Prague people

I didn’t get the chance to make any Czech friends really, as we were all too busy teaching, planning, and generally fretting about the course. The students in our classes were great, and were very patient in all the lessons. A few of them were real characters, and it was nice to get some chance to see what Czech people were like, and how they viewed foreigners and learning English. Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the handful of Czech people I encountered in the town and restaurants. They were just a bit rude to be honest, and very blunt …abrupt is perhaps the best word. In a certain restaurant near the school, the waitresses were apparently calling us rude words in Czech, according to our Czech student spies. Nice to feel welcome isn’t it!! The staff in the school café, however, were lovely, and really sweet, and even put on nibbles and a ‘trumpeter’ on our last night!! I think it would definitely take a little longer than 4 short weeks to warm to and understand the Czech people. I reckon they’re probably a ‘hard nut to crack’, but then they’re your friend for life!! That’s what I will continue to believe until the next time I visit Prague anyway!

As for the people I met on the course…well what can I say…diamonds, true diamonds! I don’t think I could’ve got through the 4 weeks without my CELTA family!! Haha, corny I know! There were 18 of us, ranging in age from 18 to 50, and from Blighty, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. I had a month of great supportive hugs from Alasdair. I made a new BFF in New Yorker Carolyn, who was always happy to have a natter, a bitch, and also a hug! Canadian Scott was a ray of sunshine and a great pal. My teaching practice group were always on hand for advice, encouragement, and words of wisdom!! And all the others were really nice, genuine people. I feel lucky to have had such a nice group, and I hope everyone is doing really well now in their new jobs across the world. You people still in Prague, I hope to see you again sometime soon!

The CELTA course

I don’t want to think about all of the CELTA stuff for too long, so here are a few points about the course.

- It’s tough, and at some point in the 4 weeks you WILL cry!
- Being observed while you teach is not a nice feeling, but at least I feel a bit more prepared for next years PGCE!
- Having to write a 4 page procedure, a lesson plan, a language sheet, worksheets, etc etc, for each lesson takes it toll by the middle of week 3.
- Apparently a word is not always one thing…i.e in the sentences ‘I got on the bus’, ‘got on’ is considered one word! What the hell! Think I’m going to ignore that piece of TEFL thinking!
- You make the fastest ever friendships!
- You will never have a ‘perfect’ lesson…there is always something to work on.
- Grammar is hard! Only 2 tenses in the English language, but many different forms / times…it all adds up to a very confused Lauren!
- Trying to remember how to write an essay was a struggle, but I soon got back to grips with it. You only had to pass 3 out of the 4 assignments, however, and that’s exactly what I did!
- On days when I was teaching, there was no time for lunch! In fact, on the one day I did have a spare 10 mins and ordered a toastie…I was so nervous about my lesson that I couldn’t stomach it!
- Bacon and cheese toasties and 3 Bit chocolate bars will make even the worst day seem a bit better!
- Hugs are essential for survival.

A hard slog, but I did it!

No photos at the mo

Apologies for the lack of photos to accompany my posts at the moment. I'm blogging from my school's computer, and so can't pull photos across from my computer etc. If you'd like to see my Prague pics, then have a look at my Flickr page www.flickr.com/photos/laurencampy/

Beautiful Prague

Prague is a magnificent city. There are churches, spires, and amazing buildings around every corner, and my camera was never left in my bag for long. I managed to scrape together a few days of sightseeing amongst all of the lesson stressing, but it is definitely a place I would like to go back to in order to wander the museums, streets, and shops some more.

Charles Bridge is one of my favourite tourist spots in Prague. Overloaded with souvenir sellers…yes. Packed with tourists from all over the world (including a lot of Brit hen/stag parties)…yes. But, there is a real charm to this bridge in spite of having to share it with a million other sightseers. There are entertainers ranging from a didgeridoo player to a Czech jazz band, from a blind Spanish guitarist to an American OAP barbershop-styley choir. Yes, you have to jostle for space on the bridge, and you certainly wont get a perfect shot of the bridge with no people on it (unless you’re up at the crack of dawn), but there is a great atmosphere of excitement and admiration as you walk along this bridge. Down the sides are amazing statues of people I don’t remember (apart from King Wenceslas), as well as hundreds (ok, so I’m exaggerating!) of artwork stalls. There are paintings, sketches, and photographs of Prague in a multitude of styles and colours. Of course, as one of the main tourist parts of the city, the prices are pretty steep for small pic, but if there had been the perfect shot I would have bought one to add to my collection of prints etc that I have bought on my travels. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t find what I wanted, and so (shock horror) didn’t really buy a souvenir from Prague…I decided that I would much rather have one of my own photographs blown up and framed, rather than pay for someone elses! Cheapo Lauren time! But it was still nice to wander the stalls, and look at the glass jewellery that I couldn’t afford, before stopping on the right hand side for a perfect shot of the looming Prague Castle in all its glory. I think I liked Charles Bridge so much because at night-time it was just magic, and you would look around and see the river, the glowing castle, and the distant spires, and think “wow, I’m in Prague!” Might sound stupid, but since when have my blogs and thoughts in general been exclusively ‘normal’!!

Prague Castle, St Vitus cathedral, the Old Town Square, the Jewish Quarter…were also all really interesting, and you can check out my pictures on my flickr page if you want to see more. One thing in Prague was a bit of a let down however…the astronomical clock in the Old Town Square. This clock is famous for showing the time (obviously!), along with lots of other stuff….can’t quite remember what all the other hands and faces are for! Anyway, every hour this clock chimes, and people gather round to watch the clock! I knew that figures were supposed to come out of the clock…and I was expecting to see some quaint old display…something along the lines of an advanced cuckoo clock!! I arrived at the clock at 5 to the hour, and joined the huge group of people who were looking very excited about the clock chimes, and had their cameras at the ready. The clock itself is very beautiful, and is in the gorgeous town square which immediately lends it even more grandeur. I was excited to see what would happen when the hand reached 12. I’ll tell you what happened….nothing!...it was rubbish! The clock chimes, and 2 figures come out of doors above the clock face…they move out, they go back in, and that’s it! It wasn’t just me that was a bit dismayed by the lack of ‘spectacle’….everyone around me seemed to mutter a kind of ‘oh’ as they realised that what they had been waiting for had lasted for about 5 seconds! Ah well…no city is perfect!

p.s. To see more pretty Prague pics...click on my flickr box..on the right side of the blog!

All over

Where do I start with my tale of Prague? It was definitely the longest month of my life, and certainly the most stressful period of studying I have ever done….but it was worth it! I passed the course, got my qualification in EFL teaching, and made some great friends along the way. Stand by for my thoughts on the city, the people, and the reason I was there..the CELTA!