Say Yes More Than You Say No

For my first couple of days in Ostrava my brain was doing a lot of mental gymnastics, trying to figure out why all of the Caucasian people don’t speak English. I’m realizing that all of the places I’ve lived abroad, it was always easy to spot an English speaking ex-pat from a native person. But here I look just like a native person and vice versa, the native Czech people look like me! Actually my first morning here, I almost ran up to the first person I saw, to greet them excitedly in English, proud that I had already found a new friend! Thankfully I stopped myself at the last second, realizing where I am, and that there’s a 98% chance he won’t understand a word I’m saying. It is a strange thing to admit to myself, but for the first couple of days, I had to actively tell my brain that Caucasian does not mean English speaker.

After the first week, I was used to the idea that I can’t communicate with any of my neighbors or local businesses, but life was back to what I might consider normal with prep week, and the first week of school. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like I’m an entire ocean away, because school is a language I am fluent in. Prepping lessons, teaching, staff meetings ... all a typical day of work. And I’m back to mental gymnastics each afternoon when I walk home and think about trying a new restaurant, only to remember that I can’t order food. Well, I guess I can point to different items on the menu, I just have no idea what will be served! Kind of a fun game actually. 

Unlike Prague, I have access to complete Czech immersion. I’m exposed to all of the written and verbal language constantly. Czech language is EVERYWHERE. But I’m not making many connections yet. So far, nothing is written the way I think it should sound. I need to go back to the beginning and learn the Czech ABCs. Learning how to read and speak food vocabulary is my top priority as well as words used to label the bathrooms. I know man and woman, I know boy and girl, but I was confused by the bathroom labels at the SOCCER BAR AROUND THE CORNER FROM MY FLAT! So I used the google translate camera in order to read the names. One came up as “ladies”. So when I aimed the camera at the other bathroom, I thought it might translate to “gentlemen”. But this is what I saw instead ...

Gentlemen must think a lot of themselves! 😂
I’m also on the lookout for the words male and female. I never realized that we have so many words for describing gender.

But let’s talk about that soccer bar! I was very excited to see a stadium just across the river from my school and my flat. That stadium is the home field for Banik, and Jindriska is their home bar. So I’m  always likely to find soccer (though I’m apparently in Europe now and I need to start calling it football) on the tv at all hours!

[Inside Jindriska. I’m hoping I get to learn to sing this song in the stadium.]

Jindriska is just around the corner from my flat and they allow dogs inside and outside. I’m not sure if Jett loves it at much as I do, but I think it might be our second home!

[Outdoor area of Jindriska] 

Moving on.
In Kindergarten we had a saying for whenever the elves ask permission to do something: Say yes more than you say no. Settling in here with jet lag, and a new school system, a completely new grade level, new units, and a new language, well let’s just say that I’m constantly exhausted and ready for a nap. But I’m having a hard time saying no to people. Not just for FOMO, but I miss an opportunity to become more independent here. I’ve said yes to almost everything, and I was so exhausted, but when Isa asked if I wanted to go to Poland despite being the day before Opening Ceremonies at school, I had to say yes. I learned how to get to the train station, how to purchase a local and international train ticket, as well as a ticket for Jett. It was also just refreshing to spend the entire day outside with Jett, exploring, and mostly keeping my mind off of the coming week.

Cesky Tesin, Czech Republic and Cieszyn, Poland:

[Town Square in Cieszyn]

 [Town Square in Ciezyn]

[Government building in Cesky Tesin]

 [Castle in Cieszyn]

 [Honestly not sure which side of the river we were on at this point, but it was our resting area.]

[The river that defines the border of Poland and Czech Republic. We crossed back and forth so many times!]

[Isa and Jett at an overlook on the Polish side, at the castle. The river is just below, so you’re look at Czech Republic]

[Jett and I also got a proper picture for entering the Czech Republic]

At one point on the Polish side, we heard a marching band and we joined the crowds. I thought it might have been a wedding as many well dressed people were exiting the church. But then came the dignitaries and people wearing uniforms from various decades, and we knew it was something else.

We followed the parade until we they paused at a memorial. We quickly learned that Poland was commemorating the 80th anniversary of the first attack that sparked WWII. 

 [Parade through town]

[Dignitaries listening to speeches]

[WWII Memorial]

It was a somber event, that I felt very privileged to witness. Later I read the news to learn that many world leaders had travelled to Poland for other commemorations, and that the German prime minister issued a formal apology to Poland. I’m looking forward to the contrast and celebration of liberation day. 

