Charlie aka reality of having a pup

I am honestly surprised how difficult it is to take care of a pup. It really is like having a baby. He wakes up at night and requires somebody to play with him before he falls asleep again, he doesnt want to be alone, even for a minute, he gets stuck at strange places, he can kill himself within a minute (he almost strangled himself on the Christmas lights wire), he enjoys chewing things (it seemed like a carrot stick might be a favourite treat) but unlike kids, he loves to fetch :) On the other hand, he is so cute and sweet and he totally got into my heart.

The other issue is that he doesnt like to eat dry food from the breeder. So, as a result of a panic that our pup was going to starve to death, we started to cook for him and I am afraid that he will never start to eat dry food again. So, BARF it is going to be, probably. I am partly happy about it and partly not. I want to buy a small package of ORIJEN food tomorrow and try it because I kinda get why he doesnt like Royal Canine. I would like to combine both approaches but more I read, more it seems that it is not such a good idea.

Favourite hiding spot.

Carrot, the best snack ever.

In our old cats bed.

Totální odpor k balení a jakékoli jiné aktivitě

Prostě bych nejradši šla spát, a ne se balila. Potřebuju si toho vzít co nejméně, protože mě čeká sprint z letiště na Anděla, resp. na autobusák Na Knižecí, odkud si pojedu vyzvednout Charlieho. A jak je známo, nepatřím zrovna k baličům, co si umí vzít jen věci, které budu potřebovat. Na druhou stranu kvůli štěněti nikde moc nebudu moct cestovat, takže na doma mi budou stačit ty věci, co už doma mám. Pitomý je, že nemám tucha, jaké oblečení mám v Česku, poslední 3 roky jsem intenzivně vyhazovala, třídila, nakupovala a prostě jsem ztratila přehled.

No a samozřejmě mě stresuje to, že nevím, zda najdu na letišti bankomat (nejlépe čsob), jestli stihnu autobus pro Charlieho a spousta dalšího. 

ALE! Koupila jsem dneska několik dárků pro maminu a babičku! :) Mužská část rodiny se bude muset spokojit s éčky.

Jdu objednat Charliemu hřebeny a kartáč, aby mu to seklo :)) Zdá se, že Viktor se na broučka začíná opravdu těšit :))

Prááázdniny

Can't believe it, I made it! I've got through 4 months as a primary and lower-secondary teacher and 3 months as a pre-school teacher and I haven't abuse any of the kids :)) And now 14 days of holidays! Can't wait!!!

If everything goes well, I'll get Charlie on Friday - so, we'll have a little baby boy :)) Can't wait!!!

I'm so glad that the kindergarten experiment is over. I hope I won't have to go back to teaching such young children! Can't wait for the free afternoons (spent with Charlie and Viktor)!!!

Charlie: 10 weeks old

Charlie with mummy (she has a bad hair day, obviously)

Nap time

Charlie with his sis

Two weeks till Christmas

There are three main reasons why I'm excited about Christmas this year:
1) I'll get Charlie
2) I have dumped my job in the kindergarten, so 21st December is my last working day! Hurray! No more overcrowded buses, walking to the   Prisma  bus stop, screaming, uncontrollable and always sick kids...
3) Somebody else is going to cook :)

Things at school are getting better and better, I really do enjoy my job but still, I'm looking forward to the holidays, a lot!

I need to do plans for the kindergarten till tomorrow, including assessments of each child at each month. I even don't know all the names! I have no idea what some of the kids know! It seems quite pointless to me to write about each child's knowledge, they're too young and with some of them it's difficult to assess them. I could imagine writing some kind of a feedback on their classroom work (but then I would appreciate if the parents read it and worked with their kids). I'd better started, so I finish it today :)
I might not go to the kindergarten on Monday and Tuesday because I want to take school kids downtown to take some pictures for our project with Lenka. So, I need to try a bit to keep them happy because my letter of resignation definitely didn't make their day. What the heck did they expect? To work for less money than promised, to enjoy my unprofitable contract, to watch the pets suffer...? The pet thing: The kindergarten has quite a lot pets, budgies, turtle, some more birds, chip monkeys, a pony - they keep them in small cages, feed them well, though but nobody socialize with them. It's damn sad life to be surrounded by people but nobody really cares...Or maybe I'm just too judgmental. I can't wait to get out of that job! On the other hand, I really wanted to get to know with the EVS volunteer who's coming in January - still haven't found any friends here, so she could be the one :) But, I usually get on better with boys than girls, so I need to keep looking, I guess.

