I've copy and pasted all the stories from my OLD WEBLOG HERE:
The latest daily adventure...
In this section I will post short stories about daily events. Scroll down to read the older stories.
- Oct 19, 2004 - Leaving for Praha
Mom and Nata are in the air heading this way! I'll pick them up from the airport at 3:35pm. I can't wait!!! On Thursday we'll head to Zlin, then to South Bohemia on Sunday...I'll recount our adventures in a couple of weeks.
- Oct 15 - 17 - LTC in some city close to Velke Mezirici
It was a wonderful conference. The best part was meeting the wonderful trainees from Brno. Efrain(Mexico), Vidal(Dominican Rep), Vincenzio(Italy), Itraxe(Basque Country), Oliver(Germany), Haarvard(Norway), and Fernanda(Brazil - she was the conf. chair). We all had a great time getting to know each other and shared a lot of information about our countries. They are awesome...I hope we can meet at Stodoleni Tour!
Mike and I did a presentation of the USA. The funniest part was teaching California Slang. Such as "I'll cruise over to your pad after work." It was funny, at the very end, Mike and I did a short roll play conversation using all the words we had just taught....a roar of laughter followed...he he :-)
- September 24th - Krakow
I was in Krakow this weekend with some old trainees from Zlin. It's a great city...really...wonderful!
I left for Krakow after work on Friday. I was suppose to be traveling with one friend from the Ukraine, but he had problems with getting a visa for Poland and flaked on me at the last minute. Oh well...I like traveling alone sometimes. Unfortunately, my train was delayed leaving Otrokovice, so I missed my connection train in Katowice. This is a city already in Poland and I learned afterwards, is notorious for having the worst train station in Poland. And, I can attest to this, although it wasn't that bad...
The worst thing about being semi-stranded in Katowice was that no one spoke any English or even tried to help me when I asked for it. So, it took me some time to figure out the train schedule to find another train to Krakow. Afterwhile, I found it. In the meantime, I wanted to call my friends who were going to pick me up in Krakow, but I couldn't figure out the pay phone deal. Supposedly, you could put change in them, but it didn't say anywhere how much it cost or what to dial...with a 0, without a 0, with two 00, do you need the city code? or do I just dial?...anyway, I tried all these combinations, but nothing seemed to work, so gave up on it.
I finally made it to Krakow and my friends were a little worried about me. They told me about Katowice's reputation, but also that they figured I had missed the connection...it's common trains are delayed, they said. From the train station we walked to our hostel where they had already checked in. It was an old student dorm and was comfortable enough. Cheap too, only $12 for two nights! That evening we just found a interesting pub and had one beer to talk and catch up. My two Polish friends are Maciej and Gosia...I'm sure you've read about them in previous entries. They left Zlin at the end of August and we had all become good friends. It was great to see them again and hear their stories of the past few months. Maciej's girlfriend, Monika, was also with us and she had just come back from a CEED in Turkey. She had some great stories to tell as well. I filled them in on the latest Zlin gossip, as they were dying to know what had happened since they'd left.
The next morning we actually slept in and started our tour of the city around 12noon. Our first destination was the main square! But before we got there I almost managed to get run over by a city tram...I'm not used to big city traffic anymore :-) The main square is one of the largest in Europe and one of the oldest. The old town center was bulit in the 12th century and the University in Krakow is the 2nd oldest in all of Europe(Charles University in Prague is the oldest ;-). The buildings and churches are just awesome, so pictureseque and well preserved. The St. Mary's Cathedral of the main square is so beautiful on the inside...the wall are mostly this dark rose color (Like Meggy's dress in the Thorn Birds)...and of course, it's so lavish. The main square is packed full of people too...not just tourist either...locals on their way to work, exercising, eating lunch etc.
We ate lunch that afternoon at this old communist canteen. It was a institution looking place, all white walls, sort of dirty, but the place was packed! I mean, at least 50 people in line. But the food was served hot and fast. There were about fifty different items on the menu too...and what's cool is that all the food is traditional Polish meals. I got this dish, when translated is called Pigeons. It looks quite strange, but is really tasty. It is rice cooked with some mushrooms, wrapped up in cooked white cabbage then covered in tomato sauces, on the side: dry mashed potatoes. But really good! Oh, and first a soup: creamy, garlicky, oniony with potatoes and sausage chunks. It was damn cheap too: Only 8 zloty!
After lunch we walked down the main famous street, I forget its name, and bought some Polish gingerbread cookies. I think they are from the city of Turin, but I'm not sure. Some I bought were sugar coated gingerbread, others were covered in chocolate.
Then we went to another amazing, church...can't remember the name either...Then to the CASTLE!!
Ahh, Vawel Hill was amazing...really beautiful...nice gardens...great ambiance... In the corner of the main courtyard is a special spot for the Hindu Religion. They believe that there is a special energy which connects all living things...and there are 7 spots on the earth surface which have an extraordinary concentration of this energy. The spots are: Mecca, New Delhi, Jerusalem, Velehrad, Rome, (damn! one I can't remember) and Vawel Hill. So the stone in the left corner of the courtyard have this energy. You see people meditating up the against the walls, all is calm and tranquil. We stood there a while and absorbed its energy. We felt great afterwards...power of the mind.
