my anti-american employer

I'm not incredibly nationalistic. Some people may take issue with that - some believe that makes you less of a person to be American by birth but not one of those flag-waving, might is right, AMERICAN Americans... especially overseas.

I try not to lump people in to groups and label them good or bad as a whole according to their country of origin (not perfect in that respect, but I try), much unlike this guy I met a few weeks back.

I hadn't planned on a late night out as I was still recovering from my illness (and am STILL recovering to date). But I ran in a DJ friend and his group after he finished his set while I was waiting for my tram - they talked me in to grabbing a drink since I had 20 minutes to wait... it turned in my hanging out with them for the next few hours.

During that time span a few things developed - I was the sole remaining female, the only American, and with a group of British and Czech guys out having a good time. UNTIL some guy tugged in the front of my top and I knocked his hand away with a lighthearted, "What the hell?"

Then he ripped in to me about how he hates Americans, American women especially as we're all uptight bitches and pushy and loud and self-righteous and demanding and selfish and blah blah blah. He'd already mentioned something disparaging before but I had chalked it up to him just teasing. I responded this time - let him know he was essentially a stranger and pulling my clothes off and that any woman would react in the same way, not matter where they were from. He argued that European women wouldn't have a problem with that and Czech women wouldn't mind at all. I laughed - it was a ridiculous stance and I said so. I thought he was kidding a bit, but I was wrong. It was a stupid conversation and it continued for a bit - I was absolutely incredulous, couldn't believe he believed his own words but he kept going and going and then got in to how even trying to talk to an American was basically a waste of breathe and he never does it voluntarily outside of the work environment and our little exchange, was the most time dealing with Americans than he's had in the past 5 years... with all over conversations combined. I asked - why start now? I forget what else was said, but one of the other guys, a giant of a man, standing behind me told he him he'd better stop talking because first he was wrong and second he was rude.

It ended with him just going further and further and my getting a little mad, and then, after the giant guy interjected a few more times, he said he was just trying to push my buttons and tried to laugh it off.

Earlier this week I sent my cv off for a teaching position with a school - within the next 15 minutes I had a response from the owner. She asked to meet with me at a cafe the following day. I arrived and she was seated with a man. Her boyfriend. The co-owner. That guy.

I couldn't place him immediately but when I did I started laughing. He was somewhat embarrassed as he recalled our conversation. He asked if I had mentioned to him that I was looking for a teaching position and I said no, I hadn't. He laughed that the meeting was pretty much to get a feel for people and make sure they're articulate. And then remarked, "that's not really a concern - you're definitely articulate."

I got the job. And no, I will not be working with the guy, just for him... and his girlfriend.

thoughts on summer and stuff

It just turned midnight, the kid is sleeping and I have finished editing my work for the night... I have more new assignments to work on but am taking a bit of a break.

For nothing new happening I have a fair amount to say... first - she is only here for a few more days and then has a flight back to CA... and I'm not ready for that. I actually had a daydream last night about being home during the summer, driving to Blockbuster on Yulupa and picking out movies then walking in to Whole Foods for some fresh fruit and for a fruit and movie dinner.... which is rather odd as we don't use that Blockbuster, ever, but the feeling behind it - the normalcy of our summer time evening - lots of fresh juicy berries and melon and a movie in a nice cool house late at night... that isn't something I get to be a part of this summer. No DDR competitions, no Wii marathons... no fireworks and BBQs at Emilies, no sushi or Wednesday Night Market with D, no RRBC with Jodi and BR and Scott and Mike and Becky, no Health and Harmony, no fair, no horse races, no trips to the beach, girls night at the ocean, no Grandma Julie in August, no August grandparents' birthday parties, no day trips to Calistoga or Harbin, no birthday baseball games - no Giants at all, no San Francisco for that matter... none of the things that mean summer to me. And most of all - no kid.

And that's the hardest part. She has grown so much I wish I could be there as you all become reacquainted with her. She has such a full life here and is so busy that it feels like I hardly get to see her anymore - it's a lot of conversations in passing or when one of us is half asleep - or should be sleeping....

