Snowed under!

Hello followers (if I have any left!)

If you are reading this blog to hear about the trials and tribulations of moving abroad, you can simply take the last months' silence as an indication of just what it's like to be an expat. Busy, tiring, with not enough time to even update a paltry little blog, let alone do all the things one actually needs to do - that's what it's been like. But I'm not complaining - if you know me, you know that busy is how I like it best. Until it all finally takes a breather and lets me pause - like it has tonight - and then I like nothing better than a hot bath, my pyjamas and a bit of peace and quiet.

Crikey, the last time I updated this blog I'd just been to watch Zizkov play football! Well, the football's on its Winter Break right now since we seem to be permanently underneath at least 30cm of snow. That match seems an age ago! The snow started falling last weekend, the 28th November, at which time I was spending a weekend in Manchester and so I missed the first flurry. However, as I waited for the tram to take me home after that weekend jaunt, the snow began again at 8pm and did not stop until very very late the next day. We've had a little more on most days ever since, with a substantial amount again today; there is definitely something absorbing about gazing wide-eyed out of the window watching the snow drift down and wrap everything up in its soft white blanket, while you are supposed to be supervising 9De1 German complete their December Levelling Test...

This being the Czech Republic, I am pleased to report that the country seems to cope largely very well with the freezing conditions. The trams work (bar the occasional freezing tracks and digging-out sessions); the metro works (bar the treacherously slippery floors and huge accident potential); the buses work (bar the perpetual threat of road-rage due to the drivers' tendency to drive faster in the snow!). Walking around Prague at the moment is a dangerous game, though: snow and cobble stones do not mix. But hey! I'm certainly living the 'abroad' experience, in that every day is a new and slightly more dicey adventure...

The transport system has failed me once, however. And at a most inconvenient time. There I was last Thursday, after four months' planning, standing on the platform at Hlavni Nadrazi accompanied by 31 twelve-year-olds and three intrepid and shivering colleagues, waiting to board the train that would whisk us off for EISP's first Linguistic and Cultural Visit to Germany. It seemed that the powers-that-be decided right then to unleash the largest amount of train-related chaos imaginable onto the Czech and German railways.

Imagine thus: 1o mins delayed.. 20 mins.. 30 mins.. (at this point we were thankful that our train was not delayed 90 or 100 mins like those before ours on the Departures board!).. platform 3.. RUN, kids! RUN! ... no train at the platform... -10 degrees air temperature... train cancelled. But wait! That's our train over there on Platform 1! RUN, kids, RUN like you really want to go on this trip! Get on the train! That's it, everyone.... oh, train cancelled. Everyone off. Can we change the tickets for the 12.31, since ours was cancelled? Excellent, we can, although the 12.31 already has a 20 min delay and it's not even 12.00 yet. Right, everyone, eyes on the Departures board for further announcements. 30 mins delay, 35 mins... PLATFORM 3!! Let's go! GO GO GO! Everyone on the train? Everyone got a seat? Yes, great. Relax, kids, we might be 3 hours late and frozen solid, but we're on our way to Germany! Except, erm, we're not. The train needs to wait in Hlavni Nadrazi for 60 further minutes due to 'technical problems'. Right, well if we've not moved by 2pm, we need to abandon- our 3 day trip is already down to the best part of 2 days. 1.55pm... the train's moving! Hurrah! We really are off this time now. We lean our heads back in our seats and relax, thanking our lucky stars, as the snowy scenes flash past our windows... aaaaaaand then we stop. Yes, that's right kids, we're going to sit for 40 minutes on the track, all of 5km out of Prague, due to more 'technical problems'. Great. The Fatherland has never seemed so far away.
Finally, after all that palaver and accompanied by 31 very downhearted kids, I made the decision to abandon the trip and return to school. Tails firmly between our legs we trudged through EISP reception, admitting our defeat by the weather. We'll try again in the Spring. I don't imagine Germany is going anywhere fast, and it will probably be a whole lot easier to enjoy a visit once everything's defrosted.

Right, a brief summary then of some highs and lows of the expat life in Prague.

High - a Sunday afternoon walk in Divoka Sarka park on the outskirts of Prague, an hour well spent in the fresh air and Autumn chill just before the snows. Beautiful.
Low - getting my bag stolen a couple of weeks ago from right by my side in a bar, losing the passport, keys, wallet, phone, camera (hence the lack of photos on the blog from now on)...
High - getting most of it back including the vital passport, via a couple of kindly souls on the other side of town :)
Low - three consecutive days spent journeying to the post office to pick up replacement bank cards/travel pass. See an earlier post on how much I detest the post office.
High - getting the 17th November off work for Revolution Day, and using it very profitably for a visit to the countryside and a day's walk to Karlstejn, finishing with a well-earned beer in a Hospoda below the formidable castle. Great scenery, great company. Thanks Dykesie, Nush, Rhian and Jon!
Low - needing a pair of 'sensible winter boots' in order to make my way through the snow without getting frostbitten, soaking ankles.
High - finally finding said pair of industrially grippy boots in the good old Doctor Marten shop (where else, you might ask!)
Low - working a long, long term until the Christmas break
High - Christmas coming early - beautiful Christmas markets; plentiful hot wine stands; and a wonderful Christmas weekend just gone spent planning, cooking and eating Christmas dinner along with 15 of our friends. It's times like that when I feel so at home here, and it's testament to how welcome everyone's made me feel from the start.

It has to be said that there are many more highs than lows so far. I love my job - it's easy, it's fun, it's not without challenges but those are not insurmountable. I love the city - it's stunning to look at, it's easy to get around, it's full of little hard-to-find gems of bars, cafes and restaurants - all the good things in life! I love my friends - the fact that last week I was at parties or gatherings on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights says it all. And I love my little flat - it's cosy right now with all the candles going and the view through the window of the snow coming down. There are a few key people missing - I do miss you, though I find it difficult to say - but they're never far away on Skype, on the phone or by plane - in fact right now I'm preparing for an influx of visitors starting 20th December. So, it's all going well, and life here seems so far to be suiting me just fine.

I just can't wait for those 9 more get-ups to pass, and then I really will be able to let the Prague Christmas take hold!

Festive greetings to all, I wish you less snow, and plenty of winter warmth!
Love to all x

'Let's go away to come back'

Evening, readers! Tonight sees the end of the half-term holiday and therefore the last true night of freedom until 17th December. Not that I have the date etched into my mind or anything! It's been a great half-term break, very rewarding after a hard nine-and-a-half weeks on the trot at work - as I am sure many teachers will tell you, that's longer than we usually work in one go. But I don't expect any sympathy at all because I know I have an amazing job, and I love it, so there you are. Still, I think I'm allowed to feel some trepidation at the thought of going back tomorrow nonetheless. Just ask any teacher - on Sunday nights we're worse than the kids!

