Veselé Vánoce!

my 'elementary' level post-secondary class

Yesterday was our last day with post-secondary classses until after the new year, so we had a Christmas-themed lesson! There are many differences between Czech and American traditions at Christmastime, so we had a nice discussion comparing our two cultures. Since they don't have stockings to hang  by the chimney with care, I had them decorate their own (paper) stocking to bring home! As you can see they were very creative and had a good time with the mini art project. We listened to Christmas music in the background and it was even snowing outside so it was quite a festive lesson. They gave me a present from baby Jesus (the Czech equivalent to Santa?)  and were looking forward to 2 weeks holiday  :)





my 'pre-intermediate' post-secondary class... at the pub!

My other post-secondary class (above ) was sad to see the end of the week come because the other teacher, Zach, will be going back home early January. So we had our Christmas lesson then took them out to a pub nearby for a farewell drink. Five and a half hours later we were finally saying goodbye! They were very happy to have us spend time with them outside of class and we all enjoyed each other's company very much.

Now I just have 4 classes this week and I'm off to London for Christmas!

St Mikuláš day

The one day a year when it is ok to make children cry.

It's true-the kids are seriously terrified of this day because, as story goes, if you have been naughty then the devil comes and puts you in his bag and takes you to hell. However if you are good then the angel gives you goodies, only after you recite a poem or sing a song though! St Mikuláš (St Nicolas) oddly resembles the pope and is cause for celebration on 5th December.

So one of my classes (the elementary level post-secondary group) planned, with the other teacher Marketa, a lesson for me about St Mikuláš day on Monday! When I got to class three of my students were at the front dressed as St Nick, the angel, and the devil. It was hilarious. They proceeded to tell me the history, story, and events of this day and finished by asking me if I had been naughty or nice this year.

Of course I have been nice, but before the angel gave my my gifts (nuts, dried fruit, and an advent calendar) I had to sing a song or recite a poem. I dazzled them with 'Twinkle twinkle little star' and we feasted on the homemade treats they brought to school. We talked about Christmas traditions from the Czech Republic and I told them the American equivalents. It was a really nice, relaxing lesson for everyone!

sníh (snow)

street shot

It became winter here in Praha! On Monday it snowed literally all day. Then again yesterday, Wednesday, early afternoon it decided to start up again in near blizzard-like force. (and this coming from the girl from Minnesota!) This morning I had 1 student arrive on time to class, while others straggled in late muttering complaints about late/delayed/non-existant transportation due to the bad weather.

Luckily, the nice Czech handyman came and turned on the heat in my bedroom last weekend because the temperature has dropped drastically and there's more talk of another round of snow...

the newest addition to the Judd family!

Welcome to the world, Graham Anderson Judd!

All the best to my cousins, Cat and Andrew, and their new baby

a very TEFL Thanksgiving

my TEFL friends

 Yesterday my friends from the TEFL course and I celebrated Thanksgiving at the castle girls' apartment! We all cooked food (most were family tradition dishes), had a wonderful feast, then bundled up to go to see the opening of the Christmas market/tree lighting in Old Town square. The square was absolutely PACKED with people, but we made our way through the crowd to get a good view of the tree. With the light snow on the ground from Friday night it really felt like the holidays!

Christmas tree in Old Town square

After the market we went back to their apartment for dessert and the classic Christmas film, Elf. It was a lovely day spent with good friends and lots of good food- a true Thanksgiving.

i'm thankful for skype.

skype family frame shot

Happy Thanksgiving!!
In honor of turkey day I successfully pulled off a turkey hand-art project with my Czech students, making them tell me, 'Farmer Natalie', why I shouldn't kill them for my Thanksgiving dinner. It was hilarious.

After school I came home and had a skype-athon! First with my fam in Minnesota celebrating at Uncle Tom and Aunt Susie's house, then with the Nanny/Faust/Quinton/Pelant crew in SNOWY St Louis, and finally with Zoey in Seattle. whew!

Lots to be thankful for this year, and looking forward to our own attenpted Thanksgiving dinner this weekend in Praha!

wool weather

Sunday night seems like a good time for a new blog post!

Had a lovely weekend here in Prague. It started with Melissa and I going to see an afternoon showing of the new Harry Potter movie--in English--on Friday. Yes, it was fantastic. The ending was a bit akward since they are splitting the last book into 2 movies, but other than that it was good. Let's be honest, I'll probably go see it again with Matthew. Then we had dinner at our favorite local hole-in-the-wall restaurant with the BEST garlic soup. I'm not sure of the actual name of the restaurant, so we just call it 'garlic soup place'. Very appropriate.

