31 May
Successful trip to the foreign police (FoPo) = a new visa to work here next year!
We arrived this morning at 6:10 a.m., whihc means we got up at 4:30. When we arrived, Katie asked if we had all the right paperwork at the information desk (which is a BRAND-NEW concept) and the lady told her that if it were her, she wouldn't accept it as enough, but we could wait and see. So we did. After almost 3 hours, we got in and all of us got our Visas! There was one small problem...I had run out of pages in my passport! "How?" you intelligently ask. I only got this passport 2 years ago. Well, lots of little trips to Germany, Hungary, Austria, Poland, etc...last year add up to lots of stamps. The embassy is only open until noon, so I rushed over there - and when I say "rushed," I mean took an hour to go the distance that would probably be a 10 minuite car ride! Then I rushed back to find my visa lady at lunch. I waited, mostly patiently, for her to return and when she did - Presto! I magically had my visa. It's astounding. The old way, you bring your stuff to this tiny dank (yeah, that's right!) office building, where you wait for 6 officers to wait on everyone. If you accidentally got the wrong number, too bad - come back tomorrow and try again! Then you leave your things there, they check them over and give you a paper that says to come back in 30 days! Of course, we're gone for the summer by then, so we have to come back in the fall and basically repeat the process. In the last few months, they've moved, have about 20 officers now who put all the info in the computer (so "goodbye" to some of the old crabby women who used to work there). Some of these people even speak English! It's so much more pleasant.
All in all, a long day, but successful, so it was worth it.
Thus ends my month "committed" to blogging....but I'd be sad to let it go, so I will still attempt to write daily comments. Please keep reading if you're interested! It's been great to hear feedback on some of it. I like knowing that even if we lose touch a bit while I am here, I can still let you know what's going on in my life. Instead of having to coordinate times to be at the phone, I write whenever I have an moment or something to say, and you can read it when it's convenient! Ah...the beauty of the internet.
30 May
Today I am sick. Actually, yesterday I was sick too, which is why I didn't write. I had three classes, so I taught them very mechanically and went straight down to my flat and to bed. Normally, the process is really simple - if you are sick, you call the school and tell them, so they cancel your classes for the day, and you go to the doctor. Always. You don't stay home a few days...you have to go to the doctor! Usually this itself is QUITE an ordeal. SOme doctors, like our school's normal physician, do not speak any English, so describing symptoms is a complicated process. Think gestures combined with body part words, which you prepare ahead of time. Really, I have only been to the doctor once for an illness, so I am lucky. The normal procedure though, is that they write a note for the school saying you have such-and-such disease and have to stay home for ____ days. A week is standard, or you have to go back and get a new note. This is for anything. You have strep throat - a week at home. You have a sinus infection - a week at home. Whatever. So...when you go to the doctor, you have to prepare for that possibility, which is why I am typing this instead of going to a doctor. I do not HAVE a week to sty at home! Tomorrow morning, at about 5 a.m. (oof!) AMy, Katie, Ben, and I will trek off to the foreign police to get our visas for working here next year. My friend Stephanie went today and it only took her 6 hours of sitting in the office before her number was called, and then 2 more hours to run and get the paperwork that she was missing, and get back. Nice, huh? So that's our lovely plan for tomorrow! The next day we leave for a canoeing trip on the Vltava River a few hours away in the beautiful town of Cesky Krumlov (see the movie The Illusionist for views of it, even though they say they are in Vienna). The following week, on Tuesday, I leave on a trip to southern England for two weeks with a bus load of 13 year olds - fun and stressful! So all trhat to say...I don't have time to go to a doctor. I was lucky and my classes were cancelled today, since the kids were on their own canoe trip! So, I slept most of the day, except for a few hours of waking up to watch the season finale of Lost - oh my GOSH! - and now I will head to bed again. Hopefully by tomorrow, the fever and stuffiness will be gone!
28 May
We had our last retreat of the '06-'07 school year! It was nice...sort of. We went to Kutna Hora, a town about an hour east of Prague. It's famous for a church that is decorated with human bones. Eerie! The estimate is that about 40, 000 people's bones are used in that place - wow! I will try to get some pictures and post them too. It was an emotional weekend...sad to see some very good friends for the last time and to have to say goodbye to them, but some good things happened too!
We did a lot of walking and saw three churches, actually... One was made of concrete blocks and was very plain. It was not really open to see, but we peeked inside and saw what was either a skeleton or a mummy! You never know around here! The other church was beautiful on the outside - covered in what looked like gargoyles! Not just on the corners or in "normal" places, but little tiny gargoyles covering all of the peaks and flying buttresses...it was really cool! And, I believe - enough said about the bone church!
