So I'm not actually leaving on a jet plane, but this song encompasses a lot of what I am feeling right now about leaving the other exchange students in Opava.
All my bags are packed
Im ready to go
Im standin here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin
Its early morn
The taxis waitin
Hes blowin his horn
Already Im so lonesome
I could die
So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go
Theres so many times
Ive let you down
So many times Ive played around
I tell you now, they dont mean a thing
Evry place I go, Ill think of you
Evry song I sing, Ill sing for you
When I come back, Ill bring your wedding ring
So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go
Now the time has come to leave you
One more time
Let me kiss you
Then close your eyes
Ill be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I wont have to leave alone
About the times, I wont have to say
Oh, kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that youll wait for me
Hold me like youll never let me go
cause Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go
But, Im leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when Ill be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go
Words and music by john denver
So tomorrow at 5, I leave to go to Brno to stay until I have a new family. There was the possibility of staying with Mint until then, which I sort of want to do just to be close to her, Maria and Oey, but I think I'm ready to be in a new place. I just feel like I'm leaving my best friends all over again (and it was hard enough one time).
čtvrtek, listopadu 23, 2006
středa, listopadu 22, 2006
well...
So lately i haven't been spending that much time at home because things are just awkward. Basically right now it's just a place to sleep. But today when I got home Pavel said, Friday we are driving to Brno with all your things and you are going to go live with Eva (one of the volunteers) for a while. This is really strange and really sudden. I have no idea what is going on. I don't know if I am leaving Opava for good, or just temporarily or what. So now I have to pack, and tell my teacher, and my basketball coach, and my drumming instructor and everyone. I don't know what is happening. This is not a feeling I like.
pondělí, listopadu 20, 2006
neděle, listopadu 19, 2006
Unexpected News
So I just thought it would be good to update on something kind of big. I think for everything this is kind of unexpected, but I am changing families. There are multiple reasons that I won't go into detail about at this current time, but maybe later. Anyway, I'm not sure when exactly I will be switching, or where I will be, but when I have more news I will let you know.
čtvrtek, listopadu 16, 2006
Just a little update...
So I had a question in the comments about what ostrey means. It means spicy. It is important to the previous story for a reason I think I forgot to mention. Mint, one of the girls from Thailand, is in love with "extra ostrey ketchup". You can't get a lot of spicy things here, and that is probably the spiciest. It's funny though because the other Thai girl can't stand spicy food. Just goes to show that you don't need to like spicy food to live in Thailand.
Anyway, today. Today was the first time I have been invited anywhere with any of my classmates. Yesterday, a girl in my Russian class (not my actual class, but w/e) asked me if I wanted to go to a čajovna (tea room) with her and some of her friends. So today I went. It was fun. We went and drank tea and they got a hookah. I tried it, and I have to say it was interesting. I don't think I'll be taking it up more than occassionally, but it was in interesting experience. Her friends were really nice, and I realized my czech isn't half bad. One of them spoke pretty good english, so towards the end we had a little conversation in english. It was good.
The bus ride home was funny. The bus cam 35 minutes late (not completely unusual), and it was PACKED. And I mean, there were people in the entire bus, including the door wells and things. Anyway, it was funny.
I have to go to basketball now. čau.
Anyway, today. Today was the first time I have been invited anywhere with any of my classmates. Yesterday, a girl in my Russian class (not my actual class, but w/e) asked me if I wanted to go to a čajovna (tea room) with her and some of her friends. So today I went. It was fun. We went and drank tea and they got a hookah. I tried it, and I have to say it was interesting. I don't think I'll be taking it up more than occassionally, but it was in interesting experience. Her friends were really nice, and I realized my czech isn't half bad. One of them spoke pretty good english, so towards the end we had a little conversation in english. It was good.
The bus ride home was funny. The bus cam 35 minutes late (not completely unusual), and it was PACKED. And I mean, there were people in the entire bus, including the door wells and things. Anyway, it was funny.
I have to go to basketball now. čau.
pondělí, listopadu 13, 2006
And...ostrey it is!!
So sorry again for the long wait. I've been relatively busy. I will now proceed to update you on the goings of this last weekend, which I have to say was pretty fun.
So it started Friday night. I thought we were going on our first "family trip" but of course, we don't do that, so it was just an outing. It was my host aunts 30th birthday, and she was celebrating in a town about an hour away. It turns out that Dasi and Luci weren't coming, and instead staying home, and so it was just Dana, Pavel and me. It was an interesting party, but I can't say it was much fun for me. I did try whiskey for the first time, which in very small increments isn't half bad. Most of the time I spent finishing Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (very good book which, despite the fact I had to read it for school, I would recommend to anyone interested in reading a uh, interesting account of the US in the 1960s). We ended up leaving at like 1:30. And yeah, it wasn't all that exciting, especially due to the fact I thought originally it was going to be like a little trip where we could, I don't know, bond more or something. Anyway, that was the low point of the weekend, but it only got better.
Saturday morning was spent reading, doing homework and raking leaves (not fun in 0 degrees). At like 4 some "family friends" came over who have a three year old daughter, tripling the noise level in the house. Everyone that my family socializes with has little kids. It's definitely not something I'm used to, and not something I particularly care for, but I am learning to tolerate them. Anywho. Saturday night I went to a movie with Mint and Oey (students from Thailand). We went to go see "She's the Man", which was in English with Czech subtitles. It was really funny. We spent the whole movie laughing. We had all already seen it, but agreed that Channing Tatum is quite a looker. After that we went for pizza. We had like 2 and a half hours before my train left, which we originally thought was such a long time. We ended up having pizza, and ice cream and trying these strange, but good, hot juice things. Before we realized it, I had five minutes to get my train, and the station is at least a 25 minute walk away. We tried to find a bus, but buses don't like runing on weekends. So I ended up missing my train. The 2.5 hours was spent talking, laughing and eating, and went by like nothing. We decided that maybe I should just sleep at mint's house because my next train wasn't for another 2 hours. Anyway, we were going to take the trolley bus to her house, but we had just missed it, so we ran to the next stop, but we had just missed that one too. So we walked the 30 minutes to her house, just laughing and talking. It was great.
