Czech word of the day: Tak
Meaning: "So." If you want to sound like a real Czech person, start every other sentence with "tak," and murmur it to yourself occasionally while thinking.
Pronunciation: "Tahk"
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The weather this week in Brno has been absolutely crazy. Last weekend it snowed and stuck. On Monday, there were snow flurries on and off all day long - even when the sky was devoid of clouds.
Literally. The sky was sunny and blue and there was snow falling. Central European weather patterns are the weirdest.
And then today the high was about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. It was actually too warm for the sweater I'm wearing.
The people here are funny about weather, though. They seem to think, "It's winter, so I'm going to bundle up," no matter what the weather outside is actually like. Today I was sweating in my sweater and people were running around with heavy coats on like it was freezing. They're just used to living in a warm climate; wearing warm clothes is second nature to them.
I, on the other hand, come from a warm climate, where we generally wear the smallest amount of clothing that we can possibly get away with. Here, that means seizing every opportunity to wear T-shirts and slip-ons rather than sweaters and boots.
Apparently, that makes me a little odd.
Everybody here - not just Czechs, but all the other Europeans - think I'm really, really weird for kicking off my shoes whenever possible. And, okay, even at home, I draw attention for going barefoot more often than average. But at home people at least understand the impulse to go barefoot, and people regularly slip their shoes off when sitting down.
But here, when the first thing I do before sitting down anywhere is kick my shoes off, I get weird looks from people - not just at places you'd expect, like a restaurant or on a park bench outside, but also in class, in the computer lab, even when cozying up in someone's basement to watch a movie. (On the latter occasion, a Slovenian guy told me I was "Very weird girl.")
Today it was so warm out that I slipped my shoes off while I sat on a park bench reading for about an hour. At one point an old Czech lady came up to me, giggling, and tried to tell me something. When I told her I didn't speak Czech, she giggled again and said something else in Czech, pointed at my feet, and walked away.
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I'm also considered weird here because of the way I eat. In the southern U.S., we eat pretty much everything with our hands, but here they actually make use of dining utensils. They're very dainty with everything they eat, even fried chicken. At KFC here they give you one napkin - ONE, for all that greasy chicken! - and most people eat their chicken with a fork, which I cannot bring myself to do.
Each Wednesday, the students from one country give a presentation over their native country - history, interesting facts and places, famous people, etc. They also prepare a few traditional dishes from their home country.
Last night was the United States' presentation. There were sloppy joes, cheese dip & nachos, peanut butter cups (which don't exist here!), and sweet tea. Oh my God, I thought I had died and gone back to the South. It smelled a little weird but it tasted like a family reunion. I literally jumped over five rows of chairs to scramble to the front of the pack and claim a cup of sweet tea before they were all gone, and I drank it all in one go. I don't know which of my fellow Americans made it, but I was grateful.
The reactions to the American food were amusing, though. Sweet tea is completely foreign to everybody else here; I got everything from "I'm not sure how I feel about it" to "I could not deal with that stuff" to "How do you make it?" (The answer to the latter is, of course, "Make tea normally, then dump a bunch of sugar in!") These dainty eaters didn't know what to do with sloppy joes (we call them that for a reason), and most of them had never tasted peanut butter cups before - which is kind of crazy, if you think about it. Try for a moment to imagine a world without Reese's. See what I mean?
The presentation itself was a hit, too. It was basically a parody of American stereotypes, including obesity (a Science Channel clip about how the US is the fattest country in the world), ignorance (the Miss Teen South Carolina "like, such as" video), arrogance (clips from Talladega Nights), commercialism, and, of course, politics (several choice Family Guy clips), interspersed with helpful definitions of American slang such as "aiight," "off the chain," and "pwned."
The Talladega Nights clips got the biggest laughs, though, because most of the audience hadn't seen that movie. People especially liked the scene in which Ricky Bobby is asked by Sacha Baron Cohen's effeminate Frenchman to describe what America has given to the world, and his responses are "Chinese food, pizza, and chimichangas."