On Saturday Melissa and I were extremely successful in our shopping endoevers. The weather reports say that we are getting our first round of winter weather this week, so my southern Belle friend insisted that we go find decent boots before we get snow/fall on the ice/freeze.. Surprisingly we both found what we were looking for while Matthew spent the day in an exam room taking the GRE. We celebrated with fellow TEFL friends last night, it was good to see them again.

This weekend the first Christmas market opened! We went and checked it out this afternoon-it was complete with a huge tree and nativity scene in the center of the rows of stands. You can find ornaments, wood toys, gingerbread cookies, honey/jam/lavender concoctions, scarves, and much more. The big market opens in Old Town Square next Saturday night with an official 6 pm lighting ceremony of the large Christmas tree! We are planning on having a TEFL Thanksgiving on Saturday afternoon then going to the tree lighting ceremony. Should be a very festive start to the holiday season!

I have procrastinated looking at lesson plans for the week by watching an episode of The Office, 'decorating' my white walls with pictures from the H&M holiday and Vogue magazines, and now blogging... so I must do some work now before the week begins. Hope everyone had a nice weekend, too! xox

peace out, Communism

Today is yet another Czech national holiday-but no complaints here, so far I've had one day off per month of being here! Although today is what all of my students have been calling a 'celebration day' because just 21 years ago today was the end of Communism reign in the Czech Republic. 21 YEARS!!

I have heard many stories from some of my older students about life during Communism. They laugh about it now, but back then it was no joking matter. Absolutely everything was regulated, monitored, and rationed out (bananas at Christmastime only, for example). Simplicity was key and freedom was non-existent.

Today my teenage students are blessed with futures outside of the CR if they wish, but their parents weren't as lucky.

In honor of this celebration day I am practising my freedom and buying a plane ticket to London for my Christmas holiday!!

fun with Zoey



1 pound scarves

The alarm went off at 4:14 am this morning, forcing Zoey and I to say goodbye after a fantastically full 2 weeks together. Here are some pics from our holiday:




Vampire Diaries tees from Barbie




Krakow, Poland

 



Big Ben









Halloween in Praha



carving pumpkins



winking Jack O lantern



H2O

Krakow, Poland

On Monday night while cooking dinner, Matthew Zoey and I were discussing our upcoming "Autumn holiday". Thursday Oct 28th was a national holiday in the Czech Republic (celebrating Czechoslovakia's independence  in 1918) and most of the schools gave the students Wednesday and Friday off as well for a fall break. By the end of dinner we decided that the best way to celebrate this time off was to book an overnight train to Krakow, Poland and spend a couple days in eastern Europe!

After the nearly 9 hour overnight train ride (which I'm sure I'll never forget) we arrived in Krakow as the sun was rising. We found Matthew, who had to meet us in Krakow because he came from Bratislava, Slovakia, got to our hostel, and set off for a day of exploring the city. It was a surprisingly charming city, and thanks to our Rick Steves book we learned a lot about the city's history and it's sights. I learned that Poland is the most Catholic European country, and it shows by its numerous cathedrals that were all packed throughout the whole day. I have never seen so many people standing in line...for confession! Since Pope John Paul II was from Krakow there were many statues and shrines for him.

We explored the Warwal Castle and the "up and coming" Jewish quarter. The castle grounds were beautiful and is one of the 7 spots around the world that has a pure balanced chakra. We felt very balanced. The Jewish quarter was very interesting-since the Jews were all forced to live in one area of Krakow only later to be completely deported and their neighborhood and history nearly destroyed, this part of town had a lot more character. It was dark and not as glam as the city center, but we all enjoyed walking the synagogue tour and decided to spend the evening there for dinner.

On our last day we went to Auschwitz, but that deserves its own blog post.

our weekend in London

Me, Zoey and Cherrie in front of Buckingham Palace

Last weekend Zoey and I, after a minor delay at the London Gatwick airport, had a lovely time in London. I had never been there so we had to be non-stop tourists the whole two days. We went to the Victoria Albert Museum, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the Eye, the Globe, Tate Modern Museum, Trafalger Square, Spitefield Markets and Brick Lane, Millenium Bridge, St Pauls Cathedral (and up the 500 steps to the top!), Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, and Harrods, of course. I feel like we only saw a fraction of what London has to offer, so hopefully I will be able to visit again soon!

