We had two shuttles picking us up in the morning to drive us the short mile over to the airport. I drove with L’s dad again so I didn’t have to worry about leaving on their schedule. We were one of the first group there so I quickly popped into the check in kiosk line before things got too crazy. Delta was quite efficient in herding us around. I tested my luggage before getting into line. My bags were at 49 and 50 pounds! Damn, I’m an excellent packer. Sadly I had to leave two pairs of shoes behind, my Sperrys and my tennis shoes as well as several bits of clothing.

Check in went swiftly and I headed off with a fellow JET to kill almost three hours at our gate. I wanted to grab some breakfast and lunch items (a bagel and a banana). We only had a 45 min layover in Detroit during lunchtime so I didn’t want to be left hungry. Due to reduced space on the full flight, they were asking those with large carry-ons to gate check their baggage at no additional cost. I jumped at the chance because my pack was heavy and I really only need the things in my purse. The Dramamine knocked me out as usual so I managed to get about an hour of sleep on the short flight. Trying to gather up all the sleep I could!

In Detroit, our travel agent that had flown with us, led the way to the next gate. It was a long walk. We met up with the Detroit JETs there. Our gigantic, double decker airbus awaited us. We actually did have time to grab some McD’s from across the gate, but I just stood around with my fellow JETs and ate my bagel. Eventually we were all crammed into the plane. It was decently nice with individual usb chargers, a large selection of entertainment (all the Marvel movies but cap 2!) and wifi if you wanted to pay for it. The flight left after noon. We had to park on the side on the runway for some reason according to air traffic control although the runway was clear. We actually got much more food than I was expecting. Something at 2 pm? Only choice beef or chicken though. Should have registered as vegetarian. Then a bag with breakfast, Japan time? And then one more meal that felt more like breakfast (egg or chicken).

I was sitting next to one of my consulate JETs who woke me up every time for food. I wanted to sleep the first five or six hours of the flight to get on Japan time. It worked although it was more dozing and not very restful as per usual with planes. With the rest of my time I re-watched Iron Man 2 and Avengers 2, getting my Natasha fix, ha.

At some point we crossed the International Date Line and jumped into the future!

On Friday morning, my sister managed to pull herself out of bed at 6 am. I was going to carpool with another JET, L, from the same consulate who lived right across the border in Kentucky. We popped by Starbucks for a last taste of cheap American Starbucks coffee. It’s always so expensive aboard and I’m sure my smaller town won’t have one. The drive down to Nashville began at 7 am, as I said goodbye to my sister. My family had already departed earlier on vacation so we said our goodbyes almost two weeks ago.

It was a pleasant car ride down with interesting conversation. We arrived perfectly in time at Nashville where we stopped by Panera for lunch before heading to the consulate. From noon to 4 pm we had various workshops preparing ourselves for our departure. Everything was so laid out especially the travel arrangements. It was like travelling with a babysitter service again, ha. We even got forms telling us how to fill out the customs card. Those staying in the hotel had to lug their luggage up into the back of the room. I was lucky because L’s father was spending the night in the same hotel and could drive our directly there later. Thank goodness, because my stuff was heavy! Praying that it’ll be under the weight limit. I had two suitcases and my backpacking bag.

Our Nashville Consulate JET group

For dinner, we all piled on a bus and went to the Consul-General of Japan’s house. Stunning, absolutely stunning. It was huge, with high ceilings, and a pool in the backyard with a cascading fountain built in. We all shared a toast, kampai, after various speeches. Then dinner was served. Gorgeous dishes of traditional Japanese food; all quite delicious. But the desert! We had some type of custard with fruit that I could have eaten all day long. I introduced myself to the Consul and his wife and had a nice chat. They were so welcoming.

Afterward the bus drove us first back to the consulate to drop those off who had left their cars, and then we continued on to the hotel that had been arranged. At this point, it was shortly after 8 pm. As we approached the ramp onto I-65-S, it became apparent that the interstate was closed for construction. We were placed on a detour route. As this was near the area where I used to live and drive a lot, I realized the driver had missed his turn for getting back on the interstate. He ended up following several cars to a dead end. Then the ordeal of trying to turn around in a hulking bus began. After some failed attempts, he realized he’d have to just drive straight in reverse. He made it partway down the street, before trying to then turn into a parking lot so that he no longer had to drive backward. As we slowly drove into the lot on a slight incline, we hear two grinding noises. As the driver gave gas, the wheels spun, the smell of burning rubber filled the air, and we did not move. Stuck, run aground on pavement.

