Postcard from Prague: Czeching it out

One week down! 

This week was no joke. From working full days and fighting off jet-lag to slowly trying to bring my Czech back, I’m exhausted. But exhausted in the best ways.

The kiddos know my name and have trouble pronouncing it. I think the “ay” sound gives them a little trouble. They’re very close, but it comes out more like “Miss Chehny.” And I have one girl who either never remembers or knows she’s not pronouncing it right, so she just raises her hand and says, “Miss!”  It’s adorable every time. And hey, most of them know my name! So I really have no complaints.

I tried to order coffee in Czech at a Starbucks Tuesday morning, and was tremendously disappointed when the barista immediately switched to English. Granted, it was the morning and there were people in line behind me, I wasn’t speaking very loudly (because I was nervous), and the man in front of me had just ordered in English. I know it was easier for her to use English than for me to fumble through Czech at that moment. It was still disappointing, though. But my pride was patched when I walked into a smaller shop Wednesday and got through about 70% of the interaction in Czech! I was good up until the guy asked for my name. "Mluvím malý Český,” I apologized ("I speak a little Czech"). He thought for a second and said, “what is your name?” (I think he speaks English much like I speak Czech: slowly and uncertainly) “Catherine.” “Ketrín?” “Ano.” *writes on cup* Later, I remembered that Czech female names end in -a, and I got self-conscious. So now when ordering in Czech, I give my name as Ketrína (very similar to American “Katrina,” but the emphasis falls differently and the -r- is slightly rolled.) It’s silly, but I’m okay with silly. Anyway, I answered a few more questions for him using Czech, after which he smiled and nodded a little and said, “Czech is good.” Like, MY Czech is good, so that boosted my spirits. Thursday, he was making the drinks rather than working the register, but recognized me (after hearing me fumble through ordering again), so that was pretty cool. He drew a picture on my cup and it made my day. I think I’m going to try to go twice a week and gradually befriend the whole staff. The ones I’ve seen so far all look to be around my age, so maybe I can make some friends and work on my language skills.

Thursday, I started taking Czech class with a few of my non-native-speaking students. The teacher invited me to sit in, partially so I could learn and partially so I could help crowd-control. There’s one little girl in particular who needs some extra attention, so we’ve decided that she’ll be my buddy for the class. The students think it’s great that one of their teachers is learning with them. Thursday I just sat in, whereas yesterday (Friday) I came in with my worksheets, and it clicked for them that I’m actually taking the class. One of my grade 2’s leaned over smiling and said, “so you’re a kid in this class…” Yes, yes I am. And I’ve got some catching up to do, too.

Friday night, I went with some of the other teachers to the movies. Well, to MacDonald’s and then the movies. The girl at Micky Dee’s was a bit rude, enough that a coworker leaned over to me and said, “they’re not usually this mean, just FYI.” But we recognized that she’s also working at the biggest fast food chain in the most touristy part of the city. So we weren’t too upset about it.

Saturday, I had planned on going out to an American diner-style brunch place in Prague 1, and then walking around and taking some obligatory touristy pictures. But it was way below freezing outside, which is a little cold for picture-taking, and that part of Prague 1 is about 40 minutes away from where I'm living. Instead, I tried to go to a local coffee shop only to get there and find out they're closed weekends. So I swung by the grocery store to grab a few things, then headed to Costa Coffee. Costa is a chain across Europe and was a regular haunt while we were in school, and I hadn't been back yet. I killed a couple hours eating a panini and drinking a bowl of coffee and staring out the window of the Costa Coffee near school. 

Today, I'll tag along with the Kamstras (the family I'm living with) to afternoon church, and then hopefully have a relaxing evening before I start it all over again tomorrow! 

Postcard from Prague**: goodbye, hello

This weekend, I’m thankful for hard goodbyes and for friends who made it sad to leave Atlanta.

Today will be day one of settling into new normal life. Nothing too exciting – unpacking and organizing, temporary metro pass, a trip to the grocery store, and maybe I’ll wander over to the school so I don’t have to figure that out at 7:30 tomorrow morning.

It’s pretty cold, and there’s snow in the backyard and along some of the roads. It was 16 degrees when I landed last night. I think the last time I was in 16 degree weather was in Colorado three years ago. Yikes.

I slept almost 12 hours last night (take that, jet lag!) and I’m feeling pretty good today, so that’s quite encouraging.

Goals for this week: get a real metro pass (a long-term rather than a one- or three-day), figure out how to mail letters (I promised some of y’all postcards!), order coffee in Czech. We’re starting small and attainable.

Thanks to everyone who has sent me encouraging texts and messages. I do have WiFi (pronounced "weefee"), so I can easily use iMessage, and I’ll download What’s App sometime soon, as well.

I miss you all terribly, but not enough to be homesick yet ;) I’m so grateful for what an amazing last week I had with you all. Thank you for last-minute lunch and coffee plans, for hugs and high fives, for rearranging schedules and going out of your way to see me. There are still so many people I wished to see but couldn’t. I feel very blessed to have such a strong and loving community. Thanks for shared excitement and for following along on round two of this grand adventure!

(**Working title. If anyone has suggestions for a good blog name, send em to me. The obvious and perfect "Prague Blog" is already taken...)