I FOUND A GYM

That's about it I'm afraid.  Just to add: It's fully functioning and clean with body work classes and I'm definitely not going to be able to walk tomorrow.  *Thanks Czech lady*

Actually, funny story.  I saw her in the locker room and said, "Great class!" She looks at me and says, "You know, I won't be teaching in English." I laughed. Duh, I thought to myself, I'm not in America.  But I said it was fine because I'm used to classes from back home.  To be honest, I had no idea what was going on.  I had to look at my friend who told me about the gym in the first place. Oops.

Anyway, everything is so FANTASTIC! (For a Monday people) And I start my second day of training for my second job...Ya second job.  Teaching is wonderful, but I need to pay my bills!


:)

That Time I Was Homeless and Had a Job

Remember that short period of time when I was homeless? Ya that was like yesterday.  GREAT NEWS: Finally moved into our wonderful, huge apartment in Prague. Ugh, the last few weeks were relatively stressful.  I arrived in Prague on September 4, (yesterday was the 19th btw) and we finally have our own place.

Just a little background for those of you are like WUT.  My roommate came to Prague end of August, she had been traveling slash couch hoping since June. I know.  Anyway, up until yesterday we were basically homeless.  One of our friends graciously let us stay at his place for a few days before we moved in, saving us some $$$ or Czech Crowns to be specific. Long story short: in order for us to move in, we needed a co-signer on our electricity bills.  They don't allow Americans to be on the accounts.  So just to clear that up, it seemed like that was NEVER going to happen.  Then a miracle happened and one of my co-workers said sure, I'll sign for you.  A literal life-saver and the best human ever.  Gotta love the English! So we finally figured that out.

But before she signed, I thought I had explained everything to my Czech friend to be our co-signer.  Unfortunately, the language barrier was quite large and she said she couldn't.  Naturally, I was so frustrated and the landlord said we couldn't move in until the 25th.  Like Wuh? I cried and it was like I was living in a movie from Hell.  The week itself was all ready difficult, then added the extra stress.

In conclusion, our landlord felt bad and called me the next day saying that if we got a co-signer on Wednesday we could move in Thursday.  I immediately called my English friend and she said yup! So thank god that was taken care of :)

Now on to the teaching part! (Obviously the most important part)  I finally started teaching on Monday!  Let me tell you, this week was so rough trying to figure everything out.  I think I definitely need to learn Czech... BUT I had a nice Czech lady show me around to all my schools.  By the way, I taught at  6 different schools and had almost 5 or more lessons a day.  My Monday consisted of 3 25min lessons with 3 year olds.  They were so cute.  One class had one kid who wouldn't stop punching himself and spitting, but that's besides the point I guess. The rest of the lessons went totally fine.  My Tuesdays and Wednesdays are nice.  I teach 5 45min classes in the mornings with 6-8 year olds.  Those classes are a little bit less stressful because they understand me a bit more.  Also, there must be a God because my work didn't give me classes on Fridays, YAY! (Can you say second job?) Yea, I'm going to be a bar crawl promoter on the side, no biggy.  I need the extra cash 'round here!

All in all, it was definitely a stressful week, but I've been trying to focus on the good rather than the bad.  I knew EVERYTHING would work out so I was focusing on the fact I was moving into a great apartment soon! Thanks Petr.

I feel like I'm officially Czech as well now too, I got my payment card from my Czech bank! No more converting from Dollars to Crowns.  Ugh so tedious.

As I have my second glass of wine, I am still in awe of how lucky I am to have this experience and opportunity.  Granted, I'm referring to the free wine nights on Fridays and Saturdays here, but hey, the teaching is cool too ;).  I'd like to point out that the night life is pretty great.  Any one want to visit? My door is always open! I mean if I know you of course...

xoxo

Beer is Cheaper than Water

How could you say no to this?!

This last week has been such a roller coaster.  The week before I got to Prague was even more crazy.  I quit my job about 10 days before I departed the country for 12 months or more, and let me tell you, packing for that amount of time is so difficult.  I think in total, I got rid of 4 bags of clothes/shoes and 3 bags of trash.  Boy did I collect a lot of crap.  Finally, 2 giant suitcases, a large backpack and a carryon later, I made it to JFK to board my first flight to London.  If any of you know me at all, you know that was going to be my favorite part.  Unfortunately, I only had a chance to run to my connecting flight miles away in the Heathrow airport.  1hr 45min is NOT enough time for a connection British Airways. But luckily, I made it in time.  *Side note: I slept basically the entire time on my flight from NYC to London, it was like magic. *

Upon arriving at the Prague airport, naturally I was so confused.  Clearly I speak no Czech, and no I didn't learn anything before coming.  Sorry Mom.  My then future roommate gave me pretty detailed directions to get to the hostel so that was so helpful.  Luckily, I was in no hurry to get there so I just made sure I was going the right way and followed the directions to a T.  I had to lug all my luggage onto a bus, then the metro, then to the hostel. But hey, I made it alive without getting lost! Everyone should be so proud.  I mean I am good with directions so I'm not surprised I made it out alive.