Waiting outside the broken down bus

I suggested we all get off the bus and remove our luggage to help lift the bus, but the driver didn’t think it’d help. We sat there for quite some time as the he futilely tried to move the bus. Finally, one of us, G, took charge and managed to call our coordinator and let him know what was happening. The driver said we would get a replacement bus within 15 minutes but it never showed up. G ended up calling for several taxis that would be able to transport all 13 of us and luggage. At this point a couple people had called friends and family, and managed to get themselves picked up. A couple others and I managed to bum a ride with another JET’s family to the Red Roof Inn. I was so tired at this point. The one hour time difference was not in my favor. Plus, we had to get to the airport at 5 am the next morning.

We checked in at the hotel as the other taxis managed to arrive shortly. I informed L’s dad as to what had happened because L’s phone had already been switched off. I was able to get my bag from L’s dad and finally crash in the room. It was after 10:30 pm at this point. I surfed the web a bit and prepped my bag and clothes for the next day. I had no problems falling asleep after that despite my excitement. So tired!

Remembrance

The month I spent in Prague while charging headfirst through my TEFL course at The Language House was brief, but amazing. Those were some of the longest, challenging days I can remember. From morning till night, we shoved TEFL knowledge into our heads. Completing the course felt fantastic. No longer was I an underprepared chemistry major! I had some new found skills under my belt and was ready to tackle my future.

 My class was quite diverse, people coming from all ages and backgrounds. We covered grammar, phonetics, teaching methods and even a crash course in Czech. My notes from these classes are something I will always keep with me. The staff was incredibly supportive while you are a student and after. They are there to ensure your success and had an excellent network of alumni that would bring in the job offers. I look back fondly on my short four weeks there and still remain in touch with my classmates.

 Before starting the course in Prague, I had selected Plzen, a smaller city in the west, in which to start teaching. I had made a good friend there and knew she would be able to support me. Plus, it was closer to the German border and all of my relatives over there. Needless to say, the short week I spent at my friend’s house before starting the course did nothing to prepare me for life outside Prague.

Plzen is a lovely smaller town of about 200,000 inhabitants. I returned from Prague with all my heavy
luggage and moved back into my friend’s apartment while I attempted to find my own place to live. I had severely underestimated the speed of the Plzen realty market. Apartments would appear online only to be taken later that afternoon. My friend and her Czech boyfriend helped me as much as they could, but both were working full time. He ended up scheduling my appointments. I would meet with the realtor and communicate with their minimal German skills, the only language we had in common. Needless to say, awkward smiles, silences, and many hand gestures became the norm. I finally managed to secure a small studio on the third floor of a building tucked away in Slovany by the river. An absolutely peaceful and beautiful neighborhood that was just a quick tram ride away from the center.

I also had to settle all my paperwork. I procured my zivno, business license, within a week, and then had to find time to get my social security number and tax paperwork in order. My friend was absolutely invaluable during this time as all the officials only spoke Czech and I needed these things in order to work!

I did start at Eufrat Language School in the meantime with a part-time schedule. More and more classes were added until I had about a full schedule (for me) of 22 hours in the end of November. Eufrat has a central location and plenty of computer and printer/copier access for teachers. I met some of my fellow teachers quite quickly and received many offers of aid if I needed any help with anything. I taught an age range of 1st graders through adults and a mixture of Business English, conversational English, and general English, and some private classes. My trickier classes were definitely those with the middle schoolers. They are reluctant to speak up no matter where you are in the world. I greatly enjoyed my one-on-ones and more advanced speakers. We ended up with quite simulating discussions and managed to share a lot of each other’s cultures. I even helped one student with his online MBA. My dear 1st graders was another fun group. Week after week they were enthusiastic and up for any games and songs I threw at them. Despite the huge language barrier, I have never received so many smiles, hugs, or broken attempts at English.

 Honestly, I look back at those nine months with such happiness. A piece of my heart remains in the Czech Republic. I will definitely return! I’ve now been back in the US for 5 months and am constantly homesick for the delicious food, and friends I made. Truly an unforgettable experience laid out by my strong foundation in my TEFL course at The Language House. I highly recommend it to anyone! If you are looking for an excuse to live abroad, here it is. Now I’m planning for my next adventure, Japan!

Familiarizing

Aug 31, 2013

Gothic Cathedral

Park in the center.

I decided to go for another walk downtown on Saturday afternoon. It took about 20 minutes and really wasn’t far at all. I visited the Gothic Cathedral in the Plzen square which was built in the 1200s! Over by the town hall, there were three weddings going on!

I ambled around for a bit and saw some kids playing in fountain. The younger girl stripped down to her underwear afterward, how nice of a reminder that I am back in Europe.

