Tuesday, October 31, 2006
The newest adventures...
And these most recent pictures are from two main events. The first you will see as you scroll down are a lot of pictures of Zach and I. Well last Thurs. and Fri. was our fall break, giving us a little bit of time to do some traveling. We decided to see some domestic sights that we hadn't experienced yet. First we drove down to Cesky Budejovice with Pavla who was going down to see some friends. We met up with a friend of hers, Mira, who acted as our host and guide throughout our day or so in the city. He was a great host and took us to see all the important things, like the Budvar brewery and the center square. We left there on Friday afternoon and traveled to Plzen where we spent the next day. There we were able to see a muzeum and yet another brewery (hey, this is the Czech Republic). This was the legendary Pilsner Urquell brewery. So after that on Saturday evening we headed back over to Prague and had dinner with two other ESI teachers in CZ, Andrew and Elanor, who had just gotten engaged at the beginning of the fall break.
The second event chronicled in this section is my parachuting experience. Last year Lucie (a student) and I made a deal that if I would come back for a second year we would go parachuting. Well, nothing was mentioned of it at the beginning of the year. The week before last was Lucie's birthday and she called us that evening (Wednesday) asking if we wanted to go make a jump that weekend. As a present her parents had gotten her one jump. So after much discussion it was decided that Lucie, me, Ben, and Ondra would jump on Sunday morning. The weather was beautiful that Sunday, so all four of us jumped out of a plane at an altitude of 4km. Quite an experience, hard to describe. I would recommend it to anyone. Well maybe not anyone, but if you are able to, it's great. I was really only scared when I made the initial jump out of the plane. It was kind of like jumping into a cold muddy lake, you don't quite know what it's going to be like, but you know you are going to do it anyways. Or maybe it's nothing like that. But it sure was cold.
The second event chronicled in this section is my parachuting experience. Last year Lucie (a student) and I made a deal that if I would come back for a second year we would go parachuting. Well, nothing was mentioned of it at the beginning of the year. The week before last was Lucie's birthday and she called us that evening (Wednesday) asking if we wanted to go make a jump that weekend. As a present her parents had gotten her one jump. So after much discussion it was decided that Lucie, me, Ben, and Ondra would jump on Sunday morning. The weather was beautiful that Sunday, so all four of us jumped out of a plane at an altitude of 4km. Quite an experience, hard to describe. I would recommend it to anyone. Well maybe not anyone, but if you are able to, it's great. I was really only scared when I made the initial jump out of the plane. It was kind of like jumping into a cold muddy lake, you don't quite know what it's going to be like, but you know you are going to do it anyways. Or maybe it's nothing like that. But it sure was cold.
Day, above the square in C. Budejovice. We climbed a nearby tower and got a pretty great view. 
Night at the square in C. Budejovice. Mira, our host, is on the left. 
After climbing through the metal hole. Supposedly it's tradition for all newcomers to Cesky Budejovice to climb through this. 
Plaque in Plzen thanking America for it's liberation in WWII. 
After the jump, by the landing spot, still a bit gitty from excitement. 
The sizes of notebooks possible among students in the Czech Republic. It's Autumn!
To explain some pictures below. Well, we had a string of visitors come down to Pribram. A friend of ours, Jon, who taught with ESI in China last year came to visit us in CZ for an extended weekend. After meeting him up in Prague for a couple days he came on down to experience Pribram. It was a lot of fun having him around, and I let him teach one of my classes, so less work for me! I think the students enjoyed talking with him, I know I sure did! The other visitor shown here is Liz, a friend of Amy's. We met Liz up in Prague for what was only supposed to be a dinner visit. But one thing led to another and before we knew it she was coming down to Pribram to help teach classes the next day, which she did and she did a wonderful job. Also there are some pictures here from a school trip Ben and I went on to the Prague Zoo and Botanical Gardens.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Jon helping to teach my 4.C class, answering some questions. 
At Lucie's birthday party. Lucie is in blue shirt second from L. 
