Spring Break...Part 2

I'm alive!! Its a good thing, given that I was throwing myself down mountains all weekend with flat things strapped to my feet. Yep, that's right, skiing. Thursday morning I was back on the road out of Trutnov, headed towards Pec Pod Snezkou. There, I joined my first host family again. They have already been so generous and kind, I am so lucky to be able to be a part of that family. For an hour and a half in the morning, I was introduced to my instructor and fitted for boots, skiis, and poles. In a little open area off of the bunny slope, I learned the basics of putting on the skiis, going downhill, and stopping. Then, I hit the bunny slope, surrounded by lots of little kids and supervising parents. After a quick lesson on stopping, it was lunch time. In the afternoon, I learned some basic turning and had more practicing. IN the late afternoon, I rested and watched Harry Potter with Misa. Dinner was at the hotel, and I spent the evening with Katka and some of her friends. Friday morning, I learned more turning, and had more stopping practice. Stopping was not one of my strong points, as I found out when I ran into random Czechs at the bottom of the little slope. That afternoon, we moved to a slightly bigger slope and worked at higher speeds and steeper slopes. I also worked more on getting up when I fell. Dinner was also at the hotel and I spent the evening with the family in the cocktail bar, where all us kids had our refreshing virgin mojitos, even Misa. Saturday was my big day. I was all suited up and ready to go at 9:00, when I caught the ski bus with my instructor. we went to a Blue slope (the easiest of the colors) and ran down it for most of the morning. Right before lunch, we also went down a red slope, the medium difficulty. After a quick lunch of Mexican food (yum), we went back to the blue slope for a few hours. To reward ourselves for hard work, my teacher suggested ice cream, and I agreed. Unfortunately, the cafe was halfway down another red slope, I though I was going to punge to the bottom the entire way. I went at a snail's pace, much to the frustration of people wizzing past me. Boy was I happy to be at the bottom a little while later. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching more movies with Misa and nursing my sore limbs. 6 hours of skiing left me in a bit of pain.... I went to sleep early that night, after dinner and tea at the hotel. Sunday was a laid back day. I went swimming with Katka, Misa, and Karel (my host sisters and dad), then had breakfast, packed, and read a while. After lunch, I waited on Karel to finish up some work, then we returned to Trutnov and I had a nice evening relaxing with my current host family.

Spring Break...Part 1

The road goes ever on and on.... Yep, I do love my Lord of the Rings quotes. Well, anyway... I've had a fun past 2 weeks. On Jan. 26th, I went to Prague. In the morning, I hung out with two of my fellow students who were there for a few days, but in the afternoon, I went to the airport to pick up Colin. That's right, my REAL brother. I had heard from other Rotary students that it can be awkward to see family member while on exchange, but it was just wonderful to spend time with my brother. The first weekend he was here, we went to Hradec Kralove to celebrate my host mother's sister's birthday (my host aunt, I guess). We saw the historic town center, and went to the movies to see Blond Diamond. On Sunday, we had a day to play in the snow (almost a metre), go sledding, and have warm drinks at a local pub. It was funny to hear my host mom call him Japanese because he took so many pictures. On Monday, he went to school with me for an hour (it was English class), then I put him on the train to Prague. He spent 3.5 days there, while I had a 4 day week at school.

Last Friday, I was back in Prague, picked up Colin, and we continued to South Bohemia. Our train made a stop in Ceske Budejovice, where we had a quick lunch with other exchange students, then we continued to Cesky Krumlov. We checked into the hostel, the met yet another student for dinner. At night, we made a quick loop around town, then went back to the hostel for more catch-up time and watched The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. There's nothing like a movie about Australian drag queens !! Saturday was our day to be tourists. Unfortunately, the town really closes down in winter. There were no tours in the castle, the museum was closed, and the town seemed dead. We still looked in the local church, walked through the grounds of the castle, went to the local brewery for lunch, then had coffee and looked in a little bookstore for a while. In the evening, I left Colin alone for some down time, and went back to Ceske Budejovice. That night was a Rotary ball, and other students had invited me to go. It was a fun event, with friends, dancing demonstrations, a live orchestra, and free dinner. I left about 10:15 to catch a train back to Cesky Krumlov. 2 people had told me to take the 10:41 train, so I did. Unfortunately, the ticket man looked at me like I had sprouted another head when I asked for a ticket there. The train didn't go to Cesky Krumlov! So, I ended up at a station near C.B., with a station operator who at first thought I was Russian. She was really nice, and called me a taxi. I got back to town with no more problems, but I was glad that my little adventure was over. On Sunday, Colin and I took a bus back to Prague, got his luggage, and parted ways. I then rode a train back to Hradec Kralove, where my host uncle met me at the station.

Sunday night was with my host aunt, uncle, and cousins. We had a very Czech dish of raw ground beef on toast for dinner, then watched t.v. and planned a trip to the theater. Monday morning, I went to school with Mychal, my host cousin. It was a fun and interesting experience, and I made some more friends. The classes were Biology, Physics, Math, English (2), and some sort of critical thinking class. We even had a fire drill! In the afternoon, I went over the my host grandma's apartment. She will be referred to as Babička from now on. We went on a walk around the neighborhood with her dog, Katka. In the evening, it was more t.v. (Lost! Dubbed in Czech, of course). Tuesday morning was also early. I went to a children's theatre with my host uncle and great-uncle. We had to talk our way in, because the show was supposed to be only for a private school group. But, in the end, we got in and had a private tour of the behind-the-scenes. Very interesting!! The play was definitely for little kids, but that was good for me because I could follow along and understand most of what was said. Then I walked around the old town with the great uncle, who is a great guy who lives part-time in Sweden. We love to swap stories about the country. He also decided to come to Arkansas right away when I told him we have a rodeo, live country music, and that Johnny Cash was born there. After lunch, Babička and I went on a LONG walk to some little food stores and the supermarket. I was on dog-duty, so I stood outside with Katka as she bought the food. In the evening, it was more t.v., Czech soap opera and CSI: Miami. This morning was a lazy morning, with reading and writing in my journal. My host mom picked me up in the afternoon and now I'm back in Trutnov. Tomorrow, I head to the mountains for skiing!!!!