I have so much to tell and not lots of time. I may have to do installments on the weekend. But first of all, it is SNOWING!!! Yes, that's right, snow. The weather forcast was for warm (55 F) days and some rain. Not so. C'est la vie!

I got my visa last week! This is wonderful news because I can get paid now! I crossed the border to Germany on Sunday so I could get an official entry stamp when I came back to the Czech Republic. I only live about 5K from the German border so this was not a problem and the train to border towns is free on the weekends. I went to the forgein police yesterday to give them my visa number, so my registration with them is complete. Now, all I need is my health card and I will be totally offical!

Friday I went to Prague with some students to see Othello. It was really good. And yes, it was in Czech. But I know the story and I read over it again before I went to refresh my memory. The costumes were wonderful and I loved the set. There were several strong actors in the cast. It was well done and shorter than I remember. Lots of fencing!

Saturday is one for the books! Lena made me cookies for my birthday. Then we went to the Dragoun (Vietnamese) market for some Pho. We go to this restaurant and try to order in Czech to a man who speaks Vietnamese. Two Germans sit next to us at the same table. They are very curious about me eating Pho with chopsticks. They keep asking me about it in German. It was quite an international experience! Then we go to the Hypernova (it's like a super target) and pick up a few things. I bought an antenna for the TV. We now can pick up 4 Czech stations. But it may help us learn the lang. who knows? Then we were meeting friends for pizza to celebrate my birthday!

I have had a great birthday. Saturday evening was spent with American and Czech friends ( and one Canadian) at a nice pizza place. My Czech friends, they are fellow teachers, gave me a beautiful wooden box, a pencil made from a stick (very cool!), some lucky bamboo and some flowers. I got a book of quotes from children, some homemade fudge and tortillias from the Sokolov girls, a nice card and some sponges from the Sokolov guys. Don't know about the sponges, but I am sure they will be useful! Josh gave me a box of Chocolates and Lena gave me a wonderful ceramic plaque to hang in my room. We had so much fun talking and laughing. It is exactly what I wanted to do to celebrate! Yesterday, my actual birthday, was very nice, too. My small kids sang "Happy Birthday" to me in English and I got some chocolates from one of them. Other students gave me a candle holder, a beautiful green pen (expensive, too!), cards and more candy! The head mistress gave me a gerber daisey and a bottle of Slivovice, the plum liquor I had at her house. I also got a package from my friend Angela, it had some stationary and a book about the day I was born. There was also a very touching card that made me cry. I got lots of emails and phone calls from family and friends. Who could ask for anything more? I have been told I have other packages on the way, so I will have my birthday all week. And Penny is coming this weekend to celebrate, too! I am truely blessed! I hope things are going well for everyone. I miss y'all!-Jessica