Zmrzlý

A word which here means "so cold that even though you're wearing a total of 14 layers of clothing on your body, you still manage to get sick." It actually means "frozen." This is how cold it was in the Alps. We were there for four days and it was really cold. The coldest day was -19°C which is -2°F. While we were gone, it got down to -26°C in the Czech Republic, which is -14.8°F and nine people froze to death. So we were in the alps, about five hundred miles away from the house. We crossed Austria to get there which just makes you realize how small Europe is if you can drive through and entire country in one day. Anyways, we skied the first day. The second day I took pictures of the Alps and such. The third and fourth days I was sick with a cough, and fever and whatnot. My first host family are really good skiers, they were amazing. Also, skiing in the Alps is not like Ausblick at all, it took forever to get down one run it was ridiculous. It was a really nice vacation though, other than skiing we didn't do anything so there's not too much to report on.

Let's go way back to November since that was the last time I posted (sorry about that)

Since nothing really happened until the beginning of December, let's skip forward to then.

So, in December I went to Vienna twice, revisited Prague and experienced a Czech Christmas.

The first time I went to Vienna, it was with the president of Rotary and we spent the day there. We visited the Emperor's apartments and got to see where all the royalty of Austrian and all of its past incarnations lived. It was really beautiful and I really liked Vienna.

The week after that, I went back to Prague for a Rotary weekend. We got to see some of the city, although I had already seen the castle and bridge and square that we visited, but it was nice to see it again. Then we were given time to go shopping in and around a huge mall. We had about three and a half hours and that was lots of fun. Next we sang Christmas Carols for passersby to enjoy and then we went and had Chinese for dinner, it was excellent. Later we had another language test in which I placed third. I did get first in the speaking part. Then on Sunday we went home.

During the week after Prague, it snowed for the first time since I got here. It got really cold too. It felt more like Wisconsin, but then it all melted when it rained and was around 45°F. We had no snow for Christmas at all.

The Tuesday after I got back from Prague I went back to Vienna with school. This time it was with friends so it was way more fun. We toured around and saw some sights and then had about four hours to do as we pleased. First, we went to Starbucks. I had a brownie! It was delicious! Then we wandered around outside in the Viennese Christmas Market and tried the Punsch. Well, they tried it, I had a small sip, but got to keep the mug. Finally we had to walk back to the bus, on the way I was almost hit by a tram. So we made it back to the bus in one piece and then voyaged home. It was a lot of fun.

The most recent event was the traditional Czech Christmas that I got to experience just four days ago. Here in the Czech Republic, they celebrate Christmas on the 24th, so it was a little different from home. First we had the traditional Czech Christmas meal. It was fish soup, followed by sauerkraut soup, followed by carp for dinner. It was actually rather good. Then, after ringing the Christmas bell, we went and opened presents. After that we went and visited each of my host grandparents and then returned home for a while. At midnight we went to church and after that Christmas was over and we all went to bed. It was extremely interesting to experience.

Next month should be very interesting as well. The next big thing to happened is Silvestr, or New Year's Eve. Then we have Czech Independence Day on the first of January. At some point in January we have another Rotary weekend, although I don't know when or where. Starting in January, Rotary allows us to travel within the District, Czech Republic and Slovakia, alone so I'll be visiting all around. Finally, in January is the halfway point of my exchange. January 22nd marks five months since I arrived and a little more than five months until I leave. I cannot believe that it is so close, it still feels like I just got here yesterday. It's all going much faster than I would like it to, so I guess I'll just have to really enjoy it all before the downhill slide towards the time I return home.

