Yesterday, Sunday, we had our first official scheduled activity. We met in the hotel lobby for a walking tour of the Prague city center (or centrum, if you're trying to learn Czech). It was the first time the whole group was together, and I, at least was excited to meet the other people I'd be spending the whole month with. Having gone out to dinner with a smaller group the night before, the multitude of names weren't as daunting as they could have been, but I'm still nowhere near an expert.
We took the Metro (subway) to a stop near the Senate building, partway up the hill to the castle, then walked the rest of the way up. If you've ever been to Prague, you know the castle sits on top of a large, fairly steep hill. It's certainly bigger and steeper than anything I'm used to in Minnesota. Add in the fact that it was about 95 degrees and humid, and it was not a super pleasant walk. Getting to the top of the hill was beautiful though, in more ways than one. Not only were we basically done climbing the massive hill, the view out over Prague were spectacular. It is a city of red roofs, spires, and weirdly modern Soviet buildings that simply throw the rest of the architecture into greater relief. There were hordes of tourists milling around, which made me feel less awkward about being a member of a large group myself. Large groups are not something I do well, especially in that particular setting. I feel that in order to really see a place you have to go on your own, or better yet, with someone who thinks similarly to you, and just look, not listen to a running commentary of who built what and when and why. That's just not helpful. Perhaps later after having seen something already, such facts could be relevant, but going in to St Vitus' (the major cathedral in the castle grounds) and only thinking about how much it cost to build the thing does more harm than good. There's very little reverence in such an attitude. But maybe that's just me. The point of all of this was that I didn't take any pictures. There were too many people for them to be good pictures anyway, and I'm planning on going back to really drink it all in.
After seeing the castle, and wandering down the hill and across the Charles Bridge to Old Town Square, all very hot and full of people, Jakub, our guide, led us to a pub/restaurant that he said would be able to accommodate our group. As it turns out, although they were physically able to do so, they were unwilling and turned us back out on the street. That would happen precisely nowhere in America. So we split into smaller groups to find dinner. Six of us ended up at a quiet little pizza restaurant, which was absolutely delicious. We each ate an entire pizza and stayed for over an hour. It was the first time I had really talked to anyone other than my two roommates, and it was lovely getting to know other people. While we were there it started pouring rain, which was most welcome as it cooled the air down considerably. At about the same moment, the three of us who live in the attic all realized that all of our windows in our apartments were open and all of our stuff was getting pelted with water. But there was nothing we could do about it, so we just laughed it off, hoping our electronics were safe. Afterwards, we walked through the rain back to the Metro station, bringing us back home. After the rain stopped the air was cool and blissful after the sweltering heat of the rest of the day. We watched the sun go down and the sky turn all kinds of colors. So gorgeous. I slept with a shirt on last night, and under the covers, neither of which had happened yet. Such a wonderful ending to a great day.
Aside from getting acquainted with the city that will be our home for the next month if not longer, we were also getting acquainted with each other. Watching the entire group interact was hilarious. Throwing a bunch of young adults together provides opportunities for a wide variety of relationships, and even just hours into our knowing each other, it was clear who was going to gravitate to whom. Everyone here is really nice and very friendly, but obviously there is a wide range of personalities. Here's a rundown of the group, as I understand it. They must have added several people pretty recently, because there's about 28 of us, and there were only about 24 in the email we got about a month ago. The vast majority are Americans, but there's a couple Canadians and Brits, one Aussie, and one Czech. The range of experience is huge. Some people have been substitute teaching for several years, others are fresh out of high school. There's one guy who's been teaching art in the United Arab Emirates for a couple years. It's a wildly diverse group of people, and I'm so excited to get to know them. If yesterday was any indication, it's going to be a great month.
We also had our first day of class today, but this is already too long, and I want to do it justice, so I'll try and get something up tomorrow, after teaching for the first time. You did read that correctly. We're teaching a lesson on our second day of class. More about that later. For now, let it suffice that today was great, and that after a grocery run I finally have some vegetables. At this point, that's all I really need. I haven't had proper veggies for what seems like ages. I'm ready for a great big salad. Back soon with an update about school, both as student and teacher!
