The last few days have been a Whirlwind of people, places, emotions and information. Not having internet at my apt. has hampered my ability to communicate, but now that classes have started, there should be fewer delays.
The weather has been wonderful every day and I'm glad I got here a few days early since it gave me a chance to see some sites before the ax came down. Yesterday I even got my 30 day Metro / Tram pass complete with photo which makes me feel a little more apart of the scene.
I've been down to "Old Town Square" every day for one reason or another and we even took Tram # 22 up to the Castle which offered spectacular views over the City. The Cathedral of St. Vitus actually brought tears to my eyes it was so overwhelmingly gorgeous. This monument to God was started in the 1300's and not completed until the 1920's! Later, we walked down a 100 steps to the City on the lower river and passed lots of shops, museums (Franz Kafka) and eateries. We walked along "Paris Ave." which features the likes of Cartier, Dior, Burberry and Rolex. That led us into the old Jewish Quarter and the Cemetery where over 12,000 Jews are buried. Finally we stopped at a local pub which, translated into Español, means The Shot Goose. There I was treated to a steaming bowl of potato soup in a bread bowl that was soooo delicious and cheap! This is where the locals eat, well off the tourist trail.
Classes started yesterday at TEFL Worldwide Prague. The school is located next to the Hotel Pivovar, so about a 15 min. walk from my apt. There are about 24 teacher-students in our course but the group is divided into two, so it's manageable. There are two main teachers, Terry from England and Trish from from Minnesota. Both are highly competent but I much prefer the style of Terry as he is entertaining, bright and an excellent teacher! We start teaching today at 2:30 (day 2!) to a group of Czech speaking students at the elementary level. Tomorrow is the intermediate group and on Friday we teach a full 45 min. class, so we do not have a lot of time to mess around! Nights are not as exciting, but we have lots of reading to do and lesson planning, so it keeps me busy until bedtime. Things are really hectic right now and the course was billed as "intensive" so I am not really surprised at all the things we have to do. Overall, it has been really informative and interesting and is exceeding my expectations. A woman named "Jen" gave us an info session as our Job Guidance person and she has a wealth of information about possible job openings along with the fact there will be a number of schools coming at the end of the course to recruit us. Exciting stuff!
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