a dog. I don't think he expected her to bring a beast of solid muscle that came with an entire page of instructions. Ekko is really sweet and loving and adorable. With people. But he kind of wants to kill any other boy dog he sees. And he was ours for the day! Not only did he come with instructions, he came with a muzzle so no worries. We walked him around and let him roll in the grass and dug our heels into the pavement whenever we saw another dog he didn't like the look of. I think Boy thought he'd bombed when he knew we weren't going to be able to realy play or take him to any parks (this is Prague, everybody has a dog, and most are stupidly off-leash). But I had a lot of fun. It was hot anyway and Ekko seemed a little confused about who we were and where his daddy was, so we took him home after a while and just played with him in the flat. He knows B and relaxed more there.
Part 3 of the birthday fun was going up to Petrin hill which I'd never gotten around to doing before. I'd mentioned that to Boy and he wanted to take me. I don't know why I'd never gone but it's beautiful! There is a train that takes you straight up but we took the hike since it was so nice and pretty. I didn't know what was going to happen there but I was pretty convinced it was just going to be us, other friends "had plans" or "work" or were "going out of town" or whatev which I was cool with. However, we turned a corner and took a path and there stood C and J! And they had booze! We found a table and a while later B and a few others showed up with Ekko again. Boy and I went up to the top of the tower which offered a great view of the city. After that we all got dinner (ate outside since we had a dog but it was nice). The waiter was completely enamored with him and brought him a bowl of water and asked us if it was okay to give him a bone. That dog was one happy boy. He didn't even notice other dogs around with that greasy, meaty thing in front of him.
Then to a favorite bar in our hood, Zizkov. Mojitos galore! P tried to teach me how to say "It's my birthday" in Czech, but I kept saying "It's my I don't understand!" We all got pretty sleepy after a while and headed home.
Great birthday in The Prague! Had a lazy day and while I should take care of some stuff I kind of want to keep riding the birthday wave tonight. We'll see if anything happens.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Goddess on a highway. Got us in the car.
6 Month anniversary!!! Half a year abroad. It's a big one. I have friends who have been here for years but this feels like a pretty big deal/acomplishment(?).
Also, Friday is my birthday! I was a little miffed because one of my TEFL friends stole my idea and birthday thunder by having a party in the beer garden for her husband. They got to the day first, fair enough. However, I needn't worry. I've been told to be free around 3:00pm on the day. Don't know what's going on. Don't know who will be there besides the inviter, (probably not the TEFL group at the other party). I do know that there won't be ponies. I asked. Will report what happens on Saturday....or probably later.
Saw Mercury Rev last night (at a lame club called Roxy). Apparently they've been around a while and are semi-big. Never heard of them until music friend shared some with me and then shortly after we saw a poster advertising the concert. Weird but cool. I'd tried to listen up on them a bit before the show. They're not quite my style but I dug songs here and there. They were really awesome live though. They had that been-together-a-long-time-well-oiled-machine thing going on. It was super loud and crazy with the lights. All of the songs I'd heard softer album versions of were taken up to 11. They were all full of energy, especially the front man. Bunch of middle aged dudes still rocking. There were probably only about 150 people there and we were quite possibly the youngest ones (by not too much). It was a diverse crowd though, and you could pick out the super-fans. I thought the band might be put off by the size of the crowd but they gave it their all, seemed to have a great time, and were really gracious and smiley at the end. Need to listen to more. Having another music night with the boys tomorrow, excited!
Also, Friday is my birthday! I was a little miffed because one of my TEFL friends stole my idea and birthday thunder by having a party in the beer garden for her husband. They got to the day first, fair enough. However, I needn't worry. I've been told to be free around 3:00pm on the day. Don't know what's going on. Don't know who will be there besides the inviter, (probably not the TEFL group at the other party). I do know that there won't be ponies. I asked. Will report what happens on Saturday....or probably later.
Saw Mercury Rev last night (at a lame club called Roxy). Apparently they've been around a while and are semi-big. Never heard of them until music friend shared some with me and then shortly after we saw a poster advertising the concert. Weird but cool. I'd tried to listen up on them a bit before the show. They're not quite my style but I dug songs here and there. They were really awesome live though. They had that been-together-a-long-time-well-oiled-machine thing going on. It was super loud and crazy with the lights. All of the songs I'd heard softer album versions of were taken up to 11. They were all full of energy, especially the front man. Bunch of middle aged dudes still rocking. There were probably only about 150 people there and we were quite possibly the youngest ones (by not too much). It was a diverse crowd though, and you could pick out the super-fans. I thought the band might be put off by the size of the crowd but they gave it their all, seemed to have a great time, and were really gracious and smiley at the end. Need to listen to more. Having another music night with the boys tomorrow, excited!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Monday on the way.
The weekend came to a close as I sat on the hill at Riegrovy Sady, drinking a beer, watching the sun set over the city. With about a million other people, but it was still nice. I was bummed about how quickly two days went (especially since I don't have many lessons for this week planned yet), but then some dude who had had a few too many lost his balance on the hill and stumbled right into a bush. People went silent as he lay there motionless. Then he rolled out, stood up and lifted his arms into the air. We all cheered. And with that, I was ready for the coming week. Oh Prague.
No zoo, but still a satisfactory weekend. Hung with friends, saw "Source Code" which looked really crappy from the trailer but was actually pretty awesome. Two for two from Mr. Duncan Jones. I look forward to more. Ice cream in a square, explored parts of the city I don't know so well yet, avoided tourists, ate awesome home-made chili, watched the new Doctor Who, played with a dog, and fun watching drunks in the park. Nice and low key.
And a very happy mother's day to all those stateside!
No zoo, but still a satisfactory weekend. Hung with friends, saw "Source Code" which looked really crappy from the trailer but was actually pretty awesome. Two for two from Mr. Duncan Jones. I look forward to more. Ice cream in a square, explored parts of the city I don't know so well yet, avoided tourists, ate awesome home-made chili, watched the new Doctor Who, played with a dog, and fun watching drunks in the park. Nice and low key.
And a very happy mother's day to all those stateside!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Don't leave me hiiiiighhh, don't leave me dryyyyyyy...
All I've been listening to lately is Radiohead. Namely "The Bends". I've been here before. It isn't healthy. But then again, I learned a lot in the Spring of 2007 when all I listened to was "OK Computer". (We don't care, Mary. Talk about Prague.) Fine.
What happy days Spring has brought. It's gotten nice weather-wise again. It's amazing how different this city is depending on whether it's sunny or not. There are still things I haven't done and places I haven't been here and I should probably get on that.
Classes are good, I only have one I really don't like. Four women who either don't care at all, are too shy to speak much, or really are just morons. It could be a combination of all three.
Friends are good. Had a BBQ last Saturday at a friend's new place. Made dinner (well, ate a home-made dinner) with another friend last night. We had won a bottle of wine in Sunday's pub-quiz and had that. It tasted pretty cheap. It tasted of victory.
