The Prague Blog

Spring!

2010-05-10T18:02:00.002+02:00

Prague is so beautiful in the spring. Here are some pictures:

Snow In Prague

2010-01-24T15:02:00.000+01:00

Here are some pictures I took the other day after we got a lot of snow (a lot of snow for Prague).

Vienna

2010-01-24T14:37:00.001+01:00

Here are some pictures from Vienna in November. More HERE.

Velvet Revolution - 20th Anniversary

2010-01-24T14:07:00.000+01:00

Here are some pictures from the march held in Prague on the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution:

The Sign Says:

Freedom 20 Years

Hot Wine 20 Crowns

Tea 20 Crowns

Berlin

2010-01-24T13:46:00.002+01:00

Here are some long-overdue pictures from my trip to Berlin in November. You can see more HERE.

Hello Again

2009-11-16T02:34:00.004+01:00

Finally getting around to updating my blog. I had a GREAT summer in Colorado, and I've been back in Prague for almost 2 months. It's nice to be back here too. Things are a lot busier this year at the school. I'm teaching 1st and 3rd grade English, English club twice a week (kids from 1-4 grade come to that), and preschool English once a week- but for 2 hours- which is a long time to keep a preschooler entertained, especially in a different language! The regular English classes (1st & 3rd graders) are different this year, because our program was approved by the Ministry of Education. So we are more integrated with the school rather than just being an after school program. And I am in charge of teaching and giving grades for music and art- we have to fulfill the Czech requirements, but in English. Fine by me, since music and art are two of my favorite things. So each week the kids have 1 hour of music, 1 hour of art and 2 hours of English from the textbook. My 1st graders are really advanced- some of them went to all English preschools so they're basically fluent. And I have one girl who has one parent who is American. Every time I ask the students if they understand something, this girl raises her hand and says, "I understand because I'm American. I was born in New York." Adorable. My 3rd graders are great too- I taught most of them last year, so it's nice to get to see them again. They teach me Czech during our breaks in class. I learn a lot from them. I have one 3rd grade boy who watches a lot of TV/movies in English- so he knows a lot of phrases (and cuss words...) that I don't expect him to know. If I have the kids act out a story in class, he always adds in some of his own lines. If the line is, "Who are you?" he'll say, "Who the hell are you?!" Never a dull moment.
I'm also teaching the adults with mental handicaps again- 2 classes a week. I enjoy it more than I ever thought I would. It's challenging, for sure, but they try so hard and they're so excited to be there. I've been playing a lot of music for them this year- Johnny Cash, Led Zeppelin, etc. They don't understand everything, but they try to sing along anyway.
I'm also helping out a little with Young Life again, playing some guitar. And volunteering at one of the high schools that doesn't have very many native English speaking teachers.

I think that's about it for now. I've taken a few trips since I've been back, and will post pictures soon. I was Berlin 2 weeks ago, and they were preparing to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of the wall coming down on November 9th. Here are a few videos about it:
Video #1
Video #2

And this Tuesday, the 17th, is the 20-year anniversary of the end of Communism in the Czech Republic. Click here to read more about that. There was also a concert by Lou Reed, Joan Baez, Suzanne Vega, etc. on Saturday night to celebrate 20 years since the Velvet Revolution. I would have loved to go, but it was by invitation only. Click here for a video clip. And here's one more (you'll recognize this song).

Pretty exciting!

Headed back to the states...

2009-06-26T20:23:00.002+02:00

...and I'm way behind on my blog again! I leave for Colorado tomorrow. Time flies. I'm excited to see everyone back home. For those of you who don't know, I've decided to teach in Prague another year, so I will be back here in the fall.

Most of you know that besides teaching English at the elementary school, I also teach English to adults with mental handicaps once a week. You can see a video HERE. Just click on the picture of us sitting around the table, and it should load.

Okay, back to packing. See you soon!!

Springtime in Prague

2009-05-06T20:30:00.003+02:00

Holland!!

