donde esta la biblioteca?

After a while, you become accustomed to not understanding anything anyone is saying to you. Jullia and I have responded to this problem by speaking the few Spanish phrases we know over and over. If only we were in a Spanish speaking country! We could at least inquire about the library and order food!

Not much is new since yesterday's post, but I have been confined to the house with this damn cold the past 2 days, so I figured I would update again. We have decided we need to be very proactive about making friends here. The teachers at my school are so not into it. Most of them have been here awhile, some have family here, others are just kinda lame. I am sure we will be friendly at school, but I am doubtful for outside of school. Jullia's school is definitely more social than mine, however very clicky - we are not in to. All in all, peeps are not up to our level of coolness. Therefore, we will have to go out and make friends on our own. Idk how we are going to do this...book club? jelly of the month club? hiking club when weather is nicer? something!

Tomorrow is New Year's (obvs). Not sure what we are up to yet. It totally sucks that we are both sick. We missed out on a lot of exploring these past 2 days while coughing our lungs out. I think we may go to Hongdae, which is a pretty cool area with lots of bars and shopping - we went here on Christmas Eve. This weekend, we are going to hit Itaewon, which is foreigner land. We'll see how that goes. Lots of military hang out in this neighborhood.

(BTW - I have decided to keep the blog a secret from people here. Makes for funner entries.)

Pushing and Shoving

The other day I consulted Jullia's Korean phrase book to find the proper term for 'excuse me' because I feel like I need to say it 50 times a day. Turns out there is no such word. Just a lot of pushing, shoving, and get-the-fuck-out-of-the-way looks. Peeps don't care. If you are standing where they want to be, they just knock right into you. Don't mind me! The subway is the worst, they will run you over. And 'ladies first' does not apply either. When coming out of an elevator, it's every person for themselves. If it's packed, you just shove your way out. If someone falls, not your problem! It's really weird, and aggravating, but easier to just go with the flow and join in on the pushing than to try to be polite.

Hats are all the rage here. Animal hats. I now have 2. One is a bear hat that Jullia bought me as a welcome to Seoul present. It is a bear head that comes down around your ears and ties under your chin. It's pretty sweet. We also each got a new hat at Dunkin Donuts a couple days ago. It has a huge pompom on it and 2 bear heads at the ears. I love it. I will post pictures of the hats soon. However, we are quite pissed off because Baskin Robbins has some pretty awesome penguin hats and they won't sell them to us unless we buy a $20 ice cream cake. WTF?!

I have a pretty bad cold, which totally sucks because I am on vacation this week. I had to go to the pharmacy to get cold medicine today. You basically describe your symptoms, and the pharmacist gives you a box of whatever. Of course, no one speaks English, so I had to sniffle my nose and fake cough to get my shit. Weird that she was able to tell me to take 2 capsules 3 times a day, hmmmmm.

Pics of food to come as well. Korean food is sooo cheap. Full dinners cost anywhere between 3-6$$. Western food is so expensive though! Yesterday, we were feeling severely hung over after a night of drinking somaek (soju and beer, like a sake bomb) followed by late night dance party. We traveled across Seoul to get an American style breakfast (ie eggs, french toast etc), and it costed the 2 of us $45!! Last time we will be doing that! We need order the $5 Snapple though, so that prolly wasn't smart.

It's cold as shizz here, like 15 degrees during the day. We were going out a lot at first, exploring and whatnot, but since I got sick, we are laying low. Oh, we did try snowboarding on Sat. It was a nightmare for me, I am still sore! There is really not much snow in Korea despite the freezing temps. All the snow on the mountain was man made, so super icy. I am still in a lot of pain...

annyeong haseyo!

First post from Korea! HOLLA!! I would have posted earlier, but was working with limited internet. Anyway, I'm here, bags are finally here, and I have worked 2 days at the school. Where to start? Here's a quick rundown on different stuff:

Neighborhood -- it's pretty awesome. There is a ton going on around here. I live/work pretty close to central Seoul. Within a couple blocks of my apartment, there are hotels, restaurants, bars, shopping, a huge mall, a coffee bean(!!!), an imax theater, something that def looks to be a strip club, an Outback (where I ate tonight...say what?!??), and prolly much more. I have only explored a few blocks. And there is a gym in the apartment building so chunkaaa can work on her fitness.

