One week back in Prague

Monday-Friday of this past week I was in Prague for meetings with the Czech Fulbright staff and all of the other Czech Fulbright grant recipients. It was great to finally meet everyone and to hear about their own crazy and unique experiences these first few weeks. Despite our different situations, there have been some commonalities. It seems that everyone has both loved and been challenged by their new lives here in the Czech Republic. It was also nice to take a break and spend some time in Prague with some other Americans for a change.
So, to recap the week: On Monday, my flatmate Pavel took me to Ostrava where we had a "man breakfast" that consisted of some delicious, and fatty, pork knee, rolls, and beer. What can I say, it's the most important meal of the day. After being driven to Ostrava, I took one of the Pendolinos, the nicest trains in the country, (thank you taxpayers) from Ostrava to Prague. Once in Prague, I bummed around in town with another Fulbrighter, had some Thai food, and then went to my place of residence. The place where we were all staying was incredible (see picture). The name of the hotel was Villa Lanna and it was surrounded by various embassies and important places, the most notable being the Chinese Embassy, the UAE Embassy, a major police station, and the U.S. ambassador's residence. That first night we had a nice dinner in the dining hall and then went out for drinks. Tuesday was chock full of meetings about Czech History, education system, etc. which was informative but a little too brief for my taste (they covered the entire Czech History in under forty-five minutes).That night we went to the opera 'Don Giovanni' in the Estate Theater where it originally was premiered by Mozart (see picture). I had never been to an Opera before, so that was an awesome experience. On Wednesday we had meetings in the morning on Czech culture which mostly consisted of a dancer showing movies of her performances where she laid in a pile of dirt, nude, and had what appeared to be a seizure. It left me with more questions then answers. Afterward, we had more meetings in the U.S. embassy about safety, health, etc. and were then left to our devices that evening. I spent most of my time having drinks with some of the other Fulbrighters and the embassy staff and then later went out for Indian food. We were all trying to get as much culinary variety as possible while we were in Prague. It got a little bit expensive but it was worthwhile, the Thai and Indian almost cured my cravings for quality Mexican food. On Friday we had more meetings in the morning, a tour of Prague in the afternoon, and then that night we had a reception at the ambassador's residence. The ambassador's residence was incredible. It is one of, if not the, nicest homes I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. I felt extremely fortunate just to spend a couple of hours at the place, let alone at an official state cocktail party. The next morning everyone said their goodbyes, and I hopped back on the Pendolino and two other connecting trains, after much frantic ticket buying, running, and last second boarding, to get back home. That night I was pretty wiped and disgruntled from the trip, but my mood soon changed when I saw that the package that my parents had sent the week earlier had finally arrived (see picture). It was great to get some little snacks, magazines, and other things from home (Cheeze-its and cheap Wal-mart granola bars have never tasted so good).
Sorry I haven't been able to update everything more frequently. Things have been crazy busy. If things ever settle down I'll update the blog more regularly but until then, once, maybe twice, a week is all that I'm able to do. Thanks for reading and keep the comments coming!

First Week of Teaching

Sorry for this being a little late. I had some technical difficulties, lost everything I had written, and had to start from scratch.

Today my first week of teaching at the agricultural school in Opava ended. It's been a whole lot of fun and immensely interesting. It varies from class to class and teacher to teacher but it seems as though my job will mostly involve me just talking, a skill that I've always been good, (sometimes too good), at. I've grown accustomed to walking into classrooms of whispering young men and giggling young women of ages fourteen to twenty-two, depending on the class, and giving my personal information to blank stares, accompanied by even more snickers and mumblings. (My usual spiel is as follows: "Hello everyone, my name is Alex Bednar. I am twenty-two years old. I enjoy listening to music, reading, writing, traveling, running, and watching Basketball and American Football. I am from Nebraska. Nebraska is one of the fifty United States of America. Nebraska is located in the center of the U.S. Nebraska is known mostly for its American football, corn, cows, farms, and for being very plain and relatively boring. I just graduated from University and I would like to one day be an American History professor. I came to the Czech Republic to improve my teaching skills, learn more about Czech culture, and take a break from school. If you have any questions about the English language, the U.S., or anything, don't hesitate to ask.") After I step off my soapbox, I ask the students questions and watch them shrug their shoulders and turn ten shades of red. Occasionally I get an answer in pure and nearly perfect English, other times in nervous Czech, but usually I get absolutely nothing but an embarrassed student squirming in his/her desk. Sometimes I have to talk about a specific topic while other times I can speak about whatever I'd like. Some teachers have prepared lesson plans with lots of responsibilities for me, while others seem to make everything up as they go and only want me in the classroom as a resource. Everything depends on the teacher, the class, the day, and everyone's moods. I'm having a whole lot of fun with the unpredictability and variety of everything. It's also fun because the students can ask me questions as well. Usually kids that didn't understand my introduction speech ask questions that I've already covered and most of the other students are too shy to ask anything, but other times a brave student will ask about certain U.S. bands, why I picked the Czech Republic, U.S. politics, etc. and even braver students will ask if I'm single, do I like Czech beer, what do I think of Czech women, etc. Every class and every day are different and that's great for me. The other thing I've really enjoyed about teaching are the constants that can be found in almost every high school/college around the world. Even though Czech culture, language, and education systems are completely different from what I'm familiar with, the students are still awkward teens with faces a bloom with zits. Some wear pants that are way too baggy, while others wear jeans that are much too tight. They are usually armed to the teeth with the latest technology, headphones in ear and phone in hand. Strangely, seeing those pimpled but proud faces brings me some level of comfort and eases my homesickness. Kids are kids almost everywhere in the world.

