Training Week

I am half way through my first (and only) week of training before I am a real teacher (ha!) so I figured I should update y'all on what the school is like and what I've been up to.

First of all, my commute is a bit longer than I expected... nearly an hour door to door.  Monday, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays I'll need to leave my apartment around 7:20AM to walk to the metro and hop on a train to the outskirts of the city.  I get off at the next to the last metro stop and then take a 7:45 bus to a stop that is about a 5-10 minute walk from the school.  On Tuesdays, I have morning duty so I'll have to be on the 7:00AM bus.  That'll mean leaving my apartment around 6:30.  It's going to be painful until I adjust.  My schedule is going to be pretty much identical day to day... it'll look like this:

8:30-12:00- I'll be with my co-teacher and the 13 two and three year olds in our class.  During this time we'll do free play, music/movement, snack time, morning lesson, outdoor play, and the kids will eat lunch in the classroom.

12:00-12:30- My co-teacher will handle pick-up for the kids that only stay 1/2 days while I get a lunch break.  When I return, there will only be 4 students left for our afternoon class.

12:30-12:45- Story time

12:45-2:30- nap time.  If the kids actually sleep, my co-teacher and I will use this time to update the website (a daily requirement with what we did and pictures... a bit of overkill... does any parent really need DAILY pictures and progress online?!)

2:30-3:00- another snack and clean up

3:00-3:15- pick-up

3:15-3:30- room clean up, documenting the day/website/etc.

I'm free to go after that.  The only day that is a bit different is Tuesdays.  I have morning club (really just kids who get dropped off early) so I'll be there by 7:30.  On Tuesday afternoons we have a lesson planning meeting for the following week.  Those will be long days.

Overall, I think I'm going to like it.  I'm pretty exhausted and it's getting late here, but I'll make a list of pros and cons about the school/job:

Pros:

• The school is really gorgeous and my classroom is super nice.  The school is just really nice and seems like a great environment.  The educational philosophy also involves giving the kids a good deal of freedom and keeping them outside, teaching them things like recycling and citizenship.. and from what I can tell, it's not just buzz words... even my 2-3 year olds will have responsibilities and freedoms, take class trips, etc. 
• My co-teacher is really experienced and really, really nice.  She's going to be a huge asset and also just really fun to be around (the down side is that she is the polar opposite of computer savy so I have a feeling almost all of the website updates, emails to parents and electronic lesson plans will fall to me).  
• Not just my co-teacher but all my co-workers are really awesome.  I think we're all going to be good friends and it's great to like the people I see so much of. 
• This week has been a bit trying just bc training has had LOTS of bumps, but the hours still still really easy.  I am only at the school pretty much exactly 40 hours a week and that includes my lunch and staff meetings... not too shabby, especially compared to the hours I was used to.  
• Despite the cons below, any new job or the start of a school year is bound to have lots of bumps and confusion... especially since my co-teacher and I are both new to Sunny Canadian.  I really do foresee it being a great school year. 

Cons: 

• The school makes us document EVERYTHING.  I mean... we fill out reports for everything from paper cuts to how much lunch the kids eat.  There are daily updates on the website about what we did that day (complete with pictures), scapbooks we compile of the kids' work throughout the year, we turn in daily lesson plans, etc.  While I understand the need for some of this... it's going to mean a lot of extra time/work and I think a lot of it could be streamlined. 
• The above forms I mentioned?  Things are really disorganized.  They are all done electronically but no one seems to know where to find them on the school server.  My school email doesn't work and I need to access it to send a required welcome email to parents... but no one can tell me how to fix it... only that I really have to get that email out. 
• It turns out kindergarten teachers don't get fall break or spring break.  Seriously.  Our kids don't get the breaks either.  So most of my friends will get 2 weeks vacation because they teach 1st grade and up and I'll be working those weeks.  NOT excited about this.  I'm all about working hard but I was really looking forward to some extra time to explore some of the farther reaches of eastern europe. 
• Training week hasn't really taught me the things that would have been most helpful (like how to log everything, the best route to take when herding 13 toddlers out to the playground, where to find the multiple supplies our classroom is missing, etc).  I HAVE learned that my Myers-Briggs Personality type is ISFJ which means I am in introverted sensing feeling judging person (I have a need to serve others, I am bad at delegating, it's hard to tell what is bothering me/why I am moody, I'm devoted to family, I play by the rules, am better one and one, have a good memory, am analytical and I have a great work ethic.  While this is spot on... my class room could have really used some TLC during that time... or during the 2 hour session where I was read a staff manual that I could have powered through in about 20 minutes....