Needless to say I went out last Friday night to mark the occasion of school finishing for the week, and took a tour round some bars and clubs in Prague including Blatnicka (dinner), Zapa (cocktails) and Aloha (dancing). I didn't see Saturday morning; but I was assured that nothing much happened. On Saturday evening Anuska, her friend Sian, Rhian and I had a lovely meal at Grossetto Marina restaurant down by the river overlooking the lit-up castle view. Gorgeous. We rounded this off with a couple of drinks at Blue Light bar and then some dancing to VERY cheesy music at Lucerna music bar. All good fun. On Sunday I ate more than my body-weight (and that's no small amount) at the all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta cafe. Have I mentioned this before? It is a sight to behold. Get this: you sit down, and receive a procession of waiters at your tableside with a mouth-watering range of freshly-cooked pans of various pasta, gnocchi and pizza dishes. If you like the look of what they have in their pan, you nod 'Ano, prosim' and get a small amount on your plate to try. If you prefer to wait, you mutter 'ne, dekuji' and they move on - but two seconds later, something even more delicious is offered to you. As with all serious eating, there is a strategy. Do not take something you are not particularly fussed about. Just bide your time - there will always be something better coming along in a moment. So Rhian and I spent a happy two hours (!) in here, chatting away and planning our upcoming trip to Berlin.

On Monday morning we managed to catch our train, secured a compartment suitable for picknicking in, and set off to Berlin. One scary ticket moment (Rhian almost got thrown off the train, for reasons she will explain, if you ask her), one delay-inducing signal failure and six hours of travelling later, we arrived. Our accommodation was pretty good really for 40euros a night between us- a double (Rhian) and bunks (me), a little bathroom (mostly Rhian) and a fridge (wine) were all there and were all we needed. We spent a fairly busy three days checking out the sights - Berlin Wall (in photo), Tiergarten park's beautiful Autumn colours (in photo), Checkpoint Charlie, Unter den Linden, Berliner Dom, Neue Wache, Brandenburger Tor, Reichstag, KaDeWe, Hackesche Hoefe.... the list could go on. We made sure of course that there were plenty of eating opportunities - Asian, Turkish and Italian were all consumed with plenty of Kaffee und Kuchen on top. There were also Lie-Ins, that most vital part of any holiday. All in all , an excellent trip, and we didn't kill each other so Sarah Dykes you can have your money back!

After arriving home on Thursday night and appreciating the comfort of my own bed, I had a lazy Friday morning of reading, tidying and cleaning the kitchen. Since then I have descended into total domestic bliss, marked by buying a blender, sandwich toaster and hand mixer and deciding to Learn to Cook. Yes, that's right, at 29 I have realised that I can't rely on restaurants and takeaways ALL my life! So I have started easy - with soups - and already tried out two fantastic recipes that have worked really well. (celery apple and stilton a la Si & Ross, and Potage Bonne Femme in case you are interested). Above in the photo you can see the results of the former, alongside some delicious toasties from my sandwich toaster. That was a lovely lunch on Saturday! After eating it I took a very exciting trip to Ikea with Chris, my accomplished accomplice in 'quick and painless Ikea shopping', for there is such a thing, and I bought warming rugs and throws to make my place a bit more homely and winter-proof. You can see the results above - better than the orange, I dare say you'll agree.

On Saturday night Chris and I ate out (the soup was enough cooking for one day, plus the previous night had been spent at Chris's where I was treated to Coq au Vin and chocolate tart, so he deserved a night off too) and then I retired home early to talk to my man, whom I am missing very much, and then to read my book and go to bed. 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' - top book, I must say.

This morning saw a trip to FC Viktoria Zizkov who played at 10.15am (!!) against Banik Most and drew 1-1. The experience was made complete by an 11am half-time pint, a couple of potato pancakes and a fantastic 80's bloke in full-on stonewash denim wielding a 60s wooden rattle and waggling his Zizkov scarf defiantly at any of the 20-strong opposition who deigned to look in his direction. Above in the remaning pic, you can see Chris and I bracing the cold and enjoying the game. I learnt something I didn't know at that match - namely that football in the Czech Republic takes a 'winter break' because it gets so damn cold here. Too cold to play football? But they play right through the winter in Newcastle, I heard, and it gets pretty cold up there..... yet again I began to suspect that I hadn't adequately braced myself for the Czech Winter.

Did I forget to mention the highlight of my weekend? I think I may well have. I took a trip to the dreaded Post Office, anticipating a Gas bill or the like, but no! waiting for me at Sportovni Posta was a very exciting-looking parcel! I skipped (well, puffed up the hill) home with my parcel tucked proudly under my arm, feeling sorry for all those people passing by me who didn't have one. I got home, opened the parcel..... and good old Mr AC had sent me some much-missed T-shirts that I'd left at home, plus a book, plus (and this is the best bit) a mini bottle of champagne! How lovely is THAT! So, let's raise a glass to AC and chalk up a few more brownie points on the scoreboard. When you live abroad, it can be just lovely and heart-lifting to receive news from those you left behind, in whichever form it arrives. And best of all when it arrives in the form of champagne. In some ways, I am a girl after all.

Well at 8.45pm on a Sunday night I really should be thinking bath, pyjamas and bed. School tomorrow, after all! My schoolbag still needs to be packed and sandwiches made, just as many a ten-year-old will be doing right now. October 2010 was a great half-term break. I shall sleep safe in the knowledge that Christmas and New Year will be even better.

Thank you for reading, and love to all x

I'm back!

Crikey, it's been a long time since I've checked in here! It says the last day that I wrote here was on the 3rd October... that must mean this is the first moment of spare time I've had since then, and it's now the 16th. The trouble is, so many things have happened since then, that I now can't catch up - that would be impossible. As I recall, I was half-way through telling the extraordinary tale of the D of E weekend. At some point I may well finish this off, though if not, I am sure there will me other and more extraordinary tales to tell soon.

A whistle-stop update: Since the D of E weekend I've been living on a building site (as you can see), seen several frosty only-just sub-zero mornings (Winter is coming), been elected on to the School Board (responsibility! crikey), been to the UK and back (including a quick trip to Alton Towers, of all places), eaten Lebanese food and survived (only just), and now my parents are here and today we're off to Plzen to visit the Pilsner Brewery. So, it's been hectic as ever, but that's the way I like it of course.

The building-site thing is starting to get on my nerves, especially when combined with all the windows in the block being left open so that the cement can dry, and a few frosty mornings, and a leaky boiler that it's best if I don't turn on. Yep, it's been rather chilly chez Sarah! But all is looking better now - boiler mended, cement dried, doors closed, and the final bits of work are under way (the laying of tiles and the painting of walls). It is going to look much nicer when it is finished, I am sure, and it is after all nice to get your place of residence upgraded and decorated at no extra cost to yourself. But it was just a bit of a shock on the first day, when I had to unexpectedly walk the plank to get into my own apartment.....

Enough whingeing. All is well, lots of exciting things are lined up, and I'm looking forward to experiencing the famous Czech winters. Pay arrived a couple of days ago, so boots, fleeces and woolly hats are first on my list for October purchases.

Love to all - enjoy the weather wherever you are, and I hope it's warmer for you than it's set to be here! xx

A Weekend with the Duke, czech-style

Hello readers! Greetings from my bed, where I am hiding under 2 duvets in a bid to a) avoid turning on the heating properly till mid-November and b) chase away the chilled-to-the-bone feeling left behind by a weekend sleeping outdoors. It's been a fantastic weekend, 2nd in a row spent in the beautiful Cesky Raj, and my first proper full outing with the EISP D of E group. It was just great to be out with such a lovely team of friendly colleagues and enthusiastic students, and to see what those students achieved for themselves. I have always loved this about the D of E award, both as a participant myself and as a leader, the fact that it encourages and enables young people to get out there and push themselves to limits they perhaps never knew they had. Certainly I would not know how to enjoy the outdoors so much as I do now, had I not joined the D of E group at my own school back in 1995 or whenever it was... Over the last 6 years working on the D of E at Mountbatten I have had some of the most rewarding and silliest times of my career, and it is encouraging to know that after this weekend they are set to continue. Admittedly it doesn't look like there will be much in the way of Legless, Flailing Branch or Fire Jumping here, but at the end of the day one can find just as much pleasure/weirdness in random Archery competitions or pubs in rocks..... Yes folks, that's right, welcome to the world of Czech D of E.

