So some of you may have heard that I "got a new job." This is true in theory, so let me first describe to you this process before confirming whether or now I do indeed have a new job.
After Christmas, I came back to the Czech Republic and realized what a rare thing I have here: I have a job that I love, that I am good at, and that allows me to live in an amazing environment. This is something that few people can boast. It's also something that for me would be pretty hard to come by. I mean that my job options are fairly limited in the US to: a glorified receptionist ("french-speaking" just in case someone French calls, but otherwise, a receptionist), a call center worker (taking inbound complaints from Montreal concerning car parts), a French teacher (although it would be cool, it'd also be hard to listen to kids butcher the most beautiful language on Earth all day long), or...you got me. I tried sincerely to look for something, but came up short. America is just not the right country for language people.*
(*I know there are exceptions, and that somewhere in the heart of Manhattan, San Francisco, or DC there are some great jobs to be had. But logistics make that sort of intimidating, and I'm just not sure if I'm ready for that yet...)
So after that realization, I decided to explore the land of TEFL here. I had been given a contact to this company, Zentiva, a while back but had just kept it. Basically, it's one of the largest companies in the Czech Republic, and is a generic pharmaceutical manufacturer. It's located on the outskirts of the city, and since they didn't have good luck with the language travelling teaching schools like what I'm doing now, they just decided to open their own language school within the company. So it means a normal working day, 9-4ish, same pay as where I am now, but all classes are in one place, and are back to back.
I emailed the guy in charge just to see what the possibilities were, and immediately he wanted to meet since they also do in-house translation and work with French shareholders, and thus need someone to teach French too. So we met, and I went through the interview process, and he wanted me to start next week.
However, Czech visas and work permits are complicated, and although I have a visa and a work permit, they only hire people who have a special "zivnostensky list" which means" trade license" and basically makes you legal to work as a private entreprenuer in the country. It's possible to get, but it takes about 4 months for Americans.
So basically I have to wait until I get this document to be able to work there. The good news is that they said they will take me as soon as I do, so that even gives me more time to consider my options and not just make the decision on a whim.
Meanwhile I had told some of my students I might be leaving, and the sadness on both sides was sort of hard to bear. So actually it is a relief, because I think a really quick change would have been really difficult and emotionally taxing.
So yes, I "have a new job" but I won't be able to start it for a while. All's well that ends well though...
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Holiday Checklist
Now that the holidays are over and I must board an airplane once again to cross the Atlantic, it's time to take a look at things accomplished and things not accomplished...
Accomplished:
1. Replace shoes with holes in them.
2. Receive iPod for Petr.
3. Purchase new rolling briefcase that will replace my decrepit North Face backpack purchased from a North Face outlet, that is personalized with the name "Ed."
4. Make and eat a whole batch of fudge.
5. Gain 2-3 lbs., enough to make jeans tight.
6. See 2 Indie films.
7. Locate Spanish grammar and vocabulary textbooks, and learn irregular stem verbs in the present, and the preterit tense.
8. Find awesome wool slacks from the Gap that are like wearing a blanket. No seriously, they're amazing, I could sleep in them.
9. Watch almost the entire 2nd season of The Office.
10. Get free refills from multiple restaurants.
11. Drink a margarita (this one wasn't as good as the $3 ones from Chili's).
12. Find cool new music to play.
Not Accomplished:
1. Write essays in both Czech and Spanish, although I wrote many an email to Czech friends, and did some Spanish grammar exercises.
2. Work on the translation.
3. Download the episodes of The Office that I bought from amazon.com that don't work on Macs.
4. Call a lot of people (to whom I deeply apologize).
5. Prepare lessons and paperwork for work.
6. Figure out where I want to live and what I want to do with my life.
See you soon in Prague...
Accomplished:
1. Replace shoes with holes in them.
2. Receive iPod for Petr.
3. Purchase new rolling briefcase that will replace my decrepit North Face backpack purchased from a North Face outlet, that is personalized with the name "Ed."
4. Make and eat a whole batch of fudge.
5. Gain 2-3 lbs., enough to make jeans tight.
6. See 2 Indie films.
7. Locate Spanish grammar and vocabulary textbooks, and learn irregular stem verbs in the present, and the preterit tense.
8. Find awesome wool slacks from the Gap that are like wearing a blanket. No seriously, they're amazing, I could sleep in them.
9. Watch almost the entire 2nd season of The Office.
10. Get free refills from multiple restaurants.
11. Drink a margarita (this one wasn't as good as the $3 ones from Chili's).
12. Find cool new music to play.
Not Accomplished:
1. Write essays in both Czech and Spanish, although I wrote many an email to Czech friends, and did some Spanish grammar exercises.