Anyway... it's well past my bed time.  I hope everyone is doing well back at home.  And Grandma, if you're reading this, I owe you a phone call.  I hope your hip starts feeling better soon! 

Love y'all! 

The Weekend

My first true weekend in Prague (that is, not in the midst of moving and before I met anyone) was a blast.  After my last post, I headed to a cool spot, The Globe, to see one of my co-workers play a show (she plays guitar and sings).  The Globe is an english bookstore and cafe so it's largely an expats hangout.  I was a bit nervous to go because I wasn't sure how many people from the school (a.k.a. that I know) would be there, but one of the things I promised myself when I moved here was that I would be outgoing and really throw myself into being involved so I forced myself out.  When I got there I had worried for nothing, I immediately spotted a huge group of co-workers/friends and some of their friends.  As I headed over, in typical me fashion, I tripped and almost fell ON to the table where everyone was sitting.  So smooth.

Even though there was a large group of people I knew there, I ended up on the end of the table with mostly people I hadn't met (2 teachers from the school who weren't able to come on the trip, 2 past teachers from the school who took higher administrative positions at other schools but still hang out with a lot of my co-workers, some boyfriends, a few Czech friends, etc).  It was actually really nice because I got to know another whole set of people.  One of the things that I am quickly learning, and loving, about my experience abroad is that age really doesn't matter in the expat community.  One of the couples who teaches at the school is from Texas and they are my parents age.  Another lady who I really hit it off with is 40. Another girl who I really like is my age.  There is a mix, but it's a different dynamic than I feel back home... even the people significantly older than me feel like friends in a way that isn't the case back home.

After a night of talking, laughing, and great music, I headed back home to get some sleep.  On Saturday I spent most of the day finishing up visa paperwork and exploring more of Prague.  I also decided that it's been too long since I've had good Mexican food so I asked around and found out that a place called "Las Adelitas" has the best Mexican in Prague.  I organized a dinner and was pleasantly surprised by the turnout- 10 people showed up.  We shared pitchers of margaritas and ate too much food (I had chicken tacos which really were delicious) and just had a blast.  The space was small and cramped and the food was as authentic as anywhere I'd imagine you'd find (it's owned my 2 mexican men) and in a way, it almost reminded me of being back at don memos (but classier).  I hadn't really planned anything else for the evening, but a group of 5 of us decided that we really needed to explore more of Prague so we decided to go clubbing.

First, we headed to a place called Radost, which is just a few blocks from where I live.  It was early (only about 10PM) but we were the ONLY people in the place so we decided to head to a different spot to start the night.  We ended up at a place called Retro.  It has a big dance floor in the center of the room that is a step down from the edges of the room where the tables and such are and there was a strobe light and bad music playing... it reminded me and the other American girl of a skating rink.  We settled in and talked and laughed, made fun of the security guys who were wearing rhinestoned shirts labeling them as such, and once the place started to fill up, we finally started dancing.  The music was terrible though, so we decided to head out and see if things at Radost had picked up.

On our way back we passed a potraviny, which is like a little corner store, and we stopped for ice cream.  One of the girls with us has lived in Prague for a few years and she recommended the "ruska" (aka "Russian") bar.  It's like an ice cream sandwich only instead of the chocolate/cookie part, it's between flat ice cream cone stuff.  It's brilliant.

Anyway, after ice cream we headed back to Radost where we made friends with the bartender (Mario), a professional basketball team from Nuremberg, 2 professional basketball players from Prague, and a few other Czech girls and guys.  We also danced and talked and it was a great time.  Around 3:30 I finally decided to call it quits and headed home but it was definitely an amazing Saturday night and I really got to know Tamela, Jena, Lauren and Katy much better... I feel like co-workers will also be good friends.

Today has been much quieter.  I bought a bus ticket to Munich for Oktoberfest (also my birthday weekend!) and picked up a few more items for the apartment (a hand towel for the bathroom, a drying rack for clothes, etc).  Other than that, I read in the park for a bit, and got organized for my first day of teacher training tomorrow.  I'll let you all know how school goes!

Staff Survival

The past few days have been hectic, but overall pretty awesome.  Tuesday I didn't make it out to the school, only part way before realizing the bus out the the school doesn't run very regularly in the middle of the day and heading back to the city.  I wandered more, stumbled upon a few restaurants I'd like to try and yet another beer garden.  Overall, Tuesday was just relaxing.