The video also consisted of a few quintessential American songs, including Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" - which everybody in the room knew the words to - and that most American of songs, Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue."
By the end, I felt equal parts embarrassed and nostalgic. Oh, America. ♥
Having said that, I've now been here in the Czech Republic for a month. It's begun to dawn on me how little time I have left. In no time I've become comfortable here, and now that it's getting warm, I don't think I'll ever want to leave.
If only I could import American food, American TV, and my loved ones here, I think I'd be content to stay forever.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Today was another decisive diplomatic victory for the Russian Federation...
Czech word of the day: Today we actually have a phrase: "Miluju tě."
Meaning: "I love you."
Pronunciation:: "Mee-loo-yoo tye"
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Sure enough, it snowed again in Brno, both yesterday and last night. This morning I left my dorm at 7 A.M. to go to the first session of my model United Nations course. My dorm is situated on a huge hill, and the city hadn't spread salt on the roads yet at 7 A.M., so I slipped on the icy snow and fell on my butt - not once, but twice. Some people saw me and inquired whether I was okay, but of course, I couldn't answer them, because I can't speak Czech.
The UN simulation was awesome, though. The topic was an imaginary outbreak of violence between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo, and I got to represent Russia - the dream of every UN simulation participant, since Russia gets very antagonistic over the issue of Kosovo and, of course, has the power to veto any United Nations resolution it disagrees with. Russia and the United States are always the most fun countries to play in any UN simulation, because you get to throw your weight around and make other countries agree with you. Russia is also my personal favorite because I have a soft spot for Russia, the big, bad bully of the international system. When you're playing Russia, no threat or demand is too outrageous.
So my partner and I met yesterday and drew up a list of Russian demands, and we included them in our opening speech to the UN Security Council this morning. The United States, of course, had a diametrically opposed proposition, but my partner and I essentially threatened to veto the resolution every time someone proposed something Russia would have disagreed with, and in the end, we got pretty much exactly the resolution that we wanted.
I also wrote the entire introductory preamble to the resolution by myself, and all the countries accepted it in its entirety, which I was extremely proud of.
In all, the simulation took about five hours and it was loads of fun. I was the only native English speaker in the room, so the chairperson (the professor) kept having to ask me to speak more slowly, but on the other hand, I made sure that the resolution had perfect grammar. =D
I'm really excited for the next simulation, even though I will probably be assigned a small country this time, having already represented a veto power. But that's the beauty of UN simulations: you never know what might happen. Most of today's resolution was drafted by Uganda!
Meaning: "I love you."
Pronunciation:: "Mee-loo-yoo tye"
-
Sure enough, it snowed again in Brno, both yesterday and last night. This morning I left my dorm at 7 A.M. to go to the first session of my model United Nations course. My dorm is situated on a huge hill, and the city hadn't spread salt on the roads yet at 7 A.M., so I slipped on the icy snow and fell on my butt - not once, but twice. Some people saw me and inquired whether I was okay, but of course, I couldn't answer them, because I can't speak Czech.
The UN simulation was awesome, though. The topic was an imaginary outbreak of violence between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo, and I got to represent Russia - the dream of every UN simulation participant, since Russia gets very antagonistic over the issue of Kosovo and, of course, has the power to veto any United Nations resolution it disagrees with. Russia and the United States are always the most fun countries to play in any UN simulation, because you get to throw your weight around and make other countries agree with you. Russia is also my personal favorite because I have a soft spot for Russia, the big, bad bully of the international system. When you're playing Russia, no threat or demand is too outrageous.
So my partner and I met yesterday and drew up a list of Russian demands, and we included them in our opening speech to the UN Security Council this morning. The United States, of course, had a diametrically opposed proposition, but my partner and I essentially threatened to veto the resolution every time someone proposed something Russia would have disagreed with, and in the end, we got pretty much exactly the resolution that we wanted.