Close to Vawel Hill is the dragon's den...a small underground cave with a nice fairy tale attached...I'll not explain at this time.
On the streets of Krakow you will see many women selling this special kind of sheep's cheese. It is smoked, I think, and you just eat it cold by itself. It was pretty tasty!
TO FAST FORWARD CUZ I have to go: The next day I went to Auschwitz in the city of Osecim. It was a horrible, powerful experience, I recommend it.
- September 16th - Oktoberfest in Munich!
On Friday afternoon Mike Smith and I left Zlin after work. Our plan was to take a train to Vienna, change trains a 8pm in Vienna and then finally arrive in Munich at 1:30am. Unfortunately, we missed our train connection in Vienna and had to hang out for about three hours for the next train to Munich. Now, it would be an overnight train and we would arrive at 6am in Munich. Oh great...no sleep and then straight to Oktoberfest.
The train ride pretty much sucked because it was cold, the lights were on the whole time and it was crowded. I think I got about 30 minutes of real sleep :-( Somehow, when we arrived on Saturday I had energy! And, we found a phone and called Martin. After a yummy coffee and a mozarella sandwhich for breakfast Martin and our friend Brenna from Iowa showed up. Martin was in full attire...ledernhosen and knee high socks. It was great! We took the U-bahn to the Theiresenthiesen stop(that's the incorrect spelling) and joined with the crowds of people heading for the beer tents. We had to wait about one hour and a half before they opened the beer tents.
Once we got in we found a table strategically close to the band where all the action takes place. We prepared ourselves to wait the three hours until the Mayor of Munich ceremoniously taps the first keg and Oktoberfest officially begins. In time, the band marched in the Mayor and other government officials said some speeches and the beer started flowing. The band started doing its thing and the dancing, singing and partying began.
We were with a bunch of Brazilians whom Martin was friends from the University. They were singing and dancing even before the band was playing. We were all snapping pictures and prosting the afternoon away. At around 4pm we left the beer tent and wandered around the rest of the festival for a while. We were dog tired and were missing Mike. Luckily, we found each other while heading for the UBahn. We finally made it home that night and passed right out.
The next day Mike got up early and went to see the parade through Munich's center with Martin's parents. I slept in a bit and Martin and I met them in the Marienplatz a little after 12noon. The guys and I went for lunch at the best pork roast restaurant in town and then walked through the Hofbrau Haus. It was full of tourist and local beer drinkers. After Hofbrau we took a walking tour of the city, and then relaxed in the Englischgarten to watch a capueta group practice. We had a beer in the beer garden surrounding the Chinese tower and relaxed in the sun.
On Monday, (Mike and I took the day off work), we slept in again and had lunch in the Bach's backyard. Mrs. Bach prepared a great meal...some chicken in a cream sauce with spetsle. The Bachs have a small garden now with many huge zucchini and lots of pretty decoration pumpkins. I think they also grow tomatoes, beans, peppers...etc...
We went back to the Oktoberfest for one more beer before the train. We listened to the band and took some more pictures. Overall, the trip was wonderful, relaxing and I can't wait to visit again :-)
- Aug 27th
Barum Rally World Championship is taking place in Zlin this weekend.
Do you know what Rally is? I'm not exactly sure either, but I've watched some competitions on tv. It's pretty crazy stuff to be honest and I'm sitting in my office in the University building and I can hear the cars zipping through the streets...it sounds like a race track. But, I guess this weekend, it is a race track. But, its quite a commotion in a usually tranquil Zlin. All the cars are interesting, all so little and cute. I think the drivers of these competitions must be somewhat nuts though...
Anyway, I have to go meet Mike to check out the festivities so click on the link above to learn more. And read my daily adventures page..there are many new stories.
Hola mi Waqui!!
- Who's in Zlin
Some new faces in Zlin lately...
Mike - arrived on Aug 16th after traveling through Europe for a month. He's from Long Beach, California, went to Cal Poly, we've been friends for a while. Its great to have a familiar face around here. He's doing AutoCAD for a company that specializes in fireproof doors and also makes metal parts for electronics. Actually, one of my students' husbands works at the company so its been a funny coincidence how we all know each other.
Anya - Russian CEED from Saratov. Doing work with Aiesec Zlin for a month and half. She's wonderful!
Natalya - New trainee from Siberia, Russia. I'm not sure of the company she's working for, but her boss is an ex-Aiesec'er so it should be a great environment for her.
Edik - trainee from Danske, Ukraine. One of my best friends, although he love to argue with each other and rarely see eye to eye. He'll be here for the same amount of time as myself.
Martina - trainee from Italy who should arrive on Monday. I don't know what she's doing either.
- TRIP TO Ceské Budìjovice THIS WEEKEND:
Mike(trainee-California!), Edik(trainee-Ukrainian), Anya(CEED-Saratov, Russia), Natalya(trainee-Siberia, Russia) and myself :-) will go to Ceske Budejovice this weekend to visit Kuba(who has nothing to declare except this genius, Oscar Wilde). We are being a little crazy and taking a 4am train Saturday morning. See, the bus/train connections to South Bohemia basically suck. So if we wanted to leave Friday afternoon we would all have to leave work early. You can look at it for yourself which might be interesting. Go to:
www.idos.cz and click on the British flag in the right bottom corner. So our best option to still make the trip worthwhile is to leave really early on Saturday.
