Getting my boxes!!!

So this past week was interesting with my trip to the airport in order to retrieve my boxes!! It is great to have all of my stuff!!! Thanks mom!!! But what an ordeal it was!!! So here is my step by step process:

Step 1: Take green metro to last stop.

Step 2: Take bus to airport.

Step 3: Go to wrong terminal and walk the whole airport to the right one!

Step 4: Wonder around like lost puppy to wrong reception office then go to correct reception office.

Step 5: Realize i must go back to the other side of the airport (where i had started) so that customs may clear my stuff. Must get a stamp to prove stuff is cleared.

Step 6: Get to other side of airport and search hopelessly for someone who speaks English and can help us. Find him!! 

Step 7: Learn that my stuff must be searched through before cleared! That guy is at lunch!!

Step 8: Go to lunch and wait for “that guy”

Step 9: Go back to the reception office and learn we must meet the customs guy on platform 11.

Step 10: Walk to platform 11 and wait!

Step 11: Be scanned for weapons and given a “Visitors” vest and go in warehouse to watch customs check my stuff. Guy stamps paper!!!

Step 12: Go back to reception with stamped paper!!

Step 13: Have wrong stamp!! Must go back to customs office (on the otherside of the airport) for correct stamp!!

Step 14: Get correct stamp and walk back to reception office!!

Step 15: My stuff is cleared!!! Now must walk back to platform 11 to retrieve it!

Step 16: Retrieve my boxes!!!

Step 17: Find a cart and wheel them back to the other side of the airport to get a taxi!!!

Step 18: Realize i need more money and walk the whole airport for an ATM!!!

Step 19: Get money and take taxi home!

Step 20: Carry boxes up to my apartment!!!

 Well it was long and trying but totally worth it in the end!! Its great to have all of my stuff and Erin was with me the whole tiem so it wasn’t that bad at all! We just laughed it off and had a good time with it!! And soon we shall do it all over again for her stuff! 🙂 I’m so thankful she was there b/c doing that alone would be no fun at all!!!

Ok well other than that my week was just ok! I look forward to coming home and seeing everyone!! I wish i was there yesterday!! It was great talking to everyone!!!! Can’t wait to see all of you guys in December!!! 🙂 Love ya’ll and miss ya’ll like crazy!!! Go Bulls by the way!!! 🙂 #5 in the nation!!! LOVE IT!!! See you guys soon!

My first two weeks as a teacher!

Well my first two weeks as a “teacher” as i like to think of it have been interesting to say the least! 🙂 It hasn’t been to bad but i question if i should get paid for what i’m doing! I don’t know if i’m teaching or not 🙂 but i am trying!! Anyways the first week was just my “getting to know you” classes where, crazy enough, i just got to know my students. Who they are, where their from, what they do at their job and what not! It was fun, i have been very lucky to have some of the coolest laid back people ever!! I was even late by 30 minutes to one (b/c its out in BFE!!) and they were just like “oh well we’re busy can you wait a few minutes,” “um sure sounds good to me! ” Hey i get paid regardless 🙂 So my funniest moment during my first week would have to be when i played my “Getting to know the teacher” game, where i put numbers on the board that represent something in my life! Well i was running out of things so i put zero for the number of siblings i have, and when we got to it, one guy says “Your experience” Hahahaha!!! Oh my gosh!! Am i that obvious!! I just laughed and was like no that’s not it!