Apartment -- it's pretty small. I will post pictures at some point. I have a stove with 2 burners (no oven, koreans dont have ovens), pretty big fridge and freezer, washing machine, couple closets, tv, table and chairs, etc. My bed is the most uncomfortable bed I have ever slept on - except maybe for the ones Bri and I slept on when driving cross country, yikes! This frigin thing is hard as a rock. I might as well be sleeping on the floor. The first night I kept waking up thinking I was sleeping somewhere else - like on cement. So I am going to have to get some nice blankets and an egg crate or something to fix this shit! The most interesting thing is the bathroom. It's like a shower, but with a toilet and sink inside. Def need pics of that!

School -- the kids are adorable. They might be the cutest kids I have ever seen. Some of them are a handful, naturally, but overall they are pretty awesome. I teach kindergarten and pre-k in the morning (reading teacher), and in the afternoon the kids range from 1st to 5th grade. Man, these kids work hard. In the afternoon, we are required to assign homework in every class, every day! Even on Fridays! Even for winter break, the kids have homework over Christmas. If we don't, the parents call complaining the kids are not getting enough work. So, yeah, Korean school is a lot different that the US. I am pretty tired after my first couple days. We work 9am - 7:30pm Monday-Friday and teach between 8-10 classes a day. That's a lot of kids!!!!

Food -- nothing crazy so far. It can be really hard to order in the restaurants, everything is written in korean characters and no one speaks english. Pictures are helpful, because then you can just point to what you want. I need to learn the names of a bunch of dishes and then just hope that restaurant serves them. Vegetarianism is out the door for the year bc half the time you have no idea what you're eating. And try asking for a dish without something -- good luck! You should have heard Jullia try to ask for soy milk in her coffee the other day, "do you have milk that's not milk?" LOL! Obvs the barista had no idea. And yeah, tonight I ate at the Outback with some teachers who were craving American food. It was still Korean-ish though. My seafood skewers were squid and the steamed veggies were baby bok choy. So yeah... Oh, and you can go out for a full meal for $3, score!

What else? Jullia and I live no where near each other. We are both in Seoul, but this city is effing huge -- 11 million people! Good thing is the subway is awesome, and super cheap (like 75 cents to ride it). I haven't gone too far yet, mostly to and from school, but tomorrow or Friday I am going to attempt to make it across town to her place. Should be interesting. If you're curious, here is the subway map. I live on line 5 (purple) at Wangsimni, you if you can find that! But overall, I don't hate the subway. It's super clean, incredibly fast, and there is a ton of shopping in there -- even a dollar store!

I have more, but am super tired. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, but the school is still open, and it's another 10.5 hour day. I am bringing my camera tomorrow (Santa is coming!), so pics to come soon :)

Fuck My Life!!!

I left almost 48 hours ago and I am still nowhere near Korea. I am in the Frankfurt airport, which I am pretty sure might be one of the worst places on earth. Place makes LAX look like a vacation! There are lines everywhere! Long, long lines. And so many pissed off people. I met several people this morning who arrived 3 hours early and still missed their flights because of the incredibly long lines. And no one is sure what line to wait in. Peeps were waiting for over an hour, just to find out they should be in the line next door. It's mis here.

I should have landed in Korea 18 hours ago. My connecting flight to LA was canceled (after 2 hours of waiting on the plane), so therefore I missed the flight to Seoul. And I couldn't get another flight, so they threw me in a hotel at 1am and gave me a flight to Frankfurt the following night at 8:30...and that flight was delayed! I finally got on the over night flight to Germany, arrived here at 11:30am and will leave for Seoul at 6pm (3 more hours). I am beyond tired, I can't imagine how I will be once landing. Thurs-Sun spent in airports!! Luckily, I have a loaf of blueberry bread and carrots with me, bc I refuse to spend any more money on airport food.