Going to my flat-cleaning gig for weekend pocket money soon. Then to Bohemia Bagel with yet another friend. (So popular!) I love the food there but hate the people. It's a big expat place and must be advertised in every university study abroad tour brochure because there's usually hoards of stupid college girls and boys being loud. But hey, good burgers and an actual fountain drink dispenser!
The weekend promises excitement of frisbee, badminton*, and beer in the park. Going to the zoo. And the recent Sunday tradition of watching Saturday's new episode of Doctor Who.
*That's how it's spelled?! Everything I know is wrong.
(BTW, this is usually the look on my face when listening to Radiohead. ...Or when I see something appalling and unmentionable happening on the streets here.)
What happy days Spring has brought. It's gotten nice weather-wise again. It's amazing how different this city is depending on whether it's sunny or not. There are still things I haven't done and places I haven't been here and I should probably get on that.
Classes are good, I only have one I really don't like. Four women who either don't care at all, are too shy to speak much, or really are just morons. It could be a combination of all three.
Friends are good. Had a BBQ last Saturday at a friend's new place. Made dinner (well, ate a home-made dinner) with another friend last night. We had won a bottle of wine in Sunday's pub-quiz and had that. It tasted pretty cheap. It tasted of victory.
Going to my flat-cleaning gig for weekend pocket money soon. Then to Bohemia Bagel with yet another friend. (So popular!) I love the food there but hate the people. It's a big expat place and must be advertised in every university study abroad tour brochure because there's usually hoards of stupid college girls and boys being loud. But hey, good burgers and an actual fountain drink dispenser!
The weekend promises excitement of frisbee, badminton*, and beer in the park. Going to the zoo. And the recent Sunday tradition of watching Saturday's new episode of Doctor Who.
*That's how it's spelled?! Everything I know is wrong.
(BTW, this is usually the look on my face when listening to Radiohead. ...Or when I see something appalling and unmentionable happening on the streets here.)
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Gonna make a record...
Prague is back to its old, wicked ways of being rainy and cold. One of my students assured me that it's normal to have a few nasty days in the beginning of May. The little weather thing on my desktop says it should be warmer by the end of the week. Soon the warm hooded winter coat will go back from whence it came. ...Well, probably not the trift-store just yet, I'll hold onto it for a while just in case.
Most of my current classes will be coming to an end in the first week of June. I've picked up a couple during the summer and will probably get more. Will also keep cleaning the expat-flat for extra cash and hopefully get some private students. Things tend to dry up in the summer teaching-wise. Time for extra curricular activities, but tighter on cash.
I have possible summer plans of going to Austria for a concert, England for a friend's home-visit, and Amsterdam for....god knows what. I still need to go pick up my visa (and hopefully they'll give it to me) in Vienna. I want to make sure I have everything sorted out before going though. I also don't want to go or think about it much before my birthday rolls around in a couple of weeks. Which I'm really really excited about for some reason. It's on a Friday and if the weather is nice I'm just going to invite everybody to the beer garden to hang out. Should be fun to turn 25 in Prague. :)
Here have more Arcade Fire to celebrate the new month. I have high hopes for you, May.
Most of my current classes will be coming to an end in the first week of June. I've picked up a couple during the summer and will probably get more. Will also keep cleaning the expat-flat for extra cash and hopefully get some private students. Things tend to dry up in the summer teaching-wise. Time for extra curricular activities, but tighter on cash.
I have possible summer plans of going to Austria for a concert, England for a friend's home-visit, and Amsterdam for....god knows what. I still need to go pick up my visa (and hopefully they'll give it to me) in Vienna. I want to make sure I have everything sorted out before going though. I also don't want to go or think about it much before my birthday rolls around in a couple of weeks. Which I'm really really excited about for some reason. It's on a Friday and if the weather is nice I'm just going to invite everybody to the beer garden to hang out. Should be fun to turn 25 in Prague. :)
Here have more Arcade Fire to celebrate the new month. I have high hopes for you, May.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
In the nature. On the cottage.
English teacher joke. Czech students (all language students) have difficulties with prepositions. And they have a tradition of going in the nature on the cottage on their weekends. You can also rent cottages, which some friends and I did for a surprise birthday party this weekend. Well, my friend and one of his friends' several friends.... It was a different group to be around but everyone got along alright and had fun. After the last two weekends I'm ready to have a lazy one in the city.
The weekend actually kind of started on Thursday, (they tend to do that here) with another music night. Different theme, we all had to create an album of 14 tracks using songs that are track one, track two, etc. on their original album. Hard but fun!
The cottage participants: Three Czechs, two Irish, an Aussie, a Brit, a Russian, and a Texan.
Friday afternoon we took a train to the small village of I Don't Remember the Name, then got cabs to the cottage. Which is basically a cabin in the woods close to a lot of other cabins. We settled in and got decorations going and waited for the birthday boy and his girlfriend to show up. Surprise party time! Grilled food, played cards, had cake, told jokes I will not repeat here, etc.
Saturday we....did absolutely nothing. Not true, we walked to the village and sat by the lake. Warm day but still too cold to swim.
Sunday we got up early and hiked to some natural caverns in the area. They were pretty cool, especially since you could take boats on part of the tour. I wasn't terribly impressed after being to Carlsbad, and it was freezing down there so there were some sullen too-cool-for-this hipster jokes from some of us on the tour. ("I was into caves before they were popular", etc.) What was really cool was the Macocha Abyss, (check that part out in the link). We stood at the top of it on a dock with a rail about five feet tall separating you from a crazy high drop. And then we saw it from the bottom after going through the caves. We got dinner nearby but it started pouring rain so we got cabs back to the cottage.
Monday we had to clear out, but not before another bizzare Czech holiday tradition took place. So on Christmas they kill carp on the streets. (You remember that right? It was like the only thing that made me happy for about a month.) Well on Easter the men gather young willow branches and weave them together into a whip and then decorate it with pretty ribbons and flowers and whatnot. They then go around beating the women in their life to transfer the young viril health of the tree into the women to keep them healthy and fertile for the next year. It's good for them. Then the women give the men shots of alcohol or money. The men can only do it before noon though. After that the women can throw cold water on the men. Of course, our boys thought it sounded like a great tradition and went off to make their stick. We cleaned up the place (and locked the doors) while they did. We forgot about the windows though and they got in before noon. We were (quite gently) smacked and blessed with Spring health for another year. A couple of the boys got smacked right back or pinned down and tickled and had their shoes taken off and thrown outside. (Only three of us there were Czech after all. It's not our tradition.)
We made it back to Prague before dinner time and to a short work-week. Happy Easter everybody.
(....I feel like there was a lot of parentheses abuse in this post.)
