After getting in on Wednesday night, I had to work 8:00 sharp on Thursday morning. Oy. Leaving Jett that first morning was hard. But we got a good walk that morning, and I learned very quickly that nothing is a square city block, and getting lost is very easy.
Niki picked me up and got me a coffee and a croissant from a local bakery, so I was already in heaven.
First up was a tour of the school. My classroom is the first one! I absolutely love it! I’m right at the top of the stairs, and next to the staff room, so I think I’m well positioned for being social.
[And this is my first apology in this post, I’m sorry for all the vertical videos! I’ll fix it in the future.]
But my favorite stop of the tour was the boiler room, which is always running. It’s been an ongoing issue, but my Head of School says I will never be cold at school! No ice falling out of my heater this year!!
The rest of the day was a mind boggling amount of government required safety training, the big one being fire training. It was so intense, I felt like a little kid when you explain the first fire drill. I felt like we were under the imminent threat of a fire alarm going off at any moment. The main cause is leaving electronics plugged in. So you can bet on that first break that I ran home to unplug my phone charger. I wasn’t positive that I could find the building that I live in, but I was unfortunately guided home by Jett’s barking. My poor neighbors! The staircase is especially echoey, and the doors cannot be shut quietly, they have to be slammed. But since I started tucking Jett into the middle room, and playing Netflix loudly for him, I haven’t heard him this entire week as I come and go. *Phew*
Also, all of our electronics will be brought to school one day to get official approval from the government. So I will likely bring my iPad and my Bose speaker so I can use them at school as well.
Everyone tells me that the Czech people are very dog friendly, and so far that seems to be very true. There are LOTS of dogs here, and people are apparently used to the barking in the buildings. The biggest difference here seems to be dog etiquette. I have had zero problems with people, kids, or dogs approaching Jett, despite many dogs being off the leash. We walk for at least an hour each afternoon, and Jett is so comfortable with all the dogs, that we pass most without incident or need of treats!
[pictures from our walks]
And despite my slight ginger-ness, I must look like a local. I’ve had several people stop to ask me questions! Unfortunately, I haven’t found any English speakers outside of the mall. I’m told I will have more luck with people under 35 years old, as they likely learned some English in school. People over 35 learned Russian.
Friday was an incredible work day. I was able to dig into all of my units, and arrange my room. I found out that I have at least two 45 minute planning periods per day, and an hour long lunch. And I will have 14 students. The staff were kicked out of school at 2:30 which is a bit early, so I asked my Head of School about the possibility of coming in this weekend. It is very overwhelming to be teaching a new grade, with limited resources and I want to be as ready as I can. But, the crazy thing is, we are not allowed at school on the weekends! So, without any work, I have no choice but to stay at home this weekend, relax, read my book (I still don’t have WiFi), and take Jett on as many runs as he likes! It sounds like a good plan to me :)
[This was the location of our first teacher “book club” on Friday after school, a pub called the Prancing Pony, you can see the smaller round sign with the pony on it.]
Saturday was a rest day. I did go sit outside school to steal some WiFi, and I learned something new ...
And Sunday I decided to rearrange my flat. Sorry the “before” pictures have all my clothes out, since I needed to move the wardrobes.
Also, the weather this week seems a bit like Florida. A thunderstorm has been rolling in everyday around 3 pm. Here’s my first one. The thunder seems to keep rolling for forever, even after you can’t hear it on the video anymore.
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