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prague jokes
it rains today. gloomy, grey and dark and making me wish for spring’s arrival as soon as possible. i wanna get out there! on friday (as i wrote below) we were in prague for three hours in order to visit the foreign poice in zizkov. because our appointment unexpectedly lasted maybe a half hour, alex wanted to take an earlier bus back because he had work to do for his monthly reports. naturally i would allow this, but i kept teasing him with things we could do if we stayed in prague for an extra three hours to try and change his mind. “we could….. go shopping?“ no. “we could…..…
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the week of bureaucracy
this week has been the most exhausting one since i’ve moved to the czech republic. having the visa trip in the first part of the week was tiring enough as it was, and it took me literally two nights more worth of sleep to feel normal again. even riding the city buses to my lessons this week made me think…. “i don’t want to ride another bus somewhere for a good while”. the rule states that no more than three days after you receive your visa, you must register with the foreign police. we were fortunate enough to have alex’s boss marketa, who is czech, along with us for this…
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how to just barely get a visa
the past forty-eight hours have just been sort of a blur of long bus rides. we traveled to bratislava for the second time to pick up our visas, but it wasn’t all quite as simple as that. to obtain our visas, we had to show documentation that we have paid for at least six months of czech insurance, and could only pick up the visas within a half hour window. the bus we wanted to take that would eventually get us home before midnight would leave less than two hours from the visa pick-up time. recipe for stress! after barely making the bus TO bratislava in the first place, we…
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six months
happy march! yesterday was the big six month in europe milestone, since we landed in glasgow, scotland on august 31, 2012 shivering in our summer clothes. six months in europe was sort of the baseline: the minimum time spent here for me to consider this adventure successful. hooray! of course being away from home for over six months (seven since washington!) there are a few comforts i miss….. basically allllll of my billion jackets because it’s cold here and i love them. (the zara jacket i have now is pretty and lessens the pain) and that leafy green plant–kale– is NOT to be found here in the czech republic. it’s…
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summer plans
it may be the very end of february and there’s still a bit of melty snow on the ground, but we already have some summer plans in the works: alex and i are going to be camp counselors for english summer camps here in Ĉeské Budêjovice & Ĉesky Krumlov! these are day camps for children aged 5-10 that run for three weeks in july (four, if the demand is high enough) monday through friday. we will have english instruction time with the children in the morning, then fun, creative, and outdoor activities with them in the afternoons as well as some field trips. i’m pretty excited about this because i really enjoyed…
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english teaching success story
i think the months of december and january and all the uncertainty and stress about finances, jobs, and visas has all culminated to make up this week: the most successful week we’ve had since arriving in the czech republic. i received notification that my trade license (visa) is ready to pick up– legal to live and work in europe! obtained two new lessons: convinced one student to sign on for eight more weeks of lessons with me after a trial lesson! made verbal plans with landlords to remain living here in this beautiful flat for at least SIX MORE MONTHS for an amazing price. (something i’d been worried about since we moved…
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teaching english
i am now a long-term residence permit holder here in the czech republic! this means i’m legal to stay here for at least the next six months and am also legal to earn wages! this is extremely exciting, as it was definitely a huge concern even before leaving for europe. people often asked “howwww the heck are you going to stay past ninety days?” i had done some preliminary research and i felt pretty hopeful about it. plus, there was always my back-up plan of fleeing back to britain for a spell, or perhaps croatia. but britain in the wintertime wasn’t exactly what i was imagining, so i am dang…
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any day now
this past week has been a good one– one that pushed my comfort zone and made me nervous (as i had my first classes) but i think the more i teach the better i’ll feel about it! i’ve been patiently awaiting a ton of things it seems: my visa notification and a couple of packages from the U.S. that have not arrived for whatever reason. arghhhhh. a great week for alex though, as he got his visa notification and had an excellent first full week of teaching kids. he says “it went as expected”, which i think means it went well. above are some photos of budejovice from this week.…
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snowy sundays
awoke this morning with the intention of creating an amazing mexican brunch a la señor moose, my favorite ballard mexican joint. created chilaquiles with ingredients i had already– basically fried tortilla squares under variety of diced vegetables, two eggs topped with sour cream (erm… plain yogurt) and jalapeños, served with horchata lattes. this yielded a big thumbs up from alex, who could not believe he was enjoying eating a mushroom, a pepper, and an onion in a single bite (three vegetables he used to dislike). it’s near impossible to get food mexican food here, and they barely even sell mexican spices. at nicer grocery stores you can pick up…
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cesky krumlov-ing it
we took a day trip seeing as we both have the week off from lessons– half hour bus ride away to beautiful quaint little cesky krumlov. it is basically what would happen if prague was tiny and only old town with winding streets and plenty of cobblestones. alex is lucky enough to have the opportunity to work here, teaching the local primary school kids english once a week! the people are friendly and being there in february on a wednesday morning, it was practically deserted. (off-peak travel really ain’t that bad!) i had visited here six and a half years ago during my first “eastern/central europe” trip– it was the…
