Gina Anderson

Gina and her husband Jason Anderson welcomed my mom, step dad, and me with welcome arms to their house for a slovic meal. I had never met Gina and her family before but when I contacted her through a mutual friend she invited me and my family with no hesitation. Gina and her husband were in the Peace Corp for two years in Slovakia (spelling?).

They made a WONDERFUL dinner. If that was any indication of the type of foods I will be surrounded by, I am excited!

It was so helpful to hear their stories of their time there. They for sure put my mom's mind to rest on the potential crimes there (only mostly pickpocketing). I learned helpful tips such as to bring an odd number of flowers to a dinner party (even numbers are reserved for weddings and funerals). I also learned that soup is pretty much a meal standard. Apparently Gina ordered a soup there and when she took a bite (Oxtail soup), a literal spine rolled up. My first image went to the Indiana Jones movie when they were having Monkey Brains for dinner....definitely going to stay away from Oxtail soup. To funny.

Also going to stay away from the vodka shot that has a layer of bacon grease on the top...yumm....not.

There were many more tips that the Anderson's provided that is going to be useful information for when I am over there. Hopefully it will save me a little bit of cultural embarrassment from my lack of knowledge :)

Til next time.

6-7-10

(picture of the future view from my Czech classroom)


Sorry haven't written or updated for awhile...things have been super crazy. Had a workshop in San Francisco a couple weekends ago. It was very informational but overwhelming at the same time. We met with other Fulbright teachers going overseas as well as alumni. I met a girl named Calan who is from Aspen,CO. She is going to the Czech Republic. It was exciting to meet someone going to the same country as me.





We are definitely going to meet up with each other and do some traveling and I am very excited about that.





I spoke with Nikki who is from Bellingham and she did the Fulbright Teacher Exchange to Czech Republic. It was great to hear about her experiences and the pros and cons. The more and more I heard from everyone, the more I realized how lucky I am to be exchanging with Katerina.





Katerina and I have been communicating and getting to know each other since March and the more we talk, the more it seems like we are identical twins. She seems so wonderful and we seem to be on the same page with each other. We both realize that we are taking a leap of faith and for this process/experience to work, we have to trust each other. We can't be worrying about what is going on in our homes while we are away. We have to trust the other person is taking care of our belongings. I feel very confident in trusting Katerina. I know my house and belongings are in good hands.





I am waiting for my VISA application to go through. I applied a month ago and I hear it can take a couple months. I am leaving for the Czech Republic on Aug 12th so I hope I get it before I need to leave or I have to reschedule my departure date.





Well there are still many things on the "To Do List" so I have less than 66 days to check them off. One at a time, I guess... Everyone that knows me, knows that they will get done and probably all in one weekend ;)