DONE!!!!

I am officially done with my class!!!! Whoo-hoo!!! I'm so happy!!

Just wanted to let you know! :)

Going to celebrate with my chums! Later folks!!

Random Thoughts About Czechs

Well, I feel better, physically that is! I'm glad to be over my cold and my nose is happy too! I've just been 'classing' it up the past few days and trying to figure out my next stop in the journey of life. I'll let you know as soon as I know more!

On a different note, over my past few weeks in Prague, I've noticed some interesting things about the culture here and thought it was time to share those things with you. So here goes:

• You can understand emotions regardless of the language you speak...couples in love, crying babies, rude waitresses.


• Double-roll toilet paper is a blessing you don't know you have until you don't have it any more. Appreciate it!


• Czech women are in denial about their shoe size...they all wear sandles too small. I don't get it.


• You don't have to bring your 1980's fanny pack that you got at Salvation Army when you come...they sell them by the rackfull here!


• Mullets are no longer a thing of the past...the Czechs sport them proudly.


• Enjoy your free water at restaurants and free refills, you won't find them here.


• Instead of mosquitoes after a rain...it's snails and slugs...gotta watch your step always. Here's a pic for you!

That's all for now. I've gotta get busy find a job! Please pray for Kami and I as we look for jobs!! Thanks so much! :) Talk to you soon!

Who Gets a Cold in August?

Since I'm officially on my fifth package of little Kleenex's in two days, I think I can say I'm sick. I've been sneezing and blowing my nose like crazy since I got up yesterday morning and it's been all sorts of fun. I officially have my first Czech cold. Boo. I got some Ricola's yesterday to help my throat and I was going to get some meds, but the pharmacy was already closed. They don't sell medicine in regular stores here...just at pharmacies. It's not like what you think of in America, you can get stuff over the counter there, it's just the only place that sells the good stuff! So, today I went to the pharmacy and got some cold medicine and it's been helping, but my nose is raw and I can't really breath. Hopefully it'll get better soon though!

Friday night was fun. There is an outdoor cinema in the summer here, so Kami and I went to see a movie there last night. They were playing 'No Country for Old Men' and since I hadn't seen it, I was glad to go. It was quite an interesting movie. If anyone has seen it, I think we need to talk. I'm a bit confused by some things.

I've been promising my aunt and cousin that I would post a picture of goulash here, so it is below. My aunt used to make goulash for us growing up and since goulash is a Czech meal, I had to try some. It's different than I'm used to but I really liked it. It is almost like a gravy with stew meat in it and they serve it with dumplings so you can sop up all the gravy!! Yum!! This particular place served it with bread dumplings, potato dumplings, and potato pancakes...they sure do like their bread and potatoes here!

Hmm...what else? Kami and I just got home from a journey to the town center and now we're just hanging out. I wanted to take some more pictures since we just have one more week here. I can't believe our time in Prague is winding down. Crazy to think about. One thing in particular I wanted to see was a monument dedicated to students that were clubbed by police on November 11, 1989. According to my Prague book, "the national outrage triggered by this event pushed the communist government towards its final collapse a few days later."

Since being here, I've learned that I definitely don't know enough about history and communism and all that. Honestly, history has never really interested me, but since being in Czech...a former communist nation...I've been trying to learn a little about it. The thing is that communism to these people isn't ancient history...it only ended a little less than 20 years ago so if you're an adult here, you probably know what communism was all about. One of my one-to-one business students was telling me some of what it was like during that time and it's insane to think these people really lived it...it's not something that happened hundreds of years ago that noone remembers...it's very fresh on these people's minds.

Last week marked the 40th anniversary of the Soviet invasion into Czechoslovakia, a very grim day for the citizens here. Kami and I went down to the town that night and saw a photo exhibit of pictures from that day and days after. It was quite gripping just to see how life was back then. I mean, one day you're just hanging out and being merry, and the next, Soviet tanks are taking over your town. The picture below is quite crazy to me...it's a picture from 1968 in front of the National Museum and you can see we are in the same square because the museum is in the background...so 40 years ago, in the same place I stood, were tanks and all kinds of craziness going on.

