Similarities and Differences

So I have been here in the Czech Republic now for a little over 3 weeks. It is been a wonderful adventure exploring a new culture. I absolutely LOVE the Czech Republic. There are some differences between the Czech Republic and the United States. I am going to list a few here and continue to update my list as the year goes on. I am not saying one way is better than the other...just observations :)

• People in the Czech Republic walk or ride bikes as a main source of transportation. They also use the bus and train system. In America, people rely on their cars
• Water is not free in restaurants here in CZ. Beer is cheaper than a glass of water and you do not get free refills. In USA, water is free and you can have as many refills for free as you want. Also in the USA when you buy a soda, you get as many refills for free as well. Not here.
• Students wear "indoor" shoes while in school. They must change their shoes when entering the school and most wear birkenstocks. Not in the USA
• EVERYONE must wear "indoor" shoes when going into someone's home. It is very similar to the Hawaiian Style shoe method in the USA
• Teachers do not have their own classroom. They move from room to room and students move from room to room.
• In CZ you shower sitting down (few stand up showers) and in the USA we have stand up showers
• Teachers have their desk in a "Kabinet" (office) with another small group of teachers. There are kabinets through out the school based on section of teaching. In the USA, teachers have their own classroom so they don't share an office.
• People in the CZ meet for coffee and socialize, usually in an outdoor patio restaurant (when it isn't raining or cold...in doors when it is) and in the USA there is Starbucks, and people go in, get their coffee, and leave...not too much socializing. It is a way of life here and on this topic...I like the CZ way better :)
• Mushrooming is a hobby of MANY people in the CZ. In America, we don't know the poison ones from the good ones so I don't know anyone that goes mushrooming
• Women in the CZ get 2,3, or 4 years PAID materinity leave to raise their child. In USA (least for teachers) you get 3 months, unpaid.
• People grocery shop for a day or two at a time and MUST bring their own bag. In America, people shop for food for a month at a time and stores provide bags

Here is the list so far....I will continue to update as time goes on

First Official Day of School

Yesterday was actually the first day of school but here in the Czech Republic, kids come for an hour on the first day...meet with their "class" teacher, get their "time tables" (schedules) and then go home. SWEET deal for us language teachers who didn't have to teach yesterday.
I officially started teaching my classes today. Today I only had 4 classes. All classes are 45 minutes was 90 minutes long.
I was very nervous, not becuase I thought I couldn't teach but just because I am at a different school with kids I have never met. It is the waiting that is the worst part. My first class started at 9:40 and teachers in the Czech Republic don't have to be to school until 15 minutes before their first class (same for students)-but the overachiever in me had me arriving at 8 am...well before my first class. Teachers are separated into "offices" and that is where our desk, copy machine, supplies, etc are. I am located in the CZ/language office so there are 9 of us in my office. We each have our own desk side by side in the middle of the room with 3 computers located on the back wall.
My first class is called 3D. That means they are 3rd year in their language courses and they are pretty fluent (still learning though) in English language. Iva (my colleague) team taught with me today so we divided up the 45 minutes into different activities. We had them discuss their summer holiday and then discussed it whole class. There were 30 kids in there because Iva and I had our two groups together but normally I will see only 15 at a time (same for her). The kids were very nice but shy and not eager to volunteer to talk, but when I called on them, they answered the question and their English was very good.
My next class was right after 3D. I had a 10 minute break between classes so enough time to go back to my office, grab the next classes stuff, wait for a minute and then head to class. Teachers DO NOT arrive at class until 3-5 minutes AFTER the start of class. I walked to my next class (the school is 5 stories tall and I teach EVERYWHERE) and walked in. Students in the Czech Republic stand when a teacher walks in the room in the beginning and the teacher waits for all students to stand, tells them to sit, and then the lesson begins. SOOOOOOO, I walked into the class, they all stood, I told them to sit, and then they didn't look the age that I was told they would be....I asked them if they were V5G (the name of my class...which means young ones...they are 5 years into their 8 year program) and they said NO. I told them I was in the wrong room...they LAUGHED...and I walked out completely embarrassed. My actual classroom was right next door. Oh well...first day something is bound to happen.
SOOOOOO I walked into my correct V5G (15-16 year olds) and they stood, I told them to sit, and proceeded to break the ice with my embarrassing story that just happened. We did introductions, I passed out expectations, they got into small groups and discussed their summer holiday, and then it was basically time to go. The 45 minutes flew by. This class was very nice but they were very shy and when the spoke, it was hard to hear them because they spoke so quietly.
My third class was at 1:20 and it is called V8G. They are final year (8th year of their 8 year plan) in English. They are so far my FAVORITE class. They are 18-19 year olds and I did my introductions, and asked if they had any questions of me. Every other class so far, had maybe 1 or 2 questions but this class had SEVERAL. We must have spent 20-30 minutes just talking about America, where I am from, why I am here, etc. The class was very polite, and super helpful and the 45 minutes just went by too quickly. I only see this class once a week on Thursday so I won't see them again until next Thursday.
My final class of the day is called KA, which means conversation class. I team teach this class with a Czech teacher (as do I with the rest) and we had to figure out a way to divide the 30 kids into 2 groups...one group with me....and one group with the Czech teacher. If we simply asked them whose group they wanted to be in, they would want mine...of course....:)Of course we had to be fair, so my colleague developed a test to give them today and then we would score it and put the highest 15 kids in my class and they would take the lowest 15. The test was hard for the kids. It consisted of a reading part, fill in the blank part, and a listening part. It took the kids about an hour of the 90 minutes to finish the test. We let them leave after they were finished and would tell them which group they are in next Tuesday. I only see 15 of the 30 kids every Thursday as well.
So overall it was a busy day. I loved my first day and had such a great experience. The kids were very nice, polite and seemed excited to have me there.
In all I teach 3D, V5G, V7G, V8G, 4C, 4D, and I have 3 different coversation groups(7 different preps). I meet each class 2 times a week for 45 minutes and each conversation group once a week for 90 minutes. I won't have more than 15/16 kids in a class so it is going to be a nice treat from the amount I am use to in the States.