The Last One

I have been given a choice. Either I can travel with school to France, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, or I can attend the final Rotary weekend in the Czech Republic which involves rafting and camping on the Vltava River (This is in June, by the way, but I need to decide soon). The upsides to the first one are pretty obvious; completion of a lifelong dream and experiencing Western Europe (finally!). The upside to the second one would be the experience of camping, although I'm not quite sure that's an upside, rafting, and the chance to say a proper goodbye to the new friends I've made here that come from all over the world. Right now I'm leaning towards the trip to Western Europe, but I'd like to know what you think. Post your thoughts in the comments area prosim. <-- That means "please"

Taipei 101

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1! Happy New Year! With every number, one floor of Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world, lights up in a different color. When the countdown is complete, fireworks erupt off of the building in every direction and the New Years Eve celebration is complete. It sounds amazing and I really want to be there one year to see it happen. I learned all this after asking my new friend who I met at the Rotary Weekend in Jindřich Hradec last weekend. She is from the capitol city of Taiwan; Taipei. She told me that every New Years Eve there are huge celebrations in the streets and many performances in front of or near Taipei 101. Apparently this causes massive traffic jams that make a twenty minute usual trip home into a three hour trip home. Anyways, she's the only one here from Taiwan and she knows Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, English and she's learning Czech with the rest of us. It was so interesting to learn about Taiwan, since I've never been there before and we've never learned about it in school I didn't know anything about it. Did you know that they only get air conditioning in their last year of high school? Did you know that their last year of high school has 14 hour days? Did you know that China claims it rules Taiwan? I didn't know any of this! Anyways... I felt like it was a really good example of Rotary helping to bring about cultural learning and understanding, and it was really interesting...so.

While the rest of the weekend wasn't quite as interesting, it was very nice. To get there I took a bus with my friend from America who is staying in another town that is sort of nearby. I went from Uhersky Brod to Brno, an hour and a half. Then from Brno the Jindřich Hradec, four hours. And then we missed our stop. Five hours. And then we waited for the kid who missed his train stop. Six hours. As you may imagine we were a wee bit late. Instead of walking to the hotel, though, we got to be driven by the Rotarians who were searching for us; every cloud has a silver lining I guess. I felt a little bit like Harry Potter after he missed the Hogwarts Express and arrived, by car I might add, late to the opening feast. We were late to dinner as well. After dinner we took a language test on Czech, you may remember it from my last post. So I ended up getting a perfect score on my test which was very nice to hear considering I've been studying like crazy to learn it. After that was a dull speech about stuff we've already heard before and I don't feel like reliving again here on the blog so you can use your imagination to decide what the Rotarians spoke about and spice things up a bit. Post speech about [insert whatever you imagined here] we got to just talk and hang out and my Czech notes I made were requested by people. Then we went to bed.

On Saturday we had breakfast. After breakfast we went sightseeing in town and that was when I talked to my Taiwanese friend. Since I was talking to her, I didn't take many pictures of the town. Later we carved pumpkins and made food. We had Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brownies, Monkey Bread, Pumpkin Seeds, Pudding, and some Taiwanese food. Brownie Mix would be greatly appreciated here. For dinner we went out and had a Czech version of Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Cranberry Dressing, Green Beans. I feel that this is a good time to tell you that I've lost weight here, instead of gaining it. So after dinner we played games. We had to build the tallest tower we could out of marshmallows and spaghetti. Then we had to get an apple out of a bucket of water and then a gummy bear out of a tub of flour, hence the pictures of me on Facebok with flour all over my face. Then we had more free time and then bed.

On Sunday we got up and had breakfast and then left. We were the last people to leave. Also on the way home we had McDonalds, I was pleased.

So I went and had dinner while I was writing this and we were watching the news and I learned that my parents make as much as the drug dealers in Juarez, Mexico do. I wanted to tell my host family this, but felt it would be an akward conversation so I'm posting it here instead.

Grandpa, Miss Barbara, Dr. Witherspoon, Bertie, Saturnin, Aunt Catherine, and the Narrator

These are the seven main characters of the novel Saturnin, by Zdeněk Jirotka (pronounced Zdeniek Yirotka.) It was one of my birthday presents that I got from Rotary last week. It's apparently a very famous book, and I now understand why. I thought it was hilarious, it was very well written and a really excellent book. The plot was really spectacular and the characters were all really well done. It feels great knowing that I finally got some real Czech literature seeing as I'm an avid reader I couldn't wait. If you can find a copy, I would definitely recommend it.