So that's the start of the trip. Can only go up from here, right?

(pardon the profanity in the title. it's necessary.)

8 days

I leave one week from tomorrow. My flight is 25 hours with 2 layovers. Awesome. I depart Boston at 4:20pm on Thursday and get to Seoul at 7am on Saturday! Omg! Friday is just gone!!

I'm leaving in 2 weeks!

HOLLA!!!!

I don't wanna!!!

Weh, weh, weh. I move waayyyy too much. I lived in the same house my whole life until college. Then I started being in charge of my life, and I am all over the place! I moved to college, and then home. The I moved to grad school in LA, and then home. Then I moved back to CA 2 years later (albeit very briefly), and then home. Now I am moving to Seoul, and then I will prolly move home again! I promised my parents when I told them I was going to Korea, that I would stay put in MA for a while when I got back. So Jullia and I are planning to take up residence in Cambridge, which I am very excited about. The plan is to be out of the parents' house for good. Someday I want to move back to CA -- 3rd time's a charm! -- but that is in the v distant future. Anyway, the thing that sucks the most about always moving is I am always PACKING! FML! Anyone who knows me, knows what a procrastinator I am. For example, right now I am procrastinating working out by writing this blog. There's always something. So I told myself I will commence packing of summer clothing on Monday. We'll see...

Things I still need to get: I haven't ordered my mini netbook yet. Unbeknownst to me, effing Walmart went and put them on sale online on Thanksgiving Day for $228. I just happened to plan on ordering mine that day, and because of this stupid sale, that shit is sold out. I also need an outlet adapter. Pos I should just get this there? I don't know where to buy that. I guess I could order online. idk. And I need all my toiletries. Other than those few things, I am ready! I have bought a ton of clothes in a panic. Hahaha, like I ever need a reason to shop!

Another exciting post by me! I am excited to get to Seoul to have some actual stories. For now, I will just keep bitching on here about things I don't want to do. :-)

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble, Gobble...

Hooray for Thanksgiving! I am pretty pumped for tomorrow (obvs). We are having dinner at the house, which should be fun, and hopefully relaxing. Nothing big going on, since we have no fam. But this will be my last holiday at home for the year, so it's a lil bittersweet.

I have decided to stop freaking out about leaving. I don't give a crap anymore. If I don't have something, it's fine. I will get it there or do without. My favorite thing I have been doing is stocking up on itunes, because, you know, I can't get itunes in Korea... The last couple things I need are a few toiletries that will be difficult to find, like deodorant, eye drops, etc and one of those mini netbooks, I'm just getting a whole new comp instead of buying a webcam. Much easier. Other than that, I am done. I really need to stop spending. I have a serious shopping disorder. Money burns a hole in my pocket, what's up with that?!

Also, since when are there so many republicans in MA? I need to move back to LA, where people are normal!

The lunatic is in my head.

Omg omg omgomgomgmomg! I am stress-ing!! First off, my immigration shit is ALL messed up. So it turns out they rejected my background check itself, and not the apostille. Well maybe it was both, but they decided to accept the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a state (duh), but the background check itself needs to be conducted by a government agency. All along I was told it had to be a statewide search (which is what I got) and one recruiter even told me where to get it done. And now, rejected. So basically, I am cutting it REALLY close. The place I am getting it done now is in Revere -- Jullia's fav hangout -- and they have no phone. So I can't even call to express my urgency. Hopefully the fact that I overnighted my request to them (oh yeah, everything is done by MAIL), will make them expedite the process.

