Have whiteboard marker, will teach...everyone else's classes

So today was the first day on which I was called upon to substitue teach...(dun dun DUUUNNNN!). It was not so bad. I woke up this morning, ready for my long Tuesday (8am to 8pm with about 2 hours of break) and walked up to my first class, only to discover that the room was empty. I seem to have lost my students. Paul, one of the other english teachers, informed me that 4B was in Prague today and that I was substituting. Yay. My first class was okay, I knew some of the students and they were pretty friendly. No sweat, right? I was not sure where I had to go for my second class, so I returned to the teacher's lounge, checked the schedule, and walked up to room 22 where I thought I was supposed to be. I did my introduction and began asking the students their names when Boris, physics teacher and saxophonist extroadinaire, walked in and asked what I was doing. "Teaching," I said, brilliantly, unaware of anything strange. As it turned out, I was in the wrong room, teaching Boris' class. He smiled, and I slowly walked out of the class to roars of laughter...DOH! I eventually found the class I was substituting for and they also had a good laugh at my expense. It was pretty embarrassing, especially when some other teachers approached me and asked me (jokingly of course) if I could teach their classes for them today, but it put me in a relaxed mood, which helped me through my long day. Thank you Lord for the constant reminder that we are nothing without you!

These pictures are of Praha Bubenec Nadrazi...the train station that I go to on Sunday nights when I leave Prague after visiting Elanor. This past Sunday it was extremely cold and also deserted, and I was moody and artistic, so I took some pictures. The last few are of my walk home in the dark streets of Kralupy. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

I'm Old!

So much has happened since I last updated! To take you back, go with me to September 30 (two weeks ago). I spent the weekend in Prague visiting with Elanor and relaxing. On Saturday we decided to go on a walk from "The Metronome" where there used to be a statue of Stalin all the way up to Prague castle. It was beautiful, as you can see from the pictures. It was a beautiful autumn day, the perfect mix of sunshine and cool air with leaves changing colors and a steady breeze. We walked around for a long time, eventually ending up at a monastery on Petrin hill and then later to Maly Buddha, a small asian food restaurant with great atmosphere and great food.
The next weekend took me to Bratislava, Slovakia, where we had a CA meeting and got to visit the ESI teachers who live there. The meeting went kind of long (7 hours...yay), but I got a chance to have some great conversations with Barb Kellum, the wife of the most popular ESI teacher in Budapest...the one, the only, Sam Kellum! After the meeting we were all pretty worn out, but wanted to go hang out with the Bratislavians. After a bit of the usual milling around deciding what to do, Vic arrived and offered to take us to the castle, which sounded good to most of us. We started out, then a few people decided to stay and hang out in coffee shops. The group further split when we reached a small alleyway on the way to the bus stop. Someone mentioned that there was a "bobsled" on the big hill in Bratislava, basically a plastic sled with wheels that you go down a concrete drainage ditch in...sounded dangerous and fun, so a group of us decided to go. On the way we caught the wrong bus, but rather than go back and catch the right one, we took another bus that would put us in the general viscinity of where we needed to be and then walked the rest of the way. That's when the fun began. Apparently no one really knew how to get to said bobsled, which led to a LONG hike through the woods with lots of backtracking and getting lost. The best part was when Aaron, our country director, ear adorned with a small flower from our hike, asked random Slovak workers if they knew where the bobsled was...making a sort of shimmy motion with his shoulders and hips. They looked at him, said no they didn't, and walked away quickly. Eventually we did find the way to the bobsled, but an hour too late. It was closed. The top of the hill was decked out with a few cabin-style pubs that didn't have real food, and as all of us were STARVING after our multiple hour hike, we needed some sustenance. We were going to take a bus back to downtown Bratislava, another 30 or so minutes away, but someone suggested we eat at the restaurant at the top of the TV tower that rests at the top of the hill. We were game, so we hiked a short way to the tower and asked if we could get a table. Despite our slovenly appearance after our multiple hour hike, we were able to procure two tables at this amazing restaurant. We sat on white leather couches with candles on the table. We ordered wine and had some amazing food, which tasted so good that we didn't mind the fact that it was extremely expensive. It reminded me of Prom at Reunion Tower 6 years ago, and it was a blast!
Fast forward to yesterday, my 24th birthday! Elanor and I celebrated our birthdays together (since they are only one day apart!) by going into Prague. We started out at Charles Bridge listening to an early jazz ensemble, then had an amazing dinner at Cafe Louvre. Czech wine...yum! After dinner we decided to have dessert at another restaurant, Restaurace U Supa. They had a live band that consisted of string bass, guitar, and violin. It was all very wonderful and romantic, and Elanor and I had a wonderful time. All in all it was a pretty memorable birthday. Thanks to all of you who had the presence of mind to send birthday cards and emails to the Czech Republic...it made my birthday wonderful!