Preparing for the New Year

Back from a great time in Budapest. Most things were closed in the city, but we were still able to find a few places to eat and of course, we walked, and walked, and walked, seeing all the things one can see on the outside. Midnight mass at St. Stephen's Basilica was very beautiful, and was actually given by a Cardinal. Pretty cool stuff. The place was packed, but it was a very nice, and actually pretty short, mass.

Bottom line, though, it was a weird Christmas. Not bad, not necessarily great, just different. The hostel was kinda cool, and the people working and staying there were fun and very social. It was my first hostel experience, and very positive.

So, the trip back to Budapest was problem free. The bus was actually quite comfortable, for a bus, and there were really no problems. It was actually very nice to be back in Prague, as it almost felt like home. Budapest was a pretty city, but not quite as nice as Prague. Even though i don't know really any of the language, it was nice to hear the familiar words on the metro, see the park i walk through near my house, and honestly, return to what has become my own bed. It is still somewhat of an adjustment for me to be here, but i didn't realize how accustomed to this new place i have become until i travelled somewhere else.

So the next big step is the New Year. We're gonna try the big celebration thing, starting with dinner at home, going to hopefully some jazz club for a while, then heading to Wenceslas Square for the big celebration. Who knows what to expect, but from what i've heard, it's going to be a rocker unlike any other i've probably been to. Should be fun.

The other big news is the arrival of another visitor, Rob. Rob is actually someone i've known since high school, and who i went to college with, and who spent a lot of time with Fitzy in college, as they studied together. He's here for about 10 days total, and arrived two nights ago. He and Fitzy have gotten to see quite a bit of the city in two days (i've had to teach a lesson, but also do some sightseeing with them), and have also partaken in the old Czech custom of beer drinking. Very, very good times.

As usual, i'll try to get some pictures up later. Happy New Year to all!
JC

And now...Budapest

So, a lot has happened, again, since my last post. For starters, i have a job. i don't quite know what that means nor what it looks like, but i will be working full time in some form or another after the new year. So that's cool. Very cool.

Fitzy came into Prague on Friday night. His plane was a bit late, but it was very good to see him again, and be the guy who would show him around. I wasn't the best host, as I was feeling a bit sore and we were supposed to have an early morning the next day to catch our bus, but I took him around a little, got him a sausage and a beer, and then went home and had some more beer and bread and cheese as we just chilled out.

Due to the delay with the plane and everything, we ended up not getting to bed until almost 2am. Not bad for a Friday night (actually, rather early relative to most of my previous ones), but given the fact that we had to catch a 6:30 bus the next morning to Budapest, it proved to be a bit too late.

i know i set my alarm, but for some reason, it didn't wake me, and i awoke when Jessica, our third travel partner, called to find out where we were. I told her we were at home still, and she informed me that it was 6:20. As there was no way we were going to get there by 6:30, we missed our bus.

So, we still hurried and got our stuff together, and met Jessica at the metro station. We figured the next option would be the train, and we were able to get a train ticket, one way, for about $55 or so. Not bad. Fitzy and i also split Jessica's ticket. We ended up at Budapest close to our scheduled time, and actually got pointed in the right direction by a Hungarian friend of Jessica's also on our train.

We made it to the hostel, which is actually quite nice, and then walked around a bit, found some dinner, and then walked around some more, taking some night pictures. Budapest is a nice city (i'm a bit more partial to Prague) and very pretty at night. Lots of history, amidst the buildings, bridges, and the beautiful Danube.

Being that it's Christmas (and Sunday today), a lot of stuff is closed. But we're here 'til Wednesday morning, so hopefully we can check out some museums and such. The sights we can see no matter when, so we'll do some of that tomorrow. Budapest is known for its baths, and we hit up one of those today, which was cool. Planning midnight mass at St. Stephen's Basilica.

Merry Christmas! Vesele Vanonci! (i think. my czech lessons are still at the very basic level...)

JC

Wild Week, and I’m now TEFL Certified!!

So, the madness that is my intensive TEFL class is now completed. I can take my certification anywhere in the world (at least to a country that doesn’t already speak English) and theoretically get a job teaching English. So, with the world as my playground, i’m deciding to stick around in Prague, and see what kind of trouble i can get into.