I also got an email last night from the school. The director requests I get the swine shot before I go to Korea. Like that's easy to get! And how the f am I going to get all my shit there?! It's not like I am a light packer. I have CLOTHES, and SHOES, and BAGS, and jewelery, and hair accessories, and books, and toiletries, and computer, and on and on. Do I bring the Wii or not? Where do I put my year's supply of deodorant? How can I bring 20 pairs of shoes? Bc I require a minimum of 20 pairs for an entire year! I am already compromising and only bring 3 bags (purses). I can't do shoes too! And I can't buy them there, my feet are giant size in Asia. Clothes will be hard too, I'm 5'9! And coats! I want to bring 5 coats! It's cold there, and rains a lot. They are all necessary! Ughh, I sound like a mental person. This is what it's like being in my head. But it's all day long. And it's mixed with "raraahhhahh romaromaromama gagagagaga oh lalala." Ughh, just kill me now!

Bringing my hat and mittens!

It's 28 degrees in Seoul right now. Granted it's night time, but WTF? It's been like that all week! This does not make me happy.

And of Course!

I knew it! Of course I managed to mess something up when sending my acceptance package to Korea. Apparently my criminal background check was not certified by the proper agency and Korean immigration will not accept it as is. Even though it is certified by the Secretary of State (or the "Commonwealth" in MA), it is incorrect. So my recruiter had to send it back to me and I must get it fixed ASAP. Bottom line, I am going to drop another 45 bones FedEx-ing this shizzzz back to them. FedEx total thus far: $90! AWE-SOME! I could be blowing that money at Nordstrom!!!!

So I should be leaving in approx one month. Yes, I am getting nervous. I am a little worried about the move itself, but I know Jullia and I will get through everything together. More and more I think about it, I could never do this alone. What I am really concerned about is missing my family and friends. I see most of my friends all too infrequently as it is. And I am terrible at the phone (as you all know!). Basically, I know I suck at keeping in touch. That just means, everyone (meaning everyone who has been invited to view this blog) is obliged to come to Seoul. No if, ands, or buts ;-) When else are you going to vacation in Korea?

I am excited tomorrow is Sunday and I don't have to work for the first time in 3 weeks! I was looking at an old post of mine from Sept when I was only working 3 days a week! That was short-lived, of course. I am pissed that the Pat's game is at 8:20 tomorrow night, though. Ughhh, too late! I prefer 1:00 games. Then I can eat my snacks and have my drinks with time for a nap! That is how Dad and I prefer Sundays to go. Monday will mean running around trying to get this damn background check in order. Apparently I have to go to Chelsea...wheretf is that???

Signed. Sealed. Delivered?

Breaking news. After months and months of looking, I have finally found a job in Seoul that looks not horrifying! Here is the link to my school - http://kps.koreapolyschool.com/ . To see the school itself, click on elementary at the bottom. It looks very cute. My first official day of work is going to be December 21, and I will be leaving for Korea the week before. I feel very fortunate to have received this offer, it's by far the best position I came across in the past 3 months! Hooray! I sent all my paperwork to the school yesterday and now just have to wait while my visa is processed. BTW - it costs $45 to FedEx an envelope to Korea...and it takes 5 days to arrive, yikes! Now I just have to figure out how I am going to get all my clothes there. Esp since I need to bring lots of winter gear. It was 30 in Seoul the other day! But this weekend is supposed to be 75 - sounds like New England.

On another note, Levi Johnston is going to pose for Playgirl. Is that not hilarious? Talk about trying to extend your 15 minutes! LOL

la la la la la laaaaaaaaaaa

lalalalalaaaaa

Things are moving slowly. Very slowly. I still haven't found a school. Recruiters keep telling me it is difficult to find opportunities in Seoul because teachers aren't going back to the US since the economy sucks. Blah, blah, I don't want to hear that! I interviewed with a school today that seems promising. It's a kindergarten, which could be fun. Or nerve racking! Some of the kids could be as young as 3 years old. Major drawback is that Jullia's school has asked her to come later, like in Dec! So I could potentially be there 6 weeks before her, which is scary.

On another note, look at how crafty I am! I made this hydrangea wreath today! Yes, those are real flowers from our yard! I am v proud of my wreath making skills. Perhaps when I get back from Korea and move to the mountains, I will explore a career in wreath making. I imagine it could be quite lucrative... :-)

Some thoughts by Al

Jullia keeps telling me I do not update enough, so here are some random thoughts from me. First off, when I move to Seoul, I plan on consuming as much Red Mango as possible in the first week I am there. All meals will take place at Red Mango. And I will love it. Even though we have Red Mango here in "The States," we do not have on in Lowell, nor any type of RedMango/PinkBerry/YOGURTLAND(sigh) place. So there you go.

