Tak, we begin in Praha.

Before we get to the meat, allow me to go on a tight literary rampage.

A couple of weeks ago I re-read one of Nabokov’s early essays entitled, Good Readers and Good Writers, which can be found here.

I have become obsessed with this idea of not only wanting to improve my writing, but making it something, something tangible that you can mold and shape on your own. Alas, I have already committed the first sin of a writer, 'creating an expectation even before the writing begins'. I guess what I am curious about is inorder to be a good writer must we only write fiction? Or is their room for a reader to write a memoir of their experiences without the illusion of being on a mountaintop of moss covered lament (see 'But the real writer, the fellow who sends planets spinning and models a man asleep...')? For Nabokov can non-fiction be good writing?

Tangential segments ends.

Tak, we begin in Praha.

This past weekend I had the occasion to meet with some friends in Prague, Nové Město, where I was the final stop on binge drinking tour of Munich and, for some, greater Europe. Seeing friends was just what I need to pull through after what has been a long month of newness. My thoughts on Prague are this:

1. The Jazz Boat Canal Tour is the best place to take a lady if you want to impress her.
2. The Drunken Monkey might not want to be the place you follow it up with.
3. Crying on the street definitely makes you look American.
4. If you are out till 4 expect to be in bed till 4.
5. You are probably better off not ordering four liters of Banana beer unless more than three people are interested in drinking it.
6. Never sit down and just order beers around dinner time because your waiter is bound to hate you.
7. Always sit next to the gentleman with the Burger King t-shirt sporting traditional German garb.
8. The best tours are night walking tours when you are not quite sure where you are headed.
9. Women always get in free at the topless dancing bar.
10. Go to at least one Irish bar because, like anywhere else, they will always find you.
11. My gig here in Litomyšl is pretty great.

The trip was grand, but running into fellow English teachers in Prague who have to work industry jobs, on top of teaching, just to make ends meet, makes me me thankful for my job here. Admittedly, even though I have lived in a city for the past five years, the amount of people was a little overwhelming at first and I had a similar anxiety when I was in Bratislava as well. Perhaps I am just a bit more country than I thought.

Sorry, Nabokov, but this world I cannot create without showing pictures.

If only you could hear some of that Dixie Land that was playing downstairs on the boat... wait!


What happens when the Whirlaway, Chicago, meets Drunken Monkey, Prague.



Still smelling the rotting flesh of banana corpses with each belch-na zdraví.


Even from far away the castle is, well....

One of the main reasons I am excited to travel to Olomouc is to see the second astronomical clock in Czech Republic. This one is of course the famous one in Prague.

This was a beautiful sculpture in what I am assuming is Old Town. Guesses?

& this is what I was happy to come back to.

Traditions and Teaching Tips

The skies were a bit gray today, but I am told that they will clear up just in time for my weekend exploration to Prague. Two more weeks of summer despite the progression of the celestial calendar, but Happy Autumn to everyone!

After three hours of coffee at my co-teacher, Ivetta's, home, I come home to write of new found knowledge of traditions and customs of a Czech wedding. Yesterday, I talked about lunch and how it is the most important meal of the day, but what I forgot to mention is the prevalence of soup (polévka) before the meal. For example, everyday at my school the children have soup before the main course (Yes! Did I mention my job includes a lunch time and snack time? That means traditional Czech Food daily!) Even when I have attended meals at peoples homes there is always a soup course before the main meal. It's wonderful, I love soup, and I suppose it doesn't seem all that different from someone ordering a soup or salad before their meal at a restaurant, but I have never consistently had a soup 'course' before a meal. How this relates to tradition and customs... Today Ivetta and her husband Mirek were showing me pictures from the niece's wedding and I can across one picture of the husband and wife covered and bound together by a cloth while eating from the same bowl of soup, example. I had never seen anything like this, but apparently this a wedding tradition, read: eating the soup jointly. I kind of like the theory behind this and it makes me think how lucky I am to have all that soup to myself!

Tak.

I have been asked by the TEFL Institute to do a little write-up for their newsletter and since I am going to include my blog in the write-up, I thought I should start adding some pertinent information for prospective EFL teachers. So this is for you future TEFL Institute Alum.

1. Children love singing. No, really. Sometimes the only way I can get them to stop hitting themselves is to start playing a song. Super Simple Songs is a great place to start for Beginning learners. My students love "Walking, Walking" on CD 1 & bonus, they finally understand when I say stop. The videos for the songs and the teaching tips on the website are dynamite--the children love seeing the other children preform.

2. Never underestimate the power of a talking monkey. A week ago I started integrating some of the Cheeky Monkey Material into my lesson plans and while the songs leave little to be desired that's where you can supplement with SSS.

