Sorry I haven't written in awhile, but... well frankly, I haven't done anything interesting lately.
I've pretty much got a full teaching schedule now. I teach primarily at companies around Prague (Nike and a small Czech company called Foxhunter are my major clients), as well as a few private lessons here and there. It's pretty enjoyable work when it comes down to it. I spend most of my day talking with people and learning all about life in the Czech Republic. However, the fact is that the English language doesn't change, and once you've understood how to teach it, it quickly becomes very repetitive.
Sometimes, though, lessons can be quite fun. Sometimes a lesson morphs into something you didn't prepare for at all- like when I suddenly find myself helping my 13-year old student with her algebra homework, or helping an accountant decipher a new accounting treatment, or my personal favorite- when you suddenly find yourself in the role of psychiatrist listening to stories of domestic intrigue.
Brief aside - the Czech attitude towards marriage and commitment is bizarre to say the least. It's commonplace to cheat and have affairs in both marriages and long-term relationships. Polygamy is widespread and is generally accepted in Czech society. The Czech Republic is one of the most atheistic countries in the world: something like 80% of the population professes to be so. Because of this they have quite a liberal attitude towards most things that have previously fallen under the jurisdiction of religion. The teacher/psychiatrist role has given me what I feel to be a statistically significant sample of Czech polygamists and I can tell you that not one single person has had a generally good experience with it. It seems that, while it is tolerated by society, it is deeply painful for those involved in it. It ruins marriages, tears families apart and, as it is not in the Czech nature to speak up for change, shows no signs of improving.
All countries have their problems and the more time I spend in the CZ the more apparent their problems become. I've been thinking a lot about my next step lately as I am already more than halfway through the 12 months I originally budgeted for this little adventure. I'm not quite sure what that next step will be (you'll have to wait for a later post for that... suspense!) but I am sure of what it won't be- staying here. I have had some wonderful, life-changing experiences in the Czech Republic and I'll remember this time for the rest of my life, but in the end Czech culture is simply not for me. Why, you ask? Well there are a multitude of reasons which we might discuss later, but one of the biggest is:
FOOD!!)*#$
Anthony Bourdain said that communism ruins food culture. I never really knew what he meant until living here. There is very little interest in food as anything other than fuel and as a consequence most meals are hearty and filling but very repetitive. Czech cuisine is actually really good- once a month- but meat and dumplings for every meal is torture and Prague doesn't have much in the way of other options. Well, they do, but they are god-awful. Give me a can of coconut milk, a jar of pre-made curry paste, and nothing else, and I can make you a better-tasting curry than ANY "thai" restaurant in Prague. Now that might be true in a lot of cities, and isn't necessarily disparaging as such (this isn't Thailand after all); but what makes it so in Prague is that both locals and food publications rave about the quality of the city's Thai and Vietnamese joints. There are signs here and there of a fledgling food revolution, but the simple fact is that the majority of Czech's don't really care- which is fine, but to keep living in a city full of terrible food just a stone's throw away from the birthplace of some of the greatest cuisines in the world seems like a silly thing for me to do.
I spent a weekend biking in Czech wine country about a month ago. Czech wine is good but in the way that Michigan wine is good. It's not earth-shattering by any stretch but that's fine because that's not why you visit a Michigan winery. You go there to relax, take stock of your life, enjoy some good company and get a little saucy in the process. That nicely sums up my experience in the CZ. I relaxed, took some stock, met some good people and got a little saucy. But all vacations must end and as tempting as it is to spend the rest of my life teaching Czechs to Engl and taking wine-soaked bike trips through Moravia, it's about time I started working towards something again. Though as to what that something is... well, I've got a few more months to decide. In the meantime... Pictures!
Vineyard near Vrbice
Moravian Wine Country. Certainly beautiful.
Each of these is a family-owned wine cellar.
Inside one of those wine cellars. Drinking down here might have been my favorite night in Czech.
Wine in gasoline containers... makes sense to me.
Here are a few more of Prague in the summer time.
Buzz, your girlfriend...
Typical Czech lunch. Mystery meat mash, slightly-more-identifiable potato mash and tripe soup. Delicious but I can tell you my 1 o'clock lesson never gets me at 100%. In typical foremer-communist fashion this meal costs 70Kc ($3.50USD) and is eaten standing up at a counter.
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