Wednesday I ran more errands (they are wrapping up, I promise!) and met with the school's consultant for my visa.  While meeting with her, I met one of the other new teachers at the school, a guy named Will from New Hampshire who is a few years older and has been teaching for several years (just not here in Prague).  After getting our visa paperwork handled, we headed to Riegrovy Sady to the beer garden for the views and a beer.  I tried a dark beer called Kozol which I actually really enjoyed.  After a beer, Will and I had dinner before splitting off to head home and prepare for Thursday/Friday: Staff Survival for school staff.

The entire school staff met up at 9:30 at Hlavni Nadrazi, the main train station in Prague.  After some quick introductions and way too many names, we headed to our train to Zdice, a small town about an hour south west of Prague.  Once there, we put our sleeping bags and mats in the car that would meet us part way up the trail and we headed off on a roughly 4 mile hike.  The hike was steeper than most of us were expecting, and while most people had backpacks... I'm absurd and forgot to pack one so I had a tiny duffle with a cross body strap (not at all ideal for a hike).  Still, the scenery was beautiful and it was a really warm, nice morning.  After 4 miles, we took a break to do "team building."  This consisted of breaking the 30 or so people into 4 groups of 7-8 and sending us to do various tasks (a ropes course, a few games, and charades of literally translated Czech and English sayings (It's raining cats and dogs is an example of and English one and we had to act out one to the Czechs on our team that, when translated literally was, "Stags fighting in a rut").  It was fun and my co-teacher (that I'll teach with all day everyday) and both of my bosses were in my group... so far I think I'll really like everyone.

Next, we headed off for lunch.  It was around 2PM by now, and while it was probably only a bit over a mile to the tiny village and restaurant, it felt like ages.  For lunch, I had plain grilled chicken and plain boiled potatoes.  Safe for me to eat, but SO bland.  Still, it was good food and filling, so that was good. After lunch, we hiked another 1/2 mile or so and then played more games/did more team building.  This time it was things like navigating through strings put up almost like a spider web without touching the string, and building a tent as a team while everyone was blind folded.  These were fun, but everyone was a bit sleepy from lunch so it wasn't as wild as the earlier games were.  After these games, we were each told to run to right if we liked red and to the left if we preferred yellow.  It turns out there are multiple paths up to the castle... one is safe for cars... a smooth trail that is rolling hills, flat and easy.  The other, is a steep 3 mile hike up a rocky path that is narrow and not so well established.  Naturally, I went to the yellow side and naturally, we were assigned the steep path.

The hike was WAY harder than I anticipated.  Remember, I am still lugging a duffle bag, not even a backpack (which is now also holding 2 liters of water that we each had to carry a bottle of) and I'm not in the best shape.  Still, the path was gorgeous and we definitely got the better views by hiking straight up and over the hill to Tocnik Castle (or the ruins of Tocnik Castle) where we'd be staying the night.  The castle is old, but not incredibly so for a castle.  It was built in 1300s when King Wenceslas IV (King Vaclav IV to the Czechs) decided to build it above his main castle (Zebrak) as a more strategic location.

Once to the castle, we unloaded the mats/sleeping bags and then explored.  I hate to reference Game of Thrones (again... I know... I am such a nerd) but the old castle made me imagine some of the castles from the books.  There is just so much history there and it was incredible to see.  After some exploring we lit a campfire, cooked dinner, and sat around talking, singing, drinking beer/wine, and getting to know each other.  There are lots of new, young teachers and there are a few of us that seem to get along quite well, including another new kindergarten teacher, Jena, who is Scottish.

When it finally got to be 1 or so, Jena and I decided to head to sleep.  We picked a nice open area, and since it was open air camping (no tent) we just spread our mats and bags and laid under the stars.  The sky is SO clear and I saw multiple shooting stars... it was just surreal to be sleeping in the walls of a medieval castle with no roof with a crystal clear sky above.  After some "get to know you" talking and laughing, Jana and I finally drifted off to sleep.  I was cold, but sleeping decently, until around 3:15AM when the rain started.  It took me a minute to wake up enough to register what what happening, and that I may need to move... then I had to get on my tennis shoes, grab my duffel, sleeping bag and mat, and make a mad dash for the covered/indoor part of the castle (away from leaks and hopefully without bats and spiders).  Keep in mind that it's pitch black and I don't really know where I'm going.  By the time I found a dry place, I was soaked, as was my sleeping bag.  I had a change of clothes and dried my mat off, but it was a cold rest of the night.

