Another First!

I just experienced another "first"...snow in my bed! I've been sick for the past couple of days so I opened my bedroom windows to let some fresh air in. Fresh air kills germs, right? Next best thing to Lysol! "It's nice and sunny - almost a spring-like day," I thought. About 30 minutes later, I was in the living room trying to function like a normal, healthy human being (sitting on the couch rather than lying in the bed) when I glanced out the window and saw a blizzard! I came back in my room to discover snow on my bed!!

It's pretty and all but did the weatherman in Prague not get the message about SPRING?

No Shirt, No Shoes? Come Right On In!

Last week was all about boobs. Yes, I said it...boobs.

It all started on Wednesday afternoon. There I sat with my two students, both girls about my age, working on a vocabulary lesson. Sort of a "find the one that doesn't belong activity". We got through the whole exercise with no problems and then came to #10. The words were 'gaffe' 'faux pas' 'boob' and some other word that had nothing to do with the first three. The only word they knew was "faux pas" so I had to explain the other two to them. Gaffe -a mistake, blunder, blah blah blah. And then on to boob. Boob? I've never used the word "boob" in my life to refer to anything other than, well, a boob. So I struggled through the PC definition and then said "Ok look - so the most common use of that word in American English is to talk about these" and pointed to mine. They laughed and laughed. It was only fitting since in the previous lesson I had to point out a difference in British and American English when Marta said "Hold on - I'll go to my office and get a rubber" and then returned with an eraser.

So then on to Thursday. It was a very long day. I usually only have two classes on Thursday but had picked up a few substitions for extra money. I had plans to meet Anya, one of my flatmates, for a drink at our neighborhood Irish pub on my way home from class at about 8pm. Now this is the SAME pub we went to last Thursday night so I expected that it would have the same basic atmosphere as last time. How silly of me! I got there first, sat down and began looking over the menu...not noticing anything out of the ordinary. The waitress came over and asked for my drink order in Czech and, as I looked up to give it to her, I came face to...er...nipple with her bare chest! She was topless!?!!? All of the other waitresses were wearing shirts. Did she just forget? Was it laundry day? Now she did have a piece of fabric across her back with two sleeves attached. Not showing her arms...so modest of her. Despite the somewhat shady atmosphere, the spaghetti was excellent!

It has to be over, right? Oh no. Friday. More boob. I had about 30 minutes to kill before class so I went for a walk and came across Kavarna Cirkus (Circus Cafe). PERFECT! A nice relaxing spot where I can have a cup of tea and make my grocery list. I noticed an odd ramp at the entrance but didn't really think much of it...I just thought ramps at cafe entrances would be the next addition to the long list of things I don't understand in this country. I walked up the ramp, opened the door and BAM...you guessed it - boobs. Evidently, Kavarna Cirkus is a coffeeshop for women to come breastfeed their babies while their other children run wild. The ramp was for strollers...makes total sense now! I wasn't going to let a few snacking babies stop me - I sat down in the corner and enjoyed my tea, all the while deflecting curious, somewhat annoyed stares from the La Leche League. Single, childless women need tea too, dammit!

And Saturday I went to a strip club.



kidding.

Dreary (but fun!) Dresden

Since we've all spent most of the last two months within the city limits of Prague, some of my fellow teachers and I decided to bust out this weekend and go explore a new city and, for Anya and I, a new country. We took an early train to Dresden, Germany on Saturday morning and returned late Saturday night. Despite the unbelievably cold/rainy/windy/dreary weather, we took in the sites and enjoyed an amazing traditional German meal! Here are some pictures from the day -

I Apologize You

I'm back...

I've had a lot going on lately and not a whole lot of energy/motivation/brainpower for blogging. My sweet PaPaw passed away on Feb. 15th so I made an unexpected trip home to be with my family. I missed my first week of teaching but, after two deaths in one month, home was EXACTLY where I needed to be! It was great to have our whole family together (cousins and all) despite the reason. My grandmother was blessed with total lucidity for the few days surrounding the funeral so she was able to tell stories about Papaw that I'd never heard before, which was very sweet. As much as I loved being there, I really hope I don't have to make any other unexpected trips home while I'm living abroad. Rough year so far for the Ledbetter clan!