With that, I started my first week of school with Opening Ceremonies on Monday, a half day on Tuesday, and full school days for the rest of the week. I’ve gotten to know my 14 students, and I’m extremely excited for a very interesting school year. I just want to let you know that I was introduced to all of the families and students with this picture. 

Getting Situated

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. 

 [Backyard of primary school]

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. 

[more walking pictures]

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.

[Before Pictures]

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. 

Travel Days

I made it! 

It’s been a busy few days, but the travel days for the most part went really well. 

The flight was perfect. Jett was amazing in SeaTac and Frankfurt airports. We flew business class, and ended up with TWO seats!

[and this is my first apology for taking vertical videos for most of my trip]

When we landed in Frankfurt, Germany Jett diligently waited an hour in line for customs, where my passport was stamped after 2 questions, and the officer didn’t even ask about Jett. I’ve been stressing about Jett’s paperwork since May, and Dad and I went on an emergency paperwork run to Tumwater the Friday before the flight, but no one even asked to see it!!

[Jett and I at baggage claim]

We stayed that night in Frankfurt. I paid for the hotel breakfast buffet, but didn’t really think it through. Although it was a dog friendly hotel, no doggies in the restaurant. I had to leave Jett at the door (thank you Paul for the carabiner for Jett’s leash!) and quickly rushed around the buffet, grabbing as much food as I could, and then ate it in the lobby. There was a business man who had followed me in, who looked slightly uncomfortable by Jett’s presence, but by the time I was leaving the buffet with my full tray, he stopped me to tell me how impressed he was by my dog, and it was a shame that he wasn’t allowed in the restaurant as he was behaving better than some people! 

[Lobby breakfast for me!]

I paid for a shuttle service to pick me up in Frankfurt, one that my Aunt Lynne had used on her travels. So Chris picked me up and drove me to the train station in Prague. He was a wealth of knowledge and very interesting to listen to. Unfortunately the only tidbit that I remember is the fact that Czech vodka is apparently so gnarly, that Czech grannys drink it to get rid of their bunions! I think I’ll stick to beer!   

[I was really hoping for a giant sign that would say “Welcome to Czech Republic!] 

The real action happened on the train. Chris was kind enough to park and escort me through the train station. At one kiosk, you can look at a map of each train to know where your car will be, which for me was the carriage in the middle of about 9 cars.  Then you have to wait in another area, as train platforms are only announced at most 20 minutes before departure. Then it’s a rush to get to the platform. Thank goodness for Chris, as we had to take an escalator. He took 2 of my suitcases, and I had one in one hand, and Jett under my other arm. Chris left me in the middle of the platform, about where we thought my carriage would stop. 

Except, the train overshot all of us. I wasn’t sure how long the train would wait, so I caught up to the last carriage and just starting throwing my suitcases on. I wasn’t going to miss this train! As it turns out, my carriage was actually the very first car, directly after the engine. A very kind young Czech guy offered to help with my suitcases, but it was a struggle. They barely fit in the aisles, plus Jett got stuck moving backwards at one point and had to travel the length of a carriage tail first (that’s how small the aisles were, even Jett couldn’t turn around in that carriage). And once the train started moving and listing back and forth to each side, it became very difficult. The Czech guy let go of my carryon for a brief second to make sure one of the doors didn’t close on me and Jett, and my carryon rolled down half the length of the carriage! We were both very sweaty in the end, but made it to my seat. There were 6 total seats in my room, 5 were occupied and there was already a dog on the floor. And my assigned seat was right in the middle. It was a tight squeeze. There was also no place for baggage, so mine had to roll around in the hallway until the room had cleared out. But it didn’t matter, I had made it! 

[I took this video as we were coming into Ostrava, after 3 and a half hours on the train.]

Niki, my contact and some sort of deputy head of school, picked me up in Ostrava at the train station, so the struggle was over. About 40 hours after leaving my house in Bellingham. She got me to my new flat, and took me out for a beer. A well deserved beer. 

[This is my flat.]

Utopian Society

Well I'm home. This is my final blog post until I travel again. I have to say, it's weird. Maybe because this time I'm not just "visiting", but this is actually going to be my reality for awhile, and that's making it difficult to adjust to the States.

Things I won't miss about China:
- Fireworks. At any time of day.
- Risking my life everyday to and from work. Thank you traffic/construction hazards.
- Lack of quality control. Finally I can depend on stuff, for the most part, not breaking or being already broken!
- Chinese business mentality. The idea that everything revolves around money. It's really hard to do anything for goodwill when someone is always trying to make a profit.