I've started wondering if staying here for the summer might have been the wrong decision for me. To be quite honest I miss my Dad. We don't always talk a lot, but I love him a lot, and I like being around him. Obviously I miss my Mom too, but we have an email/phone tag connection and can talk to talk and feel connected and find things to talk about for an hour to two - literally. Not everyone can do that - nor would I want to do that with everyone. I miss by brother too - and he's going to be back in town for the summer. My other brother and his wife are expecting their newest child any day and their oldest is a full-fledged communicating person now, which he wasn't when we left (person yes, freely communicating, not so much)- and I am obviously missing those too. And my sister will be back and forth visiting with her little boy who is nearing 1 1/2 and growing faster than I can remember being possible.

Not quite home sick - but maybe family sick... however that doesn't look a thing like what I mean...


Second - in my writing class we've been lucky enough to go to the Prague Writers Festival... and once again I'm smitten by someone unexpected - in case you forgot, last time I went to one of these big lecture event thingys I came away with a huge crush on Gary Kasparov... this time there are two.... they shall remain unnamed for now... as you who have been there may mock me - relentlessly and rightfully so. My crushes are insignificant... they're temporary infatuations with people who have struck me as stunning in one way or another... in this case, strong bold and brave men ready and willing to speak their minds and share their thoughts and who choose to do so with grace and dignity. If you were at the events I was at you may have a clue... if you weren't there you wouldn't know who I was talking about anyway... I didn't until fairly recently (not as recent at yesterday or even last week but still relatively recently). Anyway - it's nice to once again have exposure to stunningly creative and aware people. More of what I crave, more of why I'm here.

Third - I had a blast in pre-school today and so did the kids. We played charades... or rather, they did. I gave them each cards with animals that we've been studying and then they got to act out the animal... and we'd have to guess what they were. They had a blast - and it was fun. Always nice when those two go hand in hand. We also learned the names of the playground toys and played a racing game - I'd call out the equipment and they'd run, jump, walk, skip, go backwards as fast as they could to get there - and then they could play on it until I called out the next piece of equipment and the next little instruction on how to get there... again, cute kids having fun and learning. It was a good day.

Fourth - i'm enjoying my class and wish it was longer and more in depth. really wish that.

Where else could you meet.... all in one place...?

I've recently been party to a few conversations with similar themes... the wonders and the variety of the people you meet here in Prague.

Before I get much in to that, I'm going to explain a bit how I've had to develop relationships here... by seriously stepping beyond my comfort zone and really extending myself, way more than I have ever even approached in my life in the US.

First - online networking - there are a few different sites you can find to connect you with the local expat community. EXPATS.CZ is one of the main ones... there are other social networks to which I have also subscribed - MEETinPRAGUE, couchsurfing, Internations... various FaceBook groups... and others.

Through these online groups I have been able to participate in numerous in-person events - parties, book exchanges, music, dancing, pub crawls, networking events, and more... and at these events I've met tons and tons of people. So many I leave overwhelmed and unable to sort the names and faces...

So... that's one avenue for finding friends here...

And in this week I've had conversations with:


A closed captionist,
A conductor
A behavioral specialist,
A composer,
A photographer (a few)
Numerous DJs,
A few writers
Quite a few musicians,
Several lawyers,
A doctor,
A translator,
A guy who does the dubbed voices for English language movies,
A bodybuilder,
TONS of IT people,
A number of masters and doctoral students - only one other American, the other all European - none in my program
A man who avoided the Iranian draft,
A seismologist who studies the ocean floor for oil
A geologist who does sort of the same thing - these two don't know each other,
A Romanian AP reporter living in Prague,
Quite a few professors,
Published authors,
Any number of people who work in customer service,
A few diplomats,
Quite a few english teachers (how trite and American!)
And a few very young retirees.

There are more, but my brain has stopped functioning. This shall suffice for now. These are the ones I don't interact with on a daily basis... I'll get to my friends another day...