2. Work on the translation.
3. Download the episodes of The Office that I bought from amazon.com that don't work on Macs.
4. Call a lot of people (to whom I deeply apologize).
5. Prepare lessons and paperwork for work.
6. Figure out where I want to live and what I want to do with my life.
See you soon in Prague...
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
The Behind Blocking the Aisle
I'm home at last!
And man does it feel good. I arrived on Saturday evening at 5:00 pm, just as a major snow storm was starting. They predicted 8-10 inches of snow, and thank God I landed before it started, because landing in Detroit during that storm would have been a challenge.
This flight was relatively smooth, well, figuratively at least. The turbulence over Newfoundland was pretty bad, making my stomach rise into my throat and back down again. I've never been one to have problems with airsickness, but this was pretty extreme. Luckily it lasted momentarily. Whenever I fly home I for some reason can never sleep well the night before leaving, and it's always physically exhausting getting to the aiport Europe-side (although this time I got a ride from a Czech friend named Jakub, a huge help), so as soon as I get settled in the airplane, I'm so tired I can barely put sentences together in my head. Most of the time, sentences lack verbs. Mental processes go as follows: "Airplane big woman loud baby loud food yum movies cool." My eyes usually feel like they are melting into my eye sockets and turn a lovely shade of salmon, while my entire complexion turns the color of day old guacamole. I tell myself that if I ever meet my future husband on an overseas flight, I'll know he has fallen in love with my personality, as my face looks like its been punched in and then blown back up again.
Lukcily my parents always think I look great. This time they greeted me and we set off into the snow storm that was starting. I was collapsing due to hunger, as I hadn't eaten hardly anything, since my 1 1/2 hour layover in Paris consisted of 20 minutes on a bus trying to get to the right terminal, and then when I finally got there, I was faced with my reoccuring problem of not finding food in France that lasted 2 years and still haunts me to this day. The only food vendor was a cafe-like set up that literally had no food in the display cases besides old croques-monsieur sandwiches (a great idea: take a ham sandwich and throw a fried egg on top, and the let it sit for 5 hours), pre-packaged, ridiculously overpriced sandwiches with titles such as "thon crudités" (tuna with lettuce and tomato), and yogurt. And then I thought, I'm looking at an era of my life at this moment. The pre-packaged, "thon crudités" sandwiches and the sparse display cases that scream, "We would really like to display food but that would require a signed document from the Bureau de Bonne Bouffe and that takes far too much time and effort, desolée," these allowed me to relive what wore me down and brought me to my knees in France: being surrounded by a culture obsessed with food but never being able to find it or afford it when I did find it.
I thought a 3 euro yogurt sounded palatable, so being proud that I still spoke French I ordered my cherry yogurt in French, while an American rattled off a long order like he was at McDonald's in English, making the French cashier inwardly fume. I had to snicker, not at the American, but at the French cashier being so unfairly subjected to the horror of speaking English.
I had somehow struck up conversation with an American guy on my flight from Prague and since all American flights leave from the same terminal, we met up again at this pathetic excuse for a cafe, and both ordered yogurt. He sat with me while watching the never-ending line for his flight to Las Angeles, and told me of how he was sent to Prague for a poker tournament and spent the past week sleeping during the day and partying at night. It never ceases to amaze me how guys think it will impress girls to tell them how drunk they got/can get/will get. "Oh wow, you were so drunk you didn't remember your name? That's so cool, and just what I desire in my future mate. Please, will you marry me?" You can only laugh and say, "Wow, crazy" and make a wish for the future of the male population.
On my flight I sat next to a Ukranian girl who was on her way to see her husband she hadn't seen in 15 months and live in the US with him. She had never been to the US before and her English was subpar so all of a sudden I found myself back in the classroom. "Please, tell me, what is the USA like?" I was happy to help but my fatigue limited my explanation to, "Oh, the US is very different from Eastern Europe." I figured she'd find out soon on her own. She asked initially if I was from Eastern Europe, she said I had that look. Does living in a place make you look like you're from there? I guess if I lived in China no one would ask me that...
I had an aisle seat which proves to be valuable on overseas flights, to prevent yourself from being blocked in by a fat man snoring, making your poor bladder expand to the size of a hot water bag. However, this particular flight made me curse aisle seats forever. The Ukranian decided the bathroom was her favorite place to hang out, and there was an "elderly" flight attendant (over the age of 45) who wasn't "fat" persay but possessed a behind that probably measured the width of the actual aisle. No joke, everytime she walked by her behind smacked me and a few times I found myself face to face with it. I got into the habit of ducking everytime she walked by. My dad says unions are to blame for my skirmish with the behind but I don't really know what he means...lol, just kidding.