05 August 2013
02 August 2013
First Impressions
Well, I'm here! After 22 hours, 4 airports, 3 airplanes, and 3 countries, I'm in my apartment in Prague. It still doesn't really make sense that this is actually what's happening. After saying my goodbyes spread over the past week, and my family yesterday morning, I knew I was leaving. How could I not? I had three bags packed with stuff, and that was only after taking things out that I really wanted to bring. I guess I'll just have to wait for a package. Not that a second long-sleeve shirt or black blazer are really necessary right now. It's hotter here than in Minneapolis. The taxi temperature read 38 degrees. Obviously, I'm going to have to get used to a new scale. 38 here does not mean the same thing as 38 at home.
I have yet to really do anything here, considering I'm exhausted from the trip and about to faint from hunger because my stomach won't tolerate hardly anything when I'm flying. So far, I've met one other student who arrived about the same time I did, so we got shown our rooms at the same time, and received a welcome packet from the school. Official stuff starts Sunday afternoon with an orientation walk around the city, but I'm so glad I got here today. By Sunday jet lag will have worn off entirely, and I'll be an actual functioning human being again.
Here are my first impressions of Prague, derived entirely from the 45 minute cab ride from the airport to the hotel/apartment building. First of all, it's a real city. This may seem silly and obvious, but when I'm visiting someplace, it's sometimes hard for me to remember that this isn't just a tourist destination, people live here, people have jobs here (hopefully I will soon), people go to school here. There was road construction to rival Minnesota, people were waiting for buses and doing other normal, everyday things. Secondly, it's still PRAGUE. All this normal, everyday activity is going on in the midst of one of the greatest, most beautiful cities in Europe, if not the world. This hit me as the taxi drove over the river and Prague Castle was right there, just hanging out. It was perfect. The sky was a brilliant blue, and the castle stood out, just like on a postcard. I'm so excited to see how these two aspects of the city come together in my life. Finally, the history of this city is so evident. My guidebooks talk about how there are various architectural styles represented, but there's really nothing but driving through the city that will convince you're truly in an historical place. There are art deco buildings, obviously Soviet era buildings, bright modern glass constructions, very old cathedrals, and churches/chapels even older than that.
When Abbie and I were here two and a half years ago, I labeled Prague unorthodox in my arbitrary, but thoughtful one word descriptions of cities. I don't know yet if I was right, or way off the mark. It'll be interesting go back to that post and read what I wrote then, now that I'm back. What would be even better would be to forget that I was ever here before, form new opinions, and then at the end of the month (which is the only definite time frame I can commit to right now) look back at the me from 2011 writing about Prague.
I don't know if you can tell, but I'm extremely excited to be here.
I have yet to really do anything here, considering I'm exhausted from the trip and about to faint from hunger because my stomach won't tolerate hardly anything when I'm flying. So far, I've met one other student who arrived about the same time I did, so we got shown our rooms at the same time, and received a welcome packet from the school. Official stuff starts Sunday afternoon with an orientation walk around the city, but I'm so glad I got here today. By Sunday jet lag will have worn off entirely, and I'll be an actual functioning human being again.
Here are my first impressions of Prague, derived entirely from the 45 minute cab ride from the airport to the hotel/apartment building. First of all, it's a real city. This may seem silly and obvious, but when I'm visiting someplace, it's sometimes hard for me to remember that this isn't just a tourist destination, people live here, people have jobs here (hopefully I will soon), people go to school here. There was road construction to rival Minnesota, people were waiting for buses and doing other normal, everyday things. Secondly, it's still PRAGUE. All this normal, everyday activity is going on in the midst of one of the greatest, most beautiful cities in Europe, if not the world. This hit me as the taxi drove over the river and Prague Castle was right there, just hanging out. It was perfect. The sky was a brilliant blue, and the castle stood out, just like on a postcard. I'm so excited to see how these two aspects of the city come together in my life. Finally, the history of this city is so evident. My guidebooks talk about how there are various architectural styles represented, but there's really nothing but driving through the city that will convince you're truly in an historical place. There are art deco buildings, obviously Soviet era buildings, bright modern glass constructions, very old cathedrals, and churches/chapels even older than that.
