Dobre den

Hello, from Praha! My apologies for the delay in writing this. The ethernet connection in our flat isn't working (they promise to fix it soon) and the wireless connection is hit or miss. 

Flights went well, mostly. The audio on my TV did not work, so I had to make up words to "Rachel Getting Married" and "Burn After Reading." I got into Prague around 11 a.m., checked out my hotel and then spent the day walking around the Old Town. Saturday, I moved down the block to the flat that will be my home for the next month.

I am writing this from my room on the third floor of a building down a narrow, cobblestone street just a few blocks from Staromestske namesti (Old Town Square). You can see one of the churches on the square in the second picture. The first is Charles Bridge with the Royal Palace and St. Vitus Cathedral up on the hill behind it.

The weather is cold, somewhere in the 30s but I haven't kept track. All I know is I've been living in my double-breasted coat, scarf, hat and gloves every day. 

I'm staying in the flat with three other guys. One's from England/South Africa, another's from "The O.C." (by that, I mean, the show :) ) and the other is from Houston. No lie. Houston. He even went to UNO for two semesters. Weird.

Besides us, there are three girls in the course. They are from New York, San Diego and Slovakia. So we're seven total, which is nice. Everyone's really cool and most are around my age. We get along well and have spent nearly every night together walking from pub to pub drinking the really good, really cheap Czech beer. You pay the equivalent of about a buck-fifty for a huge pint. For realz.

We had our first day of school today, and it seemed to fly by. That is also nice. Afterward, the teachers and staff took us to a cool, local pub and paid for all our beers. I think I've been drinking more beer than water, here. It is cheaper, though ...

On Thursday, I'll be teaching for 25 minutes in front of a class of mostly Czech students. Jeez, we jumped into this! Pray for me that it goes well!

My room has a quasi-balcony. By that, I mean I have these huge double doors that open and then there's a railing behind it. I can open it up and look out to the street below. Across from me are some old, old apartments with ornate designs and even a statue. Hard to explain, but I'll post some more pictures next time.

Now, I have to do some homework and go to bed. It's 1:13 a.m. right now.

Na shledanou (good-bye)!