Once there, we watched yet another movie: Kill Bill 2. I have never seen it, and this was in czech. It was funny because every so often mint would tell me what was going on. It was great. Then was bed.
The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast etc. Then we decided that we would go to Globus (like wal mart) to buy food to make Thai food for dinner. We also then decided to see if Maria wanted to go. Despite the fact that she lives in Opava, she has only riden the trolley buses like twice in two months. So it was a tangled web of sms conversations trying to get her to understand which bus to take, and then we left. It was a rather uneventful ride to Globus, where we perused the aisles, getting some things to cook with (Globus has a rather large selection of thai food) waiting for maria to say that she was there. After like an hour, we called her, and apparently she hadn't left her house yet. So we went on with the next part of our journey: Tesco. It had started raining, so we ran to the bus stop, and then once the bus started, we weren't sure if it was actually going where we wanted. It was, so all was okay. Tesco is like, Target, I guess in comparison to Globus (wal-mart). This time was spent going to the bank, finding mint a jacket and buying some eye drops. There we met maria, haggled (in czech) with a shop assistant about the price of a jacket, and then headed back to mint's house.
Once there we waited for oey, and then proceeded to cook multitudes of thai food (well, three things; one spicy and very good, 2 not and also very good). Between the shrimp, onions and various sauces, it started smelling really good.
That is a short synopsis of my weekend. It was really fun. Yeah, that's it for now.
So it started Friday night. I thought we were going on our first "family trip" but of course, we don't do that, so it was just an outing. It was my host aunts 30th birthday, and she was celebrating in a town about an hour away. It turns out that Dasi and Luci weren't coming, and instead staying home, and so it was just Dana, Pavel and me. It was an interesting party, but I can't say it was much fun for me. I did try whiskey for the first time, which in very small increments isn't half bad. Most of the time I spent finishing Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion (very good book which, despite the fact I had to read it for school, I would recommend to anyone interested in reading a uh, interesting account of the US in the 1960s). We ended up leaving at like 1:30. And yeah, it wasn't all that exciting, especially due to the fact I thought originally it was going to be like a little trip where we could, I don't know, bond more or something. Anyway, that was the low point of the weekend, but it only got better.
Saturday morning was spent reading, doing homework and raking leaves (not fun in 0 degrees). At like 4 some "family friends" came over who have a three year old daughter, tripling the noise level in the house. Everyone that my family socializes with has little kids. It's definitely not something I'm used to, and not something I particularly care for, but I am learning to tolerate them. Anywho. Saturday night I went to a movie with Mint and Oey (students from Thailand). We went to go see "She's the Man", which was in English with Czech subtitles. It was really funny. We spent the whole movie laughing. We had all already seen it, but agreed that Channing Tatum is quite a looker. After that we went for pizza. We had like 2 and a half hours before my train left, which we originally thought was such a long time. We ended up having pizza, and ice cream and trying these strange, but good, hot juice things. Before we realized it, I had five minutes to get my train, and the station is at least a 25 minute walk away. We tried to find a bus, but buses don't like runing on weekends. So I ended up missing my train. The 2.5 hours was spent talking, laughing and eating, and went by like nothing. We decided that maybe I should just sleep at mint's house because my next train wasn't for another 2 hours. Anyway, we were going to take the trolley bus to her house, but we had just missed it, so we ran to the next stop, but we had just missed that one too. So we walked the 30 minutes to her house, just laughing and talking. It was great.
Once there, we watched yet another movie: Kill Bill 2. I have never seen it, and this was in czech. It was funny because every so often mint would tell me what was going on. It was great. Then was bed.
The next morning we woke up, ate breakfast etc. Then we decided that we would go to Globus (like wal mart) to buy food to make Thai food for dinner. We also then decided to see if Maria wanted to go. Despite the fact that she lives in Opava, she has only riden the trolley buses like twice in two months. So it was a tangled web of sms conversations trying to get her to understand which bus to take, and then we left. It was a rather uneventful ride to Globus, where we perused the aisles, getting some things to cook with (Globus has a rather large selection of thai food) waiting for maria to say that she was there. After like an hour, we called her, and apparently she hadn't left her house yet. So we went on with the next part of our journey: Tesco. It had started raining, so we ran to the bus stop, and then once the bus started, we weren't sure if it was actually going where we wanted. It was, so all was okay. Tesco is like, Target, I guess in comparison to Globus (wal-mart). This time was spent going to the bank, finding mint a jacket and buying some eye drops. There we met maria, haggled (in czech) with a shop assistant about the price of a jacket, and then headed back to mint's house.
Once there we waited for oey, and then proceeded to cook multitudes of thai food (well, three things; one spicy and very good, 2 not and also very good). Between the shrimp, onions and various sauces, it started smelling really good.
That is a short synopsis of my weekend. It was really fun. Yeah, that's it for now.
pondělí, listopadu 06, 2006
AFS Camp
So I got back last night from my third AFS camp, and I have to say it was probably one of my favorite. Okay, so seeing as I have only had three, one is kind of a lot, but anyway.
This one was in Brno (2nd biggest city in the czech republic; south moravia). We actually got to see some of the city, which was nice. On Friday I left Opava at around 8 with the 3 other exchange students from Opava, and one host sister of one of them. We got to Brno at like 1 (yay for 5 hour train rides to a place that is only 2 hours by car!). In the train station we met another Brazilian living in southern moravia, and then attempted to find this "shopping gallery" that is near the train station (after stashing our stuff in lockers for the next 4 hours). Those next four hours consisted of eating, shopping and trying to figure out where the thai girls were.
