a conversation

so, i’m standing in the kitchen at my language school, washing a tea mug when a fellow teacher (czech) enters the room.

Her: (something in Czech)
Me: …….. ?
Her: You don’t speak Czech?!?!?
Me: No……….. not really.
Her: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE?
Me: Well, it’s been over a year now…. [By now, it’s safe to say I was feeling extremely sheepish]
Her: Well, are you going to learn?
Me: I would like to, it’s just… I don’t know how long I’ll be living here for.
Her: When will you know?! [She’s kind of a ball-buster, this one]
Me: Sometime this spring.
Her: It’s spring now!
Me: (start to slowly back away) Err… well, definitely by May or June.
Her: Well, do you want to stay here? [Oh geez!]
Me: Yes, of course (probably blushing by now), it’s just that there are other factors to consider.
Her: You know, I taught two Finnish guys and they learned Czech in a year!
Me: Wow, really? Well, maybe you should teach me.

…..

and this is how i found myself with the strong urge to learn czech this fine day. after this conversation, my only options seem to be learn czech or feel like a useless and pathetic american. in hindsight, i should’ve explained that in the past i’ve been useless at learning two languages concurrently, and that i feel as though my german fluency (or what little exists of it) would suffer. or that i had taken czech classes for seven weeks last year. but this girl wasn’t taking no for an answer, obviously. she falls into the category of really blunt czechs, opposed to the category of those that use so many niceties that it begins to sound ridiculous after awhile, like saying “it’s not possible” for every situation. all’s i know is i’m officially lookin’ to take czech classes again!

enjoy your last day of winter, all! i was treated to a downpour this morning in a city where it rarely rains– a sign that i took to mean that winter is just getting it out of its system.