But it will be great!! Kuba, who is an Aiesec'er here in Zlin, but is originally from Ceske Budejovice, will pick us up from the bus station and show us the city. We will also visit Cesky Krumlov which is suppose to be more beautiful than Prague. Maybe Aleš will meet up with us as well, as he lives in Tabor which is also in South Bohemia.
Anyway, it should be great and I'll try to get some pictures from the trip and post them. I'm actually thinking of buying a digital camera, as I've received a bonus from the university...so maybe I'll have more pictures to share in the future!
- Aug 27, 2004 - U.S. Athletes with New Names...only in Czech Republic.
As you'll read below I got a tv set and have been watching the Olympics in my free time.
Soooo, in the Czech language most women's last name end in "ova." It is some grammar rule which requires nouns to make agreement. It's hard to explain...but...for example: My bosses last name is Kadlèiková. But her husbands last name is just Kadlèik. Also, the "ova" ending is left over from communist times meaning something like "belongs to." Meaning the person with the surname Kadlèiková belongs to Kadlèik.
Anyway, the point is that the Olympic commentators name all the women atheletes(Americans, Germans, Nambians, whoever!) using the "ova" ending. I was watching women's beach volleyball so it was Kerri Walsh-ova and Misty May-ova. They used these names throughout the whole match and it was quite funny to hear at first. Why add the ova ending to their last names while annoucing it on tv? Just habit, I guess...they did this for all the women atheletes.
- Aug 27, 2004 - A TV SET!
About two weeks ago, one of my students who is the Director of University Property asked me if I would like a tv set in my apartment. At first I thought, "No", I've gotten along just fine without one for two months and there are only four channels in Czech and Slovak so I won't understand anything anyway. But after some thought, I remembered the OLYMPICS! On Czech channel 2 they show the Olympics non-stop...so I got a hold of the Director and requested the tv. Two days later I had a Goldstar 20 plugged in my room. So, for the past week or so, I've been enjoying watching some Olympics(and some Latin American novelas in Czech) on my new tv. I've even had some dinners with other Aiesec'ers and trainees at my place and have been able to watch some competitions. We're all of course, from different countries so the mood in the crowd is always somewhat "competitive."
-Aug 27, 2004 - SOME NEW RESPONSIBLITIES AT WORK
I am currently working on two new projects in addition to my regular English lessons.
1. On September 6 - 8th, one colleague of mine, Míša and my myself will put on an English Language Retreat for the university's administrative staff. The Retreat will actually take place at the university's cabin in the Javorinky mountains. The group will leave Zlin Wednesday morning and arrive at the cabin by 10am. We'll return Friday afternoon.
We have arranged our students into three groups according to language proficiency and will have various lessons, games, conversations, and presentations through out the three days. I will facilitate the conversation lessons and prepare some icebreaker exercises. Míša will teach some grammar. Our students will also be required to make two presentations on a selected topic. We haven't decided on the exact ciricculum yet, but we're going to try to make it ful as well as educational. In the evening, we are going to watch movies in English with Czech subtitles, we'll play cards or play charages. Luckily, there are some restaurants nearby so no one has to do any cooking.
It should be an interesting three days and hopefully our students will benefit from the intensive language study. I am looking forward to it!
2. The university has asked me to try to inititate the collaboration of research between TBU and Cal Poly(or really any university in the U.S., but Cal Poly seemed like a good place to start.) TBU does extensive research on Polymers at our Polymers Centre. We have visiting researchers from all over the world including China and India. We are looking to collaborate on any research with regards to Polymers. So I didn't some surfing and found that Cal Poly has something called the Polymers and Coatings Program which is a part of our Biology/Chemistry Departments. About one week ago, I contacted the Director of this program to see if he would be interested in working with TBU on some future research projects. On Wednesday, I received a positive response!! He seemed very ethusiastic and intrigued by the potential to work with us. Right now, I'm waiting...I've contacted all the right people(researchers, Director of the Polymers Centre) to see how they would like to proceed. Hopefully, next week we can make some more progress.
- Aug 27, 2004
I've finally found some time to write a bit and I'm sorry for slackin' on the updates. What have I been up to? Why have I been so busy?
The weekend of Aug 6 -7th I took a small trip to the Javorinky mountains close to Zlin and right on the Slovak border. The university actual owns a large cabin in the village of Portaš and one of my students (Jana) was going to the cabin for the weekend with her family. In our lesson, she invited to join them. That Saturday morning, I woke up very early and caught a bus to Vsetin and from there took a bus to the mountains. Jana and her husband picked me up from the bus stop and we drove five more minutes up to the cabin.
The cabin has a great location...on the top of one mountain with great views and the surrounding valleys. There are three small restaurants within walking distance of the cabin.
The weekend was chill. We took a short walk to have a drink at the nearby restaurant, then ate lunch which was prepared by Jana's mother. It was chicken rolls stuffed with stewed carrots and sausages, then served with rice. Afterwards, we took a short walk through the mountains and picked blueberries along the way. I found lots of blueberries, but they were all pretty small. I needed to eat 15 of them at once to have a decent mouthful. My hands were stained blue from the oozy juices. Jana's husband has a good eye for mushrooms so every once in a while he would take off into the woods off the path because he "saw" something. He ended up finding several very nice looking mushrooms!