After getting to the hostel, I settled in a bit and Poppy(the girl I'm living with) got back from work and we went to see an apartment.  It didn't work out :( but it's ok, better news is coming up! After, I had my first Czech meal.  It's a lot of meat and potatoes, so it's definitely not an everyday thing.  By the time that ended, I was falling asleep at dinner, clearly I needed some sleep.

The next day, I slept until 2pm and then met Poppy to open a Czech bank account; I didn't open mine until Thursday.  It feels so official with a bank account now.  But our main concern was the apartment still.  Also did I mention that beer is cheaper than water? Hence the title.  It's insane, people told me that was true, but I didn't believe them until now.  We went out for the first time on Friday with my friend Bara, whom I met at SFC; she's Czech.  It was tons of fun.

Saturday was such a nice day as well.  Poppy and I walked up to Petrin Hill, which is a giant park near Prague Castle and a mini Eiffel Tower that France gave to the CR, why, I'm not sure yet but I will find out.  Anywho, it was worth the sweat and pain to climb that hill, the view was PHENOMENAL(pics later if I must). Later that night we weren't planning on going out, but the bar downstairs had free wine from 10-12.  Need I say more.  Some how we ended up on a bar crawl, so you all can use your imagination after that.

Sunday was the day we thought was the day we finally got an apartment.  But negative ghost rider, it was a poop-hole and over-priced.  Sad day.  BUT I got over it because the next day I finally started training for work! The whole reason I came here was to teach and I couldn't wait.

Monday was really interesting. We had a 9-5pm training session and I met other teachers from other regions, meaning they're not teaching in Prague, they'll be all over.  I really wanted to work in Prague so I pushed for it a bit harder.  Love it so far.  The guy who owns Wattsenglish trained us for the day and he's a very interesting man, but their methodology is very clear and I'm excited to use their materials and teach little kids.

I actually had to go to one of the schools I have to teach yesterday and met the director.  They don't want me to use the WE materials, which is ok.  At least I was able to see the school and the area I will be teaching a couple times a week. By the time this school year is over, I'm going to be a pro at public transportation in Prague.  Watch out y'all!

It still amazes me how so many series of events led me to this place at this time in my life. I still can't believe it, it is literally a dream come true! People dream of traveling and living as I do all their life, and now it IS my life.

Sorry mom, I don't know when I'll be back.

For now, I'm just living day by day and having a F**KING FABULOUS TIME. Till next time!

XOXO gossip girl (jk that's not really me.)

To Whom it May Concern:

It's that time of year again-Paige is in Europe. Again.  This time, it's going to be longer than 3 months.  Potentially 2 or more.  Who knows, I'm in love all ready.

Just a little background on why I am now in Prague:

Upon graduation, I was so lost and confused on what to decide I should do after.  Like many people after graduation, I could have gotten a job doing some sort of business whatever.  But my passion is not business.  I knew if I got into that field I would never leave and I wouldn't be happy.  Naturally, I freaked out.  Of course not knowing what you want to do for the rest of your life was one thing, but as my surgery was also approaching, I was a hot freakin' mess.  This summer was going to be a tough road and I knew it.

Myself and stress are...enemies. We do not get a long.  A week before my surgery(12 week recovery by the way), I talked to a friend who was looking into getting his TEFL/TESOL Certification.  For those of you who aren't aware it means teaching English as a foreign language.  After speaking with him and doing A LOT of research, I signed up for my course that took place all summer until the middle of August.  I finally had a plan and a path to go down.  Unfortunately, the summer was not going to be easy.  At first, I wasn't sure where I wanted to teach, I had so many options.  As my recovery and rehab continued through the summer, and my summer hostessing job, I decided on Prague.  Why you may ask? Honestly, I'm really not sure.  Throughout my lifetime of traveling (LOL because I'm only 22), I had yet to step foot in the Czech Republic.  So many of my friends and colleagues had told me it was a beautiful and wonderful city.  Obviously I did a bunch of research and made up my mind.  In early July, I booked my ticket.  Spontaneous I know.  But hey, it was one of the BEST decisions I've ever made.

After finishing up my course, I took an extra couple of weeks of young learners English and business English.  That's when I knew I wanted to teach young children in Prague.  After applying to many different schools, I was hired at Wattsenglish Ltd. It was one of my first choice schools and I was hired! Yes, I was heading to Prague with no apartment or job, so.  I was confident enough, I knew things were going to work out just fine.  After getting the job, I focused on getting the apartment.  I actually met a girl through my TEFL program and found out she was also going to Prague so we decided we were going to be roommates.  She was doing a lot of work trying to find apartments before I came, bless her(it was very difficult), all while living in a hostel.  Which, by the way, we are still doing. Anyway, after arriving in Prague last Wednesday, we've been looking at some places and FINALLY found one! We're hoping to move in next week.  Pictures will come later! Thank goodness we won't have to live in the hostel for much longer.  But it's not terrible, I'd just like to cook my own meals.

Another post will be up soon about this last week and training for Watts.

xoxo