At 5:15 we went to get our stuff, and try and find everyone. It was cool to see everyone again. We found a map in the train station and figured out where everyone lived. EVERYONE lives in the south. There are 4 of us in Opava, one person like 40km away, and then everyone else lives south of Olomouc (about 2 hours by train).
Friday consisted of getting to the camp, which was on the "edge" of Brno in a scout camp, which is just basically where the trams stopped, eating a typical czech dinner (small), and then heading back into the city to go to a disco. The disco was really fun. It was my second (third technically, I guess), but definitely the best so far. I decided that it's fun when you have people to dance with, and then go talk to. I discovered dancing CAN be fun, even if you look really stupid. This was also another czech drinking experience. I stuck to my limits and had a beer, and then tried some other things that other people had. It was intersting and I have to say I am not really a fan of whiskey or tacquila, though fusion and some milky thing were pretty good. This brings my czech drinking experiences to I think a grand total of about 5. We were at the disco from like 9 to 2 or 3, but when we left, we discovered that the trams didn't run that early, and had to walk to the bus stop, which was about a 45 minute walk through Brno, at 3 in the morning, in a group of like 20 people, speaking like 5 different languages, in the -5 degree weather. It was fun =)
The rest of the weekend consisted of hanging out, taking pictures, making shirts, and cooking "traditional" foods (chocolate chip cookies!). The cooking was fun. There was food from Thailand, US, Brazil, Turkey, Spain and the Czech Republic, I think, because some of people (Iceland, Germany, Japan and China) didn't know about it or couldn't get the ingredients. It was fun. I made chocolate chip cookies, which was interesting because I didn't have measuring cups, so I just kind of did like, okay, I guess half a package, or mixers or anything other than the ingredients and a bowl. The oven was a gas oven meaning regulating the temperature is hard, and it was extremely old. But in the end they tasted good (they looked a little strange), and were a huge hit. I'll have to make them again some time. My favorite food was the turkish. Pelin (girl from turkey living in Olomouc) made these things I don't know the name of (but have to find out!), which is like meat in a really thin wrap with vegetables. It was amazing. She also made this drink with white yogurt, water and salt, which sounds really disgusting but is actually really good with the food. There was brazilian stew stuff (starts with an f...). Wait, just got the name. Feijoada. There was Thai food (finally, spicy food). I think I'm starting to get less tolerant of spice but thank god there are thai students in Opava who have spicy thai food sometimes that I can eat. And what I think is spicy is also what they think is spicy so it's not too bad. And tortilla espana. Potatoes and eggs in like an omelette. Overall, it was very good. I want to do it again.
Saturday also consisted of going into the city and shopping. That is good, because I despretely need winter clothes. It's getting cold, and for some reason I don't wear winter clothes at home. So I went with Pelin (from Turkey) and Noe (male; from Spain; lives in Brno), and we went to shops I have never heard of but are apparently very popular in europe. These were zara, mango and H&M (which I have heard of and love, but don't have many things from). I ended up getting myself a winter coat, 2 sweaters, a bag and some gloves. I call it a successful trip. I have found here I am more willing to buy things; maybe because I don't want to be cold, but I don't know. Like today I just went with Maria (from brasil) in Opava and got some more sweaters and a scarf (all czech people wear scarves). It's crazy. I'm not used to shopping so much, but hopefully it'll stop once winter starts and i actually have enough clothes to survive -30 degree C (-22 F)weather.
Sunday families could come, but only like 3 did because for us in Opava it's far, and for other various reasons. We did a little talent show with each country singing a song. The other american girl wasn't there because she is in the middle of switching families, so I sang "I'm a Little Teapot" beause I could not for the life of me remember the words to any song (including this one).
I'm a little teapot,
short and stout
here is my handle,
here is my spout.
When you tip me over
hear me shout
tip me over and
pour me out!
Can someone let me know the actual words to this and "Home, Home on the Range"? Mucho appreciado.
So that was the third AFS camp in short.
This one was in Brno (2nd biggest city in the czech republic; south moravia). We actually got to see some of the city, which was nice. On Friday I left Opava at around 8 with the 3 other exchange students from Opava, and one host sister of one of them. We got to Brno at like 1 (yay for 5 hour train rides to a place that is only 2 hours by car!). In the train station we met another Brazilian living in southern moravia, and then attempted to find this "shopping gallery" that is near the train station (after stashing our stuff in lockers for the next 4 hours). Those next four hours consisted of eating, shopping and trying to figure out where the thai girls were.
At 5:15 we went to get our stuff, and try and find everyone. It was cool to see everyone again. We found a map in the train station and figured out where everyone lived. EVERYONE lives in the south. There are 4 of us in Opava, one person like 40km away, and then everyone else lives south of Olomouc (about 2 hours by train).