Ok, I think this blog is long enough now. Hope all is well in your life!

Remembering Sunday!

Sorry that it's been a few days...just haven't been in the blogging mood the last few days. But I'm good now so I'll fill you in on what's been going on.

Sunday, Kami and I went to visit what has been dubbed the "Creepy Tower" and "Prague's Eyesore"...official name the TV Tower. It's really tall and sticks up all over Prague. Apparently the citizens of Prague don't really like it and want it to be take down, but we enjoyed it while it is still here! At the tower, you can take an elevator to an observation level to get a nice view of the city and to a different level to dine (we didn't do that one). Here's the tower:

Apparently some guy (artist type) thought it'd be cool to put some babies crawling up and down the tower...a little creepy if you ask me. You can see them from afar on the above picture and I am providing a close-up just incase you don't believe me that they are babies. It's really creepy...this is why it has been dubbed the 'Creepy Tower'...but I guess it gives the people something to talk about!

So on the observation leven, there are like five rooms where you can go and look at all the different views of Prague. I'm not really sure what is in the background of this picture of the city, but it gives you a feel of what it was like. I'm posting more pics on my photo site, but this blog thing isn't really cooperative with the picture uploading.

Since then, we've just been busy with class and more class. I gave my second lesson today in front of my classmates and I think it went really well. I taught about homophones (to/too/two, etc) and it was fun. Just a little over a week left of class....so crazy to think we're almost done! I think Kami and I are sending out our CV's (the European version of a resume) tonight, so maybe we'll get a little idea of where we're heading soon. I'll update you when I have an idea...hopefully soon ;)!!

Besides that...I think Kami and I might be going to the opera this weekend...hope so anyways. I think it'd be quite fun. There is an Italian opera on tour here, so even the Czech people won't understand..ha. This weekend, I'm planning to devote a great deal of time to studying, considering we have a massive final next Friday. Whoop!

I think that is all for now. Goodnight.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Today is my father's birthday so I just wanted to say a public happy birthday to him! So:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!

Love you--Sara

Another Day, Another Adventure!

Today we took our first trip out of the city of Prague, seeing more parts of the Czech Republic. Six of us total went took the hour train ride to Kutna Hora to see the small town that boasts one main thing...the Ossuary. It's a church that has these crazy decorations...bones...human bones. Yes, you read right. We also saw a cathedral there and had a yummy lunch.

It started as an early morning...waking up at 6 to meet our friends at 7:30 at the train station...so you know I was pooped. The weather wasn't too friendly, cloudy and freezing cold...but we didn't let that affect us.

I was quite excited to take my first train ride. I wanted to do that when I was in Lithuania but we didn't, so I was happy to have my first train experience. The round-trip ticket costed us a little less than $7 (US dollars) so that was pretty amazing!

Once arriving in Kutna Hora, we walked to Ossuary (the bone church) to see what all the hype was about. Apparently, back in the day during the plague, bodies were just piling up near this church. When the church was closed or something, this family bought the land and hired this man to do something useful with all the bones...it's quite crazy. Take a look for yourself.

As you can see, it is quite crazy. It's actually very creepy to think about the fact that these were real people once. Really insane to think about.

After the Ossuary, we headed up to a cathedral that was under major renovation. What we saw was still very pretty though.

So that was our day outside of Prague. It was very nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of Prague and see some other sites around.

Ode to Public Transportation

I LOVE public transportation, so I thought it was time to write a little ode to it!

Ode to Public Transportation

Oh, public transportation, you are the best!

You can take me north, south, east or west.

I can always count on you to be there for me.

Grateful for you, I'll always be.

When I'm with you, I'm never lost

And I can take you with such a little cost.

You never break down or run out of gas,

And you help me to be on time to class.

