Last Full Day

Some force woke me early after an unnecessarily late night, but but there will be no going back to sleep. The next time I wake up in this bed and begrudgingly recoil from the sheets will be my last. Today, I will meet the owner of my company to do some voice recordings for a computer game, head a town over to meet my manager for coffee and see her place before I leave, pack up my things, play laser tag with some friends, and slowly let the night turn into day. Not much more needs to be said, but there is much more to be done, so off I go. These are some of the people I will miss the most:

It has been quite a while since my last post, and I actually think a fair amount has changed since I last wrote. I have been looking forward to going home for some time now, and can't wait to spend time with my family and friends, and THE BEACH. I have played in a rugby tournament in a small town outside of Brno, started playing football with my friend Filip and a bunch of his friends on Thursdays and will start to play with the expat boys on Sundays, and have been receiving more options for next year. I have been looking forward to leisurely hitting the beach while working my old jobs at home, slowly deciding whether to apply to the two masters programs in Australia and seeing how far my band can go with our awesome chemistry that I think shows through our music, etc. It was almost a guarantee that I would not be back here next year. It is going to be very hard to leave Petra and the students that I have gotten close to, especially the third grade class who I just spent three days with at nature school. I really care about them, and their English is improving to the point where I have been able to gain some insight into their lives. The biggest drawback with the job itself is that I don't feel mentally or physically stimulated or challenged. This problem might not be so big of an issue next year....At the same time, though, I would have to be back here by September first, meaning I would have only a month of holiday with my family at home, and that is unaccecptable. About three weeks ago, though, I was offered a dream job. The job entails teaching at multiple orphanages all over the Czech Republic, teaching the kids English and the staff how to teach English only four days a week. I would have a driver to take me all over, but the drives could be up to four hours away, I think. I am not sure, really, but you get the idea. I would be getting paid more than 50% more than now, have three days off every week (and thus could continue with my private lessons and travel more), one month of paid vacation out of the year (February to February of the next two years), and I would be working with orphans, which has been one of my life goals since I was a child. I just found out from my boss yesterday that my driver would be a professional psychologist who spent a number of years diagnosing children in orphanages to evaluate whether they could be adopted or where they should be placed instead. I accepted the job offer and think it is right for me, but I am going to think about it more when I am home. Gotta run to teach class...more to follow soon!

Slacking

I realize that I haven't written anything here in a while, so I will try to fill you in on a few things... Laura, Lani, and I went to an Irish pub in Prague on St. Patrick's day which was very eventful. I somehow met the British coach of a girls' sevens rugby team and started going to practices, Laura met a guy, and Lani's two friends and I made the night unforgettable by creating a bucket list for the night. This list inlcuded dancing on tables, convincing people that we were training for the Olympics in London, from differnt countries, a bachelorette party, getting on stage, serenading a stranger, etc. We didn't get to all of them, but I think we got 20 out of 25 taken care of, and it was great. The following weekend, we went to Dresden again so Laura could meet up with her German love interest again and we could go shopping and enjoy the city. We ended up walking into an Irish pub with some guys from Ireland who invited me to sing some songs with them, and they were nice and invited me to come sing with them again next time they were there.

The following week, my mom came on a Thursday, went to class with me on Friday to meet my kids, and we toured Liberec. We headed to Prague (after a brief stop at the hospital with my friends to make sure my mom wasn't too sick), went to Paris on Monday, to London on Thursday, spent Easter with our good friends the Coopers on Easter, and parted ways again on Easter Monday. Overall, we had an awesome time catching up, seeing the sights, drinking and eating the local specials, and seeing friends. I met up with Caoimhe for an evening in London, too, and it was awesome. from high tea, seeing the musical "Dancing in the Rain", and getting to go on a double decker bus tour of the city, I think London was my favorite part, although Prague was wonderful with just my mom and I and a Dali art exhibit.

On my way home I stopped at a pub to meet Lani's parents and celebrate her birthday with friends, and the delayed party a few of us planned will be this upcoming weekend =). In Heathrow, before I parted ways with my mom, she bought me the Hunger Games books which I consumed and infected all my friends with upon returning...we are going to see the first movie today =). Last night one of our friends and fellow expats had a concert at a cafe and a large group of us went to see him and danced, chatted, and drankthe night away. Thankfully, my work has not been effected =). I think that about sums it up for now! Cauky!

Mad for Life =)

Check this song out, it's pretty much all I can listen to at the moment...Brian, my band's guitarist, suggested we should cover it when Bryce and I get back and I'm pretty stoked about it.

Hmm...So....new things.. I had an amazing time in Spain with Laura. We basically just partied until normal people get up for work under the cover of darkness daily and enjoyed the parks and open people that we met during the day. We ate lots of tapas, drank lots of sangrias, and spoke as much Spanish as we could. Somehow I still felt well rested and rejuvenated when we got back, and was not dragging my feet at work last week.