Friday consisted of getting to the camp, which was on the "edge" of Brno in a scout camp, which is just basically where the trams stopped, eating a typical czech dinner (small), and then heading back into the city to go to a disco. The disco was really fun. It was my second (third technically, I guess), but definitely the best so far. I decided that it's fun when you have people to dance with, and then go talk to. I discovered dancing CAN be fun, even if you look really stupid. This was also another czech drinking experience. I stuck to my limits and had a beer, and then tried some other things that other people had. It was intersting and I have to say I am not really a fan of whiskey or tacquila, though fusion and some milky thing were pretty good. This brings my czech drinking experiences to I think a grand total of about 5. We were at the disco from like 9 to 2 or 3, but when we left, we discovered that the trams didn't run that early, and had to walk to the bus stop, which was about a 45 minute walk through Brno, at 3 in the morning, in a group of like 20 people, speaking like 5 different languages, in the -5 degree weather. It was fun =)
The rest of the weekend consisted of hanging out, taking pictures, making shirts, and cooking "traditional" foods (chocolate chip cookies!). The cooking was fun. There was food from Thailand, US, Brazil, Turkey, Spain and the Czech Republic, I think, because some of people (Iceland, Germany, Japan and China) didn't know about it or couldn't get the ingredients. It was fun. I made chocolate chip cookies, which was interesting because I didn't have measuring cups, so I just kind of did like, okay, I guess half a package, or mixers or anything other than the ingredients and a bowl. The oven was a gas oven meaning regulating the temperature is hard, and it was extremely old. But in the end they tasted good (they looked a little strange), and were a huge hit. I'll have to make them again some time. My favorite food was the turkish. Pelin (girl from turkey living in Olomouc) made these things I don't know the name of (but have to find out!), which is like meat in a really thin wrap with vegetables. It was amazing. She also made this drink with white yogurt, water and salt, which sounds really disgusting but is actually really good with the food. There was brazilian stew stuff (starts with an f...). Wait, just got the name. Feijoada. There was Thai food (finally, spicy food). I think I'm starting to get less tolerant of spice but thank god there are thai students in Opava who have spicy thai food sometimes that I can eat. And what I think is spicy is also what they think is spicy so it's not too bad. And tortilla espana. Potatoes and eggs in like an omelette. Overall, it was very good. I want to do it again.
Saturday also consisted of going into the city and shopping. That is good, because I despretely need winter clothes. It's getting cold, and for some reason I don't wear winter clothes at home. So I went with Pelin (from Turkey) and Noe (male; from Spain; lives in Brno), and we went to shops I have never heard of but are apparently very popular in europe. These were zara, mango and H&M (which I have heard of and love, but don't have many things from). I ended up getting myself a winter coat, 2 sweaters, a bag and some gloves. I call it a successful trip. I have found here I am more willing to buy things; maybe because I don't want to be cold, but I don't know. Like today I just went with Maria (from brasil) in Opava and got some more sweaters and a scarf (all czech people wear scarves). It's crazy. I'm not used to shopping so much, but hopefully it'll stop once winter starts and i actually have enough clothes to survive -30 degree C (-22 F)weather.
Sunday families could come, but only like 3 did because for us in Opava it's far, and for other various reasons. We did a little talent show with each country singing a song. The other american girl wasn't there because she is in the middle of switching families, so I sang "I'm a Little Teapot" beause I could not for the life of me remember the words to any song (including this one).
I'm a little teapot,
short and stout
here is my handle,
here is my spout.
When you tip me over
hear me shout
tip me over and
pour me out!
Can someone let me know the actual words to this and "Home, Home on the Range"? Mucho appreciado.
So that was the third AFS camp in short.
čtvrtek, listopadu 02, 2006
Snow!
So today was the first time it has snowed since I've been here. Granted, I don't know if it would be counted as an "official snow" because it didn't stick, and was on and off all day, but none-the-less it snowed, and was the first time the other exchanges students in Opava had seen snow in person. So this is a historic day in the history of, well, something.
úterý, října 31, 2006
HALLOWEEN
So halloween is, well, not celebrated here. Sometimes little kids can go to Tesco (like target) and go around to the shops and get candy, but if people do anything for Halloween, they go to the graveyard to their families graves. Little different atmosphere.
It's starting to get cold here. Tomorrow is supposed to be the first snow, but I've been told many times that I am here for a very nice fall because it's warmer, and not so foggy. I have to buy warmer clothes! Sweaters are always worn here, along with millions of other layers.
The bad part about the cold is that I'm already getting sick! I haven't been sick in like a year, and this is the second time since I've been here. Now for me isn't really a good time because this weekend is the third AFS weekend, and I don't want to feel bad. This means I think I'm not going to dancing class tonight and instead will sleep, and try not to get a cold. And coldeze don't really work for me mom. Maybe just for you.
Anyway, I'll update again maybe before I go to Brno, but most likely after.
It's starting to get cold here. Tomorrow is supposed to be the first snow, but I've been told many times that I am here for a very nice fall because it's warmer, and not so foggy. I have to buy warmer clothes! Sweaters are always worn here, along with millions of other layers.
The bad part about the cold is that I'm already getting sick! I haven't been sick in like a year, and this is the second time since I've been here. Now for me isn't really a good time because this weekend is the third AFS weekend, and I don't want to feel bad. This means I think I'm not going to dancing class tonight and instead will sleep, and try not to get a cold. And coldeze don't really work for me mom. Maybe just for you.
Anyway, I'll update again maybe before I go to Brno, but most likely after.
pondělí, října 30, 2006
Pictures
So I'm having some trouble getting pictures online. My dad and I are working on a way, but right now I only have a few. But don't worry: I have taken around 600 so once we figure it out you can feast your eyes on the czech republic. To tide you over, there are a few on my picasa account at http://picasaweb.google.com/beccaintheczechrepublic. There aren't many here, but it's a few to start. I'll let you all know when we get the rest online. There are also a few additional pictures on my flickr account at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/14279724@N00/. Eventually all of these will be in one place, and some may even appear on the blog!
And then it came again...
So I'm back again. It was good to talk to a lot of you last night. After the confirmation that my blog actually has a healthy readership, I will try earnestly to update regulary.
First to start: Hi Grandpa!
Okay, anyway, I have had some requests for some post topics (thanks Mom). I guess it's true though because I promised at the beginning to write posts on some aspects of everyday life, and so far I've only done school. But don't fret, there are still 8 more months (wow, it's already been 2). The one thing that has come up repeatedly is Daši and Luci, and just life with 4 year olds. I guess I unknowingly haven't mentioned them at all. But don't worry, they exist and are as energetic as ever.