 So after surviving my first week we all celebrated over the weekend! It was great and the best story of last weekend is Saturdays story… So we all decide to go to a beer garden for some beer and to watch Soccer, and there is a really nice one in a park near us, but Doug knows of a new one for us to try so we say yeah. So Doug, Chris, Shaeffer, and i all head out and the others are gonna meet us later. So first we take the green metro to the yellow one. It is the craziest metro journey of my life!! Evidently there was some playoff game or something with the hockey team, and as we approach the first stop a mob of crazy drunk fans swarm the train!! it was insanity!! We all just got shoved in like sardines, by the riot police!! YES there were riot police!!! When i say it was crazy i’m not exaggerating!! So i’m just looking like a dear in head lights at the guys who also look like a dear in headlights (comforting :-)) Anyways luckily we only had to go one stop but we almost didn’t even get off the train b/c it was so cramped! I was some how the one in front and am trying to push my way through! finally Chris is able to get in front and then he helps me!! Like i said it was crazy! So then we take a tram. As we are on the tram i notice we are passing the very metro stops we just went by!!! Um Doug whats the deal do you know where we are going? He was like i only knew how to get to tram 9 by this way! Ok its a learning experience whatever!! So then we finally get to our stop and have to walk up a hill and through a park! At this point things are looking pretty familiar to me but i didn’t really say anything until we walk up to the very SAME BEER GARDEN that is down the street from us!!!!! So we have just taken two metros, one tram, and a long walk with the craziest metro ride of my life to be five minutes from where we live!!! It was funny at least!! Needless to say Doug is no longer in charge of navigating!!

So this past weekend was nice. Friday night there was a BBQ at the school. So we all went and that was a lot of fun! Free beer adn wine can’t go wrong there!!! But we got to get to know other teachers and the “newbies” as we like to call them! The new group who are in the tefl course now! They were pretty cool! So that was fun! And then on Saturday Erin, Chris and i went to a wine festival that was in a park near us!! That was pretty cool! Right now is the season for Burchek here! It is really good it is the state before wine becomes wine! Its a really sweet alcohol drink! So we had plenty of that and walked around, it was a goreous day!! And then on sunday i finally went to Kutna Hora and saw the bone church!! Very cool!! so its been a good couple of weeks but i gotta get going and get some lesson planning done!!! I miss you guys and can’t wait until Christmas!!! Love ya’ll!! 

Birthday Shout out!!!

This is for all you September babies that i love and miss!!!

 Happy Birthday Terri, Jess, Trav, and Spencer!! Love you guys and hope ya’ll have the best b-days ever!!!! I miss ya’ll like crazy!!!

The course is over!!:-)

Well it is Friday of my 4th week of the TEFL course and I feel awesome!! It’s finally over and my two teaching days went great this week so that is a plus!! I won’t know until next week if i past yet or not but i feel pretty good! I’m just going to enjoy being done this weekend and celebrate and move into my new place!! 🙂 

 So let me tell you my worst teaching experience yet… Well it was during the second week and i was teaching grammar of all things!! Relative clauses!! Not easy just take my word on it! So i was already nervous about making myself look like an idiot and as i’m waiting for my friend Luke to finish his teaching practice i look down and realize i have a hole in the crotch of my pants!!!! WHAT??? YES!!! Only me would this happen to!! luckily i was wearing black underwear with black pants so it wasn’t terribly noticeable, but still nerve racking!!! Anyways i got throught it the best i could and then bombed the lesson because i was so nervous i forgot my grammar!! Literally my observer said “That was crap” Thanks!! She was nice about it, but still,  ouch!! Well i survived and threw out those pants and moved on! Its still funny though!

Anyways sorry these take so long it is actually over a week now (9/12) since i first stared this blog. I did pass and am now a Caledonian Teacher! Its just been so crazy lately though with trying to figure out where my classes are and everything! I have to go to different companies all over Prague to teach! So it is kinda crazy! I have been lucky though because all of my students have been great so far so that is reassuring. i was actually really late yesterday because i got lost but they were really nice about it and were bsuy anyways so it didn’t seem to matter all that much! So my classes so far are good and i just have a few more then the weekend! I definitely have moments of “should i be here?” but we all do and we just support each other! My TEFL classmates are amazing and i have made soem amazing friends that makes this much easier which is nice! Last week was awesome! So school or lesson planning so we just partied and enjoyed it it was great and needed!! We had the best house warming party ever!! And didn’t get yelled at b/c our land lady rocks!! So i’m looking forwar to more of those!! There is definitley a Halloween Party in the near future!! Ok well i gotta get to my next class wish me luck!! Love you guys and miss ya’ll!! Take care and i’ll try to update again soon!!!  