I won’t bore you with the details of the week, but will say that my training has been successful in allowing me to meet many new people. Beyond my classmates, all of whom are very cool, i’ve also gotten to meet several of the students we have to teach. The most fun, of course, is when you can get to meet people outside of the classroom setting, and there are a few students that have come out with their “teachers in training” after classes, and we’ve all had a good time. It’s always fun meeting new people, and one of the great unexpected benefits of the class has been the people i’ve gotten to know. Some of my classmates are staying in Prague, which will be fun, and the rest are going all over the place, which means contacts, now, throughout the world. Pretty cool stuff.

The last two weekends have consisted of getting familiar with the night life in Prague. Clubs and bars here don’t have to close, and it’s very easy to lose track of time. Needless to say, i’ve experienced a couple of late nights the last two weekends, and even though i’m near dead the next morning, they have thus far been a good time.

This week, after my late night on Friday, i got on a bus at 10:15 Saturday morning to take an almost two hour bus ride to a town called Turnov, which i think is in the Eastern Bohemia region. It’s a very pretty area, with some small mountains, and lots of spire-like rocks similar to those found in the Black Hills, and also (of course) castles. I got in early afternoon on Saturday, and met up with Greg and Stania, and we hiked around the hills til dark (which is like 4pm now), and went to our hotel place.

The hotel thing was actually a house, in a neighborhood near Turnov. No one apparently lives in the house, and there are like a few rooms, two bathrooms, and a common kitchen and dining room. Greg and Stania got their own room, and i got my own as well. There was also another couple staying there in a different room. My room was very spacious, very comfortable, and all this only cost 350 Kc, which is about $17 or so. It was a much needed break from the city, almost retreat-like. Too short, of course, but nonetheless very refreshing.

So, Monday i have a job fair at my school. Hopefully, i’ll be able to connect with an English teaching school or something. One of my teachers already connected me with some kind of job for a couple of hours a week but supposedly well paying. Still waiting to hear from the guy, though.

My friend Fitzy is coming this Friday, which should be a lot of fun. We have our bus tickets and hostel booked for our trip to Budapest with Jessica over Christmas. Should be a good time.

I’ve got lots of free time this week, so i’ll try to get back to people with e-mails and maybe even send out some postcards (not gonna make it to the states before Christmas…). ‘til next time.

JC

Ballet? No way...

So, the biggest experience i’ve probably had since i last wrote was going to the ballet last Saturday. It was my first ever such experience, and i gotta say, i was impressed.

The ballet was Romeo and Juliet, which was pretty cool. I’m not totally sure, but i heard it was done by Tschaikovsky, but i may be wrong about that. Whoever wrote it, they did a good job. I even recognized one of the songs, which was kinda weird. Musta been from a movie or something. But anyways, the dancing was really incredible. Some weird things, like seeing a dude dance and flutter around right before he dies, but some pretty neat stuff, too. I started to get a little bored towards the end, but i suppose i would do it again.

I would definitely do it again, though, if i was told it was at the Czech National Theater. The theater was incredible. It was extremely ornate and incredibly beautiful. I was amazed when i got out of the tram and saw the outside, and then even more amazed when i went in and saw what was inside. Unfortunately, i have no pictures of either, but hopefully will get a chance to take some shots of both at a later date. The tickets were cheap, too. 280 korunas for the show (about $14). It was a matinee, but that was all the better. Went with some of my classmates and my roomies.

Sunday, we went and played some ultimate Frisbee. Was fun, but it just happened to be the coldest day out of the last 10. But, hypothermia be damned, we went out and did it anyways, and had a good time. Prior to that, i went to church at the Cathedral located in the center of the Prague Castle. It is a very, very impressive structure. Rather simple and undecorated inside relative to many other European Cathedrals, but that seems to make it only the more incredible. It was very cold during mass, but it was cool to be in such an old building. I kind of zoned out while the priest was giving his homily, ‘cause he started in Czech. When i finally decided to try and pay attention again, he was speaking in German, then seemed to go to Spanish, which made me wonder if i missed the English part of the sermon. If i did, oh, well. The church was fun to look at, and i was off in my own place, anyways.