So here it goes: 4 year olds have a lot of energy, can keep themselves busy with the simplest things, are very loud and very cute. So Daši and Luci are 4 and like 2 months. I actually expected them to be a little older when I got here, but it doesn't really make a difference now. I don't actually see them that much during the week because they are in preschool while Dana and Pavel work and I'm in school, and now I've started some activities after school and such. They usually got to bed at like 8, so I will usually only see them for like an hour or 2 on schooldays. It's a little odd because once they go to sleep the housepretty much shuts down. This means I have been getting a lot of sleep lately because I will usually go to bed by 9:30.
Weekends usually consist of them waking up early (about 7), as I think all li9ttle kids do and is the reson why elementary schools should start earlier than high schools. They will play various tings (I usually join them for a little while, but I can't handle too much Barbie in one go), or watch some kid's tv program (about the only thing other than the occasional BBC that I watch here). We usually go to some relative's house or have people over on weekends.
Overall they are very cute little girls, but I'm still getting used to living with little kids. They require a good deal of attention from someone and often get into little fights that arequickly resolved, but usually result in tears.
Again I will answer any specific questions on the topic that I haven't answered because I'm not exactly sure what people want to know!
First to start: Hi Grandpa!
Okay, anyway, I have had some requests for some post topics (thanks Mom). I guess it's true though because I promised at the beginning to write posts on some aspects of everyday life, and so far I've only done school. But don't fret, there are still 8 more months (wow, it's already been 2). The one thing that has come up repeatedly is Daši and Luci, and just life with 4 year olds. I guess I unknowingly haven't mentioned them at all. But don't worry, they exist and are as energetic as ever.
So here it goes: 4 year olds have a lot of energy, can keep themselves busy with the simplest things, are very loud and very cute. So Daši and Luci are 4 and like 2 months. I actually expected them to be a little older when I got here, but it doesn't really make a difference now. I don't actually see them that much during the week because they are in preschool while Dana and Pavel work and I'm in school, and now I've started some activities after school and such. They usually got to bed at like 8, so I will usually only see them for like an hour or 2 on schooldays. It's a little odd because once they go to sleep the housepretty much shuts down. This means I have been getting a lot of sleep lately because I will usually go to bed by 9:30.
Weekends usually consist of them waking up early (about 7), as I think all li9ttle kids do and is the reson why elementary schools should start earlier than high schools. They will play various tings (I usually join them for a little while, but I can't handle too much Barbie in one go), or watch some kid's tv program (about the only thing other than the occasional BBC that I watch here). We usually go to some relative's house or have people over on weekends.
Overall they are very cute little girls, but I'm still getting used to living with little kids. They require a good deal of attention from someone and often get into little fights that arequickly resolved, but usually result in tears.
Again I will answer any specific questions on the topic that I haven't answered because I'm not exactly sure what people want to know!
sobota, října 28, 2006
Once in a svatek
So today was a holiday. That means that nothing happens in Opava. I was supposed to meet Oey, an exchange student from Thailand in the centrum at 10, but apparently certain buses don't run on holidays. And then the train an hour and a half later was half an hour late. And then nothing was open, but we happened up on (appon; can't remember the spelling!) an asian bistro (many in Opava) that was open, after passing up a scary looking czech cafeteria. We only have like 45 minutes before I had to leave, but it was nice to talk to her. And then I went to the basketball games of the team I am joining. They lost both, but didn't play too badly. Hopefully I'll get to play soon.
I had some "feeling czech" moments today. The first was when I rolled up the bottom of my pants. Everyone does it here. I've never done it before. I guess it's so they don't get dirty. The second was that I bought a 1,5 L bottle of water and carried it around. Everyone also does that here.
This was supposed to post on Saturday. Let's all go back and pretend that it's saturday. Whooo.
I had some "feeling czech" moments today. The first was when I rolled up the bottom of my pants. Everyone does it here. I've never done it before. I guess it's so they don't get dirty. The second was that I bought a 1,5 L bottle of water and carried it around. Everyone also does that here.
This was supposed to post on Saturday. Let's all go back and pretend that it's saturday. Whooo.
pátek, října 27, 2006
Email!
So this post isn't going to have much actual information in it, other than the fact that I sent out another email today. For those of you who haven't been reading this (and then you wouldn't actually be seeing this), it's another update on my life. More to come later!
úterý, října 24, 2006
Sitting and Waiting...
So right now I'm sitting at home, when I should be at school, because apparently today the trains don't run after 8am, and I didn't know that, so my perfect plan to go to school for second period because my first was cancelled turned into me missing the first like 3 classes, because that's when the next bus goes. Anyway, I attempted to inform some of the girls I'm sort of friendly with, so hopefully all will be okay.
Right now I'm in the middle of figuring out how to upload photos, and in the middle of writing another mass email. But I am stuck! What should I write about? Anyone have anything they are particulary interested in? It's hard for me because life right now is pretty boring. I don't have any friends (here at least!) to go do things with, so my life pretty much consists of learning languages and being at home.
Something I guess which is kind of interesting is that I think I'm going to be on a basketball team. It's in Krnov, about 15 or 20km away, and it consists of like 15 girls between the ages of 12 and 17, with the average age probably being 13 or 14. It's okay they. They were really nice, and it'll be good exercise, and I just want to have friends, whether their 13 or 60. I'm also doing african drumming one day a week, which has a couple kids my age in it, so maybe I can become friends with them too. Right now it's hard in school to make friends. I thought I was doing okay, but there are good days and bad days. It's pretty much one big group, but that's hard to cut into and right now I just want like one friend at a time who I can talk to, and then maybe introduce me to other people. It would be great to be part of the big group, but I can only have conversations with one or two people right now, not 20. Hopefully it'll get better; we'll see.
Right now I'm in the middle of figuring out how to upload photos, and in the middle of writing another mass email. But I am stuck! What should I write about? Anyone have anything they are particulary interested in? It's hard for me because life right now is pretty boring. I don't have any friends (here at least!) to go do things with, so my life pretty much consists of learning languages and being at home.
