Danes for a Day

So... as I promised... things are looking to be more interesting. Today was quite different. So... a little history of my school first. We had this special partnership with the school in Denmark a few years ago, but for some reason or another (word was that these Danes just kinda sucked and were unruly a bit) we stopped our partnership last year. So... this year they came and just asked to be shown around by some of our students. Wait... I have to tell you something about this class of Danish students first. My students are fairly well kept and clean cut students. So... as you can imagine the beginning of the film "Earnest Goes to Camp" with the bunch of riff raffs all dressed to kill... yea, that's what this was like. Some in bling, some smoking, some dressed thuggish... So... one of my classes was chosen to take them around the school and talk with them for a few hours and then we went and played badminton. And the supervisors of this event from our school were me and another English teacher. But... at the beginning of the day was quite hectic for me, cuz at the time the Danes were to come, I was to teach a class... well not just one class, but a class combined (which is twice as many students). Luckily, they were pacified by some Simpsons while I ran back and forth trying to show some people around the school and contain my class and do whatnot. Finally my class was let out and I was able to devote my attention to the Danes. So we went to play badminton for a few hours. It was here where my students and their students were able to finally overcome their shyness and start talking a bit. It was pretty cool. After badminton, some of my students were showing the other students around the town or wherever and having a good time (for all i know). And we were treated to a lunch at the hotel of the Danes. It was a nice day.

But then I had to go back to school and correct some standardized tests that our students took for English. It was quite not so much fun cuz it was such a nice day today and I was stuck in the office doin all this crappy work pro-bono. But I finished and then taught one more class and did some more preparation and came home and did stupid normal things. But then was the interesting thing still to come. In the evening, the Danish students invited us to come to their hotel where they would put on a disco for us and them. It was quite nice and I only went for a bit, but I was astonished, surprised, and quite happy when i saw about half of my students there. It was fun to see everything in full swing just as had been hoped for. Our students talking with their students. After a little while of speaking more with the Danish teachers and my students and their students, I had to call it a night and head home. So... that's my day of content fulfillment. I hope that tomorrow is more relaxing. And... maybe after today (which might have retied our partnership with them) i'll see these nice teachers next year if we have our exchange program that we had previously had a few years ago. Who knows... maybe I can get hooked up with a free trip to Denmark... Til then, peace.

Unleash the Beast (or at least the Benji)

Ahhh. Oh my Goodness. Sorry. Really haven't realized it's been so long. But really the anti-climacticism of my life seems to be holdin strong, so... thus... not much on my plate. The weather here has been pretty much, freakin rockin. So that's fun. I went bikin on my granny bike today in shorts and a tshirt. Impressed? :) Thought so. So big news for me thus far is that i have recently explored the realm of the unthinkable. I've been walking Benji and been tryin to find open nature areas where he can run around (without his leash!!) Therefore I have to be careful that there's not any buses or bikers or other dogs around. But thusfar, it's worked out, and I've been quite happy, cuz when i call him or something... he'll eventually come back my way. He doesn't run off which is quite a cool new thing for me. Other new things in my life... well... I guess this is as good a time as any to officially say that I'll be back in Kralupy for Round 3. I'm enjoyin everything here and I like it pretty a lot, so i figure... why not? Why leave a place now where I like living and have good friends, a good job that i really enjoy, blah blah blah... So get ready for more fun updates from me and Benji in the year to come. But that don't mean that I won't be making my rounds to see everyone very soon. I'll be in Oklahoma for a week at the end of May and for a month during july and August.

So we just had Daylight Savings Time also. This is pretty awesome actually cuz now it's not gettin dark til like 7ish or something like that, as opposed to 430 back in december. We're breaking out of the dull, sad, depressive months and willingly accepting the beauty which is SPRING. Nice weather, end of the school year, more fun (you get my drift). Anyways... i really don't have anything to say, but i figured it'd been 9 days or so, so I wanted to write something. I'll write more soon. I should have more to talk about quite soon. peace.

