HappyList Update.

28.03 –Packing (for a small trip). It’s like playing real life tetris.

29.03 – Watching the countryside pass by. This is why I prefer driving or taking the train versus flying. It’s a completely different experience. It makes me think back to all the trips my family took when I was a child. I especially loved it at night. When y parents had their minivan there was enough room for my sisters and I spread out. My favorite thing to do was to lean my head against the window and look upwards at the stars and watch them twist and turn with the movements of the car. It made me feel small but in a good way. Like there was something so big and magnificent and endless possibilities and secrets but it wasn’t overwhelming, it was hopeful. 

Project HappyList.

A few months ago I stumbled across this guy's Youtube channel. I thought he was so funny but also (for lack of a better word and I kind of hate myself for using it so I'm sorry) deep. I watched this one today.

As an introverted person, I spend a lot of time in my head. Zefrank worded my thoughts perfectly. Conversations I'll never have, me in alternate realities, what it's like to live someone else's life, how they perceive the world around them, etc. When I'm zapped back to the now, everything seems a little lackluster. It makes me really sad. The things I don't have, the opportunities I missed, the people I missed out on. I'm quite the daydreamer so I constantly have to pull my head out of the clouds and just remind myself that life isn't perfect. It's ridiculously messy. But it's the little things in life that make it worthwhile. So I'm going to try to start cataloguing my own HappyList. One small thing that made me happy for each day of the year. I hope I can keep up with it.

Here is today's:

1) Little Kristian in my kindergarten class can't whistle like his older classmates so he emitted a quiet but high-pitched scream to to to imitate the other kids. It made me giggle so much.

If you're craving seafood, don't settle for fish sticks.

I've been in a little funk. It's freezing outside, the sun keeps trying to push through but fails, and I am missing home. Coming in second place against the people I love in the U.S. is food. I went to the supermarket today and looked longingly at the package of shrimp that costs almost 500kč (appx. $25). Sometimes the little things get me down and I lose sight of the bigger picture but there is always someone or something to pull me back. Today's post is inspired by none other than my crazy, weird, and awesome Serbian friend, Mladen. He sent me this video today that really lifted my spirits:

This pertains to several aspects of life: career, love, grocery shopping, etc. As far as my career goes, I made a big leap and regret nothing (except maybe my nose at the moment, which is raw from me blowing gross, infected snot into tissues all weekend, and yes, I know I'm charming). I am doing something I enjoy and can see my future self continuing to do this. I am considering going for my Master's degree but I'll wait a little while since I should probably try to pay off more off my students loans before taking out any more. 

As far as love goes, that still has a ways to go but I won't give up. There have been a few interested individuals here in Czech (surprisingly) but I find myself yawning at all of them. Not interested. But I worry sometimes that I'll get married too old (or not at all). I am waiting for a kindred spirit but how long should I wait? If I am to be honest, I've entertained the thought of my parents setting me up. They would find me an honest, good man but call me a romantic (and I blame my parents for this) because I want to see something special as well. I don't mean sweep-me-off-my-feet romantic, that's a naive marketing ploy but special in the way that we click the way my closest friends and I click. I make friends easily but there are very few people in my inner circle. I would want whomever is my future husband to fit into that circle. What can I say? I am picky. I am the girl who would only eat peanut butter, jam, and fluff sandwiches when I was little. Although my palate has developed beyond confectionary condiments, I am still a creature of habit. I guess all I can do is have faith and trust in myself. I had a feeling about teaching and I went for it, perhaps it will be the same in this part of my life. 

Anyway this is a little personal. I don't usually delve that far into my feelings to anonymous readers; usually it's just when I'm sharing a plate of gooey nachos with my closest friends. My point is, don't settle and don't sit around but also if something doesn't come along immediately, don't worry, there is still some time to get it right. When the time is right, your gut will tell you. But my real point here is that I will just keep going and try to put on my sweetest smile until I get my next paycheck and don't feel an ounce of guilt when buying that package of shrimp. 

At least it'll make for good book material.

I don't know how drama tends to find me. I try to lay low. I just happen to be in the vicinity of Drama which thinks it's a cute, adorable puppy and grabs my shoelaces with its mouth and tries to pull me into a heap of chewed shoes.

Here's what happened the past couple weeks that leave me to believe I should never leave the house ever:

1) Fifth grader in my class has her first ever epilepsy attack. Luckily, a friend of mine in college held a little workshop on Epilepsy and showed us what to do in case someone is having a seizure. The girl is okay from what I could tell.

