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These last few weeks have been quite tumultuous. I'm going to attempt to sum them up with video.

Me at my job:
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Most of my conversations:

So then I started thinking:

And finally:

So if you're having troubling understanding the cryptic message, I'm coming home at Christmas time, and staying for the foreseeable future.

I accept nothing less than this sort of reception:

New Title, Same Great Posts

So I've returned from a fantastic visit home. Unfortunately, I didn't get to do/see everything that I had on the list, but it was a great time nonetheless. Miki said he could see himself living there in the future and that it's not too much different than the Czech Republic minus all of the driving everywhere, of which he was not a big fan.

I arrived to Prague after about 36 hours of traveling by every mode of transportation I can think of, except for car or boat (bus, plane, subway, train, at one point bike, and of course, by foot) all the while carrying bags that were far too heavy and falling apart. But at least it didn't involve sleeping in airports or train stations like the two nights prior to coming to the States. But I digress. We are young, strong, and healthy. Now's the time to schedule ridiculous travel routes just to save money and/or visit different places.

As I was saying, I arrived on the evening of Friday the 18th after 36 hours of traveling, carry heavy bags, with very little sleep, and had to be at the office at 9:30am to begin my weekend of intensive training. Piece of cake. Actually it really wasn't that bad. Getting up the next day was worse and I wrestled with the alarm clock snooze button for two hours before finally being dragged out of bed and downstairs where Miki's Grandmother had cooked us a nice lunch. So I groggily stuffed myself with the giant section of chicken (I think) that she so lovingly prepared, while they spoke in Czech. Great. Back in the land where I have no idea what's being said around me. At times like these, it's funny how much I long to be back in the land where I usually know kind of what's going on, or can at least fake it (i.e. Germany). Luckily I had to be at work soon, so I escaped rather quickly. (Note: I'm being over dramatic, it's really not that bad here. I'm having lovely time.)

Undoubtedly I was one day become facebook friends with fellow Wattsenglish teachers, and they will find this blog, therefore be it known, that I think it is a good company. However, they basically write your first lesson for you, since you are just getting the kids excited about English and showing them the way and thing they will be learning. That being said, the first day of work doesn't require much independent thought. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, after watching other sample videos I stumbled upon on YouTube from other potential candidates that may or may not have made the cut, I see why they write everything out for you. Let's be honest, not everyone is as awesome as I am. (kidding) So at the training I got a lot of papers to read that were filled with ideas for games and activities and then got the Demo lesson as well as the first month's lessons all planned out for you. I stopped feeling bad about missing the training pretty quickly. However, I did miss out on meeting everybody. I plan to fix that problem by hosting a party for my fellow Prague teachers in the near future.

However, as punishment for not being at training, nay, as a result...well I guess that can't be proven either...anyway my first week's schedule was very empty (as is this weeks). They keep insisting more is to come, and I'm sure it is, (though I've heard horror stories of over-hiring/under-booking from last year that keep me feeling a little uneasy) as of right now, I only teach two 25 min classes on Monday and Friday mornings. And this Monday was a Holiday.

It's actually been very nice because I've then been able to run around and do all of the bureaucratic things that I didn't get to do during the week of training, and I've been able to do some proofreading so I'm not entirely useless. Although I must admit, I could get used to the idea of being able to work in my pajamas in front of a computer.

Vánoce

It's been quite the Holiday season. I did a lot and for the sake of your time and mine will post the highlights in list form. So here goes...

I did the following:
- Arrived in Prague a day late because I forgot my passport but as it turned out never really needed a passport.
- Successfully ate the Christmas carp without choking on any bones.
- Ate more soup than probably ever before in my life.
- Tried yeast (it's disgusting)(thanks, Olga)
- Played Kuhhandel until 5am Christmas morning.
- Went to a Czech church service.
- Played scrabble in Czech. (I was on someone's team and actually contributed one word: Depo)
- Learned how to say the following words in Czech: cat, mouse, dog, hello, cheers, yes (that's all I can remember)Oh, and Christmas (that's the title of this post)
- Attempted to sing along with the traditional Czech Christmas songs and other folk songs that were accompanied by the guitar and accordion.
- Sang the following with the accordion: The Star Spangled Banner, My Country Tis of Thee (listed in the book as God Save the Queen) and America from West Side Story (I had to teach Miki the rhythm.)
- Played ice hockey on a frozen pond.
- Rode on a Tandem bike.
- Went jogging in the dark.
- Ate my weight in Christmas cookies (I'm not sure that's accurate but it certainly seemed like it).
- Missed a train.
- Missed a plane.
- Successfully didn't cry when the two aforementioned things happened.
- Ate Danish birthday cake and balls (it's what they call buns).
- And most importantly, it appears I didn't forget any German!

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a wish you the much happiness in 2009.

Day 1: Travel day(s)

So I made it to Berlin with only a few setbacks. I missed my train from Dusseldorf which was dumb on my part. It came to another track besides the one listed on my ticket. I never thought to double check and was oblivious to the fact that it was leaving directly behind me. The plane ride there was amazing. I had an entire row of 4 seats to myself, so I laid down and slept the entire time (when I wasn’t eating). It was pretty marvelous. Paul met me at the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) in Berlin and carried half of my bags and showed the way via the S and U-bahn to the apartment. My room is as plain as can be. I’m going to go shopping tomorrow to spruce it up a bit. We had tea, ate grapes, and then went out to pizza and to a bar. He’s very nice, not at all creepy and extremely helpful. I’m awfully tired, since it is 1 am here, so I’m off to bed.