Within the Realm of School... as I Write to You

Due to the disheartened fact that we have our school's Math Olympics today, I'm sitting in my second hour class with three students and writing this post thanks to the joyous aqcusition of WIFI this year to our school. And my first class was concelled thanks to the Olympics. But after this class, things should be normal and the rest of my day should be blissfully exciting. I had an exciting trip last weekend. Well... it's not really much to talk about, but i went with some friends to the Prague Zoo which is quite close to Kralupy. And also there are the Botanical gardens there also, so I hope to visit those sometime, now that I know where they are (though maybe I should visit them when it's more summery weather cuz now I think I'd be looking at a bunch of sticks in the ground). So... the zoo was cool but i didn't realize just how big it was. I was there for 3 hours i think and saw maybe a third of it all. SO i guess I'll have to go back sometime. I saw elephants, and rhinos, and bald eagles, and vipers, and hippos, and big pigs, and cheetahs, and tigers. You name it, I saw it. Also flamingos. Oh, and while I was there, I tried for the first time something called Fruit Dumplings. Czechs have this kick for sweet food for lunch. So i tried it, and it was ok, but there's just something about desserty things for lunch. But it's maybe the best sweet lunch I'd had. And there's a cool chateau that's just next to the zoo, and so we walked around that for a while. It was a huge day for me, if you can imagine. I came home and was completely and utterly satisfied. This week doesn't seem to look as promising. Though it will be some fun. I'll relax. Maybe visit with some friends and rock out. Um... I don't really know what else to say. I'm quite looking forward to coming home for my sister's wedding in May (though unfortunately I'll be missing ESI's Year End retreat, as well as the first of two weeks of Maturita Exams at my school) but I think it's an easy decision and I don't think I'm gonna regret it. ;) It'll be a super time. Just about 2 more months til i hit that up. Which reminds me... I need to buy a ticket today. Or ASAP. Ok... so, that's all the news for me... Ok. later

Bringin More to Your Front Door From My Spring Break

Me and Kevin in front of the castle walls



Right back at cha babe



I quite like this (I actually took this one). it contains both the Charles Bridge and Castle in the same pic while atop one of the towers hovering over the bridge



Self Defense



The Charles Bridge. Maybe one of the coolest pictures I've seen. Taken from atop the tower of St. Vitus Cathedral after having to have climbed the 287 steps. Lots of good times were enjoyed on this particular trek. And a really good view of Prague, especially all the bridges



Us in Vienna gettin some expresso and hot wine in front of the Rathaus (City Hall)



Me and Kevin



This was nice cuz as you see my bag broke and so i had to walk around prague looking like an idiot all day.



Prague Castle from the front



This is at the music bar we were at in Vienna. This black guy played some sweet Bob Marley and he was all good




The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn at night time. Probably the best nighttime sight to see

Springin the Break 07

So, much has happened as of recently. Some good times of relaxation, some good times of fun and enjoyment with family, and some with some friends of all ages. First thing that I could tell you about (which is the main reason I haven't been able to update in a while) is about my Spring Break. My brother and his best friend, Kevin, came to visit me for the week, and it was probably one of the best breaks ever. Just relaxing and more relaxing. It was really fun to have them over here. I think maybe it was a bit more different than what they had expected. And it's funny for me to see how people see the differences. Cuz for me, everything here seems normal and also in America it seems normal. I hardly notice any of the differences anymore. Well there are big differences, but they don't really bother me that much. I think the biggest surprise for them was that English was spoken as fluently as they had expected. So it was fun for me to be able to translate for them. It was a good time. They were here for 5 days.
(This is our first night together. Just the three of us. They were tired)

The first day went to Prague and saw all the wonderful sights that they have to offer.
(this one has the castle a bit in the background)

We spent time with some of my students one night, so they got the traditional feel a bit also. There's really not much to say actually. We were relaxing a lot and seeing sights inbetween our time of relaxing. It was quite fun. We got in a good mileage of walking eachd day, so we deserved our relaxing moments. We also visited the capital city to the south, in Austria, called Vienna. We saw a lot of stuff, and I'm really not being that detailed... am i? :) sorry. Just have a look at the pictures.