Trafalger Square

My cousins, Ben and Gerry, were fantastic hosts who gave us the names of perfect British restaurants, shops, museums, etc for our weekend trip. On Sunday morning they showed us around their neighborhood, Islington, and took us to fantastic markets!

Big Ben and Parliament

Safe travels

Zoey is en-route to Prague!!!! I am so excited-I've cleaned, lesson planned ahead of time, and even bought her fruit for when she gets here.

Also travelling are my parents, going for a long weekend to visit family in Illinois! 'Hi Grandma and Nanny!!'
Keep my travelling loved ones in your thoughts,
I'm anxious for my friend to get here safe and sound.
xoxo

Saturday slideshow

Lennon Wall

Yesterday Melissa and I took a leisurely walk around Prague in hopes to finally find the Lennon Wall. After an hour or so of wandering the beautiful streets on an equally beautiful autumn day, we found it! Hidden from the Communists, this wall was a dedication to John Lennon. And how appropriate that we found it on his 70th birthday!

Countdown: 11 days!!

My best friend from school, Zoey, is coming to visit!!! We're in the process of planning a trip to London to visit my cousins Ben and Gerry and possibly another weekend trip. So far plans for Spain have taken a too-expensive route, so we're still brainstorming. Any ideas??

we love scarves.

Dresden, Germany- Mission: complete

On Wednesday morning two co-workers and I had a 9 am meeting at the Czech Embassy in Dresden to apply for our one-year work visas. This was great since you technically are only allowed 90 days in Europe as a 'tourist'. I arrived on 6th August, meaning I have until early November to get a permanent work visa. In order to apply for the work visa you need a number of documents, including a work permit from a certified employer. So, in order to have this work permit you need a job. Luckily, I have a job, a great job, that has helped me throught this long and complicated process of paperwork and pleasing the Czech office workers.

With less than a month left on my 'tourist' time, I am lucky to have made it to Dresden, Germany on Wednesday to apply for my work visa. They informed me that after the foreign police finishes my 'background check' that I will be able to pick up my official work visa (to cover the temporary stamp I now have in my passport) in a few weeks.

IJV not only helped with all of the paperwork but they also PAID for the work visa! I am extremely lucky to have such a cooperative and legitimate school to work for because there are a lot of places that don't even tell you where to begin.

I am thankful that all of it is over, especially since the process began at 2:30 am Wednesday morning when my alarm clock didn't go off... but I woke up at 2:53 am, threw some clothes on and was out the door to catch the 3:03 am tram that left my apartment so I could make the 3:30 am train that left Prague for Dresden. Talk about an early morning.

Since IJV arranged substitutes for our classes that day, Melissa, Tyler and I decided to stay for lunch and explore the city. Dresden is beautiful and I even got to use some of my sparse German vocabulary! Very impressed by the reconstruction of the city after it was completly bombed in 1945, it's clean public transportation, and of course their efficiency.

hey Lennie



cute jeggings

 Cousin Lennie at Cat's baby shower yesterday! Super cute. Hope everyone had a great time, I'm sorry I missed the party :)

Happy St. Wenceslas day!

Actually it's not a happy celebration... see, Saint Wenceslas (the patron saint of the Czech Republic) was king, and on this day in 935 his jealous brother, Boleslav, murdered him in order to dethrone him and rule Bohemia.

So it is a national holiday and I didn't have to go to school! In honor of good King Wenceslas a few friends and I hopped a train to nearby Kutna Hora to do some sightseeing outside of the city. Just an hour train ride south east of Prague, Kutna Hora is home to a few cathedrals, a quaint town, and a church with decorations made of thousands of bones leftover from a mass epidemic and a couple of wars hundreds of years ago.

Check out my pictures here!

stop and smell the roses

 







    the rose gardens at Petrin Hill

Petrin Hill

mini Eiffel Tower

No, I have not run away to Paris. Prague has it's own Eiffel Tower-only much, much smaller.

On a beautiful early autumn day my friends Melissa, Matthew and I hiked up (ok, took the funicular) to the top of Petrin Hill for a wonderful view of the city. We did climb the stairs to the top of the mini tour eiffel despite any nauseau or closterphobia, and it was worth it. Here are some pics from the top:

bad blogger remorse

I have been a very bad blogger, and for that I apologize.

