Wednesday, October 23, 2013

A Grand Day!

Today was a grand day!

I taught my regular Wednesday private English lesson today from 8am-9am in a little cafe just a few steps away from my apartment, which was great.  I like this student of mine very much!  She is someone I could see myself being friends with.  We did a fun writing activity during which I began by writing a sentence or two of a story, then she continued it adding her own couple sentences to the story, then it went back to me to add onto and so on.  We shared some giggles over this together when I had her read the final product out loud!

Then my friend/ex-TEFL classmate came over at 9:30am and we did a workout video together which was loads of fun!!  We did this in my living room while also chatting and simultaneously laughing as we struggled through the workout (and both remarked in shock at how unfit we both had become in such a short time!).  We also connected as we chatted about some of the stress and loneliness we were both experiencing right now.  And we chatted about  and shared some of our past relationship experiences and tendencies as friends and just things about our general personalities.  I really enjoyed this.  I like her a lot, she is someone I could see myself becoming good friends with.  So this was a great time and a wonderful start to my day.

Gorgeous park during autumn in Prague.

Then I showered and she and I walked to the metro together before parting ways.  At 11:45am, I met up with another friend/ex-TEFL classmate who I also really like.  She and I met up for salads, tea and split a brownie at the conclusion of our meal.  This was another really satisfying and fun social outing.  We also delved a bit beyond the surface for the first time today, both sharing thoughts and our own personal philosophy's on relationships, the nature of different types of connections one has with people, funny recent job hunting stories and such.  We also talked some about our past relationships.  I really enjoyed this socially too.  I felt as though she and I connected and really enjoyed one another's company.



After our lovely lunch together, I headed out for an interview at 3pm.  The one I had never found my way to last week.  Well, I found it this time around!!  And I LOVED it.  The school is gorgeous, located in a little foliage-splashed park on the top of a hill overlooking Prague.  The pay is also EXCELLENT for a preschool and the hours are only 9am-1pm, so even better, I could still likely keep all my one on one clients and would be making quite good money if I got this job!!  Needless to say, I really want it!!

The interview seemed to go really well.  The headmaster, Irena told me she will email me about coming in some day next week to meet with the kids as she would like to see me in action with them.  Cross your fingers for me!!

And finally, I met up with a friend at 4:30pm who I met online actually, while posting ads for lessons.  He messaged me asking if I might like to send along my CV to his school where there was a job opening.  I said absolutely, of course.  And then I asked if he might like to meet up for tea.  We did and we really hit it off!!  He reminds me so much of a very close male friend of mine from a few years ago, Mike.  He is very smart so we have really interesting and engaging conversations, he is witty and fun.  I could see he and I becoming good buddies.

Tonight I was invited to join the man whose flat I am renting a room within for dinner with his friends.  I was a bit hesitant at first, but it turned out to be a blast!  I LOVED this.  I sat down at the table with him and his three friends.  One of whom was a sleek, incredibly classy older woman (maybe in her mid 60's to early 70's).  She was one of the most attractive women I have seen at that age ever, with shoulder length white hair with wavy loose curls on the ends of her hair, dressed all in black and accessorized with chunky silver jewelry, a sly, inviting, warm smile on her face.  The other two were middle aged men, one was French, dressed to the nines in a full suit, with a stern look on his face, salt and pepper hair and a prominent hooked nose, with a fun sense of humor and interesting comments to the conversation.  And the other was a Canadian man who just moved to Prague two years ago with a booming laugh and gravely voice, really witty and funny, and a warm and joyful presence.  I had so much fun chatting with all of them, learning about their lives and being asked interested questions about myself in return.  For dinner, Vlad had cooked goulash.  I was hesitant about this, as I rarely eat beef, but figured I had to try it, it being a traditional Czech dish and all.  Whoa.  It was DELICIOUS.  The meat was so tender, the spices in the sauce were perfect, just wow.  And for dessert, we had the richest melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake.  This was a fantastic dinner all around, regarding the food itself and the people.

And finally, I ended this grand day by Skyping with two of my closest friends from home.  Awesome.

That is my big news as of now.  Today was an excellent day.  I felt socially and emotionally fulfilled today.  Which was a great change from a couple days ago, when I actually felt quite lonely.  When my friend from Germany left, I felt a crushing loneliness walking away from him in the bus terminal.  I thought, he has all his close friends, his family and such to go back to in Germany.  So he has no reason to feel sad or loneliness right now.  But I have no one here (not literally no one.  Just no one I am super close to yet.  Not like my support system back home.  That takes time to build up).  So I just felt very, very sad.  It made me miss my close friends from home deeply and yearn for their presence.  So today was a really nice upturn for me and made me feel very good.  I felt fulfilled and happy.  It also made me feel very lucky and comforted by the friends I know I have back home <3

“Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.” 

PS. I am reading an absolutely riveting and gripping book right now which I highly recommend.  It's called The Long Walk by Stephen King.  Here is what it's about, from Amazon.com:



Ray Garraty--along with 99 other teen boys--has entered the Long Walk, a grueling march at four miles per hour that continues until only one person is standing. The losers receive bullets to the head. As the march progresses, the numbers dwindle, the challenges of continued marching increase, and the senselessness wears on the participants' state of mind. King (writing as his alter ego, Richard Bachman) delivers another psychologically dark tale with commentary on society, teenage life, and cultural entertainment that is still poignant decades after its original publication.

PPS.  Just made another loaf of homemade German bread tonight, from scratch, with yeast!!!  Came out GREAT!

Ciao for now, folks!

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