I can show you the world...

Magda and I have been spending a lot of time together. She is so funny. We mostly just laugh together. Which is such a blessing, because language barriers tend to make joking around really hard. But she has a great sense of humor and can take a joke just as well as she can dish it out. It's so fun. Yesterday, I showed her the video on youtube of that boy singing A Whole New World, both parts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9-CS2v8wcc) Magda LOVED it and I think we've probably listened to it about 34 times since then. haha. We also spent about 30 minutes watching Pocahontas videos on youtube in different languages. There's a really cool one - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooo2oNqbDhE Anyways, it's been nice to relax and just hang out and not always be out and about going and going. Especially since every person that knows anything about the TESOL program has said it will basically be the death of me. As in, a LOT of work and all-consuming. So I am soaking up free time now while I can. :)

I finally took a few pictures of our room so you can sort of get a feel for how we're living. I was wishing the other day that I had brought my bonnet and apron, because sometimes I feel like I'm living Little House on the Prairie. The only things missing are the horse-drawn buggies and wood stove fireplaces. They probably just haven't made it here yet ;)

So, without further ado, I introduce to you Vinarska 5, room 6:




The hallway entrance. Notice the lack of a door handle. You can't come in the room without a key, even if it's unlocked. It's been 2 weeks but I have yet to lose my keys. I'm hoping my history didn't come with me... :/



This is what you see when you first enter. That doorway straight ahead is the entrance to our bedroom.



The bathroom. Good thing neither of us is claustrophobic!



Our abundant storage space!!



The shower room. I don't even have words... I'll just be honest, I think since I've been here I've taken 4 showers. You can do the math. (Hey, on Little House, they only got showers once a week, so I'm doing pretty good!)



Our spacious and elegant kitchen! To the left, you can see our stove, useful for boiling water. And that's pretty much it. Under the counter in the corner is our fridge. We sometimes have a hard time finding enough things to fill it! And of course, plenty of room to store all the food we eat :)



My side of the room. I was so pleased to find that beautiful gold tapestry when I first got here. It sure makes me feel like a princess.



Magda. haha. She was most likely singing. I love that about her. Some of her favorites include Selena, Madonna, and Rihanna. haha.



Our room. That door is the door that leads to the hallway and eventually, the outside hallway.



Another view of my beautiful, oversized bed. It sure is going to be hard getting used to sharing a bed after having this huge one all to myself!



This is my couch. I know, it looks a LOT like my bed, but trust me, it is a couch. (I think back home you call them futons)



My desk.



The balcony, from the inside looking out.



View from the balcony!



I was making progress on drying these until the snow started falling this morning... I feel so Amish, though... :)

So there it is! I hope you enjoyed your virtual tour. It's okay to be jealous, we are living the good life here in Brno, that's for sure :)


Today, I don't have class so I will probably go out exploring a bit in the snow. This morning Jeongmin and I had made plans to go running, but then we saw that it had snowed and decided to try out the gym here in Vinarska. We went there and knew we had to pay but weren't exactly sure who or where or how much. There was a lady in an office so we went to try to talk to her, but she didn't speak any English. She showed us a few documents with unfamiliar words all over them and pointed to a few things and then went back to her Sudoku. We pretended like we knew what she was talking about and walked out. At that point, a younger guy came in and we asked him how we could get to the gym. He explained to us the best he could that we needed a note from our coach but that he would show us how to get to the track if we wanted. We figured it was the best we were gonna get so we followed him. I am still laughing thinking about what happened next (it's too bad I didn't have my camera with me..) He took us down a flight of stairs and through 2 locked doors (apparently the track is so valuable they need to secure it twice!) and we stepped into a darkened corridor. There were no lights and no windows. It was just a long hallway with some sort of matting on the ground. Except that the mats were all uneven and didn't match up properly and were bulging in places. The track. We decided we would probably be better off waiting out the snow. I love this place. :)