But onto bigger and better things. So Monday was the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany. I know because it was all over BBC World News. It was so interesting to watch the ceremonies and events that took place and to see what the wall looked like and how Berlin looks now. It wasn't a huge event here in the Czech Republic as I didn't even know until after school, but the big event here will be next week. Next week Tuesday is twenty years since the Velvet Revolution in Prague and the beginning of the end of Communism. As far as I know, it's going to be a pretty huge deal here. On Monday we only have two classes so home at nine forty and on Tuesday we don't have school at all. Also on Monday the town is having some sort of mini festival, I'm not sure on the details but it should be fun and historical all at once. I've already spoken with my host mom about living under communism and I can't even imagine what it must have been like. I'll be sure to put picture on Facebook.

Speaking of pictures that I've taken, I was recently in Prague. It was rather chilly that weekend, only 2 degrees. Which is 35 degrees Fahrenheit. Anyways it was a beautiful city as you may have seen. The Astrological Clock in the Square of the Republic is like the oldest thing ever, it's close to a thousand years old I believe. The castle was gorgeous, and enormous. Apparently President Vaclav Klaus, (pronounced Vatslav) was also there since that is, indeed, where the President lives. King Charles' Bridge was also very nice too. According to legend, they builders needed something to hold the bridge together so they used eggs. Apparently it worked well as I can testify to the stability of the bridge, having walked across it myself. So Prague was amazing and I can't wait until I return in December.

So this weekend I have a Rotary weekend in Jindřichův Hradec. It's Halloween/Thanksgiving themed so we'll be carving Jack-o-Lanterns and having Thanksgiving dinner. Also, there will be a language test. I'd prefer to not even think about that right now since Czech is officially the hardest thing in the history of everything that ever was. It's like they set out to make the hardest, most complicated, and most ridiculous language with the hardest pronunciations ever and actually managed to do it. Anyways it should be pretty fun and we'll be doing some sightseeing. Although considering it's been a torrential downpour this week I'm not sure how we'll be going anywhere at this point. I honestly didn't know that a landlocked country could be wetter than one with two oceans by it. I've never had so much rain in my entire life except for that June when Amy graduated and it flooded.

My birthday was last week Friday so I'm officially seventeen now although here that doesn't mean anything since rated R movies don't exist here, they're just all non-rated. Anyways I ended up with two parties and six cakes so it was pretty decent. My class at school threw me a surprise party with three cakes and it was really great, there are pictures on Facebook. Rotary threw me a party with two cakes and I got a lot of čokolada so it was very nice. Finally, my host family gave me a cake on my actual birthday and it was really great celebrating with them. Although there was a little bit of an excess of cake... more like a cake-a-palooza if you ask me. We were giving in away by the boxes and we still have some left, but that's ok with me. All in all, it was a really super birthday.

So that's about it for now, I'll post about this weekend probably or at least have pictures. My host parents twenty-fifth wedding anniversary is soon so we'll be having a big party, I plan on making pumpkin pie. My school schedule is probably going to change soon after I asked to drop my French Language class, but otherwise that about wraps things up. I'll keep you posted on the going-ons here especially next week.

Oh also, dear Mom and Amy, apparently the capitol of Canada is Ottawa, I looked it up during Geography today. Huh, who knew?

AmE vs BrE, American English vs British English

BBC World News. Since English has officially died here in Europe I do not get to hear it very often anymore. Therefore I watch BBC World News every day after school. It has taught me many things, such as British people say "aluminium" instead of "aluminum." They say Ahs-ee-an instead of Asian. (That one took me an entire report to figure out what they were talking about. It wasn't until I saw the map of Asia that I knew what was going on.) They also like to interrupt whoever they're interviewing and they don't seem to really like the U.S. very much, no matter how unbiased they may claim to be. I also have changed how I speak English since Czech people learn British English. I now say ill instead of sick, even when I'm thinking about it. I say lift instead of elevator. I am becoming British.

I have doubled my efforts to learn Czech.

And in truth my Czech is improving. I speak Czech at school with my classmates, with the teachers, with my host family and Rotary. It's hard but it's nice to know that I'm improving somewhat since I got here.

