Czech Mates, Czech Waits, and a Little Bit of Czech Hate

Prague and I are at the end of our honeymoon phase.

It's finally starting to sink in that I'm going to be in the Czech Republic for a while. We've wedded and bedded, so now it's time for us to settle down and really get to know each other. In stereotypical male fashion, I've begun to get that sweaty, panicky feeling associated with commitment issues. It's easy to entertain the idea of baling and returning to what feels comfortable, but I came here for the long haul.

It's strange, the things I've been missing. I miss making eye-contact with strangers and saying "hello" as you pass by. I miss having 4G Internet access wherever I go. I miss money that is green.  I miss overbearing waiters and waitresses doing their damnedest to make sure your meal is perfect. I miss greasy McDoubles (Czech McDonald's meat is much too high-quality to be reminiscent of home). I miss being able to drive. I even miss toilets that flush with a lever instead of a button. I really miss Ben & Jerry's.

Why hast thou forsaken me? :'(

And I guess I miss my friends and family too, but Skype and Facebook were invented for a reason, amirite???

Perhaps it's just post-TEFL course blues. Being out in the "real world" of Prague feels a bit different, and I've been up to my neck in red tape. To get the proper work visa, you have to do several things at once. I've needed to get a criminal record affidavit signed, lease paperwork signed and notarized, extra passport photos, a bank statement from back home, and the lease paperwork redone because one date was wrong. And this is all before I can actually begin the application process. Luckily, TLH set us up with a company that holds your hand through the entire process, so it could be a lot worse. I did have to set up a Czech bank account on my own, which was an interesting experience. I never feel very comfortable with handling money matters, so opening a bank account in a foreign country was a bit daunting.

All problems aside, I am here doing what I love to do--teach. My schedule's a bit funky right now; it's not full because I'm still quite new. I actually have four-day weekends for now. I don't have classes Friday-Monday, so I've been using those to work on my visa, run errands, read, lesson plan, see new parts of Prague, and go out with friends. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, I start my morning by leaving my flat at 8:30 AM to catch the metro to one of two businesses for one-on-one lessons. I really enjoy these lessons because I get to see some big improvements in just one lesson, and it's easier to get to know the student than in a group classroom setting. Those nights, I have some evening classes. 1.5 hours of a one-on-one Tuesday nights, two 1.5 hour group classes Wednesday nights, and one 3 hour class Thursday nights. Right now, I only have 10.5 total hours, but I'm working on picking up some private students outside of the language company I work for. In fact, I have one this Friday.

While I miss my friends like a fish misses water, the people I've met here are a riot. Our TEFL course was a tight-knit group, and I see almost all of them at least once a week. We typically go out on Friday and/or Saturday night, and there's usually some kind of get-together during the week as well. The past two weekends, we've had birthdays to celebrate. Those nights are somewhat foggy in my memory, yet still quite memorable.

This escalator is full, and every single person is on
their way to a gay club for Matt's birthday.
~30 people.

So there is still much fun to be had and much work to be done here in good ol' Praha. I suppose I'll just have to start settling in so I can make some semblance of a life here. Maybe I'm just feeling depressed because I finished the last (currently published) book of A Song of Ice and Fire, better known as Game of Thrones. But seriously, how does life continue after finishing a good book series? Like, what am I supposed to do now? Talk to people? Gross.

-Anthony

German Puns are the Wurst

Guten Tag from Germany!

Because I only have three classes I'm responsible for so far, I decided this would be a great weekend to escape Prague for a bit. Two friends from my TEFL course made an appointment in Berlin, Germany to sort out their visa paperwork. Apparently, to work legally in the Czech Republic, we need to visit a Czech embassy in a nearby country. The nearest/cheapest choices are Berlin, Budapest, Bratislava, and Vienna. I am still waiting on my landlord papers to come in, so I am not yet able to make an appointment at a Czech embassy. However, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit Berlin with some friends so I decided to tag along as a third wheel.

It's really amazing how simple it was to getaway to Berlin for a weekend. All I had to do was book a roundtrip bus ticket online and find a cheap hostel for three nights. I woke up at 5:30 AM on Friday morning so I plenty of time to find the Prague bus station and board my bus to depart at 7:30. The bus was extremely nice; there were free movies in Czech and English as well as hot beverages. We had to stop at the Czech-Germany border for a quick passport check, then a brief dropoff at both Dresden and the Berlin airport before arriving in the heart of Berlin. Total trip time was five hours.

It was a bit of a hike from the German bus station to our hostel in the middle of the Mitte district of Berlin, but it gave us a chance to get used to the metro system here. It really made me appreciate the simplicity and efficiency of Prague's public transportation; the German transportation lines still don't make much sense to me. I also have a renewed appreciation for the value of the Czech crown. The euro is pretty damn expensive, clocking in at 1.36 the value of the US dollar. However, Berlin has been an amazing city to explore! It's unlike anywhere I've ever been. It's very large, but quite peaceful. The architecture is a unique combination of ancient and modern. I took quite a few photographs as documented on Facebook, but I was only in a small section of Germany's capital. You could easily spend a week here and still have plenty left to see.