Thursday afternoon saw Gully (hilariously disorganised Welsh friend with the world's kindest heart) and I lead the Silver Expedition group out of school, onto bus, metro, bus and bus up to a Royston Vasey, or at least the Czech equivalent. First challenge was to find the B&B - easier said than done. I think we bluffed it successfully - "kids, first D of E initiative test is to find the accommodation... it's a test... we know where it is really..." - but just in the nick of time, an elderly village local shuffled his way up the road and led us directly to the front door of our self-proclaimed 'stylish pension'. One hearty chicken-and-potatoes dinner later, laid on by the B&B lady for 50kc, we planned the expedition routes and headed to bed. At this point I shall do my best to recreate the atmosphere of that B&B. Imagine, if you will, all the colours from 1960s decor thrown together in one happy place, accompanied by the smell of your Nan's cooking and the sounds of creaky doors and howling winds (well, I made the howling winds bit up, but the rest is accurate). Once the kids were off to bed, Gully and I celebrated our safe arrival in Cesky Raj with half a soluble asprin each in shot glasses whilst seated in our brown Granny chairs watching static on the un-tuneable portable TV. Rock n' roll, needless to say.

On Friday the kids completed a fairly eventless first day of hiking (eventless apart from leaving a map behind in the B&B, getting lost several times and realising on arrival to the campsite that they'd forgotten the poles of one of the tents, that is). Meanwhile Gully and I 'remotely supervised', ie we had a picnic, caught the train, did some shopping, went for lunch and enjoyed a hot chocolate at the campsite awaiting their arrival. At this point, I thought, Czech D of E is definitely for me. Chaos took hold at check-in at Autocamp Sedmihorky, however, as somewhere in between English, Czech, German, gesture, mime and much furrowing of brows, we managed to ascertain from the bewildered campsite lady that our kids were supposed to camp in the middle of -wait for it- an Archery masters weekend. Blimey. Bob Rhodes would have had a bleedin' fit at this flagrant breach of Hampshire County Council D of E health and safety regulations, were he to have been present. As the archers proceeded to set up all manner of bizarre plastic animal models as their targets, we harangued the campsite lady to give us another piece of grass for use. Eventually she decided we could camp inbetween the rows of families in their caravans. Fine for our kids, but would you like a bunch of worn-out irritable teenagers camping outside your plastic caravan window? No, thought not. Anyway, kids arrived, set up camp and started to cook their delicious dinner (largely goulash). We retired to our heated cottage to eat a fine chicken curry brought down by Anuska, our third colleague who joined us that evening, accompanied by an entirely appropriate amount of wine and some very sensible conversation. A rather perfect evening, all in all.

As Saturday dawned, so too did the Archery Competition announce its opening with the Human League's 'Don't you Want Me' blasting out through the tannoy system. Hi-de-Hi! this wasn't . As soon as we could we bade farewell to the archers who were so busy firing arrows into their plastic gibbons and leopards, they probably didn't notice us leave. We set off the Silver group on their route, and accompanied the newly-arrived Bronze group up the hill to Hruba Skala castle. After a bit of route-planning at the top we abandoned them, too, for their first taste of hiking without the teachers! Unwittingly I had established myself as 'map technician' and was being relied on to make sure we, unlike the kids, did not lose our maps. I succeeded in this, but failed in making sure we did not accidentally miss part of the path and end up clambering up a near vertical hillside to find our way out of a staggeringly beautiful but very deep gully. This is where I found out that on Czech D of E - completely unlike Mountbatten's - the teachers hike too. No minibuses here, oh no. It was a lovely day though, blessed with sunshine and clear blue skies, as we walked through sleepy villages and caught back-garden glimpses of pre-Revolution Czech life (and indeed post-Revolution life, for it is still like that in many parts here). We feasted on pumpernickel bread, cheese, ham and biscuits for lunch, and spent the last hour or so walking, talking, pepping ourselves up with wine gums and bracing ourselves for imminent arrival at Hell.

Yes, Hell.

And on that note I shall temporarily pause the story and leave you guessing, for my fingers ache from typing and my back longs to be stretched out and have its rucsac grooves softened. Am I being melodramatic enough? It's not that bad at all, really - I am just tired and feeling a little pathetic. And very, very sleepy. The story will resume tomorrow after a good night's rest.

Hoping you are all well, wherever you are reading this. Tomorrow - tales of Hell and High Mud. And goblins serving beer from the rocks in which they dwell (really). Love to all xx

Flipping Heck!

Hello, blog readers! It's been a grey and rainy week so far in Prague and its environs, and this miserable weather provides suitably melancholy conditions in which to bid an emotional farewell to my old friend Pauly M, who as I write is packing to leave for England tomorrow. He has just informed me, however, that he 'will definitely be making a return visit', though this may have more to do with the fact that we did not quite get around to eating at the all-you-can-eat pizza and pasta buffet restaurant this time. It's been great having Paul to stay for the week, he's been an excellent hiking/touristing companion and, as only he knows how, has almost split my sides with laughter several times. The title for this blog post comes from us having uttered this phrase with alarming frequency, be it at spectacular hiking sights, delicious meals or the longest escalator in the world (really. I challenge you to visit the escalator at Namesti Miru metro station and then find a longer one). So I will miss Paul greatly but at least I know that the buffet will lure him back eventually.

We had a lovely hike on Saturday through the Czech countryside, after embarking on a train on Friday night which took us to Turnov, otherwise known as the 1980s. A town where pink guitars are readily sold and taxi drivers sport grey ponytails while wearing tracksuits and listening to 'Nikita' by Elton John. The hike took us from Turnov town centre to 3 castles in Cesky Raj - first Waldstejn, then Hruba Skala and finally Trosky. Our walk ended up being somewhere between 15 and 20km long, due to our managing the unmanageable and getting lost on Czech hiking trails. I should explain. There is usually no map-reading necessary here, and definitely no compass work, for the maps are marked with either red, yellow, green or blue hiking trails which correspond to very clear and well-organised signs pointing down said trails in the woods, and splashes of each colour are also displayed with reassuring regularity on trees, houses and other landmarks along the trails. However, we started on a red trail, deviated to a blue, ended up on a yellow and surprised ourselves completely ('flipping heck!') by emerging onto a green. Ho hum. So having taken in a few incidental sights we made it to each castle in turn, admiring their beauty and jaw-dropping views across Cesky Raj. A highlight was the 'rock town' of Hruba Skala - absolutely beautiful gully carved naturally between rock faces inside the forest - but this was slightly marred by a sudden downpour and the unfortunate incident of my dropping the camera and breaking it. Despite these happenings though, a very satisfyingly tiring day was had, and by 7pm we had repaired to the hotel restaurant for the most gigantic gastronomic guzzle-fest of carbohydrates and sugar that any hungry hiker could hope for.