Something I guess which is kind of interesting is that I think I'm going to be on a basketball team. It's in Krnov, about 15 or 20km away, and it consists of like 15 girls between the ages of 12 and 17, with the average age probably being 13 or 14. It's okay they. They were really nice, and it'll be good exercise, and I just want to have friends, whether their 13 or 60. I'm also doing african drumming one day a week, which has a couple kids my age in it, so maybe I can become friends with them too. Right now it's hard in school to make friends. I thought I was doing okay, but there are good days and bad days. It's pretty much one big group, but that's hard to cut into and right now I just want like one friend at a time who I can talk to, and then maybe introduce me to other people. It would be great to be part of the big group, but I can only have conversations with one or two people right now, not 20. Hopefully it'll get better; we'll see.
čtvrtek, října 19, 2006
PSATs and Prague
So I haven't updated in a while, but I just got back from Prague, so I have a little bit to write about. Prague is a beautiful city, but I think there are more tourists there on a given day than czechs.
I went to Prague to take the PSATs (I know, I know, why?). I left at like 8 on Tuesday morning, and got there at like 1. I got to wander around a little bit on Tuesday, and saw Charles Bridge, and went around the old city (stareměsto). The metro there from the train station was the first time I had really seen an american (other than the other girl in my district, and my english teacher) in 6 weeks.
The old city has so many tourists. Every store and restaurant has signs in english, german, usually also czech and sometimes italian or spanish. Everyone speaks english. Everyone. There are tour groups everywhere, from all over the world. The common guidebooks you see say Prague, Prag, and Praga. Charles Bridge is also incredibly crowded. That whole area is one of the main destinations for tourists.
After that, I met Jen, another girl from the US who goes to school in Prague. We went to Vasiclav square, and got lunch, and talked. That is like the shopping centre of Prague. The one thing we did find though that I have missed is a place where you can get coffee to go. It's completely unheard of here, and I like just walking around, drinking coffee. Jen and I tried to find the Jewish Quarter, but by the time we found some of the synagogues, we had to go, so hopefully next time I'll be able to see more of it. Apparently there was a terrorist threat against the Jewish Quarter, so there are lots of police there.
The PSAT went well, I hope. I took it at the International School of Prague, but on the way there I ran into a group of students from Riverside school and christian international school of prague (the two other, smaller, international schools in Prague), and so I went there with them, and took it in the same room. We had to take the bus back into Prague (ISP is on the very outskirts), and we had to wait, so I got to talk to them for a little bit. Most of them have lived in Prague for a couple of years (the longest I think was 12), but none of them really know much czech. I probably know the same amount or more than they do, and I've only been here for 6 weeks. They were nice though.
After the PSAT, I went back to the old city, and got a bagel for lunch (Jen and I passed it the day before, and it looked really good), and then I headed back to the train station so I could catch a train back to Opava to be back in time for dancing. Wel, as it turned out we didn't have dancing last night for some reason. As soon as I found this out, I stood up to get off the train (There was one a couple of hours later, and I wanted to see more of Prague), but right as I got to the door, the train started moving! So I had to sit back down. I guess I'll have to wait to see the rest of Prague. The other interesting thing that happened on this train ride was that, from what I gathered from someone's broken english, there was a bomb threat on the track near Prague, so we had to stop in Kolin (like 30 minutes away), and wait. It turned out to be a false alarm, but it's a story to tell about my first time in Prague.
Prague is a pretty amazing city, but I'm glad that I wasn't placed there. It would have been cool to go to school in the city, but most people there are having a lot of problems. Most of the host families apparently only hosted to learn the students respective languages, everyone speaks english, and so people are having a hard time learning czech, and a lot of people are having problems with school for various reasons. With so many tourists also, and just being such an international/big/tourist destination city, Prague doesn't have the same czech being as smaller towns do, or even bigger towns (like Brno, the 2nd biggest city), in other parts of the county. I like my town, and I think I am getting a total czech experience now, which is what this exchange is about, learning the culture and the language. For me, right now, Prague is a place to visit, and who knows, maybe later I'll want to move there (it has been added to my list of possible cities to live in; a semi long list).
I went to Prague to take the PSATs (I know, I know, why?). I left at like 8 on Tuesday morning, and got there at like 1. I got to wander around a little bit on Tuesday, and saw Charles Bridge, and went around the old city (stareměsto). The metro there from the train station was the first time I had really seen an american (other than the other girl in my district, and my english teacher) in 6 weeks.
The old city has so many tourists. Every store and restaurant has signs in english, german, usually also czech and sometimes italian or spanish. Everyone speaks english. Everyone. There are tour groups everywhere, from all over the world. The common guidebooks you see say Prague, Prag, and Praga. Charles Bridge is also incredibly crowded. That whole area is one of the main destinations for tourists.
After that, I met Jen, another girl from the US who goes to school in Prague. We went to Vasiclav square, and got lunch, and talked. That is like the shopping centre of Prague. The one thing we did find though that I have missed is a place where you can get coffee to go. It's completely unheard of here, and I like just walking around, drinking coffee. Jen and I tried to find the Jewish Quarter, but by the time we found some of the synagogues, we had to go, so hopefully next time I'll be able to see more of it. Apparently there was a terrorist threat against the Jewish Quarter, so there are lots of police there.
The PSAT went well, I hope. I took it at the International School of Prague, but on the way there I ran into a group of students from Riverside school and christian international school of prague (the two other, smaller, international schools in Prague), and so I went there with them, and took it in the same room. We had to take the bus back into Prague (ISP is on the very outskirts), and we had to wait, so I got to talk to them for a little bit. Most of them have lived in Prague for a couple of years (the longest I think was 12), but none of them really know much czech. I probably know the same amount or more than they do, and I've only been here for 6 weeks. They were nice though.