Secondly, I did not get the job at Alphabet School :( I did get hired at the school that had that weird interview, but declined due to location (burbs). Also received an offer today from a school with a shady contract and lots of negative reviews online. Pass!! The right school has to come soon.

Thirdly, huge congrats to Jullia who has accepted a position in Seoul!! yay! Now on to me, I need a job! And it has to be at a cute school that is nice to teachers! Where are you, cute, nice school?!

Lastly, football season is here! Woo ha! So many positives to this! Obvi football brings lots of quality snacking and beer time on the couch with Dad. No better way in the world to spend a Sunday! Snacks and beers unlimited! And, I am currently "unavailable" to work on Sundays because of various "previous engagements" (weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, I could go on) also known as couch and football time!! So now I only spend about 3 days a week in that dreaded place! Suckaaaass!!!

Sick of Lowell

Late night post after a couple glasses of wine!! Should be interesting! (PS that was a disclaimer, so don't point out the typos, I know they're in here. Same goes for overuse of exclamation points.) Lots going on with me. First off, I have yet another broken cell phone - minor price to pay for a fun vacation on the Cape. Lesson learned, don't take phone on small boat, chances are it will get soaked. So some time this week I will have to venture to the dreaded verizon store and make up some lame excuse as to why the phone is broken for the 3rd time this year. Hopefully the person I get doesn't give an eff and just gives me a new phone. If not, it's broken phone til Korea!

On to all things teaching. FINALLY posted my resume on Dave's ESL this week. Tons of emails and calls from recruiters! Korea is 13 hours ahead of my time (US Eastern), which is a major pain in the ass! Because I work at night, I have to take interviews when I get out, at 1am or later. WTF?! I am tired as shit by that time. I had my first interview last night, which was interesting. Woman asked me nothing! Just had me talk a little bit - I am pretty sure she was just checking to see if I spoke with an accent, which thankfully I do not. Surprisingly, I got an email today from the recruiter saying the interviewer thought it went really well. hmmm. I have an interview Monday for a school that I am hopeful for. Website is so cute! http://www.alphabet.co.kr/ Probably shouldn't be sold on the website, but I kinda am. School gets good reviews by former teachers online too, so that means I prolly won't get hired there...

On to the title of my post, I am so sick of Lowell. I hate my job and everything else. I have to quit the refugees job because they changed the hours of the class from 12-3 to 9-12, and I am not up at that time! I am scared to tell them though, I feel really bad about peacing. But I am going to work with United Way again this year, so I am moving on from one free job to the next. I could fill my resume with jobs I work for free! I seem to always have at least one.

Anyway, this post is bor-ing...and long! I apologize. I am half distracted by the Chelsea Lately featuring Backstreet Boys on in the background. Who knew Kevin left the group?! Oh, and now Interactive Male commercial is on! "Talk about a good time," that is their slogan. Def time for bed, don't know what I am saying anymore. Doesn't matter bc no one reads this anyway. ZZzzzzZzzzZz

Night!

S-L-A-C-K-I-N-G

I am asked at least once I day when I am leaving for Korea (and occasionally people ask about Prague too, haven't totally updated everyone). The answer is I have no effing clue! To go to the Czech, we could basically just roll in. Korea is a whole other animal. We have sooooo much shit to do!! Most of it has to do with the fact that we get hired by a school before we leave. Therefore, we need to have our work visas before we arrive or I hear they will deport you! Ahhhh! So first we need to submit our resumes / cover letters / letters of rec etc, do a couple interviews, and get hired by a school. We then need physicals, we have to interview at the Korean consulate (which I am so lucky there is one in Boston because there are only 10 in the country), pass background checks amd all this other pain in the ass shit. All in all, it takes about 2 months. And guess what?! I haven't done a damn thing yet. So, FML - I better get crackin.