That evening I learned a Czech card name called Jolly Joker. It was fun and I finally won a hand after four tries.
In the morning, we slept in and then cooked sausages on an open fire for lunch. They were very tasty and accompained by potates cooked in the ash of the fire pit. Overall, it was a wonderful, relaxing weekend...
- High Tatras Trip
Updated: August 2nd.
RYSY, which means Lynx, is the tallest mountain of the HighTatras on the Polish side. It is 2499 meters and takes approximately 5 hours to climb. Click on the link above to learn more about the Slovak/Polish High Tatras mountain range.
THE GROUP:
From Aiesec Zlín: Nina, Kvetoš, Kuba, Gosia and I.From Aiesec MC: Eva(our lovely guide), Ondra and PeterAiesec Alumnus: Radek, Radek, Patrik and Aleš!
THE TOUR:
We all left Zlín by noon on Friday and headed east into Slovakia. We had a minor hold up at the border crossing because the controllers, were somewhat unsure if they required that I filled out paperwork. After some discussion with Eva(who is Slovak), they allowed us to pass without much fuss. We had a minor setback which "threw us up" for a loop, but in general we arrived with no problems.
Friday afternoon, we took a tram up some small mountain and hiked to a beautiful waterfall...it was somewhat raining, misty and cold. Then we cruised back to the Penzione for a beer before going to bed. We all went to bed early because Eva told us our ETD was 7am! Our Penzione was an interesting place. It was located in the back of a small stadium's seating(the bleacher portion) and first timers would never find it easily. But it was a good place; comfty beds, warm, clean shower and only 250 Slovak crowns/night.
Saturday, we got up early and started our hike at Štrbské Pleso. It was a nice area with small restaurants, tourist shops and many trail heads. All nestled in a lovely green forest with the mountains in the near distance. So, we began to climb around 8:30am...the first part of the trail was not that steep and it was actually quite pleasant. Most of the trail was in the shade too. We reached our first major rest stop, Popradske Pleso(Lake) by 12noon and rested a bit. The rest of the hike was quite challenging; very steep, not many trees and did I mention steep. We climbed about 1000 meters in 5km.
There was one final rest stop before the summit. It was a Chata pod Rysmi (pronouned Hhata). It is a mountain chalet serving hot tea, beer, hot soup, spiced wine, full meals, and even some beds if you want to stay the night. I drank two cups of tea with Gosia and we ate some more lunch. Then the final ascent took only 30 minutes more, but was the steepest climb. If you've ever climbed Mt. Hoffman in Yosemite, it is a good comparison. (Not as high, of course.)
On the summit, we were half in Poland, half in Slovakia...Gosia, my Polish friend, waved hello to home. From the top, you have a great view of about 5 glacial lakes. We were all super exhausted, but the views were worth it.
Sunday, we woke up around 7am and took a small hike to Vodopád skok(waterfalls). This was a short hike, only about one hour and a half. Everyone's legs were sore and tired.
Overall, it was a great time and I thank Eva who planned the whole trip. It was a once in a lifetime experience, something I know I could not have experienced on my own. I also thank Kuba for driving the whole way, as I was able to catch up on some sleep on the way home. And, also to Nina and her parents who invited the group for lunch at their home on our way back to Zlín. Nina is from Slovakia as well. They live in a small city very close to the border, called Puchov.
And, thanks to Radek for teaching me some nice Czech phrases...I hope he is feeling better :-)
- August 2, 2004 - No, means Yes, in Czech...
The cross cultural class was right...in some cultures NO actually means YES!...and this is true in Czech...well, sort of...
The grammatically correct way to say "Yes" in Czech is "Ano." But, during a conversation a Czech will say, "no...no...no...etc..." sort of like, "okay...yes...I agree...okay..." As a way to confirm that they understand and agree with what the person is saying. The short form of "ano."
So naturally, I was quite puzzled when I first heard this during a conversation. My boss, Andrea, and I share an office. I often hear her speaking on the phone to various colleagues. She says this "no...no...no" rant quite often and at first, I thought "whoa, that conversation didn't go very well...I hope everything is okay." But, it was strange because she didn't seem upset by the outcome of the conversation. She always ended with a polite, " nashledanou," or good-bye. So after about one week, I realize that the "no" was a short form of "ano." And actually means, "yes, I agree, etc..."
- August 2nd, 2004 - The day after the Tatras...
It was quite difficult to wake up this morning because I was so tired from the trip. And my legs are still quite sore from the hike. But, the memories from the trip kept me in a peaceful state of mind all day today. Today is Gosia's Good Bye party :-( She is leaving for Poland because her traineeship is over. She has been here for about three months. I'm sad to see her go...I've really enjoyed getting to know her, learning about Poland and having many crazy adventures with her. She a wonderful person and I wish her all the best. We're starting her good bye party at Zelenasova Sopa, our favorite pub in Zlin. They serve great hermelin...yum...it is Brie cheese that has been marinating in Olive oil and spices for at least one week!
- July 23, Before the trip to Vienna
Gosia(my friend the Polish trainee) and I are going to Vienna(Wien) on Saturday morning! We are taking a train at 4:19am and will arrive in Wien at 7:02am. We will tourist around for the whole day, eat a picnic lunch and then return around 12midnight to Zlín. We decided on just taking a day trip to save money on hotels. Our Czech salaries make Euro countries very expensive for us. We are really looking forward to an interesting visit and have been reading and getting advice from Rick Steves' guide book.