Today I had regular classes...when I say "classes," I mean "class." Since my seniors are gone, I really only have about half my regular classload! Today is usually my easiest day anyway, so...only one class for me! I taught grammar! Lovely, yeah? How and when to use articles...wow - can't tell you how exciting THAT is. As an American, given a combination of a public and private school education - I had no idea what the rules were for using articles. Can you explain when you would use the word "the" versus when you'd leave it out? Or when you'd use the article "a/an?" Why do we say The Great Salt Lake, but leave off the article in Lake Erie? Those are the wonderful questions my students ask me. This one went fairly well, mostly because I taught this lesson to 6 classes last year and 3 this year. Most of my grammar lessons are marked by at least one point in the class where I am asked a question, my eyes grow large, and I have to humbly say "...um, I'll have to ask Ms. Byrne and get back to you!"
25 May
Well, Pirates was interesting. I guess if you're a fan, I recommend seeing it, but ... to borrow an ESI phrase "keep your expectations low!" The special effects are phenomenal and the action scenes are shockingly good, but the plot. Well, what do you expect from a series fo films modeled after a Disneyland ride!?!?
Today, we hadthe Maturita ceremonies - one for each class. They were great! The head master gave a short speech, saying that the class was like a bottle of wine - a good year and in about 10 years, after having time to mellow, they'd be a great bottle! It was sweet. The music was good too. One of the boys wrote the words to a spiritual song and a choir sang it. It was amazing and touching...although weird to hear such meaningful words being sung by and listened to by people (most of them) who mean it so little. Overall, it was a great time and kind of sad.
Off to Kutna Hora - to see the bone church...andto present a slideshow that Amy and I made of Stephen. ;-)
24 May
So I just finished Maturita week! I am sorry for not writing this week, but it was absolutely not on my priority list – again, sorry. ;-) No one failed! Not only did no one fail an English exam, but no one failed ANY exams! It’s miraculous…maybe not. We have a fabulous group of kids!
Monday was my easy day – only 3 exams. My biggest complaint that day was the heat! All the rooms are on the south side of the building and they kept the doors closed so it would stay quiet…bad idea for examining 4 nervous kids at a time who are all wearing formal clothes! I decided that this week, I’d be a bit self-indulgent, so Monday I spent the afternoon in the park writing and reading, then to my favorite coffee shop Kava Kava Kava (where Sam Trad’s mom bought be an iced latte). I was craving spicy food, so I got take-out from Tandoor, the Indian place where Stephen and I ate the other night. I got spicy food alright!!! I ordered the Vindaloo (sp??) chicken. Wow! My stomach hurt after eating half and I was sweating pretty badly, so I stopped. Leftovers!
Tuesday – not so easy as yesterday! I had 11 exams today. Basically, you have to go in the room, wait for the student to draw a number out of the official bag, and give them the test materials for the corresponding topic. Then they have 15 minutes at the “sweat table” to prepare. After that, they come to a table where I sit with another English teacher – a witness – and the commissioner of the exams, their class teacher, and other officials. Often the room is also full of their classmates who want to cheer them on or younger students who want a peek at this infamous exam! I prompt them to answer questions and give info about their topic. At the end of 15 minutes, the commissioner will tell us to stop and another student starts speaking. It’s very fast-paced. Today, Stephen came into town and we met for dinner. It was a welcome break at the half-time of the busy week!
Wednesday – a tolerable day. Most of my 10 exams were in the morning. I had plans to go to some friends’ house to watch a movie, but I decided to stay in and relax…so I made dinner and watched a mindless romantic comedy with Katie. It was a nice day…considering! Amy, Zuzana (the new teacher at school who’s living with us for a month) and Katie watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2…in Czech. I had prepped Katie and Amy with the plot of the film beforehand, but I think they were still pretty lost watching it!
Thursday – that’s today! I am done and celebrating. I came down to Kava Kava Kava to do this – after a neglectful week, and because in an hour, the roommates (Amy, Elanor, Zuzana, and Katie – sort of), Sam, her mom, and I will go see the new Pirates movie – before any of you get to see it! Actually I am sure that some theaters in the US open before noon, but that’s about what time it will be on the East Coast when our movie starts. I have been looking forward to this for months! I am not such a huge Pirates fan, but I am even less of a Spiderman or Ninja Turtles fan, and THAT is the film-fodder we have been given to chew lately! It’s enough to give you indigestion. ;-)
Anyway, that’s been my week. Tomorrow we have our final Maturita ceremony at a local monastery and then this weekend is our ESI End of the Year retreat. We’ll take a train to Kutna Hora (the city with the Bone Church). That’ll be our home this weekend. This is my lead-in to an excuse for not writing this weekend. ;-) I’ll try to make it up the next weekend.