I also wrote the entire introductory preamble to the resolution by myself, and all the countries accepted it in its entirety, which I was extremely proud of.
In all, the simulation took about five hours and it was loads of fun. I was the only native English speaker in the room, so the chairperson (the professor) kept having to ask me to speak more slowly, but on the other hand, I made sure that the resolution had perfect grammar. =D
I'm really excited for the next simulation, even though I will probably be assigned a small country this time, having already represented a veto power. But that's the beauty of UN simulations: you never know what might happen. Most of today's resolution was drafted by Uganda!
Monday, March 8, 2010
I went to Prague and all I got was 3 Burger King burgers for future consumption.
Czech word of the day: kočka
Meaning: cat
Pronunciation: "koch-ka"
And a bonus word for the dog lovers out there:
Czech bonus word of the day: pes
Meaning: dog
Pronunciation: "pes," just like it looks.
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I was right. It did get colder here. It's back in the low 30's in Brno, it's supposed to snow later this week, and this weekend in Prague was the coldest I've ever been in my life. It snowed huge snowflakes, and it was beautiful, but for most of the time I couldn't feel my fingers.
Prague was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, with tons of awesome sights and historical buildings, but honestly? I prefer Brno. The entire city center of Prague is so full of historical sights that it's become a giant tourist trap. There will be a big, majestic, centuries-old tower in the square, but the entire square is made up of overpriced souvenir shops that all sell the exact same commercialized nonsense: T-shirts with "I ♥ Prague" and "funny" slogans about getting drunk, Russian nesting dolls (Russian! Not even Czech!), and the worst: furry hats and shirts with KGB logos on them, making light of a tragic era that my generation's parents suffered through in the Czech Republic and that was only ended in 1989 through courageous protests in that very square, now full of drunk, rowdy tourists.
And, of course, none of the shops are owned by actual Czechs. It's sad, actually, and hard to imagine that none of that stuff was there in 1989. The second the Iron Curtain fell, foreign businessmen swooped in and made a killing off this country, bought Prague and turned it into a money machine by pandering to tourists' ideas about the place. "The tourists want to see communism, but there's no communism left! No matter, we can still sell souvenirs of nonexistent communism in the stores! The tourists will never know the difference; after all, communism was just furry Russian hats and KGB jokes, right?"
There's a hilarious irony in there somewhere, but there's also - ironically - the very circumstances that gave rise to communist thought in the first place. Because, while Prague today isn't capitalism at its worst, it's nothing for capitalists to be proud of, either. It's made it nearly impossible to enjoy the history of the place, to contemplate all the life-changing events that occurred there. Prague doesn't feel like a real city. There are American restaurants and English signs everywhere, and all the people you meet are tourists, not Czechs. I'm not convinced that anyone actually lives there. I think the entire population might be made up of tourists and those who live off of tourists.
Brno isn't as exciting or as beautiful (though it could be argued that it's just as historical as Prague), and there's not as much going on here - and Lord knows I miss my American food - but Brno feels like a city. I like hearing Czech spoken on the streets and not being able to find a sign in English and being surrounded by old Czech ladies who lean on canes and but still feel young enough to walk everywhere and refuse to take a seat on the tram. Prague was nice to visit, but I'm glad I got sent to study here instead.
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My English class Wednesday went pretty well. A lot of people came, both Czech and foreign students who want to improve their English. We just talked a little bit on Wednesday, but I'm trying to come up with some ideas for activities we can do this Wednesday. So if you have any ideas for fun ways to practice English, let me know!
My only class tomorrow starts at 6 P.M., so I think I'll use the first part of the day to visit some shops around Brno that I haven't gotten around to yet. I've almost got my package of gifts for my parents and sisters put together. It's gonna be really good. I've hardly bought anything for myself here except food. Almost all my money goes towards gifts for my family.