American Meal

So I am going to be cooking an "American" meal for my colleagues/friends from school soon. I have been thinking over and over about what to make for them. First of all, I don't cook. I don't know how to cook, and whenever I do, it doesn't seem to turn out right. Second, what would you consider an "American" meal. We have so many meals we eat in American that I really can't narrow it down to one specific meal. Of course pizza is stereotypical American but they have it here and it came from Italy. Then burgers and french fries but I don't think I can actually buy hamburger buns here....finally, with the help of my American friends here for the weekend, we came up with the perfect meal...SOFT TACOS!!! They have Chinese Restaurants here like we have Mexican Restaurants at my home so I have decided to prepare soft tacos. I know Mexican food isn't "American" but it is what I eat in America...so there you have it.

So the first task was to see if we could gather the indregients...soft shell tortillas, taco seasoning, baked beans, etc. Off to the local grocery store we went and we found ALL that we needed (with the exception of baked beans... no where to be found). We found fajita seasoning which would work just fine and since there is no ground beef anywhere (just pork) we decided on chicken.

Calan, Brock, and I did a practice dinner and had so much fun preparing the food. I had almost cut the tip of my finger off on Friday while cutting bread so I was not allowed to do any chopping. I did the stirring or cleaning up while Brock and Calan prepared a fabulous meal. We had fun taking pictures of our steps along the way because I want to use the pictures for my powerpoint presentation about how it looks to prepare an "American" meal.

After dinner, we had vanilla and chocolate ice cream and ended the night with a DVD....can't be anymore "American" than that. I am now sooooo excited to prepare the meal for my Czech friends and colleagues and give them a taste from home.

What would you consider your favorite "American" meal? I would love to hear from you!

Fulbright Reunion

Calan and Brock came to visit me in Tabor on Friday August 27. It was so wonderful to have someone that speaks fluent English here. I picked up Calan at the train station at 2 and we walked around town and we did a little shopping. Brock arrived around 6 and we got him settled and headed to the town square for some dinner. We decided to go to the new Indian restaraunt and had the best dinner. I am NOT an Indian food fan but they have a "light" curry with chicken and it is amazing.

We toured around town and it was fun playing tour guide to my town when I actually know where things are. I am very proud of Tabor and love showing it off. We ended the night with dessert and a glass of wine at a cafe in the town square.

On Saturday we got up around 8 and headed to the bus station for a trip/adventure to Pisek. It was an hour bus ride from Tabor and recommended by Katerina to go explore. It was very cheap to go by bus and we were looking forward to any adventure the three of us could tackle.