19 May
As usual, Bohemia Bagel this morning! We had the addition of the boys' friend from college who was visiting with her family. After a few hours of studying in an internet cafe with Ben and Stephen, we decided we needed a "date night." Stephen and I walked around the city awhile, again scorning tourists. Then we decided to try new Indian restaurant that everyone in our group has tried. Cheap, spicy food...mmmm. It was tasty and the weather was magnificent! We then went back to the flat and took a frisbee to the park nearby. We have this amazing park called "Hvezda" which means "star." The park is long (a kilometer, i think) and full of trees. It looks and feels like you're in the middle of a forest! I love it. It looks spectacular in every season, but fall is my FAVORITE! Anyway, we enjoyed the nice afternoon and evening and Stephen took on the huge task of trying to get me to catch a frisbee! Good luck!
18 May
We had an afternoon in the park today for Maturita students who needed some R&R time. It turned out to be more non-Maturita than Maturita students, but they placyed Ultimate Frisbee with El, ANdrew, Amy, and Katie...while I watched. ;-)
Today I realized that this will be my last weekend to hang out with JUST our "core group," so we went to dinner together. Amy, Ben, Stephen, and me.... It was a little sad! We all have an ESI retreat next weekend, Cesky Krumlov (our annual canoe trip) the next weekend, then I am gone over two weekends to Barnstaple, England. I'll be back by the end of June, but then Sarah, Christie, and others will be visiting...it's slipping away! I have got a FULL/busy year - what's left of it! we had asian food and walked downtown. We wandered the Charles Bride, scorning tourists- which we can do since we live here! ;-) I really love our group! It has been the four of us together from the begining, with Katie and Sam too. I will miss "us." Raise your glasses to the last two years of great memories!
17 May
I think I became a member of a church today. I say "I think" because it was sort of unofficial. There are no membership classes or anything, no doctrinal statements to sign or anything. I just agree that I want some official place in this church body. Last year, I went to a Czech church, but it was translated and I always felt like something got lost. Or maybe I just didn't "get" what the sermons were about. Also, since my Czech is so limited, and was more so back then, I met very few people! After Christmas, I went to a few International churches, trying to find a good fit. Laura, my roomie last year had found Prague Christian Fellowship, so I tried it. by the end of that service, we were on our way to someone's house to have dinner and that is where I made my church home for the last few months of the year. I have said for years that I don't believe that I'll ever find a church where I agree with all of the doctrine and all of the practices in the church, so I look for a place that feels like "home" where you can make relationships with people. That's what church should be right? I would much rather disagree with a church on some minor doctrinal points and find people I love. This is a good group of people and I don't have any serious issues with what is preached there, so...here I am! The choices are pretty limited here! There are two international, Protestant, modern-service type churches that I know of, some smaller Czech churches, an Anglican church (where Elanor goes) and a lot of Catholic churches here. It's worth branching out or even coming out of your comfort zone to find a church here!
So I met with the pastor and his wife today and have agreed to make this my church home.
16 May
I felt like I was in college today! Amy and I spent our afternoon sudying at Bohemia Bagel, drinking bottomless Coke-lights. Mmm. It's been awhile since I have had to memorize information but I certainly need to for next week! This exam we'll give had 25 questions that the kids will rendomly select from. Each question has both a conversational topic and a content-based topic. For example, one combination might be: "Describing Appearance/Personality" and "British Literature through the 17th Century"OR "Peer Pressure and Rebellion" with "Autralian and New Zealand History." It's topics like that - basically a combination of history, literature, or government of Britain, it's Commonwealth countries, the U.S., or the Czech Republic. My worst areas are early and modern Czech history and the literature topics. I didn't read so many "Classics" as I did Pilgrim's Progress in high school.
;-)
Anyway, we studied our brains out today! This weekend will be more of the same.
15 May
We had a pub talk of sorts today for our Maturita students who were studying. Every other week, we meet with any students who want extra English conversation practice. Elanor meets the younger students, who she teaches more often, in a tea shop. Amy, Katie, and I usually meet ours in a pub...one of the things you CAN'T do in America! So usually, it's just random conversation. Tonight we wanted to do a trivia game related to Maturita topics, but ...almost as many "Juniors" as "Seniors" showed up, so that was kind of pointless. Didn't happen. Stephen came with us tonight, which was new! It's interesting to have an outsider's perspective on our pub talks too. Our kids speak pretty good English and are highly motivated most of the time. Even the shy ones open up a bit when they've had a beer. Funny thing, some of their teachers recommend that they have a beer before their Maturita exams. We saw a teacher give a student a shot of some drink last year before her exam! (More things you couldn't do in the U.S.!) It helped enough that the student talked instead of cried. ;-) Don't know that it's a great solution, but...