2) A colleague got pissed drunk, almost got into a fight with a person at a pub because he was hitting on a guy's girlfriend, got into a fight with three dudes, refused to go to the hospital, and then apparently crashed his car. Shameful. Maybe it's assuming too much but I thought a teacher should handle himself or herself with a little more decency and maturity. It makes a bad name for us as teachers and Americans.

Okay enough bad news. Here's the good:

1) Spring is struggling to get its foot in the door but it's making it's way. I went for a walk after I finished a class with three adorable and very pleasant kindergarteners. We are learning fruits and vegetables and practicing "I like ______" and "I don't like _________". Bawwww.

2) My directors are beginning to negotiate my contract for next year. Woot! 

3) I might have another adult lesson coming my way. Yay for knowing and being able to talk to people who are older than thirteen! 

4) I went to the movie theater near my flat for the first time ever. They have couches. Enough said. 

5) My friend Jana plays volleyball every Wednesday and invited me to play. Once I stop being lazy and buy a pair of sneakers because for some odd reason I thought I wouldn't need them. Me. The person who gets too stressed and likes to go running. That made total sense, past me. Good one.

6) I have next Thursday to Monday off so I'm headed to Berlin! From what I've heard it's a really cool city so I'll be back with plenty of pictures. I also met a girl at the movie theater who is going to Berlin next week so it'll be nice not to be by myself. 

7) I always enjoy my conversation class on Wednesdays. My students are smart kids and usually tame. We were talking about adjectives of personality and what they like in a friend. One kid said, "My friend is easy." I started laughing so hard and said, "No no no, don't say this!" They were confused. For those of you who are unaware, to call a person "easy" is kind of slang for saying someone is a slut or a whore. I know he meant to say they are easy-going or perhaps friendly or an easy person with which to get along but I feel like I did this kid a favor. He is avoiding getting smacked by English-speaking woman in the future. It's all for the kids. 

Plots and schemes.

Here are some things that have been on my mind lately: what is with the trend of giving up gluten if you don't have some sort of sensitivity to it? You know what foods gave gluten? The best kinds. This is just silly. The key to eating (and life) is moderation. Also, I saw a recent article about how processed meats lead to earlier deaths. Yeah, so what else is new? Everything is going to kill you anyway. Might as well enjoy it a little bit. And again, moderation, people. Anyway there has been a lot going on and there is so much to talk about so let's do it this way:

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.

Occupation: Sightseer? Sightsee-er?

Soooo I'm in Rome. It's pretty much beautiful. Everywhere you turn there is something beautiful and ancient and I would just sit and stare for hours. But there is too much to see in just three full days. I met Karoliina who is from Greece (she's Greek and Finnish and exploring Europe during her gap year) and we've been hanging out and touring Rome. Yesterday was the Vatican Museum and around the city centre, today was the Colosseum and Trastevere (my favorite part of the city). I apologize as I am far too tired to really write or be witty and a nap sounds so good right now. I'll update more when I'm a little bouncier.

Neglect.

I'm a terrible blogger. I'm sorry it's been a while since I've posted. To be fair, a lot has happened. I hate drama. I don't deal well with drama. It only encourages dramatic behavior within myself and then I have a moment where I stop and think, "Ariana Marie. What in the world is your problem? Suck it up! Eat some chocolate! Do some pushups! Write a sad poem in your journal and move on!" Well this is kind of like a journal so here goes nothing:

Drama, a haiku.
Hey you, post office!
I need my medication
Don't be such a jerk.

So poetry isn't my strong point. Whatever. I was happy for about a week when the sun came out and the temperature warmed up a bit. I went on a nice walk along the river and took pictures of things I liked. I have a dinky little point-and-shoot camera which always makes me feel inadequate. But I really should be accustomed to it since most of my middle school students are about my height.

In two weeks I have February vacation. I don't call it spring break because it's not in spring. Whose idea was it to call that week spring break? I think he/she and I need to have a talk. I am so excited because I'm going to Rome!!! I booked my flight and now I just need to find somewhere to stay. My original host had a complication with the sleeping arrangement so I must find another place. If worse comes to worst, I'll book a hostel or hotel. I must run to my afternoon classes but I will leave you with another brilliant piece of poetry:

Children, another haiku.
Quiet now children,
Miss Teacher's ears are tired
How many more days?