2009-05-06T19:56:00.003+02:00

I finally made it to Holland to see Stijn and his family! My mom and I were supposed to fly there for Christmas but I was sick. So I went for Easter instead. We had a great time. And it was fun for me to reminisce about my first time in Europe in 2005- when my brother and I went to Holland to visit Stijn. That was the trip that started it all for me- I remember thinking I could really spend a few years in Europe...and now here I am! I never thought it would actually happen. Here are some pictures:

Easter in Prague

2009-05-06T19:45:00.003+02:00

I actually didn't spend Easter in Prague- I had a 5 day weekend so I went to Holland (see next post). But here are some pictures of the Easter Markets in Prague. Also, it is a tradition in the Czech Republic for guys to hit girls with sticks on Easter (I'm not sure how this came to be, but...) and then the girls are supposed to give them eggs, candy, etc. Doesn't quite seem fair to me...

Sorry for the Silence!

2009-05-06T18:36:00.003+02:00

I have been really terrible at updating my blog lately. Here is a highlight from last month:

On April 5th, I saw Obama speak at Prague Castle. Now, most of you know that I'm not very interested in politics (nor am I very knowledgeable on the subject), but I have to say it was pretty cool. I have never seen a president speak, much less in another country! The speech started at 10 a.m., but people were there much earlier to try to get a good view. I, on the other hand, rolled out of bed around 8:30 and slowly made my way to the castle. When I got there, one of the volunteers who was working at the entrance gave me his last "special invitation" which allowed me to go to the front of the line and stand in the section closest to the podium (I still wasn't very close, though). I don't think this is the way it was supposed to happen, because I have friends who got to the castle at 5 a.m. and they didn't get anything. They ended up in the back section. So it really wasn't fair. There were around 20,000 people there I think. You can read the text of Obama's speech here, and below is a video I took.

Barcelona

2009-03-29T16:05:00.001+02:00

After 3 amazing days in Rome, Emily and I flew to Barcelona for the remainder of our spring break. There are sometimes really cheap flights within Europe, which is what made all of this possible. One of the flights we got cost nothing; we only had to pay the tax (I think it was around 20 Euros).

Rome was definitely my favorite, but there were some nice things about Barcelona too, like the beach! We rented bicycles and rode along the beach one day- that was probably my favorite part. And the last day we were there it was warm enough for me to wear my flip-flops!

More pictures can be found HERE.

This is one of the buildings by architect Antoni Gaudi.

There was a lot of live music by the beach. Here's a clip from a band called Made In Barcelona:

ROME!!!

2009-03-29T15:30:00.001+02:00

So, I got home from Austria late Sunday night, and had just enough time to unpack, repack, sleep a little, return my snowboarding boots, and hop on a plane to meet my friend Emily in Rome on Monday. I could spend hours talking about Rome. I loved it so much!! It was beautiful- everywhere you looked. It was so green! The food was delicious!! Lasagna, spaghetti, pizza... And the wine was delicious too. We went to a lot of the main tourist attractions: the Vatican, Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon...and we spent the rest of the time just wandering- until we found a nice shop or a good place to eat or, of course, some gelato :) I loved every minute. Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures that I took- and you can see more HERE.

The Alps

2009-03-28T20:27:00.001+01:00

At the end of February I was able to go the Austrian Alps with Young Life- the organization that I volunteer with. What an awesome time! The snow was great, the weather was great, I got to snowboard for 5 days, need I say more??

I really didn't know how good the conditions would be- being from Colorado, I have high expectations :) - but I should have known the Alps would be GREAT. And I've been told that they're even better in Italy and France.

There were a couple of "perks" that I have not seen at the resorts in Colorado: First, the main chair lift had a big plastic (or maybe glass) cover that came down to keep you warm. Very nice! Second, I never had to take my pass out of my pocket to have someone scan it- I just went right up to the turnstile and it would detect it and let me through (kind of like the Express Toll).

While on the trip I tried snow-shoeing for the first time. It was cool, but much more work than snowboarding. I must admit that at one point I said, "Where's the chair lift?" I also learned an important lesson: When asked whether you want to go in the 1st snow-shoeing group or the 2nd, always choose the 2nd. Let the 1st group make the path!! ;)

Here are some pictures- and you can see more by clicking HERE.

More Prague Pics

2009-02-22T22:59:00.002+01:00

I'm sleeping in a real bed now!!