I need to go Christmas present shopping but things are more expensive here than in Czech and the weather is so depressing....

World without banks

I dream of the world without banks, institutions which don't do anything useful but suck my money and get on my nerves. If nothing, they could be a bit more flexible - who has the time to go to the bank to change the phone number, especially if that person lives on the other side of Europe as if it would be a such a problem to change it online. Who wants to pay them money just because they're running one's account but actually doesn't do anything with it? But the worst part is that one has to have an account....
What's the point of having an account if you cannot use it? I really hate the fact that my CZ account is more or less useless but I still pay them money for keeping it. A huge sight! Can't wait to cancel it in December! Hopefully they won't be such a**holes like in KB where I had to wait for 3 weeks before they canceled it.
And the most annoying part is that I cannot shop online for Charlie in CZ and that sucks!

Yeah, I feel a bit better when I put it on the paper.

P.S. It was snowing today! Kinda cool! The kids were super excited. :)

Charlie; for Charlie

My almost 2-month-old baby boy! Can't wait to pick him up!

As the day I'm flying back home's coming, I've started to do some shopping for my pup, not my family :( I'm still not in the right mood for Christmas shopping. Sight. It'll suck when the shopping spree comes and all the shops will be overcrowded. Anyway, here's what I have for my boy so far:

Hopefully the best friend; Producer: Trixie

I bought a dental ball but it smelled so badly/cheaply that I exchanged it for these Trixie bowls.

Gender neutral leach by Flexi

Plus I've got him an unbranded winter coat and a blanket. Not much yet, but even these few things make me super excited about my new friend! I wish Christmas was already here, not only because of Charlie but also 14 days of holidays from school!!! Yey! But only one week from the kindergarten. On the other hand, an EVS volunteer is coming, so I'll finally have an assistant and the kindergarten experience will get more pleasant. Or I'll just dump that job and will enjoy being with that little ball of fur. 

Flight tickets

I am a total looser when buying flight tickets. Any time I buy a ticket thinking that the price won't go down, it does, even with Czech airlines. When I wait until the price drops, it always increases. I wish I would understand the price policies! They're really pissing me off! You know, a penny saved is a penny earned.
If fact that's why I like travelling by bus/train - the prices are set or are only getting up.

Just a couple of thoughts

I came home totally exhausted today. Dealing with the bank, grocery shopping, teaching both at school and kindergarten,....too much for one day, I'd say. There's so much on my mind and if I don't write it down, my head might explode :))) So, here we go:

1) I just love how my school deals with "naughty" children, they don't yelling at them but they show them love, companionship and understanding. Well, they sometimes yell at them, too, but it's not like a constant thing. I wish I would be able to love the kindergarten kids in the same way as they do love the students in my school.
2) Six hours in a row at school is less exhausting than 15 minutes with screaming kindergarten kids.
3) I just can't wait to have Charlie!
4) My days are quite exhausting with the full-time, part-time job and Estonian language course, which is going to be over this week. I'll miss you, Andrei! :( I should join a new group but I'll have to do lot of self-studying to catch up with them. Wish I had more motivation right now. I might also join a free Estonian course in December but since it's free, one has to bring too many documents. I kinda don't have time to deal with it now.
5) I'm just amazed how magically Eda (she's a head teacher) works on the kids. She's like a magic spell. Wouldn't it be great to have her in my classes all the time? :)
6) Thanks to her (Eda's) visit in my lesson, I realized, I have to slow down when speaking English because the fact that one student understands me doesn't mean the others do, too.