On Sunday morning we awoke to a downpour that has by time of writing made itself resident in Prague and refuses to budge. So we hastened home to dry off and spent a leisurely afternoon chatting, chilling, listening to tunes and browsing warm, dry shopping centres. Other highlights of Paul's visit have mostly been the meals - Thai, Indian, Italian, Czech - and the swimming in which Paul spurred me on to swim a mile. I was so pleased with my effort that I saw it fit to celebrate with a curry. His visit has also enabled me to do some quality touristing - the Astronomical Clock, the Old Town Square at night, the fascinating and emotional Jewish Museum and cemetery. And quite a reasonable amount of eating overpriced ice cream.

There are many more adventures to be described, but it's far too late to start describing them now. I don't want to waste the restorative powers of today's Bank Holiday by going to bed far too late, especially as tomorrow night is my only night to myself for the foreseeable future because Thursday heralds a 3-day Duke of Edinburgh hike with school, then next week sees a trip to the UK and following that the arrival of the parents! So I shall close now, and try to think of some witty anecdotes for the next blog. And purchase a new camera so that I can keep the photos going.

Love to all reading this, and may I have many more wonderful visitors like those I have had the pleasure to receive so far. xx

A Tourist Weekend

Hello, blog fans! Long time no write,

I am very sorry about that. This will be a quick post too since I am yet again short of time. Here are a few photos from the weekend - all were taken from Charles Bridge. In the two night photos you can really see why Prague is often called 'the golden city'!

I was lucky enough to be graced with a visit from Anthony this weekend, who flew out on Thursday night to spend the weekend getting to know my new home town. I can safely say that he loved it! I introduced him to just about the right combination of International Food Festivals, drinks, beautiful riverside restaurants, impressive nighttime cityscapes, Euro-Rock clubs and sunny tourist walks, so I believe he went home happy.

We took in Charles Bridge (of course), the castle, Letna park and beer garden, Wenceslas Square, Old Town square, and many winding little streets which we found whilst getting lost in Stare Mesto. We found Grosetto Marina Italian restaurant with its beautiful riverside view; rested in Ebel Coffee House in the Old Town; and made it for Mojitos in the graffiti-adorned Blue Light bar. There is still much to do and so hopefully he'll be back for another visit soon.

More blog to follow later - hopefully a more interesting and finely-crafted entry - to include D of E tales, EISP International Week and plans for New Year.

'First week down...' type musings

Good evening! It's been a while since I've written, which is probably testament to the fact that I've been keeping busy and making the most of the time in which I'm not at work. We've had some mixed weather recently here in Prague- last week we witnessed a LOT of rain, but the weekend was largely beautiful! In fact, I have had various reports from England of rain, rain and more rain beating down the doors and windows, while at the same time I have been eating on restaurant terraces and swimming in open-air pools. But wait! The laugh will be on the other side of my face, once the snow sets in and all my friends back there DON'T have to wear thermals and a ski jacket to work. For now, however, I shall enjoy the advantages of living abroad!

In the photos above we have two shots of Slapy, a river/dam/lake/nature reserve (we spilt wine on the map, so couldn't quite make out which). On Sunday I joined Anuska, Rhian and Sarah for a day out of the City. We started at 11am with a trip to Tesco to stock up on all the good things in life - cheese, bread, olives, crisps, chocolate biscuits and of course Pinot. Astonishingly I refrained from the Pinot, since I fancied a 'healthy' day. Pah! the crisps soon made up for that. Anyway, we took the bus from Smichovske Nadrazi up to Stechovice and on to Slapy, in total around 40 mins' journey from Prague, and all for the princely sum of around 30kc. It was a lovely journey, with the sun shining into the bus, beautiful views all along the river and plenty of woods to make up for the fact that I am missing the New Forest a little! Once in Slapy it was down to Sarah to read the Czech map (pre wine-spillage) and get us to the beach by the riverside in Rabyne. This ended up being a one-and-a-half hour walk, which was enjoyable apart from the constant stream of very loud motorbikes passing us. We eventually made it to the little beach and commenced our picnic, joined by Jon (another work colleague) and his partner. All in all a very pleasant day of walking, eating, nature and conversation was had, and I am grateful to my 'new friends' for looking after me so well! (They had warned me, 'Sarah - our picnics are epic/intense/massive' - and they weren't wrong. Which is the way I like it.)

The other picture is from U Knihovna or similar, a nice Czech restaurant down in Stare Mesto, in which we Newbies celebrated having survived our first week of school. Friday evening was spent here in the company of Chris, Dave, Tara, Aileen, Lyn and Katie, the other 'new starters', plus another Katie from our rival school (!), and her boyfriend Neil who is currently visiting. I enjoyed a 'Kureci Hawaii', a chicken steak topped with ham, pineapple and cheese, complete with fries and garnish for just over £3. Recommended.

The night proceeded to become much longer, taking us to the Pirate Pub (arrrr! one for Phil Seaman there!), the Grossetto restaurant in a breathtaking location by the river and to which I shall henceforth be taking ALL my visitors for its 'wow' factor, then on to the very smoky Blue Light bar and yet further to Popo Cafe Petl, by which time it had somehow become shockingly late/early and so I made the executive decision to head home. I do believe that a good night was had by all, as they say.

INTERRUPTION - I am officially slightly silly. The oven timer just rang to signify dinner was ready, and I answered the front door. Hmmm, I'm not so sure that living alone is all that good for my sanity...

School continues to delight, with lots of very nice and slightly cheeky students. On Friday I had the pleasure of a day-hike with my Year 12 tutor group, and since then I feel I have struck up a slightly better rapport with some of them... but they still don't really talk much. A couple have signed up to D of E though, and we have our first camping weekend this Friday, so we shall see how that goes. Today my efforts were mostly taken up by the initial research for a German trip, much like the one we ran at Mountbatten. Things are looking good for that project, I am pleased to report - more news as we get it up and running.

Other than that, not much to add - life carries on just fine and the learning curve is nice and steep, which is what I had hoped for. D of E will take over most of this weekend, and arriving next Thursday is my first visitor! Better start cleaning the apartment...

Hoping all's going well for everyone reading this, thanks as ever for following, it's nice to know you're out there. I've had a few lovely phone/Skype conversations with some of you recently, which has reminded me how much I miss you all and what funny times we had last year! Keep in touch - it's always nice to hear a friendly voice and receive an update on what I'm missing. Rain, most probably.

Love to all x

Early mornings, long days, such is life in Prague!

Greetings from a much-awaited blog post, well at least long overdue! No photos this time I'm afraid since I filled up my memory card with cute little videos of my Year 3 class doing plays with their first few lessons of German, and haven't had a moment to copy them and then take more photos of other, more interesting stuff. So, just ramblings tonight, and probably not many at that because I'm absolutely shattered.

School is working out very well indeed. Experiences I have had so far which are completely different from those I enjoyed at Mountbatten: 1) two students begging me to teach them German in any slot I might happen to have free on my timetable, because they REALLY WANT TO LEARN IT. 2) Break duty in the canteen consisting of me having to supervise... wait for it... 3 kids eating sandwiches and then putting all their litter in the bin, tucking their chairs under and leaving promptly at the end of break with no hassle. 3) After informing my Year 10 class that I would work them *really* hard this year, their reply of 'oh thank god miss, we don't think our levels are good enough and we really need to get them higher'.

