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july: friday things
hi friends, have you been enjoying july? i look forward to this month every year, and although we’re not livin’ it up in santorini as we were this time last year, it’s been a great one with days that are not as typically hot as the usual central european summer and plenty of thunderstorms and rain. (times i’ve been caught out in a storm this summer without proper gear and soaked: 2) but what’s better than being cozy and inside while the windows are open listening to the rain on a warm summer’s night? besides being in a forest hunting for wild blueberries, that is? here are five things that…
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maybe i’ve made it
happy july, friends! alex sometimes makes fun of me about how much i love the changing of the months and the seasons… and i guess there’s some things to make fun of. i am so excited i do get up early to go change the page on the calendar (and god forbid i’ve actually looked at what the next picture will be before the month is through; that would ruin everything). i’ve been known to take the first of december off work just to decorate the house before; that has happened. but it’s especially july that i’m excited about… the beginning of summer. so much possibility! everything’s just getting started!…
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talk is small
“hey, what’s up?” to be asked this question asked is the nightmare of most people who don’t know how to respond to it. (by the way, the only possible answer to this question: “not much, and you?”) even though i’ve lived here a little while now, i still like to ask people “how are you?” as one of the first questions. not strangers, but really, friends… people i know. i will usually get one of two responses. the first: “uhhhhhhh, fine! (that’s what you expect me to say, right?)” or the second: “terrible. the kids are behaving badly, the dog has got into the garden again, and the weather is…
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april: friday things
hello! is it just me or do things in “blog world” seem to be a bit quieter than usual? i suppose me as well, i’ve been writing only about once weekly, which seems to be a fine pace for a person who is not new to making a transition abroad and being immersed in a completely new culture. i’m feeling pretty at peace with that. but, i think it’s time to catch up on some life lately! so here’s my “five for friday” of what’s been happening lately. (above, some delicious smoothies and koláče picked up from a bakery last saturday and eaten on the balcony) 1. teaching i am…
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the world is bigger than you
with all of the american election news flopping around (flop seems like an accurate verb), tensions are beginning to run higher than usual with most everyone, i’ve noticed. it’s tough when the main ways that you communicate with your friends back home are through social media outlets, like facebook, which means that we don’t usually see all of the great things about those friends that remind you why you two are friends. often, we end up only seeing the ugly. sometimes, really ugly. this past week, a friend of ours asked my husband the following question on facebook… “if you live in greener grasses of europe, why does it matter who…
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our little household
although i often scheme and dream about being back “on the road” (which we actually will be doing for a month this summer!), i can’t say enough about how much i love our little home here in south bohemia, a dreamy, slower-paced corner of the country near rivers, farms, and forests. i love our beautiful altbau-style building and flat that was actually built by my landlord’s grandfather in 1913, exactly one hundred years before we moved in. i love our big heavy wooden table, our kitchen full of light. our balcony, which i am dying to spend more time on and really create a special space with more plants than…
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eye on the prize
living in central europe working as an english teacher, you can get by pretty well. i know you read a lot about the wages of ESL teachers in europe being basically enough to just slide by on, but that’s not necessarily true. sure, if we’re talking u.s. dollars, we are totally below the poverty line. however, if we’re talking about the average wages in the czech republic, we are doing pretty well! salary vs. cost of living results favorably. i have talked at length about how it’s possible that we travel a lot on a teacher’s salary. even so, when we live a life in which we should, for all intents…
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gratitude
“so, when are you going back to the states?”well, we have some friends that are engaged, so probably whenever the weddings are.[laughing] “.. err… so, are you going to be staying there for awhile?”ah-hah, there it is. the question i get basically every time i talk to my dad on the phone. not that i want to get into what is happening in the united states at the moment, but i don’t really think i am a victim of the recession. well, in one way i sort of am, as i graduated college at the worst possible time in decades to try to find an entry-level position, even in a…
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telč & its beautiful square
every year in february, excepting the year we had just moved here, we like to take a little february getaway. this is mostly because alex, as an english teacher of primary school aged children, gets a whole week for spring break! as a freelancer, i do not get a complete week unless it’s reeeeally important (berlinale!) but i can try to shift around my lessons in order to do something fun that week. this week, a sudden cold threatened my weekend plans. i woke up friday unable to speak with a normal human voice and having to cough and blow my nose every three minutes. but i have to tell…
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contentedness
so far this year, there’s been no big milestones, or “lily-pads” as emma calls them. but even so, life “between the lily-pads” has been rolling along. i was so thankful just to stick around in one place in january, and although february brings even more travel scheming and dreaming, i have just been perfectly content lately. content to be here, with life… not in a “my life is so exciting!” kind of way but just a quiet sort of happiness. my instagram, usually buzzing with photos of czech architecture i pass on my day to day life has even been quieter than usual. no need to take photos or write…
