My Pictures From the First Week

http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k199/b_dixon06-07/

My new photo album!!

Historical Adventures

I just figured out how to connect my camera to this computer. Yay!!! Now I can share my pictures, not just things from the web. Well, this week has been pretty quiet. I met Katka, my 14 year old sister. We have a lot of things in common, including movie/tv preferences. CSI in Czech will take some getting used to, but at least the show is on the air here. A couple days ago we went to Konopiště, the home of Franz Ferdinand. He was the archduke whose assasination helped to spark WWI. It was beautiful, but inside was decorated with too many dead animals for my taste. This morning I went to my new school with my host father to work out classes. We met with the headmaster and a few other people who could speak English. I will take 6 classes, 45 mintues each. The administrator are currently choosing which classes are best for me, and I don't know specifically what classes I will be in. I asked for French, music, English, Czech, history, math, and science. The language camp through Rotary starts on Saturday. It will be nice to learn Czech with other English speakers. I have not had a conversation with advanced words for almost three weeks. I have to use simpler words with my new friends and family, but that doesn't bother me.

The Trutnov Rotary Club

My club is wonderful. I went to a garden party with the rotarians and their wives yesterday for dinner. My host father and I walked down to the house, near the downtown square. The club has about 20 active members, and about 12-15 come to each event. Women are not allowed to be members in many European countries, including the Czech Republic. This was a special event in which they were included. When we first got there, I was introduced to each member one by one. It seemed like they spoke almost no English. Over the course of the evening, I found that many knew more than they gave themselves credit for. One couple was originally Dutch, by had a house in Trutnov. The man could speak Dutch, German, a little French, a little Italian, a little Russian, and Czech. He said that most people in Holland were at least tri-lingual. The exchange organizer spoke very good english, and we had a good conversation. We talked about my interest in music, and he said that he might be able to arrange for me to play trombone after high-school in the local art school. Ask and you shall recieve, if it is possible. My counsilor was late, but he has a week-old son in his life right now. The son was even born on my dad's birthday!! My counsilor and I will spend the day together on Thursday.
The music festival is over, there was a mass exodus of young bohemians from the city yesterday. It looked like a huge group of extras from the cast of Rent (the musical). Town is now much quieter. I have had a chance to see a little bit of it, and it is very quant (in a good way.)
I saw the hotel where my host father works. Hotel Horizont is about 20 km away from Trutnov, in the winer resort town Pec Ped "Something". Search it on google if you have time.

My new home

Well, I finally arrived in Trutnov. I am staying in Karel's room, as he is in Tulsa for the year. This guy has a PIMPED OUT computer!!! You can see inside the CPU, there are blue lights, and there are car-like gauges on the cover of the CPU. It is amazing. Anyway, about the room. The windows are open right now, and I have a gorgous view of the bohemian countryside. Current bohemian rock music is drifting in through the window because the local music festival is currently finishing up. The house is covered in pine furnishing, and smells fresh. There even seems to be a small swimming pool in the backyard. wow. The hotel I have been at for the past 5 days was also breathtaking. Please visit the website on the previous post. One guest looked like the star from High School Musical. I have pictures. There were buff, tan, lean Czech teenage guys playing volleyball on the beach. No, I didn't talk to them. The simple fact that I don't speak the language can get in the way. I went on a 18 mile mountain bike TREK the other day. I have never hauled myself over such steep hills on a bike. I'm the person that gets off and walks. Europeans don't do that kind of stuff. They put the bike on a lower gear, then keep on going. Yesterday we visited a castle that was over 700 years old. It was rainy, so the views were a little more limited, but on a good day, you can see Prague from the top.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.zamky-hrady.cz/2/img/bezdez_let.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.zamky-hrady.cz/2/bezdez-e.htm&h=315&w=500&sz=35&hl=en&start=13&tbnid=PX1ZLOoMwbdM6M:&tbnh=82&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbezdez%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN"><

This is one thing that made me fall in love with the Czech Republic. There are no REAL castles in the U.S.A.

Arrival

I safely arrived in Prague Yesterday at 13:20. My host father met me at the airport and we imediately went to Micha Lake, about an hour away. My host mother and youngest sister arrived at the hotel later, when my father, Karel, and I were in the middle of lunch. We are staying at the Hotel Port. It is beautiful here. This morning I went on a boat tour of the lake on an old boat, then walked two kilometers to a beach. After lunch, I joined my host mother, my youngest host sister (Miša), and a family friend as they went into the near-by town. I got to see the friend"s house, which was a treat. This trip took the rest of the afternoon. I just finished dinner, and jetlag is really catching up to me. More later.

Last minute preparations

I finally have my visa. The application was sent to the consulate in June, and when I called in July, the people said that there was no way that the visa would be ready before September. Well...When my host father pulled some strings in the town, the process started to go faster. I sent my passport to the consulate early this week, and it will return any day now. A word to the wise: Always give yourself plenty of time to get your visa and passport. It takes a long time. Now I am packing, there are piles of clothes and other things all over the floor of my room. I bough a HUGE suitcase, but I think that most of it will be full. My host brother is going to be in a town two hours away for his exchange, and he arrives tomorrow!! Mom, Dad, and I have plans to go and meet him for lunch this weekend. It will be exciting to meet a member of my new family. They have been in email communication with me, and they sound like the ideal family. As soon as I get into the country, we are going on a holiday to a lake. The email said that some activities there are sailing, cycling, and visiting castles. It was the castles that made me the most excited. Today, Mom and I went shopping for gift for my new family members. It was hard to shop for two sisters, given that I have no idea about the like of European 4 and 14 year-olds. The best thing about this week, is that I finally saw the person who inspired my interest in the Czech Republic. My 7th Grade English teacher was at the bookstore when I was there the other night. She made us read a few books about the former Czechoslovakia when I was in her class. The books sparked my interest, and now it is going to be my home for a year. When she heard this, she said it made her night. Seeing her made my night as well. My favorite book was Stones in Water I leave on Monday, so now I mainly need to put everything into the suitcase. Until then, I'm just spending time with friends and family.