It's the 15th of the month and, once again, I forgot to remind the people on my CA team to turn in their TMRs. Every month, we all turn in reports to ESI saying how we're doing financially, emotionally, physically, etc... I have to collect 4 and turn them in with mine...except I forget almost every month to remind them! I am not a great CA...
;-)
14 May
So today was my first day without my senior, or Maturita, students. Kind of weird. My schedule will get lighter from here on out, but I'll have to do more substitutions and things like that. Amy and I have decided to spend soem of the week studying...just like the college days!
Today Stephen came up. His roommate, Ben, has been gone all week at a camp in the mountains and has taken his computer with him, so things are pretty quiet in Pribram! We enjoy a mid-week visit...kind of unusual. Katie asked us if we'd be interested in going to a theater performance with her. We saw a Native American/canadian playwright. He primarily writes modern versions of old histories, legends and stories of Native people in North America. He also writes a lot of music for his plays, so the performance was really just a compilation of his songs. An AMAZING singer performed them. She was really fantastic and made the whole thing worth it. A Czech author was also releasing her book there - a comilation and translation of 3 authors of these kinds of stories. Very interesting evening!
13 May
One of my major complaints about living here - one of the FEW! - is the terrible Mexican food! I miss Las Margaritas in Gillette! I know even that may not be authentic Mexican but at least it tastes good. To recount a few Mexican food experiences here: There is Hombres, an expensive place I went to on New years Eve of LAST year with a group of Americans. Not too bad, but definitely ta once-a-year kind of place...just too much money! But at least they use salsa and cheddar cheese, although their fajitas leave a LOT to be desired! Next there is Cantina...also a bit more pricey, not quite as bad as Hombres though.The food is...tolerable, not great - some people even say they hate it. I really, really like their refried beans though - they are black beans and have sort of a smokey, bacon-y, garlicky flavor. But at these prices, I need to learn how to MAKE them! Also there is Picante, which is the fast-food of Mexican in Prague. I have never eaten there and laft without a sick stomach. The fmenu is mostly is fried stuff - greasy and not bad, but spicy and...doesn't like me for some reason. The only benefit - free refills and a variety of salsas. Last we have ...gosh I don't know the name. I Pribram, where the boys live, a new Mexican restaurant opened up last month. We4 were so excited, we rushed right over. While the quesadillas were pretty good, the "salsa" they served was a cross between barbeque sauce and chutney. Weird. Weird on the "enchilada" but not too bad on the chicken wings...that's mexican right?
Anyway, that's my major food complaint. Bring on the Taco Bell! So last night Stephen and I made tortillas and salsa and made or own version of Taco Bells' Mexi-melts. ;-) I have to say...not bad! Threw some tomatoes, onions, garlic, lime juice, and cilantro in the robot and gave it a whirl. We let it sit while we made the tortillas...a long process, so we made extras to freeze at my house! mmmm. We had made these before with a group, so we KIND OF knew what we were doing.
This is the recipe we used, as I said before, from Marianne:
4 cups flour, 1 tsp salt mixed together
Then add 1 T of oil and add between 1 and 1 1/2 cups of BOILING water. Start with the smaller amount of water and add more if needed. This WILL taste like homemade play-doh!;-) So form it into litlle balls and roll them flat. Put in a frying pan on Med heat and flip with then turn white and get a little brown(ours took about 3-5 min each, so we used 2 pans).
We got about 16 tortillas out of this recipe I think. Fantastic! Even last year, it was kind of hard to find tortillas outside of the really big grocery stores. Anyway, these were fantastic. We indulged ourselves and bought some hard-to-find cheddar cheese and mmm....
Church today was good. It was about what you think about. The pastor showed a funny little clip that you can find here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vBn2_ia8zMand asked us "What are you (th)inking about?" Then we got lots of Scriptures instruction us on what we should think about...very nice.
After church, I met with a former CFNI grad! Weird story, but I found a snifer...;-) They weren't at the school when I was, but a few years later.