Anyways, on the way home I got an Arby's Market Fresh turkey and Swiss sandwich. I greeted the drive through guy with the biggest smile I'd given anyone for a long time, and proceeded to inhale that thing.
So I'm home now and have been enjoying a foot of snow, my dogs, Indian food buffets, driving, sleeping with no trams, and unlimited movies on OnDemand. Let's face it, life is way more...comfortable in the US. Well, for those who can afford it.
My newest dilemna is whether or not to get my haircut here or in Prague. My hair has always been a delicate subject. I am very picky: If I could cut my own hair, I would. It's not a vanity thing, it's a control thing. I want it to do exactly what I want it to do. I have been going to this great Korean guy in Prague, but for the past two times he's cut my bangs way too short, this time around so short in one spot that it took two months for it to grow out to a controllable length. This is unacceptable for 750 czech crowns (I spend 1000 crowns in a week total on living expenses). So now I am faced with a new, radical alternative: walk-in franchise clinics that cost $12-$14, such as Great Clips or Fantastic Sams.
I walked into our local Great Clips and was greeted by an 18 year old girl who immediately got up and said, "Hi. ...Welcome to Great Clips" as if she'd forgotten this apparently mandatory greeting and sensed the great corporate monster staring at her from up above. I'm sure I won the village idiot prize for the day when I asked, "Oh, uhm, do you need an appointment here?" Their whole motto/sales pitch is based on that fact that you don't need an appointment. I then asked the price: $12 for an entire haircut.
I wrestled with this for a long time, and still am. Is it true that you get what you pay for? I just need a trim, not a style change. And I'm tired of paying high salon fees to pay for expensive overhead. However, although Chang cut my bangs a little short this time, normally what he does is nothing short of genius. Plus I get chocolate, Korean lessons, and a head massage, something I recommend to everyone.
So I'm still wrestling with what to do. I love risks, but with my hair? I don't know. It's a tough decision...
At this very moment I'm feeling the effects of my Indian buffet lunch. Eating Indian food for me is willingly subjecting myself to an arrayed spectrum of discomfort, but for some reason it's always worth it. Why? I mean, it's Indian food...
And man does it feel good. I arrived on Saturday evening at 5:00 pm, just as a major snow storm was starting. They predicted 8-10 inches of snow, and thank God I landed before it started, because landing in Detroit during that storm would have been a challenge.
This flight was relatively smooth, well, figuratively at least. The turbulence over Newfoundland was pretty bad, making my stomach rise into my throat and back down again. I've never been one to have problems with airsickness, but this was pretty extreme. Luckily it lasted momentarily. Whenever I fly home I for some reason can never sleep well the night before leaving, and it's always physically exhausting getting to the aiport Europe-side (although this time I got a ride from a Czech friend named Jakub, a huge help), so as soon as I get settled in the airplane, I'm so tired I can barely put sentences together in my head. Most of the time, sentences lack verbs. Mental processes go as follows: "Airplane big woman loud baby loud food yum movies cool." My eyes usually feel like they are melting into my eye sockets and turn a lovely shade of salmon, while my entire complexion turns the color of day old guacamole. I tell myself that if I ever meet my future husband on an overseas flight, I'll know he has fallen in love with my personality, as my face looks like its been punched in and then blown back up again.
Lukcily my parents always think I look great. This time they greeted me and we set off into the snow storm that was starting. I was collapsing due to hunger, as I hadn't eaten hardly anything, since my 1 1/2 hour layover in Paris consisted of 20 minutes on a bus trying to get to the right terminal, and then when I finally got there, I was faced with my reoccuring problem of not finding food in France that lasted 2 years and still haunts me to this day. The only food vendor was a cafe-like set up that literally had no food in the display cases besides old croques-monsieur sandwiches (a great idea: take a ham sandwich and throw a fried egg on top, and the let it sit for 5 hours), pre-packaged, ridiculously overpriced sandwiches with titles such as "thon crudités" (tuna with lettuce and tomato), and yogurt. And then I thought, I'm looking at an era of my life at this moment. The pre-packaged, "thon crudités" sandwiches and the sparse display cases that scream, "We would really like to display food but that would require a signed document from the Bureau de Bonne Bouffe and that takes far too much time and effort, desolée," these allowed me to relive what wore me down and brought me to my knees in France: being surrounded by a culture obsessed with food but never being able to find it or afford it when I did find it.
I thought a 3 euro yogurt sounded palatable, so being proud that I still spoke French I ordered my cherry yogurt in French, while an American rattled off a long order like he was at McDonald's in English, making the French cashier inwardly fume. I had to snicker, not at the American, but at the French cashier being so unfairly subjected to the horror of speaking English.
