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December/Prosinec
ahhh, my favorite time of year is here again! and this year i’m not taking classes and studying like mad so i can really enjoy it. the first snow of the winter fell last week and boy, it was perfect. light fluffy swirling snowflakes: my favorite! got into the spirit and ordered myself an early christmas gift of this pine mason jar candle. (big candles are not a thing here) the path from the bus stop to the plant i teach at (my usual monday and tuesday morning) also, the first place i taught last february, always in the snow. we’ve come full circle! an excellent start of the season.…
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Starbucks Abroad: Prague
so, i can’t hide it. i’m from the seattle area and i love starbucks. i’ve worked for them for almost four years directly preceding this adventure. in fact, i was a barista trainer, teaching new employees the low down on how to make the perfect cup of coffee or latte. so, love it or hate it, it’s with me now… there’s no getting away from it. and visiting starbucks abroad really makes me feel at home. i can have a cappuccino or a macchiato any old day, but i can rarely get a good cup of christmas blend or a gingerbread latte, so it’s something special these days. recently while…
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Living in Europe, pt II
there’s this weird phenomenon that starts to happen after about a year of living abroad: it becomes harder and harder to imagine returning home. the thought is scarier and scarier…. not only because we still are not confident about where we would work, where we would live, and what we would do…. but because that would also mean leaving life over here. which is pretty great. i mean, gosh! i live in europe! every day i feel lucky to enjoy life here. meeting other expats that have stayed here for years is quite interesting too; to hear their take on living in a small czech city vs. prague vs. the…
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Prahably
i sometimes do things on the weekends like walk around charles bridge and take in the amazing lit up architecture of mala strana. drink dark unfiltered beer in some nice friendly pub in hradcanska with friends. going to america bar on america street in vinohrady. explore new streets that used to be unfamiliar to me. refresh my memory of what tram routes go which places. take a nice foggy morning walk to the starbucks at ip pavlova for a gingerbread latte. i do these things and love life. and this view will never get old. (photos from walking home, last january)
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My Own Private Náměstí
české budějovice is a really beautiful city and has so many lovely spots: česka street, main town square, which is actually called přemysl otakar II náměstí. but currently my favorite place is a lovely little square called piaristické náměstí– piarist’s square. i had no idea what a piarist was until i came across the term mentioned in the good soldier svejk– a nickname for people belonging to: the order of poor clerics regular of the mother of god of the pious schools. this would make sense because this city has a loooong religious tradition, as it has been the seat of the roman catholic diocese since 1785. bam. so anyway, i’m walking to a lesson sometime…
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Hallo-Week
hello listopad (november) in czech republic. i’ve seen you somewhere before. oh yeah– it was last year when we moved into you! yes, we arrived on a train from berlin fraught with worry and anxiety over an incident with the ticket checker and also our failure to follow instructions and meet our contact person at the correct place and time at hlavni nadraži (central station), prague. finally we were whisked away by taxi and shown to our simple apartment on kolbenova street, vysočanska district (prague 9). boy, that day was a culture shock. and going to one of the many chinese restaurants to realize we couldn’t say anything… not a lick…
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Passau Passt – An Autumn Bavaria Trip
we had a three day weekend thanks to czech national day! three day weekends are just made for trips. so we went to bavaria to a lovely little city on the SE german/austrian border called passau. passau is a small city in south-eastern bavaria (at approx 50,000 it has only half the population of ceske budejovice) and is only a four hour train ride away, with a change in linz, austria. (a great reminder of why living in europe is so wonderful and always exciting: getting anywhere in a short amount of time!) i wanted to go to passau because during my prior travels in germany (which are admittedly quite…
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Lately, Fall Pt. II
this has been a weird week. the weather has been strange (highs of 20’C some days!) and been thinking a lot about the czech republic. one day loving it, the next, exhausted by the stares of crabby old people. thinking about friends, about relationships, about life, about home….. but at least it wasn’t as weird as last week with no electricity, hot water or heat! so thankful to be warm. preparing now for a nice little weekend in eastern bavaria! i haven’t been to bavaria in years, and i’m rather looking forward to a little shopping, some mugs of helles from a famous old brauerei, rich history and architecture and…
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Living Without Stuff
i came over to europe with only those things that would fit comfortably in my (large) backpack. well, fit comfortably isn’t exactly correct because it was totally over-stuffed and weighed more than even alex’s bag and huuuurt if i wore it for over an hour. ouch. (below, me and said backpack in gimmelwald, switzerland, 2008) but i am now settled in a place: České Budějovice for the time being. it’s nice to live somewhere. to have plants (my small “herb garden”) and make baked goods. to have people over for tea or dinner. this is living as usual and it’s nice. since i’ve stopped moving around in january of this year…
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Desperate Times
sometimes i feel like alex and i are like harry and lloyd from dumb and dumber. living together in a former communist central european country where we don’t speak the language with only each other to count on, when it comes down to it. i realized this yesterday, which was day three of the great unexplained power outage. at one point i sat there in my hoodie that doesn’t zip anymore thinking, okay. we have no food. we have no money. my employer is two days late with the paycheck. we have no hot water… we have no heat… my phone is out of minutes…. “our pets’ heads are falling off!”…