I received the evite for Casey's bachelorette today! It sounds like the Maid of honor and the bridesmaid's have planned a great weekend! I'll miss you all that day :-(
This week has been really HOT in Zlín. Around 32 celcius or about 90 F! My students have been sort of out of it and less motivated this week because of this weather. Most are anticipating or reminiscing on their holidays to Croatia or Italy! Oh well, we've been doing some fun readings from a book called "Wang-Dang American Thang" by: Sinclair Nicholas. He is an American who moved to the Czech Republic in the 1980s because he felt like it. He didn't speak Czech, or have job, or anything. Anyway, the book has short stories about his adventures in Czech and also he recounts stories of his life in America. They are very good, accurate descriptions of the American way of life and are usually pretty uncouth. Not all the stories are appropriate for my lessons, but some are funny and light hearted...perfect for a Friday afternoon class in 35 degree weather!
We have also been having these crazy, flash thunder/lighting storms. A couple of nights ago, I was awoken by thunder, then came some heavy rain, followed by incessant lighting and thunder for about one hour. Then it blew through and it was scorching the next day again. The Czechs say this weather is abnormal, but wow, it is really unpredictable.
I have made the mistake of periodically checking the weather for SLO. Hmm...around 76 degrees everytime I look with a sun lightly covered by a cloud. My students have asked me what the weather is like where I am from. I say "the best word to describe it is mild!"
- July 15th, Good EvaluationThis week, I received a great evaluation from the Head of the Personnel department, Renata. She told me that all her employees whom I teach have given her positive feedback about their lessons. They have told her that at first they were really scared to speak English and were not looking forward to starting the lessons. Fortunately, things have worked out and most of my students leave the classroom laughing, speaking English with their partner and are motivated to learn more.
The truth is, I have developed a great respect for all my students. They each have unique interests and backgrounds and all have shared so much about themselves. I've really enjoyed getting to know them and learning about Czech culture through our discussions. Also, I'm learning a lot about how life was really like under communism. Most of my students have spent the majority of their lives under communism and their stories about their childhoods are indicative of this. All have expressed several times how greatful they are that their children have not had to experience what they experienced.
One of my students was shocked, when I shared that my mother moved to the U.S. in the 1960's to study and then returned to Peru and then in about one year immigrated to the States. She said, "in my country, if you tried to leave in the 1960's you were persecuted and you knew that you would never be able to return to your country. It was also horrible for the family you left behind. The Brother would persecute the family of anyone who was discovered to have escaped the country."
Some of my students say they love the ocean and the beach because during communism they never had access to one. One woman has taken up deep sea diving as her favorite hobby as a result. One student recalled the "communism school" she was forced to attend everyday after regular school. She said at the time all the children saw it as a place to play. But, now she realizes that they were feeding their heads with propaganda, trying to build their loyalty to Russia and she said in a sense brainwashing them. I have heard many stories about food and energy shortages which many felt were quite normal and now sometimes feel overwhelmed by how much is available to them. One student's brother was denied admission to the Technical University of Brno because their father was not a member of the Communist Party. When he was told to join it and refused, they told him your children will not be able to attend the good universities. This was in the early 1960's. I ask an Aiesec'er about this and she said, "oh yes, this was normal...expected." Some students, I can tell, don't want to talk about how it was for them and avoid the topic.
So, I'm staying in Zlín this weekend. It will be the first weekend since my arrival that I haven't traveled. I'm looking forward to it! Maybe, Gosia and I will visit Edik in Luchacovice, just for the day. This is a spa/resort town about 20km from Zlín. They have told me its very beautiful and relaxing.
- Friday, July 2nd - IN PRAHA
Friday afternoon I was able to leave work early and caught a bus to Praha at 13:05. I made it to the city by 17:30 and managed check into the hostel without problems. Liz (girlfriend from SLO who just finished an Aiesec traineeship in Ukraine) returned to the hostel just a few minutes afterwards. Unfortunately, her mother who was supposed to have arrived that afternoon missed her flight. So it was just the two of us for the evening. That evening we went to a SALSA bar, somewhere in Praha 2. Liz and her friend Xavier had learned of this place to go and were both into dancing the SALSA. The joint was quite intimate, only about 30 dancers in all. But, they were all damn good at the SALSA. Even Liz, who I thought was quite good, said that everyone else was really upper intermediate to an advanced dancer. Anyway, we went back to the hostel by midnight because we were both tired and wanted to be well-rested for our touristing the next day.
On Saturday, I had a date to meet a Brazilian friend in front of the astromonical clock in the Old Town Square at 10am. It was sort of a tentative date because he was with a bunch of people and he wasn't sure if would make it. Anyway, Liz and I arrived at 10:20am, but didn't find anyone. Later, I learned from an email that they never made it ;-( But, its okay...it wasn't for sure. So after waiting until about 10:50, Liz and I head out of the Old Town Square to the Municipal building...