I returned to Prague on Sunday, Feb 22nd and started teaching at 7:30am on Monday morning. Nothing like a little jet lag on your first day of work to make you forget how nervous you are! So far, so good! Despite the early mornings, I look forward to my classes - my students are interesting, they want to learn and are they also really appreciative. And they like me...they really like me! (Isn't that what life is all about anyway?) They say funny things like "Eh...that's not really my cup of coffee," (rather than tea) and "I apologize you. I need go peepee" and "Thank you (elevator door closes, reopens). Bye bye (elevator door closes, reopens again). Have a nice day." I love that I am helping these people! While my previous job provided for a much higher standard of living, I never really got that warm and fuzzy "I'm really doing something great for people" feeling that I have now...it's all about the trade off. Now if I could just find someone to provide the standard of living to which I've become accustomed while I teach people the difference in pronunciation between photograph and photographer all day, I'd be set!

I'm sure I'll be singing a different, much more jaded tune at some point in the future, but for now just let me be naive and happy dammit!

Thank you. Bye Bye. Have a nice day.

Ready, Set, Teach!

First of all, that last post was a joke largely meant for Pam and Marshall. Those of you who actually believed it must seriously doubt my intelligence, common sense and, most of all, ability to learn from my mistakes! Thanks guys.

Tomorrow is my first day as a REAL teacher! I'm looking forward to it but must admit that I'm more than a tad bit nervous. These people are paying good money to learn English from a smart, professional grammarian and, instead, they are getting me! My days will now be spent navigating Prague's public transportation system, going from one company's headquarters to another, hopefully teaching a little something along the way. I was surprised to find that many of my classes will be held at companies I've actually heard of - Oracle, Boehringer Ingelheim and Honeywell to name a few. I'll be starting bright and early tomorrow morning in the cold and snow with a 7:30am class about 45 minutes away from my flat. That means I should go to bed NOW. Good night!

Not Again!!

I don’t know what it is about this town…

So there I was innocently walking down the street, doing some innocent sightseeing with my innocent friends Sam, Fabian and Kristen. And then I saw it. ABSINTHE SHOP! It was like I imprinted on it (for all you vampire nerds) and could not resist the pull. A little piece of heaven in a snowy, cold, foggy town. I ditched my friends, who are afraid of the “green fairy”, marched right in and ordered a double! Several doubles later, I staggered out of my ‘new home’ and got swept up in the throng of tourists heading for the Charles Bridge. I’m not sure what transpired at that point…I have a foggy memory of a pineapple, Band-Aids and an old lady with a pet monkey. Thank goodness, my friends found me (four short hours after they left me at the absinthe shop) sleeping like a baby on the Bridge. Why do I feel like this has happened to me before?

One Month Down...

The last four weeks have flown by! On Friday, I finished my TEFL course and, assuming I passed, will be a certified “English as a Foreign Language” teacher by the end of next week. So now it’s Sunday morning and there is really nothing I should be doing right now…I haven’t had this feeling in months! I don’t mind it one bit.

The past couple of weeks have been filled with school, school and school, a few dinner parties and one hell of a “End of TEFLing” celebration Friday night. I can’t remember the last time I saw 4:30am…ouch. Now we have the next week off (to recover from Friday!) before we begin teaching on February 16th. Thinking about heading to Budapest and Bratislava for a few days if we can find inexpensive train tickets. If I do make it to Budapest, I’ll be sure and avoid the sketchy “bathhouse” where I was assaulted by an old Hungarian lady 10 years ago. Still having nightmares about that…

I’m going to head out in a bit and go explore my new neighborhood - Vinohrady. Moving into a new flat this week!! I’m going to have a bed that is NOT a couch, a room that is NOT connected to the kitchen, a roommate who does NOT make soup at 3am every night and eat all of my food and a bedroom door that is NOT made out of glass…and we have a piano! Could life get any better?!? I’ll be living with 3 other girls from my TEFL course – Kristen, Anya and Joy. Four is definitely a crowd but the flat is huge (5 bedrooms!) and I think we’ll all get along well. We should have Wi-Fi there within the next two weeks so emailing, Skyping and blogging will be much more convenient. Though I will miss waking up to this beautiful and inspiring piece of art every morning…maybe the landlord won’t notice if I take it?