Travellin for DAYS!!!

So... as we have it at the moment, I'm in Chicago waiting for my last leg to Tulsa. Today has been quite an interesting day if I may say so myself. First off... I went to bed aat about 1230am with my alarm prepared to go off at 2 cuz i still needed to...
- clean my bedroom,
- take out the trash,
- write a note to my neighbor sayin i broke the vacuum,
- take a shower,
- and shave
- and finish packing

And maybe something else, but i couldn't remember cuz there were so many things to do. But as we have it... I awoke to my phone ringing from my ride which was taking me to the airport at 4!!! tellin me they were almost there!!! OH NO!!!! I overslept and now I have 5 MINUTES to do everything that I need to do. Needless to say, I didn't really get any of it done besides throwing whatever i could find into my suitcase, and I left. I actually don't think I forgot that many important things. Of course I'm makin a list of all the stuff I forgot now, but it's all menial things.

So... anyways, I got the the airport and had enough time to check in and it wasn't a problem. But the flights in themselves weren't too extravagant, but on my first flight I saw a pair of Amish guys on the plane (who knew they could fly, they can't even drive cars)... so that was quite interesting... and on my second flight were two couples of Hasidic Jews (you know with the curls and stuff)... so that was also cool, not to mention on the 9 hour flight I was seated with a mother and her two boys (ages 5 and 8) who were "bored" and therefore decided to just wreak havoc all over the place. That was nice... oh yea, and I was in the very last row of this huge freakin plane... go figure, what luck, huh? Actually it wasn't really bad at all, but you could paint a picture and imagine how bad it was, huh? Well, it actually wasn't as bad as the picture you're paintin in your mind, so stop it...

And now I'm waitin in Chicago for 2 more hours. Right now, my complete travel time is 15 hours and I still got another 4 to go... so wish me luck... (although I'm not gonna post this until I get internet access somewhere, so your wishes will most likely be too late and long overdue, so therefore... if you got some kind of secret freaky power which can see me and my thoughts.... stop it, that's weird. Ok... gonna head to get some food or something with the money that I don't have.... Another wish of luck would be grateful at this moment. :)

So... in the end... my flight was delayed another hour and i finally got home at 7pm. That would make my grand total of travelling 21 hours in airports and airplanes. Enjoy the day and I'm gonna sleep. peace out.

Payin My Respects to the Sugar Cube

As I noted previously about my holiday in Moravia, I visited Dacice... well... you'll just see what I mean...



Here's me in front of the house where it all went down. That's right, this is the infamous place where the first sugar cube was made. How do I know that you say? How could I POSSIBLY know that!!!???? And be 100% sure? well... if you look a little closer to the plaque above me...




This plaque says... and I quote... "The first sugar cube in the world was produced in this home".... need I say more? I submit not.

The Infamous "Milky Up"

The Bottle Hidden in Seclusion for Years



The Date of Years Past



The Look of Despair

Telc and my Holiday

So... as I've already mentioned, I travelled around the Czech Rep. for a week of my summer holiday this summer. And along with Hradec Kralove (Hradets Krauloavay), I visited the small quaint beautiful town of Telc (telch). If You don't know anything about Telc, let me tell you about it. It's really beautifui and its town square is so beautiful that it is a protected site by UNESCO.

Here you get a little glimpse of what it really looks like. Anyways, we were there for 4 days actually, and it was really awesome. One of my friends, before I left, told me that a few hours is enough for the place, and then you can move on. The square was also under reconstruction at the time also for him. So I was a little reluctant at first as to what the heck I'd do there for 4 days, but it worked out. I really don't think that a few hours would be enough cuz the place is just so beautiful, it takes at least a day to soak in. And they had a beautiful park and beautiful ponds and the whole place was just really amazing. I mean, sure we didn't spend all 4 days completely in this small town of 6000 people. One day was enough for just the city. But there are so many other things to do around the city that made it so much fun. One day we visited the two small towns near Telc, which were Dacice (dochitsay) and Slavonice (Slovonitsay). We started in Slavonice which was in aspect a smaller version of Telc... but a bit different in architecture I guess. It was really pretty for a really small towna dn I really enjoyed the few hours we spent in this town. The next village, Dacice, is a world famous place. I'm sure all of you have heard of this place... no? Well, if you haven't, then surely you have heard of the sugar cube, yea? Well, this small town is boasted as the place where the first sugar cube in the world was made!!!! This is what the town is centered upon. Nevermind the fact that they have 2 castles in the city and that they have a huge park with a lake and a pretty ice center which is on a hill. Nevermind these facts. Everything is based off the sugar cube.
This picture is in a small square in the center of the city. This is a monument, I kid you not, to the first sugar cube. it stands about 6 feet tall and is a strange site to behold. It actually is guaranteed to send shivers down your spine.

