Where have the last 2 months gone since my last post?? A lot has happened, so here we go…
Over the last two months, I’ve enjoyed 3 separate visits from stateside friends! Amber and her mom were the first to visit and we had a fantastic time exploring and eating and laughing a LOT. Amber and I haven’t lived in the same city for over 10 years, so it was pretty wonderful to spend more than an afternoon or a short weekend with her. And having mama Lageman join our shenanigans was super fun and gave me a little dose of “mom love” which I needed more than I realized. The next visitors were Erin and MK and we had a half relaxing, half adventurous week. Got to explore Karlstejn castle outside of Prague and had a “college night” at this amazing cocktail bar, Anonymous—so glad to have a little piece of ATL find me so far away from home. My last visitors were Meryl and Megan and we had a short couple days wandering around the city, doing yoga in a park and eating Trdelnik se zmrzlinou (pastry/donut chimney thing with ice cream). So glad to have my twins come visit and be a part of their first European experiences!!
Besides visitors, it has pretty much just been work work work work work. Teaching is going well, even though I feel like my students teach me more than I teach them—most of my classes are conversation, so they speak on topics in which they’re educated and excited while I just correct their grammar or help them find vocab. I’ve learned a lot about agriculture and aviation and the EU and operating systems and pharmaceuticals! I teach “in-company” classes, which means the language school I work for is hired out by companies all over Prague that provide English lessons to their employees (either for free or at a subsidized rate), which is a great benefit!
Speaking of benefits… get your sh*t together, USA. In the Czech Republic, the minimum vacation time that companies must provide is 20 days. Four weeks MINIMUM! And many companies choose to provide more or also add on sick days. And let’s look at maternity leave… women get up to 3 years to stay at home with their new baby/babies here. Yes, you read that correctly, UP TO THREE FREAKING YEARS! And the state provides a stipend to the new mothers during her stay at home AND her employer is required to rehire her if she decides to return to work after the 3 years (though not necessarily in the same position). Other great benefits that many companies offer (though are not necessarily required): daycare for children up to age 6, flexible working hours, food vouchers, mobile phones, gyms, and, as I’ve mentioned before, English lessons. Again, these last ones are not required by the state, but I’ve learned that work/life balance is extremely important here in the Czech Republic and companies seem to make sure to provide that.
Anyway, the past 2 months have been busy, but good! Will try to be better about posting more often.