School this week has gone fast. Monday and Tuesday were our only in-class days. The rest of the week we’ve been giving lessons. Yesterday i taught my first advanced class, and had a good time. I talked about racism, and more importantly, racism in the Czech Republic. I had never taught any of the advanced students, and only knew one of them through Greg, so i was a bit worried that they might get offended, but all went well, and they seemed to be very into the discussion. Today, i taught my grammar lesson (we have to do one during the four weeks, and it is observed) to a beginner class. It was a bit challenging going from an advanced class, where they can follow you almost no matter what you say, to a beginner’s class, where if you say something they don’t understand or if they get confused, you’ve lost them for at least the next 10 minutes. The beginners are a fun group, so that’s good. I had to teach them possessive pronouns, and only got tripped up once when a student asked why sometimes there was an ‘s’ after ‘their,’ and why sometimes there wasn’t. I fought the urge to say, “because i’m the teacher, and i say so,” though that may have cleared things up for her better than what i ended up telling her. At the end of the class, my teacher who was observing me had to come up and clear things up for her, but i still got a better than passing mark, so i guess i did everything else okay.

That’s all i got for now. You should have received an e-mail with my address on it. If not, it’s on my blog now, so you can send me a postcard. I’m gonna try to get some out for Christmas, but i haven’t sent any yet, and that probably means they’ll show up after the fact, but i’ll do what i can.

‘til next time…
JC

Weekend update, before the weekend

Well, it’s Thursday night, and i’m totally not motivated to do lesson plans. I’ve got the house to myself, which is a very rare thing, and i think it’s a good opportunity to kinda update the ol’ blog.

I’ve got a lot more pictures of the city, which are randomly scattered throughout this entry. I went around Prague on Sunday with Greg and his girlfriend. We had a really good day. Greg’s girl taught me a Czech phrase, which is sure to pick up the ladies. I’m not even going to try to spell it here, but it simply translates to, “when can i see you again.” She said it’s bound to work, and i have faith it will, too. Haven’t put it to the test yet, though…

This city really is very beautiful. It’s quite impressive, seeing so many old buildings amidst such a bustling city. The castle is very cool, even though i really haven’t seen much of it. The cathedral inside is simply amazing, and i hope to sometime make it to mass there. Perhaps this Sunday. Last Sunday i made it to church, only to walk into some kind of protestant church (my guess is Lutheran or Episcopal). It was a nice service, and the church was beautiful, but for some reason, i’m really wanting something Catholic. The main cathedral is Catholic, and actually, the Cardinal celebrated mass last Sunday, which i was a bit bummed to discover i missed.

School is school. My classmates are cool, and make class much more fun than i think it would be otherwise. Teaching is coming along. The more i’m doing it, the more it doesn’t feel as strange. The students are a lot of fun, ranging in age from probablyearly 20s to something like 80 or so, and everywhere in between. One of our requirements for the class is to complete a one-on-one assignment, where you evaluate the student’s level, and then plan a lesson for him or her, which you give. I got to meet my student today, and got an idea at least of where he’s at with his English. He’s a very cool guy, probably around 40, who’s working as a personal trainer. His English isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty good. He seems to understand a lot more than he speaks. I haven’t much idea yet what to teach him, but i’ve got another week to figure that out.

That’s about all as far as news goes, i guess. Earlier in the week, i did get the privilege of having lunch with my classmate who is actually native Czech. He’s in his mid 30s, and has been on many adventures all over the world. We talked some about the benefits and compromises of being in Prague.

One of the things he mentioned, that really has had me thinking lately, is that Prague really is a great city, but it’s difficult to kind of make the experience here uniquely Czech. He mentioned the high percentage of English speakers, and the American “ghetto” which i in all honesty can simply exist inside of, and mentioned how that in reality, it creates an experience which isn’t much different from home. It’s significantly more difficult to learn an already tough language in such an environment, and while it is something new, something that is, really, not American, it’s in many ways, comfortable.

I’ve been thinking about this stuff quite a bit over the last few days, as my course is nearing its halfway mark and what i end up doing with my certification will have to be decided relatively soon. I got to meet with a job placement dude today, which was kinda cool. He mentioned the options available to me in Prague, and some outside of Prague. What seems to make the most sense to me right now is to live at least my first six months here in Prague, and then perhaps after a summer of traveling, look to get out of the city. Right now, i do have a lot going for me in Prague: a great living situation, access to quite a bit of European urban life, and lots of opportunity for work. The guy told me that i could contact him in six months if i wanted to look in smaller towns within the Czech Republic for work, which i think is good.

So, yeah, that’s it. I guess i’ve still got a lot of unknowns here, but i’m having a really good time, and meeting some great people. I pissed around some on myspace, now that i’m a member, and was surprised to find so many friends and acquaintances that i haven’t talked to for some time. Good stuff.