I'm getting pretty tired and have lots of things to do for tomorrow, tons of Estonian words, dozens of tests to correct (this is what sucks the most about teaching full time, too many tests) and a few lessons need to be planned.

Charlie

We're getting a pup at the end of December. I'm totally psyched. I wish I could have him NOW! He could comfort me after coming from the kindergarten (the four-year-olds are really frustrating me - if nothing changes very soon, I'm done with the job), take me out for a walk and could cuddle with me when Viktor doesn't have time. I think having a dog is going to be a great chapter of our lives!

I'm in love!

I just love my school <3
They make me feel included and they're just so sweet. Well, the kids, unlike the teachers, are not always sweet... but yesterday's trip made me realize, they're just kids and they deserve to be loved no matter how noisy/irritating they can be.
The point is that I'm really glad I got a job in this particular school, it's so small and everything is so "family-like" there. I honestly don't want to move anywhere else for couple of years.

Autumn in Tallinn

is extremely windy and rainy. But today, it was sunny in the morning, so I made Viktor to go to Kadriorg park and take some pictures of me, not the nature :) Btw. Kadriorg is the place where I'd love to get married.

Me: "I'd love to do that" Viktor: "...,then you would get up, there would be a strong gust of wind and bye, bye Danuška"

Totally off the topic, we have pronounced Saturdays as the cleaning days :/

My first week in two jobs

So, this week was the first week when I worked at two places - both within 6 bus stops from my place. I thought it would be much tougher but actually it was quite fun. It is so different to teach 3 and 4-year-olds and 13-15-year-olds.

If I said at school that we're going to sing a song, probably most of them would look at me saying "Why? We haven't done anything bad, please don't torture us with (your) singing." If I said " Let's do some physical exercise", only one or two would move - others would remain seated and would wait what I'd do. Unlike the teenagers, the kindergarten children love all the activities mentioned above. I kinda believe they haven't noticed my false singing yet.
In contrast to kindergarten children, the school children don't like to hide under the table and don't think it's extremely funny. Well, I think some of the teenagers might have troubles to fit in. I remember myself being under the desk several times during my English lessons and it definitely wasn't comfortable. (I was asked by my English teacher to get there, I didn't do it thinking it was funny.)
I think an attention span is the same for both groups :) And one more similarity: they both like colouring.

To sum up: Every job has something. There's no pressure in the kindergarten for knowledge unlike in the school - school children have to have certain outcomes. The teenage kids understand me, the kindergarten children don't - if only they would pay attention to my instructions. I definitely have to work on that. I'm better paid at school than in a private kindergartn (wtf?), which makes me not very happy. The next thing I like about the school children is that they understand sarcasm and I feel much closer to them than to three year olds. It might sound that I don't like my kindergarten job but that's not true, I do like it, I would just appreciate a better pay considering the fact I have become the breadwinner...

Finally!

The things are turning well, finally. I found a second job, things are settled with Viktor (if he found a second job, it would make super-happy) and I feel generally happy :) If only my mum wanted to see it...

Nedostatkové zboží

Estonské podzimní počasí přímo vybízí k pouštění draka. Navíc v Česku se člověku jen tak nepoštěstí ho pouštět na pláži, tak jsem toho chtěla využít. Jenže tu sehnat draka je teda pěkná fuška! Zdá se, že Estonci prostě nelezou na ty svoje minikopečky a ani nechodí na pláž proto, aby trávili čas touto kratochvílí. Ach jo. A naše mamina si myslí, že je to aktivita pro děti, a tak mi draka nechce koupit....těžký život tu mám!