When Abbie and I were here two and a half years ago, I labeled Prague unorthodox in my arbitrary, but thoughtful one word descriptions of cities. I don't know yet if I was right, or way off the mark. It'll be interesting go back to that post and read what I wrote then, now that I'm back. What would be even better would be to forget that I was ever here before, form new opinions, and then at the end of the month (which is the only definite time frame I can commit to right now) look back at the me from 2011 writing about Prague.
I don't know if you can tell, but I'm extremely excited to be here.
27 July 2013
The Final Countdown
I leave for Prague in less than a week. I'm having such a hard time imagining that those words are actually true. But I've been ticking things off my to-do list, and despite my expert procrastination skills, I'm actually pretty on top of things. All my documents are official, and my shopping list has shrunk considerably since the beginning of the week. I've even had time to attempt to speak a little Czech. It's really hard, in case you were wondering. I'm betting actually hearing it will help more than trying to figure out the English pronunciation guides, otherwise I'm screwed.
I'm so excited and grateful that I get to have this opportunity to pursue my very vague yet somehow persistent dream of living abroad. I have also been realizing however, how much I'm going to be leaving behind by making this move, especially in the last couple days as things have really started to solidify into an actual adventure. Living at home this past year was definitely not the easiest, and there were times that I wanted nothing more than to get away from my parents and sisters, but now that I'm on the verge of doing just that, I'm having a hard time working through the fact that I might not see them for a whole year, maybe even more. My youngest sister spent this past week at summer camp, and life without her is much less cheerful, if also less dramatic. My parents have been great, picking things up for me, following me around and keeping me sane when bureaucracy came between me and efficiently completing the tasks that I finally forced myself to do.
I've had bouts of melancholy, frustration, and nerves that have only grown stronger as my departure date gets closer and closer, but I've also discovered that the best remedy is to spend time with people who know me, and recognize that despite my low moments, I'm unbelievably pumped to go to Prague and try something completely new. Going shopping with a dear friend, trying on ridiculous clothing, gorging ourselves on frozen yogurt, and doing our nails with cheap drugstore nail polish while watching Sound of Music did the trick. So did having ice cream with old ballerina buddies. Doing so makes me remember the reasons I'm doing this in the first place, the reasons that have gotten buried under the real life preparations necessary so I won't have to hop right back on a plane in September.
"It's better to be scared than to be bored", my former ballet teacher told me yesterday. Those words, those obvious words, sum up so much of my new outlook on decision making. This past year, tutoring struggling readers in an inner city public school, was mind-bogglingly rewarding. I loved my kids, I loved the school I was at, I loved the people I was working with, but outside of school, I was bored. I would come home and have nowhere to go. Well, I'm done with that. I'm done being bored, I'm done with planning out every last detail of my life, of following some path that a much younger self laid out for me. That same ballet teacher, who saw me three times a week for five years, told me that she's never seen me as happy as I was the other day, talking about Prague and the prospect of living abroad. I'm choosing to be scared, instead of being bored. I'm choosing adventure over routine, Prague over Minneapolis. 5 more days. I'm ready.
I'm so excited and grateful that I get to have this opportunity to pursue my very vague yet somehow persistent dream of living abroad. I have also been realizing however, how much I'm going to be leaving behind by making this move, especially in the last couple days as things have really started to solidify into an actual adventure. Living at home this past year was definitely not the easiest, and there were times that I wanted nothing more than to get away from my parents and sisters, but now that I'm on the verge of doing just that, I'm having a hard time working through the fact that I might not see them for a whole year, maybe even more. My youngest sister spent this past week at summer camp, and life without her is much less cheerful, if also less dramatic. My parents have been great, picking things up for me, following me around and keeping me sane when bureaucracy came between me and efficiently completing the tasks that I finally forced myself to do.
