Oktava Ball

When the students here are in their final year of school, they have a celebratory ball. It is similar to our Prom in the USA, except that the parents are included, as well as several underclassmen and alumni. It is a very nice social affair. Oh, another difference is that there is drinking allowed, since people are allowed to drink alcohol here at the age of 18 and start, without penalty, well before that. My favorite part of the ball was the music. It was a far cry from the hip hop bump and grind music of our proms, and the dancing followed suit. Here, there was what I consider REAL dancing. Waltzes, Polkas, etc. The boys were so gallant. They came to the adults--even us teachers-- and politely asked us to dance with them. They even bowed! It was amazing.


Each lady was given a rose upon entering the ball. Students waited at the door to pass them out to us as we came in.


Dancing and talking with students. This is Jakub, a very nice boy.


Alena is the class teacher for Oktava class, meaning she has been their point person, supervising their progress at Gymnazium for eight years--from the year they entered the school. She was very pleased with how everything turned out, and here she is having a good time on the dance floor!






Here is Jana. She is a student who graduated maybe two years ago now. Maybe one? She was happy to return for this year's ball. You will remember her from a previous blog, a former student of my exchange partner.


Alena and Majda


This was something I had heard of but found surprising nonetheless. When the students are each called by name to be...I don't know what you call it...to be recognized and have that ribbon put around them, the parents and friends, etc., throw coins at them on the dance floor! I could not stop laughing every time it happened. Mostly I was laughing at myself and how it startled me--every time! It made such a racket and I wondered if it was somehow dangerous. Fistfulls of coins flung at them from every direction--and the girls in high-heeled shoes! But the kids enjoyed it, I think. Here they are picking up the coins afterward. I hear they collect the money and use it to buy something nice for themselves--or maybe a night at the pub. =)


The graduating Oktava class, their class teacher, and the principal.

The Alps!

Ready to go. My first time in the Alps. I don't really know what to expect. The main images in my head come from Frankenstein, The Sound of Music, and the one time I flew over them on my way to Rome. But, coming from Los Angeles, I know that movies are not real life. Anyway, my curiosity is piqued.


I had this opportunity to go skiing in Italy for five days, thanks to my exchange partner. So, after getting clearance from my school, off I went! I was excited to go, but also experienceing some trepidation. I hadn't skied in I don't know how many years. 12? 15? I don't know. I was also concerned because my exchange partner had shown me webcam photos of Passo Tonale, and he was practically kissing the computer screen he loved it so much. I wasn't so impressed by the pictures, and I wondered how I would tell him if I didn't find the place as appealing as he. No worries! The place was incredibly beautiful; I was instantly awestruck. Those photos didn't do the place justice, and probably neither will mine, but here they are.


I am there. OK, I am starting with me. I am very happy to see (and like) the place finally.


Vermiglio. This is the actual town we stayed in. It was a trip for about 40 Czech students who are studying to become teachers and their current teachers. A house was rented here to accommodate the big group, and a few of us stayed in a nearby apartment. This is the view from the apartment balcony.


Goofing around. After skiing during the day, we all would come back to the house for dinner and mulling about (drinking, cards, chatting, etc.).


Honza (Even secret agents take vacations!)


Ondra (NEVER on vacation from his cell phone!)




Mr. Harajda comes along on these trips to help with the food service. It takes a professional to feed so many people at once.


Passo Tonale. The town itself! Very cute--oh, I believe the word is quaint. =) It must be quite an experience to stay here and go right from one's door to the ski slopes and vice versa.


The bus that brought the students from Pilsen and from the house to the slopes every day.


BEAUTIFUL! GORGEOUS! WISH YOU WERE HERE!




Going up!


I don't like these kinds of lifts, so I refused to go up there.


Ondra--a decent photo because he didn't see me in time to make a face!


Fik--deep in thought, apparently. =)


"Pub" PontiDi Legno-- a nice warm place to take a rest and have a groovy refreshment...


Chocolate! So think it was like eating pudding! Yum-MY!


Going up in Ponti di Legno


Wow!


SNOW!! For the last two days of the trip, it snowed practically non-stop. I came home with all my bones in tact, so I can say it was a successful trip.

THANK YOU!

Thanks to all who have posted comments or written me emails about my blog. I can't say it enough. It REALLY does encourage and motivate me to write more!! I am especially grateful for the feed back about the Culture Shock entry. Thank you, mom, David A., David G., Brittney, Karla, and Brett!

Welcome to Winter--for reeeaall...

Ancient Music by Ezra Pound



Winter is icummen in,
Lhude sing Goddamm.
Raineth drop and staineth slop,
And how the wind doth ramm!
Sing: Goddamm.



Skiddeth bus and sloppeth us,
An ague hath my ham.
Freezeth river, turneth liver,
Damn you, sing: Goddamm.



Goddamm, Goddamm, 'tis why I am, Goddamm,
So 'gainst the winter's balm.



Sing goddamm, damm, sing Goddamm.
Sing goddamm, sing goddamm, DAMM.

A parody of the Anglo-Saxon poem, Cuckoo Song

OK, so Ezra Pound was a little crazy. Alright--a lot crazy. If you have heard of him, you know this was actually true. If you had never heard of him, you know now. =) Some also consider him the father of American Poetry. Hmmm.

I included this little ditty here because the first line of the poem popped into my head when I began to think of doing a blog entry about the arrival of winter. Unlike the speaker of the poem, I feel no need to rage against the winter. I must say that for my first ever REAL winter (remember I am from Sunny Southern California), it hasn't been bad at all. It gets cold, yes. But so what? I quite like it. I think it's very beautiful--when the snow is fresh and covering everything, BEFORE it gets brown, black, and slushy et al. And the cool air sometimes feels really good on my skin.

