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!