I had somehow struck up conversation with an American guy on my flight from Prague and since all American flights leave from the same terminal, we met up again at this pathetic excuse for a cafe, and both ordered yogurt. He sat with me while watching the never-ending line for his flight to Las Angeles, and told me of how he was sent to Prague for a poker tournament and spent the past week sleeping during the day and partying at night. It never ceases to amaze me how guys think it will impress girls to tell them how drunk they got/can get/will get. "Oh wow, you were so drunk you didn't remember your name? That's so cool, and just what I desire in my future mate. Please, will you marry me?" You can only laugh and say, "Wow, crazy" and make a wish for the future of the male population.
On my flight I sat next to a Ukranian girl who was on her way to see her husband she hadn't seen in 15 months and live in the US with him. She had never been to the US before and her English was subpar so all of a sudden I found myself back in the classroom. "Please, tell me, what is the USA like?" I was happy to help but my fatigue limited my explanation to, "Oh, the US is very different from Eastern Europe." I figured she'd find out soon on her own. She asked initially if I was from Eastern Europe, she said I had that look. Does living in a place make you look like you're from there? I guess if I lived in China no one would ask me that...
I had an aisle seat which proves to be valuable on overseas flights, to prevent yourself from being blocked in by a fat man snoring, making your poor bladder expand to the size of a hot water bag. However, this particular flight made me curse aisle seats forever. The Ukranian decided the bathroom was her favorite place to hang out, and there was an "elderly" flight attendant (over the age of 45) who wasn't "fat" persay but possessed a behind that probably measured the width of the actual aisle. No joke, everytime she walked by her behind smacked me and a few times I found myself face to face with it. I got into the habit of ducking everytime she walked by. My dad says unions are to blame for my skirmish with the behind but I don't really know what he means...lol, just kidding.
Anyways, on the way home I got an Arby's Market Fresh turkey and Swiss sandwich. I greeted the drive through guy with the biggest smile I'd given anyone for a long time, and proceeded to inhale that thing.
So I'm home now and have been enjoying a foot of snow, my dogs, Indian food buffets, driving, sleeping with no trams, and unlimited movies on OnDemand. Let's face it, life is way more...comfortable in the US. Well, for those who can afford it.
My newest dilemna is whether or not to get my haircut here or in Prague. My hair has always been a delicate subject. I am very picky: If I could cut my own hair, I would. It's not a vanity thing, it's a control thing. I want it to do exactly what I want it to do. I have been going to this great Korean guy in Prague, but for the past two times he's cut my bangs way too short, this time around so short in one spot that it took two months for it to grow out to a controllable length. This is unacceptable for 750 czech crowns (I spend 1000 crowns in a week total on living expenses). So now I am faced with a new, radical alternative: walk-in franchise clinics that cost $12-$14, such as Great Clips or Fantastic Sams.
I walked into our local Great Clips and was greeted by an 18 year old girl who immediately got up and said, "Hi. ...Welcome to Great Clips" as if she'd forgotten this apparently mandatory greeting and sensed the great corporate monster staring at her from up above. I'm sure I won the village idiot prize for the day when I asked, "Oh, uhm, do you need an appointment here?" Their whole motto/sales pitch is based on that fact that you don't need an appointment. I then asked the price: $12 for an entire haircut.
I wrestled with this for a long time, and still am. Is it true that you get what you pay for? I just need a trim, not a style change. And I'm tired of paying high salon fees to pay for expensive overhead. However, although Chang cut my bangs a little short this time, normally what he does is nothing short of genius. Plus I get chocolate, Korean lessons, and a head massage, something I recommend to everyone.
So I'm still wrestling with what to do. I love risks, but with my hair? I don't know. It's a tough decision...
At this very moment I'm feeling the effects of my Indian buffet lunch. Eating Indian food for me is willingly subjecting myself to an arrayed spectrum of discomfort, but for some reason it's always worth it. Why? I mean, it's Indian food...
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Breaking The Silence...with Carps
Hello!
Hello my dear blog and blogees, I regret my unexplained lengthy absence from your lives. I could give a lot of different excuses...no time to write, too much work, nothing fun to share, aliens zapped my ability to read and write (ok that's not true), but really, the truth is, I simply do not have a good excuse. The question recently has been, "Why have you stopped writing in your blog?" Well I think the main reason is I got lazy, and also I tend to primarily use facebook.com as my main means of keeping in touch and sharing my life with people. However, facebook is indeed limited, so here I go rededicating myself to faithful blogging.
The past few months have been tiring but I can say now that everything is going much better and I'm free to see the lighter side of life. My mom was in a car accident for those of you who don't know, but she is doing much better now and we are all very thankful for that. My voice has also improved greatly and is to a maintainable state. With the decision made to return to Prague after Christmas, I can smile and relax and look forward to two weeks of blessed vacation at home in Michigan.
