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things you have to explain when you’re an ESL teacher
a response to the all too true, “11 things you have to explain when you’re an esl (english as a second language) teacher”. number one: “our job is more awkward than yours.”well, if that ain’t the truth. being an english teacher can sometimes seem not so far away from prostitution. your services are in demand, you go back to your place, receive cash afterwards, they leave, the next client comes in. it involves acting like a total extrovert, and oh, there is a load of acting involved. it also involves telling a forty year old man , oh so gently, that the “n word” is not the most acceptable term…
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lately, september
time for coffee chat & catching up! + last weekend (above) was so beautiful and warm that something particularly summery was in order… and what is more summery than a picnic! just to throw a big middle finger to fall and be all, hey, it’s not time for you yet… back off. (alright, i know autumn is creeping on us and i do actually embrace it!) + a strange a wonderful phenomenon has occurred with the changing of the weather into autumn and getting out the cold weather coats for the first time: MONEY! there have been two recent instances within a recent one week span of pulling out a good…
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the bake off bake along, week 3
week three in the bake off bake along is bread week! hooray, bread! but of course, i have to choose from between a quick bread, a baguette, and the show-stopper, an elaborate bread-sculpture. in keeping with staying far away from the show-stopper challenges, and i’m not a fan of baguettes (just not a sandwich kind of girl) left me with the quick bread. immediately, i had an idea for my loaf that i had to run with. throughout my childhood, my mom would buy this cheddar jalapeño loaf at safeway and it was soooo good. mountains of cheddar, the spiciness of the jalapeño that left you wanting a tall glass…
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i heard it at summer camp
ahhhh, summer camp. the obligatory summer job that helps keep the lights on around here in those slower months when people aren’t exactly jumping at the idea of having lessons, but it also brings us great joy… when summer camp is administered in small doses, of course. we almost missed out on summer camp this year entirely because of our back to america travel plans but managed to teach one week of it right after we came back from greece. one thing i love about it, besides tasting all of the czech meals at lunch time, is it’s not so much just teaching as it is hanging out with kids.…
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the bake off bake along, week 1
so, what do you do when it’s too hot too go outside? stay in and bake, of course! i have never seen the bbc program, the great british bake-off, until a couple days ago when i decided to give it a go. (hey, it was too hot to do anything else) i actually really enjoyed it– it reminded me of my love of british programming and britain itself. after my seven week stint falling in love with the UK three years ago living with hosts throughout scotland, you can go ahead and call me an anglophile. (full on. card carrying member.) so! with the dog days of summer in full…
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home improvement
upgrades, upgrades. moving on up. i could call this post “living without stuff pt IV: cynthia decides to scrap the whole minimalism thing”, but that’s not entirely true. you see… by athens (the last couple days of a two month american/grecian travel whirlwind), i was so excited to get back to my own flat and just do normal life things. cook, read, hang out on the balcony… but since we’ve decided to stay at least one more year here in budejovice, we realized our living situation needed a little overhaul.maybe this is because of the “luxurious” american living we’ve experienced… or perhaps it’s more closely related to our renewed determination…
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rainy krumlov
may first in many cities across europe means an all day party in the street in celebration of european labor day. may first in czech republic, well, that is probably one of the quietest days you ever did see… probably because everyone gets a bit wild for witches’ night the night before. but of course, i am awake. me, with scheduling a lesson pre 9am and deciding to head out to krumlov for the day. the streets of budějovice , especially usually bustling lannova třída were as dead as doornails. so, krumlov: also emptier than i have ever seen it, even in the dead of winter! the atmosphere was cool and…
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spring stories (from our czechpat life)
a big ol’ smattering of a spring update is here, now that it’s suddenly may and things are really happening! starting out freezing, peaking mid-month with warm temps, and ending on a cold rainy note, april in budějovice came and went. we postponed our “cabin in the nature” trip until the end of summer due to this, below left, from alex’s birthday. (second out of three birthdays of his spent in czechland that have snowed!) spring definitely got a slow start here in europe this year. funny that now spring has sprung, everything has exploded with greenery and you’d never know it was like that at all. (see photos, at right)…
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on being a foreigner
like many of you i’m sure, the feeling of being in a foreign place feels so completely thrilling. but, there are times when that general excitement for life in a foreign place can turn downright tiresome. i have a weird hang-up and i suppose i will be honest and divulge it to you, my friends: sometimes i feel as though i don’t deserve as much (in general) as the local people do just because i don’t speak their language. take for example, a few days ago at a pizzeria. i had a few slices of pizza yet i wanted to take home, but i almost didn’t feel like asking for…
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třeboň + april weekends
how odd it was to go from a full day of snow to sunny and 18°C in one week! from winter coat to bare legs and sandals. but that’s april for you. (shrug) in case you haven’t yet guessed, we had to postpone our lovely little cabin trip ‘til august… ‘cause when the proprietor contacts you the day before to tell you “it’s like winter here!”, you listen. (we just took off for prague instead, which i’ll post about on tuesday) so with the forecast looking wonderful this weekend, we spent the afternoon in třeboň, only about a half-hour away. třeboň is one of my sobo (south bohemia) happy places. i love to…