We arrived in Pisek around 11 and weaved our way to the main square. Unfortunately it started POURING down rain on us and we couldn't fully appreciate the beauty around us and we were huddled under our individual umbrellas. Needless to say, we were soaked and found a restaraunt for lunch. We found our way to the "downstairs" of the restaraunt and ordered lunch. Of course our server didn't speak English so we muddled our way through the Czech language to order. I played it safe with pasta and meet sauce and Calan and Brock each ordered a pizza. I sat between the two of them at the bar and let me tell you...when their pizza arrived, the smell of bree cheese completely overwhelmed me and I thought I was going to be sick. They enjoyed their pizzas and I was happy with my pasta so all was good.

After lunch we ventured back upstairs to the rain and walked along the river. The bridge and views of the multi colored buildings was pretty amazing and we had fun playing photographers and exploring.

We took the 2:40 train back to Tabor and during

our hour wait at the bus station we practiced our Czech in the pouring down rain. It was quite

commical to visualize us sitting in the pouring rain, freezing our butts off...you would think it would be miserable but it wasn't...we were all together and we love the time we get to spend

together. It is nice speaking English fast and having people to share those memories with.

Coffee, Coffee, and more Coffee

In the center of the town square there are MANY restaraunts and coffee places. It is definitely a cultural experience to meet for coffee or a drink. Almost every place has an outdoor patio type place for sitting and conversing. People will spend hours visiting and catching up with friends.

Depending on what you order, everything is pretty cheap. Most common is the "Presso" or for us Americans, the espresso. It will cost you around $1.50. Then for us snobby coffee drinkers who are use to a Starbucks on every corner, you can oder the "Latte". It comes in a tall glass and is very frothy at the top. It will cost you around $2.50 for the extra taste of home.

No matter what time of the day you will see people sitting at the various coffee houses and socializing with their children or friends. My new favorite spot is the Cafe and Gallery MP7. As you can see from the outside, it looks like you are walking into a dark room but in reality you wind yourself through the indoor seating and through the bar (oh yes...most places have a bar as well) and weave through to the back garden area. It is like in the movies when the main character has an "ah ha" moment and the angels sing and the clouds part. I have found my coffee heaven. You walk into a courtyard full of comfortable seating, water fountains, and even a sandbox for the restless children to play in while parents visit. It will be my new place to unwind, write, and reflect. As you can see in the picture to the right there is an undercover small area to sit if it rains and even a hammock for those super lazy days.

Katerina told me about this place and that it was her favorite and now I can see why. Although I believe that Starbucks would make a million dollars here with the amount of coffee these people drink, you can not beat the relaxting atmosphere this place brings. Coffee here in the Czech republic is more than order coffee, drink it on the go and quickly. It is about soaking in life and your surroundings.

Hluboka Castle

There are just sooooo many beautiful castles in Prague. For me, it is like living in a fairy tale, but I am sure it must get old for the locals. I asked my friend Romana and she said that she enjoys going to the castles and loves the history part of it which I enjoy very much as well. We just don't have the history like these castles do in the States.

On Friday, Petra, my mom and I rode the bus to Eva and Lubos' house (Michal's parents). We had a WONDERFUL meal: meat/noodle soup, then dumplings, smoked meat, salad, and potato pancakes, and then ice cream and coffee. FYI...Starbucks would make a killing here for the amount of coffee the Czech people drink...it is coffee for everything!!!

Then we all drove to Hluboka Castle. Some would refer it to the Cinderella type castle. It is absolutely breath taking. It is so romantic and majestic. We saw 4 different wedding parties there during the day when we were walking around taking pictures etc. If I had a lot of money (and a guy of course) that would be the place I would want to get married.

Cesky Krumlov

Thanks to Katerina and her family, Romana and her husband took my mom and I to Cesky Krumlov for the day and to the theater at night. We had a WONDEFUL time exploring the town and climbing to the top of the Castle Tower. I cannot even express the amazing 360 degree view you get from up there. After exploring and some minor shopping, Romana and her husband took us out to dinner. We ate so much that I think it should be common practice for a nap after eating...but no...off to the castle for MacBeth.

We had the most unique special experience watching MacBeth from the outdoor revolving theater. The audience sits in the seats (top picture) and the seats rotate around to view the different scenes. It was a visual treat. MacBeth was in Czech soo I didn't understand anything said but just rotating and seeing the outdoor theater was a once in a lifetime experience.