Thursday, March 31, 2011

And I love her, I need her

Hey y'all. March has been the month of magic! So many amazing days, nights, jam sessions, and conversations. I love Brno! Spring has really hit, and everything has come to life! I can wear skirts, even shorts!, again, and Žebětín, my village, is full of forests and windy cobblestone paths perfect to wander along. I am living the dream!
Some exchange friends I have here made such great friends when they landed at school and activities that they don't pay much attention to their host families, or at least it seems that way. I practically don 't want to go home, I love my family here so much. They are far too nice to me, and put up with all my heaps and heaps of problems, and heaps and heaps of stuff :p I spent one afternoon complaining about missing bagels, and that weekend, my host mum made homemade poppy seed bagels. Unbelievably delicious with a bit of goat cheese. Ňamňam :D I can sit at the table and talk to them for hours. So funny, thoughtful, and far more clear-minded than I have ever been.
School is a bit different here. I have a few teachers who think I am interesting and talented, and a few who think I am the devil incarnate. Most of these feelings are mutual though, so no worries, really. We have one teacher who does absolutely everything I have ever taken fault in in any former teachers. She is an utter basketcase. Only 3 months from Saturday though! Holy cow! But like in Nový Jičín, people at school are so helpful! I get tired of asking for help before they seem to get tired of dealing with me!
I don't really feel like sitting here typing for a year, I want to go play accordeon :D
Mějte se, my loves!
Title note: I miss you Shayneeeee. Our facebook chats are too short.

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Poisoning Pigeons in the Park

Spring is here!

Well, it will be tomorrow. This week was spring break for us here in Brno, and man was it great.

Saturday, we woke up at like 5 in the morning to catch our bus to the mountains for our ski trip. It was my host mom, my slightly older brother, my two little sibling sand me, along with a friend of my host mom's and her two children. The snow was wet because it was like 12 degrees out, but the trip was great. It is a totally different experience to travel with everything you need on your back. Fortunately, I didn't end up sick this time!

We left the mountains tuesday and shifted our base to Opava for the night. We stayed with some more of my host mom's friends, who have a beautiful home full of great art and great people. In the morning, my host mum took me out on a tour of Opava, which is a really lovely city, by the way. Unfortunately, they get hit by the Ostrava smog, so the air can be a mess, but the buildings are beautiful. It was bombed quite heavily during WWII, and you can see the ugly block replacements where beautiful, historical buildings once stood, but that doesn't ruin the charm. And, we got there right in time for the book stores to open, and I bought the last two-thirds of the Millenium Trilogy. I love those books!!!

When we got home, my good friend Marina came over to stay because her host family wasn't home from the mountains, but she had had enough skiing for one trip. It was great to have her over, and then together, we stayed Thursday night at Vinny's house. We stayed up late jamming together, and it was real nice.

Friday night, we made it back to my house to sleep before we took the bus up to Ostrava for Aurelie's, my friend from Germany, birthday party. I have to say, it was probably the best party I have ever been to. Amazing people, good food, and of course, good music. Her parents were visiting from Germany, and her mom has the same huge laugh as me! It was fabulous! Also there was Aurelie's friend Jean, who is one of the six AFSers in Poland this year. He lives in Kraków and is absolutely wonderful. Hearing his stories about Poland makes me want to visit again! I didn't get a single minute of sleep last night!

Anyways, vacation was wonderful. I am not looking forward too much to being back at school,
but it will be nice to see everybody and brag about how great my break was :D

Lots of love always, and when possible, eat cheese from the Netherlands!

Oh, and 7 months.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Guessing game

So, my Czech Language teacher is one of those cool teachers. I could see him working in Harley, if we taught Czech literature. Anyways, we had the coolest assignment ever! We had to translate a famous song, he provided us with one, from English to Czech, while keeping the poetry. Here's my gift to you, now guess what the mystery song is!!!!