12 May
Again, I don't have email access sometimes, especially on the weekends or if I don't have my laptop, so sorry this is late. Saturdays here, as I've said, are pretty lazy. On this one, we all woke up late after having been to a student concert last night. Last night, Amy, Ben, Stephen, and I went to this concert - a student band called "Skalena Treska"...which is something to do with a type of fish. It's a ska band, so lots of fun and dancing. They played some of their own songs, both in Czech and English and some familiar ones too. There was a particularly touching moment when the four of us were singing a ska version of "Happy Together." Ha! ;-) Anyway, it was a good time and we left around 11:30 to catch the last regular bus home...night buses start after midnight and don't come very frequently. We waited at the bus stop for about 10 minutes with a growing crowd and then Stephen left to go to the bathroom. Then the bus came. I wasn't sure if he was back from his ...venture into the woods, so I debated whether to get on the bus or not. I got on, looked around, asked a few people if they'd seen him and finally decided to get off and wait. As the bus closed its doors and drove on, I saw him waving from the back of the bus, looking really confused! The first night bus came at 1:10...almost an hour and a half later...so, I headed back to the concert/pub and made myself comfortable, playing "table football" and re-telling the story to students, who thought it was pretty ridiculous! The first thing that crossed my mind at the moment I realized I had such a long wait for another bus was...Well, I guess I'll have to drive home! But wait! That's not an option! This was one of the few times I wished I had a car here! most of the time, public transportation is fantastic! Think of all the money you save! You can get anywhere in the city and a three-month pass costs about...65 dollars. Compared to a car payment, insurance, and gas, it's a STEAL! Plus, if you DO have a car here, there's a really good chance it will get stolen. ;-) To wrap this up, I did end up getting home early, splitting a taxi with 2 students who were taking one anyway. Fun night!
Tonight, we are making homemade Mexican food!I'm finally trying out the "robot" to make fresh salsa and even homemade tortillas (recipe courtesy of my friend Marianne in Cheb).
11 May
A few things today:
An update on the exams mentioned last week and an event happening at our school today, which can only be classified as chaos bordering on anarchy.
So last week, I mentioned that the exit exams for all seniors in high school were being reformed. As it currently stands, each school makes their own version of an oral exam, where the students have to speak for 15 minutes and, at the end of it, are given a grade...this is the grade they show universities and carry with them forever. Each school has its own standards, its own questions, and its own grading system. This makes for a VERY subjective exam, based partly on the whims of the teacher, partly on the rules of the school, but judged the same by outsiders. Seems unfair, huh? For example... my school is one of the best in Prague (prob the whole country) and I have have no doubt that some of the kids we teach will be leading this country someday! (My own little bragging moment - sorry!) So at their "Maturita" exam, they get between a 1 and 5 for a grade (1 is the best). If my student gets a 1, he/she is really good! At another school - perhaps a lesser-quality gymnazium (college prep high school), a student can also get a 1, but it's relative to the students in the school. If he/she were to be examined at our school, they might only get a 2 or 3. There is just no objective standard. So universities looking at these scores really have no solid meaning to attach to them. Secondly, there is no standard way to grade between tests even in your own school! On Monday, you might be sick or crabby, giving out lower grades, but on Wednesday, you feel better, get more sleep, or whatever, and your standards might change. We have been improving on this within our school. A few years ago, our head English teacher (and dear friend!), Katie, introduced a grading rubric, giving us some solid criteria with which to give marks. It's a great improvement within our own system, but doesn't solve the larger problem. Last week I mentioned the reforms that are happening though. In 2005, it was decided that NEXT year's seniors would be given a new "standardized" exam. It's slowly coming together, but due to many factors, it's still a work-in-progress. Last Friday, students staged a protest downtown in (famous for other protests)Wenceslas Square against having to implement the new exam so soon. During their protest, the government announced that it would delay the exam for 2 years.
Good points of that decision: Less work to make a whole new exam so soon and to teach it to our seniors. Also, hopefully, there will be less ambiguity as to what will be ON the exam and they'll have some of the kinks worked out.
Bad points: A good thing delayed because it had a few flaws...hopefully it will actually happen! As it stands now, our seniors, for 3 more years, will have this subjective thing still governing their futures!
Okay, second thing to mention today - the "Last Bell": The Maturita exams start in a week and a half and the week before the exams, they have school off to study. So it's the seniors last day of school - the last bell they'll hear! They basically TAKE OVER the school. They play music, spray teachers and otehr students with water...or cheap, old-man cologne like today. They sell food, play games, whatever they want...and it is CHAOS! Right now there's a football (soccer) match going on outside between the seniors and the other classes. I should be watching, but ...here I sit!
One of our favorite classes has a Ska band. They're playing tonight and have invited us, so that's the most exciting part of the weekend - to go watch a few student bands play in a club. ;-)
10 May
Well, ths Salsa turned out pretty well! I used a bit to much Cilantro...typical beginner mistake. The Robot seems to be performing nicely though. My pack back is as well. I definitely needed it since my neck and back were getting so sore I could hardly turn my head!