My first day as a teacher in Estonia

Lenka (my BFF from uni) was totally right (as she usually is) - teaching part-time is enough. I'm teaching only grades 7, 8 and 9 and  I felt absolutely overwhelmed after only one day with them. Grade 7 - the kids are freshmen to that teenage thing and it got quite annoying to deal with their "very funny jokes" after a while. Grade 8 - the girls are nice but very shy and again, one can hear the boys all lesson long. Grade 9 - only 3 kids - smart, a bit over being the "funny" teenagers. They speak a lot of Estonian, though. Speaking back to them in Czech quite helped :)

I guess having a not-Estonian-speaking teacher was pretty new to them, too. They looked a bit confused sometimes. Next week, I want to introduce some rules, some punishments and to work generally on my authority. Pity I look so young and friendly. I also want to work on my instructions and a bit personalize some tasks. Besides that, I have make my lessons awesome because my mentor's coming to see me. She's not scary or anything but I'd love to impress her. I can feel that everyone's interested how this teaching English without Estonian experiment is going to work.

Off the topic. I found an ad that on one island close to Tallinn they're looking for an English teacher - how cool would that be to go to work by boat? :)

Btw. Did you know that Estonian kids have three months summer holidays? :)

I'm being so proud of...

...of ME!

I'm not proud of myself because I'm unable to keep my blog updated.
I'm not proud of myself because I've been watching too many TV shows.
I'm not proud of myself because I've lied to my parents.

I'm proud of myself because...

My teacher's book

I've got a JOB! And not just a job, like a customer service or whatever but as an English teacher - something I studied for! So happy!

Time to raise from the ashes

Being in Estonia always makes me lazy. But I guess it's time to get over my laziness and raise from the ashes and be ME, not this couch-potatoish me...

Here are some steps how I plan to become myself again:
1. Start to post at least one post a week (checked for this one :)
2. Start to look for a job more actively.
3. Have my days more structured...I can see that without the university-job-church stress my time management is damn poor :/ Time to do something about it.
a) Wake up earlier (a bit challenging considering whom I'm living with)
b) Have a plan what I want to do that day and do it.
c) Find a project, or two...because otherwise my CV will get some blind spots and nobody wants that.

Good luck to me!

It's over

I can't believe it. I made it! 10 months and 15 days of aupairing. I never would have thought I'll come so far. So I'm done here. New things are waiting for me. I hope my future turns well for me...it has to! My life is entitled to being awesome! :)

Did you know

that if you apply for Estonian citizenship and get it, you will get compensated for your language studies? Maybe I should consider changing my citizenship :))

Yes, I've started to do a little research on fun activities in Tallinn...hope I'll manage to get a job before I spend all my money.

Zmáčkni čudlík (part 2) aneb malé chlupaté štěňátko

I was emailing with a shih-tzu kennel behind Viktor's back and had a perfect evil plan for Sunday :)

Lenka and Slávek didn't have time to spend the afternoon by exploring the beauties around my village, so they planned to leave early taking Petra with. Unexpectedly, this helped to put my plan into action.
What was the plan, anyway? I really wish(ed) to have a puppy but Viktor seemed to be a little bit skeptical/resistant, so I figured when he sees those cute little dogies, he'll change his mind and we'll be suddenly 3 in our little Tallinn apartment. Why shih-tzu? They're small (easy to transport on board and don't eat as much as e.g. husky), friendly, active, just perfect for our living situation. When I showed a shih-tzu dog to Viktor, he said that they are freaks of nature :/ That made me feel challenged to change his mind :) (I think he's really happy to read this)
Against the protests of my parents, we took a train to a small town where the kennel was located. There was definitely nothing to see, only the puppies, which were irresistibly cute. In contrast to their owners. I definitely wouldn't like to meet the owner's boyfriend at night. Anyway, my plan worked and we have decided to buy a puppy.
But! when I calculated the costs (dog+accessories+chip+ticket), I realized I can't afford it, especially if I don't have any job in EE. Poor me!