After the PSAT, I went back to the old city, and got a bagel for lunch (Jen and I passed it the day before, and it looked really good), and then I headed back to the train station so I could catch a train back to Opava to be back in time for dancing. Wel, as it turned out we didn't have dancing last night for some reason. As soon as I found this out, I stood up to get off the train (There was one a couple of hours later, and I wanted to see more of Prague), but right as I got to the door, the train started moving! So I had to sit back down. I guess I'll have to wait to see the rest of Prague. The other interesting thing that happened on this train ride was that, from what I gathered from someone's broken english, there was a bomb threat on the track near Prague, so we had to stop in Kolin (like 30 minutes away), and wait. It turned out to be a false alarm, but it's a story to tell about my first time in Prague.
Prague is a pretty amazing city, but I'm glad that I wasn't placed there. It would have been cool to go to school in the city, but most people there are having a lot of problems. Most of the host families apparently only hosted to learn the students respective languages, everyone speaks english, and so people are having a hard time learning czech, and a lot of people are having problems with school for various reasons. With so many tourists also, and just being such an international/big/tourist destination city, Prague doesn't have the same czech being as smaller towns do, or even bigger towns (like Brno, the 2nd biggest city), in other parts of the county. I like my town, and I think I am getting a total czech experience now, which is what this exchange is about, learning the culture and the language. For me, right now, Prague is a place to visit, and who knows, maybe later I'll want to move there (it has been added to my list of possible cities to live in; a semi long list).
pátek, října 13, 2006
Long time
Hey everyone. I haven't posted in awhile, but there hasn't really been anything to post about.
AFS camp was fun, but I won't go into details because it's all people, and I don't think anyone would know any of them. The one interesting thing though is that out of 17 people, only 2 (including me) can have any type of conversation in czech. Me and a guy from Brazil.
Today I went to Brno for the 3rd time in 2 weeks. I still haven't seen the city though. That's the next AFS thing.
What else. I was going to do czech lessons with the other exchange students in Opava, but I went to the first one, and it's extremely basic (zakladni), and I guess I've just studied to much!
I am doing African drumming lessons however, which is really fun (and Hannah, who knows I may turn into a drummer. dum dum badum).
That's basically all that's happened in the past couple of days. Nothing too exciting. School, home. School is going well. I'm in the process of making friends (I miss you guys!). I really like spanish for some reason. Yeah, that's about it.
Čau
AFS camp was fun, but I won't go into details because it's all people, and I don't think anyone would know any of them. The one interesting thing though is that out of 17 people, only 2 (including me) can have any type of conversation in czech. Me and a guy from Brazil.
Today I went to Brno for the 3rd time in 2 weeks. I still haven't seen the city though. That's the next AFS thing.
What else. I was going to do czech lessons with the other exchange students in Opava, but I went to the first one, and it's extremely basic (zakladni), and I guess I've just studied to much!
I am doing African drumming lessons however, which is really fun (and Hannah, who knows I may turn into a drummer. dum dum badum).
That's basically all that's happened in the past couple of days. Nothing too exciting. School, home. School is going well. I'm in the process of making friends (I miss you guys!). I really like spanish for some reason. Yeah, that's about it.
Čau
čtvrtek, října 05, 2006
Break
So I'm off to AFS camp for 4 days, and so I know, those of you who check regularly will miss the update of my life here, and will forever be scarred, but I'm sorry. When I get back I will be sending out another email, so look forward to that. Anyway, čau.
Birthday Package!
So anyway, it's a good thing I'm not going to school today (AFS CAMP!) because otherwise I wouldn't have received the wonderful package with presents from home. It was amazing. I have to say. Though it does cost a lot to receive it (154 crowns), I'll overlook that. Tana: Blanket. Warm. Fuzzy. And it's cold here. Hannah: čaj means tea, which means they don't have chai! Imagine. And the pictures, well yeah. Laughable. Mom, Dad, Manda:The shirt! Děkuji! They don't make them quite the same here (strange english sayings...). And thanks for the PSAT book, and the pencil case, and everything, and mailing it to me, and all.
Miluju vy!
Miluju vy!
pondělí, října 02, 2006
My Birthday
Včera byla můj narozeniny. (Yesterday was my birthday). Byla dobra. (It was good). I'll start from the beginning. In the morning, I made pancakes for breakfast, and they turned out pretty well (I'm glad I found maple syrup). I had a little trouble turning on the stove (child safety really does work), but past that it was good. I was a little worried because I had to cook them in a pan rather than on a griddle, and I've never done that before, but it was okay.
Then we went and played squash (similar to racquetball, but only in the fact that you play inside, use a racquet, and play with two people). I definitely like squash better than aerobics (I tried that a couple of days ago and it didn't go well). More power, less dance. I'm not very good, and apparently I play like I'm playing tennis (not that I've ever played that before either), but it's fun.
Then we went apple picking at babička's. The apples are good, but I don't like doing it for 3 hours. I ended up playing around with my camera and getting some good pictures for about the last hour.
At like 3, family (host uncle, aunt and grandma's) came over, and it was another little birthday celebration. I'm glad that it was family too because it makes me feel like part of their family. I had no idea what was going on for part of it though because they were singing in czech and yeah. Chocolate and flowers are common gifts here, so now I have lots of fancy chocolate and three vases of flowers.
Yesterday was also the second time I've talked to mom, and the first time to dad since I've been here. I was really happy to talk to them. I cried a little at the beginning and end, but I realized I don't really want to go home yet, I just want to see them.
We had burritos (czech style) for dinner. They were definitely intersting. Instead of tortillas, they used homemade crepe like things. Ketchup is often used for tomato sauce, I've noticed, and there was lots of cheese, and little bits of ham (like in everything).
Anyway, that was my birthday, it was pretty good. I'll definitely remember my 16th birthday that I spent in the Czech Republic.