2009-02-06T17:38:00.004+01:00

That's right, my days on the couch are over. For those of you who don't know, I've been sleeping on a couch since I got here in September. Now, don't start feeling sorry for me, because it unfolds into a bed, and was perfectly fine to sleep on, really. But let me tell you how this all came to be in the first place. When I moved here in September, I had no idea where I would live. When I got to Prague, my boss picked me up from the airport, and said that I would be staying with a girl named Kara (from California) for a few days until we figured something else out. He explained that there were actually two Karas, but one was in the States for a few weeks. Come to find out, the Kara that was back in the States actually went to CSU also, but we didn't know eachother. What are the odds that I would end up on her couch in Prague?? Anyway, what started out as me staying with them for just a few days turned into me never leaving. And I'm so glad, because we've had a lot of fun. Last Sunday, Kara from California went back to the States. She'll be there for 6 months or so, and then she'll probably be back here. So now I have a bed, but honestly I'd rather Kara was still here and I was still sleeping on the couch. I miss her!

Budapest!

2009-02-04T17:46:00.000+01:00

In January my friend/roommate and I took a trip to Budapest, Hungary. The bus ride was about 7 hours (nothing compared to Paris), and less than $40 round trip. We stayed in a hostel for 2 nights- about $30 per person. And I spent less than $30 while I was there, which means I went to Hungary and back for less than 100 bucks. It doesn't get much better than that! I wish I could host a television show where I would just travel around and see how little I could spend. That would be a fun job! I must confess, however, that I probably would have spent more in Hungary had I realized that 10,000 Forint was only like $24...

Anyway, we had a great time. We got there late Friday night and left pretty early on Sunday, so we really only had one day there, but we packed in as much as we could. We spent Saturday outside just exploring the city and taking lots of pictures. Budapest is known for it's thermal baths, so at the end of the day we went to the Gellert Baths for a few hours, which was awesome. I didn't get any pictures from inside, but you can see some at this website: http://www.gellertbath.com/

Mom's visit to the Czech Republic

2009-01-14T18:26:00.010+01:00

Hello Everyone- I just wanted to share some pictures from when my mom came to visit, and also of our day trip to Česky Krumlov (about 3 hours from Prague by bus). We had a great time while she was here- after I was done being sick, of course. We did a lot in Prague: went to the Christmas markets, the castle, Charles Bridge, etc. We tried to go to the Harley Davidson, but it was closed. We did a lot of shopping, which she loves. Me? Not so much. But we had a good time :)

Here are some pictures in Prague:

And here are some from Cesky Krumlov. I really loved this town, and can't wait to go back when it's warmer.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2008-12-12T23:54:00.007+01:00

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas! My mom came to visit, and our plan was to fly to Amsterdam yesterday, but I came down with the stomach flu, so unfortunately (especially for my mom) we are just sitting around the house. I did get to experience a traditional Czech Christmas dinner last weekend, however. Some of my roommate's high school students cooked for us. Traditional Christmas dinner in the Czech Republic is carp. Yes, the fish. Something I never thought I'd eat. But I had carp soup, and it was pretty good. We also had potato salad, which was delicious!! And lots of cookies and candy for dessert. There is no Santa Claus here- they say that baby Jesus brings the gifts. So what usually happens is everyone sits down for dinner (which they have on the 24th) and then someone makes an excuse to leave the room and they ring a bell- which means the presents have arrived!

Something interesting that I've noticed here is that nobody gets offended when you say "Merry Christmas," even though the Czech Republic is 59% Atheist/Agnostic. In contrast, 59% of Americans consider themselves to be religious, yet there is this pressure to say "Happy Holidays" so that we don't offend anyone. Am I the only one that finds this a bit strange?

Anyway, I will hopefully be over the flu in the next few days, and Mom and I can start having some fun. Maybe we'll take a few day trips. I'll keep you posted!

Tis the season...

2008-12-04T22:21:00.006+01:00

Just wanted to share some pictures and a video of Christmas time in Prague- Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Dinner

2008-11-30T13:02:00.004+01:00

Hope all of you reading this had a great Thanksgiving!