Anyway, once morning finally rolled around, we had breakfast and then loaded up the van with sleeping bags and mats and headed back to a different (closer) town to a train station back to Prague.  The hike was supposed to be 1.5-2 miles and we gave ourselves well over an hour to get there.... turns out the train station was more like 5 miles.  We realized this about 30 minutes before our train departed so one of the ladies who drove supplies up came in her car to pick us up, 8 at a time, to try to ferry all 30 of us to the train station before the train left.  Miraculously, we made it.

It was an awesome trip and a fabulous bonding experience, but my day didn't stop when we got back to Prague.  As soon as we arrived in the city I had to head out to a far metro stop (next to last stop on the outskirts of the city) to pick up a document for my visa.  Then, I met with a friend of a friend of a friend who is only in town for another week but who offered so show me a few cute places.  She pointed out several places that I can't wait to try and we ended up having desserts at a little place called Cafe Lourve (wrong country, I know).

I've been relaxing since then, but in about 20 minutes I'm off to a show that one of the teachers is playing at an expats cafe.  This weekend should be full of more fun adventures- I already have been making plans!  I'll keep everyone posted.

For photos of the camping adventure you can see the facebook album by copying and pasting this link into your address bar (or just visiting my most recent album on facebook): http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3602145648536.2134286.1120410094&type=1&l=e4e5f2c52e

Exploration!

The past few days have involved more exploring and more settling in. My roommate finally arrived home from his travels so I got to meet who I'm living with and I think we'll get along well... no immediate signs of crazy or conflict.  I ran more errands yesterday- and thanks to Carmen's tip on my last entry, I knew to check the electronics store for a hairdryer and straightener.  I also bought some tupperware to take my lunch to school, researched phones a bit, and walked around a bit... mostly just the neighborhood I live in.  It was a Sunday, so not too much was open, but it was nice to explore the area that I live in.  Lastly, I figured out the tram mystery, which is really just that sometimes the machines towards the back of the tram are finicky but if you board up my the driver they work fine.  I have no idea if this is common or I just had bad luck with my initial sampling of trams.  

Today I was much more productive.  I hung out with my roommate this morning and he showed me the corner market where he buys produce.  Then, I headed off to get a sim card for my phone.  I have no real concept of how many minutes a month I'll use, but I bought a prepaid card/account and I can re-load that when it runs out.  Then, I headed to a bank near Wenceslas Square that has an expat center.  In the Czech Republic, it's common for banks to charge a monthly fee for their services... the one I went to wanted about $20 a month though which seemed like a lot for checking, so I'm going to do some more research.  

After deciding to hold off on a bank account, I wandered through Wenceslas Square.  It's pretty, but largely a tourist trap.  I preferred to wander once I got to some of the tinier side streets a few blocks away.  After awhile it got really hot (I never thought I would say that about Prague but it hit 99 today and no where has air conditioning!) so I wandered back to my apartment for a smoothie.  After resting up, I decided to take another walk in a different direction and explore a new area.  I wandered north east from my apartment towards Riegovy Sady which is a nice park on a hill with beautiful views over the city.  On the way, I stumbled upon a gorgeous old church.  It turned out to be the Church of St. Ludmila and while it turns out that it's really not so old (late 1800s) something about it felt really medieval.  The nerd in me thought it looked like something I might see in Kings Landing straight out of A Game of Thrones (the books, not the HBO series since I have no idea what they'd portrayed it like on t.v.).  Anyway, after soaking in the church, I walked on to Riegovy Sady and read Anne of Green Gables (childhood favorite) and drank a pilsner and just enjoyed the beautiful weather.  

On the way home, I stopped again at the church and settled down in the green space out front to read some more.  Tonight I've skyped with mom and made a simple dinner (sauteed mushrooms, roasted cherry tomatoes, warm bread and a bit of pesto).  Tomorrow I plan to head out to see the school where I'll be working and work on getting a year's metro pass (by far the cheapest option).  I'll keep y'all posted!

Departure and Arrival

Greetings from Prague!