I've had bouts of melancholy, frustration, and nerves that have only grown stronger as my departure date gets closer and closer, but I've also discovered that the best remedy is to spend time with people who know me, and recognize that despite my low moments, I'm unbelievably pumped to go to Prague and try something completely new. Going shopping with a dear friend, trying on ridiculous clothing, gorging ourselves on frozen yogurt, and doing our nails with cheap drugstore nail polish while watching Sound of Music did the trick. So did having ice cream with old ballerina buddies. Doing so makes me remember the reasons I'm doing this in the first place, the reasons that have gotten buried under the real life preparations necessary so I won't have to hop right back on a plane in September.
"It's better to be scared than to be bored", my former ballet teacher told me yesterday. Those words, those obvious words, sum up so much of my new outlook on decision making. This past year, tutoring struggling readers in an inner city public school, was mind-bogglingly rewarding. I loved my kids, I loved the school I was at, I loved the people I was working with, but outside of school, I was bored. I would come home and have nowhere to go. Well, I'm done with that. I'm done being bored, I'm done with planning out every last detail of my life, of following some path that a much younger self laid out for me. That same ballet teacher, who saw me three times a week for five years, told me that she's never seen me as happy as I was the other day, talking about Prague and the prospect of living abroad. I'm choosing to be scared, instead of being bored. I'm choosing adventure over routine, Prague over Minneapolis. 5 more days. I'm ready.
19 July 2013
Blessings
Last week, my family and I went to Michigan for a reunion with friends my mom has known for 30 years, ever since they all served with Mennonite Central Committee in eastern Kentucky. A group of about 15 young adults, some single, some married has grown to nearly 50 with marriages, kids, kids getting married, and kids having kids. It's a remarkable group of people, who, despite having scattered across the US still make an effort to stay connected and remain a part of each other's lives. I grew up with them, spending one week of summer with them a year; in many ways, they are my crazy extended family. Our weeks are filled with friendly but serious competition, games, laughter, hikes, pancakes, story-telling, worship, and fellowship. As I started telling various people about my plans, I received overwhelmingly positive responses; promises for prayers, hopes for blessings, and encouragement to seize my chance at a new life. This is a very well traveled group: several of the children were adopted from Russia and Ethiopia, and individuals have been on mission trips all over the world. I'm so happy I get to add my name to that list.
The thing I love most about this group of people -and believe me, that is a long list- is how we all manage to stay connected even when we only see each other once a year. As my departure date looms nearer (only two weeks!) it's reassuring that I can count on them to keep me in their thoughts. I don't mean to say that my other groups of friends are going to completely forget about me, because I'm certain that's not the case. But my relationship with my friends from Minneapolis, and my immediate family will be changing so much more drastically than will my relationship with my Kentucky family. For all I know, I may be able to come home for vacation next summer, and no one would ever know the difference, because that's all I see of them anyway. I don't think I'm making much sense. It's like missing a blanket you've had since you were a baby which slept in your bed every night and missing a toy you got for your 6th birthday and only played with occasionally. Knowing that the toys will be thinking about and praying for me reassured me that the blankets would be too. Maybe I'm crazy, but last week I was able to talk with more confidence than ever about the adventure I'm embarking on. So if any of you ever see this, and you know who you are, thank you so much for your love, your prayers, and your blessings. They mean so much more to me than you could ever know.