Anyways, there were fun towns to visit. Then one day we rented bikes inthe square and decided to bike around, and we biked to this cool castle about 5 or 6 miles away called Rostejn (Roashtine) It was a really cool place and again lots of fun to visit and to bike there through the Czech countryside.

And... then... we came home. One cool thing about Telc is that in the square they have wireless internet! So I brought my computer and we'd go there and check out the latest necessities or find out about stuff around nearby to see or stuff like that. It was a fun trip and I'm sure that I won't forget it for a while.

Round 2... In the books

As I sit here in my flat in Kralupy... alone... once again (a regular occurance this year actually), as Benji is gone for the summer, I sit back and take a few minutes to look at the year. This year has been a lot different than the previous.

- I've been out of the country only twice for example (a weekend trip to Berlin, and a trip to Cyprus) as compared to the many long hours I spent on trains my first year.

- I got a dog this year which has changed the dynamics to my place quite severely... but in a fun way.

- I had a brand new set of students this year and taught a lot more at the Gymnazium which was undeniably a lot of fun, though I always enjoy teaching whatever class I get. The dynamics are different for each.

- I grew a lot closer with a lot of friends that I didn't expect, and a bit farther from friends i didn't expect

There's been so many fun moments and memories this year that I will carry over to next year and the years beyond. There's been fun times spent with people out, There's been fun times relaxing at home. There's been good times in Prague, good times in Kralupy, Good times everywhere. It's really hard to sit back and describe a year in a few words. It's been good and I've been happy

Tuesday I'm goin back to the States again for a month this time though. So... I'll be in America if you need me. Hope all is well and... yea...

"... Milk was a Bad Choice..."

We are in Hradec Kralove now at a cafe with WIFI on the main square and this is how our day turned horrible from the get go. we woke up this morning and got the breakfast we had bought the previous night. We got some baguettes and some milk and some cereal bars. The chocolate milk, from the brand Milky Up, was opened and we proceeded to drink it. Hm... it really tastes strange... Wow, this really tastes strange... This is some really strange milk. At this point we had drunk half of the bottle and it really tasted sweet and maybe even sour... So... I found the expiration date, and could you believe that this milk had expired JANUARY 26, 2006!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW, I almost threw up right then. Pictures to come later. Just wanted you to share in my ultimate disgustment. Enjoy your day.

We took it back to the gas station and they gave us a new bottle which expired 2 years later than the previous one and it was much better. But... this thought will dwell within me for many ages...

Weekend in Sumava

So I finally made it down to the beautiful mountains in the south of Czech Republic las weekend. We spent 3 days at my friend's cottage in the middle of nowhere Sumava Mountains. It was great and a amazing experience for me. Just relaxing being out in the fresh air. Benji enjoyed it thoroughly also. He was free 24 hours a day for the first time in God knows how long. And we went on a 20 km hike which I believe was the highlight of Benji's life thusfar. I've never seen him sleep so long (he slept for approx. 48 hours) after some kind of excercise. Anyways, it was fun and I'm glad to have been able to have spent a few days with some of my really good friends. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the weekend, but just imagine something quite beautiful with rolling hills and lots of fun. We make campfires every night and cooked out sausages the whole time. It was a real man's weekend. Next on the list is my roommate's wedding today and then heading off on a weeklong excursion to Hradec Kralove, Telc and surrounding places. It'll be nice. Sleep well everyone.

Champagne... the Way It Should Be...

I guess it's fair to say that I've been in this strange country for 2 years now... that's strange in itself... but anyways, I've noticed one thing above all else in my time here... And that one thing is called Bohemia Sekt. This fancy named drink is the czech version of champagne. It's quite a tasty drink. A bit sweeter than real champagne, but that makes it all the more drinkable... all the time... for every event and occasion... in any manner... anywhere. I think before coming to the Czech Republic I only consumed champagne on maybe New Years once maybe and maybe at a wedding and maybe one other time. It's safe to say that the past two years, I've surpassed the previous 20 years of my life a hundred or two hundred-fold.

