Svíčková = heaven

Wow, it feels like ages since I've written and it's only been a few days! Training went well throughout the week. We had a gathering on Tuesday night where we got to meet some of the directors and some other teachers who live and work around the Czech Republic. It was fun to meet a lot of great people!

Wednesday and Thursday turned into fun nights as well with random hang out time with my co-workers. We tested out one of the local beer gardens (just 10 minutes from my house) and met a bunch of other expat teachers as well. It's amazing to me how fairly easy it is to meet people here. I'm grateful for my fun co-workers and friends for the many fun adventures we have had and will continue to have. There's still so much to do! But, it's been a pleasure meeting new people and finding new places (and re-visiting some old places too) together.

This weekend I went to the Prague Wine Festival on one of the islands in the river. It's a beautiful park and my friends Gillian, Bryan, and I spent a few hours there wandering, tasting wonderful wine and enjoying the amazing views. At least once a day I have to pinch myself to remind myself that this is really happening! I can't believe I live here! After an afternoon of wine, we went to get our favorite Czech meal: Svíčková (prounounced: sveechkova). It is marinated beef with some kind of heavenly sauce. The beef is topped with a slice of lemon, cranberries and whipped cream. It is a bit of heaven! It is served with Czech dumplings which are made from bread. It is amazing and is one of those meals that just tastes better with a pivo (beer). It has already become my comfort food, and I've not decided yet if the fact that my favorite Svíčková (thus far) is at a great Czech restaurant just 2 blocks from my house. ;) It's a great place that is not touristy in anyway and actual Czech people eat there. I've already been there twice this week!

Today I spent the afternoon wandering around Prague and found another great beer garden in a park north of the river with an amazing view of the city. It's already getting chilly here, so beer garden time is limited! I'm glad to have found two fun places already this week!

I also spent a good part of the day preparing for the week. My schedule is pretty cool. I'll be teaching 6 different (maybe more) courses and levels of students. I have three kindergarten classes which are mostly the same. Then I teach students grades 1-5. I may have a 6th grade class, but currently there is no one signed up. I have multiple first, second, and third grade classes. So, it will be an interesting schedule. Tomorrow, I three twenty-five minute classes with kindergarten students from 8:00 -9:25 am and then a 3rd grade class at 1:30 (45 minutes). I may have two other courses after that one, but I don't know yet. For our first lesson, we have two demo lessons (depending on age) we teach so I will basically teach those two lessons several times this week. I'm sure it'll be interesting!