My adventure abroad started 2 days ago (has it really been 2 days!?) when I left Madison for the Atlanta Airport with entirely too much luggage and, admittedly, some nervous butterflies.  My flight from Atlanta to JFK left at 12:25 and I thankfully got a seat.  As I was boarding, they said there was no room for carry-ons so they grabbed my carry-on suitcase and checked it through to Prague.  At first I was trying to think if there was anything I could need out of it... but in the end, I figured it was one less thing to lug around and just let them take it without worrying about it.  

Once to JFK, I had a 5 hour lay-over.  I mostly read and finished up last minute things... getting a bit of money exchanged, checked loads for the flight to Prague, etc.  Closer to boarding, the gate area became a mad-house.  For some reason, the airport was boarding a Seattle flight and the Prague flight from the same gate (the Seattle flight left about a 40 minutes before the Prague flight).  There were several Czechs around who didn't speak English and the gate people wouldn't let them on the flight (since it was going to Seattle) and there was lots of yelling and confusion.  That flight was late getting off so when ours finally started boarding, it was only about 20 minutes before departure... not a lot of time for an international, passport controlled flight. 

As names were called and passengers were boarding, I waited like a typical non-rev... sitting all relaxed in my seat at first and then getting up and hanging back from the desk in hopes they would call my name.  I finally called mom and dad in a panic as I realized that the final paperwork was going down and I wasn't on the flight.  There was 1 seat on the flight and 2 people in front of me on the non-rev list... but thankfully they didn't want to split up so I took the very last seat on the flight... not just a huge relief in general but also because the next flight out (on Saturday) had no open seats and the flight after that (leaving Monday) would have meant not arriving in Prague until Tuesday (right before I start work).  Plus, my checked carry on had pretty much everything I would have needed to be stranded somewhere in it.  Needless to say... I felt much better when that boarding door finally closed.  

Anyway, my seat was in an exit row (limited recline) and right next to the lavatory (smell, butts in my faces, constant bumping into me as people maneuvered in and out of the area, but I was so glad to be on the plane that I didn't care.  I sat down, got settled, and waited on the flight to push back... and waited... and waited.  An hour later, the pilot announced that the delay had ben caused by problems loading cardo but it was finally loaded and we were ready to push back.  I put my kindle away and we taxied out to a runway and I waited for take-off, and waited... and waited.  After 30 minutes or so the pilot came back on and informed us that there was a mechanical issue on the flight and to hang tight.  Another 10 minutes pass and we were told the plane may need to go back to the gate and we may or may not need to de-plane.  Thankfully, after another 30 minutes we find out that it was all fixed while we sat there and we're good to go.  So over 2 hours after our scheduled departure, I was finally off to Prague.  

The flight wasn't super restful, but it was uneventful once we finally got in the air.  We landed in Prague at 11:35AM local time and I headed through customs and to get all my luggage.  Some nice Czech man helped me load it on to a (free!) baggage cart and then I got a cab to my apartment. (Yes, I know the cab driver very likely ripped me off, but with my luggage being larger than me in size and weight it was worth every penny!)  My roommate is traveling right now so his Slovak friend met me at the apartment to give me keys and let me in.  The location is PERFECT (I seriously couldn't have asked for a better place) and the apartment itself is pretty nice.  I have a big room, it's clean and furnished.  The living room and kitchen are roomy for the city I think, and the bathroom is teeny-tiny but clean with lots of hot water.

After I unpacked I went to pick up a few necessities (a laundry hamper, some coat hangers, etc).  After dropping those back by the apartment, I explored my new neighborhood and stopped to have dinner and a beer.  Food might be a challenge for me here (even every single chicken dish had bacon or ham with it) but I finally spotted a fillet of fish over potatoes with peas and slaw.  After a beer the size of my head, all I wanted to do was sleep so I wandered back to my apartment for the night... not super exciting but I haven't met anyone yet and I was exhausted from the 24 hours of travel.  

Today I slept in and have been running errands and stumbling across gorgeous places in the process.  I've bought a few more things for my room and conquered my first trip to the grocery store.  I'm still puzzled by sheet sizes here (no direct translations of "double" or "queen" and of course the measurements are all metric), where to buy a hair dryer (not the mall, the grocery store, or the pharmacy), and how to pay for the tram (I bought tickets, but the machine on the tram won't validate them so I've been riding without technically paying... need to figure out that one soon).  

Tomorrow I'll stop being boring and do some legitimate exploring... for some reason jet lag hit me harder than it normally does and tonight I think I'm going to relax with pasta and a good book.