So what do you say to a friend after not talking for several months? Well most people would catch up on life, and then maybe enter into detail on a few specific topics. My brain doesn't really function like that. Instead I'll tell you simply the most recent and most amusing items, in no way in order of importance.
First, today I went to Dresden, Germany to apply for my Czech visa. Why Germany you and many people may ask? I think you have to apply for a visa outside of the country. Seems crazy, but I think the Czech embassy is only operational due to all the foreign traffic coming from Prague. Anyways, after going on a really fun and entertaining scavenger hunt of various documents, whose existence is residual from the previous regime, I got on a train to Dresden with two colleagues and spent the day there. I'm proud to say that I am now a legal teacher in the Czech Republic, no longer an illegal alien! Now I'm just a legal alien.
Of the highlights of the day: An early morning free massage in a massage chair in the train station (massaging chairs are "new" to Czechs so they are merely doing a presentation of the product. I will gladly take advantage of their ignorance of massaging chairs), an Italian lunch where the waiter was Italian and only spoke Italian and German and I had to use my fragmented Italian, the sky falling at the Christmas market (just the huge umbrella, but it fell directly on me and I blocked it with my hand and man, it hurt!), the Christmas market itself (oddly, frightening similar to Frankenmuth, Michigan, a tourist Germantown with the largest Christmas store in the world, and then the seemingly endless passport and ticket checks on the train. In my opinion, each time someone checks your passport, they should draw a picture on it, like a duck or a smiley face, so that by the time you arrive, you have a work of art in your hand.
Oh and I think the best was when my colleague Anne walked up to a German guy and said, "Anglicky?" which is "English?" in Czech. He didn't understand of course, and she was too embarrassed to ask again, so we just walked away. She continued to thank everyone in Czech, which made us crack up everytime.
Some random tidbits from teaching:
While describing the various ingredients for Czech traditional Christmas potato salad (yes, like our summer bbq dish), my student told me that one of the ingredients was "sterilized pee." I was stunned and just said, "Oh, peas?" and used all available energy to keep a straight face...
During the same class, the students were speaking about how Czechs eat fried carp (yes, those large disgusting fish you see in the ponds at Chinese restaurants) along with the potato salad for Christmas. The same student with the sterilized pee in the potato salad said that they buy "two alive carps" each, and keep them in the bathtub for a few days, and the children play with them. Then, while the children are sleeping, they kill and clean the "carps." We asked if the children didn't wonder what happened to their "new friends," but she said they understand, it's just a matter of traumatization with the killing process...Meanwhile, apparently carp tastes like mud, and most people hate it and don't eat it and prefer chicken, so why have a tradition that sacrifices thousands of friendly carps when no one likes them? Seems cruel.
Oh and I had mutiny on my hands when I said you can't say "carps" but only "two carp." Now explain that one.
More tomorrow...
Hello my dear blog and blogees, I regret my unexplained lengthy absence from your lives. I could give a lot of different excuses...no time to write, too much work, nothing fun to share, aliens zapped my ability to read and write (ok that's not true), but really, the truth is, I simply do not have a good excuse. The question recently has been, "Why have you stopped writing in your blog?" Well I think the main reason is I got lazy, and also I tend to primarily use facebook.com as my main means of keeping in touch and sharing my life with people. However, facebook is indeed limited, so here I go rededicating myself to faithful blogging.
The past few months have been tiring but I can say now that everything is going much better and I'm free to see the lighter side of life. My mom was in a car accident for those of you who don't know, but she is doing much better now and we are all very thankful for that. My voice has also improved greatly and is to a maintainable state. With the decision made to return to Prague after Christmas, I can smile and relax and look forward to two weeks of blessed vacation at home in Michigan.
So what do you say to a friend after not talking for several months? Well most people would catch up on life, and then maybe enter into detail on a few specific topics. My brain doesn't really function like that. Instead I'll tell you simply the most recent and most amusing items, in no way in order of importance.
First, today I went to Dresden, Germany to apply for my Czech visa. Why Germany you and many people may ask? I think you have to apply for a visa outside of the country. Seems crazy, but I think the Czech embassy is only operational due to all the foreign traffic coming from Prague. Anyways, after going on a really fun and entertaining scavenger hunt of various documents, whose existence is residual from the previous regime, I got on a train to Dresden with two colleagues and spent the day there. I'm proud to say that I am now a legal teacher in the Czech Republic, no longer an illegal alien! Now I'm just a legal alien.
