Czech This Out

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.

posted by Kassidee Kennedy @ 7:33 PM