I could go on, but I won't. These are just some highlights. There are obviously some gripes, after all nothing is perfect, but I have decided to turn over a new positive leaf and so am deliberately focusing on the positives and avoiding the moaning. And hey! any down sides that there may be are outweighed by the fact that I'm here, in the middle of Europe, hearing more languages spoken every day than I could shake a dictionary at. As a language teacher, that has to be worth a lot.

One big adjustment, though, ('adjustment' rather than 'moan' - just feel the positivity!) is the early start to the day. Basically, if I'm not up at 6.15, I feel there won't be enough hours in the day to get everything done. Now, if my Dad is reading this, he will right now be commenting to my Mum along the lines of 'pfffft, 6.15!! These kids just don't know they're born!!' Every day is like a Top Gear Challenge: down the stairs, through the Prison Gate (extra safety in my block of flats - don't ask), across the road to the tram stop from where you can guarantee a tram will have just left. On the next tram 4 stops to IP Pavlova metro station, down the steps, into the metro, 5 stops to Kacerov, up the escalator, onto the bus, 13 mins (precisely) of the squeaking, squealing ex-USSR (surely, it must be) bus, through the woods, down the road and into school. Phew! I admit that this description makes it sound much more arduous than it actually is - it takes just over 35 mins in real terms, which I use as 35 mins of sleep/daydreaming/lesson planning in my head - but it is still more of an effort in some ways than 15 mins in the car. However, I am one of those strange sorts who enjoy using public transport for the sake of it, so it's all good for me.

Inaugural Wednesday night meal was had tonight - this is Chris' and my decision to force ourselves (not much forcing required, I must admit) to go for a meal once a week, to both let off steam and to ensure that we actually do get out and socialise in amongst the hectic schedule of work. However, I have made it to the swimming pool on Monday and the torturous Aerobic Dance gym class yesterday, so perhaps I should establish a weekly 'stay in' rather than a weekly 'go out'! This time, if my parents are reading, they'll be tutting and shaking their heads and muttering 'some things never change'. Just joking M&D- I know you're happy for me really!!!

The Czechs take their fitness seriously, and now, so do I. Well, in between the Chinese meal I had today and the enormous Thai feast I had on Saturday night courtesy of Anuska, that is. The swimming pool at Podoli really is a sight to behold. Comprising a 50m indoor pool, a 50m outdoor pool and a frighteningly high diving board, this swimming centre is a behemoth. I had a lovely de-stressing swim outdoors on Monday night, as darkness fell, but did start to wonder halfway along my first length exactly when or if I'd get to the other end. 50 metres seem much longer than 2 lots of 25 metres - now how does that work? But the strangest thing about the pool was undoubtedly the 'drying room'. You see, apparently you are not allowed to enter the changing rooms whilst wet. This would appear to make things rather difficult, however this is where the 'drying room' comes in. Have you ever walked past the extractor fan from a restaurant and felt that hot, greasy air pumping out into the street? Well this is something similar, except a) the air is less greasy and b) you are naked. Everyone is naked. Nakedness is embraced and indeed celebrated in the Czech swimming pool showers and drying room. In fact, it rather reminded me of being in Germany where a similar love of nakedness is displayed. I must confess that I enjoyed the drying room, it certainly did add to the pleasures of swimming and that lovely feeling of being all warm and clean that you get after a trip to the pool.

I shall leave the terrifying and painful tale of Aerobic Dance for another time, mostly because I now have to go to bed and it might take me a while to get there, seeing as I am currently walking like a horserider/very sore cowboy as a result of that darn class!

But in summary, all is going very well here. There are tricky moments, as there always are with setting up home somewhere else, but the positives are definitely at the front of my mind. I miss you all, but it's nice to know you are there, and all those good wishes on Facebook as I started my first week were lovely - and greatly appreciated. More and more visitors are lining up now though - I am happily booked up for New Year - so get in touch if you need a room in Prague and I will see what I can do!

Love to all - you are in my thoughts xx

On the concept of feet barely touching the floor

Hello, anyone who may still be reading. I completely understand if you'd given up, what with the ridiculously and rather rudely long gap between the last entry and this. My apologies - it has been what can only be described as hectic at least, mental at best, here in Prague. My life as an EISPer has well and truly begun, and I am starting to feel I've worked there for rather longer than just three days! For the right reasons, though, definitely the right reasons.

An assortment of photos this time - not sure of the order in which they'll appear, but you can treat it as a matching exercise - a Couchsurfing picnic in Riegrovy Sady park; my desk; one of my favourite streets in Prague so far; and most bizarrely of all, the gym which I have just joined. About which, more later.

So, EISP. Ho hum. Over the last six years since starting at Mountbatten I had totally forgotten, or maybe just misestimated, what it is like to be the small fish in a big pond. Starting all over again has been a shock to my system, and that's even before the students arrive (next Monday). The most frustrating aspect is definitely having a list of things I need to find out, and absolutely no idea whom to ask to find out said things. Luckily EISP is a very small building compared with my previous place, and so when you do eventually find out whom to ask, it does not take very long to locate them and ask them. The trouble is, most of the time they do not know the answer! However today was a much better day than Monday in that respect - today I stayed in my classroom and gradually throughout the day, people came to find me and tell me all of the information that I needed to know. Very handy.

Some key facts I discovered today. One: I have just two or three students in my IB class - nice. Two: my photocopy card does not work - not so nice, though only temporary. Three: my projector is in school and will be installed tomorrow - double bonus. And four: next Friday I am off timetable for the 'IB students' induction weekend', seeing as I am a Year 12 form tutor - which is basically a long walk. Along the lines, I dare say, of 'Mr Pennicott's LONG WALK' for anyone familiar with the delights of Mountbatten Year 7 Camp. And with my D of E hat on, that will suit me just fine.

Speaking of D of E, I was very much relieved, reassured and excited (all at the same time, that was tiring) to find that the D of E crew at EISP seem every bit as relaxed and chilled as my old Mountbatten crew. Helen, Sarah and Anuska welcomed me with open arms and are keen for me to get involved with a couple of camping weekends coming up in the next months, which is brilliant news. I love doing D of E and would definitely not have wanted to lose that.

Today was spent getting EVERYTHING out of all the cupboards in my classroom, looking at it, and deciding between 'file' and 'chuck'. It was a big effort, but with the radio on the time soon passed and at the end of the day I was mightily pleased with the result. Everything in its right place. (and have you ever thought about how weird it is when you are abroad but are hearing traffic updates on the radio about the blockage on the A34 southbound carriageway just before the Milton Interchange? I almost thought I was back in the 'Shire... good old R2)

The weekend seems so long ago, but it was a nice one. I didn't achieve anything much beyond a supermarket stock-up, a long walk through the most enchanting cemetery I've ever visited, and a nice multinational picnic with several CSers. A very relaxing weekend though, to give me the feeling of being 'at home' in my new city.

Tomorrow I shall be trawling through the IGCSE and IB syllabus websites, downloading mark schemes and preparing medium-term plans. This is the reality of expat teacher life, let me tell you! I plan to make sure I'm ready this week for the new start and the arrival of the dreaded students, so that the weekend can run as smoothly as last.

Hope everyone reading this is very well, and enjoying what remains of the summer holidays (teachers) or just the summer (unless it's rained all the time, in which case, sorry to have mentioned it).