Sorry its been so long!!!!

So there is much to tell and so little time! 🙂 Well Erin and I have been having a blast even though we are so busy with this course! They had us teaching on he first day!!! What?!!  Can we pleased be eased into it!! i guess not! Well as nerve racking as that was teaching, sorry TRYING to teach grammar was even worse!! Its my native language but that doesn’t mean i know all the rules!! Crap! Well it hasn’t been to bad and we are survivng so thats something i guess! Just one more week! So school is time consuming but it shall be over soon! 🙂

 As for our apartment well our landlord is crazy and won’t leave us alone! He says we can’t have guest over, we couldn’t even use the oven when he was out of town, and he comes by like twice a week to check on us!! WE ARE OK?!!! Plus all of our lights burned out and the hot water likes to come and go. Oh and did i mention we are in the basement! So needless to say we have decided to move on to bigger and better things! We are moving in with three (yes thats right three!) guys from the school. Should be fun and interesting all in one 🙂 I’ve only ever lived with one extra roommate so having four should be and adjustment to say the least! But hey thats what this whole thing is about! Oh and there is only one bathroom! But we are above a beergarden adn three other guys from the class are moving two floors above us! So it should be fun! 🙂

 Our first week We met some teachers from the school who have been here for three years, and they live right aroun the corner right now! So we have also been hanging out with them! They are really nice and have been showing us around and helping us out and everything! So everything is going good! Just really stressful right now with school. I will definitely try and update this more often. After this next week i should have more time! Well i miss all of you guys so much!!! And i can’t wait to see everyone for Christmas!! Love you guys!  

In Prague!!

Hey everybody!! Well i don’t have much time because i have to be in class soon!! But i am here and loving it so far!! Erin and I have moved in and have already met some amazing people who have been living here for a few years. They have taken us under their wing and are helping us adjust!! It is great i look forward to what is to come!! I will update more with more detail when i have more time!! I love and miss you guys like crazy!! 

Just 5 days left!!!

Well Florence has been amazing from the beginning up until this last little strech of time!! I will miss its beauty, but most of all i will miss the amazing people who i met while i have been here!! Most of them have left already; Veronica, Michelle, Ben, and Katie!! But my other friends who live here; Giulia, Paolo, Simone, Max, Scott, Flaviana, Beppe, and Nicole!! Were always very sweet and made me feel at home when i was at Joshua Tree!! I thank them from the bottom of my heart for their freindship because without it these three weeks would of been much tougher than they already were. I look forward to hopefully visiting again with Erin in the beginning of November so that we can meet up with Karen and Terri!!

Anyways this last week has actually been pretty good. I finally went to the beach yesterday, and it was amazing!! Something i needed! I’m thinking of going back at least one more time before i leave, since i’m not going to be able to see a beach for a while! The last few nights at JT have been fun. First let me update everyone that Eugene is out of the picture because he works to much. Anyways for the past few weeks i have been talking to this guy (who is a regular at JT) his name is Giovaninno. He s very nice, has really pretty green eyes and adorable dimples! Of course his english isn’t that good but luckily after i have a few drinks my Italian improves (at least i think it does). So we have been able to talk for a few nights and on Friday he aske if i had eaten dinner, and i actually hadn’t had anthing all day really. So we went and had dinner together (SECOND DATE!!) It was a lot of fun and very good. Afterwards we went back to JT and stayed unitl closing. Then i was about to get a cab but he offered to take me on is… are you guys ready…moped!!! Yes!! I have been dying to ride one the whole time i have been staying here and now i can! So he gives me a helmet, i naturally look retarded but hey saftey first :-), and i plug my earphone into his phone so then we can both listen to his music!! It was a blast flying around Florence on a moped listening to music!! So unlike me i got us lost, the language barrier could be the culprit here, i refuse to believe i lost my sense of direction!! I know this city from front to back by now, well almost! 🙂 Anyways i told him just to drop me off at the Piazza near my hotel and i would walk, but once we got there he insisted he walk me which i thought was sweet. So he did and he even waited to make sure the door lady let me in (side note i think she hates me! i come in late a lot oops!!) Well needless to say he was very sweet and quite a gentleman which is hard to find in Italy from my experience, well except for Eugene he was sweet to!! Anyways it was a blast!!!