So I'm taking these dance lessons that are essentially obligatory for all kids who are in the Sexta class, which is like being a sophmore, o yea, I'm in the wrong grade here too. These dancing lessons are every Tuesday for two hours. We've learned to waltz, tango, polka, and jive. I have a good time watching the kids who can't count steps and who don't realize they have two left feet, it's very entertaining. It is also very awkward. My Czech isn't good enough to really be able to speak spectacularly so dancing with someone in complete silence for two hours isn't exactly the most fun I've ever had.

There isn't much else to say, this month hasn't been terribly exciting. It's just been me staying with a different Rotarian every weekend like a library book being taken home for some weekend reading, my Czech improving, and four years of French being flushed down the drain because my French class here is a joke. Tomorrow I'm going to Prague so there will be pictures and a post about that soon. I'm also having a "surprise" birthday party that I found out about next week so that should be fun. The first person to send me White Cheddar Cheez-its or Goldfish will have my undying gratitude for the rest of eternity. I'm also probably going to be sending postcards out soon so if you want one just email me your address. Or to my parents and they'll forward it to me hopefully. I promise it won't be another month before I post again.

One month later...

I'm still alive! Last Tuesday was one month to the day from when I arrived in the country! I've managed to survive for one whole month in a completely foreign country. There are many things that happened this month that you haven't heard about yet so I'll tell you about some of the bigger events.

A couple weeks ago we went to a home for the mentally disabled. We stayed for a couple hours and talked to the residents and pretty much just befriended them. They were amazing people. Every single one was extremely nice and friendly. It was difficult for me to speak to them because I can barely speak and their disabilities impaired their speech for the most part. One of them made flowers and bracelets out of beads and thin copper wire by hand. They were absolutely amazing. I bought one of each and I am keeping them safe because I feel that they're very important. They're much more intricate than you can imagine and I could never make one in a million years. Overall it was a spectacular experience I had a lot of fun, and we will definitely be seeing them again during the year.

I can't remember if I posted this on my blog or just emailed it home so I'll post it potentially again. My host family has invited me to go skiing in the Alps! Originally we were going to ski in France, but it was changed to Italy because Italy is closer. Personally I couldn't really care less because it's skiing in the alps either way and I cannot wait to go! We will be going for about four days and will be driving there. It's about twenty hours, only a little bit more than coming to visit the family down south. Can you believe their continent is only as big as our country? It's hard for me to comprehend.

During the first couple of weeks of me being here I went to a barbecue with my host family at the home of the president of Rotary Uherský Brod. While there I was introduced to my second and third host families. They're all really nice people and seem really excited for me to stay with them, little do they know... The third host parents don't speak English and by that time I hopefully won't need it very much if at all. I leave my first host family on January 1, 2010. In my opinion the second host family gets jipped as I stay with them from January 1, 2010 only until March 1st. Then it's third host family until my return flight home. Strangely enough I have been thinking a lot about things I want immediately upon my return home. Like to drive instead of walk, and to have a really big yard. And an air conditioned house. And my job back, and junk food again. These are all in addition to my family and friends of course. I know that, other than family and friends, everything I want sounds dumb but those are the things that I want the most and what isn't really present in the Czech Republic at all. I also miss paying with my debit card and having coins be worth nothing. Here, everyone pays with cash and coins can be worth up to $2.50.

Lastly, I am beginning to understand Czech! I can understand and participate in basic conversations now. Group conversations and school are still really hard and I get tired out very quickly. My vocabulary is still not huge and I need to learn the seven cases but I can speak in all three tenses now. A huge problem with learning Czech is that almost everyone speaks at least basic English. The problem isn't that they're all dying to speak English to me, the problem is that I know that if I don't know a word in Czech I can just say it in English and be understood. A few people do want to practice their English with me and that's fine with me because not everyone does.

Well that's a bit of what you didn't hear about from the first month here. I have a ton of pictures that need to go up on facebook I just haven't had any time to but they'll be up soon I promise. On Friday I went to the Dinopark in Ostrava, a nearby city, so I'll be posting about that soon, along with my upcoming dance classes with my school class.