Here is a recap of my first full week at IJV:
Monday- 7:30 am company course, followed by 3 hours of teenagers, then after 3 forms of public transportation was at another company giving tests
Tuesday- made a 19 year old girl cry during my class
Wednesday- 3 hours of post secondary students, extra lesson planning
Thursday- substituted for another teacher, got lost in a surprisingly modern office park
Friday- taught all of my students "TGIF"

Hello, Goodbye, and standardized testing

I started life as an actual teacher on Monday...but then my first class got cancelled...

...so then I re-started life as an actual teacher yesterday with my "first" class at a medical supply company, OZP. There were 6 very kind students eager to start the course again after a 3 month break, only to find that I had to give a standardized test on day 1 to assess their level. After brief introductions and an intense 75 minutes of testing they were very happy to go home and I didn't blame them. After grading them I am happy to see their results and hope that they can indeed move up a level to Upper-Intermediate.

Back at IJV I received a revised schedule and it looks like I have two post-secondary classes which each meet daily for 90 minutes. These classes are composed of 16 (!) students ages 19-21 who need to pass the English exam to get accepted into University. I will be teaching from a regular textbook for the first semester, then doing exam preparation for the Cambridge exams starting after Christmas break.

For the rest of the week I am creating supplemental coversation lesson plans for IJV, saying goodbye to fellow TEFL classmates who are leaving Prague for various reasons, and meeting the rest of the English teaching staff!

photo vid

33 Seifertova, Prague 3

We managed the impossible-found an apartment and moved in over the weekend!

I am now in Prague 3, with views of the Russian communications tower and the mini Eiffel Tower from my windows. And I'm only a 7 minute tram ride from work (which starts today!)

More picturs to come when I get time to clean the bathroom and kitchen...

A photo review

TEFL Worldwide graduation night

Successful lesson: "a hot mess"

On a completely non-school related note, I am happy to say that the phrase "a hot mess" has been successfully taught to our British teachers, Slovak and Dutch friends. Thanks to Matthew, the phrase was intoduced to explain a person whose life seems to be all over the place. We then explained the different functions of the phrase to mean someone who is wearing a terrible outfit with equally bad make up, or someone who has clearly not showered/looked in the mirror for a long period of time.

Our British teacher, Dan, used it in correct context yesterday during class (proud teaching moment!) and my Slovak friend, Zuzana, just used it to describe our other Slovak friend, Tatiana, who is indeed a hot mess at the moment.

last day of TEFL!

I cannot believe that the four weeks have passed so quickly, but today I am teaching my last lesson as a TEFL student.

To celebrate, everyone receives their certificate at the end of the day with a champagne toast... or 5.

I am very happy to have survived the course and that I start day one of work on Monday morning!

Hopefully I will hear back`about the dream apartment I saw last night and will be moving this weekend.. hopefully :)

Job:check! Place to live: pending...

I am on the hunt for a fantastic apartment in Prague! Thanks to expats.cz, I have a few viewings lined up this week. This is good because as of Saturday I will be kicked out of the Villa....

Pictures to come of the winning abode!

GOT THE JOB!

I am happy to say that as of Monday, September 6th I will be a full-time employee at IJV!

They are a fantastic language school right off of Wenceslas Square in downtown Prague. It wasn't my initial plan to stay in Prague for the year, but France is being a big pain in the rear when it comes to getting a work visa so this is my best option right now. I am so relieved to have found a job that starts right away... now I just need a place to live :)

Interview!

I had my first real teacher interview this morning!

Yes, I missed class to go, but it was totally worth it. The school is called IJV (Institut jazykového vzdělávání, to be exact) and would be an excellent opportunity to teach both in a classroom and business setting.

I'll keep you posted on the outcome :)

An observation

Middle aged women in Prague love wearing really fancy strappy heels with casual outfits.

Sequins, rhinestones, 3 inch heels.
They wear them to class, around the metro, and shopping at Billa (the grocery store).

quote.

"You dropped me in communist suburbia- let me use your freaking internet."
-Melissa, TEFL student and Villa roommate

on Cloud 9

Thanks to my roommate Erin, a group of us spent a much needed relaxing evening at the top of the Hilton hotel in Prague at the sky lounge bar appropriately called Cloud 9. We had a reserved couch, buffet of grilled meats and veggies, and a gorgeous view of Prague's skyline. It was the end to a surprisingly productive day at the beach (it is August, I need to be near anything that reminds me of Lake Minnetonka).

In preparation for this very busy week I am now at yet another internet cafe surrounded by fellow TEFLers simultaneously pouring over grammar books and job websites. Just another day at the Villa...

oooh we're halfway there

I cannot believe that I am already halfway done with the TEFL class! Although I feel like I have been in Prague for 3 years, it has only been about 15 days.