Oh and last Thursday afternoon Giulia and I went to a Music Festival that has been here for like a week! It was cool, of course the time we spent there there wasn’t much music! But whatever it was nice to get out and do something different! She had invited me to go to dinner with her and friends but i didn’t go because i didn’t feel that good plus i didn’t want to impose!! I can tell she sometimes thinks i get bored b/c i can’t always be apart of the conversation, she doesn’t realize its just nice for me to be around good people. Anyways i hate for her to feel like she has to entertian me. Well this last week has been a lot better thankfully!! I’m looking forward to Prague though!! But more importantly i’m looking forward to seeing Erin!!! Love and miss you guys!! (LAMY) 🙂

Thanks guys!!!

Well thank you to everyone who is thinking about me and sending me well wishes and words of encouragement!! I really appreciate it and it always makes me feel better! Makes me miss you guys that much more 🙂 but makes me feel better to!! I love all of you very much and miss ya’ll!! After Sunday’s little episode it has been better! i actually didn’t go to the beach but will soon!! Of course every store in sight is having huge sales so its hard not to go shopping! I may have bought a few things on sunday but hey it helped 🙂

Anyways last night was a lot of fun. Julia was working at JT so i went and had a blast!!! On my 30 minute walk there i had decided that if it wasn’t to busy and no one to really talk to that i would take it as a sign to leave and go by and see eugene at his restaurant (b/c we haven’t talked since our date and i wanted to feel things out). Anyways half way through my first beer nothing was really going on so I was like ok i guess i’ll leave soon. Thats when the best sign ever walked through the door!!! Let me just tell you he was gorgeous! Blonde hair, blue eyes, and from…are you guys ready…Australia!!!! Only the best accent ever!!! I was so excited! Anyways he ended up sitting next to me and we talked for a few hours he was really nice and was telling me how he just got back from Croatia!! I’m dying to go there is sounds amazing! He went on a cruise through all the small islands! He said it was gorgeous and similar to Greece but untouched!! I gotta go!!! But because this is how my life goes it was his last night in Florence!! But whatever we had a nice time talking! He ended up leaving around 12 but thats when i became friends with the DJ and learned how to DJ!! And since it was the DJ’s b-day he kept walking away so i basically was the DJ for the rest of the night, well with Scott’s help (he’s a regular form LA). See the DJ was turning 57 and so i wasn’t all that familiar with his music so Scott helped me pick out songs!! It was a lot of fun!! Oh and Max (one of the owners) gave me his number so that we could hang out during the day. Plus he has a wine bar that i am going to go check out soon! So everyone from JT is really helping me feel at home!! They are all very sweet people!! I’ll miss them the most!! So everything is getting better! I just take it day by day! And soon enough i’ll be in Prague!! 🙂 Ok thanks again everyone for commenting and all i love you guys!!! miss ya’ll!!

One week down and two to go!!!

Ok well it took one week and a very sweet Italian to finally make me break!!! So far it hasn’t been to bad, just waisting time walking around, reading, watching movies, and going to Joshua Tree. Even had a date one day and there was a huge sale at my favorite store yesterday!! but someone can only walk around and eat alone so many times before it starts to get to you.  Yesterday i had an Office marathon and watched it from 3pm until 3am!!! Thats insanity!! But whatelse am i to do! i can’t go to JT every night! Anyways it was nice to watch my favorite show and it did make me feel a little better! 

