Bring On The Grammar

Well while I am absolutely fascinated by the chance I have to explore this city and experience a new culture, I did come here for a specific reason and that was to learn how to teach. Sunday morning was the day that I made the move from the beautiful City Centre to what is similar to Chicago's Lincoln Park to begin My TEFL training course. While I was a bit bummed that I was no longer on my own exploration schedule, I was really excited by the fact I would be meeting some new people and no longer would be sitting at these amazing Pubs by myself as well as its always nice to make some new friends. I arrived at the school at around noon and was ushered up to the room I will be spending the next month in and began to unpack. The room is on the third floor of the hotel Pivovar and is none too charming, but for a student it will do just fine. Once I had settled in it was time for the orientation which I thought would merely be a walk through of the school as well as explaining to us what our class schedule would be like and where we could find various odds and ends. However this orientation was a guided tour of the city where we learned how to use the metro as well as some of the sights Prague had to offer. Which brings me to the Charles Cathedral. After a somewhat long metro ride we ended up at the entrance to what is one of the most amazing pieces of architecture I have ever seen. Constructed in the 1500s and not completed until 1928, the Charles Cathedral towered over us like Goliath over David. Its Flying Buttresses on display like giant arms outstretched not to welcome you but to show the strength and power that was invested in this building. The largest Cathedral in the world, the Charles Cathedral truly was an example of the fear aspect of religion that was the gothic era and not the inviting and friendly one that we are used to today. Services are still held here and one can't help but wonder how the services held today differ from those given 400 years ago. After a walk through of the Charles Cathedral we continued our tour through the castle and at one point I asked our tour guide Helena a question that I thought was very reasonable. I asked, "do you guys still have king." Knowing that he would not be a ruling entity but rather a figure head or a marker of tradition much like the Queen of England. Very sharply and in a somewhat dejected manor Helena responded, " Well we are the Czech Republic so we are a Republic and that means we would not have a King." After that tongue lashing I realized that it is probably not the wisest idea to bring up a king to people from a country who have only known what it is like to be free of outside rule and a hierarchy system for only 30 years. From there we crossed the charles bridge which was the entrance to oldest part of Prague, once again humbled by the notion that hundreds of years ago men stood on this same bridge ready to defend the king and country from outside forces. Once into the city center our tour ended and as collective group of students mainly headed by our Canadian classmate Joann we headed to a pub. A fiery, passionate, and free spirited middle age woman from Calgary, Joann is representative of what I aspire to be like 30 years down the road, starting a new chapter in her life rather then figuring out how to end her book. We sat together at a large table in a pub off a cobble stone side street amidst the dim lighting and cigarette smoke talking politics, where we saw ourselves down the road, how we felt we could lay a foot print on this earth, and all in all enjoying the company of new friends. The night wore on and a few "responsible" members of the group headed back to the school for a solid night of sleep in preparation for the first day of class. But the rest of us decided to soldier on and before we knew it we were immersed in the Prague night life in what was easily the oldest dance club I have ever been in and not 70s shag carpeting old, but 15th century stone floors and walls old. The music was blaring the drinks were good and for a party goer, the world seemed right. However a word to the wise, be careful when doing two things at a club in Prague one dancing on very small very high tables can lead to injury and two the girl you are making a pass at may very well be 15 and as experienced as a 21 year-old back at home.... So best stay away. Once the music stopped sounding like a reason to dance and more like beating headache, we headed back to the school to get a little sleep before our 9:45 am class. A little cotton mouthed and a lot of headached, I walked into my first class that was to go until 6 pm, its going to be intense. I won't get into to detail now as I don't know much yet but I will say its day two and I am teaching my first class to Czech students in three hours. Am I ready? Lets hope so....

All the while chasing,

Jake