Yesterday was our final day with our Senior classes. :-( A bit of a sad day, having to say goodbye. I brought coffee and pastries to my first class...only 4 showed up. It relieved a bit of pressure on a crazy day. Thursdays are my busiest anyway with teaching 6 lessons and usually having an English Dept meeting in the middle. Today though, between lessons, I baked a cake for one of my senior classes...dumb idea! Then taught others all day and for my last lesson of the day (my 7th), I brought the cake...again - only 4 people. That's okay - lots of cake for each of us then!
We have a weekly Bible study with the Greater Prague area folk. This week, we looked at Exodus 34...at God's description of himself. It's a cool verse...interesting description. We then debated whether God literally was holding them responsible for sin to the 2nd and 3rd generation in a physical sense, like simple natural consequences, or whether it was more in a spiritual sense - like they were to be punished for their fathers actual sins. And is that how a just God treats us? Someone referred to Jeremiah 31 where it said that there's a day coming when God won't do that, when someone who "eats sour grapes" will suffer for only his part in it, basically (my crazy paraphrase). Is this the new covenant we have or do we still have "generational" punishment for sin? No conclusions were reached... they rarely are! ;-) But it's great to have such thinkers to discuss your opinions and beliefs with. One of the guys brings his Hebrew Bible, so he can help us with original translations...fantastic!
9 May
Today I got a new backpack... yeah that's about as exciting as it got. I have a cheap old backpack I got at the begining of last year at Tesco for about 10 dollars. Fine but my computer is very, very heavy and I inevitable carry around papers to grade in case I have free time. All this has contributed to my back and neck being so sore lately that I can't turn my neck! Anyway...the cheapest solution to this seemed to be to get a new backpack. SO I did. Will let you know if it helps! ;-)
Actually the other thing I am excited about is my birthday present..."Yes," you say "but your birthday was in July!" Right, my friends - my kind roommates told me I could have a food processor as a gift for my B-day last year... all I had to do was pick it out and they'd split the cost. So...about 2 weeks ago I did. Ha! Anyway, I have experimented a few times with my "Robot," which by the way, is a Czech word! It's fun and easy. I made shortcake in it last week for Elanor's bridal shower. Tonight though...Salsa! All I needed today was some beautiful tomatoes, Cilantro (Koriander here - and hard to find!) and jalepenos....no, wait... no jalepenos to be found. What to do? My friend Chrissy said she'd seen them canned - ugh! But after trying my local Delvita supermarket and a few small produce stands with no luck whatsoever, I decided to cave... I bounght the canned guys. (sigh) They can't possibly taste as good, but I'll let you know how my robot works!
8 May
I realized that my books, movies, etc...listed to the right of this are INCREDIBLY out of date! I promise to change them soon. Just please know that I have NOT been reading the same book for thre months now.
This was my last day of the glorious four-day weekend. I usually travel on long weekends. The last one led me to Berlin, which was fantastic. Our fall break is about this long too and we hit Paris with an ultra-cheap discount airline ticket. This time though, it was nice to just relax. Otherwise, it's just like any vacation you've ever taken...you get home and wonder how you could possibly get another four days off just to recouperate! Ah! So all I really did today was catch up on blogging and met friends. Our friends from Ostrava (Kevin, Laura, and Jessica) were in town this weekend, so I met with Stephen, Ben, that group, and Zach for a few hours. We don't see them much, so it's nice to catch up when you can!
Tomorrow will be interesting. We've already turned in grades for our Seniors (Maturants) and they know it, so we'll see how many come to class this week at all! They only have two days of school and then Friday is the "Last Bell," which I'll explain on Friday!
7 May
Again, did a lot of nothing today. I sat around the boys' flat while they taught. Tuesday is a national holiday, but not Monday, so my school gave us the day off, but the guys did not get it off! Nice for me! I laid around their flat in my pajamas all day, reading my new book, watching Heroes on my computer, and listening to music. A few months ago, we had a CD exchange and I am in LOVE with the CD that one of our Hungarian teachers made! It sounds like a fantastic movie soundtrack. I can send the song list to anyone if you're interested. It has a lot of Patty Griffin, whom I LOVE! I really, really like her music ...sort of folk/country/....I don't know what. It's a bit melancholy.
So after school, Stephen and I came back to Prague...thinking we might go to a movie, but didn't end up doing that. Instead we chatted in our fave coffee shop and had coffee. I got the new Lost episode...the only show I have bought online this year, but I am a bit addicted to it!
6 May
Did NOTHING today...It was a really relaxing day. Usually I go to church on Sunday afternoons in Prague but since I was out of town, i didn't go today. It rained off and on during the day, so we just sat around watching movie and a few TV show episodes. One was "I (heart) Huckabees." WEIRD movie! I liked it but wouldn't recommend that any of you go and buy it! Rent it if it's on the 99 cent rack and expect little! Funny if you want to see Lily Tomlin swearing... ;-)
Finally got out of the house and went to dinner...had fried cheese and french fries - sort of typical pub food for here. Then we wandered up to the Holy Mountain in Pribram, which is a Catholic pilgrimage site, and watched the sun set from the top of an old concrete...bunker??? not sure exactly what it is, but has a really gorgeous view of the city and the sunset! This is the place where we usually go to see stars. We don't have many visible ones in the city, but an hour away, in Pribram, you can get a pretty spectacular view!
