Teaching in a New Place

Pilzn. No, it's not missing a vowel. Czech language doesn't use vowels too much. Transform the name of this town to its English version and you get Pilsen. Morph the word even further and you get Pilsner. Yes, I am living in the home of Pilsner beer. Took a tour of the brewery on day two and have been drinking it ever since. Not a bad way to spend a day . . . teaching for three hours, hanging out on a university campus, exploring a new city and stopping for beers along the way.

The International Summer Language School held at the University of West Bohemia is a twenty year old program that offers courses in English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Italian, Czech and some others, I believe. Students come mostly from the Czech Republic, but there are several countries represented. There is also a large group of student from the University of Memphis here to earn a certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language. When I arrived there were even a few of them that I had met before working on projects in Kosovo. Needless to say, I have quite a few cool people to hang out with here. We all have accommodations in dormitories that haven't been remodeled since Czech and Slovakia were bound together. We shower in our sinks and sleep on mattresses with broken strings. The diet consists of potatoes, cheese, bread and pork and I feel lucky to be able to get a tomato and cucumber salad. These become all the more reason to get out and find what else exists out there.

Like Kosovo, it seems to take a while to get beyond aspects of the countries that have not seemed to change in decades. But the longer you stay, the more new gems you are able to find and maybe even get used to the older characteristics.

Next weekend will be a couple of days in Prague that will have me escaping from the tour bus and exploring a European city I have heard so many wonderful things about.

"Anywhere You Go"

Lyrics by Shane
5 years old

When you get yourself to go
When you like the colds of night
And do you know you have one way but not a single way
Did you know I have a way not for you but only for me
Where you go I don't know why
But I'll find the way for you
Did you know . . .

My nephews, like to come up with lyrics to songs. I wrote down the words to this one as Shane rallied them off to me in his best rock ballad-inspired voice. Seeing as he mostly knows me in a state of going somewhere, this one touched me a bit more closely somehow . . . movement without clear direction . . . there seems to be a right way, but various options on how to get there . . . and he puts himself in a position of helping figure it out.

Life interpreted through the eyes of a 5 year-old.