Scary mechanics I no longer have to face!

And dreading high gas prices is no longer the case.

Whether it's just me or my whole clan,

I know you'll always have room for me or any man!

You don't judge your riders and let anyone ride,

Whether or not that morning they cleaned their backside.

The time I spend with you is always so nice,

Even if I do catch someone's lice.

Thank you, public transportation, for being so great.

I'll see you in a bit for our next date.

Oh What a Day!

Today has been quite eventful...well class-wise.

Everyone in our class has to teach students infront of the class and then get critiqued by the teacher and students. Today was my first day to do this. Let me tell you, I was a little nervous at first, but once I got going, I was ok. Since our real Czech students didn't show up, two of my fellow learners acted as students. I think the lesson went well and I had some positive feedback from the class and teacher. Overall, I am happy with the way it went and now I just have to get ready for my next lesson...next Wednesday!

I also had my first lesson with my second student today. His name is Tomas and he works in the corporate part of an international bank here. He just got back from holiday so he said his mind wasn't working as well as it normally does...and considering today was the first time he's spoken English in a month, I can understand. Today we just talked and got to know each other and he said that next week, he wants to go over prepositions and brush up on those.

So I'm done with all my lessons for this week and I can breath until next week!

That's all for tonight!! Have a great day!

Conquering Petrin Hill

Today's goal: Petrin Hill

Petrin Hill was the site we visited today. It was quite an experience. There is a tram that runs up the hill, but we opted not to take that and conquer it ourselves. Oh how I love hills! Haha. It was nice though, seeing the city from all the different views on the hill. It was really amazing actually, just how you can be on this hill and see over the city.

After reaching the top (out of breath of course), we came upon a band playing some Czech music (I'm assuming Czech since I didn't understand it). This guy in the band was playing a recorder (remember from 3rd grade) and he was rocking it! I loved it! It was quite a sight to see!

After that, we did what I consider the highlight of Petrin Hill, the Petřínská rozhledna. In English, it means Petrin lookout tower, and some call it a mini-Eiffel Tower. Ok...it may be mini, but it's still tall...299 stairs to the top to be exact...and yes, Kami and I climbed every last one!! :) Getting to the top was worth it, though, since we had an amazing view of Prague. It was really beautiful!!

We then grabbed a quick bite to eat in a little place on the hill and then walked around to see what else the hill had to offer. There were tons of roses in a garden on the hill...they were so pretty. There were many couples up there and I couldn't help but to think how romantic it would be to go there with your significant other...so if you and your spouse travel to Prague, go see the rose gardens on the hills...they're great!

So that was our day...lots of sites in beautiful Prague!! Back to class tomorrow!

And Then There Were Five!

Well, we've added another roommate to our clan. We are up to five now. Jason joined our 'family' three nights ago because the flat he was renting was not cool. It was with a family and they were quite crazy so he thought our couch would be better for him than the crazy Czech family. So we really are pretty much living on the Real World...haha, it's quite crazy...going from three to five in a two bedroom apartment is quite interesting but we're making it work. We're so nice :) Oh, and he's from south Georgia, so it's pretty much like being back at Mercer. Living with two Georgians, a Texan and a Scottish lad, it's pretty hard to get home sick...it's pretty much like I'm home!!

Nothing much happened yesterday. We stayed out until about 4am on Friday night, so yesterday was spent just lounging around. It was quite nice and a good break for by blistered feet. We are heading out soon, though, to see some sights, so here go the blisters! Haha. I think my feet are hating me right now, but my eyes are loving me. Can't please everyone!

I'll let you know how today goes. Have a good one!

Just Another Day in Paradise...I Mean Prague!

Well, I have officially completed my first week of class at ITTP! It was quite fun and interesting and informative. There is definitely lots to learn about teaching English and I'm so glad I have chosen to take the course instead of just going straight into teaching like some people do. I just know I needed this to get me going.

