Chapter 8: Steve

Today has been an adventurous day to say the least. Do you know the author, Franz Kafka? He wrote a number of short stories/a couple novels, his most well-known story being "The Metamorphosis." Well, he has a lot of stuff in Prague, because he grew up in the city, so my friend Jess and I decided to have our very own "Kafka Day." First, we went to the Jewish cemetery, where his tomb resides. We spent some time exploring the graves, and it's cool because both Jess and I (who have Czech backgrounds), found our last names on some tombstones! It's cool to find your identity like that. so that's what we did first. I'm sure there will be pics on Facebook, because fucking everyone posts pics while they're abroad.

Next, we went to the Kafka Museum in Old Town Square, near the Charles Bridge (if you were more cultured, you'd know what these landmarks are). The museum is very cool. It had a lot of his original writings, some family history, and even a detailed history of his love affairs! It was especially cool for me, because a lot of professors back home call me the next Kafka because of my own writings and writing style. So it was like I was experiencing myself. It's cool to think I've been reincarnated, in a way. I'm kind of realizing how integral I am to Czech culture now.

Chapter 7: Jess

It's been about a month! It has been so very busy! Teaching 45 minutes lessons daily is no joke; we were put into group of four, each of us got one "day off" between Monday and Thursday, but still, sitting through three lessons and then through the feedback on all three lessons means we all got out at at least 8:30. Needless to say, getting back that late leaves one exhausted and then the same thing the next day. Fridays were just methodology days. Weekends were mostly fun; I guess I could have updated then, but fun nights usually turn into late nights. In short, it has been a most eventful and busy month!

But I'm done! I get my certificate tomorrow and will be certified to TEFL! I do have a job lined up already; from July 10-19 I teach a sports camp. I would prefer to have a job where I'm actually teaching English rather than monitoring sports, but whatever. It's still experience.

At the end of the fist week, the graduates from last months class took all of the new TEFLers out to a few beer gardens and clubs. It was a lot of fun. There was so much 80's music; I loved it! I haven't heard that much Backstreet Boys since elementary school, and it's everywhere, not just at dance clubs. "Backstreet's Back" plays at alllll the restaurants here. It's glorious.

The first lesson I taught was about superheroes. It went well. Most of my lessons went pretty well, but there's still a lot of improvement to be had. It was fun meeting a whole bunch of Czech people, though.

The Upper-Intermediate class. From left to right: 

Brigid (TEFL), Charlie (TEFL), me, then 

Lubo (Slovak), Lida (Czech), Jarda (Czech), and Petr (Czech)

The whole TEFL group went on a 21 mile bike ride to Karlstejn Castle one weekend. It was about 90 that day and very sunny, but the Czech countryside is beautiful and the company was great. We left at 9:00 in the morning and got there at about noon, ate lunch, and then toured the castle and the town. It's a very pretty area.

Karlstejn Castle

So, the month has been mostly teaching and a few fun things. We had a "family dinner," and picnic, went to the 5-story club (which wasn't that great), and just got to know people. So, now that class is over, the real traveling begins!

Family Dinner

Caught in the rain--one umbrella! We later took shelter in a phone booth.

Picnic!

Totally exhausted during the last week of class. Test, teaching classes, and teaching one-on-one lessons...

Chapter 6: Steve

Three hawks sit atop the Palladium in Náměstí Republiky, watching. The hawk on the far left turns to the hawk in the center and states, "There are no Wal-Marts in this city." The hawk on the far right pauses for a moment, ponders, and remarks, "That's very true." The hawk in the center raises its wings and flies directly into an oncoming tram.

Chapter 5: Steve

I had a fun day today. I learned a lot of neat things today. I saw some cool stuff today. I found out some interesting facts today. I hope tomorrow is just is as unique.

Chapter 4: Grace

Well, I have finally caught up with Jess and Steve, the intrepid travelers, and have found myself in a cozy London flat, stubbornly keeping the window open despite the fact that it's 53 degrees Fahrenheit. I am already wearing a jumper (shut up, I can be British if I want) and a rather large knitted blanket, but I insist on hearing the light drizzle hit the pavement.

It reminds me that I am really here.

Traveling alone was quite the experience. I had some help in between airports thanks to my awesome family, but I disembarked from ORD and LHR on my own. I feel quite chuffed about that.

Like, I'm still alive and everything. And I didn't even get lost.

Didn't know I could do that, honestly.

I never really considered how much less attention I pay to my surroundings when I am traveling as part of a group. Most of my attention ends up focused on those I am traveling with -- I often feel the need to "mother" by making sure everyone is okay or seeing if anyone needs anything. But this time, since it was only me and I'm surprisingly quite well behaved, I got to listen in to a lot of conversations that I think I normally would have tuned out in favor of engaging with my friends.
For more updates on what sort of things I'm talking about, you can check out my twitter. It would take far too long to recount them here.

So far, everything is lovely and London-y and my jetlag hasn't caught up with me yet.
Everything is coming back to me quicker than I imagined. It all feels "right." And yet, irrationally, I already feel a little sad that it will all be over sooner than it seems on paper. It always is.

Still, the adventure is just beginning, and I can't wait to see where it leads!

-Grace

P.S. My inner gecko wins. I'm shutting the darn window.