I am always confused as to whether I made the effort to update my journal, this blog, or facebook, so I apologize that this blog has been slacking of late. I've been making more decisions and getting a pretty clear picture or what my next year might look like, so I think it's made me start to miss people around here even as I see them each day. I have some pretty great friends in this country...I could easily come back and spend another year here enjoyably and well-off financially and socially, but I feel myself yearning for new experiences to grow through.

I'm not sure if I already mentioned it, but I already have two jobs lined up for the summer...teaching at juvi and being a mom's aid two days a week and going on trips with the three adorable boys who I babysat and nannied a bit before I left. I might have my sisters hook me up with a promotional job at bars while the weather is still nice, too... I want to really experience the Rhode Island summer as I really haven't had a chance to yet. This will be the first full RI summer that I will be eligible to drink at bars, drive wherever I want, and really have the freedom to make decisions as I go in terms of further education and/or a career. I am pretty serious about applying to the grad program in Australia (to begin attending classes in March and stopping to visit some good friends en route), but am really weary of leaving my band from back home.

Obviously, I miss my family and friends, but I am still young and traveling for school will be a good way to help me figure out what I want before I think about settling and such, and I think a year and a half away (with long breaks home over Christmas) would be doable. I just really want to feel it out this summer and see how things are at home...I'm realizing that my goal is to find and reach my potential every day, inspire others to live the lives they are afraid to aspire to, and do as much good for the world as I can...I think that's one of the main appeals of the international development program in Australia is...I would like to gain a better understanding and make better connections in higher places so I might be able to help people on a broader scale.... Even so, I find that the communal level is my favorite place to be on, and there are so many ways of being a blessing that present themselves to each of us every day.

I clearly still have a lot more to figure out, but for some reason I've never worried too much about my future. I am secure in my foundation and ready for what's next. AHH For anyone who hasn't read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, they should, but his Veronika Decides to Die is even better! Feeling especially mad today =)

Everyday I see my dream...

The LMFAO song is stuck in my head after I had to turn down a free ticket to tonight's concert in Prague... Spring break starts in and hour and a half for me, and I will leave work, go home to pickup my cat, get him neutered, go home and pack, pick up cat litter and food to leave with Kat, and get to the train station with Laura for Germany. We will be in Berlin by 10:30pm, and will be staying with a CouchSurfing host that Laura found. I gave up beer for Lent because I couldn't fathom giving wine up before going to Spain, but it has already proven difficult to refrain from some good Czech beers, so I think Germany may be difficult. Luckily, I live less than a half an hour from Germany if I really would like to try more types at some point while I am here.

We will get back from Berlin on Monday evening, go bowling with our friends, and head into Prague for lunch at a Mexican restaurant and then the airport. We should be in Madrid by 10 and have a pub crawl booked for midnight. It should be an amazing trip, and I can't wait to practice my Spanish...I have tried to use it a bit with Laura and our friend Dustin, but I usually end up throwing in a Czech word unnecessarily, so it could be difficult...I still remember some German from Vienna and picked up a few words from my German friend and coworker here at school, so I am hoping Laura and I get by. My friend Flo that I met in the states before I left will meet us on Saturday and hang out with us on Sunday as well...Definitely looking forward to this break =)

Stills and Thrills

My Birthday was on Friday, and I was pretty tired after about an 8 or 9 hour day of teaching. When my friends started showing up, though, I was amazed at how well they all got along, whether they knew each other previously or not! There was a German girl, a few Canadians, a few Brits, some Americans, and some Czechs. I heard at least Spanish, German, Czech, and English being spoken throughout the night, yet everyone was hanging out as if we had been friends for a much longer period of time. We played American drinking games, ate a lot of food, drank a decent amount of alcohol, and talked from roughly 7/8 to 4/5 in the morning. I couldn't've been happier with how things went =)


Here are some photos I failed to post before, and more to follow!

Learning to Breath

If I were to write a book about this year, that would be the title.

Anyhow, January really flew by and I have been failing miserably at updating. I have been very busy with work, extra-curricular work, and social escapades. Three weekends ago, Laura and I were invited to build an igloo with our friends in small mountains nearby. Long story short, it took us hours to get there and hike up the mountainside after missing two buses, but we had a great time drinking with new friends, carving out an ice bar, and helping dig out the igloo before it collapsed =) I also went cross-country skiing with the group of doctors i'm friends with in the mountains for a weekend which was really exciting... i had never done it before, but i only fell once the first day, which was encouraging. I have been rock climbing every week, went to two crazy fun graduation balls last weekend and ice skated for the first time in ten + years, and did yoga and swam this week. I'm trying new things and trying to stay motivated.