I had my first one-on-one lesson today with a student outside of the school. Each student in my class is assigned two people in local businesses to teach to once a week and my first lesson was today. I met with Martina this morning at her home. She works for a local newspaper as a photo editor and attends classes at the local university. Get this though, she is married to a guy that does photography for the Czech National Geographic...HOLY COW!! I was so stoked when she told me that. She even showed me some of his work in magazines and I was totally impressed. So anyways, we just chatted for the hour I was there. She speaks English fairly well and just wanted to use our time to practice speaking, so we did! Her husband and daughter speak some English, but they do not practice together, so for my hour each week, she just wants to talk so she can practice her speaking. We covered many topics today and I can't wait to meet with her again on Monday.

While I was on my way to meet with Martina, I saw a beautiful church so on my way home, I stopped to take a few pictures.

So after returning home, Kami and I hit the streets once again to check out what was going on in the center of town. We walked around a bit, visiting some shops and snapping a few pictures. While we were in the Old Town Square, we got to see a band playing so I thought I'd share a little bit of that with you. I tried to show our surrounding so I hope they are clear.

While walking around, we also saw a couple that had just gotten married taking photographs. It was realy beautiful. Just made me think about how awesome their wedding pics are going to be...in Prague, come on now! Here's the happy couple:

Oh what a day. Can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us!!

How Blessed I Am.

While most of you are stuffing your faces with lunch back in the US, I'm sitting here on my balcony, listening to my roommate share his tunes with us and enjoying the cool summer evening. It's amazing.

The second day of class went well...just learning more about lesson plans and teaching and all that jazz. We had a different teacher today, and I think we'll have him tomorrow and Thursday. I have my first one-on-one teaching lesson on Friday with a photographer from here so I'm interested to see how that goes. I would have had one tomorrow but the guy is on holiday so I have a little longer to get ready that most of my classmates.

We had lunch at a local place that a guy from our school told us about so I have my first taste of real Czech food. It was beef with a gravy sauce and bread. It was quite tasty, I must say. I forgot to take a picture of it, sorry.

Well, I think that is all for today. Hope you are splendid. I leave you with a picture I took yesterday of the Muzeum. The sky was amazing...it's been very cooperative these past few days.

Like the First Day of Kindergarten All Over Again!

It finally started...our TEFL class at ITTP started today and it was quite interesting...in a good way of course! Kami, Tyler and I left the flat a little early to make sure we got there on time, and since we were a little early, we had some time to hit a coffee shop and get our morning started right! I had a delicious cold coffee and Kami tried real cappucino for the first time...no Toot-n-Totums here!

So we arrived to class to find all of our new classmates. There are 13 people total in the class, nine males and four females. The majority of the people are from the US but there are other countries represented, including Scotland, Australia, Romania and England. It's very exciting to have a good mix and get to know people from other countries. Besides our roommate, there is another guy from Georgia (went to Valdosta State...Titletown USA!!!) and two people from New York, a guy from Connecticut, another from Arizona and a girl from Seattle. A good mix, I'd say!

Alena, the leader of the school, did a brief intro to the course and then a guy from a school in Moscow came to tell us about their program for English teachers. It was very interesting, but I'm thinking Kami and I won't opt to go there. Good info though. After lunch, a czech girl came to give us a lesson in Czech. It was nuts. She did the whole lesson speaking only Czech so we had to figure out what she said according to her cues and body language. It was crazy. Two things were accomplished with this, we learned some basic Czech and we were able to see how our students will feel when we are only speaking English to them. (So it can be done...teaching without knowing the language).

So that was pretty much it! I cooked our first dinner tonight and that was good...felt good to actually cook and not eat out. I made spaghetti and it was quite yum! Actually, it was pretty much the only thing I was certain was something I knew I could made without having to read the directions. Haha.

We also adopted a new roommate. His name is Ewen and he's from Scotland and we are happy to welcome him into our home. I kind of feel as though I'm on an episode of Real World, but hopefully I won't have to deal with that kind of drama they do. Ha. It's all good though, just hanging out!!