The weekend actually kind of started on Thursday, (they tend to do that here) with another music night. Different theme, we all had to create an album of 14 tracks using songs that are track one, track two, etc. on their original album. Hard but fun!
The cottage participants: Three Czechs, two Irish, an Aussie, a Brit, a Russian, and a Texan.
Friday afternoon we took a train to the small village of I Don't Remember the Name, then got cabs to the cottage. Which is basically a cabin in the woods close to a lot of other cabins. We settled in and got decorations going and waited for the birthday boy and his girlfriend to show up. Surprise party time! Grilled food, played cards, had cake, told jokes I will not repeat here, etc.
Saturday we....did absolutely nothing. Not true, we walked to the village and sat by the lake. Warm day but still too cold to swim.
Sunday we got up early and hiked to some natural caverns in the area. They were pretty cool, especially since you could take boats on part of the tour. I wasn't terribly impressed after being to Carlsbad, and it was freezing down there so there were some sullen too-cool-for-this hipster jokes from some of us on the tour. ("I was into caves before they were popular", etc.) What was really cool was the Macocha Abyss, (check that part out in the link). We stood at the top of it on a dock with a rail about five feet tall separating you from a crazy high drop. And then we saw it from the bottom after going through the caves. We got dinner nearby but it started pouring rain so we got cabs back to the cottage.
Monday we had to clear out, but not before another bizzare Czech holiday tradition took place. So on Christmas they kill carp on the streets. (You remember that right? It was like the only thing that made me happy for about a month.) Well on Easter the men gather young willow branches and weave them together into a whip and then decorate it with pretty ribbons and flowers and whatnot. They then go around beating the women in their life to transfer the young viril health of the tree into the women to keep them healthy and fertile for the next year. It's good for them. Then the women give the men shots of alcohol or money. The men can only do it before noon though. After that the women can throw cold water on the men. Of course, our boys thought it sounded like a great tradition and went off to make their stick. We cleaned up the place (and locked the doors) while they did. We forgot about the windows though and they got in before noon. We were (quite gently) smacked and blessed with Spring health for another year. A couple of the boys got smacked right back or pinned down and tickled and had their shoes taken off and thrown outside. (Only three of us there were Czech after all. It's not our tradition.)
We made it back to Prague before dinner time and to a short work-week. Happy Easter everybody.
(....I feel like there was a lot of parentheses abuse in this post.)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Spring is mos def here!
The Prague Spring was a terrible time in the history here, but Prague IN spring is wonderful. It's so awesome to just be able to be outside with one or two layers when all winter it was practically unbearable to be out even all bundled up. Flowers, blue sky, and the colors of all the buildings really pop in the sunshine. <3
Monday, April 18, 2011
Budapest!
The participants: An Aussie, a Canadian, a Slovak, a Czech, and a Texan.
The music: The Beatles, "Magical Mystery Tour". Adele, "21". Arcade Fire, "Suburbs". IAMX, "Kingdom of Welcome Addiction". Oaisis, "What's the Story Morning Glory?". Coldplay, "X&Y". And a playlist mix simply titled "Get Psyched" made by the Canadian.
The car: Some trusty red hybrid Honda thing.
The destination: Budapest. Debauchery.
A formula for awesome! And yet things were far from awesome here and there....but we brought it back and made it awesome. The hostel was super cheap...and pretty crappy. The city was hard to get around, hard to find any good bars, and not as modern as Prague. But there was lots of cool stuff to see and do. Namely the baths. Oh man, the baths were incredible. Big pools, small pools, hot pools, cold pools, fountains, jets, whirlpool rides of joy. The city has several but we went to the Szechenyi. I would go back just for those. We could have done more with the city, but it was mostly just good to get out of town and see some new scenery. I think when visiting somewhere else you either need to spend more than a couple of days or have a local/residing expat to take you to cool places.
Although it's hard to even remember at this point what my expectations of all this were, I do remember feeling like Prague wouldn't be as modern as it is. Both Vienna and Budapest have more of an old-world feel with the older metros and trams, older cars, less English spoken, etc. They've been great to see (and add to my places been list), but so far I much prefer Prague. Part of that is just being familiar with the city and having friends here though.
I do think getting away now and then is super important. Today was just fantastic for lot of reasons, but taking off and coming back might have helped too. Great weather, great lessons, and great company all day.
The music: The Beatles, "Magical Mystery Tour". Adele, "21". Arcade Fire, "Suburbs". IAMX, "Kingdom of Welcome Addiction". Oaisis, "What's the Story Morning Glory?". Coldplay, "X&Y". And a playlist mix simply titled "Get Psyched" made by the Canadian.
The car: Some trusty red hybrid Honda thing.
The destination: Budapest. Debauchery.
A formula for awesome! And yet things were far from awesome here and there....but we brought it back and made it awesome. The hostel was super cheap...and pretty crappy. The city was hard to get around, hard to find any good bars, and not as modern as Prague. But there was lots of cool stuff to see and do. Namely the baths. Oh man, the baths were incredible. Big pools, small pools, hot pools, cold pools, fountains, jets, whirlpool rides of joy. The city has several but we went to the Szechenyi. I would go back just for those. We could have done more with the city, but it was mostly just good to get out of town and see some new scenery. I think when visiting somewhere else you either need to spend more than a couple of days or have a local/residing expat to take you to cool places.
Although it's hard to even remember at this point what my expectations of all this were, I do remember feeling like Prague wouldn't be as modern as it is. Both Vienna and Budapest have more of an old-world feel with the older metros and trams, older cars, less English spoken, etc. They've been great to see (and add to my places been list), but so far I much prefer Prague. Part of that is just being familiar with the city and having friends here though.
I do think getting away now and then is super important. Today was just fantastic for lot of reasons, but taking off and coming back might have helped too. Great weather, great lessons, and great company all day.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Budapest.
....Maybe? I had a chance to go about a month ago but was leery about money and getting stopped at the border(s) and being locked up and deported since I don't have my visa yet. But this time I have the chance to go with my friend who has a car. Cheaper and no mean train check people. Better chances. Budapest! Which actually is pronounced Budapesht. I just thought people were being pretentious.
The weather wasn't quite as nice as last weekend, a little chilly and windy, but there was still beer gardening. It was pretty nice and low-key actually. Had sea-food for the first time since coming here. One of my friends is making a short film about being an expat. He's interviewing friends here who come from all over the world, just asking where they're from and why they came, what they like/don't like, if it was a good decision to come, etc. I hate hearing my voice recorded and thought my interview was pretty boring, but I'm excited to see how it turns out!
I just finished reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Long, but a quick read, I really liked it. Much nicer than The Unbearable Lightness of Being which I've been working on. Blegh.
Been in Prague for 5 months today! I'm very much looking foward to the half a year mark. And shortly after that will be my birthday. And it will be awesome.