I recently got a RI phone number on skype which is pretty awesome. My sister Courtney called me thrice roughly two minutes after I sent her a message telling her that she could call at anytime. I am so happy =) I am currently finishing dinner and drinks with some good friends before going bowling and maybe meeting some friends for a birthday party...another typical weekend in liberec =).

Catching Up

I am fairly exhausted at the moment, but I have been using that as an excuse too much of late and need to get something on here. Last week was our first week back from break, and I was not relishing the thought of coming back to work. I was fortunate enough to have the day after my travels off, and took the time to get laundry done and relax. On Wednesday, I was given some gifts (mainly chocolates and cookies) from some the students and Petra, the third grade teacher I work with most closely. Petra gave me a bottle of wine, as well, and the sweets and wine proved to be a lovely dinner option for my flatmates and I that night. The week flew by fairly quickly, and before I knew it it was Friday night again. Laura and I reluctantly left our house to meet some friends at a pub and ended up having a great time and staying out until four. On Saturday night, I slept in until noon or so and we had a pajama and movie day here at our flat with our friend Lani. I bailed at the end to go on a date (again, reluctantly) and actually had a pretty good time. Even though he doesn't know much English at all, we were able to communicate without too much of a problem, and I was able to understand and use Czech words that I wasn't even aware that I knew. He was a bit sad that I left just passed eleven, but I was pretty tired...I am not sure if I will see him again, but we do have tentative plans to meet up again this weekend.

Now, for the good stuff!!!

This week was pretty exciting for me. Petra had been really worried about the parent teacher meeting that could decide whether or not she will be able to continue with her class up to the fourth grade or whether she would be assigned to a new first grade class. The English program and the work that she does with those kids is amazing, and they have the ability to communicate with ease about several subjects. I really believe in the program and its ability to open doors for the children now and especially in the future when they might want to travel, study, or get jobs abroad. Petra, in not only my opinion, is the most successful with her integration of English into the class, and I wanted to do what I could to make sure that the kids have the best possible foundation in education for their future. I spent much of Monday and Tuesday coloring a new picture on the blackboard for the meeting as I like to do on a monthly basis for her, and on Tuesday evening I stayed at school until 5:30pm so I could speak at the meeting and encourage all of the parents about their choice to be a part of the program and to let the few dissenters have a glimpse of their childs' potential from a very outside perspective. One of the parents had spent a great deal of time in England and translated for me, and I think it went well despite my nerves. Afterwards, I had to run to get some sushi on my way to my private lesson at 6.

After the lesson, in which my student (who has become a good friend) and I discussed the latest ongoings of our lives, thoughts for the future, and tried to problem solve some of the issues that have been affecting us negatively in our respective lives...I really enjoy our lessons. When that was over, I headed to the pub to meet my first acquaintances turned friends in the Czech Republic to catch up on the holidays and whatever needed catching up on. I ended up staying out until 2am or so getting a kebab and discussing religion and politics with one of them. That morning was Wednesday, my busiest day of the week, in which I teach from 7:55 until 12 at Husova, have a private lesson from 1:15-2:15, go to office at the town center to teach kindergarteners from 3:15-4, and then have a private lesson with a high school student named from 4:15-5:20 or so. It happened to be the same day that my colleague Dustin, his friend Tomas, and I like to go rock climbing, so I don't have much time to go home, eat, relax, and get back out there. My private lesson with John was particularly great this time, though!

Last time I talked to John, he was telling me that he doesn't often get to see his dad who works most of the year in China while his mom and he are here in the Czech Republic, and he was discussing the fact that he was excited to share his good grades with his father over the holidays so that he would be proud. I asked a bit more, and was told that his dad never really responded to his emails beyond telling John to study harder and ask if he needed money. John said that he was a bit sad that his father and he had such a small relationship and that his father seemed to have no interest in his fitness, MMA, or any other things that were relevant to his life outside of school and money. I suggested that he discuss the situation with his dad and to start sending two separate types of emails, one for business and one for personal life. I said that it would be unfortunate to not have a dad that you could talk to and proposed he try to mention and work on it before he was older and there was not much time left to get to know each other. When I met with him yesterday for the lesson, he said that he took my advice and thanked me for it. His father was grateful for the discussion, said that they would work on it, and is visiting John next week. That made my day.

Rock climbing later was great, too, especially since I ran there and back. I was very tired, but able to complete a 6+ after not having climbed for a while, so I was not upset with myself. It was great to catch up with Dustin and Tomas as well, and my friend Vladimir met us to chat and get a few beers after. I got home around 1:15am and took a bath, but somehow I have made it through the day of the usual work and two private lessons without being too worn out. The kids are really brightening my days as I have started hearing certain shy kids speak more and smile more in the past week than I could have expected even last week. I am really proud to be a teacher this week, and know it will be hard to move on from the kids and people that I have been meeting's lives when the time comes.