I haven't caught the Oscars yet. I'm trying to download them, but it's gonna take a while, so nobody spoil me, please. =)
Meaning: cat
Pronunciation: "koch-ka"
And a bonus word for the dog lovers out there:
Czech bonus word of the day: pes
Meaning: dog
Pronunciation: "pes," just like it looks.
-
I was right. It did get colder here. It's back in the low 30's in Brno, it's supposed to snow later this week, and this weekend in Prague was the coldest I've ever been in my life. It snowed huge snowflakes, and it was beautiful, but for most of the time I couldn't feel my fingers.
Prague was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, with tons of awesome sights and historical buildings, but honestly? I prefer Brno. The entire city center of Prague is so full of historical sights that it's become a giant tourist trap. There will be a big, majestic, centuries-old tower in the square, but the entire square is made up of overpriced souvenir shops that all sell the exact same commercialized nonsense: T-shirts with "I ♥ Prague" and "funny" slogans about getting drunk, Russian nesting dolls (Russian! Not even Czech!), and the worst: furry hats and shirts with KGB logos on them, making light of a tragic era that my generation's parents suffered through in the Czech Republic and that was only ended in 1989 through courageous protests in that very square, now full of drunk, rowdy tourists.
And, of course, none of the shops are owned by actual Czechs. It's sad, actually, and hard to imagine that none of that stuff was there in 1989. The second the Iron Curtain fell, foreign businessmen swooped in and made a killing off this country, bought Prague and turned it into a money machine by pandering to tourists' ideas about the place. "The tourists want to see communism, but there's no communism left! No matter, we can still sell souvenirs of nonexistent communism in the stores! The tourists will never know the difference; after all, communism was just furry Russian hats and KGB jokes, right?"
There's a hilarious irony in there somewhere, but there's also - ironically - the very circumstances that gave rise to communist thought in the first place. Because, while Prague today isn't capitalism at its worst, it's nothing for capitalists to be proud of, either. It's made it nearly impossible to enjoy the history of the place, to contemplate all the life-changing events that occurred there. Prague doesn't feel like a real city. There are American restaurants and English signs everywhere, and all the people you meet are tourists, not Czechs. I'm not convinced that anyone actually lives there. I think the entire population might be made up of tourists and those who live off of tourists.
Brno isn't as exciting or as beautiful (though it could be argued that it's just as historical as Prague), and there's not as much going on here - and Lord knows I miss my American food - but Brno feels like a city. I like hearing Czech spoken on the streets and not being able to find a sign in English and being surrounded by old Czech ladies who lean on canes and but still feel young enough to walk everywhere and refuse to take a seat on the tram. Prague was nice to visit, but I'm glad I got sent to study here instead.
-
My English class Wednesday went pretty well. A lot of people came, both Czech and foreign students who want to improve their English. We just talked a little bit on Wednesday, but I'm trying to come up with some ideas for activities we can do this Wednesday. So if you have any ideas for fun ways to practice English, let me know!
My only class tomorrow starts at 6 P.M., so I think I'll use the first part of the day to visit some shops around Brno that I haven't gotten around to yet. I've almost got my package of gifts for my parents and sisters put together. It's gonna be really good. I've hardly bought anything for myself here except food. Almost all my money goes towards gifts for my family.
I haven't caught the Oscars yet. I'm trying to download them, but it's gonna take a while, so nobody spoil me, please. =)
Monday, March 1, 2010
Mám dárek pro mou sestru!
Czech word of the day: dĕkuji
Meaning: "thank you"
Pronunciation: "dyek-wee"
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It's crazy how quickly the weather is changing here. Today the high was almost 50 degrees. It was so warm that I didn't even wear my big winter coat and I wore flats instead of boots for the first time. It felt so good to wear normal shoes again! The snow's all gone now, and it's hard to imagine it coming back, but the forecast is already calling for more snow later this week.