So i woke up late this morning and headed to the Cafe that Julia works at during the morning to say hi. Well when i got there she was getting off of work so we were walking out together and talking. She was insistent on us hanging out when she had some time off. Let me just tell everyone that this poor woman works 4 jobs; JT at night, cafe in the morning, toll booth during the day, and psycologists on Wed.!!!! So for her to try and make time for me was just so touching and it hit a cord and i start tearing up!!! NO!!! “Ok, its ok Rebecca you can fight them back, cooly put the sunglasses on and fight them back!” And i did until she started asking “Well what do you do today?” “Um well just uh walk around maybe look around the market” “oh well what do you do later tonight?” “uh well um nothing really!” I lost it! i couldn’t hold it back anymore!!! Poor Julia was like “What is wrong? are you lonely? I’m so sorry i can’t hang out with you” And for anybody who has seen me cry you know what a spectacle it can be! I try to fight it so badly and just make it worst! So here is Julia trying her best to understand my english through hyperventilations!!! She was so sweet! She only had 2 hours before she had to be at her third job and she takes me to lunch! and paid!!! i kept trying to tell her it looks worst than it is, that i was fine! But she was just like its ok!! So it was very sweet but it was hard to get composure becasue it was her kindness to me that was effecting me so much! She was like “i understand i stayed in Belgium for 6 months once, and the first month was all crying!” So i officially love her and she is by far one of the sweetest people i have ever met!! So even though i have bad days i do have people who care here, which is nice! I think i’m gonna go to the beach tomorrow that should help!!! Ok well i will be in Prague in 15 days officially and i will be reunited with Erin in 16!!!! FUN!!!! Miss you guys and love ya’ll!!!!! 

First real date!!!!

Ok well i’m officially so full i couldn’t eat a thin mint, not one thin mint! 🙂 i just had an amazing lunch with Eugene! it was really nice and we are going to meet up agian later for some drinks!!! He is very sweet! Kinda funny story though because yesterday when he told me to call him today i didn’t really understand when, and i was thinking later tonight! So naturally i go and have lunch by myself (yes i hate two lunches today which is why i’m so full!) luckily it wasn’t to big of a lunch but still!!! And of course being italian Eugene and i have like 4 courses!!! Oh my goodness i won’t need to eat for days, which is actually good, should save me some money 🙂 But it was just making me laugh as i’m sitting there he is like “Manga Manga” which is “eat eat” 🙂 How do i get myself in these situations!! Wait not knowing the language could be apart of it 🙂 Anyways it was fun and the coverstaion wasn’t to bad considering the language barrier!

As for the rest of my few days alone, well they haven’t been to bad! Had an awesomely inexpensive night last night! First finally got my free turkish kebab becasue i had my get the tenth one free card!! Then i went to see Harry Potter, which was awesome, and the door guy to my school was selling tickets and remembering me gave me the student discount!! Yes! Then i stopped to have a glass of wine at Eugene’s resturant which he gave for free. Then i stopped by JT where i got a free jager shot!!! So in total i saved 11.50 euros last night!!! 🙂 Very nice!!

Now let me just tell you about my hotel i am staying in!!! It is nice and perfect for my situation but there are some things you guys gotta know! First my bed, shower, and sink are about 2 feet from each other!! Gotta becareful not to soak everything!! Plus i just recently learned how to get hot water! Thank goodness those first cold showers were pretty brutal!! My toliet is across the hall which i share with two other rooms oh and the lobby 🙂 but its not so bad now that i realized how to finally flush the damn thing!!!! that was awkard at first 🙂 But my favorite is the construction that has decided to take place right out side my window! Oh my goodness with all that banging and booming it like sleeping inside an MRI!!!!! 🙂 But i’m prepaired and have earplugs i took from work! 😉 Thanks Premier Imaging!! So other than that its not so bad except its on the other side of town from Joshua Tree, which i don’t know if my dad did that on purpose or not 🙂 jk!!! All the walking is good for me, now i burn all those beers off! And no worries because if i ever stay to late Paolo gives me a ride home, he is very nice!!! The boys at JT always look out for me!! 🙂 ok well i gotta get going! Love you guys and miss ya’ll!!!