Musí být nějaká cesta ven
Klaun zlodějovi říkal
Je tady uplný chaos
Ale nikdo kdoby mi pomahal
Podníkatelé pijí moje víno
Oráčy v mé zemi kopají
Tam na hranici neví nikdo
Kolík to stojí

Nemáš důvod být rozčilený
Řikal ten yloděj mile
hodně tady jsou okolo nás
kteří ví že žívot, žert je
Ale to náš osud není
Tak, nemáme mluvít falešně
Je pozdě, půlnoc už zvoní

Všudy na ty věží
Princy hlídali
Všechny ženy přišli, odešli
Sluhy bosi, taky šli

Ven, dost daleko
Lev zařval
Dva lidé na koních na cestě byli
vítr húlakal

Have fun kids!!!
So here's my hint:



And my apologies about the horrible Czech!

Monday, March 7, 2011

I'm pretty sure this goes beyond a pet peeve

Let's get this on the table. Prejudice isn't, has never been, and never will be funny. So, when we are walking around the place that was a hell on earth in a way you will never experience, don't laugh. Don't pose and take silly pictures with your friends. Don't jokingly call each other racist slurs, when that prejudice was responsible for half a million deaths where you stand. I believe all opinions are valid in that what you believe is what you believe, but prejudice is not something open for debate. It is an abomination.

stuff

So, you probably all know by now that I can ramble on for ages with my complaints. Finding problems with things has never been hard for me. But I realized something I really appreciate in Czech people. They really understand the value, or lack of value, in stuff.

As a culture in the US, we love our stuff. Our gadgets, toys, those cure-alls to keep us from getting bored, or wasting too much time or effort. I am for sure in no way above this adoration. I live a life, even here, buried in all the things I "need." Czech people, based on the ones I've met these 6 months, are less caught up in all of that. We eat really well here, but our fridge and freezer for 8 people living at home is probably about half the size of the refrigerator half of the fridge in our kitchen, and beyond that, we have another fridge and 2 more freezers. And we have only had three residents for a few years now.

All of this is really making me think about my carbon footprint. I mean, I have been involved with efforts to go green and have felt like I try pretty hard, but I have done nothing. I mean, if you have enough clothes, why do you need a dryer? Clothes get just as dry if you hang them, and this way, I have no worries about shrinking my socks. Rags clean up just as well as paper towels. Buses give you time to read, listen to music, or write while you travel. No worries about driving or helping to navigate.


So, that is my life-changing blog post for today.
Love you all, as usual.
Tak ahoj!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Floating along

I love:
Cheese

Beautiful language. Oscar Wilde was the paragon of an artist.

Sunshine

Good music.

Atmosphere

Hugs

Talking

I hate:

Kids

Authority figures who expect everything they offer to be taken as unquestionable truth

Not paying attention to other parts of the world.

Smokers

People who drink just to get drunk

Books with too many characters

Czech's lack of rhythm in speech. Because the first syllable is always stressed, the cadence doesn't fall well to my ears.

Cold. In personalities and weather

So, as of tomorrow, I have 4 short months here. I have to admit, there is a lot I will miss here. but I am looking forward so much to getting back into my cozy easy life. I feel lost a lot here. sometimes, I physically am, like when I ended up 50 kilometers away from where I was supposed to be at night in the snow. But Czech people aren't anal like people in the US. They don't plan every second. They don't disinfect every square inch. Something can be said for it, but I think I prefer the tight-ass approach.

But while I'm floating, life here is pleasant. I was dozing off on the šalina- look it up. The English word is too much like what the non-Brno term is :D- when I heard " next stop: Kamenalom"

Coming along?

I usually find myself making up what people say when I don't understand it. I have "heard" people say some pretty strange stuff, but it should help ward off dementia, right? Using the old grey matter. sort of.

Well, I am off to Poland this weekend, and hopefully that will give me some more thoughts, or at least more interesting ones. We are going to Auschwitz on Friday, and I am pretty anxious about how strong my emotions will be there. So many horrors committed against good people. I have no words for how the idea makes me feel, and that it truly occurred is infinitely worse.