I hope everyone is doing well as you are getting ready for Thanksgiving. It has been neat to get to explain a holiday unique to North Americans. My students know a little of the history and I have had to relearn some of it. How soon we forget our own history.

The entire Central Europe ESI team will be together for a Thanksgiving Retreat this weekend. We are staying at a hotel in Hododin, Czech Republic. It is on the Czech/Slovak border. The hotel is to prepare a normal T-Day dinner for us. We will also have a bit of training this weekend, too. It is why we can get two days off from school. I am excited to see my friends from training and will be glad for the break. But it will be a long travel day. Lena and I are leaving Cheb at 5.50 am and will arrive there at 1.20 pm, by bus.

I am being observed by an ESI alum tomorrow, so I need to prepare for that. She is also staying at my flat tonight so I need to do some shopping and cleaning. I wish all of you a great Thanksgiving holiday. I pray it will be a wonderful time with family and friends and that each of you take time to give thanks for all of our blessings. I am truely thankful for the wonderful friends and family I have supporting, praying for me and cheering me on back home. I am also aware of how much we, as Americans, have to be thankful for. We are truely, truely blessed. Until next time-----Jessica

Yesterday was a holiday, so I had a nice long weekend. Lena, my flat mate went to Salzburg with 3 other ESI teachers. I stayed at home because I was really buzy and it was nice to have the place to myself. Sunday was great. I went to have lunch at the restaurant where one of my students (Vladka) is a waitress. She was so glad I came. She invited me to a pub later that night where one of classmates would be celebrating his 19th birthday. I went home and made a big batch of chocolate chip cookies. I took some to my next door neighbors. They have helped us in so many ways. They were so excited that they invited me for "American Coffee." Maria, the wife speaks a little English. Jiri speaks none. We had an interesing time with broken English and Czech but it was very nice. I left with some apples and a standing invitation to come over for coffee anytime. Jiri says he will teach me Czech and I can teach him English.

Later, I went to the pub with Vladka. I gave Filip, the birthday boy, some of the cookies I baked and a "Don't Mess with Texas!" sticker. He loved both and was very glad I came. Although, I doubt he will remember much of it. He was quite drunk. I had a coffee and a great conversation with two of my students, John and Boris, about films and attitudes about Americans. I had such a good time that I didn't even mind walking home in the rain.

Today I received a nice package from my friend Penny. She sent some magazines and books and a nice fleece sweatshirt! It is a nice surprise. One of my students just asked for a Rolling Stones magazine. I hope they don't all start asking for things. There is no way I can get them everything they want. Well, that's all for now. Next week is Thanksgiving and the Central Europe team (Czech Republic & Hungary) will have a retreat together in South Moravia. We will have Thanksgiving Dinner prepared for us by the hotel. It should be great. I will let you know.
Jessica

Hello y'all!
I hope everyone is doing well. I am fine and dandy. I am starting to teach some students some slang and idioms. So if any of y'all have some good ideas, let me know. It is really hard to actually think of slang because it is so common for us. And I have been trying very hard not to use it around students because they may not understand. Thanks for your input!

I went to see Bruce Almighty last week. It's a great movie if you haven't seen it yet. If you guys see any good films that you think would be good to discuss with my students, let me know. I am going to see Far Away from Heaven tonight. I hope it is as good as it has been reported to be.

Ok, so did you know that there is no such thing as cheddar cheese here? Being a big fan of cheddar, I was quite shocked and dismayed by this fact. The thing I miss more than cheddar cheese is pominto cheese sandwiches. But my friend, Penny, has saved me from a pominto cheeseless existance. While she was visiting me, she introduced me to a paprika flavored cream cheese spread that tastes like pominto cheese with a kick! I am thrilled to say that I haven't bought another kind of cheese spread since. And it is cheaper than the others that I was buying. So once again, it's the little things that make me happy.

Have a blessed week--Jessica

Ok, you are now able to post comments on this site. So please do so! It will be nice to have your comments immediately.

I am having a much better week. I want you to know that I am trying to be real with y'all. I don't want to paint a rosy picture when I think it's grey. But the grey moments are few and far between. I am really enjoying myself here.

I got a nice package from my father. I am now prepared for a blizzard! He sent me some great gloves, a ski mask, two hats, a scarf, headband, ear muffs and silk thermals. Thanks Dad!

I got my health card today. Now I can go the doctor for free. But I don't know if there are any English speaking doctors here. One of the other English teachers said she would go with me. We'll see.
Gotta run!
Have a great weekend!
Jessica