3. Children's attention span, especially when it comes to listening to someone who isn't speaking their native language, are fleeting at best. I've found that sometimes what works is having someone else do the talking for me. Peppa the Pig has been a wonderful way to get the children to settle down and the episodes are short enough that the children do not become restless. Sticking children in front of a TV (computer screen), I know how it sounds, but if you use it in addition to other material it becomes invaluable as a reference to other areas you might have taught--i.e. my student are now obsessed with pointing out everything that's pink and whenever I say pig they all oink!

While I primarily teach children in the morning, my afternoons are filled with adult tutoring and high school EFL Classes. I like that I am getting the opportunity to teach English to students of many different levels.


Sorry picture fans, nothing new, but after Prague...

Výborně

It seems as if I have been going through a period of what some might refer to as acculturation (see third mini paragraph here), or colloquially coined, culture shock, an assimilation to a new lifestyle. Apparently there are four stages of this culture shock (see dippy article here). While there may be some validity to 1, 3, & 4, section 2 (dvě)

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is for the birds. Perhaps this is why I have been a little preoccupied. 'Honeymooning', either in relationship or with a country, has always caused a bit of distraction and absence from reality. Admittedly, it has not been all rainbows and kisses/butterflies; I miss my friends terribly, I miss showers, & I would do anything for a cult classic Reuben, but there are a scads of things that have been making the shift happen a bit more facilely: an awesome host family, devil sausage, storybook environs (thanks, Lady T), dirt-cheap pivo, & the arrival of another English teacher who seems hell bent on exploration. I'm continuing to grasp the ways of this culture & with a few more tweaks I should be able to consider myself an 'enthusiast' soon.

1. Lunch. It is supposed to be the biggest meal of the day! For a while I was wondering if these siestas were normal. Lunch is HUGE, astronomical, bigger than a Big Mac... Adjustment to my afternoon siesta and later bed time were definitely required. So many potatoes... so much meat...

2. Waking up early. Always a fan of early rising I thought I was the exception, along with the elderly who are up at 5 am, but no, Litomyšlans wake up early--unless they, like Alex, don't go to bed till early morning.

3. Cafeing. Drinking káva/coffee in the cafe should take your around 90 minutes. Expect to sit down and enjoy it. I have yet to see someone with a take away/to-go coffee cup. Also, & perhaps this is unique to my language barrier issues, but so far I have been unable to order a 'black' cup of coffee that doesn't come with espresso grinds at the bottom. Tips from the gallery?

4. Recycling. Everyone Recycles. Glass. Plastic. Paper. & even compost material. At the end of most streets are recycling hubs, which do not have places to throw non-recyclable (word?) garbage (this mistake I made and had to walk all the way to my school with a bag of trash). Grocery stores also have these spinning recycling centers where you can return empty beer bottle for 3CZK, which at the grocery store is 1/3 of the cost of a bottle of beer.

5. ABBA. Last week I took what is called a "hiking class", which I will now take every Wednesday with one of my students, Alice. In a recent letter to my friend I wrote this: I am not quite sure why it is called "hiking", but I have never listened to ABBA for that length of time (people here love Abba, akin to the way Lady Gaga has her following of "little monsters"). Now, this hiking class is 45 minutes of power walking on an elevated treadmill with jazzercize steps thrown in, see for example the Ok Go video 'Here It Goes Again'. I think after two more classes I should be able to make a music video for at least one ABBA song.

6. Bratislava. Just because they work in the Czech Embassy does not mean they are going to be as friendly as Litomyšlans, they still live in Bratislava. Twenty minutes is equivalent to a knowing forty-five. I would choose Kournas over Euros, Czech is split from Slovakia for a reason. On Visas? You're better off going to Vienna.

The Grad School roster is finally in. Can't you tell I am practicing for the GRE? Also, pitches are just about in to the Tribune, Red Eye, Reader, Herald, and a slew of unread travel journals.

For you picture readers:

Home on the bří pátů.

All for the fancy price of 25 CZK--Take that $2.50 PBR.

$1000 in Vic Gratitude if you can give me the scientific name for Skeleton-Skull-Shell-Bug.

I wasn't kidding about the mushrooms.

What happens to your knee when running and you get distracted by patches of aforementioned mushrooms.


Ghosting and haunting with bílá paní at the top of the watch tower in Litomyšl Castle.

Sunset from the tower of the Chateau.


From the stage of the 'oldest' theater in Europe (1796 is pretty old).


Creepy, creepy, doll exhibit in the castle--especially when you are on a private tour and it's dark & toys are supposed to come to life with spinning heads.


Xanadu Part II. My favorite tree and accordingly the view from my new bench in černa hora. Akin to Palmer Square Park, no?