Last Saturday there was a ceremony commerating the liberation of Cheb from Nazi occupation by US troops. It was very moving. Around the monument honoring the American soldiers who died stood soldiers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the US. There were speeches and our National Anthem was played. It is surreal to be on foreign soil, surrounded by people who speak a different language and place your hand over your heart as you hear "The Star Spangled Banner." It is something I have done thousands of times but I was really struck with the meaning of it this time. Patriotism takes on a different meaning when you are in a country far away from home. It was nice to walk through the town square and see Old Glory waving along side the Czech flag on so many buildings. It's good to know that there are some countries who do not take their freedom for granted and give honor to those who helped them achieve it, especially in this time of anti-America sentiments. I am glad I got to experience it.

Tomorrow I will go to a town close to Sokolov for a Spring festival. There will be a bonfire where they will burn a witch in effigy. The witch symbolizes winter, which they burn to welcome the spring. Then a May Pole is erected. We've all seen pictures of May Poles so I won't embellish. The kids have definitely caught spring fever and are always wanting to go outside. I wish we could have all our classes outside but that isn't possible.

I hate to say it but I've been a bit lonely lately. Loneliness is not an emotion I have much experience with. As most of you know, I like to be alone a lot. But in the states, I could choose when I would be alone. There was always someone to call or something to do if I wanted some company. But here there are few people and few choices of diversions. It is finally getting to me, I believe. Also, my thoughts have been turning more and more to Texas lately as I try to schedule my very short time home this summer. I think I am just missing y'all and hope these two months fly by. So why don't you help me out a bit? Drop me a line or just comment to one of these posts. I'd like to know who is reading them and I want to know what's going on with you. I get a bit discouraged when no one replies. Hope y'all are enjoying the spring. Happy May Day!
Ciao for now!

I am so happy because the weather is BEAUTIFUL!!! I went out of the house without wearing socks for the 1st time since October. The sunshine is great and the flowers are blooming. The only down side is my allergies are in an uproar. What can you do?

I am happy to tell you that I have been asked to be on the leadership team next year. This means I will be responsible for helping new teachers adjust to living overseas and will serve as a go-between to their schools and ESI. It does give me a larger work load but I am excited about this opportunity to serve the new teachers. I will also go to California for the 1st three weeks of training to help train the newbies. This means three weeks away from friends and family but I feel it is worth it.

My seniors are gearing up for their graduation exams which are in 5 weeks. I will let you know their progress. I have one student in particular that I am worried about. I have been trying to give him some extra conversation practice because they have to speak for 10-15 minutes on a topic in English. I can't get him to understand when to meet me and I refuse to tell him in Czech. He has taken English for at least 6 years, maybe longer. So he should be able to understand Tuesday at 3:40. Let's hope Lukas does well but I am not very optimistic.
I hope you have a good week. I am going to enjoy the weather.
ciao!

Hope y'all had a great Easter! I had a wonderful time in Krakow. It is such a beautiful place and the weather was quite nice. I took a tour of the castle. I wasn't able to the last time I was there. It was really interesting. And I did a lot of shopping. I found a book store that didn't inflate the prices of English books like they do in the Czech Republic. It was a dangerous place to be. But I showed self-restraint and only bought two books. Although, Penny sent me back with five more. Now I should have a few books to keep me occupied for a while. I have been keeping a log of all the books I have read here, something I wish I had done my whole life. The total is around thirty now. I average a book a week. I think it would be interesting to know how many books I have read in my life. Too late now I guess.

I saw The Passion of Christ on Good Friday. What a powerful film. I still haven't digested it all. It had Polish subtitles so I feel I missed a lot of the dialog. I wanted to know what Simon the Cyrene said to Jesus while he was helping him with the cross. What an impact that must have made on him. The Latin dialog was easier for me to understand but I still feel I didn't get it all. If you haven't seen it, I urge you to go. It doesn't matter what your spiritual beliefs are, this film recreates an historical event that changed the world. It shows the true depravity of humanity and leaves a lot to consider. I want to see it when I get home so I can read the subtitles in English. Well, I need to prepare some lessons so I will sign off. Have a great week!

So, I hope y'all had a great weekend. I had a nice day Saturday hanging in Sokolov and watching some taped TV from home. Thank you Maleka for sending the tapes!!! I have 3 more tapes to watch and I am pretty excited about it! I am also pretty stoked because I only have to teach 3 days this week. We have Thursday, Friday and Monday off for Easter. I am going to spend the holiday in Krakow with my friend Penny. I will be the first guest in her flat. Some other ESI teachers will be there, too. So I'll get to hang with them as well. Krakow is a beautiful city, my favorite in Poland. I really can't wait to spend a good amount of time there and really get to know and enjoy it.

I am coming down with a strong case of Spring Fever. The weather has been so nice that I don't want to be inside. But it is supposed to rain all week. I hope it will clear up while I'm in Poland! I have also been missing American culture and food a lot. I want to go to the movies all the time and I really want to eat some food I can't get here. There are days where I don't want to speak any Czech and I get very frustrated with things. I have been thinking about the summer a lot. I guess it is because I miss y'all and can't wait to have conversations that don't drain the heck out of me. Well, gotta go. Oh, and Happy Birthday, Amy! If you know her, bug the heck out of her...she turn's the BIG 3-0 today!!
Ciao!