So I'm squishing weeks two through four together, because that's how they felt. We spent almost all of our time either in the classroom, or working on something FOR the classroom. Besides shopping for groceries, we didn't get out much. This could be considered a shame, due to the fact that we are living in one of the most beautiful places in the world, but because we plan to stay for a while, we weren't worried. So here's what our schedule looked like for weeks 2-4:
9:30-1:00: In class learning a million things a minute with a half hour break in between
1:00-5:00: Get lunch, have interviews, check out possible apartments, grocery shop, prep for lesson
5:00-8:30: Teach 45 minute lesson and observe 1-2 of your peers teach a 45 minute lesson as well to real live Czech students usually between 20 and 70 years old. In 3 weeks we had 3 different levels and 3 different sets of students-it was incredible practice and we learned an insane amount from both our students and our observers
8:30-1 or 2am: Cook dinner, see more possible apartments, prep for lesson due the next day, study for upcoming grammar test, work on added homework assignments, try to hang out with equally stressed out spouse.
Insane right!?!? Goodness, we just felt like we were drowning in TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). However, turns out, it was just one of the best classes either of us have ever taken. We went from knowing NOTHING about teaching English, to feeling confident in our abilities to teach our own class and perhaps help others with the process.
I am proud to say that both of us passed the course with flying colors and came out with some great references and FANTASTIC friends. Tom worked like crazy to find work, and came out with three jobs before the end of the course (well deserved). He's currently employed with a language school to teach a few evening classes and write a blog about his experiences on their website, he has a couple students lined up for private English lessons, and on top of those is employed full-time with an international kindergarten (http://dejvice.skolka-bambino.cz/en/homepage.html). I got super lucky and found that a friend of a friend teaches at an international school (http://www.beehive.cz/english.html) and they had a job opening (teaching 2nd/3rd grade)!
So, with our jobs and new certificates, we finished the program...PHEW! Our last Friday we had a fantastic party at the founder's flat with wine and cheese and a bunch of other snacks we all hadn't seen in a while. It was glorious and we were all so relieved that we couldn't help but show it...
This big bunch of goofballs did an amazing job of keeping us sane (so did our parents via Skype). We were incredibly lucky to end up with these 11 and we're so excited to have these new friends to take us into our new Czech lives.
Next up was a week of teaching for me and running around organizing our lives for Tom. We will catch up you on those in a bit. For now, we hope your New Years Eve was safe and wonderful, and you made some great wishes for 2015! Happy New Year's everyone!
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