Slovensko, Slovakia

So last weekend I had a Rotary weekend that took place in Strecno, Slovakia. I left on Friday at three and got back on Sunday around eleven thirty. It was definitely a great trip.

I was picked up at three p.m., two and a half hours after I got out of school by the way, by Ivana Horenska and her family. She is the YEO, youth exchange officer, with Rotary Club Uhersky Brod. We drove to Strecno, Slovakia which took about and hour and a half. Once there I checked in at the hotel and dropped my bags off in my room. Then I went down to the big conference room to meet the other students who were on exchange in Czech Republic/Slovakia also. As I walk into the room the first thing I see is a group of Mexicans and Brazilians all talking together. They are separate from the Americans, Canadians, and Australians, who are all talking amongst themselves. So as I walk in they all nod and smile at me because I look like I'm from South America, but instead I say hi in English and they all go back to talking to each other, leaving me to join the others. Everyone is really nice and funny and there are kids from America, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, and Japan. About three people actually wanted Czech Republic or Slovakia as their top three choices, but we were all happy with our countries now that we had finally arrived. After talking for a couple hours, the Rotex members, people who went on an exchange years ago and now help Rotary, came in and talked to us about the rules and such. Then we played a couple name games, like throwing a ball to someone after saying their name, which were fun I guess, but then we got to talk to each other again and that was more fun. Finally it's time for bed. I am sharing a room with a guy from Mexico and a guy from Canada. It turns out I know very little about our bordering countries, like what the capital of Canada is, and what Mexico looks like without the U.S. right above it on a map.

On Saturday we get up at seven a.m. We "shower" or at least as much as possible in the tiny shower provided with us in the hotel bathroom. Which, by the way, doesn't have real towels or shampoo or soap. Instead we are given essentially large washcloths to dry off with and no cleaning supplies. After this is breakfast. Instead of water/juice, we are given hot tea that tastes like hot juice. It would have been good had we not had it with every meal; that kinda ruined it for everyone. After breakfast are presentations galore, they talk about culture shock (again) and learning the language (again) and getting involved (again). It was very repetitive. Finally we have lunch. It is chicken breaded with eggs and is excellent. The soup, on the other hand, is not. It is mushroom soup that tastes ok but looks like elephant skin and has the consistency of mashed potatoes. I only have one spoonful before moving on. After lunch we get to go "rafting" to Castle Strecno. And by rafting I mean sitting on a little boat and floating down the river. It was really fun and very educational. The views were amazing, mountains and tree-covered hills, and castles. Our guides told us the history of the river and some Slovak history as well. After this ride, which was freezing as it was cold and overcast, we arrive at the base of Castle Strecno. Castle Strecno is located at the very top of one very large hill, that we all have to walk up. After a good fifteen twenty minute uphill trek, passing collapsed children along the way, we make it to the top and to the castle. Castle Strecno is beautiful. It is really just the ruins of the castle but it was fun to walk around inside and to learn about. We saw what the castle originally looked like, and the kitchen and fridge. We also got to see the dungeon and in the chapel we all signed our names in one of those guest books like in hotels sometimes. After walking all around the castle we went to the very top and looked out over the entire town of Strenco, this led to many great pictures. We returned to the hotel on foot again and had dinner. It was a piece of pork on top of a mountain of sauerkraut. Need I say more? After dinner we had some free time and then the discotheque. For those who don't know what these are they are essentially, dances like a school dance. The DJ played good music and we all danced until early morning.

On Sunday we had to get up at seven a.m. again and everyone looked like the walking dead. We were all really tired. We had a meeting about the rules again again and then about putting information into the computer. Finally, after two hours of sitting, we were allowed to go. We were told that except for two trips the kids from the Czech Republic and the kids from Slovakia wouldn't see each other again while here. We would all go skiing in Slovakia in March and take a bus trip to Italy and maybe Greece in May. Other than that we were to be separated. After saying goodbye I left with the Horenskas and we went home. Along the way we tried sheep cheese which tastes like salt water. It was a great weekend and I made some new friends and got to see some amazing places.