Little blurb on our hostel: HOSTEL CENTER - it was 500CZK (~25 USD) per night, address: Ditrichova 15, which was actually right next to the Fred and Ginger building. Some people say they hate the building, that it is an eyesore compared to Prague's historical buidlings and other love it, and say its a great addition. I loved it! - Anyway, the hostel was a good find. It was clean, the rooms were large, a substantial breakfast was included and was served until 11am, there is no curfew, and it the neighborhood was quiet. I would definitely go back. To find it on the map: Follow the lowest or last bridge on the map across to your right, Ditrichova is the third street from the river, make a right down the street.
-Friday, June 25th - Sunday, June 27th
MC TAKE-OVER PARTY in Protivanov...On Friday afternoon, Maciej, Juan, Gosia and I took a bus from Zlín to city of Prostìjov. From there, we transferred buses and arrived at our final destination of Protivanov at about 8pm. In Prostìjov we met up with some veteran Aiesec'ers who were also on their way to the MC TAKE Over. It was lucky we met up with these guys because they said they knew the way to the campground. However, before walking the 3km to the campground we stopped into the local bar for our first beer of the weekend. The bar was a very typical communist bar; the ambiance, the patrons, the staff. Everyone was jolly, drinking and we didn't even have to order beers, they just brought them when we sat down. Maciej and Gosia tried the Goulash (a hot plate of beef stew and dumplings) and they said it was wonderful.
After a couple rounds, the group was ready to head to camp. We walked for about 25 minutes through town and into the woods...the landscape was rather spooky...rolling hills, several dark looming forests, and misty fog lingering low. The Vets were singing traditional Czech songs along the way and Maciej joined in with some Polish songs too.
When we arrived, we checked in, paid the fee and found our cabin. The accomodations were small cottages with beds for four(two bunk beds). It was comfortable, fairly clean and I was warm although some people complained of being very cold at night. Luckily, Juan bought Boris during our stop over in Prostìjov and we rallied some Aiesec Zlín'ers to enjoy him in our cottage.
This evening we also met Edik the new trainee from Ukraine. He is from the city of Daneske(this is not the correct spelling, but I'll ask him and update this in a few days) Edik will be working at a Spa/sanatorium in a city called Luchacovice. The other trainees and I gave him a proper welcome, thanks to Maciej's great ideas.
The rest of the weekend we chilled around the camp. Some played volleyball, futbol, the daring went for a dip in the Lake(actually only two people went in the water, Maciej was one of them). On Saturday, we ROASTED A PIG! It was a pretty big pig...so big they had to cut the head off because it was too long for the roasting skewers. It was already smoked, but we barbequed it for a good 6 hours periodically basting it with an oily, spicy mixture. We ate it around 6pm along with bread, salad, mustard, and pickles.
The bus ride home was a little challenging. Everyone was so tired and Maciej insisted on drinking beer from a 2 liter soda bottle he filled up from the keg. Needless to say, I was happy to be home in Zlín after all the hard work in Protivanov!
- Friday, June 25 - Three weeks are up...
Today, I am officially three weeks in the Czech Republic. I have to say that things have been going quite smoothly ;-) In terms of getting settled in my apartment and at my job, I couldn't be happier. My job is interesting, but every day is a challenge. (I know that by the end of this internship I will be a pro at English grammar). But, everyday is different. Somedays I miss my home and friends more than others and I have to force myself out of my apartment to go interact. Other days I have plans with friends so things are easier.
I have already gotten on the wrong train and the wrong bus. I guess these sort of mistakes are normal. I am learning some Czech, but it is pretty slow. One friend gave me a book entitled: Teach Yourself Czech. I going through this and doing the exercises. However, I ask my boss Andrea to help me with the pronunications. Life in Zlín will slow during the summer...students go home or on vacations, and only the staff is left to work. This is good because my students will have time to study English.
I'm going to Prague on July 2nd!! I can't wait to see the city...everyone keeps telling me it is the most beautiful city in the world.
-Thursday, June 24, 2004 - MC Take Over Party this weekend!
This weekend all of Aiesec Czech Republic will be in a small village near Olomouc to celebrate the beginning of the new MC term(Aiesec's national staff). The other trainees and I will take a train tomorrow afternoon and meet up with the rest of Aiesec Czech. Supposedly, there is a lake for swimming and some special events planned. I am really looking forward to the trip. And, Aleš will be there too!
-Thursday, June 24, 2004
A few people have asked me what the food is like here, so in addition to checking out the mensa's menu, hopefully, the following will help.
Grocery stores - you can pretty much find anything in the grocery stores that you can find in the USA, minus the lastest and greatest kiddy cereal or packaged snack. The quality of fruits and vegetables is usually quite high and they are very tasty. Zlín has an outdoor market everyday where farmers are selling fresh veggies and fruits. Strawberries are currently in season here and sweeter than anything I ate in the USA.
There are fewer choices of chickens/fish/turkey meat and a greater emphasis on sausages, salami and pork. Maciej, one of the Polish trainees, brough me to the Maso Store(Meat Store or boucherie in French) and showed me which sausages are good and how to order them. You order in grams so it was difficult to know how many grams of salami I wanted. Now, I've learned about 100 - 200grams will get you through the week. They have pretty good cheese here, but not too many choices...I have mostly seem Edam Cheese. Of course, there is a Carrefour in town which is a French-owned Walmart equivalent, and here you can buy just about any food from any where...it is more expensive though.
