Well, it's Monday and I am exhausted. I went to a women's conference in a small village outside of Brno. It takes over 7 hours to get there and I am worn out! Elisabeth Elliot was the speaker of the conference. She has written several books, one of which I have read. She and her husband were missionaries in Ecuador in the fifties. He and four other missionaries were killed by the natives they were trying to evangelize. They had only been married 2 years when he was killed. She stayed on in the jungle and continued her work, with her small baby. She has some amazing stories. It was really neat to hear her speak.

Last week, Lena received a package from one of her friends who visited us in April. It was filled with all sorts of goodies; Pace picante sauce, tortillas, velveeta, candy and DVD's. We were a little confused by the DVD's since we have no DVD player. Then there was a bag in the package, a case of some sort. Lena thought it felt heavy and she opened it. Inside, all shiny and new, was a portable DVD player. Can you imagine?! I was in shock! I started to cry when Lena showed it to me. It has a small screen or we can hook it up to the TV. It also has an 8 hour battery pack. It's the coolest thing! I can't wait to watch some of the movies she sent us. Woo Hoo! Well, I hope you all had a good weekend and know that I will see you soon. I'll be home in a month!

Ok, now don't faint on me because I wrote twice in one week! Boy, am I tired! Yesterday we finished the Maturita testing and I am happy to report that everyone graduated. My student, Lukas who I wrote about in an earlier blog, really should have failed the English exam. David and I gave him a 5 but there was a vote from the official panel and they decided to pass him with a 4. I was so torn because I wanted to pass him but knew that he deserved a 5. He failed his maturitas last year and you only get 3 chances so they just wanted to move him along. The grading is very subjective here. If a teacher likes you, you get good grades. I had students thanking me for the grades I "gave" them last semester. The idea of earning grades hasn't occurred to most students. It is so different from what we know in the states.

Speaking of different...last night was the farewell party for the graduates. The seniors grilled meat (the so called BBQ...and sorry to say Mandy, no sauce!) and there where 5 cases of beer plus numerous bottles of vodka, rum (made from potatoes, not sugar), wine and other liquors. This was a party for the teachers and the seniors with a few juniors to boot. Can you imagine hanging out, smoking and getting drunk with your teachers in high school? I thought not. It is the norm here, I think. But quite surreal for me. I gave each of the seniors a postcard from Texas with a small note and my email address. I also gave them a souvenir from Texas i.e., magnets, keychains, etc. Thank you Angela and Ducki for supplying the goods! I had exactly 16 things and 16 seniors so it worked out perfectly. I think they were really touched and that makes me happy. They were a special class for me because the were the best English speakers in the school and helped me adjust in many ways. They made me feel welcome and really wanted to get to know me.
Needless to say, it was a LONG day. The tests started at 8.00 am and finished at 5.00pm. Then there was a short ceremony followed by a champagne toast for the teachers, then the aforementioned party which I left at 12.45 am. The graduates were going to a pub after the party and said they would stay until it closed which is about 6 or 7 am. There is no last call in the Czech Republic so you can drink all night.

Well, today was the first day of maturita testing. I have to say, it is quite an interesting process. Most of my students were so nervous. They have a computer program that randomly selects a topic number 1-25. Then the students have 15 minutes to prepare a short speech on the topic (it should be at least 10 minutes), read a short article and be prepared to answer questions from it. They also are given some basic grammar exercises to do. I was surprised how unprepared some of my students were. The topics don't differ much from year to year so they should have known most of the info. The students who got Canada and Australia knew very little on those subjects. Granted, I don't know much about those two countries myself, but I would have made a point to learn it for my graduating exam if I knew it was my only shot.

One student got the topic "Social Problems of the World." He had to describe the social problems here in the Czech Republic. He said that there were problems with the Gypsies but it wasn't a social problem or racial. The problem lies with the Gypsies themselves. I was flabbergasted by the things he said. Gypsies are horribly discriminated against here. They are segregated in schools and usually can't get hired. So they are unemployed and need government subsistence. This student doesn't believe the Gypsy (Roma) population should get assistance. He thinks they are just lazy. He said that anyone who really wanted to work could find a job. Good luck in a country with about 15% unemployment. He had no facts to back up his opinions. David and I tried to ask him questions to help dig him out of the hole he had dug, to no avail. I asked him, "What about the people who try to get jobs but are turned away because they are Roma?" He didn't believe that it happens. I guess he never reads the papers or watches the news. This student almost failed. He received a 4. Five is the lowest and means failure. He didn't receive such a low grade because of his opinion. Stating his opinion is not wrong, but he was being tested on facts and his ability to articulate them in English, which he did very poorly. He made horrible grammar mistakes. So don't think he was punished for his ghastly opinions. He wasn't.

Anyway, tomorrow is round two and afterwards there will be a BBQ. Yee Haw!! I asked if it would be a Texas BBQ to which one student replied, "It will be if you come!" I'll see what I can do about that! I'll update you on tomorrow's tests and BBQ. Should be interesting. By the way....it snowed here yesterday morning, really!!!

Well, things are moving right along. Next week are the graduation exams called maturitas. The graduating class must take exams in Czech, a foreign language and two other subjects such as biology, math, history, etc. There is a list of 25 topics for each subject. A topic is randomly chosen for each student. They have 15 minutes to prepare. For the English exam they are given a short reading. They must answer a few questions about the reading then they have a few grammar exercises to complete. After that they must speak about the topic for 10-15 minutes. Some of the topics are easy, such as "My Family" or "My Daily Program". Others are rather difficult, like "Generation Gap" and "The USA Throughout Time". The seniors are quite nervous. They have to be ready to speak on 100 different topics in one day. You must pass all four subjects to graduate. They don't look at the semester's grades. It seems quite stressful to me. I am a little nervous, too. I will be grading them along with one other English teacher. I do not know much about Australian or Canadian history. Nor do I know the land mass of the US in square meters or miles, for that matter! Maybe I should be studying this week, too!

I was in Prague last weekend. It was good to get away. This weekend is my only free weekend before I go home. So the countdown begins. I keep thinking of all the things I want to eat when I get home. Angela is coming in a few weeks. I am glad she is coming right before I go home. I think it will be a good transition for me. I know I will experience reverse culture shock when I get home and maybe this will ease it a little. I hope everyone is doing great. Have a good week!

WOW! Thanks for all of the responses! Y'all really know how to cheer a girl up! I am making a few changes on my blog. Let me know what you think. I can't believe it is already the middle of May. The next month and a half are going to be so busy. I am helping my seniors get ready for their graduation exam in two weeks. I don't have a free weekend from now until I go home. I think I will have to start pacing soon. I have lots of goodies to bring home....Christmas in July. Yippee!

Sorry this is so short. But I gotta go. I'll try to write more this week.
Jessica