Then we went and played squash (similar to racquetball, but only in the fact that you play inside, use a racquet, and play with two people). I definitely like squash better than aerobics (I tried that a couple of days ago and it didn't go well). More power, less dance. I'm not very good, and apparently I play like I'm playing tennis (not that I've ever played that before either), but it's fun.
Then we went apple picking at babička's. The apples are good, but I don't like doing it for 3 hours. I ended up playing around with my camera and getting some good pictures for about the last hour.
At like 3, family (host uncle, aunt and grandma's) came over, and it was another little birthday celebration. I'm glad that it was family too because it makes me feel like part of their family. I had no idea what was going on for part of it though because they were singing in czech and yeah. Chocolate and flowers are common gifts here, so now I have lots of fancy chocolate and three vases of flowers.
Yesterday was also the second time I've talked to mom, and the first time to dad since I've been here. I was really happy to talk to them. I cried a little at the beginning and end, but I realized I don't really want to go home yet, I just want to see them.
We had burritos (czech style) for dinner. They were definitely intersting. Instead of tortillas, they used homemade crepe like things. Ketchup is often used for tomato sauce, I've noticed, and there was lots of cheese, and little bits of ham (like in everything).
Anyway, that was my birthday, it was pretty good. I'll definitely remember my 16th birthday that I spent in the Czech Republic.
Yom Kippur
So right now it is 16:13 on Yom Kippur. I'm hungry. Anyway, here was my Yom Kippur (Jom Kipur). It was quite interesting.
On Rosh Hashanah (roš hašana), I asked about Yom Kippur. I got a time and a date. I thought, okay this is going to be semi-major. Yesterday (sunday--> my birthday! I'm now 16!), I texted (everyone here texts; it's cheaper than calling) the guy from Germany (Johannes) working in the Jewish community about Yom Kippur, and how I should get there. He didn't know about it. That was strange, but then later he wrote back and told me which train/tram to take.
Today was the first time I've riden the train alone. It's about a 25-30 minute train ride from Opava to Ostrava. Then I had to take the tram. That was interesting because the trams don't go from the train station, but rather from the bridge, but of course I don't think anyone knows what I'm talking about, so I'll just talk about the Jewish stuff.
The Jewish community in Ostrava is housed on 2 floors in a building in Ostrava (about 6 rooms). I got there at about 9:30. The service was supposed to be at 10. They have a worship room type thing with an ark and a torah, and then a meeting room, and an office. There were 7 people there for the service (me, Johannes [he isn't Jewish], a german/czech/english couple[I'm not sure, but I don't think they live in Ostrava], the director of the community, and then a cantor [I'm not sure from where either]). The service lasted 20 minutes and consisted of a kaddish for parents and a short prayer. That was it. It was very different for me. I'm used to a big community, and a long service.
I think I may be the only person in Opava fasting today. That's weird to think about. I got a little homesick thinking about break the fast and what that usually is at home, and how here I'm alone in this.
After the service, Johannes took me into Ostrava just to walk around and kind of see the city. We went to this tower, where I think the only people who speak english in the city work. It is like a viewing tower. It was interesting, and I took a few photos (I haven't figured out how to uplodad them yet, but I'm working on that). We talked with the guy who worked there about the Jewish history of Ostrava.
Then I went back to Opava. I didn't go to school today, as I normally don't on Yom Kippur, but instead experience a very different version of the holiday. This community only gets together a couple of times a year, and the next time is December 16th, for Hanukkah, and I think I will also go to that.
Sometime in the next month or so, I may also visit Krnov synagogue, which is about 15 km away. It is a pre WWII synagogue, but today stands only as a building, and it sometimes rented out for functions, or used as a museum.
On Rosh Hashanah (roš hašana), I asked about Yom Kippur. I got a time and a date. I thought, okay this is going to be semi-major. Yesterday (sunday--> my birthday! I'm now 16!), I texted (everyone here texts; it's cheaper than calling) the guy from Germany (Johannes) working in the Jewish community about Yom Kippur, and how I should get there. He didn't know about it. That was strange, but then later he wrote back and told me which train/tram to take.
Today was the first time I've riden the train alone. It's about a 25-30 minute train ride from Opava to Ostrava. Then I had to take the tram. That was interesting because the trams don't go from the train station, but rather from the bridge, but of course I don't think anyone knows what I'm talking about, so I'll just talk about the Jewish stuff.
The Jewish community in Ostrava is housed on 2 floors in a building in Ostrava (about 6 rooms). I got there at about 9:30. The service was supposed to be at 10. They have a worship room type thing with an ark and a torah, and then a meeting room, and an office. There were 7 people there for the service (me, Johannes [he isn't Jewish], a german/czech/english couple[I'm not sure, but I don't think they live in Ostrava], the director of the community, and then a cantor [I'm not sure from where either]). The service lasted 20 minutes and consisted of a kaddish for parents and a short prayer. That was it. It was very different for me. I'm used to a big community, and a long service.
I think I may be the only person in Opava fasting today. That's weird to think about. I got a little homesick thinking about break the fast and what that usually is at home, and how here I'm alone in this.
After the service, Johannes took me into Ostrava just to walk around and kind of see the city. We went to this tower, where I think the only people who speak english in the city work. It is like a viewing tower. It was interesting, and I took a few photos (I haven't figured out how to uplodad them yet, but I'm working on that). We talked with the guy who worked there about the Jewish history of Ostrava.
Then I went back to Opava. I didn't go to school today, as I normally don't on Yom Kippur, but instead experience a very different version of the holiday. This community only gets together a couple of times a year, and the next time is December 16th, for Hanukkah, and I think I will also go to that.
Sometime in the next month or so, I may also visit Krnov synagogue, which is about 15 km away. It is a pre WWII synagogue, but today stands only as a building, and it sometimes rented out for functions, or used as a museum.
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