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