Photos, Photos, Photos!

I finally did the big upload!

Brussels photos here.

Vienna photos here.

Prague photos here.

Enjoy!

Life in the CZ

Okay, I know I've been a little behind about writing about life in Prague. We haven't had properly functioning internet at home until now, so it's been hard to update. But I really do want to keep u with my blog a little better, so it's my goal to write more on here. Starting..... NOW!

Life is Prague has definitely been a little crazy. Getting settled here has been much much more of a challenge than the other countries we have moved to (Peru and Korea). In Korea, we had everything settled before we even left the US: jobs, work visas, apartments, etc. In Prague, we came with NOTHING. All we had was a hotel to stay in for the first four nights and some names of schools to start sending our resumes to. So when we got here, we hit the ground running.

Luckily, we found an apartment after about 3 days. We met a nice British guy who worked at the hotel we were staying at (he has since become a good friend here) and asked him for any tips on getting settled here. He just so happened to have a friend who was moving out and needed to sublet his apartment for a while. Perfect! The apartment was in a really nice area of Prague, but a little far from the center. It was also pretty old and not the nicest place ever. But it was fine. But after a couple months of living there, we decided we needed something new. And the guy we were subletting from was planning on moving back in in January. So we had to find a new place eventually. We found a really nice apartment closer to the center and closer to a metro station and just moved in three days ago. The only trade off was that we couldn't afford to live in a central location by ourselves. So we are sharing a place with two other American girls, both teachers as well. The apartment is big, recently redone so everything is nice and new, and we have a nice big bedroom on the 5th floor with a little view! Life is good.

We started going on job interviews our second day in the city and landed our first offers after about a week. Like everywhere else in the world, the Czech Republic has been affected by the financial crisis (although not as much as many of it's neighboring countries). Because of this, we realized we were most likely not going to be able to find full time jobs. We both ended up getting two part time jobs, which leads to plenty of work. Jason and I both work at a small language agency and then we each have separate jobs at two bigger schools.

I use the term "school" loosely here, as very little of the actual teaching is done in the school. The majority of classes in the Czech Republic are taught 'in company', meaning a language teacher is sent out to various companies around the city and teachers individuals or groups in their own company. So, I spend my days running around all different parts of the city. I go everywhere from the very heart of Prague to places that I don't think are even technically considered to be part of Prague. This definitely was a little crazy at first, figuring out everywhere to go and how to get there, but after a few weeks it became pretty easy to get it down. All of my classes are once a week, so my schedule is different everyday. On some days (like Wednesday, my easy day) I just have one class in the morning and one in the evening. Lots of free time during the day to plan for classes, come home and relax, etc. However on other days (like Thursday, my busy day) I go non-stop from 8am to 6pm - 5 classes that day.

I have almost all individual classes and most of my students are at a pretty high level. So I have a lot of conversation classes where we spend our time just talking about various topics. I have a lot of students that are very interesting people and make my classes really enjoyable. I learn a lot about Czech culture, food, history, etc. from them. A lot of my students have very interesting jobs, and it's a good experience for me to get to talk to all these successful and different people. I teach everyone from a high school aged model, to the owner of a media production company.

And as for the visa process...... still working on it. Jason is further along on his than I am on mine, and we're getting different types of visas. Coming here, there was so much mixed information, it was really hard to figure out what our best options were and how we should go about doing different things. One of the big questions we had was about the visa. You can choose to get either a regular employment visa or a business license (Zivno). The advantages of the business license is that you don't have taxes taken out (you're supposed to be able to keep more of your money with the Zivno) and you have the freedom to work how ever many jobs you want. I got convinced to do the Zivno, so I'm in the process of doing that. I have to go to Germany on Friday to apply for the visa at the embassy, so we'll see how that goes...