This could have been our dog

 This is how sadly my evil plan ended...but a new plan had been born on the way back, in a tent shop - we have decided to buy a tent + camping stuff and go camping. If we're able to hike together, we'll ready for a married life :))

What EU should do

I would highly appreciate if EU invested their money into some useful database systems, like a central register - one would have only one personal number (I am in possession of 3 right now) valid for the whole EU and all his job experience would be put in there. So, if one moves to another country, one wouldn't have to bring lots of documents with...the clerk would just have a look at the system and knew. Or a "wedding register" in order to prevent a long annoying paper work. I would love if English would be sufficient for all of the documents. Translating to Estonian's gonna cost me arm and leg. Moreover, if we move, we'll have to have it translated into another language...Argh, this moving between countries, marrying an Estonian citizen, the unemployed future,...it's so annoying. But can't wait to leave my au-pair job on Saturday :)

My first wedding collage

How great would it be if the kids had their friends around all summer long? I would have all day to myself (as I do today) and could spend the days by learning new stuff, like today :) Here we go, my second collage in GIMP:

Kadriorg Palace in Tallinn

"Zmáčkni čudlík"

accompanied by "tygr, hr[ř]ej, králík, hrozně ošklivý pejsek" are the newest phrases Victor had learnt during our stay back in CZ. I kind of hope his vocabulary is about to broaden with a brand new textbook he has bought and he'll learn finally something more useful than "udělej čaj/placičku; na, realizuj se; o(b)líznu; chlupatý jezevčík/pejsek/štěňátko; etc."
I'm back to cold and rainy Bergen and want to recap the stay in CZ.
On Friday, before my departure, Anne took me to a nutrition specialist who found out that I eat too much of sugar, my bones lack something and my metabolism is slower than it should be. A bit depressing but didn't make much change in my diet. But I will have to start to do something to loose some of my newly loaded weight if I want to fit in into my über-cool wedding dress. The dress would be perfect for a summer/autumn wedding, though, I can't picture myself much in a short dress in Estonian winter.

This picture proves that it's possible to tie the knot even in a short dress.

The wedding dress talk was a bit off the topic, I saw it for the first time when I came home, which I thought it wouldn't happen when I came to the airport 15 mins before the check-in closes and Flesland was packed with Norwegians flying off to get some sun. Even getting to the Flesland airport was quite a stress, the plan was to walk for 30 minutes to a stop where an airport bus stops. The problem was that the timetable was not up-to-date and since I was a bit in a rush I had to call a taxi instead of waiting for the bus. 150 NOK for 3-5 km :-/ It would cost the same if I took the taxi from home and could save the walk with my suitcase X-/
Bergen airport uses only self-check-in boxes but because it was so crowded there, only two out of six worked. Jumping the queue didn't help much because it wasn't only me whose plane was about to start boarding. Miraculously I managed to check-in as the last person flying to Praha. My luggage was sent as a special baggage because there was no other way how they could check it in. At the security control I again jumped the queue explaining to everyone that my plane leaves in 10 minutes and I don't want it to leave with my luggage but without me, that's why they shouldn't be angry with me. I felt a bit like a movie star, you know, like someone running through the airport to catch the plane of their beloved ones. I was so happy when I sat in my seat on the plane and had no "neighbours" (to watch me catching my breath).
We met at the train station with Viktor and went to my parents' house where the engagement party took place. Honestly, it turned out to be more my birthday party and the main language was unfortunately for Viktor Czech. The party was fun, we got lots of lovely presents, had a great amount of food, Lenka brought Activity game, it was not raining...just an awesome afternoon-evening...

To be continued 

St. Hans natt (30/06)

The summer holidays has begun today but the weather remains more or less the same from March (except for several sunny days in April). Not only the weather was not as expected but also my vision of how the kids would spend their summer was proved to be quite wrong. I dreamt of them being with their friends all days long and me giving them something to eat from time to time.  Unfortunately, all Victor’s friends are on holidays with their parents and he has no intentions to do anything creative, he just wants to spend the whole day by watching kids TV.  So, as an awesome aupair,  I managed to find William’s vintage bike and persuaded Victor to go for a short trip today. That was quite fun – the bike was unpredictable and Victor took me to a cool playground. When we came home, we played pexeso and I totally won! That was a time when I realized I shouldn’t win if I don’t want the junior to rotten on the sofa watching TV. All my other attempts to entertain him failed.

