Oh yeah, so I'm leaving ...

In all the hoopla planning for Laura's arrival and participating in Laura's arrival and teaching a few classes a week at Oxford, I've forgotten to mention something on here.

I'm leaving Prague next week. And going home.

Yes, I'm nearing the end of my tourist visa and the job hunt has continued to be fruitless for me and every other American I know in Prague. I'm also not too keen on staying here illegally. On top of that, most schools are asking us to put in our resumes now for the fall semester when, they (and we) hope, the Czech Republic will start allowing visa applications through again. That's not until September. Most, if not all, schools here say that's when they'll start hiring again.

I bought a ticket home. A round-trip ticket. It has me returning to Prague in late August, so I'll fulfill my obligation to stay out of the Schengen zone for 90 days. I hope by then to have secured some kind of job offer and it will likely be easier for me to work out the logistics of a work visa from my home country than while floating in a neighboring country outside the Czech Republic.

I have a lot of people offering advice and trying to talk me down different paths and toward teaching opportunities in different countries. It's made for a lot of options to drink in during such chaotic last days here. That's why I'm really looking forward to going home and stepping out of it for a while. Grounding myself again and really taking the time to do the research, think things through and prepare myself without all the distractions here — hanging out in Prague with a bunch of other people who don't have full-time jobs and are just looking for ways to pass the time.

Which is not to say I haven't been enjoying myself. Oh God, I have. And which is also not to say I haven't been productive. If anything, teaching at Oxford these last few weeks has showed me that I really do enjoy working with students, developing lesson plans and helping them with their English. I want to continue to improve as a teacher. I want to do this full time.

Now we just have to hope those options will be available at the end of the summer. From what many people have been telling me, they will. Fingers crossed, and all that.