Czeching in...

I think by now it should be quite apparent that I will be using the word Czech in as many punny ways as I can. For that I make no apology. Puns are there for the taking.

It has been a couple of weeks since I started this blog. I had such grand ideas and high hopes...yet it didn't take long for the neglect to set in. For that I do make apology. I could list a hundred excuses, a hundred reasons why, and make a hundred apologies. I won't though. Suffice it to say, I was busy, and playing host. 

I guess the biggest news is I moved house. I spent just under three weeks living above Mundos, and was glad to leave (for the more astute of you readers, that gives some clue as to where I work). Don't get me wrong, my room was nice. En-suite, large bed, lots of space. What more could I want? How about plates and cutlery? Rumour has it a former resident of the hotel (technically former hotel) made off with a lot of the kitchenware upon moving out. Rumour, however, can't be relied on or used as evidence. It grew very wearisome having to wash up a bowl everytime I wanted breakfast. This doesn't even take into account those days where I shimmied on downstairs to the kitchen, fetched the milk from the fridge and the bag of cereal from the cupboard only to be confronted by a distinct lack of bowls, clean or no. I am not ashamed to admit to having resorted to washing up an empty Häagen-Dazs tub and using it in place of a bowl. It wasn't glamourous by any stretch of the imagination, but by golly it got the job done.

That isn't to say that moving into my new place has been without its problems. It has been recently refurbished, the rent is about 2,000 crowns cheaper, but it lacks a few things. Furniture for one. I mean, yes, I have a bed, desk, clothes hanging rack, bedside table, and chest of drawers. But in the living space, there is nothing. A table and chairs (two of which have been commandeered to serve as desk chairs), an ironing board, and an iron. That is it. No sofa. The room just looks empty. We also have no mirror. I actually had to get Mathilde to finish shaving me last time I shaved. One colleague shaves in the lift on the way to work. Now, we have been reliably informed that we will all be getting mirrors, the only question is when. Until then I will make do with my small mirror from Tesco (yes, we have Tesco here) that fell apart when I dropped it on the floor. 

We do, however, have really nice knives, plates, forks, tea spoons, cups, mugs, saucers and small plates. However, upon breaking my fast the first morning here (Saturday August 3rd) I had flashbacks of the not so distant past, pacnicking whilst coming to the realisation that I would need to eat my cereal in one of those strange deep plates that isn't quite a plate, but definitely isn't a bowl either. I remedied this situation as soon as I possibly could. 

But, all in all, I am pleased with the new place. It is really nice, closer to Tesco, closer to work, closer to the station, and closer to the kebab shop. The kebabs here are comparable to those of Germany. They will do the job, and are certainly far superior to the garbage they serve us in the UK. 

I feel like posting some pictures now. As I said, I was amazed to find Tesco here. But it is a welcome sight. There are also a few other familiar faces around who I never would have expected here, Billa and Pennymarkt! I expect to see Lidl everywhere, but Billa? No.

Love it.

My old Austrian friend! It has been too long!

So much has happened in the past two weeks, I don't feel like putting it all in one blog entry, or doing it all tonight. I have studying to be getting on with, although I may have studied myself out for one day. Trying to understand the Pharmaceutical industry, having no background there is tough. 

I imagine I will write something tomrorow about my trip to Prague. There may also be photos. Watch this space, although the chances are, you have already seen them on Facebook.

So I guess this is where I live now...

Here are a few shots of my local area. I mean local because they are all taken within 200m of my house. It was my second trip out today, and I hadn't planned on making one. This morning I bought a fan to tackle the sweaty nights. I brought it home and unboxed it only to find that I had to screw the base together. Ask me if I have a screwdriver...

I needed my fan though. So I grabbed my camera (a habit I hope to restart) and left the house. In the 40 degree heat I quickly gave up taking photos and travelled as quickly as possible to the shop to find a screwdriver. I happened upon some colleagues basking in the sun, having some afternoon sushi so stopped to chat. I don't usually like people, but am trying to make the effort here, as I may someday need their help when trying to explain to a Czech waiter how I want my steak cooked. We really do have an interesting bunch of people working here. Our backgrounds are about as varied as you can get. Our beliefs, attitudes, habits, and languages are about as different as can be. But those of us who stick it out all have one thing in common: we have all upped sticks and moved to the Czech Republic to start a new career. We have what it takes to live abroad and not miss home to the point of depression.

I did, however, learn one thing today. I knew from the get go that some people end up going home after a few days/weeks/months. Either they miss home, the job isn't for them, or they are just dreadful and part with the company... I am in a relatively small group: five of us started, one of whom is Czech. None of us seem like we will be going home any time soon though. And this brings me back to what I learnt today: some of the other staff discuss, and possibly take bets on who will leave first from a group. Apparently a few people underestimated me because of my quiet nature. One also thought I was gay...

I live just above the bar with the green awning.

This is "The Square"

I haven't figured out the significance of any of this yet...

Wild Wild West?

Pardubice is full of alleys like this.

So I live 50m from a Castle.

My window opens onto this alley.

Where do I start?

Well here we are: the beginning of a new blog. One of the millions of blogs littering the internets. I know what you are thinking: why this blog? Well, let me tell you a story.

I graduated from university almost exactly a year ago (366 days to be precise). I graduated with a respectable grade in a respectable discipline. I was pleased with the outcome. As part of my degree I spent a year in Hamburg, die schönste Stadt der Welt, doing my absolute best to teach English to children with behavioural problems. Looking back on it, I should have kept a blog of that experience. It would have been packed with hilarious anecdotes. That year taught me two things: I love living abroad, and I love teaching. Upon my return to university, I came to realise how much I had NOT missed it. Going to seminars and lectures was a drag, the whole pretence of the place was just mind numbing, but I stuck it out. I did my due diligence and came out of it with a degree and applications in for a PGCE. Due to a clerical error, my application got held up somewhere and I only managed to get to one interview in the summer. It proved unsuccessful. 

So I took the summer. I enjoyed it. I spent three weeks in the USA with my brother and sister in law. I attended Gencon. I returned ready to try again. I applied for a PGCE yet again and applied for jobs in primary schools as a teaching assistant, while all the time offering to volunteer in schools as much as possible. None of that really worked out though. By March 2013 my applications had been rejected and it was too late to get into a primary school teaching PGCE. 

I was at a crossroads. My part time job at the Cinema wasn't enough to sustain me. I was a 25 year old graduate with a part time job, living with my parents in Southampton still. Needless to say, life wasn't the most fulfilling. Was I going to apply for a PGCE a third time round? Was I going to move in another direction to enter adulthood?

And here I now sit, sweat dripping from my forehead into my lap, trying not to touch  the mousepad while I type this into my laptop. The temperature is close to 40 degrees outside, most of the shops are closed because it is Saturday afternoon, the streets are empty, my back is stuck to my leather chair, a mariachi band is playing below my window, and I am being eaten alive by mosquitos. Where am I? I am surprised no-one managed to guess it. I am in the Czech Republic.

After the failure of my PGCE applications I began seriously applying for entry level jobs in various companies, graduate schemes, and training positons in various sectors. I felt it would be best to just get on the ladder, and then work out where I could go from there. In my searches I stumbled across an opportunity to move to Czech and get a foot on the ladder. I went for it. The role involved speaking German, and living abroad. Why wouldn't I apply for it?

So that is about it. I am a million miles from where I thought my life would have taken me. Lets see what happens.