A majority of my time is spent at school either in class, prepping for lessons, or using the internet. On top of our bi-weekly lessons we have to plan, we also have a one-on-one tutoring project (15 page paper due next Monday?!), a grammar presentation to plan, continuous job searching and housing to worry about. It is extremely busy but very rewarding.

I am in the process of looking and applying for jobs in France as well as in Prague. It is going to be difficult to find a job in France because they prefer EU citizens (which means no work visa paperwork to complete for the employer) but I am still trying. There are numerous jobs available in Prague, and most of my new friends are going to stick around here for the next year.

We will see what happens! I am using every contact and resource possible so keep sending good vibes my way :)

TEFL group pub crawl

Class finished at 6 pm Friday.
Feedback session ended at 6:30.
After making a few copies, getting back to the Villa, and gathering the roommates we were at the beer garden by 8 pm.

There was already a group of about 20 people there- all classmates, former TEFL students, and one TEFL employee. Conveniently located directly behind school, the beer garden was the first stop on our organized pub crawl after a very busy first week of classes. Renee led us towards Old Town for a couple more stops and lots of much needed fun.

Modal verbs

Good news- I passed my first observed lesson!

Dan, one of the instructers at TEFL, observed my small group's first solo lessons on Friday afternoon. Lucky for us, we had a group feedback session right after and it went really well. The 4 of us decided that no matter what we will give honest and useful feedback to one another (how else will we learn?) after each lesson presentation (twice a week from now on). With Dan sitting in we had a very productive session and learned a lot.

Although my grammar lesson content wasn't fantastic-i hate modal verbs now-I felt quite comfortable standing in front of the classroom directing the lesson. This was surprising to me, considering I have never done this before in my life. I have a deeper respect for the teachers I know in my life, it's not as easy as it looks!

School is back in session

It's the end of day 2 at school and I've already taught a course on English to a group of elementary-level Czech students. My mind is blown.

Day one was filled with classes on TEFL in general, how to teach a "reading lesson", and a class in all Czech. Then we were put in our small groups of 4, given a new reading, and told to write a lesson for the next day's class. After everyone had a small panic attack, we gathered our thoughts and notes and pulled together a lesson plan.

So here I am, after teaching a class of 6 Czech natives ranging from early 20-late 50 years old with my fellow group members and have mixed emotions. It was definitely a "first day lesson" considering I opened the lesson to find their level of English was much lower than anticipated. With a little bit of improv, some encouragement from my group members, and not awknowledging the TEFL founder and teacher sitting in the back of the room I managed to finish my section without major complications and have moved on.

Now planning a writing lesson for tomorrow's more advanced group.

City tour

Thank you, Dad, for ordering such good weather for our group walking tour of Prague!! Luckily we didn't have to walk to whole way- we did take the tram up to Prague castle which would've taken eons. Or at least over an hour.

There are 32 of us in the course, which means a lot of people to walk around the most touristy places in Prague on a beautiful weekend. After seeing the sights the group dissolved and some of us went for a Praha specialty.. beer. We also found the Anthony Bourdain-approved restaurant which specialized in another one of Prague's specialties, meat. Lauren and I opted for the chicken, but the boys inhaled sausages and other pork products piled high on their plates.

Prague is truly a lovely city, here are some pics to prove it:

A rainy Old Town

After finally getting some sleep (10 hours!!) some other TEFLers and I took the metro to Old Town Prague, the city center, to explore. Despite the constant rain we had a great time seeing some beautiful architecture, a jazz band, and the Charles bridge. I caved in a bought an umbrella, the only one that didn't flip inside out because of the wind.

(Lauren just got a dessert delivered to her from a local at the cafe, the Czech boys love her!)

Hopefully tomorrow the rain will be done and we can have a dry walking tour with the group!

The trek

3 bags. 2 arms.
3 layovers. 26 hours of no sleep.
0 language comprehension.

Yet somehow, I'm in Prague.

I didn't miss a flight, immigration let me through without a return flight, and i have keys to an apartment. These are all good things that have led me to an indoor shopping mall (Galerie Fenix) in NE Prague that is central to my new neighborhood, and has free wifi (as well as a gym called "I'm Fit!")

Due to the rain/my overall exhaustion there are no pictures to post yet. However, Sunday we will be going on a group walking tour of the city so i will snap some goodies then!