Things I'm looking forward to:
- Reese's and bagels and just yummy food that does not create "China tummy".
- Children not peeing on the sidewalk.
- Grown men not peeing on the sidewalk.
- Toilets in public areas. Restaurants, malls, parks. (No more squatty potties!)
- And for that matter, toilet paper at the toilets in public areas.
- Driving!
- Dancing!

So, I've done a little bit of traveling, and I always try to take the best things from different places with me. Of course, that's not always possible. But if I were to create my own little Utopian Society, perhaps on my own island, these are definitely the things that I would bring with me from each country ... (There's a few more on China, but I also spent the most time there out of any country)

China:
- Shopping Carts. All four wheels are slippery and make it easy to slide around people, instead of having to lift up the back of the cart in order to maneuver. It really does make a difference!
- Hair Salons. You get to lay down for a 15 minute head massage while they wash your hair. And there's even a little pillow for your head. PLUS your hair is stays straight for about 3 days, which is pretty exciting for the humidity out there. Alice and Shelley are laughing here. I think they were a little embarrassed that I took the picture.

- Local produce person who slices the pineapple for you (and other things, but I mostly just buy pineapple). I never eat the pineapple if I have to cut it myself. The guy will also slice it up into bitesize chunks, but I thought it looked really cool like this.

- Ayi. My cleaning lady. All the ayis are magic, I swear! How they can keep things spotless in China is beyond me! There's so much dirt in the air that settles daily on the floor. It's SO hard to keep clean!!


Mexico:
- Food
- Music
Enough said.

Guatemala:
- Xela Pan. It's the bakeries, especially up in the city of Quetzaltenango. Best bread, no question.

Germany:
Architecture. Unless the houses are built on the colorful hillsides of Guanajuato, Mexico, I think all villages should be built like the ones in Bavaria.

Vietnam:
- Scarves. Especially all the kinds of unity scarves. So much material. So colorful, and so warm!

- Coffee. Best cup of joe I've ever had.

Cambodia:
Buses. Their long distances buses have attendants that serve fresh baked goods. And the TVs play karaoke.
Tuctucs. They're like open air motorized carriages. They're zippy, and refreshing. Nothing like the blue boxes of death in China.


Cambodian tuctuc.

 

Chinese blue-box-of-death.

 



So that's my list. Do you have any to add?

How to Export a Dog from China ***Edited***

Because you know, this is a topic that I think you will all find useful someday.

1. Perseverance. When they say no ... Start asking for options.
2. When they say there are no options, start suggesting options.
3. When they say no to all your options, look around the room. There are likely other foreigners there who have experienced and bypassed a similar problem.
4. If there are no foreigners who have experienced your problem, wait half an hour. Undoubtedly, one will come.
5. When securities guards laugh because you're back for the 5th time, give them a good humored smile. Even if you're annoyed, they will be able to bump you up in the line.
6. Enjoy it when your taxi driver hums, whistles and sings, when he sees that you're stressed. And remember how sweet he is when he follows it up with a belch or other bodily noises.
7. Even if you feel like a burden on others (friends, locals), always accept any help. You're going to need it.

And for the actual list of things you need to do. I'm actually considering sending what I write to the airlines and animal hospitals. This seems to be the standard procedure from all the other hospital visitors in Shanghai, but for some reason it's not all written down in one place, so just when I thought I had done everything, I kept getting new surprises. And when China makes you wait to do most things until 7 days before you fly, it can become quite stressful to get everything done!

1 year - 1 month before you fly

1. Check with health and immigration websites about the country you are flying into. Make sure you comply with their standards too!
2. Complete initial health check. First call authorities and find out what pet hospitals will be approved by immigration. For flying out of Shanghai, the only approved hospital for immigration paperwork is ShenPu Pet Hospital. If possible, have all medical-ness done with them.
3. Get your dog vaccinated for Rabies. If possible, also have him micro-chipped at the same time. (If you live in a rural town like me, the microchip was not possible at the same time and had to be done in Shanghai).
4. If you did not get your vaccination at the "approved state run hospital" make sure you have a transfer document that says that an approved hospital has looked over the documentation. Always have a red stamp on it when you're in China!

***If your dog does not get the rabies vaccination at least 30 days before you fly (but within a year of your flying date) you will have to wait a month.

