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)

Czech, please!

So I changed the name of the blog. Adventures in Prague was a working title, it just didn't have that certain je ne sais quoi that I am looking for in a blog. Stay tuned, the name will prolly change again shortly (suspenseful, I know). Although, of all the names I came up with, this was my fav because it made Rumpshaker pop into my head! Check baby, check baby one two! Check baby, check baby one! All I wanna do is a zoom zoom zoom and a boom boom! Umm, yeah, if the blog is named Rumpshaker at some point, you know why. I better make sure that song is on my ipod for the trip.

It's mad late here, but I can't get to sleep without first updating. There have been a few new developments (other than the oh so important name change). I raised my grade in the class to an 86.12 because I'm wicked smaaart. Monday I have to concentrate on finding somewhere to do my in-classroom training. You have to complete 20 hours of either student teaching, classroom observing, or tutoring through an actual tutoring spot (yes, you have to provide real documentation). Hopefully, I can easily find somewhere and complete my hours asap. Are there less classes in the summer? That is the only thing I am worried about. Even so, I am sure I can find some place that would welcome free tutoring. I just don't want to have to look too hard to work for free! Me and my "free jobs," I feel like I always have one ;-)

Most importantly! Oktoberfest runs September 19th - October 4th and Munich is about a 6 hour train ride away, meaning...we're going! Or at least, I hope we're going! If all goes well after our arrival with the job/apartment situation (minor details), then I see no reason to miss out! Fingers are crossed.

Finally, I have to address the title of this particular post. I'm all about titles today. I am getting my old job back at the brewery, which is more good than bad. I am thankful to have a job for the summer, especially one with no strings attached that I can just endure for the next 2 months. At the same time, it does make me feel a little defeated to be going back after CA. At some point in my life, and hopefully sooner rather than later, I hope to be away from the restaurant business forever! Seriously, with the exception of grad school, I have always had a restaurant job since I was 13! Enough already! I can do other things! I know it!

Czech lesson: Prosim prineste ucet = Please bring the bill (ughh)

Hello, Goodbye

Today really is a bittersweet day. It's 5:30 in the morning and I am sitting in the San Diego airport. Flying back to MA today. I am excited and disappointed at the same time. Obviously I am excited because the next time I move will be to Prague. In fact, after a bit more research, we have decided to bump up the moving date to August 31st, if we can find some sweet prices on flights. It's just 3 days earlier than we planned, but may make a difference in us finding jobs if we arrive right at the beginning of Sept. However, even though I am so excited to be going abroad, I still have an overwhelming sense of disappointment that this stint in California proved to be so short lived. I keep telling myself that everything happens for a reason, that it just wasn't meant to be. Everything will still be here when I get back. And if I hadn't come out here and borderline lost my mind, I wouldn't be fleeing the country right now and off to new adventures (I have no qualms admitting I am running away - but please don't ask if I am trying to "find myself." I will flip out.) So for now, I am sad, sitting in the airport drinking my $5.32 orange juice next to a woman with the thickest southern accent who keeps saying "tomaaatas" (translation=tomatoes). But at least there's free wi-fi.

Anway, the class is really heating up! We have an assignment due everyday for the next 5 days! No time for slacking. I have been doing a ton of online research on finding teaching jobs in Europe. Unlike Asia, it is customary to get there and then get a job. Apartments too. Obvs this makes us nervous! So basically, most of the discussion forums, etc, tell us to roll in, stay at a hostile for a few days, and "pound the pavement" by just showing up to schools and asking for jobs. Whoa! School starts in late Sept and the first 2 weeks of the month are hiring season. Hence why we bumped up the date to be there that first full week of Sept. So we are planning on getting our resumes out now and hopefully have some shit set up when we get there. It's nerve racking to think about! Esp for me! I am high maintenance! I've never stayed in a hostile before and I am nervous about doing it with all my belongings on hand. This should be interesting...

Double Czech words today: Hello = ahoj (pronounced Ahoy! like a pirate!)

Goodbye = nashledanou (pronounced I have no idea)

School Daze

After one week, my grade in my TEFL course is an 83.1% What the f is that shit? This class is mad easy, how do I not have a 100? Or 105?! Idk if that is even possible, but that's what I should have. I must be a total dumb ass to have a low B average. The best was the weekly quiz. You are allowed to take it 2 times, and after the first time, they give you the correct answer. My stupid ass still got an 8/10 on it! Hahaha! I need to start taking it more seriously, apparently. Not that it even matters as long as you pass and get your certificate, but still, I want an A.

We are buying our plane tickets this week! Yay! Jullia found a really good deal and it looks like we can fly from Boston for $329. Not bad! We are looking at going on Sept 2nd, which is the Wednesday before Labor Day. I am already dreading the packing! I am supposed to be packing to leave San Diego right now...clearly I am procrastinating.

On to more things Czech. They have American movie theatres in Prague. I know it's silly to be worrying about seeing American films, but the New Moon movie comes out in November, and you know I love that shit. The thought of waiting a year to see it was not sitting well. So I am relieved to know I can see it in Prague.

Czech word of the day : pracovní název = New Moon HA!