Greg’s girl also is lending me a book by John O’Donohue, who is a former priest from Ireland. I’m actually really looking forward to going through the book, as the last book of his i read really encouraged a lot of self reflection and discovery, which is something i am continuing to look for.

I have a lot of e-mails to get to, which i will do, eventually. Apologies to those i haven’t replied to, but thanks for even the short snippets of support.

JC

In and Out of the Closet

Well, i’ve survived my first week, and a lot has happened. I know i said i’d stay away from the long posts, but i don’t think it’s gonna happen. So, here it is.

As of Monday, i am again a student, and it certainly feels weird to be back doing the school thing. So far, things have gone well, and i’ve really kind of enjoyed the class. The grammar part is honestly incredibly boring, but learning how to teach has been fun. I taught my first lesson on Thursday and my next lesson on Friday. Thursday’s kind of bombed, but they got the point that i was teaching. Friday’s went a lot better, and was really a lot of fun. These lessons were only 20 minutes a piece, and i guess my future lessons will all be 40 minutes. Next week they start to count for grades, so hopefully things will continue to get better.

I have met all of my roommates, and am looking forward to the time we’ll be spending together. They are all “graduates” of the same program i am in now. They took it at the same time as Greg. Moving in with them has been good, in that i have a much shorter commute to class than most of my classmates, and i think i’m in a little better area. Plus, i’m not really more than an hour walk from school, so if trains shut down, or we’re out late (like last night), i can always walk home.

But back to my roommates. I live with two girls, and two other guys. All of them are American, and they’re very cool people. The other guy i live with, Brian, is now my lifting partner, and we made it two days last week to the gym. We found a very cool restaurant/bar place not to far from our house, and ate there after both workouts. It’s the best “Czech” food i’ve had, and Tuesday night, the first night we ate there, was the first time since i crossed the pond that i had a meal that really filled me up. It consisted of potatoes, dumplings, sausage, ham, some other meats, and some bread. Big ol’ plate. Great stuff.

My living situation was a bit uncertain, as our apartment only has two bedrooms, and there are already two people in each bedroom. I spent a couple nights in the closet on a cot mattress, but then another bed showed up in our apartment, and i ended up getting it and am now sleeping in the living room. There was an empty corner, which is mine. Not quite the solitude of the closet, but certainly more space. I think i’ll probably end up staying there, as it’s worked out pretty nice for the most part.

Me carving the turkey. More like butchering it.

Happy Thanksgiving! Even though we were in a totally different country, and didn’t get our long weekend, we still celebrated Thanksgiving at our house. We had six other people come over, including a couple of Czech people, and had to replace the turkey with chicken, but it turned out to be quite the feast. As is usual, we still have leftovers. And even though i had to go to school the next day, it turned out to be quite a fun (and late) night. Thanks to mom, again, for sending over the stuff for pumpkin pie and cranberries and gravy. Everybody loved it, and i think it’s part of what really sparked us having a meal like that.

Ahh, our feast!

So, yeah, now i guess i can talk about the city. Prague really is a very nice place. It’s got old buildings all over the place. All the sidewalks are cobble-stoned, which looks nice, but is tough on your feet, and a lot of streets are the same way. As with many big European cities i’ve been to, there is a lot of graffiti on the buildings, especially around where i live, but i’ve walked around quite extensively at night, and never felt unsafe. People overall are very friendly, and i have been warned by many different people about pickpocketers. I’m sure that i just scream “American” with my dress and mannerisms, but people don’t seem to mind too much. Another thing i’ve noticed is that when you look at people while walking down the street, they tend to look at you in the eyes more frequently than in the states. They also tend to keep your gaze, and not to look down right away. It’s very interesting, and something i’ve just noticed being around here.

Another thing about this place, is that the sun doesn’t shine much. It’s been very cloudy lately. I guess it’s been warmer than usual (which is still cold, around 30-40 degrees), but two days ago i saw the sun shining for the first time, which is a bit of an adjustment. It also gets dark here just after 4pm, so coming out of class in the dark always makes it feel much later than it really is. I’m thinking, though, that in the summer, the daylight oughtta last a bit longer, so that’s kinda cool.

Today i’m gonna do a little more exploring of the city with Greg. I haven’t crossed the river yet, nor made it to the castle, both of which i really want to do. It’d be nice, too, to see a little more of the city than just what i’m familiar with. I’ve got a metro pass, so the sky’s the limit i guess in what i can see. It’ll also be good to spend some more time with Greg. We’ve hung out quite a bit lately, making up for lost time. It’s definitely good having someone like him to experience this adventure with.