Of the highlights of the day: An early morning free massage in a massage chair in the train station (massaging chairs are "new" to Czechs so they are merely doing a presentation of the product. I will gladly take advantage of their ignorance of massaging chairs), an Italian lunch where the waiter was Italian and only spoke Italian and German and I had to use my fragmented Italian, the sky falling at the Christmas market (just the huge umbrella, but it fell directly on me and I blocked it with my hand and man, it hurt!), the Christmas market itself (oddly, frightening similar to Frankenmuth, Michigan, a tourist Germantown with the largest Christmas store in the world, and then the seemingly endless passport and ticket checks on the train. In my opinion, each time someone checks your passport, they should draw a picture on it, like a duck or a smiley face, so that by the time you arrive, you have a work of art in your hand.
Oh and I think the best was when my colleague Anne walked up to a German guy and said, "Anglicky?" which is "English?" in Czech. He didn't understand of course, and she was too embarrassed to ask again, so we just walked away. She continued to thank everyone in Czech, which made us crack up everytime.
Some random tidbits from teaching:
While describing the various ingredients for Czech traditional Christmas potato salad (yes, like our summer bbq dish), my student told me that one of the ingredients was "sterilized pee." I was stunned and just said, "Oh, peas?" and used all available energy to keep a straight face...
During the same class, the students were speaking about how Czechs eat fried carp (yes, those large disgusting fish you see in the ponds at Chinese restaurants) along with the potato salad for Christmas. The same student with the sterilized pee in the potato salad said that they buy "two alive carps" each, and keep them in the bathtub for a few days, and the children play with them. Then, while the children are sleeping, they kill and clean the "carps." We asked if the children didn't wonder what happened to their "new friends," but she said they understand, it's just a matter of traumatization with the killing process...Meanwhile, apparently carp tastes like mud, and most people hate it and don't eat it and prefer chicken, so why have a tradition that sacrifices thousands of friendly carps when no one likes them? Seems cruel.
Oh and I had mutiny on my hands when I said you can't say "carps" but only "two carp." Now explain that one.
More tomorrow...
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Without a Voice
So after spending almost two weeks not being able to talk, I figured it was about time to start writing in my blog again.
I'll explain the situation in more detail rather than just putting facebook status' consisting of "my throat hurts" and "I can't talk." Basically my job requires me to speak constantly for at least 4 and half hours a day, mostly in indoor office environments that are quite dry and have poor circulation. I start talking at 7:30 in the morning and since students aren't really talkative then, I compensate by just chattering away. This is paired with the fact that I have back-to-back classes in the morning which require me to talk for sometimes 3-4 1/2 hours non-stop starting at 7:30. Since these classes are conversationally focused too, we do mostly speaking exercises and not reading, grammar, etc. Another factor is that Prague is unexplainably dry as a desert, meaning everyone who comes to visit notices immediately how dry they feel. Since I often just wake up and go to class without drinking a liter of water beforehand, I go through class dehydrated, and dehydrated vocal folds are a HUGE no-no (as I know now after a lot of research).
On top of this, everyone knows that I'm a social person. I love people, and I love languages so any chance I get to speak with people and/or practice languages, I do. I also took up singing again, which ironically is really the least of my worries since singing (when properly done) is the best thing you can do with your voice. But it is yet another "vocal" activity I have.
I started feeling vocal fatigue about 2 weeks ago but instead of stopping then and giving total rest to my voice, I continued working and socializing despite the increasing pain. Out of ignorance I didn't know how serious it could be. So finally it got to the point where I could hardly get any words out of my mouth with searing pain, so then I knew it was time to stop.
Since then, I visited the ear, nose, and throat doctor who diagnosed me with some fancy sounding problem but was basically, severe inflammation in the vocal tissues surrounding the voice box and inflammed vocal cords, which had caused a gap to form between the folds so it explained why my voice literally felt like it wasn't working. I was told to not talk until this past Friday, and I got antibiotics and some other drugs.
This week was...difficult. On top of that, I came down with a nasty cold right at the same time, so this whole week I wasn't sure if my voice was getting better or not because your throat always feels bad when you have a cold. Last night I tried talking for the first time in a week, and after only a fews hours so of minimal talking (one-two word answers, etc.) I had the same pain as I felt a week ago.
So now I am really scared. It's true that I've had the feeling that maybe now is a good time to consider leaving Prague, but the soonest would be at Christmas, and I need to work until then. The biggest blessing at the moment though is the French book I'm translating, which is allowing me to get a payment wired from France, the equivalent almost of a month's salary here. This takes the pressure of financially a bit (we only get paid if we teach, there is no safety net coverage or anything), but for my school and my students it's becoming difficult. If I can't teach this week, I'm not quite sure what to do. It's still relatively the beginning of the year so if I have to give up my classes and quit, then it's better to do it now rather than later. That's heartbreaking for me to think about though, since I love teaching and I love my students. I don't however, love a job that 100% depends on my health while placing me in unadvantageous situations for my health, i.e. being outside in public transportation half of the day, talking incessantly at ungodly hours of the day, etc. Being abroad and having things be so insecure is really really difficult. Good news is that health care is relatively inexpensive without health insurance (I have emergency health insurance but nothing to cover normal expenses) so luckily I am able to pay for this without a problem.