V škola, At school

At least the math room has a nice view from it. The physics lab has only a boring monotonous roof across the street to look at. I know this because I spent most of today looking out the windows in my classes. After trying to pay attention to the teacher I gave up. When you understand one in every one thousand words other things tend to distract you. Like, "what's for lunch today?" and "what do I have next hour and is there even a remote chance I can find it on my own?" The answers to those questions lie ahead.

So at eight today the bell rang for class to start. As the professor comes in we all have to stand up out of "respect" although anyone who expects respect to be handed to them on a silver platter loses it in my book. Then when we're allowed to sit down again the teacher begins to talk. Czech Language is first hour. I listen for a while and then doodle. We're told what books to buy for the class and then given free time. I sit and try to ignore the foursome sitting diagonally in front of me who keep glancing at me and whispering to each other. I fail.

Second period. I sit in the same place because I don't get to change classrooms. It's time for math. The teacher talks again, but then we get to play Sudoku. At fist I am irritated, I'm dreadful at sudoku. But then I'm the second one done and I'm mildly proud.

Third hour. Double Physics. Death in class form. I cannot understand a word the teacher says, and neither can the unfortunate girl sitting next to me trying to translate for me. The teacher begins to write on the board and I am pleased because I think I can finally do something: take notes. Wrong again. Apparently people here write in some sort of cursive code that only they can read. The "t"s look like "l"s and the "S"s don't look like anything. I give up again. Then, apparently, we begin a lab. The poor girl next to me is forced to be my partner, aka she does the entire lab because I don't have the slightest inkling as to what is going on. I later find out we were finding the average size of an acid-oil molecule. Who knew? Not me.

Lunch. It was amazing. I had bowtie pasta in a white cream sauce. When I first looked at it I could only remember the spaghetti from East and how disgusting it is. As I took my fist bite I prayed "Please don't taste like vomit" and indeed it didn't. Easily the best school lunch ever.

Fifth hour is geography. Petr sits next to me and is spectacular at English. We have a pop quiz. I fail. Luckily it isn't graded. But I did realize, as Petr was translating the names of what we were supposed to be finding on our maps from Czech to English, that even if this had been in English, I would have failed. I was irritated. But I told myself that we were looking for ridiculous places like an island so small it wasn't even on the maps we were given and to find the some river in Africa I'd never even heard of. Of course I am wrong, but I feel better about failing. I did manage to find number six though; it was Cuba.

Sixth hour is biology. The teacher rambles on and Petr translates again. Except he doesn't say anything because he says she is boring and what she says is not very important. So much for biology I guess.

Finally I have Social Studies. We are told to buy a Politology book. Then the teacher, who I had had yesterday and knows very well that I barely speak Czech and who doesn't speak any English decided to try to have a conversation with me. She failed and I failed and Petr had to to translate for me again. Apparently I get a special case to hold my i.d. card. Lucky me.

School is now over and I am relieved. Then I go with Patrick, an older Rotarian who asked to spend some time with me, and we take a ride on his motorcycle. It is now I realize that I don't really like riding on motorcycles. I held onto the handles so hard I'm surprised they didn't dent or break. We take a tour of Uhersky Brod from the outside. Seeing it from the distant hills and it is beautiful. Later we stop and have dinner, when I get off my arms hurt from holding on so tight. After riding for a while though I did like it and it was really fun. So even though school was not the best experience of my life, after school was fun.