In other news, Amie bought me a learn to speak Korean book and cd set for my birthday. Interesting. The cd goes so fast! After like one minute, they expect you to be saying entire sentences! I haven't really learned anything except words Amie's taught me, like anyohasayo (or something like that) is hello and shikodo is shut up. Hmmm, this week I should at least pick up another Lonely Planet, this time for Seoul.

Also, Name this Blog! I am taking suggestions of what to name this crap since obvi Czech 123 is not applicable anymore. Let me know if you have any ideas, that is if anyone is still actually reading this nonsense!

Free!

The stupid online class is over!! Hooray! The class wasn't hard, but a serious pain in the ass! I am just happy that I don't have to do homework anymore. Also gives me more time to concentrate on the one million things I need to do before we leave.

I still don't know that much about Seoul, truthfully. It's an enormous city, so I hope it's not too overwhelming.

Red Mango and Kimchi Beat Out Weird Dumpling and Pivo

It's official (well, as official as we get - meaning subject to change), we are heading to Seoul. I have positive feelings on this decision, mostly happy that I don't have to be broke for a year!! Bummed out about Prague, but I know I'll get there someday...

More to come when I am not so damn tired. Here is a pic of a Red Mango in Seoul that I swiped off the internet. I fully intend on replacing stolen Korea photos with my own when I get there! New camera (birthday present from mom) should be here anyday too! :-)

This blog might need a new name.

Another twist. We are now considering going to Seoul, yes even though we have tickets to Prague. There are several pluses and minuses for both cities, but it comes down to money and job security, unfortunately. So! For those of you paying attention, we were first going to Spain, then Prague, Istanbul, and now Seoul! We keep moving east. Before you know it, we'll be planning on California and then Boston. Hopefully we actually leave! Everything is up in the air now. First step is to apply to schools and see what happens. We are running out of time!

One major plus to Seoul is there are yogurt places there. I know at least Red Mango for sure. I miss Yogurtland so much!! It was in my life for too brief of a time! And now I am miserable without it. So if I could enjoy Red Mango in Seoul, it might ease some of the pain. It's def no Yogurtland. I mean, they had Mother's Cookies there for crying out loud! How do you get any better than that?!

Here is a pic of my last delicious yogurt from you know where. Sigh...

Plane tickets, Czech!

It's been a really busy couple of weeks around here. First off, it took me forever to find an English classroom that would allow me to volunteer. Who knew?! Part of it was that there are less classes in the summer, and part of it was haters who don't allow volunteers. Luckily, my fabulous friend Elena recommended I try the International Institute of Boston and Lowell and they are happy to have me. I am going to be helping out for 10 hours a week through the end of the summer. I love it there. Really, I am surprised at how enjoyable the class is. The students are all refugees who have come to the US in the last 6 months and they are so excited to be learning English! They are from all over, predominantly Nepal, Burma, Iraq, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Apparently there is a large influx of Burmese in Lowell in the past year, especially in the last 6 months, and I would say about a third of the class is Burmese. I hope teaching abroad will be as fun as volunteering!

I've been working a shit load. Too much actually. Over 50 hours a week of waitressing is brutal on your body. After an 11 hour shift on Saturday, my legs were aching when I got up Sunday. I am not going to work any more weeks like last. It was too much, and my tiredness is reflected in my attitude at work. When so much of your pay depends on your personality, you really should be nice to your guests. Or care about them at all. By the end of the week, I really didn't give a shit if your burger was overcooked or the cheese wasn't melted on your nachos. You're a chunkaaa, you shouldn't be eating those nachos anyway! Ok, apparently having 2 days off hasn't improved my attitude...I am just permanently bitter about restaurant work.