Love to all x

First views of EISP

A quick post today as I am so, so , SO frustrated by my absolutely awful internet connection not working, that I just can't be bothered to spend ages typing now. Sorry about that. I will head to some sort of wifi place this weekend sometime and update. The engineer is on his way tomorrow morning between 8am and 11am to try to fix it, but people, don't hold your breath.

This internet thing has been the main and, to be honest, only frustration of moving here. And it's not even as if I use it very much! It's just the fact that phoning the UK is so expensive and it's free on line, and also the fact that I'm paying for it and it's just rubbish.

Ok, spleen vented! Above are 2 pics of my classrooom and 1 of our staffroom at EISP - it's been a very interesting two days of Induction - but much more about that later.

And -quick - publish while the router's little green lights are still flashing!

Love to all x

Ceska Posta - or the Bitter Disappointment of thinking someone's sent you a parcel, only to discover that it is a Gas Bill.

Two very interesting photos here, one of my transport pass (nice pic) and one of the perplexing form I received in the post yesterday telling me to go the Post Office to collect something. Disappointingly, the 'something' turned out to be a completely incomprehensible letter from Prazska Plynarenszka (or similar), the Gas Company, which I assume is a demand for payment although it may not be. And there I was, hurrying to the post office with a skip in my step, wondering which of my lovely friends may have sent me a parcel! Ha ha, I can dream eh!

Recently I have been spending a bit of time getting to know my new friends and colleagues out here. Our merry band is growing and the last additions will arrive tomorrow night, upon which I assume we'll go to our traditional First Night haunt, a fine pizzeria called Red Flower down on Vinohradska. Chris, I, Katie, Lyn and Aileen were all treated to our first official Welcome to Prague dinner there, so it's time to do the same for Tara and possibly the mysterious Dave. (this is a person who we think will be working with us, but haven't heard from for some time. We're sure he's here somewhere!)

Life is forming some kind of routine right now - a morning run every couple of days, today's being the sixth so far and noticeably easier than the previous attempts; followed by a coffee and some Internet time, then lunch (rohliky, syr a synka, voda, chipsy); after that some kind of 'afternoon activity' or jobs which need to be done (usually involving form-filling); then a rendezvous around 6pm for beer and food. It's a nice life, really! Yesterday I found myself declaring to Chris that I was looking forward to getting into the routine of work, but when I think about it, I'm more than happy really to live my life in this gentle pattern, needing to be only where I decide I need to be...

We think that we are going to try to do a Wednesday Night Social each week, to get us through the first few difficult weeks of our new jobs, and to make sure that we spend at least some time not doing work! In addition I've got the weekly CS meeting on Thursday nights to look forward to, so it's shaping up to be a healthy balance of work and fun already. I like that (as you all know).

I have a happy succession of visitors lined up already: kicking off with Sir Anthony of Constable mid-September, followed hot on the heels by Pauly M, and proceeding to good old Mum n' Dad in October. Anyone else who fancies a City Break, I have a lovely orange sofa all ready and waiting for you!

Tomorrow is the Great Internet Connection Day, and then I may do another walk in the afternoon, now that the Storm of All Storms has broken the heat and it seems to suddenly be Autumn. And then... Thursday... it's off to EISP for my first day!

Thank you for reading - apologies for poor content of late - rest assured that there will doubtless be silly stories aplenty once work gets going! The difficulties of merely pronouncing the names of our International students will, I am sure, be worth noting...

Love to all x

POZOR! Thunder and lightning!

I agree that some photos of the Great Prague Storm of 2010 as witnessed last night would be more interesting than a photo of my new chairs, but I was scared of water-damaging my camera by getting it out in the middle of the rain deluge! So new chairs it is. (The one on the left was constructed by Chris as a demo, the one on the right by me, so I know which one I won't be sitting on!).

Last night's storm has to be my main talking point today, simply because it was just fantastic! Not since the Grand Canyon (another story) have I seen such powerful lightning, heard such thunderous thunder (ok, I'm tired and my adjectival power is waning) and got so utterly drenched in the rain. You know that photo a couple of posts ago, of me coming home in the rain? Well, let me tell you that that was 'a light shower' compared with last night's downpour.

And the most amusing part is, for the first instalment of the storm which apparently produced marble-sized hailstones, I was locked away three floors down in the basement of a gig venue watching Beirut play a fine set, and so I and the rest of the crowd had no idea what was going on outside ! Until the stage manager pulled Beirut offstage early due to 'a leak coming through and water falling on the amps, and therefore danger of electrocution'! The crowd and I were thinking, hmmm, a leak? Dodgy pipes? But then we got up the stairs and released a collective 'aaaaah!' when we saw what was going on.

This will be a short post due to a) the internet cafe closing now around me and b) the fact that I need to brave a Czech post office between the impending hours of 18.00 and 19.30 to collect my mysterious package, which wouldn't fit in my post box and so the postman left me a complicated Czech notice telling me (I assume) about it. Wish me luck - more blog tomorrow when I am hopefully much less tired.

Love to all (and better weather) x

Why I don't drink Absinth, and other lessons in life

Good afternoon readers. (If there is anyone still reading - thank you for sticking it for so long.)

Well, it's the Saturday after the Friday night before, and I've ventured out of my tiny little area of Praha 10 and come into the Big City Centre for a change of scene. After much bureacratic wrangling, form-filling and downright confusion I now have my travel pass so I don't have to do *quite* so much walking any more. So it made a nice change to just jump in the tram and head down to Karlovo Namesti, to try a new cafe. I'll be walking back though, to balance out the mid-afternoon Gambrius which is helping me write this blog.

So in the photos, you can see 3 different watering holes that we found last night. They seem to have entered the blog in exact reverse chronological order, so consequently the bottom one is from the first pub we went to - an excellent venue where all the pieces of paper you can see above the bar represent the choices of beer available. Unfortunately I can't remember its name, but we were taken there by my new Assistant Headteacher so I can always ask him! The picture of Lyn (a new colleague) pouring her beer is from a venue imaginatively named 'The Pub' , where you have your own beer taps on your table and just serve yourself, then pay up your total at the end. And the wall of photos is in Vagon, the dirtiest and most excellent rock club I have been in for a long while!

Our group consisted of Tony, the Assistant Principal at EISP, and his partner Debbie, whose aim was to welcome me, Chris (SLT), Aileen (Head of MFL), Lyn (Science teacher) and her partner Katie to Prague with a few choice ales. And a very nice evening it was. We shared stories of our respective first few days in the city, tales of finding keys to apartments (me), walking a lot (me) and shipping 500 pairs of shoes from the UK (not me - I brought four). All my colleagues seem very nice and friendly indeed, and I look forward to working with them as from this coming Thursday.

Afterwards Katie, Lyn and I headed to the aforementioned 'Pub' and then on to Vagon. I love that place. It's not quite the Dorchester - more rocky, more old-school and much MUCH bigger - but clearly has lots of history to it and loads of interesting photos on the walls which I shall have to devote some time to it. Best of all in my opinion, it is inconspicuously located in the basement of some sort of shopping centre and it just makes me laugh how you descend the stairs ino this enormous seething mass of long hair, beer and loud rock music, which ordinarily you may walk on past and never notice! Amuses me, anyway.

