Settling Down

Scotty and Jo chill out at The Red Onion



Okay I have so much to catch up on I don't even know where to begin. What an eventful month October has been! And man has it ever flown by so fast! Can it really truly be November already? Where does the time go? Well, you know what they say - time flies when you're having fun! ;-)

So first things first - the good news is that Scotty is officially employed! I've gotten a job working for Caledonian School, and just finished my third week of work on Friday. Caledonian is the largest of the private language institutes here in the Czech Republic, and at last count had 308 teachers and over 5000 students! They have four school locations here in Prague, but most of their teachers - including myself - actually teach mostly 'in company' and not at the actual school.

In fact, my entire schedule is 'in company.' This means that I teach all of my students at their work rather than in a proper classroom. Almost all of my teaching is only 1:1, and I'm usually in either a staff meeting room or sometimes just sitting in the office of my students. It's *completely different* from my teaching experience in Korea. Almost all of my students are middle-aged male bankers, and this means that 100% of my time is spent doing actual teaching, rather than worrying about who's biting who, or how to diplomatically spread the pink scissors around so that nobody has a fit and cries.

This 1:1 business is quite enjoyable actually. It feels nice and relaxed, more like I'm just sitting and having a conversation, or helping someone with homework, rather than 'performing' as a teacher in front of a class. All of my students are really nice and friendly, and most of them are quite chatty as well which makes my job a helluva lot easier. I'm basically paid to keep them talking, and since Scotty can pretty much chat up a wall, this hasn't proven to be too difficult.

The only thing that really sucks about my job is that I spent a lot of time travelling around on the metro from one corner of Prague to the other to meet up with my students, but hey at least my school gives me a free transit pass so it's not like it's costing me anything. That, and the early hours. REALLY EARLY HOURS. I have classes that begin at 7:30am three times a week, and it's 8:30am the other days. And Scotty is SO NOT a morning person. Ugh. Every morning when that bloody alarm goes off at some ungodly hour I feel like I want to die a thousand times as I'm ripped from my blissful REM cycle. But, once I'm up and on my way, I'm usually pretty good actually. And the early hours often mean that I finish early and have the rest of the day free. Quite productive actually, but somtimes I think that being productive is a bit over-rated. ;-)

I get my first paycheque tomorrow, and not a minute too soon as the ol' bank account has run quite low. Being unemployed for three month and a half months and travelling around has certainly proven to be a speedy way to go through one's savings!

And as for the living situation, well I wish I had better news to report on that front. Scotty is still sans-flat, and continues his reign over Carolyn's living room. My good buddy and future roomie Alasdair is back from a trip home and he's moved in too, so I guess it's more of a "joint-reign". We share the pull-out couch in the living room together, which we've discovered has a rather distinct slump in the middle, resulting in unplanned cuddling in the middle of the night as sheer gravitational force brings us together. Oh boy! But, it's cozy at Carolyn's and the three of us are a good mix together. Alasdair has turned out to be a fantastic cook - and a vegetarian to boot - so that means that I get yummy healthy food cooked for me all the time! YAH ALASDAIR! ;-)

Hunting for a flat has proven to be quite difficult in this country. We're looking for a place where we can each have our own bedrooms, and that often means the flats cost a fortune or are way out in the suburbs. We also need a place that's furnished. And we'd like to live in Vinohrady like Carolyn which is the trendy address to have here in Praha these days. All of this adds up to a pretty tall order for a flat I guess. And of course trying to conduct all of this searching in a country that doesn't speak English makes things infinitely more challenging. Luckily my good friend Ivana - who's a native - has been extremely kind and has done a lot of phone-calling for us. So, no flats yet...but cross your fingers and hopefully something will work out soon! In the meantime, Alasdair and I will have to just keep on cuddling, Carolyn will have to keep stepping over all our shite in the living room, and I'll keep dreaming of a flat with a hot water tank larger than 10 litres so that I can have a shower longer than 7 minutes without draining the whole tank!

OH!

I'm gonna attempt to add some photos of me and my friends here in Prague! Hope this works! ENJOY! :-)