The weather wasn't quite as nice as last weekend, a little chilly and windy, but there was still beer gardening. It was pretty nice and low-key actually. Had sea-food for the first time since coming here. One of my friends is making a short film about being an expat. He's interviewing friends here who come from all over the world, just asking where they're from and why they came, what they like/don't like, if it was a good decision to come, etc. I hate hearing my voice recorded and thought my interview was pretty boring, but I'm excited to see how it turns out!
I just finished reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Long, but a quick read, I really liked it. Much nicer than The Unbearable Lightness of Being which I've been working on. Blegh.
Been in Prague for 5 months today! I'm very much looking foward to the half a year mark. And shortly after that will be my birthday. And it will be awesome.
Monday, April 4, 2011
How does it feel.
It's a wonderful bar moment when four people from four different countries simultaneously start singing along to Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" starting with that first "didn't you?!". Especially when they didn't have to pay their bill because they won the pub quiz! Just saying. We're brilliant.
The weather was absolutely beautiful this weekend. Two days of sunshine and the highest temperatures I've felt since being here. There was much wandering around town with a video camera, eating ice cream on park benches, drinking beer in the beer gardens, and general people watching and judging various crimes against fashion. It's really like a different city when it's bright and warm. Today is cooler and raining, I'm glad it held off all weekend.
A lot of Czechs leave Prague on the weekends. They go to their smaller hometowns or on vacation or skiing or cycling now that it's getting warmer. I heard English everywhere in the beer gardens. And saw people I knew/recognized in other groups separate from the ones I was in. So hopefully it's more of a not-Czech-not-tourist-but-expat kind of thing.
The weather was absolutely beautiful this weekend. Two days of sunshine and the highest temperatures I've felt since being here. There was much wandering around town with a video camera, eating ice cream on park benches, drinking beer in the beer gardens, and general people watching and judging various crimes against fashion. It's really like a different city when it's bright and warm. Today is cooler and raining, I'm glad it held off all weekend.
A lot of Czechs leave Prague on the weekends. They go to their smaller hometowns or on vacation or skiing or cycling now that it's getting warmer. I heard English everywhere in the beer gardens. And saw people I knew/recognized in other groups separate from the ones I was in. So hopefully it's more of a not-Czech-not-tourist-but-expat kind of thing.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Beer. Gardens.
They're happening baby. And they are spectacular.
This has been the week of cancellations, both early and late. I love the late ones but if they cancel early I don't get paid and I'd rather just work and get the money. Both yesterday and today I didn't have to do anything until 3pm. When you have four 7:30 am classes a week that means a lot. Sleeping late, doing laundry, reading "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" in the sunshine. Nice.
Yesterday a friend and I walked around Riegrovy Sady (one of my favorite parks) while we each had nothing to do. There was a couple on the park bench next to ours and they pulled out a bottle of wine. No glasses and apparently no bottle opener either. We subtly watched them solve the problem by shoving the cork into the bottle with a highlighter from one of their bags. There was much giggling and splashing and not that embarassed embarassement from them. We talked about how they'll remember the day a lot better now since something went slightly wrong. It would have been an ordinary day with wine in the park but now it's that one time you forgot the stupid bottle opener and we dug around in your bag to find anything to use and those people speaking English giggled at us while we licked wine off of our hands and arms.
This has been the week of cancellations, both early and late. I love the late ones but if they cancel early I don't get paid and I'd rather just work and get the money. Both yesterday and today I didn't have to do anything until 3pm. When you have four 7:30 am classes a week that means a lot. Sleeping late, doing laundry, reading "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" in the sunshine. Nice.
Yesterday a friend and I walked around Riegrovy Sady (one of my favorite parks) while we each had nothing to do. There was a couple on the park bench next to ours and they pulled out a bottle of wine. No glasses and apparently no bottle opener either. We subtly watched them solve the problem by shoving the cork into the bottle with a highlighter from one of their bags. There was much giggling and splashing and not that embarassed embarassement from them. We talked about how they'll remember the day a lot better now since something went slightly wrong. It would have been an ordinary day with wine in the park but now it's that one time you forgot the stupid bottle opener and we dug around in your bag to find anything to use and those people speaking English giggled at us while we licked wine off of our hands and arms.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Don't stop me noooow!
Czech Queen cover band wasn't as good as the Czech Led Zeppelin cover band, but it was still awesome. (And way better than the Czech Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band.)
The lead singer had some Mercury-esque pipes and looked just like the lead singer of The Killers. They opened with a weird version of We Will Rock You, but finished with a more traditional one. Really crapped out with Bohemian Rhapsody. It's difficult and all but it would have been better to just not do it all than skip the entire middle. It's really funny how into it the Czech people were. Knew more of the songs and words than I did it seemed like. I'm thinking it's because of how Queen and all kinds of other stuff is newer here than it is at home due to the whole communism thing.
The weather was a little crappy again so had a mini How I Met Your Mother marathon with a friend at her place on Saturday. Then we went to U Sadu to meet a lot of others for a "goodbye to one roommate, hello to the new one" at the flat-away-from-flat. The new roommate couldn't show so it was just a "goodbye to one roommate" party. There were probably over twenty people in our group there and I counted thirteen nationalities. Sweet.
Mostly bummed around today. Got chinese food and watched a movie with another friend. Walking home at one point I went a way that offered a good view of the city and had a sudden reminder of where I was again. Some weekends when I'm not working with Czech people all day or traveling around the city it's easy to forget. I'm comfortable with the weird pseudo-family I have here and the neighborhoods and local hangouts. It all feels very normal now.
The lead singer had some Mercury-esque pipes and looked just like the lead singer of The Killers. They opened with a weird version of We Will Rock You, but finished with a more traditional one. Really crapped out with Bohemian Rhapsody. It's difficult and all but it would have been better to just not do it all than skip the entire middle. It's really funny how into it the Czech people were. Knew more of the songs and words than I did it seemed like. I'm thinking it's because of how Queen and all kinds of other stuff is newer here than it is at home due to the whole communism thing.
The weather was a little crappy again so had a mini How I Met Your Mother marathon with a friend at her place on Saturday. Then we went to U Sadu to meet a lot of others for a "goodbye to one roommate, hello to the new one" at the flat-away-from-flat. The new roommate couldn't show so it was just a "goodbye to one roommate" party. There were probably over twenty people in our group there and I counted thirteen nationalities. Sweet.
Mostly bummed around today. Got chinese food and watched a movie with another friend. Walking home at one point I went a way that offered a good view of the city and had a sudden reminder of where I was again. Some weekends when I'm not working with Czech people all day or traveling around the city it's easy to forget. I'm comfortable with the weird pseudo-family I have here and the neighborhoods and local hangouts. It all feels very normal now.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Tourists have never heard of expats.
They can't have, or else they wouldn't say the things they say in public.
