Monday, February 20, 2006
Lost in the Great White Open
The snow has melted, but I don't think that it is Spring just yet. Work is going well, I'm working with the theater a lot. I really enjoy entertaining the kids and meeting them after wards. Many of them are so excited to meet a foreigner and practice their English! Some of the laws over here are a bit strange. For example, sometimes the actors are given some small gift by the school. After one performance a teacher and a 10 year-old boy came up to me, and after encouragement from the teacher, the boy gave me a bottle of beer. It was no big deal until I thought about it later. If I were in the States, I would be arrested for having alcohol on school grounds, the child would be suspended or expelled, and the teacher would be fired. Vive le difference.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go home for Christmas, but I made the most of it here. One of my students invited me over to her house for Christmas so I was well taken care of. We took a walk in the mountains nearby and then stayed up late speaking of Czech-American relations. Between Christmas and New Year's I went to Slovakia by myself and had a great time. I didn't have any solid plans, I just kind of went. I stayed in Bratislava in the capital for a night and then did some research online and found a family in the Tatra mountains that had an open room. So I got on a train and got as close as 7 miles to the small village. It was dark and cold and I don't speak Slovakian, but I was able to run into a young Slovakian who helped me find my way to this town, Hrabusice. I arrived and the family didn't know I was coming because they didn't check their email that day. But they were so welcoming and quickly made a bed and made some tea and welcomed me into their home. Their son helped me plan a trip to go skiing the next day in the High Tatra Mountains. It was so beautiful! Such a great experience, but unfortunately had no one to share it with. The day after, the son took me on a nature walk into the Slovakian National Forest. The only problem was that there was about three feet of snow on the ground! It was amazing! I've never been completey surrounded by so much snow. There was no escaping it. We walked on a frozen riverbed and I could see fish swimming below the ice. It wasn't completely frozen and my foot broke through. So then I HAD to keep walking because if I didn't I'd get frostbite. We walked for a couple more hours and visited an old monastery from the 13th century. Eastern Orthodox Christians. And very strict. Vegetarians, couldn't share food from their personal garden between themselves, white robes, completely cloistered, with a vow of silence. The only words they could speak to each other was to and from the altar of worship: "Remember one day that you will die." They're Hearty! They were eventually run out by the Hussites, I think. But there is still a group of them in Austria.
I returned to Prague after a 12 hour train ride where I met some Slovakian students. We drank and smoked on the train in the wee hours of the morning, until they got off. Then at 5 am the train broke down and everyone had to walk in the cold and snow to the next town to wait for the next train. So I finally got home at 8am on New Year's Eve, slept for a good 10 hours and woke up in time to celebrate with a million of my closest friends. There is something incredibly liberating about being in a crowd of people and not having the ability to make a decision about where you are going next. No decision, no guilt! Anyway, I think I made up for not being in the States for the holidays, although I miss everyone terribly.
I'll be going to Austria with the theater in a couple of weeks and I think I might be going to France in March. Its pretty nice that I get paid vacations. :) I'm also going to Holland in March for a concert and to visit Roy Dalati, who lives in Rotterdam. Then, I'll be back in the States to visit in May. Somebody better come back dead from 175th.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go home for Christmas, but I made the most of it here. One of my students invited me over to her house for Christmas so I was well taken care of. We took a walk in the mountains nearby and then stayed up late speaking of Czech-American relations. Between Christmas and New Year's I went to Slovakia by myself and had a great time. I didn't have any solid plans, I just kind of went. I stayed in Bratislava in the capital for a night and then did some research online and found a family in the Tatra mountains that had an open room. So I got on a train and got as close as 7 miles to the small village. It was dark and cold and I don't speak Slovakian, but I was able to run into a young Slovakian who helped me find my way to this town, Hrabusice. I arrived and the family didn't know I was coming because they didn't check their email that day. But they were so welcoming and quickly made a bed and made some tea and welcomed me into their home. Their son helped me plan a trip to go skiing the next day in the High Tatra Mountains. It was so beautiful! Such a great experience, but unfortunately had no one to share it with. The day after, the son took me on a nature walk into the Slovakian National Forest. The only problem was that there was about three feet of snow on the ground! It was amazing! I've never been completey surrounded by so much snow. There was no escaping it. We walked on a frozen riverbed and I could see fish swimming below the ice. It wasn't completely frozen and my foot broke through. So then I HAD to keep walking because if I didn't I'd get frostbite. We walked for a couple more hours and visited an old monastery from the 13th century. Eastern Orthodox Christians. And very strict. Vegetarians, couldn't share food from their personal garden between themselves, white robes, completely cloistered, with a vow of silence. The only words they could speak to each other was to and from the altar of worship: "Remember one day that you will die." They're Hearty! They were eventually run out by the Hussites, I think. But there is still a group of them in Austria.
I returned to Prague after a 12 hour train ride where I met some Slovakian students. We drank and smoked on the train in the wee hours of the morning, until they got off. Then at 5 am the train broke down and everyone had to walk in the cold and snow to the next town to wait for the next train. So I finally got home at 8am on New Year's Eve, slept for a good 10 hours and woke up in time to celebrate with a million of my closest friends. There is something incredibly liberating about being in a crowd of people and not having the ability to make a decision about where you are going next. No decision, no guilt! Anyway, I think I made up for not being in the States for the holidays, although I miss everyone terribly.
I'll be going to Austria with the theater in a couple of weeks and I think I might be going to France in March. Its pretty nice that I get paid vacations. :) I'm also going to Holland in March for a concert and to visit Roy Dalati, who lives in Rotterdam. Then, I'll be back in the States to visit in May. Somebody better come back dead from 175th.