Chapter 3: Jess

A few days have passed and have been really great. Sunday was the second day of our orientation--not just orientation as in getting to know the people in our course and getting to know what the course is about, but also orientation of the city. I'm starting to get the hang of the public transportation system, getting the hang of walking around and finding landmarks, and also figuring out where various cafes are. The thing about cafes here is that so many of them open late! I'm used to being able to get coffee at 6:00 AM if I want to; it will be an adjustment waiting for 10:00 so that coffeehouses are open. I have also spent the most money on a single cup of coffee than I ever have before. Steve and I went to Cafe Kafka because, well, we had to, and for an 8 oz. latte, I spent 99 CZK. That's about $5.00. Since Kafka was the poet of shame and humiliation, I'm sure he would have approved of the shame I felt shilling out those Czech coins.

Aside from ridiculously expensive coffee, we did get to do a beer tasting at a beer museum--it was a lot of fun and a lot of beer. Learned that there is a town in the Czech Republic called Budweise which has, of course, been making beer for hundreds of years, much longer than Anhauser-Busch. Due to Anhauser-Busch using the name "Budweiser" for it's trademark beer, every time the company goes to purvey the traditional 'Merican beer in another country, there is a legal battle over the name; the number of legal battles is inordinate. I think it was somewhere in the 70's. So "Budweiser" on menus here usually means beer from Budweise. "Bud Light" is used for the other, less good beer. Also, there is a dark beer here called "Merlin." Simply magical.

Some of the beers we got to taste. The dark one is Merlin.

The first day of class was a lot of fun--we played a lot of games, but each one had plenty of underlying pedagogy. The course is extremely dense, which only makes sense considering we are learning to teach English to non-native speakers in a mere 4 weeks. We actually got to teach real students today--day 4! It was only a short 15 minute thing consisting of an icebreaker and short activity, but still. Day 4! The level I teach is pre-intermediate, so not beginner, but not intermediate. So, I'm still not totally sure what that means, but it went well. I'll have the opportunity to teach higher-level students later, and maybe fresh students, too. It's going to be fun!

We don't have to teach tomorrow, but at the beginning of next week, we will all be teaching 45 minute lessons. Our first task is to teach lexis, so between 7-10 new words. I don't know what theme I want to teach--I'm between weddings, cooking, superheroes, bars/dating, and music. Quite the spread. So we teach every day except for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the next three weeks. When they said this class was intensive, they were not kidding.

After class on Monday, we walked around the city, across Charles Bridge, and walked to the John Lennon Wall. 

On Charles Bridge

Some of the group by the John Lennon Wall

In other news, I tried rabbit for the first time. It was okay.

I took two shots of traditional Czech spirits, Becherovka. It's 38%. Take from that what you will.

I should mention that part of my "getting the hang of the public transportation system" includes me getting on the wrong tram and ending up on the wrong side of the Vltava River and then wandering around for 45 minutes trying to get to where I need to be, using my horrible bastardized Czech to try and ask people for directions and trying to read a Czech map. However, I do, indeed, know the city better and now know that team 9 is not the tram I need!

Finally, I learned that many Czechs like to use the word "fantasy" to mean "idea." That makes me ineffably happy.

Chapter 2: Jess

So, we have finally made it to Prague! Nine legs of the trip, all weathered boldly! The legs are as following:

1) Edwardsville to Dustin's house

2) Dustin's house to Amtrack Station

3) Train to Chicago

4) From Chicago's Union Station to Mike's house

5) From Mike's house to O'Hare Airport

6) Board plane bound for Vienna (cold, rainy Vienna)

7) Change planes to fly to Prague

8) Get picked up by driver (which took an extra hour and a half. He had left because he hadn't seen us, so we were just waiting and waiting and waiting until we called someone from the school and figured things out. This would not have been a leg of the trip if things had gone smoothly.)

9) Drop things off at our flat and wander around Prague to find our school and meet with the rest of the group.

The rest of the group is mostly great. A lot of the people are pretty cool, but as with any mixed crowd, there are some who are less savory. I may write caricatures of them later as I see fitting. 

We went on a walking tour of Prague with our class. I took a ton of pictures, and we saw a lot of great, beautiful structures and a lot of unforgettable, spectacular views.

Prague Cathedral, which is built onto Prague Castle.

A view of Prague from the gardens at Prague Castle.

It's really an amazing city, and I'm so excited to spend real time here! Hopefully I'll come back with plenty of good stories (of course) and adequacy in speaking Czech.

We had dinner at the Medieval Tavern. It's really a medieval tavern: Rudolf II's royal alchemists used to haunt the place, we were told, drowning their leaden sorrows in liquid gold. It was a really cool restaurant. Cobblestone floors and walls constructed at least three cramped dining areas, all lit by candles. Despite the lack of wiggle room, a fire eater and a sword dancer performed. It was really cool. After their performance, I fell asleep at the table and knocked my head on the cobblestone wall. Fall asleep anywhere, anytime. Talent.

I guess it's appropriate to mention that I haven't slept for 31 hours, so falling asleep as if narcoleptic is forgivable in this situation.

I'm at our flat now, ready to go to sleep, but I did notice something about my room. My room in the flat, first of all, is great--it's big and has a huge window. I love the airiness and natural light. However, the view outside the window...

Is just straight up creepy.

But, O Prague! you are worth frustrations, bumps on heads, blisters on feet, sleepless hours, and creepy climbing babies. What an amazing city!