I kind of love not understanding Czech. I say hello and goodbye and please and thank you and order food and all, but as for overhearing conversations on the tram and streets it's just a lot of somehow organized, indistinguishable noises. People generally talk about mundane things so it's nice not being sucked into eavesdropping on things you don't care about.
It's equally nice for most Czech people to not understand me and my friends yakking about classes and movies and what we want to do that night. I hope they don't at least.
Queen cover band tonight! I don't think they could top the Led Zeppelin guys but I have high hopes for awesomeness.
I kind of love not understanding Czech. I say hello and goodbye and please and thank you and order food and all, but as for overhearing conversations on the tram and streets it's just a lot of somehow organized, indistinguishable noises. People generally talk about mundane things so it's nice not being sucked into eavesdropping on things you don't care about.
It's equally nice for most Czech people to not understand me and my friends yakking about classes and movies and what we want to do that night. I hope they don't at least.
Queen cover band tonight! I don't think they could top the Led Zeppelin guys but I have high hopes for awesomeness.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Shortest, busiest, and most tiring week ever. Great one though! I'm really glad my parents were able to come visit. I have friends here who's just aren't able to and I think it was great that they got to see the city and meet my friends here. They should be in the air headed home now. Probably a tiring week for them too, but I think they had fun.
I still don't have a huge course-load yet. I feel pretty good about it but I know people who have been here longer working almost twice as much. I got my first big paycheck today! (I say "big" but what I mean is a full month's worth.) But yeah, working and hanging with the parents (and friends here) made for super busy week.
Finished it up last night with a "Top Five Music Night". Three of us got together having picked our top five bands, songs, albums, solo artists, and lyrics. Wish it hadn't been on a Sunday because we stayed up too late but it was worth it. Gotta plan some lessons now since I put it off.
I still don't have a huge course-load yet. I feel pretty good about it but I know people who have been here longer working almost twice as much. I got my first big paycheck today! (I say "big" but what I mean is a full month's worth.) But yeah, working and hanging with the parents (and friends here) made for super busy week.
Finished it up last night with a "Top Five Music Night". Three of us got together having picked our top five bands, songs, albums, solo artists, and lyrics. Wish it hadn't been on a Sunday because we stayed up too late but it was worth it. Gotta plan some lessons now since I put it off.
Monday, March 14, 2011
The Not So Amazing Jicin Adventure! And parents!
Remember The Amazing Jicin Adventure? Of course you do. Had another one yesterday. We climbed a big hill. It was sweet.
In more exciting news, the parents are here in Prague! It's surreal. So far this has been a world unseen to everyone I know back home. No frame of reference, no connections to anyone here, etc. I'm excited to show them around and be an old pro in the city. Also excited for them to meet my mess of international friends.
In more exciting news, the parents are here in Prague! It's surreal. So far this has been a world unseen to everyone I know back home. No frame of reference, no connections to anyone here, etc. I'm excited to show them around and be an old pro in the city. Also excited for them to meet my mess of international friends.
Friday, March 11, 2011
move your feet from hot pavement and into the grass.
I have lost the ability to plan more than four days ahead.
The parents are coming to visit in three days and that's pretty difficult to get my head around.
I've been invited "into the nature, on the cottage" (English teacher inside joke) for a birthday next month. I'm on board but yeah, long ways away to be thinking about it now.
Arcade Fire is going to be in Austria in June and the two guys I spend hours listening to and talking about music with are talking about going. That's pretty much unfathomable. Not just because it's so long away but also because ARCADE FIRE. They're going to be the band that always reminds me of this place and time and the people here and what all I've done and been through. And to see them while here, with those two friends, would be epic.
I've settled into a routine by now though, I do need to make some longer-term plans. Since I've been here everything has been uncertain and tentative. I'm still leery about getting too comfortable since I don't have that visa in my passport yet. I don't exactly live in fear but there is the thought in the back of my mind that it won't get approved and I'll have to go home and leave everything and everybody here. (I've realized and come to terms with that whether I leave sooner or later this whole thing is just going to end in tears.)
Anyway, those three "events" might mentally settle me down more.
By the way, four month mark! That's 1/3 of a year. I AM THE PENGUIN.
The parents are coming to visit in three days and that's pretty difficult to get my head around.
I've been invited "into the nature, on the cottage" (English teacher inside joke) for a birthday next month. I'm on board but yeah, long ways away to be thinking about it now.
Arcade Fire is going to be in Austria in June and the two guys I spend hours listening to and talking about music with are talking about going. That's pretty much unfathomable. Not just because it's so long away but also because ARCADE FIRE. They're going to be the band that always reminds me of this place and time and the people here and what all I've done and been through. And to see them while here, with those two friends, would be epic.
I've settled into a routine by now though, I do need to make some longer-term plans. Since I've been here everything has been uncertain and tentative. I'm still leery about getting too comfortable since I don't have that visa in my passport yet. I don't exactly live in fear but there is the thought in the back of my mind that it won't get approved and I'll have to go home and leave everything and everybody here. (I've realized and come to terms with that whether I leave sooner or later this whole thing is just going to end in tears.)
Anyway, those three "events" might mentally settle me down more.
By the way, four month mark! That's 1/3 of a year. I AM THE PENGUIN.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Weekendagain.
Had dinner at the flat-away-from-flat on Friday. We made chicken and corn on the cob and veggies and had bread and beer and cookies. There were about ten people and seven nationalities. It was lots of fun just comfortably sitting around, eating with people who all came from different places and nobody knew each other before doing the Prague-thing.
Yesterday I watched some Doctor Who, helped friends carry empty glass bottles to a potraviny in exchange for cash, broke my watch, did some touristy-Prague stuff with a friend, we were hugged by a man in black-face....which probably still won't be the weirdest thing I see or that happens here. There's more and more tourists cropping up. It doesn't make me happy. There's a huge catch 22 of wanting warmer weather and hating all the people crowding streets and asking me for directions.
Today I plan on getting a new watch (I feel naked without one), getting coffee with a friend and maybe wandering around Vysehrad park/castle, which I haven't done yet. I also need to lesson plan. I usually plan through Tuesday-sometimes-Wednesday on Friday afternoons but there weren't enough hours in the day and I've just got a couple ideas outlined.
Yesterday I watched some Doctor Who, helped friends carry empty glass bottles to a potraviny in exchange for cash, broke my watch, did some touristy-Prague stuff with a friend, we were hugged by a man in black-face....which probably still won't be the weirdest thing I see or that happens here. There's more and more tourists cropping up. It doesn't make me happy. There's a huge catch 22 of wanting warmer weather and hating all the people crowding streets and asking me for directions.
Today I plan on getting a new watch (I feel naked without one), getting coffee with a friend and maybe wandering around Vysehrad park/castle, which I haven't done yet. I also need to lesson plan. I usually plan through Tuesday-sometimes-Wednesday on Friday afternoons but there weren't enough hours in the day and I've just got a couple ideas outlined.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
This is the first week of teaching I've had that is kind of dragging. It was also the first week I wasn't really looking forward to starting up on Sunday. Another teacher-friend who has been here a while told me "Yep, this is your life now." Ah, routine.
