Dobry Den,
Hello
family, friends and any one else that happens to read my blog. I am still
pretty new at this and have been overwhelmed with this entire experience in
Prague that I’ve lost complete track of time.
Let
me tell you though I have had one hell of a journey. If it all ended today I
would say it was a success. I’ve met many people, been to a handful of places
and have seen things I never thought I would have been able to see. It hasn’t
been easy though. Every thing in this world has a process and actually being a
foreigner for the first time and an expat having to deal with such processes is
a bitch to say the least. Nothing here is easy, and even when you think it is
shit gets tougher. Thankfully I have been fortunate enough to snag a job here
and there. With a few private lessons as well, where I find myself traveling
for over an hour outside of Prague and into the countryside.
One nice thing about the program
I’ve taken though is that there is a large expat community that may or may not
have been through the same problem making it easier to have any questions
answered whether you are lost or confused.
So
far I’ve taught Business English lessons at Czech companies, standard
conversation lessons covering a variety of topics, and teaching classrooms of
10-15 teenagers at a time. Teachers... I feel ya. It is difficult keeping
together an unruly class of teens that only speak Czech and some broken
English. Many times I wish I knew Czech so I could tell them what to do in
English and repeat it in Czech but I’ve had a hard time trying to learn the
language. When you look at another countries alphabet and it consists multiple
E’s, R,’s or N’s, to name a few, you get a little confused. I will however continue to study and
practice my pronunciation. Thankfully I have met a few Czech’s that are more
than happy to help teach me and find it amusing watching me try as they hear me
butcher their language.
In
my downtime I find myself lesson planning, the nice thing is that if I have a
lesson and if a student cancels I can just prop it on the shelf for another
day. I would admit it sucks sometimes but it is nice to go back and grab a
lesson I am familiar with to teach to a new student. It has also taken sometime
but I am able to rattle off some grammar info when asked on the spot or brought
up in random conversation with other teachers and students after class. There
are certain rules, structures and forms I may not be that familiar with but
teaching and looking over material on a near daily basis has helped.
Since
I’ve moved here though there are many things I am not used too or have noticed.
One of these is being in my own world half the time. Standing around outside of
Tram stations or Train stations or even just shopping in a Supermarket you
rarely hear any English. Sometimes I may hear English and when I do I tend to
perk up and glance to see who is speaking. Many instances though I find myself
wondering what they are saying to each other or just thinking in general about
the current situation I am in. Another thing I have noticed is how much Czech’s
are into their history, traditions, and customs. They actually are proud of
their customs and genuinely look forward to them. I ask my student’s about
certain traditions I see and they enthusiastically tell me. After being here
and seeing this I would have to admit that most American’s take their own
‘traditions’ or holidays for granted. Never have I seen anyone say anything
really good. Normally you hear people complain, “Oh Great, Walgreens or Walmart
or Wal-whatever have already put up their X-mas decorations.” Who cares!? You
should be happy and excited for what X-mas brings to family and friends. Aside
from that another thing I’ve noticed is how damn happy everyone is and how
proud they are with the job they have. Whether it’s at a Supermarket or the
local KFC and McD’s. Never have I been to a fast food place where they are so
happy to see you, polite, courteous, and prompt with getting you the food you
ordered. Seriously, in America everyone that works in fast-food hates their life,
complain, and do a shitty ass job doing their job. In the Czech Republic they
always have a smile on their face and truly appreciate your business. Another
thing is how noisy American’s are. I literally find myself pretending to not be
American sometimes because of how obnoxious most Americans are. Not to mention
rude. It truly is pathetic and sad but hopefully most people when they do
travel notice this and take it to heart so that we don’t have these blatant and
obvious stereotypes.
Honestly
it’s quiet funny seeing what has happened to us, in our society and world in
general. Our lives have become digital, our friends have become virtual and
everything you would ever really want to know is a click away. Which is kind of
scary. Since I’ve come here and experienced what I have experienced I don’t
know if I will ever be the same. I don’t want to experience the world through
second hand information or the Internet because… well, it’s not enough. I’ve
realized that if you want authenticity, we as human beings have to initiate it
ourselves. We will never know our own potential, or what we can see or even
what we can do until we push ourselves to find it. It’s this self-discovery,
which has taken me and can take anyone to some of the wildest, and most
beautiful places on earth.
On
that note I leave you again but I intend on trying to make this a normal habit
where I can continue to share my views, experiences, and pics to go along with
some of my post’s so you get a partial illustration.
Peace,
JP