Moravia has tons of different varieities of wines...it is quite impressive. I have found one white wine which I like very much called Neuburské. Most of the grape vareities I have never heard of before and may not even have an English translation. But they do grow the well-known: Chardonny, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. Their version of "champagne" is called Sekt...but most people agree is it nothing compared to French Champagne.
Would you like to try a Polish shot? Vodka, raspberry syrup and four drops of tabasco sauce. Please exhale before drinking.
-Wednesday, June 23, 2004
MENSA? Interested in what I eat at the University's cafeteria...here's our menu translated into English...
http://www.kmz.utb.cz/english/index.html Click on Refectories and then this weeks dates.
- Saturday, June 19, 2004
Today, Gosia and I took a train to a small city in North Moravia, Šumperk. Tomáš, an Aiesec'er from Zlín, picked us up and we took a bus to his home town, Nový Malin. His home town is pretty small and right at the foothills of ________mountain range. The population is only about 3,000. But, it is quite an old city. The earliest documentation of life in Nový Malin dates back to 1352.
Tomáš was such a great host. He cooked us a wonderfully delicious lunch and his mom made these fabulous berry pasteries. Then we all went on a hike into the mountains which took us about four hours. There was a pleasant stream running along side the path and tall trees provided for plenty of shade. It started to rain just as we were returning from the hike and luckily made it into the house before the torrential down pour. After some salami sandwhiches we caught the train back to Šumperk to watch a Blues Festival. We were able to catch three of the five bands performing before Gosia and I had to jump on the train, but it was still a cool experience. Most bands sang in English which was a pleasant surprise.
-Sunday, June 13, 2004
Gosia, Maciej, Juan and I bowled in the evening at Golem(Golem is a bar/metal club/bowling alley/restaurant just down the hill from where I live in Zlin) then we watched France v. England in Euro 2004. We sat with a couple of French guys, one was Nicholas who is a French teacher here in Zlin. They are friends of Juan and Maciej. I practiced speaking a bit with Nicholas...it was quite fun to use my French again! In the last two minutes of the football game France beat England with a penalty kick...before that there was some French swear words being used quite often. I also, met a former trainee, Eric, today . Eric is from Peru, Miraflores to be exact, and now teaches Spanish at a private business school here.
Afterwards, Eric took Juan and I to a campaign party of a friend of his, Ondreji, who was running for the EU parliament. Obviously, to represent the Czech Republic. He was running from the Catholic Democratic Party which is fairly right-wing and conservative. There was much to celebrate because, although it didn't look as if he was going to win a seat, he had done much better than expected. He shared some home-made Silvovice with us as well as home-made desserts. He also tried to explain a little bit about Czech politics and how the new system will work which was really quite fascinating. The foggy start I had this morning was well worth it!
- Saturday, June 12, 2004
Today, Gosia, Maciej, Lucka and I went to a city named Olomouc. It is about 1 hour from Zlin by train. Its a beautiful Czech city...cobbled stone streets, ornate churches, and two spacious squares in the middle of town. There is also an astronomical clock with little proletarian statues who go to work every fifteen minutes to ring the clock's bells. According to my brochure, the clock was built some time between 1419-1422. The main church is called Dom...it was quite impressive. And, there was a mid-sized wedding going on inside which was really cool...later in the day we saw the bride and groom walking around taking pictures in all of Olomouc's scenic spots.
Even cooler, an International Choir festival was taking place in Olomouc's this weekend. So every once in a while we saw large groups of people all dressed in interesting identical garb walking down the streets. Some groups sang a bit while sitting at the cafes for drinks. There were choirs of all ages, and from all over Europe. Some groups had what looked like very traditional costumes while others were in tuxedos and evening gowns. It made for a great atmosphere throughout the city. Gosia(trainee from Poland) went to see the final performance in the evening and she said that every choir performance sent chills of excitement up her back. Maciej and I decided to go have a beer and watch the second half of the first Euro 2004 football game. It was Portugal v. Greece in Lisbon...it was fun!
The only twist came at the end of the evening... We caught the last train back to Zlin at 21:00, but we were actually on the train to Ostrava, not Zlin! The lady conductor sort of laughed at us the minute she realized we were on the wrong train. She knew we were screwed because it was so late on a Saturday night and the next trains wouldn't be until 5am on Sunday... Luckily, she spoke some Polish and Maciej speaks some Czech so they figured out how we could "jump some trains" to Zlin. From Olomouc, we got off in Hranice then to Prerov then to Otrokovice and then finally took a bus into Zlin. It was quite funny to tell you the truth. Of course, with two Polish, the solution was just to drink vodka until 5am if we got stuck anywhere! And we would have, but we couldn't find a store open...oh well, we listened to music from Gosia's cellphone and Maciej entertained us with his techno-dancing!
- Wednesday, June 9, 2004
I had my first set of English classes today with eleven different people. Most are ladies who work as administrative assistants and others are lawyers for the university. I would say for the most part all the sessions went really well. I am teaching two people at one time for 45 minute intervals each. The two people usually have very close to the same proficiency. Today, we just did introductions and I gathered some information about their background in English. I also asked them if they had any specifics things they would like to learn.
Afterwards, the more advanced students read an article from the Arts section of FT.com and the beginner-intermediate students read the Fairy Tale Cinderella. I think most people got a lot out of reading it aloud, then analyzing the text together.