I got observed by my "tutor" yesterday morning. About three times a semester we have to get observed for about half of a class just to make sure that we actually have plans and lesson points. I felt really good about it since it was a one-to-one with one of my favorite students. He usually talks and talks and talks but he kind of clammed up with the other guy in the room. It was a little painful, but I doubt I'm fired or anything. I should get my feedback next week.
The weather has been AWESOME this week. Sunshine. Above freezing temperatures. What is this whole walking around with my coat open business?! I've been sitting in parks during my free time, reading or just listening to music, with my face to the sun. I think it's going back to cloudyness this weekend but I'm going to soak it up while I can.
I got observed by my "tutor" yesterday morning. About three times a semester we have to get observed for about half of a class just to make sure that we actually have plans and lesson points. I felt really good about it since it was a one-to-one with one of my favorite students. He usually talks and talks and talks but he kind of clammed up with the other guy in the room. It was a little painful, but I doubt I'm fired or anything. I should get my feedback next week.
The weather has been AWESOME this week. Sunshine. Above freezing temperatures. What is this whole walking around with my coat open business?! I've been sitting in parks during my free time, reading or just listening to music, with my face to the sun. I think it's going back to cloudyness this weekend but I'm going to soak it up while I can.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
GPOY!
Also, it is currently 9 degrees Fahrenheit outside. 9. That's -13 degrees Celsius (which I'm trying to get used to). My morning class cancelled (still get paid, baby!) with some excuse about finishing reports, but I'm pretty sure they were staying in bed too. I'm just about ready for The Winter of Our Discontent to be over. When this city is warm and beautiful I'm going to have earned it.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Weekend.
I can't really remember what I used to do on weekends back home. Hung out and took it easy with the occasional fun event or road trip. The past few weeks here around 2:35pm on a Sunday I'm thinking "Is it time to go to work yet?".
Had a junk food and movie marathon with the crew at the flat away from flat. (That place is a harbor for lost souls I swear.) Well, it began with B making an absurd amount of french toast and making us eat it all. Then we watched some crappy movies and ate the junk food. P has a projector she can borrow from work so we get a big-screen effect and don't have to crowd around a laptop.
Yesterday I hit the town a bit with a friend who is still kind of new here. We got coffee and then had a history lesson at the Communist Museum. I hadn't been yet and she was interested. It was depressing but pretty cool. Then we did Bohemia Bagel which I've heard a lot about but hadn't been to yet. Very American style expat place. Good burger and the first ice I've had since coming here. Then we wandered around Mala Strana a bit. Over the bridge, down to the Lennon wall, looked at buildings, etc. I don't get over there a whole lot and am always a little thrown by all the English speaking tourists. (Wound up giving three of them directions.) For a freezing cold Saturday in February there were a ton of them. I can't wait until it's warm here, but I'm not looking foward to the tourist crowds. It was really cold though so I went home for a nap and she did some shopping. Last night was P's birthday party and it was tons of fun. It was just house-party style which is best. I don't really like going from place to place where you have to talk over music. We played games and just hung out and visited mostly.
Been a bum today except for the exciting 20 minutes when we had no electricity in the flat. Russian roommate seemed very unconcerned, German roommate was freaked about not being able to cook, and Senegali roommate and I were terrified of freezing to death. We threw some switches in our hallway to no avail. I called our landlord and he told us about a box on the stair landing. Success! I initiated good ol' American high fives all around.
I need to go over my lessons for the week. There's a good chance I'll get a "surprise" observation from one of the senior teachers from my school. Although, a friend already jumped on the new Radiohead album and shared it with me. I'm not sure if I want to start getting into it yet though. Arcade Fire. "Suburbs". Still rocking my life right now.
Had a junk food and movie marathon with the crew at the flat away from flat. (That place is a harbor for lost souls I swear.) Well, it began with B making an absurd amount of french toast and making us eat it all. Then we watched some crappy movies and ate the junk food. P has a projector she can borrow from work so we get a big-screen effect and don't have to crowd around a laptop.
Yesterday I hit the town a bit with a friend who is still kind of new here. We got coffee and then had a history lesson at the Communist Museum. I hadn't been yet and she was interested. It was depressing but pretty cool. Then we did Bohemia Bagel which I've heard a lot about but hadn't been to yet. Very American style expat place. Good burger and the first ice I've had since coming here. Then we wandered around Mala Strana a bit. Over the bridge, down to the Lennon wall, looked at buildings, etc. I don't get over there a whole lot and am always a little thrown by all the English speaking tourists. (Wound up giving three of them directions.) For a freezing cold Saturday in February there were a ton of them. I can't wait until it's warm here, but I'm not looking foward to the tourist crowds. It was really cold though so I went home for a nap and she did some shopping. Last night was P's birthday party and it was tons of fun. It was just house-party style which is best. I don't really like going from place to place where you have to talk over music. We played games and just hung out and visited mostly.
Been a bum today except for the exciting 20 minutes when we had no electricity in the flat. Russian roommate seemed very unconcerned, German roommate was freaked about not being able to cook, and Senegali roommate and I were terrified of freezing to death. We threw some switches in our hallway to no avail. I called our landlord and he told us about a box on the stair landing. Success! I initiated good ol' American high fives all around.
I need to go over my lessons for the week. There's a good chance I'll get a "surprise" observation from one of the senior teachers from my school. Although, a friend already jumped on the new Radiohead album and shared it with me. I'm not sure if I want to start getting into it yet though. Arcade Fire. "Suburbs". Still rocking my life right now.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Teaching.
I guess I should talk about classes and teaching once in a while. Since that's what I came here to do and all.
I really like it so far. I'm currently finishing up my fourth week and can't believe it's gone this quickly. I like if not love and adore most of my students. (Except for that one class of three women who stare at me. It's like pulling teeth getting them to talk.) Most days I have two classes, Tuesdays I have three, and Fridays I have one. I'm still learning a lot, but at the end of each week I've had a "step up your game" talk with myself and I'll find more resources and talk to other teachers about what they do. We had to teach 45 minute lessons in the TEFL course and that felt like a long time and a lot of effort to make it last that long. Most of my classes are 90 minutes and I haven't really had that problem yet. In class we had to follow the formula they wanted us to and were being observed, but it's a lot more relaxed doing my own thing. I still use what I learned but nobody cares if we get sidetracked and talk about other stuff or spend the last part of class just in discussion. Most of them just want to speak in English and be corrected anyway.
The only thing I don't like is dealing with stuff for my school. I should just be happy they hired me and all, but I have to turn in evaluations on the students, and make a "course plan", and meet with my senior teacher, and attend workshops now and then, etc. Probably the downside of teaching anything anywhere so I just suck it up.