7 days before you fly:

1. Take your pet to the ShenPu Pet Hospital in Shanghai (or whichever ONE hospital is approved for doing immigration paperwork.)
2. Specify if your dog will be flying as carryon, baggage, or cargo (there might be different paperwork).
3. If you have all the right documents (blue pet passport book, rabies vaccination with a red stamp and any transfer documents necessary) the pet hospital will fill out all paperwork the for the Animal Healthy Certificate.
4. This was also the time when I got my dog micro-chipped since it wasn't available at the rural hospitals.
5. Ask about any natural anti-anxiety medicine that your dog can take for the day of flight.

5 days before you fly:
1. Pick up Animal Health Certificate at immigration and customs office.
2. Bring it back to the Pet Hospital.
3. With the health certificate, the pet hospital will fill out all necessary immigration documents.
4. Because I shipped by dog through Air Cargo, I had to bring all the original paperwork to the Air Cargo office.
5. Ask about day-of procedure at the airport.

Day you fly.
1. Hopefully all goes well!! If your dog is baggage or cargo, confirm at the gate that a pet has been loaded onto the plane. If your dog is to anxious, he might not get loaded. And it would be awful to get on the plane and fly to your destination, only to find out that your dog is still in China.

Weekend of Awesomeness!

Just to give you an idea of how exhaustingly awesome this weekend was ... by Sunday afternoon.

1. I took a nap in my bed.
2. I was woken up and then took another nap in my bed.
3. I had dinner and then slept on the bus to Ningbo.
4. I slept during the Chinese ballet performance.
5. I slept on the bus back from Ningbo.
6. I went straight to bed and for the first time in many weeks, my alarm clock actually woke me up.
Not only that but when it did wake me up, I looked over at Jett and he actually avoided my eye contact. He wasn't even ready to get up either!

These are the signs of an awesome weekend that actually started on Thursday.

Thursday:

We had a competitive league game with refs and linesmen and everything. I actually took a guy out with a tackle that left my entire right shin bruised. Not a peep from him. But anytime he comes into any kind of contact with one of the guys from my team, he is flopping on the ground like a fish gasping for air, only he's not gasping, he's yowling in "pain". Grrrrr. I hate it when they act. The Chinese watch too much European football. Either way, after the game we may have bar hopped a little. Foosball is quite popular so each bar has a table.

Game 1: Bobo annilated me.
Game 2: I was up 5-0 and somehow Bobo still came back to win it.
Game 3: It was back and forth, 5-5 then 6-5, then 6-6, and then 7-7 ... all the way to the end. Each time I got scored on, some Chinese dude literally tried to shove me off the handles and indicated to himself as if he could do it better. More GRRRRRRR. So I shoved him back each time. And in the end I actually beat Bobo 10-9. Victory!!!!!!! That Chinese guys was so impressed, he no longer wanted to play Bobo, but challenged me instead. There was no way I was saying yes. Dingbat.

Friday:

Good bye dinner for myself, Lara, Dana, Erich, Dodo, Matt, Julie and twins. Basically those of us leaving from our friend group. It was lovely, but a late night.

Saturday:

We went to the Hepe property for some camping! Hepe is a German toy company that makes toys out of bamboo, so naturally they have their workshop in the bamboo forest. Many of the stalks that you see are actually only 3 weeks old or younger. Bamboo grows FAST!! So the joke is, be careful where you pitch your tent if you don't want to be impaled by morning. Here's setting up camp and getting the fire started.



 

Shortly after setting up the tents, some Chinese ladies came wandering through the forest and actually picked up one of the tents out of curiousity. Lara and Kate swiftly went over to take our tent back and started miming sleeping. That really cracked them up.

 



 

 

 

And then getting the camping creature comforts ready ...

Hamock

Fire

Food!

 

 

Lara made some collages. All of the ladies wearing our Decathalon tank tops. Singing around the fire. And lots of insects!



 

The next morning in all our gloriousness.

 



Morning hike at the lake with Jett.

I think he's going to love the Pacific Northwest.

 

Sunday:

 

After we arrived home, Lara and I went straight to bed.

Around 3 pm Shelley and Alice arrived to make Shelley's birthday dinner. They took one glance at the two of us and sent us straight back to bed. We woke up to this Chinese feast:

 

 

And afterwards we attended this Chinese modern ballet about traditional marraige. This was particularly interesting to Lara because Alice was translating for her. Alice is engaged so she was able to compare the traditions that will happen at her own wedding. Shelley was translating for me ... until I fell asleep on her shoulder about 30 minutes. If you know me, you know that when I'm tired, there is just no chance of me staying awake. Sleeping Beauty!

 



 

 

And some videos if you're truly interested:

 

 

 

 

Twas an awesome weekend. Thus is the nature of the last few weeks of school. We're all exhausted but there's just too many "lasts" to experience ...