Do you have a bucket list for your life?

Well I do. I started it, when I was around 15 or 16. There were certain things I needed to do. I had to do! 

One of those things was meeting an Ambassador. Now, I can finally say that I have.

Meeting the US Ambassador: CHECK

In the above photo is my mentor, me and the Ambassador. My mentor has been incredibly helpful in teaching me how to teach, acclimating to Czech society and telling me about the culture here. Really, it was a great thing to meet the Ambassador with her.

Maybe I will be able to ´´Czech´´ off a few more things off my bucket list this year. Who knows? 

Four weeks in.... I am still pretty happy, but my computer was destroyed by the Czech Burcak.

Burcak is a young half fermented wine (see left). It is very sweet and tastey. There is a specific reason for this; it is still fermenting, when you purchase it. So...if you are not careful with it, it can explode on things and cause a huge mess. This is because the fermentation process results in lots of "bubbles." When you seal a bottle of this too tightly, then a lot of pressure can devoloped. Unfortunately, (in my case) I did not think of this. So, sadly, this wonderful drink exploded in my backpack, when I was transporting it home. My precious MacBook in addition to some other belongings were soaked.

Since, I was not close to my home, I knew that this would not end well.....
In total, my laptop and belongings spent a grueling 3-4 hours soaking in this sweet alcoholic concotion. I had to let my Czech textbooks dry on my clothing line. I also took apart my MacBook (to see if there is anything I can do... sadly I realized that the screen is completely broken, it needs a new battery and I do not have the proper tools to take out the hard drive so that I can atleast use it externally)... Unfortunately, the closest Apple Store is in Berlin and I do not make enough money to (1) pay someone to repair it or (2) buy a new computer.

So... in the mean time, my Czech has improved dramatically; I have joined a gym; and I am regularly going to Prague.  I am also spending a lot of my free time staring at my wall.... thinking.... about how much I would like to speak English with someone.... Did I mention no one in my town "speaks English" (except for my colleagues)?

This week, I went to Prague 3 times. 

I saw the King Tut Exhibit as well as

many landmarks. Currently, I am doing training.

I am hoping things will get a lot more interesting very soon!

Before I write about my first 2 weeks, I want to discuss my experience since graduating college in May 2013. It was a great summer full of a lot of memorable experiences. I immediately started by packing everything I own and flying to Chicago for an internship at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). Then within a month, I flew to Ispra, Italy to work on a project with the E.U.'s E.C. Joint Research Centre (JRC). 

During my summer I made jet packs, saw amazing things and made great friendships with people I never want to forget. In total, I spent 8 weeks working at ANL and 4 at JRC. It was really difficult leaving, because there was an option to stay longer, but I had a flight to Czech Republic waiting for me. (I left Chicago on August 17 and my flight for Prague was on August 24.)

 

Chicago and Ispra were amazing, I know that I will make my way back to these places one day (maybe during grad school?)

Fast forward to August 27: Training in Brno

                 Training was a lot of fun. I was able to meet my fellow ETA's (great people!). We learned some class room activities as well as things to expect for our stay. Not to mention, there was plenty of time to take in the sites and meet some Czech grad students (who are studying English). 

Training really made me feel comfortable with my decision to spend a year in a completely different country... in a place where I do not really know the language or the culture!

After training, I moved to Pribram, where I had my first week of work. This went very well, but I learned that (1) I am afraid of my elevator, (2) my students hate physics and (3) that modern Czech art is really interesting!

Also, to mark my 2 week anniversary in this country, I was practicing my Czech with cats.

Who says that you don't need to know how to say "The cat is under the table" or "The cat is on the table"?