I guess my life is really truly out of my control at this point. I have no idea what the prognosis is, I was supposed to be better by now. I'm going back to the doctor on Monday, so we'll see then. Till then, thanks to all who have encouraged me and thought of me during this time, I really appreciate it.
I'll explain the situation in more detail rather than just putting facebook status' consisting of "my throat hurts" and "I can't talk." Basically my job requires me to speak constantly for at least 4 and half hours a day, mostly in indoor office environments that are quite dry and have poor circulation. I start talking at 7:30 in the morning and since students aren't really talkative then, I compensate by just chattering away. This is paired with the fact that I have back-to-back classes in the morning which require me to talk for sometimes 3-4 1/2 hours non-stop starting at 7:30. Since these classes are conversationally focused too, we do mostly speaking exercises and not reading, grammar, etc. Another factor is that Prague is unexplainably dry as a desert, meaning everyone who comes to visit notices immediately how dry they feel. Since I often just wake up and go to class without drinking a liter of water beforehand, I go through class dehydrated, and dehydrated vocal folds are a HUGE no-no (as I know now after a lot of research).
On top of this, everyone knows that I'm a social person. I love people, and I love languages so any chance I get to speak with people and/or practice languages, I do. I also took up singing again, which ironically is really the least of my worries since singing (when properly done) is the best thing you can do with your voice. But it is yet another "vocal" activity I have.
I started feeling vocal fatigue about 2 weeks ago but instead of stopping then and giving total rest to my voice, I continued working and socializing despite the increasing pain. Out of ignorance I didn't know how serious it could be. So finally it got to the point where I could hardly get any words out of my mouth with searing pain, so then I knew it was time to stop.
Since then, I visited the ear, nose, and throat doctor who diagnosed me with some fancy sounding problem but was basically, severe inflammation in the vocal tissues surrounding the voice box and inflammed vocal cords, which had caused a gap to form between the folds so it explained why my voice literally felt like it wasn't working. I was told to not talk until this past Friday, and I got antibiotics and some other drugs.
This week was...difficult. On top of that, I came down with a nasty cold right at the same time, so this whole week I wasn't sure if my voice was getting better or not because your throat always feels bad when you have a cold. Last night I tried talking for the first time in a week, and after only a fews hours so of minimal talking (one-two word answers, etc.) I had the same pain as I felt a week ago.
So now I am really scared. It's true that I've had the feeling that maybe now is a good time to consider leaving Prague, but the soonest would be at Christmas, and I need to work until then. The biggest blessing at the moment though is the French book I'm translating, which is allowing me to get a payment wired from France, the equivalent almost of a month's salary here. This takes the pressure of financially a bit (we only get paid if we teach, there is no safety net coverage or anything), but for my school and my students it's becoming difficult. If I can't teach this week, I'm not quite sure what to do. It's still relatively the beginning of the year so if I have to give up my classes and quit, then it's better to do it now rather than later. That's heartbreaking for me to think about though, since I love teaching and I love my students. I don't however, love a job that 100% depends on my health while placing me in unadvantageous situations for my health, i.e. being outside in public transportation half of the day, talking incessantly at ungodly hours of the day, etc. Being abroad and having things be so insecure is really really difficult. Good news is that health care is relatively inexpensive without health insurance (I have emergency health insurance but nothing to cover normal expenses) so luckily I am able to pay for this without a problem.
I guess my life is really truly out of my control at this point. I have no idea what the prognosis is, I was supposed to be better by now. I'm going back to the doctor on Monday, so we'll see then. Till then, thanks to all who have encouraged me and thought of me during this time, I really appreciate it.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Pictures of Home
Some pictures of my home "American" life in Michigan...
With Tyler in the Orchard
The Meadow
The Apples
With Tyler in the Orchard
The Meadow
The Apples
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
What I Do On Vacation
It has officially been like 3 weeks or so since I have arrived home. The last few weeks im Europe were just a blur: Melody came to visit me in Prague my last weekend there, I moved into my new apartment in the center, I left Prague to spend a week in Paris, then I took the train over to London to catch my flight to Detroit. I spent one day literally wondering aimlessly around London with my Korean friend Ahyoung, who was my housemate in Oxford. By the time I landed in the US I was hardly functioning: the dragging of my 50 lb + suitcase around the Paris metro and streets to central London and in the Tube left my body a horrible aching pile of stretched out, swollen muscles. I laid in the fetal position for about 2 days while regaining reconsciousness from jet lag.
