Bars with Wi-Fi are a Beautiful Thing

Hi Kids, just a quick update on a Friday afternoon. No pictures to share, but we survived the first night in the new apartment and we were glad we happened to grab the "blankets" from the airplane. Wondering if they've already "turned off" the heat for the year. Today is rainy and high in the mid 40s. Showering in a European shower is a complicated process, bank tellers in Olomouc are friendly, the breads are out of this world good, and everything is so inexpensive we have to do the math in our head twice just to make sure.

A 2000 crown note in the Czech Republic is a work of art.

Bars with wi-fi are a beautiful thing.

After spending a lovely lunch and afternoon with my colleague Antonin and his wife and daughter, we located the nearest Budwar sign and were drawn in for a 25 crown (really Koruner, but they call it crown) half liter of liquid loveliness. By the way, roughly 19 crowns = $1 US. We were further enticed by a television blaring MTV in English, and the best thing of all, free wireless. So I'm catching up on my writing . . . er, blogging.

We have the day to ourselves tomorrow, to explore Olomouc. Then we decided to head to Prague for Easter, assuming we can navigate the language challenges of purchasing a train ticket. My new friend, Mr. Happy Walia at the Charles Hotel, promised us upgraded rooms for only 70 euro per night, so we decided to stay until Wednesday. The big campaign kick-off press conference is Tuesday.

I will be teaching on Fridays in Olomouc, but not today, because it is good Friday (they've been off all week through Monday, Easter Monday, a national holiday). And not next Friday because things still have to be arranged. But I will be teaching sometime. After all, gotta do something to "earn" my grant money.

People don't really speak any English here, and my Czech is very rough. We plan out what we want to say and hope that we don't get any questions in return. The problem is, sometimes we improvise vocabulary, which causes problems. For example, trying to get change at a bank, we needed 4 $500 crown notes in exchange for a $2000 crown note. We didn't know the word for 500, so we asked for 5 100 change. Obviously this caused confusion and after a few go rounds the teller just grabbed the 500 notes from the drawer and pointed. Problem solved.

But we do know how to ask for beer--pivo or a brand name, such as Budwar, Stella, etc. Pointing also works well as long as you say hello (dobry den), please (prosim) and thank you (dekuji, --de-kwi).

But enough language lessons. Happy Friday everyone!