Pribram is a nice little town - it's very near the site of the newly proposed Radar site that the US wants to put in. You wouldn't believe the controversy about THAT! About half of my students want the radar, saying that it will "buy" some measure of protection by having U.S. military in the country and that they will get some favor from the U.S. (which sounds suspiciously like gang protection!) The other half are seriously opposed, and for nearly the same reasons...right now, the Czech Republic is a very safe, very neutral place to live... they haven't ticked off anyone lately! Not a military power, not an oil country, no weapons, nothing, so they feel like, by inviting the U.S. in, they're ...kind of taking sides and declaring allegiance to the U.S., who most people think of as trouble-makers. Some seem especially nervous about looking like they are taking sides against Russia, which is no threat to them right now. Anyway, it's easy to see their point of view. I am not sure how I feel about it.
Like I said, Pribram also has a "Holy Mountain," which is really beautiful, and Stephen and Ben live just minutes from the top. It also is a mining town...Uranium mines! Woohoo! They actually warn against drinking the water for too many years, but... I don't know if that's a real threat or not. The town is also not too far from a very controversial nuclear power plant near the Austrian border. At least it's controversial for the Austrians! Czechs usually think of it as a very safe, clean power source. Ben and Stephen got to visit the plant a few months ago! Wish I could have gotten in on that!
5 May
Well, we have a four day weekend coming up, so I skipped town with Stephen today. We had breakfast with the usual crowd in Old Town...at our usual place, Bohemia Bagel (free coffee refills!) Then our usual routine is to wander through Old Town and go to Anagram, an English bookstore. I got a new book! Roald Dahl - of "James and the Giant Peach" and "Matilda" fame - also writes stories for adults (not ADULT stories!) so I got a book of his short stories. Wandering through Old Town, we found an interesting ..."protest." It was the Million Marijuana March. People wanting to legalize pot here - it's already legal to smoke, but not to buy or sell. ANyway, it was pretty funny! I wish I'd gotten pictures. Such a riled-up group... all sitting down, relaxing in the sun...looking like they didn't have a care in the world. ;-) It was a slow march, I am SURE of that!
So, like I said, Stephen and I left Prague. We had dinner with a colleage of his and a student in Pribram, where he lives. It was really nice and relaxing! Talked for 6 hours, having coffee and wine with his friends. Good times! ;-)
4 May
I don't have internet at home. We live inside the school, so we can sometimes go upstairs and use teh internet there, but the school is technically closed on the weekends, so that makes daily blogging....impossible! I do have access to internet cafes, like the one where I am now. On the 4th of May, we had school like usual, but it was my last class with some of my seniors!
;-(
Kind of a sad day... I really like these kids and will miss them. Oh well...
We also had a bridal shower for my roommate Elanor and her fiance, Andrew. We all had dinner at a nice place and then separated - guys and girls. We had a more traditional bridal shower - games, food, gifts, etc... and the guys went to a pub and relaxed all night! It was a good time! It's a little hard to find funny/cute gifts for a personal shower here...but we managed! ;-)
3 May
Today, I feel like I witnessed genuine progress. We had our regular Thursday English Department meeting and an interesting topic (for me, at least!) was brought up. The exam for the end of high school - basically a leaving exam - is very difficult and very subjective. I will give more details in a week or so when they begin, but here I will just say that they are oral exams and the grading is basically up to each examiner - no standardization, no regulation of the method or scoring system that is used. I don't love it, but I have sort of become accustomed to it. The country's exams are in the process of reform as a whole - we'd all been looking at new options. We'd decided last week to use a written, more objective test; however, this week another option was brought up. One of our choices is to use a portfolio. This way we could get an authentic picture of what the kids learn, sort of a view of the process of the student getting to their current level. This is quite a progressive idea! I pushed hard for it, feeling a bit guilty because I am helping to make hard decisions, and I MAY not be here when they are implemented, meaning I may not have to do any of the real work for it. Still, I was ecstatic to see that the other teachers were willing to take this risk and put in the extra work to make real changes in our school specifically.
So, on another note...on Tuesday and Thursdays, I teach American Realia - which is like history, geography, and government - basically a social studies class about America. Some of my classes take a lot of energy, since they are conversation classes or involve complex grammar lessons and questions that I don't know how to answer! This Realia class is often a welcome relief...a bit of hard fact, something tangible, and not debatable...in short, I like knowing what I am talking about on occasion!