Having a routine has been fantastic though. I think the staying busy and having obligations is mostly what has made the time go quickly. My mental and emotional state has evened out, where before when I was job hunting and trying to fill the cold days up with something I'd have high highs and low lows every single day. I don't feel like I need to be around people quite as much either. Although that is important and fun and probably my favorite thing about being here.
Another great thing is the late cancellations. If a class cancels 24 hours or less before the meeting time I still get paid. I've had two so far, whut up!
I really like it so far. I'm currently finishing up my fourth week and can't believe it's gone this quickly. I like if not love and adore most of my students. (Except for that one class of three women who stare at me. It's like pulling teeth getting them to talk.) Most days I have two classes, Tuesdays I have three, and Fridays I have one. I'm still learning a lot, but at the end of each week I've had a "step up your game" talk with myself and I'll find more resources and talk to other teachers about what they do. We had to teach 45 minute lessons in the TEFL course and that felt like a long time and a lot of effort to make it last that long. Most of my classes are 90 minutes and I haven't really had that problem yet. In class we had to follow the formula they wanted us to and were being observed, but it's a lot more relaxed doing my own thing. I still use what I learned but nobody cares if we get sidetracked and talk about other stuff or spend the last part of class just in discussion. Most of them just want to speak in English and be corrected anyway.
The only thing I don't like is dealing with stuff for my school. I should just be happy they hired me and all, but I have to turn in evaluations on the students, and make a "course plan", and meet with my senior teacher, and attend workshops now and then, etc. Probably the downside of teaching anything anywhere so I just suck it up.
Having a routine has been fantastic though. I think the staying busy and having obligations is mostly what has made the time go quickly. My mental and emotional state has evened out, where before when I was job hunting and trying to fill the cold days up with something I'd have high highs and low lows every single day. I don't feel like I need to be around people quite as much either. Although that is important and fun and probably my favorite thing about being here.
Another great thing is the late cancellations. If a class cancels 24 hours or less before the meeting time I still get paid. I've had two so far, whut up!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Artyness.
Girlfriend bought herself some cheap watercolors and paper on Friday. I had big plans on being an antisocial artist all weekend, but on the way home I ran into a friend on the tram who asked what was up that night. He lives a couple of blocks away, but it always surprises me when I see people I know just around town. Not that I know that much of the population here, but for a big city it's really not. Anyway, the FOMO (fear of missing out) beat the creative streak. I did start up in the afternoon before going out though. Got dinner and told bad jokes for hours in one of many bars in Zizkov. Worked a little more on Saturday, then went to a birthday party for a guy I met a week ago. Sunday I was definitely going to be an antisocial artist, but a friend was making an uber breakfast for her roommates and whoever crashed at their place the night before so I went over. But YESTERDAY, I finished. Alas, I missed Sci-Fi Night, but I wasn't really feeling like taking the trek of switching metros anyway. Battlestar Galactica isn't doing much for me anyway.
ANYway, kinda based on a photo I took in an alley in Vinohrady. I kind of crapped out halfway through, and I find the colors very distressing, but it was just nice to push paint around again.
ANYway, kinda based on a photo I took in an alley in Vinohrady. I kind of crapped out halfway through, and I find the colors very distressing, but it was just nice to push paint around again.
Have some more Arcade Fire. Just because. New Radiohead album coming out soon too!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Three Month Anniversary!
Yep, been here three months today. This past month has been the quickest and happiest and...probably not easiest, but best to go through. Still new to the teaching thing but I feel like I've got a good handle on the city and have several people I can count on here.
I don't think a gif party like last month is required but here's a little something.
Thanks Orson.
I don't think a gif party like last month is required but here's a little something.
Thanks Orson.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Starting up Week 3 of teaching! I can't believe how quickly things are moving. In a few days I'll have been here three months. That's 1/4 of a year! The two month marker felt like a long time, but the past month has just flown by. I think the winter blues are finally over for everybody. It's been in the mid 40's and sunny this week!
I'm making some friends with other people who work for my school. It seems like Glossa sent all their new teachers to a new company they've picked up, so we all see each other there. There's a couple who got their TEFL online and have been here two weeks. Both situations are kind of unfathomable to me. I need to get them and some others out. They don't know anybody but other teachers here. I'm so glad I fell in with cohorts of other professions. Get five English teachers together and they start talking about how they did an activation for a lesson on the Present Perfect. Bitchin'.
My parents are going to come visit next month, woohoo! It'll be so fun to show them around and introduce them to my.....well, most of my friends here. My Aussie friend who has been here a while says it's the best feeling in the world to have people visit and know the city while they don't. You look like an expert leading them around and showing them the cool haunts. There's a few parts of town we'll have to avoid just so I don't embarass myself though. There's sections I haven't had much need to go to without other people and don't know as well. Plus, so many parts of town have no rhyme or reason to why the streets wind around the way they do. I've been to places around Old Town several times and still get lost on the way.
So yeah, hopefully the weather stays nice for a while. I'm sure there will be more cold before Spring finally comes, but I can't wait until it's nice here.
I'm making some friends with other people who work for my school. It seems like Glossa sent all their new teachers to a new company they've picked up, so we all see each other there. There's a couple who got their TEFL online and have been here two weeks. Both situations are kind of unfathomable to me. I need to get them and some others out. They don't know anybody but other teachers here. I'm so glad I fell in with cohorts of other professions. Get five English teachers together and they start talking about how they did an activation for a lesson on the Present Perfect. Bitchin'.
My parents are going to come visit next month, woohoo! It'll be so fun to show them around and introduce them to my.....well, most of my friends here. My Aussie friend who has been here a while says it's the best feeling in the world to have people visit and know the city while they don't. You look like an expert leading them around and showing them the cool haunts. There's a few parts of town we'll have to avoid just so I don't embarass myself though. There's sections I haven't had much need to go to without other people and don't know as well. Plus, so many parts of town have no rhyme or reason to why the streets wind around the way they do. I've been to places around Old Town several times and still get lost on the way.
So yeah, hopefully the weather stays nice for a while. I'm sure there will be more cold before Spring finally comes, but I can't wait until it's nice here.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Hold your mistake up.
I can't believe that stupid Where the Wild Things Are movie* almost ruined this song for me. Almost ruined The Arcade Fire for me. They keep coming up during music talks and it seems like me and everybody else can't stop listening to them. It took a while for me to really get into them. It takes a lot of listening just for the sound before getting into everything else.
Not much about Prague again, but whatev. I picked up my Opencard today. Woohoo! Legit. Classes are going well. I love some of my students while some are very Czech and a little more difficult. There's a lot to do for my school regarding turning in attendance sheets and invoices and whatnot to make sure we get paid, but I'm sure I'll get into the swing of it. Tomorrow's Friday and I don't have any big weekend plans. Kinda nice. After the Vienna thing I kind of just want to chill around Prague.