After I returned, I played life for the first time, and it was in Czech! I picked a little vocab zaplat and vezumi to be able to read the cards, haha. That evening we had a garden party to celebrate Marek’s birthday. Their friends who also live in this building came as well. Luckily I could converse a bit because almost all of them spoke English. We grilled chicken, fish, and sausages. It was all very delicious! Lori made key lime pie, Czech version, for dessert.

Plzen town hall.

Then I went out with Lori and Claire, a friend who was visiting at the same time from England. We hit up a really nice bar with another Czech guy, and Connor who was South African/Irish. There’s so much smoke around here though! I keep forgetting how intense it is here in Europe. There was some great conversation to be had that night and I enjoyed myself. I ended up drinking tea as it got cooler with Lori. So yummy. Also it was a London tea! Some guy next to us ordered espresso. Nothing like a US bar, haha.

Sept 1, 2013

Lori and Marek cooked a wonderful American brunch with scrambled eggs and pancakes. I had some delicious homemade jam as well. There’s nothing better than that! We had a goodbye dinner with Claire at a sweet restaurant that used to be part of an old dungeon. You had to go down some narrow stairs and it was all stone around you. I ate dinner for only $6 at a nicer sit down place! The food was good, but pretty salty, which apparently is rather typical Czech.

Dobrý den!

Aug 28/29, 2013

The first flight out already affected my travel plans, grr. My plane to Chicago was delayed for an hour because of a flight attendant. She was supposed to be on a flight out of DC so they needed her to fly out asap. Her flight to DC was coming in an hour late, so they switched flights! They had my plane fly to DC then, and we had to wait for the hour late plane in order to fly to Chicago. Bah. Luckily I still got my connecting flight despite others missing theirs.

The rest wasn’t bad. I got sick with a cold right before that left me nauseous and feverish during the flights. The Dramamine conked me out. I slept through like all the flights! It was definitely easier to fly like this while sick. At Frankfurt, the guy at passport control even noticed how tired I was, haha.

After I arrived in Prague, I was worried that my suitcases would have gotten lost somewhere along the way because of all the layovers. But, they came! So heavy though: 45 and 42 pounds. I lugged them behind through customs declarations and the officer ran over immediately because I had two suitcases. >.< He just asked for my passport though and whether I had anything to declare, and then I was off.

I then had to find the Airport Express bus to take me to the downtown train station so I hit up an information booth that let me know where it was. I had great timing and actually caught the bus earlier than I thought I would. The bus was jammed packed for the 40ish minute drive. Got to see a bit of Prague along the way! So I managed to buy my ticket to Plzen, the lady understood me fine, yay! Only $5! I could have caught an earlier train, but since the people I am staying with for a week, Lori and Marek, were expecting me later, I just hung around. So weird being unable to understand anything! All the signs are in Czech, and it sounds so odd. Reminds of Russian and Ukrainian a bit.

Caught the train, which was mostly empty, and made it to Plzen shortly before 10 pm. It was a rather small train station and I made it all the way outside where I waited for about 20 minutes. Lori and Marek had to go borrow a larger car from his parents.

It was great meeting then both. We headed back to their apartment which is absolutely gorgeous! All nicely renovated and decorated. They live on the third floor so Marek helped me drag my suitcases all upstairs. They have two kitties, Pippa and Jack, that look pretty identical and are very cute! We chitchatted a bit. They are very easy to talk to and I enjoy the topics!

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Aug 30, 2013 

I managed to sleep seven hours through the first night, whoop! That morning I had some delicious yogurt without chunks, and strolled a bit around the neighborhood. It’s a nice area here with huge villas that were mostly split up during the Communist era.

I then went grocery shopping with Lori at Kaufland which was fun because a lot of the packages had German on it since it’s a German store. It’s interesting to see the food and prices. The food is pretty similar to European fare, with some Czech specialties. They still have bakeries with broetchen and pretzels here too.

Lori and I talked some more. We have a lot of things in common and it’s always great discussion. We went out for drinks at a café in the evening downtown. She showed me a bit around the center. It’s very interesting seeing which buildings were the Communist ones. So boring and ugly. They were stuck in between these gorgeous ones. I got to drink my favorite, bitter lemon, again! We took the street train there and back so it was very quick as well.

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Free wifi is so much easier to find here in Czech than in other countries! It’s so nice! All over downtown there are restaurants or bars that offer it. How nice!

The language seems so far out of my grasp, but I have to remember I’ve only been here shortly! There are couple words I remember when my friend tried to teach me a bit of Slovak. Like ahoi, dobry den, ano. But even the simplest things like please and thank you sound so hard. I think having a cold isn’t really helping with my pronunciation either.