So in Vagon Katie bravely (stupidly) tried Absinth, which I here and now promise I shall never do myself. She went from utterly disgusted to hilarious laughter in very quick succession after the shot, which was fairly funny to see, but I feel I am just too elderly and dignified for those sorts of shenanigans now. Best to observe and comment rather than partake in these moments, I would say.

After a predictably monsoon-like walk home, I dried off and crawled into bed at around 4am. A good night was had by all.

In other news, I mentioned earlier that I have acquired a Travel Pass! This was one of my prouder moments of wading through bureaucracy. As advised by all consulted sources of information, I presented myself at Muzeum station with passport photos and passport, ready to sign and procure a 90-day pass. I enquired, and was told to go to Mustek instead. So I walked to Mustek (fortunately it wasn't raining - it was that other form of Czech weather, blisteringly hot) and knocked on the window of a booth where a terrifying-looking woman was busy reading the Czech version of Take a Break. I asked her as best I could for 90-day pass. She paused, harrumphed, snarled at me and said .... 'NE'. Baffled, I thought I'd try another of Mustek, labyrinthine metro station that it is. So finally I found the correct booth, joined the long queue, and was presented with a complicated-looking form entirely in Czech. At this point I almost gave up, took the form home and saved it for another day. But no! I decided I wasn't going to be beaten. I'd walked half an hour for this pass, and really wanted to get the tram back home. So I found a quiet corner of Mustek, stuck my Ipod on and spent some quality time with my best friend, my slovnik (dictionary). I managed to work out what everything on the form meant, eventually, fill it in, queue up in the by now even longer queue, and - hallelujah - obtain the pass! Valid till 10. listopad (November - see what I mean about there being no similarity between Czech and English?) the pass gives me open and unlimited access to all city centre transport. Pleased with this not inconsiderable triumph, I celebrated by riding the transport home rather than another half an hour walk.

Tonight involves a quiet night in , and I am going to work out how to turn my oven on and try to cook something in it.

Tomorrow I am meeting another new arrival, Katie, at the airport and then going with some CSers to see the band Beirut play. Really looking forward to that.

Hopefully the next post will be more interesting, and less about beer.

Love to all x

Tonight, Matthew, I'm going to be... a tourist

Greetings from a very hot and stuffy wifi cafe where I have come to update this blog (and wade through more Czech e-bureaucracy).

Today I decided I'd had enough of sleeping, studying Czech and buying stuff for the flat, and decided to go on a hike. Well, a 'city-hike'. With my camera strapped to my rucksack strap, just like a professional tourist.

I left the flat at about 9.45am and it was already roasting hot outside. Seemed to spend most of the morning going up hills... and then back down them again... and then up more hills... and sometimes along the top of the hills but then pretty quickly back down once more... you get the picture. By the time I got home, about 1pm, I was exhausted.

The hike did however confirm what I had suspected - that Prague is an incredibly green city, really. Within the bustle of the city, the rumbing tramlines and the downright frightening traffic, there are parks, gardens, grassy areas, hills, vineyards and many other peaceful green spaces which always make me feel more relaxed when I take the time to wander through them. Today I found the vineyards not 15 mins walk away from my place in a lovely hillside park. There was a cafe bar place perched high above the vineyards, which I did not visit today but have definitely earmarked it for another time. This is the third picture you can see above.

The other two pictures (grapes, and the church) were taken up at Vysehrad area, the site of the ancient 'original' Prague citadel. Walking up to the top was quite hard work in this heat, but the views were definitely reward enough. I spent some quiet time wandering the impressive cemetery and finding Dvorak's grave. After some much needed rest in the shade of SS Peter and Paul Church, I made my way home via the centre of the city just to wake myself up after all that greenery!

Apart from wandering, the last few days have mostly involved studying Czech. I feel I am making some small form of progress, managing as I have to ask for stamps at the post office in perfect Czech, and to buy some new shoes without resorting to English (and feeling smug when some others in the shop tried to use the International Language of Loud American, and failed when the shop lady flatly refused to speak anything other than Czech). But keep in mind that any amount of progress is always ridiculously small, where learning Czech is concerned, and that just when you think you're getting some way towards being able to use numbers, you will be confronted in a shop with a price that doesn't sound like any Czech number you've ever heard of.

But thanks to good old 'Czech step by step' and a few hours at the desk, I can now tell you in my best Czech that I like swimming (which is true) and that my mother is ill (which, at this point in time, happens also to be true) . Tomorrow's lesson - saying what you like to eat and drink. Now that sounds more useful!

Love to all x

Grandma's Meatball and other delicacies

Good day, one and all. Indeed it IS a good day today - blue skies, bright sun, no rain... just a shame I chose this morning for a 13 hour sleepathon really!
The picture you see here is from the Couchsurfing Tea Tasting morning which I attended on Sunday - we tried the newly-arrived Japanese teas and Janko (the tea master) gave us an explanation of his teas and how they were harvested, and explained the different flavours. It was a lovely sociable morning with many other Couchsurfers from all different places. If you are unfamiliar with Couchsurfing see www.couchsurfing.org - a great way to make new friends in your city.

Since then I have mostly been eating. Chris and I have tried a different restaurant each night, if I can remember the order rightly since my arrival (A WEEK AGO - how time flies) it was pizza, Czech, pizza, Chris's cooking, Czech, Czech, Indian. I must keep a list of all the interesting specialities and downright silly menu translations I come across - favourites this week include Cheap Cheese, Hidden Meat and Grandma's Meatball. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, neither of us was quite brave enough to tuck into Grandma's Meatball, but I am sure there will come a time...

We ate Indian last night and commented on the fact that it was 'like being at home' - that just about sums up English food for you! It was quite tasty but not my favourite meal out so far - that would be the 3 kinds of fried cheese eaten a couple of nights ago. Now you see why I have been driven to take up running. Happily I do actually seem to be losing weight despite the meals, but then, if you live at the top of a hill and walk up and down it at least 3 or 4 times a day, you've got to be on to a winner on the fitness front.

I'm off to my local GE Moneybank today to collect my debit card which has apparently arrived. I have to say, it was surprisingly (thankfully) easy to set up the bank account, largely owing to the fact that Chris had already done his and so paved the way with the lovely bank ladies for me to do the same - what a charmer. But the whole process went exceedingly smoothly and soon I will have spending power! Which will come in handy when we make our return trip to Ikea and I furnish my flat with two bright red chairs I've got my eye on.... yes my first ever trip to Ikea was yesterday, though we were carless so just had a look and decided what to buy when we return with transport, and finally I saw what all the fuss was about! What a great place. I shall have to go back. (The lure of 20kc fried cheese in the restaurant is just too much to resist).

So today's adventures involve the bank, and then purchasing some sturdy walking shoes as my poor feet need some support! Who knows what tonight's dinner will serve up - there was talk last night of playing Czech Menu Roulette - involving deliberately not obtaining the English menu and just choosing something, anything, at random.

But if it ends up being Grandma's Meatball, I think I'll go hungry, thanks.

Hoping everyone is well x

Home from home!

Afternoon! It has FINALLY stopped raining long enough for me to sit outside at a wifi cafe and update this blog. Not that a lot has happened - well, apart from the rain.

'Stair rods' just doesn't describe it.