There were two women who really have a very basic level of English and I think their lesson was the most challenging. I had some problems at first, but in the end we did some good work. I'm still comtemplating how best to structure their lessons, but I know it will work out. They are super nice and are really trying. I felt pretty unprepared for their low-level, but now that I know how basic their knowledge is, I know where I have to start.
-Tuesday, June 8, 2004 - CZECH EXAMS
Czech Universities have a pretty different way of testing their students...from what I've understood so far. First of all, the majority of exams are taken ORALLY and the students have to be extremely well and conservatively dressed for the examination. They find out whether they passed right away so they are either depressed or really happy about the results. When I first learned about this I was a bit shocked because I think I would hate to have an oral exam. But, after speaking with one Aiesec'er about it, his name is Tomáš, he told me that he prefers oral exams to written ones. I suppose they have gotten used to taking them and they've learned the skills to come well prepared. Also, their exam period last about 5 weeks, instead of our one.
Sunday, June 6, 2004
Yeah! I see sun and blue sky for the first time in Zlín. Today, I slept in until about 11:30, had some breakfast, and continued reading Entrepreneur Extraordinary - biograpy of Tomáš Bat'a. This book was given to me by President Sáha on my second day at work. I figured I better read it! Tomáš Bat'a lived a fascinating life and I'm enjoying the book immensely. All the Aiesec'ers are studying today so I'm here at the Aiesec office updating my weblog and checking my email. I think I will prepare some English lessons for Wednesday as well.
- Saturday, June 5, 2004
This morning we visited a town named Buchlovice which is about 40 minutes by car from Zlín. Nina picked me up at 8am along with Jitka and Kvetov(he's LCP). It was raining so the drive so slow and Kvetov pointed out important businesses, buildings and districts along the way. It was a beautiful drive..rolling green, green hills, lots of trees of all sorts, small villages nestled in valleys...picturesque to say the least.
The main "attraction" in Buchlovice is a lovely castle called Buchlov built in the 18th century by Austro-Hungarian royals. Upon arrival we paid the 35 krouna (equivalent to about $1.15) to enter the premises and waited about 20 mintues for our tour to begin. While chilling around the beautiful gardens we were greeting by peacocks...lots of them... They live there on the grounds of the castle and don't seem to mind the tourists so much. They chase each other around, make super loud calls ever so often and can fly considerable distances. I was lucky to catch one with its feathers fully open and got some great pictures! He's probably used to posing for the tourist.
Here's a little history I pulled from a website I found:
www.cs-center.org/buchlovice
..."When aristocrat Jan Detrich from Petrvald married Italian noblewoman, he wanted to give her a big present. Their castle Buchlov in South Moravia was uncomfortable for her, so he builds the Baroque chateau in the small town Buchlovice under Buchlov. The architect Domenico Martinelli builds the ostentatious chateau according to the Italian houses. The chateau has two buildings – beautiful chateau for aristocrats and the building for their servants. Around it, there was build the Italian Baroque garden with many flowers, fountains and monuments. In the small town Buchlovice was build the Baroque church. In 19th century, in the chateau there was a hospital. The garden was extended to the English park with many rare trees. In 20th century, the state acquired the chateau Buchlovice.
The interiors of the building for aristocrats stayed in the Baroque and Rococo style, like majority of the chateau interiors in our country. In the middle of the chateau there is the big hall with beautiful decoration, and next to it there are many small lounges and bedrooms. Majority of lounges has the wallpapers, curtains and the upholstery in the same colours with the flower ornaments, so the rooms are very beautiful. From them there are interesting views to the Baroque garden and to the courtyard, which is beautifully decorated by flowers in vases. In all the interiors there is the rare furniture, pictures, decoration, porcelain and the tile stove."
After about 20 minutes of waiting around this fountain area, we met our tour guide who let us into the main castle you see here. We were the only three on the tour through the castle rooms which lasted about one hour. We had to wear these huge slippers over our shoes to protect the interior. We all looked like we were walking around our castle in our slippers...it was very funny. The tour was in Czech, but they gave me an English version of most of what she dicated to read along the way. Kvetov and Nina explained a few extra things as well.
When we returned to Zlín, Nina, Kvetov and I went to a restaurant called Flip that serves excellent salads. I mean, they were wonderful...a great creamy house dressing, fresh veggies, and delicious cheese. My salad was about $3...something equivalent at a restaurant back home would cost about $8.99.
ARRIVAL: June 3, 2004
I have arrived safely in the Czech Republic! My friend Aleš was nice enough to pick me up from the airport in Prague and drove me the 300 km(this is just an estimate) to Zlín. We were greeted by Nina(the TN manager), Tomáš(an Aiesec vet), Jitka, and one other Aiesec'er who is originally from Slovakia whose name has escaped me :- ( Aleš and Tomáš graciously dragged my 32kg suitcase up five flights of stairs, we dropped all my stuff in my new apartment and then went to a pizza place/pub in the Hotel Moskva. We drank some beers, ate pizza, and then took some shots of Becherovka. I met a majority of the Aiesec'ers later that evening and one of the other trainees, Gosia, who is from Poland. It was a great time!! I returned home at around 12am (some of the Aiesec'ers continued to the disco, MusicLand for dancing)...I unpacked a little and then passed out....perfect first night!