Thinking of all of you, and if you’ve made it this far, thanks for your interest. I’m gonna try perhaps a bi-weekly posting, but things get a bit busy sometimes.

JC

My new place of residence

My View of Wencelas Square, first night in Prague

I arrived in Prague, again, at night, after, again, a 12 hour day of travel. It was nice to get the positive 20 crown to one dollar exchange rate, and very nice to see another familiar face, Greg, at the airport (Greg is the other traveler i’m with. Both his and Fitzy’s blogs should/will have links on my page, somewhere). After dropping my bags off at our apartment (yes ours, i have a place to live, with three other people), we went out a little into the city. It’s relatively easy to get around, and really a nice place. We grabbed a sausage, a beer (which combined was about $2 a person), and then went home, where i met one of my roommates. Our apartment was recently renovated and is very nice. The only drawback is that it is five stories up, which in reality, i guess, is just a good workout.

View of the Museum and King Wenceslas Statue from the other end of the Square

Saw some more of the city yesterday and today, and met another friend who is here studying for a semester. Saw the river and the castle today, as well as where the class i’ll be taking is located. Also saw three quarters of the OSU v Michigan game, but it’s even worse than east coast times, and i left the bar at about midnight. Tried to make it to church today, but missed my friend who i was going with, and had no idea where the church was. Oh, well. At least i tried. Walked around a little, took some pics of a church nearby my apartment (though couldn't figure out how to get in).

Sorry this one’s long. They likely won’t be so much so in the future. Hopefully, i’ll keep things more up to date this time ‘round. Send some comments, and keep me in the loop in what’s going on in your life!

“Don’t let your dick touch the sink.”

Fitzy acquired a job back in September at a winery in southern France, about 25 minutes outside of the town of Narbonne. He’s really just a laborer from what i could gather, but technically an intern i think. Either way, he’s got a place on the winery grounds to sleep, and even had a mattress for me.

Even in the dark, his place looked sweet. The building he lived in was something like 300 years old, made out of stone. His room was a bit sketchy to get up to, as i had to climb a very narrow ladder, then make a step up three feet, with only the ground i started at to my one side. Heights are not my most favorite thing, so that made things interesting, especially after 24+ hours of pretty much no sleep.

Fitzy’s first rule was not to let my dick touch the sink. I was a bit puzzled, but he showed me his bathroom, and seeing no toilet, he said the 2am piss wasn’t worth killing yourself on the ladder for, so he just used the sink. I made sure not to drop my toothbrush or contacts in the sink, and had no problems.

My one full day with Fitzy was definitely a good time. We sampled wine straight from the barrel, had lunch over a bottle of wine, went to the beach to see the mighty Mediterranean, cracked open a couple of beers in Narbonne, and then hit the wine again during dinner. Needless to say, it was pretty much a steady drip from noon until 11pm, when we finally left dinner to go to bed.

The winery was very beautiful. Stone buildings, pretty grounds, even a small grotto near a creek that we went to see. The beach was cool, but very windy and not exactly warm enough to be very busy. In fact, it was pretty much empty, and the resort town seemed instead a ghost town. We stayed long enough to get a mouthful of sand from gaping at the enormous waves in the Mediterranean caused by very high winds, and headed back to Narbonne.

Narbonne is bigger than i expected, but nothing huge. There was of course, like most all towns in Europe, a very old, very big church, which really was pretty impressive. I think it dated back to like the 13^th century. We had a couple beers in town, had some crepes, then headed home for dinner.

Both lunch and dinner were shared with Fitzy’s boss, who is also the owner of the winery. Her name is Marie, and she was very kind to me. We communicated through her broken English and Fitzy’s broken French, but both meals were quite the experience. Apparently, i’m the biggest human being they’ve seen in the area, as they commented more than once on how big i was and how big of an appetite i must have. It was a nice ego boost, but also came with the price tag of moving a bunch of tables around for her.

I seemed to have left my impression on the French, though. It’s always funny what foreigners pick up on when you talk with them, and what Marie and her friend picked up from me at dinner was the word “cool.” I apparently say it quite a bit, and they repeated it after i did all the time, then laughed. Eventually they got to using it themselves, and laughing. Poor Fitzy will probably deal with that for a while.