Sorry I don't have any pictures of my first school with this post. I didn't have any chances to get a snapshot of the building or classrooms without feeling like a total American and/or creep/perv.

I'm still getting settled into my home here in Hradec nad Moravici (see pictures). The family I'm living with have continued to be wonderful. They spoil me constantly and are always extremely friendly and accommodating. I've been walking and running more and more often around the town to see the sights and get a feel for my surroundings. The town has one of, if not the, best castles I've seen here in the CR (the Hradec part of Hradec nad Moravici). There is also a nice little river that flows through town, (the Moravici part of Hradec nad Moravici), that has an excellent bike path where I have really enjoyed running, (I'll have a post up about running sometime in the future).

On Monday I head back to Prague for a week of meetings with the full Fulbright staff and all of the other Fulbrighters. I'm happy to head back to one of my favorite cities in the world. I get to see an Opera, have a brunch at the U.S. embassy, and stay at a fairly swanky hotel all on the governments dime, (thanks fellow taxpayers!). Seeing as how I'm going by train, the trip down to Prague should be an adventure as well. I'll make sure and keep you all updated and take lots of pictures.

Thanks for reading!

Sorry Everyone

I'm sorry everyone, I've been a miserable blogger. I really feel awful about it. Before I had a blog of my own, I would see un-updated blogs and scoff at how lazy and uncommitted their authors were. I told myself that one day I'll have my own blog and it will be the most updated blog ever. Well over the past few weeks that dream has died. I was so busy with classes, homework, activities, and traveling that I didn't have a free hour to sit down and update all of you folks back home on my whereabouts and condition. And then when I did have some time, the month of internet I'd purchased ran out. And after that, I spent a few days traveling and settling into my new home here in Hradec and meeting all of my new bosses at my jobs in Opava. I have some more time now and find myself in a more static position so I'll be able to update you all much more frequently. My plan is to put out regular posts every Sunday and Thursday. So lets just put those rude weeks of silence behind us and move on to more consistent blogging.

I apologize ahead of time, this post in mainly a quick and dirty review of the past few weeks. Future posts will be more detailed and they'll have a little more variety to them, I promise.

My language course in Prague ended roughly one week ago. In the last couple weeks of class my Czech improved, (slightly), I got used to the routine and style of the class, and continued to go on to various places of interest in and around Prague (see pictures). I graduated with an A but definitely didn't deserve one. I was the worst in my class by far, (and I was in the lowest level class). I'm extremely glad I took the course though, I can't imagine where I'd be without the limited Czech that I now have. I know just enough Czech to get myself into trouble, because if I say "Nemluvím Česky" (I don't speak Czech) everyone automatically assumes that I can in fact speak the language and I'm just being modest, since most foreigners don't even bother to learn that simple phrase. But I digress... At the end of my course there was a big graduation party with a feast, (see picture). The food was great and a Swedish girl and I got to teach everyone the word "Smorgasbord". After the feast I had to part ways with my friends, (see other picture). I truly made some great and interesting friends from around the world, (they were the other reason I was glad I took the course). Being with other foreigners in a foreign place really eased my transition into the Czech Republic and they always kept me socially busy. By the end of the course I was sad that we were all parting ways, but I was also ready to get settled into my new home.

After everyone left I had a few days to roam around the city and be more of a traditional tourist. I woke up early one morning and went to Charles Bridge (before the swarm of tourists hits), I wandered around Prague's Old Town, visited the Museum of Communism, and shopped for souvenirs for the fam. After that I had a meeting with the other Fulbright ETA's and some of the Fulbright staff to discuss the Czech school system and some of the troubles we may run into. The meeting was brief but it was nice to finally meet everyone that I had been emailing all summer. I met both of my supervisors, Kate and Karel, at the meeting as well. They were both extremely friendly and excited to have me at their respective schools. Kate has been especially great, she's helped me with everything from getting my bus pass to getting a bicycle and she even took me on a ride in a small four person plane to see the Moravian Mountains. It was an incredible experience. I'll post pictures of the plane when I get them. She also let me help her train her two hunting dogs, which was great because I've been missing Oscar, (my family's dog), back home.

I got settled into my new home about three days ago and I couldn't be happier with the situation. My flatmate, Pavel, speaks English and is a great guy, and his parents, who live above us, are the nicest people. All three of them are always giving me food and are constantly concerned about my well being and comfort. Essentially they are spoiling me with home grown fruit and vegetables, homemade food, and providing me with everything from a mirror to slippers.

I've visited both schools where I'll be teaching, but I haven't taught yet, (that starts tomorrow). So far I've enjoyed both schools for different reasons. The agricultural school is much more casual, the students and ambiance reminds me of a high school back home, I'll have more responsibilities as a teacher, plus they've given me a set schedule of where and when I'll be each week. The other school has better facilities, the students seem to have more skills in English, and every week that I'm there my schedule will change, (I'll even be going into music, biology, and history classrooms). I have a feeling that I'm going to really appreciate the variety that the two different schools will provide me. These first couple weeks of classes will probably just be introductions and a short personal biography from me, (which I have yet to prepare). But as time goes on I'll be dealing mostly with English conversation and writing. Any tips you guys might have on topics for discussions on the U.S., holidays, culture, etc. would be greatly appreciated.

So once again I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to update the blog and I promise that it won't happen again. I hope that some of you are still there and willing to put up with my poor punctuation and ramblings. I'll be updating every Sunday and Thursday from now on and I promise to go into more detail instead of brief overviews like this post. Thanks for reading.