Only problem with the Zivno that we're just learning about, is that I may not be able to leave the country for quite some time. It has a long processing time - several months- and until it's finished being processed, I'll kinda be here illegally as far as I understand. So if I were to try to leave the Czech Republic and come back in, my tourist visa would be expired and I might not be able to do it. This is going to be a problem for Christmas when we have two weeks off and were hoping to travel to some warmer countries... Border patrol is pretty lax in these parts, so we may just be able to go somewhere by bus or train where we won't be stopped and have our passports checked. We'll see!

So that's life here in Prague. Who's coming to visit!?!

But What Does It All Mean!?

In Korean:

Ne = Yes

Anio = No

In Czech:

Ano = Yes

Ne = No

You see my confusion? After a year in Korea I got the words so ingrained into my mind that I'm having a lot of trouble changing it. I usually find myself in shops saying no (Ne) but nodding my head yes. I know I'm confused and I can't imagine how the poor shop keepers feel.

Also, to indicate the number one, I am used to holding up my index finger as we do in the States. However, here, that means two. One is indicated by your thumb.

So, here I am in a shop trying to buy.... let's say, a croissant. I say "one," hold up my index finger, nod my head "yes" and say "Ne". The shop keeper just stares in udder confusion.

Who knew a simple task could be so confusing?

The Vienna Weekend

Me at the Schonbrunn Palace

So a couple weeks ago now, we had a nice 4 day weekend which we decided to spend in the beautiful city of Vienna. Here's the great thing about living in Europe: access to many amazing cities just a short bus/train/plane ride away. We took an overnight bus to Vienna on Thursday night and arrived bright and early at 5:00 AM. Well, it was early but I don't think we were feeling so bright at that time of day after little sleep on the bus...

So after checking into our hotel at 5am and taking a 2 hour nap on the couch in the lobby, it was time to set out to see the city at 7am on a Friday. During our 3 days in the city, we saw some beautiful and amazing sites. I have to admit that I didn't actually know that much about Vienna before visiting. I really didn't know what to expect from the city. But I was certainly impressed. The best word I can think of to describe the city is: grandiose. There are amazing palaces, beautiful government buildings and ancient cathedrals galore and everything is big and impressive. And it’s a city of music! Obviously so many great composers have come out of Austria (Beethoven, Straus and Hayden to name a few….) and that history is still very present in the city today.

We spent our time in Vienna walking around taking in as much of the city as we could. We were on the go basically non-stop from morning till night during our full 3 days there. We saw too much for me to remember or even tell you about. But some of the highlights include:

St. Peter’s Church

Taking in a classical concert with an orchestra, opera singers and ballet dancers

The amazing gardens of the Schonbrunn Palace

The Great Hall of the National Library

The copula in the State Hall

And to me, the very best was our first night spent wandering around the city. Outside of a beautiful government building we found a great circus that had set up some semi-permanent attractions. I really wanted to see the circus (it looked so inviting!) but we decided against it… maybe if they would have had elephants it would have been a different story. :)

But anyway, the circus had a great tent with lively music set up right outside a beautiful white building with a great clock tower. And outside of the tent there were stalls set up selling ethnic food from all different regions of the world (although they had hamburgers as the food from Mexico. Hmmm, not really what I would call Mexican food). We dined on some great Indian food and got to do some good people watching.

After dinner we wandered on to see some more of the city at night. We stopped into a church in the center of town, which was hauntingly still and silent. There were just a few other people sitting in the pews in the dark candlelit room, listening to the recorded chats playing from the alter. If you know me you know that I am not a very religious person, but this experience was moving even for me. It was so peaceful and seemed like such a wonderful refuge, it had a perfect atmosphere and I could feel the spirituality in the room.

Leaving the church, we wandered through the streets and happened upon a lone violin player, filling the quiet streets with his music. We stopped and listened to him play a few songs. I couldn’t imagine anything better. After that, a nice glass of wine sitting outside a café was the perfect way to end a perfect day.

Karls Church

Prague: The Beginning

What a whirlwind! We have now been in Prague for about 2 and 1/2 weeks, and it has flown by! Been a little hectic and crazy, but I think we're starting to get the hang of things here.