Oh yea, another thing. I guess that my right foot was a little jealous of my left, so it developed a blister on the same toe as the opposite foot...it's amazing...sense sarcasm! It's ok though...the walking is great...it's just the feet, they're still adapting!

So I guess that is it for the day! More to come...

I Know Why Europeans Are So Skinny!

After 12 hours out of the apartment and about 9 of them walking around and climbing stairs, I now know why Europeans are so skinny...they are always in motion. It's great though. My body is wondering what I'm up to and feeling tired, but hopefully soon it will be up to speed and moving wonderfully. Eventually, the blister on my toe will heal as well...let's hope at least!

Today was an exciting day. Kami and I rose early to be part of the first group of tourists (yes, I love being a tourist!) at the Prague Castle. When we got to the Prague Castle...which is not just one building, it's gigungus (however you spell that...even though it's not really a word...haha). After buying our ticket, we went to look at the cathedral, which in my opinion is the highlight of the castle experience. We noticed a sign that said they weren't open for visitors until noon but since it was Sunday, they had mass at 9:30am. Even though neither one of us is Catholic, we thought it'd be an interesting experience, so we proceeded into the cathedral for mass. And yes, it was in Czech...so we pretty much had no clue what was going on at all. We just followed the people around us and did what they did. I don't know if that is sacreligious or not, but we just wanted to experience it...I mean, how many people do you know that have gone to a Czech mass service?!?

So after that, we wondered around and took some great pictures. The castle is on a hill that overlooks the city, so we were able to get some great pictures of the city. It was awesome. At noon, the castle did the changing of the guard, so we watched that for a bit. By that time, there were a bagillion tourists, so we didn't have too good of a view of the changing of the guard, but what we saw was interesting.

After taking a million more pictures, we headed down to the city and Kami was craving a Big Mac, so we found a McDonald's for her...haha...they're everywhere so it wasn't too hard. It's actually close to the Starbucks we went to yesterday...haha. They're really everywhere! :)

So anyways, we had a few hours to kill until we went to an English-speaking church so we just wondered around in the town and on the Charles Bridge...which is a huge pedestrian bridge over the river that runs through town. It is really insane to me all of the tourists...I knew it was a popular place, but it's just incredible all of the people representing so many different cultures in one town...not much like Tuscola, Texas! Haha.

A few months ago, Kami found an organization that did missions in Prague so she emailed them to see if they'd be there and we could go to their church and stuff, and they recommended an English-speaking church to attend while we're here. Faith Community Church wasn't the traditional church with pews and all, but it was a good experience. From what I could tell, some Americans started the church three years ago or so and have been hosting summer interns since and ministering to English-speaking folks since. There were about 30 people or so and there was a guest preacher, an American missionary that is doing work in Vienna right now. I thought it was a good sermon and the music was good and everyone was very friendly. Afterwards, their thing is to go to the beer gardens...I know, kinda crazy...but Kami and I went so we could chat some and get to know about these expats. They were really nice and one girl, Alice, is teaching English in Prague at local businesses so she let me ask a lot of questions and find out what we are to expect. It was good just to talk to someone who has done a TEFL class and that could tell us kind of what to expect.

So after hitting the grocery store on the way home, Kami and I finally made it home 12 hours later and pooped. We start our class tomorrow at 11am, so that'll be fun. I'm ready to meet all of our classmates and get started on another adventure.

Until next time America...

Getting Our First Taste

Well, we're definitely in a foreign land. Asking everyone if they speak English before we can ask for help and not being able to know what you order at a restaurant are usually indications you're not at home. Ha. Kami and I visited our second local cafe around our apartment and were unable to communicate at all with her. After pointing to a word in our phrasebook, she said ok and we just trusted she'd bring us something. Ha. It turned out being ok, some chicken and potatoes, but it was a little scary there for a minute.

