New Pictures!

Just letting y'all know that I have some new pictures up at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/beccacesko1b

They don't have captions yet, but I'll work on getting those on soon.

There are also websties
http://picasaweb.google.com/beccacesko1
and
http://picasaweb.google.com/beccacesko1a

Tak, ted' nemam nic řict, ale nevadí

So, the title of this post isn't very exciting, or important, but anyway, I supposed it was time for a new post.

Not much has happened recently. I finished Atlas Shrugged today, and it is SUCH A GOOD BOOK. Recommended reading. I am rather captivated by Ayn Rand's philosophy, and the writing is just good. There was a part that included a 60 page monologue (I suppose only a small part of the 1083 pages), which got a little boring, just because it is a long time for one character to talk; the ideas were interesting, but anyway. Great book. Amazing author. I'm just sad I've read all her major books.

Hmm, what else. Yes, I got a library card to the public library in Brno. I haven't actually checked out any books yet, but I think I will in the near future. Right now my card is just more used for using the free internet you can get for time exceeding an hour at the library with a card. Good thing to do when I have a couple hours to wait between school and rowing or something. But they do have a pretty good (couple bookshelves) selection of English books, and of course lots of czech ones, something I am working up to. Right now I am reading the wizard of oz in czech and english (the pages of each are right next to each other, making it easier to get through things i don't understand).

I bought a new czech textbook, 'Chcete jeste lepe mluvit cesky?', or 'do you want to speak even better czech?'. There aren't many learn czech textbooks on the market, especially for anything intermediate or advanced, but this one came recommended by a girl who was here a couple years ago. I have found that info on the internet can't really be found, and the best way to research these textbooks is to go to a couple bookstores, and just look at all the books they have to learn czech.

I think I will be on Ceska Televize (czech tv) for the second time because today they came to tape something about Mensa, the program my host mom is involved in, and it was sort of a family affair. The first time was for rosh hashanah, but I'm not sure if that actually ever made it on air because I had school when it was on. So who knows?

Back and a little bruised

So I'm back from the mountains of Slovakia....if you want REAL mountains, of any kind, around here, you have to venture into Slovakia. There you will find yourself going from the rolling hills of the Czech Republic, slowly into the snow capped mountains of Slovakia. And while there was some snow, there was not much. Apparently the snow there is maybe a third of what it normally is. The hill the house we stayed in was on was covered the first day, and by the last, it was mostly brown. And snow doesn't melt quickly here.

Anyway, this little ski trip to Slovakia was during the spring break for my school. Basically it was my family, and two others. 6 other kids, ages 5,6,8,8,10,13. My time not spent outside in snow was divided between playing cards with kids, playing cards with adults, and making considerable progress into Atlas Shrugged, a book that continues to captivate me 800 pages in.

I decided during this week that I really don't like skiing, but snowboarding is awesome, even if you do end up spending a fair amount of time on your knees, butt, wrists, *insert body part here*, etc. I am quite bruised, with a pair of red and brown knees, among other bruises, but I rather enjoyed my self taught snowboarding. After venturing down places I thought I wouldn't, and watching people who know better than me what they are doing, I think I got down the basics after my first couple days with my two feet strapped to one board.

I may or may not be going on another skiing trip not this week, but the next, depending on whether there is enough snow in the czech "mountains". We'll see.

Life...

So I just thought I would post a short post before I leave for Slovakia on Saturday. I don't know if I will have internet there, it doesn't look like I will, so don't get worried! I plan on improving my snowboarding while there, so I'll let y'all know how that went when I get back. Mom and Dad--I am still expecting an 8 o'clock phone call that next sunday.

Hmm, what's been going on? I wrote my first test in my new school. It was for physics, and I got a 4 (= D) and I'm pretty happy about it. I think it might be my first D. But there were 12 questions, with translating and stuff I only had time to answer 7 of them, and out of the 7 I got 5 right. It was the same score my desk partner got. I was happy.

Skiing

So I got back yesterday from another AFS weekend, this time in the "mountains" (aka slightly bigger hills). It was fun. I skiied for the first time in about 6 years, and I also tried snowboarding again for the first time in 8 years. and I LOVE IT! (snowboarding).

I don't really have time to write a lot right now, but I'll just write a bit.

We have a new student in Moravia, Hector (Paraguay), who is here for a semester, so we are back up to 18 students after the other American went home.

There is a really interesting split in our group of exchange students between Asians and those of European descent. I think it has to do with how cultures look at things, and ideas of fun, and "maturity", but it's rather interesting to see.