We get the coolest i.d. cards ever. To order lunch, you swiped it on these pads and it brings up a menu for the week. You get to choose between two options each day and then when you get your lunch you swipe them again. I get excited every time. You can also order lunch online. It's not like EAST where you choose each day, you get to pick in advance, I really like it. Also, everyone in my class stays together for the majority of the day. I hate it because it cuts out practically half of all lunchtime conversation such as; today, Fotsch said this, and it was funny. All classroom stories are cut out because everyone else was there to see/hear it. Most people are really nice though, very helpful and wanting to know and help me. They made a list of important school terms in English and gave them to me in Czech. And they let me follow them all around to the next class because no, there was no chance of me finding my way anywhere, and they invited me to sit with them at lunch. Unfortunately for me, I can't remember most of their names. Some even invited me out this weekend, but I have a Rotary weekend in Slovakia so I had to say no. Luckily, though, I've got a year. I was asked a lot of question today and I'll just tell you the funniest one in my opinion. In Biology today Petr asked me if, in America, we have to ask to use the bathroom or if we can just leave. I wondered who had told him we could just leave because he seemed surprised when I said we have to ask. Also, apparently I'm supposed to be changing my shoes when I get to school and then when I leave again. Supposedly I was expected to know this because Mrs. Hornakova seemed genuinely surprised when I said of course I wasn't. I still don't understand why even though I had it explained to me so I guess its just a cultural thing. O well. I guess that's why everyone is wearing socks with their sandals.

Můj Rozvrnh Hodin, My Schedule

First off I'll tell you what's different about the towels here: they hurt. They are not nice and soft and fluffy like in America. They are dry and scratchy and rough.

So I've had a lot of people asking what my school schedule is. I have different classes everyday totalling 14 subjects. From Monday to Thursday I have school from 8a.m. until 2:30 p.m. On Friday I have school from 8 a.m. until 12:25 p.m. It's like an extra half day added onto the weekend, how nice. I have a twenty minutes snack break after second hour every day. Lunch is after math on Mondays and after fourth hour all other days except Friday, when I eat lunch at home. My schedule is as follows:

Monday: Czech Language, Geography, English, Physics, Math, Chemistry, French.
Tuesday: History, Social Studies, Biology, Latin, Computers, Double French*
Wednesday: Math, Czech, Chemistry/Physics**, Geography, Biology, Social Studies
Thursday: Chemistry, Physics, Double Art, Math, French, Gym
Friday: History, Math, English, French, Czech

*The double french means that I have french for an hour and a half instead of the usual forty five minute class period.

**For this hour, I have chemistry one week and physics the next, alternating throughout the year by week.

So that's my schedule, it looks intense here, but on the official piece of paper it looks much worse. School started today but we only had an hour and a half. We heard the rules and then got to go home. I really wish B'EAST did this. It was great. So real school starts tomorrow and I'll be posting again soon to tell you all about it.


P.S. Because we have to call the teachers "Professor", because we have double periods, and because the school is enormous, six stories, and I get lost every time I go in it, I feel a little bit like I'm going to Hogwarts.

Můžete to zopakovat prosím? Could you repeat that please?

Hey everyone this is my first post on my blog about my year in the Czech Republic. I don't know how often I'll be updating it, but I will be using it throughout the year so keep checking back for updates.

I've only been here for two days, but it feels like I left the US so long ago. Everything is different here, from the houses to the towels. I've been a little overwhelmed what with everything being in Czech and whatnot. The entire cultural change is overwhelming too. Lunches are ridiculous here. The entire day stops to have lunch. It was the first thing I did with my host family when I got here. We had soup first and then chicken and rice. My entire host family sat down and ate together and they all talked over each other in Czech and had a great time. Today (Sunday) after church we went to my host grandmother's house for lunch and the entire extended family came by to eat. It was so different to have everyone living close by each other and not 16 hours away on the other side of the country. It was before lunch that my little host cousin showed me his childrens czech to english book which covered seasons, holidays and things like that. He's about six or seven and he would read the word in czech and I had to repeat it. It was probably the stupidest I've ever felt in my entire life, but it did help me to learn a couple new words and was interesting to read. School starts in about a week and I'm more than a little nervous for that since I still don't even have a schedule yet. I did get to drive past my school today; it's a large four story yellow building that looks very interesting from the outside. Tomorrow I have to go to the "police" as my host father said, to finalize some visa stuff and on Tuesday I'm either going to Brno (a nearby city pronounced "Burno") or going to see a movie. It should be an interesting couple of days leading into a very interesting year. Uherský Brod is a gorgeous city in a valley with many beautiful buildings in it. I'll put up some pictures once I have them. I'm having a great time here in Europe and I can't wait to experience more, but I do miss home, especially my basement room since my room here is on the third floor and rather warm in comparison.