They're having a world film festival here, so tomorrow I'm going to go see two movies, one Iranian and one Georgian. I was able to order the tickets online and choose which seat I wanted, which is really cool, and the tickets were only about $4 apiece! That's crazy! The theater is conveniently located near KFC, so I'll probably treat myself to fried chicken tomorrow between movies. I miss my car, but it's nice to live in a city where I don't really need it for once!
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Kutná Hora was pretty awesome. All the museums and touristy stuff were closed because there aren't many tourists in February, but we visited two cathedrals from the Middle Ages, and I got to see the ossuary that I mentioned in the last post, which was really cool. I took too many pictures to post here, so they're all collected on Flickr here.
The train ride to Kutná Hora itself was really interesting. I got to see a lot of the countryside. It's crazy - every single town we passed had an old gothic cathedral. Every single one. I mentioned this to my Czech guide, and she said, "Well, these buildings aren't really that old. Go to Rome. Those buildings are old." I said, yes, that's true, but buildings from the Middle Ages are still ridiculously old to me. There's nothing even close to that old in the United States.
I'll be spending next weekend in Prague with the International Students Club, so I'll take lots of pictures there, too.
I also saw a drunken bar fight, and rode on a train with a guy who was too drunk to sit up straight, let alone walk. (He got kicked off the train after two stops for not paying the fare.)
Speaking of drunk guys, the guy behind me in line at the supermarket today collapsed in a drunken stupor. It's amusing how unconcerned people here are when a drunk person falls over. The lady at the checkout counter barely looked at the guy on the floor. Everybody just kind of watched him until he managed to stand up and wander out, leaving his would-be purchases on the counter.
I think I'm going to do all my grocery shopping at that supermarket from now on rather than at Tesco. I hate going to Tesco. The workers there always seem miserable, and they let it be known that my not speaking Czech is just one more inconvenience for them.
The place I went today is a smaller supermarket just down the street called Albert. People there are so much nicer. The lady that checked me out today just smiled when I told her I didn't speak Czech, and she understood me when I asked in English for a bag. Albert is more expensive than Tesco in the same way that Walmart's always cheaper than everywhere else, and Albert's bread is less fresh than Tesco's, but Albert is closer to my dorm and, more importantly, I don't feel like an inconvenience to anybody when I shop there.
There are things I haven't been able to find here, though. Things from home that I'm running out of include sunflower seeds, Crunch bars, and Cheetos. I've already run out of salt & vinegar potato chips, which is a flavor they don't have here. They do have flavors like ham and paprika, but I'll pass on those.
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And now, a little bragging.
I'm owning my Czech class, despite the fact that it's meant for more advanced students. Score one for the linguaphile. At this point I've studied so many languages that there's hardly a grammatical concept that I'm not at least a little bit familiar with. I got all my questions right today in class, and I've already completed Wednesday's homework.
Grammar just makes so much sense to me. It's all rules-based: if A, then B. If the noun is masculine inanimate, it retains its form in the accusative case, but if it's masculine animate, add -a at the end of hard nouns and -e at the end of soft nouns. Easy. It's a formula. It's the way math is supposed to be, all simple logic, but unlike math, grammar actually makes sense. Equations are just numbers; they don't mean anything. But words mean something. Words matter. If I get an abstract equation wrong, nothing happens. But if I mess up a grammatical formula, I create a whole different meaning.
And yet people think math is more important than grammar. Pfft.
Anyway.
I'm about to put my love of grammar to good use. I've volunteered to teach an English class to local Czech students once a week. I have no idea how to teach anything, but I'm probably going to have to spend a couple of years teaching English abroad to get into a top master's program in my field, so this'll be good experience.
My first class is Wednesday night. Wish me luck!
Meaning: "thank you"
Pronunciation: "dyek-wee"
-
It's crazy how quickly the weather is changing here. Today the high was almost 50 degrees. It was so warm that I didn't even wear my big winter coat and I wore flats instead of boots for the first time. It felt so good to wear normal shoes again! The snow's all gone now, and it's hard to imagine it coming back, but the forecast is already calling for more snow later this week.
