Typical Day in Ostrava-So Far

Get up about 9:30 or so (if you know my feeling toward getting up, you know that’s a relative term), stumble toward the kitchen for something to eat (luckily, I have found my two favorite morning comforts—cereal and apples). The only problems I have had so far with morning breakfast thing is that instant coffee is definitely not my cup of tea (I couldn’t resist the idiom) and that you can only purchase milk in a liter container. It is so frustrating to use milk basically once and then feel like you need to go buy some again right away! Next, take my food into my room to eat and spend some introvert time before the day begins.

For the record, I totally have one of those beds that you see on infomercials where the woman jumps on it with the wine glass sitting right next to her. I actually tried it with my glass of water this morning that I had with my koláče! A koláče is somewhat like a cheese Danish. It is a very good Czech pastry with either fruit or cheese in them.

Random tangent, anyway, after dressing, which I am always sure base on the weather by checking through the 270 degree windows of our flat that you can see for miles out of, my teammates and I usually hit the public transportation system.

Ah, public transport! Come from a town that’s closest thing to public transportation is one extremely expensive “taxi” or the people that escort the Amish around in large vans, I think you either love it or hate it. In Belfast, I hated it and refused to use it. I walked everywhere instead or took a taxi. Here, so far it has been infinitely better. For the most part, it is almost always on time, can get you pretty much anywhere you want to go, and is rather cost effective. My only piece of advice is that you totally should not try to haul a large and heavy dresser from IKEA halfway across the city to your flat on public transport with just you and your teammate’s arms as movers! Although, it does make for a great bonding experience and a hilarious story! However, for the most part, I have really enjoyed the metro system. In fact, I already have plenty of crazy stories of the things that I have seen. And I have only been here for a little over a week!

Let’s see what else, oh yes! We spend some time at the office. We have been reviewing our grammar. As much as I knew about grammar in college and such, I have since realized (and no using this blog to base my knowledge on. ;-) I know nothing! Non-native speakers learn grammar in a completely different way than we do. Ask a native speaker and they will probably tell you that we have 3 tenses or something close to that. Past, Present, and Future tense. You ask anyone that learned English as an adult and they will be able to tell you that English actually has 12 tenses and they could probably tell you each and every one! While we all know what they are and use them everyday, we don’t know the names or definitions. We ESI teachers have spent a lot of time, both at training and here, in Ostrava reviewing and learning grammar so we don’t sound like fools when we begin teaching our students who will most likely know more about English grammar than we do!

The rest of my time I have spent exploring. We five girls, Shelly, Ashley (my two roommates), Erica, Jessica (our other teammates in the city), and myself  have done everything from buy groceries, go to the movies, eat in several different restaurants, see the different places we are going to be teaching, look at the city from the top of city hall, and much more! 

I have also had a lot of time to spend praying for the people of Ostrava. I would ask that you would pray with me for the people not only here but also the people that you come in contact with at home. Remember that that person that you meet on the street, your student, co-worker, or store clerk, you may be the only be the only person praying for them and you may never know what impact it might have on life. For the Bible says that the prayer of a  righteous man is powerful and effective (James 5:16b).

So sorry that it has taken me this long to post anything else about being here! I am going to post much sooner next time.

Below , I have also posted a video that I honestly can’t believe that I did, but here it is. Me in a ridiculous state with my teammates going back to our flat. Watch and see me humiliate myself. :-) All I can say is at least I am not a dork alone! Outside my flat with my goofy teammates. ;-)