2 May
Seriously, where did May come from? The last I noticed, it was mid-January! Spring flew by like this last year and here we are again...almost Maturita time and I am feeling the pinch! Wednesdays are one of my easier days. I teach a few lessons and am usually out of school pretty early. My normal routine is then to head into town to sit in a coffee shop or something to grade papers, get online, etc... Today though, a lot of students had signed up for practice exams, so I was here for an extra 2 and a half hours. I will talk later about these exams that stress out my kids so badly here.
After I finally got out of here, I went to the city center to meet with a friend and fellow ESI teacher. We don't get to talk much but sometimes we carve out the time. Those of us who live in Prague have a weekly Bible study at a local hang out called Bohemia Bagel. It's a place to get American-style food and free soda refills! Tonight we discussed 1 Kings 19:9-13..an interesting passage... not really instructional, just the middle of a story about Elijah, but an interesting look at the way God spoke to him.
On my way home, I had a "moment." Sometimes they happen - never when I expect them - but they usually hit me between the eyes. I had to switch transportation a few times; I took a Metro (too far because I was looking at a dog instead of watching for my stop!). Went back the other way with a backpack full of groceries and a arm full of papers I had been grading on the metro. I waited for my tram with a big group and got onto an already crowded tram car. Needless to say, I did NOT get a seat. I stood there sweating, carrying all of my junk, watching the guy sitting in the seat beside me...resenting him. He was 50-ish, dirty and smelled like alcohol. I know that I must have rolled my eyes. I wondered if he was homeless, but thought not because his hair was clean and his clothes were too. It was just his body that smelled bad and looked...unpleasant. I fanned myself with my hand because it was warm and full of bodies in the tram car. He looked up and saw me and his eyes got wide. He gestured for me to sit down, and my guilt kicked in. "Ne! Ne!" I told him. I didn't want his seat. He repeatedly gestured and I told him I didn't speak Czech, but he seemed so insistent that I finally switched places with him. Then I noticed he had a physical disability too. Nothing severe, but enough that he couldn't speak. I felt ... humbled. I felt so inconvenienced by having to stand on a tram for 20 minutes, carrying my work from my wonderful job, wearing my too-warm American clothes, listening to my ipod and here was this kind man, offering me his seat...just because. He just smiled down at me until the next stop when a seat cleared out for him right in front of me and he sat down, smiling and gesturing with two hands something that seemed to mean, "See? It all evens out." I sat there and teared up a bit. It was nothing profound, but just one of those moments where you get the feeling that it happened to get you to notice something or to change your attitude about something. Making snap judgments? Stereotyping? Being ungrateful? I suppose a few things might have popped out at me.
The one where I get inspired
I have been inspired. It came from an unlikely source. I receive monthly(??) updates from a missionary family I know. The wife is a former teacher/mentor of mine from the OLD days at my christian school. They are now working with Wycliffe Bible translators in Mozambique. This last month they've committed to blogging everyday...maybe they have always blogged this frequently, but they caught my attention. (
http://lingamish.wordpress.com/2007/03/28/dinthi-day-1/) I have been checking in with them nearly everyday. I am interested in their work and the family, and it's strange how much more connected I feel by simply knowing their daily activities. Some of the posts are about chores, birthdays, cultural traditions, or technical details of the work they do. Regardless, I am interested because it connects me to their lives, even if the daily post says, " absolutely nothing happened today." I don't have any likeness to a linguist and his family living in a small village in Africa - my life is NOTHING like that, so I am not attempting to draw that comparison, but I know people at home feel disconnected from my life here. I will attempt...no, I will commit to trying to remedy that for one month. Who knows - at the end of the month, I may like it so much that I will write more often! I figured the first of the month was as good as any day to start.
1 May:
We had a school holiday today! I have no idea why, but I do know that last night (on the eve of the holiday???) there was a celebratory "witch burning" commemorating...something historical. Interesting! Anyway, last night I came down to visit Ben and Stephen in Pribram, a town about an hour outside of Prague. Today we all slept in and then lazily made breakfast. I LOVE mornings like that...one of my favorite things. Then Stephen and I went off for a small hike up the "holy mountain" in Pribram. We took books and papers to grade on the grass, but on such a nice day, we just ended up sitting and talking. (Spending time talking to him is also one of my favorite things!) I headed back to Prague in the evening, where I met up with a friend to have coffee in Old Town Square. She had a baby here this year, so we've been a bvit out of touch compared to our regular get-togethers last year...and I'll admit, I have been busier too! ;-) All in all, it was a perfect spring day!