They're having a world film festival here, so tomorrow I'm going to go see two movies, one Iranian and one Georgian. I was able to order the tickets online and choose which seat I wanted, which is really cool, and the tickets were only about $4 apiece! That's crazy! The theater is conveniently located near KFC, so I'll probably treat myself to fried chicken tomorrow between movies. I miss my car, but it's nice to live in a city where I don't really need it for once!
-
Kutná Hora was pretty awesome. All the museums and touristy stuff were closed because there aren't many tourists in February, but we visited two cathedrals from the Middle Ages, and I got to see the ossuary that I mentioned in the last post, which was really cool. I took too many pictures to post here, so they're all collected on Flickr here.
The train ride to Kutná Hora itself was really interesting. I got to see a lot of the countryside. It's crazy - every single town we passed had an old gothic cathedral. Every single one. I mentioned this to my Czech guide, and she said, "Well, these buildings aren't really that old. Go to Rome. Those buildings are old." I said, yes, that's true, but buildings from the Middle Ages are still ridiculously old to me. There's nothing even close to that old in the United States.
I'll be spending next weekend in Prague with the International Students Club, so I'll take lots of pictures there, too.
I also saw a drunken bar fight, and rode on a train with a guy who was too drunk to sit up straight, let alone walk. (He got kicked off the train after two stops for not paying the fare.)
Speaking of drunk guys, the guy behind me in line at the supermarket today collapsed in a drunken stupor. It's amusing how unconcerned people here are when a drunk person falls over. The lady at the checkout counter barely looked at the guy on the floor. Everybody just kind of watched him until he managed to stand up and wander out, leaving his would-be purchases on the counter.
I think I'm going to do all my grocery shopping at that supermarket from now on rather than at Tesco. I hate going to Tesco. The workers there always seem miserable, and they let it be known that my not speaking Czech is just one more inconvenience for them.
The place I went today is a smaller supermarket just down the street called Albert. People there are so much nicer. The lady that checked me out today just smiled when I told her I didn't speak Czech, and she understood me when I asked in English for a bag. Albert is more expensive than Tesco in the same way that Walmart's always cheaper than everywhere else, and Albert's bread is less fresh than Tesco's, but Albert is closer to my dorm and, more importantly, I don't feel like an inconvenience to anybody when I shop there.
There are things I haven't been able to find here, though. Things from home that I'm running out of include sunflower seeds, Crunch bars, and Cheetos. I've already run out of salt & vinegar potato chips, which is a flavor they don't have here. They do have flavors like ham and paprika, but I'll pass on those.
-
And now, a little bragging.
I'm owning my Czech class, despite the fact that it's meant for more advanced students. Score one for the linguaphile. At this point I've studied so many languages that there's hardly a grammatical concept that I'm not at least a little bit familiar with. I got all my questions right today in class, and I've already completed Wednesday's homework.
Grammar just makes so much sense to me. It's all rules-based: if A, then B. If the noun is masculine inanimate, it retains its form in the accusative case, but if it's masculine animate, add -a at the end of hard nouns and -e at the end of soft nouns. Easy. It's a formula. It's the way math is supposed to be, all simple logic, but unlike math, grammar actually makes sense. Equations are just numbers; they don't mean anything. But words mean something. Words matter. If I get an abstract equation wrong, nothing happens. But if I mess up a grammatical formula, I create a whole different meaning.
And yet people think math is more important than grammar. Pfft.
Anyway.
I'm about to put my love of grammar to good use. I've volunteered to teach an English class to local Czech students once a week. I have no idea how to teach anything, but I'm probably going to have to spend a couple of years teaching English abroad to get into a top master's program in my field, so this'll be good experience.
My first class is Wednesday night. Wish me luck!
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