Also, for any of you that are thinking about traveling to Europe, you need to know about the water. If you order water or buy water, you need to know that most people drink their water 'sparkling' here, or with bubbles. It is SOOOO gross!!! My first water I had in Lithuania was like this and I had the great chance of getting it again today at the pub. So let's just say I'll be carrying around water with me from now on! Enjoy your bubbleless water and your free water Americans!!

We then had to the chance to get our first taste of the 'pretty' side of Prague. After our roommate Tyler arrived, we headed down to the center of town to find the school in prep for our meeting with them tomorrow. Well, we got a little lost on the journey but ended up seeing some awesome buildings and getting a few pics along the way...my first of the journey! Here are a couple, you can see more on my photo site (this site is hard to post pics so it's just easier to do on Picasaweb).

Tomorrow I'm hoping to go to the castle to see the changing of the guard...that'll be awesome. We are also meeting with a guy from our school so hopefully we'll know more once that happens. I'll let you know how it all goes.

Goodnight.

The Day Has Finally Come!!

We're here. Kami and I finally landed in Prague after two flights and 13 hours...but we made it!! Yay!!!

Today has been quite hectic. After spending 13 hours on the flights, we got to Prague to find that one of Kami's bags didn't make the journey with us and was stuck at our connection site, Amsterdam. So, after chatting with the Czech Airlines people, they told her it would be there on a later flight so we decided we'd go back after we got our keys and found our place to live.

Well, that was all quite an adventure in itself. We taxied to one of the metro (it's like a subway) stations to meet the landlord for the keys, we realized we were a half-hour late because of the baggage situation so the landlord had already gone. So, we found a payphone and couldn't figure out how to use it because of whole 'it was in a different language' issue. We then asked several people if they spoke English so we could find a phone to call the landlord, and finally a nice Czech girl helped us (and notified me the payphone wasn't working, so it wasn't my fault). So after our long journey, we finally got the keys and thought we were set...

Little did we know that either we couldn't read directions or our apartment owner couldn't give them, either way, there we were on the streets of Prague, dragging our suitcases up and down stairs and ramps and about to pass out with no luck in finding our apartment. I finally found a guy to ask, who spoke no English, but he managed to point me in the right direction.

So there we were....after losing luggage, missing the landlord and begging Czechs to help us, and wandering aimlessly around the streets to find our apartment, we were finally in...and sooooo happy!!! It was like a Heavenly moment when we walked through the door...such a good feeling to finally find where you are supposed to be!! I really felt like I was in a movie, just trying to find my way in a foreign land. It was quite an adventure.

After dropping off our luggage (thank goodness), we headed back to the airport in hopes that her back had been on the next flight, but no luck with that. Then we were starving since we hadn't eaten since the flight, and Kami wanted pizza so we found one close to our apartment. Well, they didn't have an English menu and the waitresses weren't too up on their English, so I just took my chance by ordering the Pizza Il Carne and Kami went with the standard pepperoni. It turns out Czechs make pepperoni a little different than we do...it was a cheese pizza covered in all sorts of peppers...like gross!! Not a happy time for Kami...who knew pepperoni wasn't standard. Mine turned out ok and I shared some with Kami, so it was ok. Don't think we'll be going back though...the waitresses weren't too excited about having us there.

So now here I sit, relaxing and taking a load off my feet...it feels amazing. Tomorrow, our roommate Tyler comes so that'll be excited. Hopefully in the next 12 hours, we'll know something about Kami's bag and can get that taken care of...then we can actually see some good parts of the city. We've seen lots, but nothing too out of the ordinary...airports, metros, buses. We're definitely ready to see some beautiful sites so hopefully we can do some of that tomorrow.

I know, I know...you're wondering where my pictures are...well, I haven't even taken one since we got here. It's been too crazy. Maybe tomorrow.

Anywho, I'm pooped and this has gotten way too long, so I'll end now! The point is we made it here and we're ready to experience Prague to the fullest!!