As a consequence of this rain, I really did not do much of a muchness yesterday. Met up for kava with Chris though at Dobra Trafika, a fascinating old-worlde tobacconists half way between my apartment and his. One thick, bitter and biting cup of Peruvian blackstuff later, and I decided that the supermarket would be the furthest I would venture in that downpour. The rest of the day was spent studying Czech (Kdo je to? To je Bill Clinton? Ano, to je Bill Clinton. Ale kdo je Bill Clinton? Je politik a je American.... and so on), cleaning, tidying and procrastinating.

In the evening Chris coaxed me out with a text message along the lines of 'is it beer o' clock yet?', and I assembled the waterproof gear depicted above. 20 mins later I arrived at Na Smetance and was soaked. Repeat, soaked.

Dinner was worth it though - a delicious chicken steak with creamy tandoori sauce... yum yum. Chris can testify that the mysteriously-named 'hidden meat' was just as tasty.

Another couple of pive, half a Man City match and another sodden walk later, I was tucked up in bed ready for an early attendance at Japanese Tea Tasting this morning! But more about that later.

Hoping all is well wherever you are x

When you live in a country where beer's cheaper than water, the need for running becomes apparent

Oh dear... what a picture. I thought I'd better put some photos of something other than my flat, so at risk of being boring, I have chosen this delightful picture taken yesterday evening by Chris at the first of several beers. This was Chris's 'night of not drinking' (read: 5 pints) and tonight is mine, as I could really do with a rest. Let's keep an open mind, shall we?

So yesterday was another day of finding out information, trying to process it and ending up being bewildered. I managed to arrange an internet connection (good thing) but this being the Czech Republic, there is no rush, so the engineers will not come out until the 18th (bad thing). At least there's a lovely wifi cafe next to my building - the Motor Cafe (it is better than it sounds). I put my languages to good use by arranging the internet connection in German, since it was the only language I shared with the sales assistant . However, half way through, my landlady appeared in the queue behind me and it turned out she'd come down to arrange the internet connection on my behalf! Bless her. So she helped me, and now it's (hopefully) all sorted.

After that I explored Flora, my nearby shopping centre. For those who know Southampton, think West Quay but 5 mins walk from my front door, and much quieter, and so I was very pleased to make this discovery. After 2 days of bureacracy and beer I decided some retail therapy was in order so I bought a range of t-shirts to get me through the impending 30 degrees plus weather due to be arriving tomorrow.

Yesterday afternoon was spent in the happy company of my 'Czech step by step' self study guide which I acquired in the shopping centre. I learnt 'Co znamena ...?' (what does ... mean?), 'Jsem z Anglie' (I'm from England) and 'Jak se jmenujete?' (what's your name?). And other assorted unpronounceable phrases. This afternoon I shall undertake lesson 2, which I believe contains hotel vocab and some foods. Interesting!

And last night I met Lyn, another new EISP colleague, and her entourage of partner, sister and friend who helped her bring all her suitcases here. Park was visited, pizza was eaten and beer was tidily put away. Which brings me to this morning's 11am awakening - the time by which I had eaten breakfast, done some washing and most extraordinarily of all, BEEN FOR A RUN yesterday.

Well, here's to the weekend - who knows what startling Czech incidents it may hold. See you on the other side.

You know you live in the Czech Republic when...

Welcome, one and all! It's been an eventful few days as one might expect... moving to the Czech Republic has definitely been an 'experience'! But first things first, I'm settled in my new flat which I really like, and I'm happy. Tired, and slightly confused, but happy. So that's good.

The bus journey was remarkably uneventful - it was very sad saying goodbye to the parents and I even shed a tear or two (those who know my hard-nosed side, yes there is a soft centre under there somewhere) but once the bus was on its way I settled down to 19 hours of reading, music, movies and general solitude despite sharing airspace with 50 others for the duration. Yes, the bus between London and Praha is surprisingly popular! I thought it was just nutters like me...

Arriving at 5am, bleary-eyed and most definitely not bushy-tailed, I was greeted by Chris Randell, my soon-to-be Senior Leader at EISP (but moreover hopefully my fellow Prague-surviving buddy, we can keep work and social separate, right?!) It was so lovely to see a friendly face at the bus station - we had met before, you see, during the Volcanic Ash saga - and he helped me transport my bags to his place where I was provided with coffee, breakfast and far-too-intelligent-for-that-time-of-morning conversation. His flat is gorgeous - hopefully a taste of things to come for mine?

Once showered and refreshed, we walked to Korunni, my address. Luckily we live very close to each other, so we can lean on each other in times of need! In fact, almost all the new EISP staff are living in Vinohrady which is my area of town, so we should have a good support and social network going soon. We found my address in the middle of a POURING rain storm (allegedly the first rain Prague has seen for weeks, it must be my curse) and thus began the Great Key Obtaining Saga of August 3rd 2010.

According to my contact at EISP, the key would be left 'at a nearby fruit and veg shop' for me to collect. Hmmmm, why did I ever think that would work. The shop transpired to be the Ovoce-Zelenina (fruit and veg - literally named) shop at the bottom of my building. So far, so good. In we merrily went with our much-practised 'mluvite anglicky?' hoping to at once dazzle the assistant with our attempt to use the local lingo, and achieve key-related success. Not so. She simply cowered like a frightened rabbit in the face of our Czech language prowess, and proceeded to rattle off a stream of incomprehensible (to us) Vietnamese. Yes, Vietnamese. Had it been French, German, Spanish, Italian, English or even rudimentary Japanese, we might have coped between us. But no. She did offer me some cigarettes, though, which was nice.

Hmm, what to do? Back out into the pouring rain we went, having formed the genius plan of getting the number for EISP and phoning to see if they knew anything about the whereabouts of the keys. So picture Chris and I, wearing shorts and waterproofs, huddling outside various cafes trying to surreptitiously use their free wi-fi to access the EISP website on Chris's phone, to find the number and then call the school office. Eventually, surprisingly, and after many shop fronts, it worked! The school receptionist was fabulous and very reassuring, telling me simply to return to the shop and she would speak to the lady and tell her what was what.

In Vietnamese? I hear you ask. Why, no, in Czech. Which the poor shop lady obviously still didn't understand. Which resulted in her hilariously running out into the street, grabbing some poor 18 year old Czech passer-by and thrusting my phone in his face, while Chris and I are doing speaking actions with our hands, to try to help him understand what the heck was going on! Bemusedly he talked to my school receptionist and between them they established ( I think) that this was not going to work.

Finally the receptionist decided that she'd phone my original contact, he who was meant to leave the keys at the shop, but I was to be warned that he is on holiday and may not answer the phone. Happy(ier) with this, Chris and I repaired to the cafe in which I presently sit, ordered drinks and waited.

To cut a very long story slightly shorter, it turned out that an email had been sent to my OLD email account (despite me telling the school to send my NEW address round as the old one was now defunct) explaining that...

...very simply...

... I was to ring the doorbell of the landlady who lives in the flat above, and she would come down and let me in.

To sum up, you know you're living in the Czech Republic when the simplest simplest task becomes bewilderingly complicated, and somehow you have but a part of the information required for a successful outcome.

Anyway, all's well that ends well, landlady is lovely, flat is great and here are some pictures. More to come soon about the delights of setting up internet/phone, electric and gas! (Bet you can't wait for that!!!)

Love to all x

Video of my new school!

http://www.eisp.cz

This is where I'll be working. Grand, eh?

My flat in Praha