I think this was my first Thanksgiving that I didn't spend with family. My roommates and I had a Thanksgiving dinner at our house on Saturday. Both of my roommates are also from the States. They teach English at a high school in Prague, and invited some of their Czech students to come and experience a Thanksgiving dinner. Now, I think it would have been stressful enough to try to make Thanksgiving dinner for the first time without my mother, without being in a different country where you can't find the ingredients you would normally use, or, maybe you can find them in some specialty shop, but you have no idea where that would be! Or, you don't know what the Czech word is for the ingredient that you need (i.e., Sage). So we had quite an interesting experience trying to prepare food for over 15 people.

My roommate ordered a 15 lb turkey online from a British shop, and scheduled a time to pick it up. But, when she went to pick it up on Friday, the man in the shop told her they didn't have any more 15 lb turkeys (even though she had ordered one), so she would have to get a bigger one. So she decided on an 18lb turkey, and the man brought it out, holding it up by one drumstick. It wasn't wrapped or anything. She asked if he could please wrap it up, and he did, but he charged her extra for it!

I wanted to make cheesy potatoes- now, as most of you know, I am not a big fan of cooking, nor do I consider myself skilled in this area. Since we don't exactly have the convenience of Cheese Whiz, or a microwave, I attempted to melt a large quantity of cheese in a saucepan on the stove. I grated the cheese first- seemed like the logical thing to do. And I added a stick of butter, minced onion and some sour cream. I needed a can Cream of Chicken soup but we don't have cans of soup here. The cheese never really fully melted. It was very "stretchy." But I thought maybe after I put it over my potatoes and baked it for awhile it would be okay. So I put it all together, put some corn flakes on top and hoped for the best. After about 45 minutes I checked it, and there was a THICK layer of grease on top. I mean, my roommates and I were scooping out the grease with a measuring cup. What I didn't know was the cheese here is about 30% fat. So I could have totally skipped the butter and it still probably would've been a disaster. So, we removed some grease, threw in some more corn flakes, and baked it awhile longer, but it really didn't help. It got a little crispy on the bottom, but the rest was a puddle of grease. So we strained the cheesy potatoes (I will try to post a picture- it was hilarious), and we all tried a few of the crispy bites, but in order to avoid a heart attack, we threw them away. We had a few issues with the turkey as well- it barely fit in the oven- the pan we had to cook it in did not fit in our oven, so we had to improvise. And the ovens are different here- a lot of heat comes from the bottom, but not much at all from the top. We really weren't sure if it was done or not, but the more we cut into it, the better it looked, and it tasted great. Everyone enjoyed it, so overall it was a success!

Karlovy Vary

2008-11-19T23:39:00.005+01:00

Last Saturday I took a day trip to Karlovy Vary, about 2 hours away from Prague by bus. I really enjoyed it. It is a spa town that has had quite a few famous visitors. It is also known for its mineral springs. Drinking the water from these springs is supposed to "cure" you. You're supposed to drink it out of a special cup (see the picture below). It doesn't taste very good, but I guess that probably means it's good for you...

Differences...

2008-11-19T21:40:00.001+01:00

I thought I should start sharing with all of you some of the differences between the USA and the Czech Republic. I'll start with food and school.

Food (and other related items)

Water is not free at restaurants. Furthermore, BEER is cheaper than water.
There is so much yogurt!! In one of the bigger grocery stores, there are at least 2 aisles devoted to different flavors/brands of yogurt. I dare say that I may not be able to try them all in the 9 months that I am here :)
In most of the stores, there is only one kind of milk- no 1%, 2%, skim...just milk. It comes in something that looks like a water bottle, but a little bit bigger.
There are cans of beer in the vending machines.
The peanut butter is not nearly as good. And it comes in a small jar, and it's expensive. Oh, how I crave a big jar of JIF.
The chocolate is way better. After all, I am in Europe.
The bread and pastries are great. The best thing is when you get to the store right when they bring out the fresh bread, rolls, etc. that are still warm. And most of you reading this probably already know that bread is my weakness.
The cashiers at the grocery store sit down. You have to sack your own groceries, and sometimes you have to buy the bags.
At most restaurants, the napkins and silverware are in a glass on the tables.

School

There are a lot of differences in the school system, which makes it quite interesting for me to try to teach, especially when I have no experience anyway...