After a few days my body healed, and since then I've been thoroughly enjoying my time off. Summer at home in Ortonville basically consists of three or four things: driving with my mom to go see my Grandma 45 minutes away, going swimming at the local high school, playing with my dogs (who are both cripples now and not so fun to play with anymore: Amigo is 13 and is just old, and Tyler tore his ACL a while back and since surgery costs $3,000 and is not guaranteed to work, we decided to let him heal on his own with a slight limp), and watching American TV and movies. It's a simple yet relaxing lifestyle. I've thrown some more activities in though such as studying Spanish and Czech, funny to do at the same time as my accent in the two is pretty much the same, and also trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. I guess I just have too much time on my hands when I'm home as I start churning things over and over in my mind, always the same options: grad school, moving to another country to teach, or coming back to the US and getting a "real" job. The possibilities are endless and frankly are frightening. But, I am going back to Prague and am trying to only think about what lies immediately ahead.
I definitely have mixed feelings about staying abroad for more time. There's something really soothing about being in the US. It's nice to just be the right nationality for everything. Want a job? Just give us your social security card and driver's license. Not four copies of your birth certificate translated to 2 languages, a notarized statement saying you've never committed a crime, a statement from your landlord saying you have the right to live in his or her property, etc. etc. Being able to read a full menu is nice too. Not teaching English 24/7 whether you want to or not is nice too.
However there are drawbacks of being back in the US. Something that becomes apparent is the overwhelming materialistic tendancies of our society. In coming back I immediately felt like a failure because I'm already making a large salary or at least am on the road to do so. But then I catch myself and think, in the game of materialism, there really isn't any end nor is there any true prize. It's a trap, so I'm glad to just be able to say I love my job and my life no matter what.
Oh I've also undertaken a general "eat better" diet, basically cutting out all refined sugar, beer, unecessary fat, and caffeine. My all-sugar diet in Prague didn't work out so well: I couldn't get into my pants from last summer! That's depressing, but I have added regular exercise and dieting to my vacation schedule and have already lost 5 lbs! Yay!
Other than that, vacation is pretty calm. Michelle, my best buddy from study abroad in Paris is coming to visit me all the way from California and we are going to do the annual blueberry picking together! Now that's worth a trip from California...
After a few days my body healed, and since then I've been thoroughly enjoying my time off. Summer at home in Ortonville basically consists of three or four things: driving with my mom to go see my Grandma 45 minutes away, going swimming at the local high school, playing with my dogs (who are both cripples now and not so fun to play with anymore: Amigo is 13 and is just old, and Tyler tore his ACL a while back and since surgery costs $3,000 and is not guaranteed to work, we decided to let him heal on his own with a slight limp), and watching American TV and movies. It's a simple yet relaxing lifestyle. I've thrown some more activities in though such as studying Spanish and Czech, funny to do at the same time as my accent in the two is pretty much the same, and also trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. I guess I just have too much time on my hands when I'm home as I start churning things over and over in my mind, always the same options: grad school, moving to another country to teach, or coming back to the US and getting a "real" job. The possibilities are endless and frankly are frightening. But, I am going back to Prague and am trying to only think about what lies immediately ahead.
I definitely have mixed feelings about staying abroad for more time. There's something really soothing about being in the US. It's nice to just be the right nationality for everything. Want a job? Just give us your social security card and driver's license. Not four copies of your birth certificate translated to 2 languages, a notarized statement saying you've never committed a crime, a statement from your landlord saying you have the right to live in his or her property, etc. etc. Being able to read a full menu is nice too. Not teaching English 24/7 whether you want to or not is nice too.
However there are drawbacks of being back in the US. Something that becomes apparent is the overwhelming materialistic tendancies of our society. In coming back I immediately felt like a failure because I'm already making a large salary or at least am on the road to do so. But then I catch myself and think, in the game of materialism, there really isn't any end nor is there any true prize. It's a trap, so I'm glad to just be able to say I love my job and my life no matter what.
Oh I've also undertaken a general "eat better" diet, basically cutting out all refined sugar, beer, unecessary fat, and caffeine. My all-sugar diet in Prague didn't work out so well: I couldn't get into my pants from last summer! That's depressing, but I have added regular exercise and dieting to my vacation schedule and have already lost 5 lbs! Yay!
Other than that, vacation is pretty calm. Michelle, my best buddy from study abroad in Paris is coming to visit me all the way from California and we are going to do the annual blueberry picking together! Now that's worth a trip from California...
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