But before all of that... I had a great visit in New York and New Jersey. Got to see a bunch of friends and family, and Jason joined me out there for a couple of days as well. We had a great trip.

From NJ, we flew to Brussels and had a day stop over there before heading to Prague. Both Jason and I had been there before, but it's been about 10 years for both of us. I barely remember it from my first visit, so it was fun to go back and spend the day walking around. We got pretty tired by the end of it, but got to visit a cathedral, beautiful park and gardens, the main square, etc... And of course, we took some time on our first day in Europe to sit out at a cafe and enjoy a cup of tea. Always a must.

After our great day in Belgium, we were exhausted and slept the entire flight from take off to touch down to Prague. We sleepily made our way on the bus and metro and found our great hotel near the center of Prague (thanks to a coupon from Expedia we got the place for 1/2 price!). [By the way... we were disappointed to NOT go through customs and get a stamp when entering Prague! Only got one when arriving in Brussels. Bummer!]

Our hotel ended up being a great base for us for the first four days. Luck would have it that a friendly British guy working at our hotel had a friend who needed to sublet an apartment. So after just four days in the city we moved into a little apartment for a great price.

So for the last week and a half, we have had a home! It's a very simple place but is clean and comfortable and has everything we need (pretty much...). We're trying to figure out if we'll stay here or move on to a new place. The area where we are living is very nice with many cute cafes and restaurants and even an organic grocer right down the street! I was thrilled. Only problem is that it's a little ways from the center, takes a while to get anywhere. And while that even wouldn't be so bad if we were working regular 9-5 jobs and only had to go back and forth once a day, we're not.

Teaching in Prague is definitely handled differently than other places I've taught. Most "schools" here don't really hold many classes at their offices, but rather send teachers to companies and private residences to teach courses there. It seems like there will be good (variety, not being stuck in your school all day) and bad things (lots of travel time) about this. That means that some classes might be really far from the center and there could be up to an hour travel time between different lessons - this is why a 'full time' schedule here is only around 20 hours a week.

And the other thing that's different - and this might just be because of the bad economy, I'm not sure - it's difficult to find full time jobs. Most schools we interviewed with were only hiring part time positions. So, here I am now, with two part time teaching jobs. I'm a little nervous about balancing them and scheduling issues that might arise. But I guess I'll handle that problem when it happens. So my two schools" both seem good, different from one another. One is a smaller school that handles mostly private individuals with one-on-one classes and is pretty flexible with how the courses are run. The other school is big, about 2000 students with some big name companies. Everything is pretty fixed, although still leaves more of the planning up to the teacher than the other places I've worked. And even though they offer a lot of support for their teachers, it really seems pretty impersonal, such as many big companies are.

So far I've only taught one lesson, which was with an 18 year old high school student/model. I think I'm bound to meet some interesting people here...
More of my classes will begin this week or in October.

So, this is life in Prague so far. As for the city itself, it is incredibly beautiful. We've been so busy figuring out life here we haven't had much time to explore the city and see the sites. We did take two days to see things and think we are going to do more of it this weekend.

The Wonderful Summer

Ahhhh.... summertime. It has been a great one. I was so happy I had the opportunity to be at home in Colorado this summer, not working and just enjoying life. And that's just what I did.

With Macey and Amy in Minneapolis

Somehow I have managed to stay completely busy this summer and haven't even been able to do all that I wanted to. But, I did get to do some pretty great things. I've made my way to 3 states so far this summer and will head to 2 more before taking off for Prague. I visited Jason down in Dallas and my friends Macey and Amy up in Minneapolis (it was my first time in Minnesota, great!). My dad and I flew his plane for a quick two day trip to LA, where we hung out in the city, visited with my cousin Adam and picked up my suitcase that has been sitting at his house for the last 9 months!! We also had a great scenic flight around the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and The Vegas. (Oh, and we stopped for fuel in Utah on the way there and Arizona on the way back, so I guess that's two more states I've been to this summer if you want to get technical about it.....) And before heading to Prague, I will spend about 5 days in the New York - New Jersey area, visiting friends and family. Jason will meet up with me there and we will take off to Prague (with a day stop in Brussels first) from Jersey. Phew!