Children take their shoes off while in school. Then have special sandals or little slippers they can put on. A lot of the teachers do it too.
Writing is very important. Children learn cursive before anything else. They have to write with a fountain pen, and their letters have to be perfect. So when I write words on the board in print, they sometimes have no idea what they are. They also don't cross their t's. And while they have to use fountain pens, they still have these big pencil cases with colored pencils, markers, rulers, scissors, etc., So when I tell them I don't care what kind of utensil they use, they go crazy! They make each letter a different color.
At the school where I teach, children have school only in the morning (for 4 hours, I think), but they don't really have recess. They do have breaks in their classrooms, and there are games and toys they can play with. But that means that just because they're in a classroom doesn't mean that it's time for class, which makes it difficult for me. In the afternoons children go to more "elective" classes, like English, art, sports, or they can go to the "After School Building."
And here's the one I'm still trying to wrap my brain around: the endings of people's names change (Czech words in general change, depending on how they're used). For example, I have a student named Anna, but to call on her in Czech, I would say Anicka (ah neech kah). I just found this out a few weeks ago at a seminar, and now I understand why my students sometimes have no reaction when I call on them.

Paris

2008-11-01T14:13:00.000+01:00

Last weekend the other English teacher and I went to Paris because we didn't have to work Monday-Wednesday (fall break). We took a bus there- it took 15 hours but it was way cheaper than taking the train or flying. It is still crazy to me to think that I am living in a place where I can just pack up and go to Paris for a long weekend! There are some pictures below, and more can be found HERE.

Here is a video of the Eiffel Tower at night:

Peeing Statues??

2008-10-29T20:36:00.000+01:00

I think you will all get a kick out of this- I had heard about these statues of men that are peeing into a pool shaped like the Czech Republic, and I had to see it for myself. Apparently there is a number you can send a text message to asking them to write something for you. Enjoy!!

A Few Pictures

2008-10-19T19:52:00.000+02:00

Waiting in line...

2008-10-12T12:24:00.000+02:00

A lot has happened in the few weeks that I've been here, so I'll try to catch all of you up without writing a novel. There were a few things I had to get in order once I got here, like picking up my trade license (this is something that states I'm an English teacher and can be employed in more that one place), and also getting my visa looked at by the foreign police. This has to be done within 3 business days of arriving in the Czech Republic. So I went with my boss, Marek, to the foreign police office, which is kind of like the DMV, but soooo much worse. There are people waiting/sleeping inside, outside, upstairs, downstairs...how are this many people coming to the Czech Republic at the same time??!! Anyway, Marek was thinking there might be an easier way, so we tried several other offices in the building that had much shorter lines, but they all told us to go back downstairs. One woman started to help me, but she said I didn't have enough proof of insurance (I didn't get an insurance card with the travel insurance I purchased- it's all electronic). So I called the insurance company to see if they could do anything, but the best they could do is email me a letter within 48 hours stating that I had purchased the insurance. So we went back downstairs and stood in a line for the info desk. That alone took forever! When we finally got to the desk, the man told us the same thing- they couldn't do anything w/out better proof of insurance. But he gave me a number nonetheless. So we left the place and ran all over Prague trying to figure something out. I finally called my mom, she found a receipt for the insurance and scanned and emailed it to me. Then we had to find an internet cafe, pay to print the receipt, and then rush back to the foreign police. It had been 4 hours and they still hadn't called my number. We waited another hour, and when they finally did call me back they just stamped my visa, no questions asked! Didn't even look at my proof of insurance!!!! Unbelievable. But at least it worked out!!

Hello!

2008-10-10T13:24:00.000+02:00

Hello Everyone!

I finally got around to starting my Prague Blog. Hopefully I'll be able to keep you up-to-date with some funny stories and pictures.

I have been in Prague for two weeks, but it feels much longer! I am enjoying it so far. I am teaching 5 English classes: two 2nd grades, one 1st grade, one for adults with learning disabilities, and one for the employees of the organization for adults w/ learning disabilities. It's keeping me quite busy so far, but I'm sure it will get easier the more I do it. I don't have any classes on Fridays, so hopefully I'll be able to take some trips on the weekends.

I have several stories to share already, but for now I'll leave you with this: the first picture I took in Prague- this is something I've never seen before- looks like it might be the V.I.P. section of the public bathroom, but I certainly want no part of it! :)