Sunday, January 30, 2011
Plzen, Czech Republic
On Friday the 21st of January I had an interview lined up for a language school in the town of Plzen just west of Prague. It took me about three hours to get there from where I am staying in Hradec Kralove. The interview went really well and will know soon if I got the job. I believe that I did. Plzen is home to Pilsner Urquell, the world's first pilsner beer. I took a tour of the brewery and at the end had a couple of fresh unfiltered beers. Very nice! I picked up a lot of information on the tour. Plzen was establish a city in 1295. The king at the time made Plzen the only town in Czech where the citizens could brew beer, making it an incentive to live there. I meandered around Plzen for about a day and a half, having many fresh brewed beers along the way. I really like the town and wouldn't mind calling it home for a little while. We will see though. Plzen is rich in culture. It has several festivals thoughout the year including a film festival which is known though out Europe. The church in the center of town has the highest tower in Czech at around 102 meters. The synagogue is the third largest in the world, built in 1893. Here are some pictures of the town. You may notice that the gates to the brewery are picture on the logo of the beer. So next time you go to the beer store pick up some Pilsner Urquell and think of me.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Getting started in the Czech Republic
I arrived to Prague without many problems despite the snow storm that swept across the eastern part of the states. I flew from Nashville to Washington D.C. Then after sprinting across Dulles International airport (like I always do when I am in that airport) I barely caught my flight to Copenhagen where I took a connecting flight to Prague. My friends Milos (pronounced Melosh) and Lucie picked me up from the airport. Some of their friends, some whom I have met while living in New Zealand, were ready to drink in celebration of my arrival. Sadly, I was exhausted from the fifteens hours of traveling and just needed to sleep. The first Saturday that I was in the country was Milos' birthday. So all of their friends got together at a bar to celebrate. I definitely added a lot to the party with even trying just because I was a foreigner and people could try out their English skills. The ones who couldn't speak a lot of English waited until the end of the night after some pilsers and tequila to attempt their English. Of course by that time I attempted my very little knowledge of Czech, which pretty must consist of bad words that got a good laugh. It was a great night!
Milos and Lucie live about one hour east of the capital city of Prague in the town of Hradec Kralove. They threw down a mattress for me in the kitchen in their one bedroom flat near the city center. This is where I will be until I can get myself settled in a bit. I knew coming here and getting legal to work and finding a job would not be an easy task. So far my predictions have been correct but I am on the right path. I have had several interviews at language schools to teach English as a foreign language. They all have wanted my services but so far only one is willing to help me with a work visa. Of course that would be the school that is the furthest from Milos and Lucie. It is in the town of Plzen. Though it is not official yet. I might actually be able to swing a job closer to them. Plzen is the home of Czech's most famous beer, Pilser Urquell. This beer was the world's first pilsner. Czechs love their beer and I do to. It is cheaper than water and I find myself having at least one beer almost everyday for lunch. I have forgotten already what it was like to drink water with a meal.
The first two weeks have pretty much consisted of traveling to other towns for interviews at language schools and getting all my documents organized and translated to Czech so that I can obtain my business visa and a traders license, which they call a Zivnostensky List. It took me a week to be able to pronounce that one.
The Czech Republic is the twentieth country that I have visit. I am definitely excited for what is in store for me here in Europe. Czech is centrally located between Germany, Austria, Poland, and Slovakia. So, it is a great place to be based in order to see a lot of other European countries.
Czech, especially Prague, was largely untouched during World War two so a lot of excellent architecture from many centuries has been preserved. Its a great place for pictures. Please continue to czech this blog so you can see what I have captured. The following pictures are of Hradec Kralove.
This last picture is looking west on the Charles Bridge in Prague.
Milos and Lucie live about one hour east of the capital city of Prague in the town of Hradec Kralove. They threw down a mattress for me in the kitchen in their one bedroom flat near the city center. This is where I will be until I can get myself settled in a bit. I knew coming here and getting legal to work and finding a job would not be an easy task. So far my predictions have been correct but I am on the right path. I have had several interviews at language schools to teach English as a foreign language. They all have wanted my services but so far only one is willing to help me with a work visa. Of course that would be the school that is the furthest from Milos and Lucie. It is in the town of Plzen. Though it is not official yet. I might actually be able to swing a job closer to them. Plzen is the home of Czech's most famous beer, Pilser Urquell. This beer was the world's first pilsner. Czechs love their beer and I do to. It is cheaper than water and I find myself having at least one beer almost everyday for lunch. I have forgotten already what it was like to drink water with a meal.
The first two weeks have pretty much consisted of traveling to other towns for interviews at language schools and getting all my documents organized and translated to Czech so that I can obtain my business visa and a traders license, which they call a Zivnostensky List. It took me a week to be able to pronounce that one.
The Czech Republic is the twentieth country that I have visit. I am definitely excited for what is in store for me here in Europe. Czech is centrally located between Germany, Austria, Poland, and Slovakia. So, it is a great place to be based in order to see a lot of other European countries.
Czech, especially Prague, was largely untouched during World War two so a lot of excellent architecture from many centuries has been preserved. Its a great place for pictures. Please continue to czech this blog so you can see what I have captured. The following pictures are of Hradec Kralove.
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