Dad and I self-picing on the flight to California at 15,000 ft

We also had a lot of great company visiting this summer. Two of my mom's cousins and their kids came by Colorado for a long weekend during a road trip from California. Jason visited for a couple of weeks, and right after he left, Alicia, my roommate from Barcelona, and her boyfriend, Jimmy, came out for a few days. And of course a few of my great friends from around Colorado came up a couple times to visit. I was so happy to see all of them and had so much fun doing great things around Glenwood with them all. I did so much great hiking and biking this summer once the weather actually got warm enough. And I even faced my fears and went rafting for the first time in about 10 years (Thanks for being a great guide, David!). I went to every Summer of Jazz concert, which was always the highlight of my week. I got to do a little gardening with my mom and loved picking and eating all the fresh fruits and veggies. I made it up to Denver to visit friends a few times and got to go to two great Rockies games with my aunt and uncle.

Jason and I hiking up beautiful Savage Lake

With my parents and cousins up Hanging Lake

Really, what more could I ask for? It's been wonderful. Oh, and one of the best things has been the adorable new cat my family has acquired. My mom and I randomly decided to adopt a cat who was being transferred from one animal shelter to another. He's a very sweet and playful cat, and I'm really going to miss him when I leave!

Sweet baby Miko, the newest addition to the family

Just 3 more days left in Glenwood. It's definitely bittersweet. Better get packing......

Prague, Here We Come!

After months and months of indecisiveness, we have finally arrived at a decision! In just a matter of weeks we will be making the big move to Prague, Czech Republic. We're both very excited and a little nervous about our next destination. We're moving there without anything prearranged, so it makes it a little scary. At our previous destinations pretty much everything was set up before we arrived. But this time, we don't have a job or a place to live or anything, really. But that's not because of poor planning or few options. Things just work a little differently in the Czech Republic. Where as most other parts of the world will hire English teachers through email and phone interviews, it doesn't work that way there. It makes it a little scary, but it will actually be better for both the school and for us to be able to see the school and meet the staff before signing a contract. This way we'll know what we're getting into and won't get into a bad work situation without knowing something about the school first.

So the big question everyone seems to be asking is, "Why Prague?" And to that I say, "Why not Prague?"

Neither Jason or I have ever been there, but it's a place that we've both had a strong interest in visiting, as well as the rest of Eastern Europe. And Prague seems to be one of the big spots for American Expats and teaching English. (Probably our ideal place in Europe would be Spain, but it is very, very difficult to get a job there as a Non-EU passport holder for visa issues.) Prague is supposed to be a wonderful city, everyone who visits loves it. When I studied abroad it college, I loved living in Europe and I'm excited to be back there again.

The other reason to go to Prague, is that this is just how it worked out with applying for jobs. Some of our other hopeful options kind of fell through. We had considered going back to Korea, but with North Korea becoming more of a threat in recent months we decided against it. We had also looked into some positions in Mexico and Japan, but nothing was really working out how we had hoped it would. The Czech Republic was always kind of the option that we thought we'd be able to work out no matter what. But don't get me wrong, we are both very excited for this new adventure.

Our first few weeks in Prague will surely be a little stressful, finding a job and an apartment and everything, but I have faith that it will all work out. And if it doesn't? Well, then we got to vacation in Prague anyway.

My future home, in just a few weeks!

Pictures!!

Jason and I at the Kwang Si Waterfall, Luang Prabang, Laos

Boh Tea Plantation, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Haad Yuan, Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand

The Many faces of Bayon, Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Rice Terraces in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia

FINALLY...... after being home for about 6 weeks I have gotten around to loading all of my photos online. We had thousands upon thousands so it took me quite a while to go through them all and try to choose a reasonable number for each album. So here it is! Click here to view my photos from our 3 month jaunt in South East Asia.

Enjoy :)