1) Rome.
Rome was fun. It's an incredibly beautiful city although it was incredibly overwhelming. Being there for 3.5 days made me appreciate living in a smaller city. I met another American living in Hradec Kralove last night who put it perfectly: "I needed to get away from the rat race. And I like my weekends." Wise words. But Rome looked like a paradise. I have to admit my favorite part about being in Rome was that it was sunny and kind of warm. As soon as the airplane breeched the cloud lining as we took off from the airport in Praha, I was hit with sunshine. It felt amazing. For those of you who don't live in Czech, it's cloudy here. Often. We get a lot of precipitation. And as Chelsea likes to joke, I am a plant and wilt without sunlight. So Rome was beautiful. I met some nice people and I met some weirdos but that happens everywhere in the world. Instead of going on and on about how the city was gorgeous and how everything is just so incredibly ancient, you can take a look at my photos on my Flickr. Now on to other things.
2) Czeching back in (I think I'm funny).
I came back and it was sunny and gloriously warm for a short period of time now it's rainy and cold.
3) Next year and beyond.
I am staying for another year here in Czech but I have started to think about my future moves. There are so many options. I want to go for my master's, maybe I want to teach in another country, I don't know. As far as countries where I would love to teach, I am thinking of Turkey, Morocco, and heading down to the Balkans. I started talking with a teacher who is in Montenegro at the moment (and has taught in Serbia and Croatia) to see if I can get some inside info about teaching down there. I'm also considering Indonesia because of course it would be awesome to reconnect with family. I know I shouldn't worry about it too much and at least just concentrate on the task at hand but it can't hurt to entertain the thought just a little.
4) Bummers and Downers and Not Knowing How to Deal.
A lot of things have been bumming me out. Some personal life stuff, some career stuff. The career part is getting to me more. I have a bad case of bullying in one of my classes and it just became physical this week. It sucks that I don't know how to talk to these kids so that they understand. I feel so helpless, like I'm just passing them off to someone else to deal with. I wish I could just talk to them. And also show them this video
I know what it's like to get bullied. Kids don't realize the gravity of their words and actions. I guess I couldn't avoid this issue, it was bound to come up. I guess I have to look at it in the respect that this is my first year teaching and so it's a huge learning experience for myself. This is really why I want to spend at least another year teaching kids. It's a challenging task. I also had some smaller incidents of verbal bullying in a few classes that resulted in some kids crying. I am lucky I tend to wear a bunch of jewelry. Kids like shiny things and you'd be surprised how quickly they stop crying when you give them a hug and a bracelet with which to play.
5) Mispronunciations
I have been teaching my 1st grade students farm animals. If they're good and only if they're good, at the end of class I let them teach me some words in Czech. My pronunciation is not the greatest so they didn't hear the "l" at the end of "kozel"(goat) so it ended up sounding like the Czech word for "boobs". Hilarity ensued at my expense.
6) Plot and Schemes.
My students are trying to marry me off. I am sure of it. At 5 out of 9 schools where I teach, students from different classes have been asking me if I have a boyfriend or husband. When I say no, they smile and slyly slink away. They're plotting.
I will leave you with this hilarious video. It never fails to make me laugh.
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