Our first day here, we headed for the Berlin TV Tower after a quick bite to eat in a nearby cafe. For just 12€, we were taken to the top of the tower just in time to see the sun set over the Berlin skyline. We did some more exploring, grabbed some drinks and a nice dinner, then headed back to the hostel. This was my first stay in a hostel, and it has been a good experience so far. If you don't know how a hostel works (this is for you, Mom), it's a very inexpensive way to find accommodation and meet all kinds of (typically younger) people. This hostel has a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy theme, which I would be a lot more excited about if I had ever read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Unfortunately, you do have to deal with a lot of assholes in hostels. Americans in particular. There's a large group of them here who have been stomping through the hallways in high heels, screaming about hair-straighteners, being douchey bros, and referring to the Berlin Wall as "that graffiti wall." My six-person room has been nice so far though. People come in and out respectfully as not to disturb the others who are resting.

Day two in Berlin consisted mostly of a walking tour. A very nice, but quirky, American man who had been a Berlin resident for 17 years gave the tour. It lasted from 10:45 to 5:30, and we estimate that we walked near seven miles. He knew the history of the city inside and out, and we got to see some of the most fascinating parts of the city. Again, pictures and explanations of all these sights are posted on Facebook. We finished the night in an authentic German restaurant with some of the best food I've had since I've been abroad and then hit up a small gay pub called Sharon Stonewall. It was too pink for my taste.

Day three was museum day. We slept in, then went to the memorial for the homosexual victims of the holocaust, and then headed to the Topography of Terror Museum to read about the beginning and end of Hitler's "final solution" regime. Disturbing stuff. After that, we headed for the DDR Museum (German Democratic Republic), a "hands-on" exhibition of life in East Germany after the fall of Hitler and before the destruction of the Berlin Wall. We stopped at a delicious chocolate bar where I had a sinfully rich brownie and hot chocolate, then headed back to the hostel for a quick cleanup. And that's where I am now. The hostel has a good happy hour deal (2€ for two Beck's beers from 7:00-8:00), so I'm taking advantage of that and the free Internet while Kizz and Wenone escape my third wheeling for a romantic date in Berlin. Now that happy hour is ending, I have no excuse to stay in the hostel bar, so maybe I'll find a nearby cafe for a lonely dinner. Or maybe I'll be social and meet some foreigners in the hostel. 

 

Beer is my only friend now.

-Anthony

Czeching Out

I am officially certified as a teacher of English as a foreign language! I also earned an extension certificate for working with young learners and teens. It was a long and grueling month of being a student for half the day and being a teacher for the other half, but it was well worth it.

Adding grammar flashcards to drinking games helped too.

Quick summary of my experience at The Language House: This program is high quality. Chris Westergaard, the founder and main instructor, knows teaching ESL inside and out and somehow knows everyone in Prague. The other instructors are amazing as well. All of them are past graduates and have significant experience in the field. The last three weeks were intense; we had class from 9:30-1:00, 4 hours to polish that night's lesson plan, teach and observe from 5:00-7:00, then a quick critique from our teacher observer and fellow teachers. We got back to the apartments every night around 9:00 PM, so there wasn't always much leisure time. However, the weekends were always a blast. Everyone in the January group is fantastic, and I'm very fortunate to have met so many people I know will be life-long friends. Shout out to Andre, Allison, Ali, Marianne, Kizz, Wenone, Helen, Matt T., Matt O., and Jason!

But now that I'm done with the course, I have to do it for real. Like for money and stuff. 

I feel like I might have done things a bit backwards though. I accepted a job offer before I found housing, which led to some major stress and last-minute decision making. This is my excuse for not blogging for three weeks. Never fear though, dear reader! I am housed and employed. I am working for a large language school called Institut Jazykového Vzdělávání (IJV). In English, the company would be called the Institute of Language Education, which is appropriate since they teach basically every major world language). I only have 3 hours per week right now, but offers will slowly trickle in. I'm due to have approximately 8 hours per week by the end of February, so I'm being eased in at a comfortable pace. These first 3 classes I have are one-on-one lessons and involve traveling to businesses to teach an employee English. If and when there are many students available, they will hold classes at IJV, which is located in a beautiful part of Prague called Wenceslas Square.

It's a lot less glowy in real life.

Unfortunately, the part of Prague I live in now is not as glamorous. It's in an area called Žižkov, which is mostly a residential area which boasts the highest number of pubs per capita than any city district in Europe (thanks, Wikipedia). The area is hilly, and the sidewalks are generally covered in dog shit, but I can get to public transportation fairly easily. I am living with two males in their upper 20s, Dror and Ryan. It's a fairly small flat--just our 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a shared space that is really just a large foyer. We do have access to the courtyard, which should be nice this summer. 

I feel like I've been on the move constantly since I arrived. No more just sitting in my room watching Netflix. Lesson planning, moving, buying household necessities (I'm in a fight with Tesco about their duvet set prices), organizing visa paperwork, and making time for friends and fun gives me plenty to do. Maybe I'll get into a groove soon, but for now, I like where the momentum is taking me.

Now that the course is done and I don't have too many obligations quite yet, I've organized my first intra-Europe trip! This Friday, I will take a bus with at least two (hopefully more) of my friends from the TEFL course to Berlin, Germany! We're going to stay in a hostel and see what the city has to offer. I only hear great things about Berlin, so let me know what I need to hit up while I'm there. While I love Prague, I am ready to go see a different city and some European countryside. It's definitely time to Czech out of Prague for a weekend (zzziiiiinnnngggggg!).

-Anthony