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.