The forums at Dave's ESL Cafe are effing with my head. I read some posts that say we can roll into Prague and as long as we have a solid interview and are able to present a compelling lesson plan along with our certification, we are in! Others drinking the haterade (yeah, I said it) say an online TEFL course is like not being certified at all and good luck to us. So I am nervous. Another concern is culture clash. Apparently, the Czech are pretty reserved by nature, and to put it lightly, Jullia and I are not. At all. So pos no one is going to hire us and we will be yet again without work, but this time in another country. Worst case scenario!! Oh well, plane tickets are bought, so as of August 31, I will officially be an "ex-pat!" tee-hee-hee.

On a lighter note, Mom and I dined at Blue Taleh tonight. De-lish! I was introduced to 2 new things, which I LOVE! First was the Asharhi Cucumber Roll which we had as an appetizer. It is salmon, yellowtail, tuna, and avocado wrapped in thin cucumber slices. OMG, it's awesome. Even better, if possible, was the Cucumber Margarita! OMFG, absolutely delicious. Patron silver, with simple syrup, lime juice, and just a touch of watermelon schnapps with thin cucumber slices floating around. THE BOMB!! Mom had a Mango Martini served with a fresh pineapple slice, also fab. Do they serve these drinks in Prague?!

Appropriately, Czech words today are: Unemployed = nezaměstnaný

Homeless = bezdomovec

Can I get the veggie burrito?

There are no Czech vegetarians. Yes, I am going to make that bold statement before I even get there. Apparently Czech cuisine is all about roast pork, sauerkraut, and some boiled bread dumpling that is sliced and served with meat juice. Oh, and tripe too! Tripe soup is supposed to be popular. Even if I was a meat-eater, these things are less than appetizing to me. Ok, I'll just come out with it, Czech food sounds nasty!! There is only one vegetarian dish named in Lonely Planet: smazeny syr (fried cheese!). LP advises me to eat at a Chinese food restaurant if I want to go out. My only hope is dessert! There are crepes and fruit filled dumplings with chocolate and ice cream. Ughh, I just did a google search for Czech restaurants around Boston because I was curious to check out the menus. The closest one is in Killington, VT!! That is not close! I guess there isn't a huge demand for houskove knedliky (the boiled dumpling) around here. Plus this place seemed pretty Americanized -- I mean, they had spinach dip on the menu. I will be sure to post a review and photos of my first authentic Czech meal when I get there.

The poll has closed. Prague beat out Istanbul 7-5. I would have been pretty surprised if Istanbul had won, considering it has never been mentioned as a possibilty before I threw that poll up. We were considering going there instead for about a week. I read some places that we may be able to find jobs easier, then I read some other places that we wouldn't. Pretty much the same as the Prague research. Anyway, the main draws were the awesome weather - 85 and sunny everyday - and being near the water. But we are sticking to Prague! The voters have spoken and this is where we'll go ;-)

The weather continues to suck here in MA. It rains every single day. And it's cold! Low 70s, cloudy skies everyday. I hate it. Weather has a strong effect on me, and the type we've been having here makes me want to sleep...all the time.

Already mentioned some Czech words today, but just to recap, they are:

smazeny syr = fried cheese

houskove knedliky = weird dumpling

It's just like New England!

Tonight Tomorrow Tomorrow Night Light Rain / Fog Low 58° F Precip: 60% Light rain this evening. Then becoming foggy. Low 58F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Light Rain High 74° F Precip: 80% Occasional light rain. High 74F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rain / Thunder Low 60° F Precip: 80% Rain with a thunderstorm or two during the evening, followed by a few showers overnight. Low around 60F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Sunset: 9:16 PM Sunrise: 4:56 AM Sunset: 9:16 PM

I am still new at this, so forgive the less than perfect image above of the Prague forecast. I spent wayyy too much time trying to figure out how to keep the rainy clouds in there to no avail. They really did make it so much better! Anywhoooo, I wish we were going somewhere that didn't seem to have the exact same weather as New England!! Here, partly cloudy, rains everyday. Prague, partly cloudy, rains everyday. WTF?!

dest = rain (pronounced dairsht, kinda sounds like Durst - the nookie, c'mon! stick it up your yeah!)

plastenka = raincoat (pronounced plash-tyen-kuh)