The thing I love most about this group of people -and believe me, that is a long list- is how we all manage to stay connected even when we only see each other once a year. As my departure date looms nearer (only two weeks!) it's reassuring that I can count on them to keep me in their thoughts. I don't mean to say that my other groups of friends are going to completely forget about me, because I'm certain that's not the case. But my relationship with my friends from Minneapolis, and my immediate family will be changing so much more drastically than will my relationship with my Kentucky family. For all I know, I may be able to come home for vacation next summer, and no one would ever know the difference, because that's all I see of them anyway. I don't think I'm making much sense. It's like missing a blanket you've had since you were a baby which slept in your bed every night and missing a toy you got for your 6th birthday and only played with occasionally. Knowing that the toys will be thinking about and praying for me reassured me that the blankets would be too. Maybe I'm crazy, but last week I was able to talk with more confidence than ever about the adventure I'm embarking on. So if any of you ever see this, and you know who you are, thank you so much for your love, your prayers, and your blessings. They mean so much more to me than you could ever know.
24 June 2013
Nerves
I finally got a confirmation email from the TEFL school saying they received my final payment. That means I can buy a plane ticket over there. I've been resisting buying one, mainly because I'm a chronic procrastinator, but maybe there was another reason. I started looking at plane fares basically as soon as I thought Prague might be a possibility, but I always knew I wasn't actually going to buy one. Until today. When I logged onto the fare-finding website, my stomach was in knots. This could actually happen now. There's nothing holding me back. I have enough money in my account, the school has a place for me; this is something I've committed to. But up til now, I could always back out. I could push back to a different month in Prague, I could change my mind and not go at all (although that would be distinctly more difficult for me to swallow). The plane ticket though, at least to my mind, makes it a done deal. There's no going back from there. This is the first time I've really experienced nervousness about this move. I've certainly known that I'm nervous about moving to a different country without a definite plan, but the excitement always overpowered it, or I was able to dismiss it, because this is my new, spontaneous self who's doing this, and that girl doesn't worry about things like jobs or future plans. The idea of actually buying a ticket scared all that out of me. I'm not doubting my decision. I'm still going to do this. I might just have to wait another day to spend that last chunk of money tethering me to the States.
22 June 2013
Know Thyself
In just seven weeks I'll be leaving for Prague to get a TEFL certification. I'm unbelievably excited, but also indescribably terrified. This is without a doubt the riskiest thing I've ever attempted. I'm about to leave home, train for a job in which I have no background, and then hope to find a place willing to hire someone with no experience other than having grown up in the United States and whatever teaching I manage to stumble my way through in Prague. It's a huge leap of faith. But it's a step I feel I have to take. My whole life I've planned things out the way I wanted them and when reality intruded, I ignored it until I had no choice but to accept that things had changed. I spent a miserable two and a half years in college deluding myself that Physical Therapy was my future, when really I've been an English major practically since birth. I've held on to friendships longer than I should have because I didn't want to believe that people could change so drastically. I've gotten in trouble (not real trouble, mostly emotional) for placing too much trust in the rational, planning ahead part of my brain, and it's time to change that.
Going to Prague with no real plan forces me to live in the moment. I don't know which country, which continent, I'll be in 3 months from now. I could be living in Prague still, I could have found a job in Peru, or Thailand. I'm ready to let myself be spontaneous, to throw myself into the world and trust that someone will catch me. As I've been telling people my plans (or lack of them, really) the most common question has been: Why Prague? My answer, at least in my head, is: Why not Prague? I don't have anything holding me here, no solid job once my AmeriCorps contract runs out mid-July, no relationship, nothing but my family. Granted, many of my friends are still in Minneapolis, but many more have left to explore the world on their own terms. And now it's my turn.
Going to Prague with no real plan forces me to live in the moment. I don't know which country, which continent, I'll be in 3 months from now. I could be living in Prague still, I could have found a job in Peru, or Thailand. I'm ready to let myself be spontaneous, to throw myself into the world and trust that someone will catch me. As I've been telling people my plans (or lack of them, really) the most common question has been: Why Prague? My answer, at least in my head, is: Why not Prague? I don't have anything holding me here, no solid job once my AmeriCorps contract runs out mid-July, no relationship, nothing but my family. Granted, many of my friends are still in Minneapolis, but many more have left to explore the world on their own terms. And now it's my turn.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)