Now I know I CAN actually live very happily in a place that has a real winter. I used to see the pictures on the news depicting those awful North American winters--in New England and the North, and I thought, "NEVER!" I still think it's impossible for me; now I understand why the Pilgrims had such a hard time adapting from Europe to North America. If you are from New England or the North, you will probably look at these photos and think it's no big deal, just a tiny bit of snow. If you are from LA, well, you may be thinking something completely different. =) The very first picture, by the way, is the INSIDE of my front door!

But, the climate here, in CZ, is considered mild, compared to the rest of Europe (not in comparison to LA, of course), and I have found the seasons quite livable. And the snow is very enjoyable--especially since I don't have to go out every morning. =) The sun is out today, and it is spectacular. It is still cold, and believe me I do notice the cold. But I hope no one thinks I am complaining when I mention it; I am not.


The Gymnazium. This is the school I work in. I was leaving after my afternoon lessons one day and took this photo. This is around 3:45 pm, and yes it will soon be dark. That is maybe the one downside of winter--the short days.



Dark mornings, too. Nearly 8 am in this one. The snow is great though.



I am seeing some beautiful things in a way I have never done before. I liked the light on this building.

I have to admit that, although I plan to go out walking more, I do often end up staying in the house (where I am cozy and toasty) instead of getting and about in the snow and cold. Maybe I will improve that when I return from the Alps. Oh! I am leaving tonight for the Italian Alps and five days of skiing. It's been many years since I have been on a pair of skiis. Wish me luck!

KM

I AM BACK!!

TRYING TO RECOVER

Actually, I have been back in the Czech Republic since January 2nd. That was Monday. It is now Sunday morning, VERY EARLY, and my body clock is still going haywire! I have only been sleeping a few hours at a time, waking up in the wee hours of the morning--except for yesterday, of course, when I slept away most of the day instead of going to the grocery store and cleaning the apartment (and my clothes) as I had planned! Still not eating as I should, but I plan to remedy THAT pronto!

HOW IT WENT IN GENERAL: RANDOMLY!! =)

I had a great time at home, but much to my own surprise, I did NOT take very many photos! I can't believe myself sometimes. For the first several days, I kept forgetting to even take my camera out of the bag it was packed in. I am used to carrying it around in my pocket here, so I didn't even think of the camera until I was ready to take a picture, and then, of course, I didn't have it.

Other than getting there, I didn't plan much of my trip home ahead of time. I just went with the flow, played it by ear, etc. I didn't even tell most of my people I was coming. As a result, almost everybody was surprised to see me. Pleasantly surprised, I might add. It was nice.

MEXICO
I saw my exchange partner, Jiri, quite a bit during my stay. It was a good time. I suggested a little bit of sightseeing for us since the first time we were together in LA it was pretty much all about business (School district, car business, insurance, paperwork, getting around, etc.). He suggested we go to Mexico--just over the border for the day. I was up for it. I hadn't been to TJ (Tijuana) in 19 years, and I was curious to see it again. Boy had it changed! Either that or my memory was really faulty. I didn't remember anything being on the US side of the border except a giant parking lot--an unattended lot at that! I seem to recall having to put money for parking into numbered slots in a huge metal box, which would be checked by somebody at some point later. Now the border looks like one giant sprawl where two towns and two countries blend together almost seamlessly. The US side was one big outlet mall!

We went down a little bit later than we had planned because I always want exactly what I want and nothing else will do, so we had to check about 3-4 restaurants to get me what I wanted for breakfast. And then I only ate half of it--maybe less! Jiri is VERY patient, I have to say.

We walked around TJ, ended up in Rosarito Beach, suddenly in the dark, tired, and starving. We ended up camping out there (in a hotel--Princess doesn't sleep on the beach with horse poo) overnight, as there was NO way we were going to make the journey back to TJ in the dark, cross the border on foot, and then drive 2 1/2 hours back to LA. It was quite an adventure, I have to say--and completely unplanned, as I suppose most "adventures" are. =)

It was a good idea of his, and it actually turned out to be the highlight of my trip home. I love to travel (understatement of the year) so a trip-within-a-trip was a extra pleasant surprise. Kudos, Jirka!

AND THE REST

It was really good to see ALL the people that I saw. Sorry to those of you that I missed! If I didn't see you, please don't take it personally. Remember, everything was at random, as I said above.

Christmas with the family was nice. GOOD FOOD! Laughs, Football, Basketball. It was great. (I guess I will be watching more sports when I go home; I now know I miss them.) I got to see some new family members (recent wedding) and discovered that there are a bunch who are about to move away, so I found out I will have to start visiting Texas in order to see them again anytime soon.

New Year's Eve was mellow, but also fab. Spent a glorious day shopping and taking care of last minute business. Didn't do everything as I wanted, but I was very satisfied with what I DID manage to do. Left a bit of a mess in my cousin's place (all my trash--that is, empty shopping bags); already apologized. She said she didn't mind, so a BIG THANK YOU for putting me up and putting up with me, Combe!

Spent the evening with friends (Carye, Hugh, Jiri, Denisa, Honey, and Adelka). Take out from Buca di Beppo--niiice. Watched TV, played games...pleasant evening. I just realized I DO have a picture! (Thanks, Denisa!) Maybe I will put it here!


Me and Jiri 12/31/05

Well, that was about it. The next day I left LA for CZ. Although I was glad to come back, it was still kind of sad to leave LA. It was like something out of a novel or movie; it even started to rain, which only contributed to the dismal atmosphere. Now I am here. Home in Zatec. It has taken me a little time to get back on track (with the blog), but I hope to be writing more, both on and off of the blog. Hope somebody besides me finds it interesting.

Cheers, and Happy New Year to all. May 2006 be the best year ever!! To New adventures and Fantastic Firsts!!

KM