*Don't even get me started.
Not much about Prague again, but whatev. I picked up my Opencard today. Woohoo! Legit. Classes are going well. I love some of my students while some are very Czech and a little more difficult. There's a lot to do for my school regarding turning in attendance sheets and invoices and whatnot to make sure we get paid, but I'm sure I'll get into the swing of it. Tomorrow's Friday and I don't have any big weekend plans. Kinda nice. After the Vienna thing I kind of just want to chill around Prague.
*Don't even get me started.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Vienna.
Someday I'll do Vienna and actually care. This weekend wasn't the time for that.
I really didn't want to, just wasn't feeling it, but yesterday I got on a train from Prague to Vienna. I found a kind friend of a friend to host me and actually had a great time with her. We pretty much talked about music the whole time. She's going to Coachella in the spring and I'm soooo jealous. She also fed me leftovers. Anyway, she's grown up in Vienna and we did the google map thing to find the best way to the embassy and back to the train station.
This morning I got up, said goodbye, and headed to the embassy. It wasn't too terrible. I've heard some horror stories. I had my paperwork together and the Czech guy doing everything was pretty cool. I should have a visa in a few months, but for now I'm not even going to think about it.
It was kind of strange, but being there made me realize how familiar Prague has become. The whole time there I was just focused on where I was and how to get where I needed to go. The metro and trams are pretty similar, but having to concentrate on everything around me was kind of exhausting. It was such a relief to pull into the station at Prague and be able to get to my apartment on auto pilot. One of my friends who has been here a couple of years asked if I felt at home here yet and I told him I didn't know if I ever would. Some people land and have that feeling and some stay for years but never cut things off from wherever they came from. I still don't think anything but Home will feel like home, but I realized that I'm definitely comfortable here now. There's still parts of the city I've never been to and don't know, but I'm pretty sure I can get to where I need to be from just about everywhere.
I really didn't want to, just wasn't feeling it, but yesterday I got on a train from Prague to Vienna. I found a kind friend of a friend to host me and actually had a great time with her. We pretty much talked about music the whole time. She's going to Coachella in the spring and I'm soooo jealous. She also fed me leftovers. Anyway, she's grown up in Vienna and we did the google map thing to find the best way to the embassy and back to the train station.
This morning I got up, said goodbye, and headed to the embassy. It wasn't too terrible. I've heard some horror stories. I had my paperwork together and the Czech guy doing everything was pretty cool. I should have a visa in a few months, but for now I'm not even going to think about it.
It was kind of strange, but being there made me realize how familiar Prague has become. The whole time there I was just focused on where I was and how to get where I needed to go. The metro and trams are pretty similar, but having to concentrate on everything around me was kind of exhausting. It was such a relief to pull into the station at Prague and be able to get to my apartment on auto pilot. One of my friends who has been here a couple of years asked if I felt at home here yet and I told him I didn't know if I ever would. Some people land and have that feeling and some stay for years but never cut things off from wherever they came from. I still don't think anything but Home will feel like home, but I realized that I'm definitely comfortable here now. There's still parts of the city I've never been to and don't know, but I'm pretty sure I can get to where I need to be from just about everywhere.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
I'm a TEFL teacher! Week one down. It went really well. Other than my schedule getting changed a lot. I lost a couple of classes to it but they're going to try to find me more. But the first week was mostly about assessing the students' level and finding out where they are in their books. There'll be more structure later.
Got all my visa stuff together. WOOHOO. I kind of hate this country and the whole EU sometimes. Nothing like blasting a little Violent Femmes on the way home from a bureaucratic runaround though. But tomorrow I'm going to Vienna to apply for the visa on Monday morning. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly. I needs to get legal, yo. It's the last big thing on my plate (other than working) to take care of here. It'll be a big relief once it's over.
Got all my visa stuff together. WOOHOO. I kind of hate this country and the whole EU sometimes. Nothing like blasting a little Violent Femmes on the way home from a bureaucratic runaround though. But tomorrow I'm going to Vienna to apply for the visa on Monday morning. Fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly. I needs to get legal, yo. It's the last big thing on my plate (other than working) to take care of here. It'll be a big relief once it's over.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Page, Plant, Bonham, and Jones.
I start teaching tomorrow! I'll usually have three classes on Mondays but one is already cancelled which is kind of nice for a first day and all. I'm really not nervous yet but I'm tired of waiting for the day. I've gone over my lesson plan a lot and think I have enough to do and get them talking. The first lessons are really just getting to know them and assess their levels.
I still have a lot to do regarding applying for the visa. It's such a pain but everybody goes through it. If I get it all together I'm going to the Czech embassy in Vienna on Monday. You have to apply for it outside of the country you're applying for..... Yeah. I'd love to spend some time in the city but I also kind of think I'll be thinking about everything I have to do and just want to get the process over with. We'll see though.
I confess to a weekend of shenanigans that started on Thursday, in fact. Bit of a last hurrah, if you will. Oh who am I kidding, the hurrah never stops in Prague. A girl I met a couple of weeks ago said she suffers from a case of FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. I never had it before, but since being here I understand the feeling. I do stuff on my own too but for some reason I like keeping tabs on my friends here. I'll randomly think "I wonder where so'n'so is in town, who are they with, what's going on, oh man I have to be there too if they're having fun, how dare they be having fun without me!" etc.
Also. Czech Led Zeppelin cover band = coolest thing ever. It was four dudes who we all agreed looked like our fathers and their friends. They've had to have been doing this for thirty years though. The only way they could have sounded more like Zep would be if it were actually Page, Plant, Bonham, and Jones. I've been really really happy about it for days.
I still have a lot to do regarding applying for the visa. It's such a pain but everybody goes through it. If I get it all together I'm going to the Czech embassy in Vienna on Monday. You have to apply for it outside of the country you're applying for..... Yeah. I'd love to spend some time in the city but I also kind of think I'll be thinking about everything I have to do and just want to get the process over with. We'll see though.
I confess to a weekend of shenanigans that started on Thursday, in fact. Bit of a last hurrah, if you will. Oh who am I kidding, the hurrah never stops in Prague. A girl I met a couple of weeks ago said she suffers from a case of FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. I never had it before, but since being here I understand the feeling. I do stuff on my own too but for some reason I like keeping tabs on my friends here. I'll randomly think "I wonder where so'n'so is in town, who are they with, what's going on, oh man I have to be there too if they're having fun, how dare they be having fun without me!" etc.
Also. Czech Led Zeppelin cover band = coolest thing ever. It was four dudes who we all agreed looked like our fathers and their friends. They've had to have been doing this for thirty years though. The only way they could have sounded more like Zep would be if it were actually Page, Plant, Bonham, and Jones. I've been really really happy about it for days.
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