Why champagne? The answer is simple... They want wine... but they don't have a corkscrew... nevertheless... champagne with the easy "twist and pop" motion" is a simple choice. In any event, there's always the two or three people sitting around passing around the champagne bottle, drinking as old chums would. Everywhere you go... "pop, pop, pop". You better be careful, or you're gonna get something you didn't reckon for strolling through the park.

Anyways, I'm not sayin this is a bad thing. I quite like this custom. It's actually quite a clever idea in itself, and so... I applaud this special drink and would advise towards it for every situation, whether that bea wedding, a trip to the movies, or just walking down the street on the way to your weekly haircut appointment. Without Bohemia Sekt... where would the Czechs be today...? The answer my friend, is something that I don't ever want to know and I dare not, upon threat of death, ask this question ever again...

42nd Annual KVIFF 2007

The last few days, I had quite an interesting and great experience in that I was able to visit for 3 days the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (www.kviff.com/en)which is held in Karlovy Vary (a city of natural springs which I had already visited twice before) every summer. If you've heard of the great film festival in Cannes, France... this would be maybe the similar idea, although I'm sure that the one in France is much much bigger than this one. But this one was still really freakin huge and it really made the city a lively and fun place to be. There were all these films playing there from all these places around the world and it was absolutely amazing. I, myself, was able to view I think 5 films, and some of them were quite good.

Famous people at this years festival (of whom I didn't see ever) are Danny DeVito and Renee Zelwegger. There's some famous people each year at the festival. It was quite an adventure we had as we went. Let me paint a picture for you of our extreme extravaganza...

So... we went to Karlovy Vary. It's quite difficult to get there since everyone is going there even though they have buses that go every half hour, but nevertheless, after a few hours of waiting, we were finally on a bus bound for KV. We got there at about midnight on Friday and went to buy our passes. It's funny, because we weren't really sure about which films were playing and we had to decide which films we wanted to see for the following day, so we just chose some films which still had some free places and went and saw them. They were quite good actually, so it was a satisfying feeling. We stayed at this "campsite" because it only cost about 3 bucks a night, and comparing that to the expensive hotels in which there weren't any free rooms, this was yet another satifying moment when we got there. How did we arrive at the campsite? Well... the next cool thing is that there are free buses during this festival and one of the buses goes directly there, about 8 minutes only, which is funy since they advertise the campsite as being only a 10 minute walk from the center, in reality, I figure they meant a 10 minute fast cheetah-like run, but it was ok, since the buses were quite regular. Oh yea... the campsite wasn't really a campsite. It was actually a stadium... something similar to a high school football field with a track around it... you know? Ok... and there were tents all up in the middle of the field. So we paid our dues and went to set up ground for the evening. We all finally got everything set up and went in for a good snoozin for the evening.

The first day of films was quite nice. We saw films, walked around. Saw festivalish-type stuff and enjoyed the city. It's actually a quite beautiful city (although the city is run by the Russian mafia. It has really quite a large Russian population in the city, and a lot of things are run by them... Anyways, so it's a beautiful city and just a great place to be, especially during the festival.

The second day was a beautiful day, marked by some most beautiful moments. We woke up on Sunday and realized there happened to be more people here at the campground/stadium than previously. Come to find out, there just so happens to be a big sick market at the stadium every Sunday, and you just come here and walk around and buy anything from moonshoes, to electrical outlets, to tires, to panties to kittens. It was an interesting sight. It's like everyone brought their garage sale to the same place and everything is just run a muck. But really there were hundreds upon hundreds of people here. So that was a pleasant surprise. Next big thing? Hm... so we came to the festival and realized that we left our tickets back at the campgrounds and they wouldn't let us in... so that sucked... Next, we came back and could get the tickets and make it back in time for the next film. We can back, got the tickets, and came back to the festival. We arrive at the next cinema and get our tickets out only to realize that apparently the tickets had fallen out somewhere along the way. So... all the tickets we got for that day were no good. (We found out later that the tix had actually fallen out in the tent before we left. Oh well... cuz we all enjoyed a fun time in the city without films for a while and we were actually able to get into some other movies that day which were acutally a lot better than the ones that we had been planning on seeing. So it all worked out in the end, but oh well. We listened to some big singers that evening who were holding a concert and it was just an extremely fun and happy weekend. I really can't explain it better than that. It was a really fun time with lots of good memories.

For the next 3 or 4 days I'm gonna be at my friends cottage down in the mountains in southern CZ so hopefully I'll get back to tell you about more relaxing moments of me during my holidays. Ok, hope things are good and have a good day. peace for now.