I said bye to France on Friday, and, after a relatively difficult day at the Toulouse airport and through Belgium which cost me my water bottle (an empty plastic water bottle can be such a vicious weapon!) and 180 Euros in excess baggage charges, i finally made it to Prague.

The journey begins…

Well, at the time of this writing, i’m in Prague. I don’t even know how to say hello in his confusing as hell language. Today, Saturday, my first full day here, i spent trying to simply learn how to say please and thank you. “Prosim” and “Dekuje,” or something like that (the spellings are definitely not correct, either). It’s a struggle.

The journey really began a week and two days ago, when i arrived in Philadelphia to visit my good friend who lives there. It just so happens, too, that his good friend from New Zealand was there, and the three of us hit the town Friday night, took a bus tour on Saturday, and took it easy Saturday night (two of my former CVV roomies came up from Baltimore to hang out for dinner, which was very cool). The city of Brotherly Love was a good time. I had my worst public bathroom experience, but i did get to run up the stairs to the art museum (just like Rocky) and got a picture next to his statue, which is located to the side of the stairs. Philadelphia was a very nice city, and though it was a short stay, it was a very good time.

A friend of mine then came and picked me up to go to Roselyn Heights, just outside of NY city. Again, i had a very short stay, but a very good time. We did some paintball on Sunday, which was a first for me. Definitely a lot of fun. Monday we just took it easy, and Tuesday was the day i “crossed the pond.”

Victor and me, guns ready

My flight out of JFK was actually not bad. I think, though, i ended up getting some bad apple juice in the airport prior to my departure. Yes, i know, you’re probably thinking, “bad apple juice? How the heck does that happen? I don’t think i’ve ever heard of anything so crazy!” But before you jump to conclusions, i say it’s bad because i had some of the same type in Denver, and the stuff in JFK definitely tasted different. Bad, actually. I only drank about 2/3 of the bottle, but it apparently was 2/3 too much.

My stomach did not like me afterwards, and the 7 hour flight to London was very…uncomfortable. Which kind of sucked. I flew Virign, which i would highly recommend to anyone, as they were very kind, the flight was nowhere near full (i had an empty seat next to me), and they had tons of movies, video games, music, and stuff to do on the flight. Not much it, though, made my stomach better, and several trips to the lavatory didn’t help much either. It wasn’t agony, but it wasn’t exactly how i envisioned the flight to be.

I arrived in London at 7am local time, tired, not feeling the best, and wary about the next 12 hours of travel i still had to go. It was nice, though, to see the sun again. The next step was customs in London, which, really, was more of a hassle than it needed to be. But i made it through, and then took the bus to one of the other airports in London. The hour ride was about the only sleep i got since JFK.

The folks at the next airport where very kind and helpful getting me checked in and such, and by 9:30 i was through security and ready to go to my 2:55pm flight to Toulouse, France.

I got some rough sleep in the airport waiting lobby area, spent too much money on a small meal and some immodium, but was at least feeling a little better as i boarded the plane to face the French.

When i arrived in Toulouse, close to 6pm local time, it was definitely dark, again. Thankfully, the airport wasn’t very big, and i found the bus to the train station relatively easily, and, apart from being “that guy” who has 100 lbs of luggage and is in everybody’s way on an over-packed bus, made it to my train with no problems.

Train rides at night are always a bit weird. There’s just a feel about them that isn’t there when riding during the day. It didn’t help when all of a sudden, for no apparent reason, my train just stopped on the track. My fears were not subsided when i saw nothing but darkness all around, and a guy came over the speaker, apparently explaining things in French. Nobody else in the train freaked, so i figured i shouldn’t either. I was too tired to, anyways.

Train started up again, and i arrived in Carcasonne about 15 minutes later than scheduled. But the sight of a familiar face reinvigorated me.

Fitzy (his real name is Jonathan, and i share his name only because he’s likely to be a guy mentioned a lot in this blog, as he’s one of the two other guys i’m traveling with) met me on the platform, and i was very happy to see him, and hand over one of my 50 lb. bags. We grabbed some grub, then headed to his place.

I'm in Europe!

Hey, no one has my blog address yet, but here's my first post, and it's coming from France. My short time on the east coast was great, and the flight over, minus the stomach problems, was easy. France has been nice, and it's been great to see my friend Fitzy who's here working at a winery.

More later, as internet right now is limited. Czech ya' later!