It’s St. Hans natt today which is something like 30th April in Czech, only it’s much smaller here. I was invited by my German friend to her dinner party. It was pretty awesome because:

• Her friends (all are quite old people) have a beautiful pronunciation, so I can understand them.
• We watched highlights from the Hurtgigruten anniversary trip which was broadcasted on NRK2 – odkaz –  I so wished to take the Hurtigruten trip one day!
• I socialized – being aupair can get lonely sometimes.
• Good food. Older people know how to cook :)
• Beer was served as drinks. I’ve never liked beer but I must have grown up because I enjoyed it, which doesn’t mean I’ll start drinking beer, obviously.
• It was like tasting Norwegian culture and it made me a bit sad because I’m leaving in 3 weeks. I’m quite disappointed that I didn’t manage to pass Bergenstesten but have a desire to keep studying wherever I go after Norway
• Met a nice Norwegian girl on the bus stop who spoke Norwegian to me. People usually speak English to me, which makes it more difficult to improve my Norwegian speaking skills. She also helped me to find my bus stop because the tunnel was closed, so the busses were leaving from somewhere else.

I wrote this post after coming from the dinner party but didn’t have time to post it.

This is what I call a wedding!

http://junebugweddings.com/blogs/what_junebug_loves/archive/2011/05/06/joya-emre-wedding-music-video-black-eyed-peas.aspx

7 cameramen, 4 photographers, 4 wedding coordinators, original wedding video, vibrant colours, beautful dresses...Wish to have the same budget for our wedding :)

Vidím to spíš v hříchu a flámu

Jak jsem tak dneska projížděla cvkeskus, tak mi je skoro jasné, že příští rok to s mojí pracovní morálkou nebude o nic lepší než jako za dobu aupairování. Akorát místo dětí mě bude rozčilovat Viktor :) Jen se sama  sebe ptám, jestli toho flákání nebylo už dost a nepřišel čas probudit v sobě starou dobrou Danču a konečně se někam se svým životem pohnout...? No a odpověď nade mnou visí jako kletba.

More Sunday trips

Trip no. 1 (5.6.): Stoltzenveien - Brushytte - Fløyen - Bergen

Thinking we were in a good shape we had decided to take a trip up the Stoltzen, which is a very steep hill and the path up is made out of mostly stone stairs. After a few meters, we were quite sure that we need to train more to be able to run up as that 50-year-old man or 7-year-old girl. In fact, everyone got ahead of us, what a shame! The fastest guy made it in 8 min 53 sec some years ago, we managed to get up in about 45 minutes. 

After some minutes of catching our breaths, we started to hike towards Fløyen, Kryštof, under the influence of endorphins, suggested to take a little trip to a brushytte (which means soft-drink cottage). How happy we were when we were able to walk faster than a very old man! :) Hi5. It was the first time I've heard somebody speaking in Czech in Bergen. Surprisingly, one could buy soft drinks and other junk food in the brushytte and it was opened on Sunday!. Not feeling like buying anything overpriced, we changed the direction back to Fløyen. There we got some good ice-creams and walked down feeling like heroes that we have taken Stoltzenveien up.

The trip is about to start

Last meters are made out of wooden stairs - more comfy than stone ones. 

A view.

Trip no. 2 (12.6.): Løvstakken  

Kryštof got a tourist map of 7-mountains (those who surround Bergen), which has significantly broadened our trip options. So, for the first time we planned to go in the mountains on opposite side of Bergen. 

We knew that we will have troubles to meet from the beginning because neither of has been there before. We were right. Fortunately, we were quite close to each other. After a short admiration of sheep and a very ugly pig Oskar, we headed up with a very foggy idea which way to take. That's the thing about Norwegian tourist paths - they are either bad marked or not at all. We haven't met many people on the way up, it was good because of two reasons: A: we didn't feel that much like loosers everyone was faster than us. B: it gave us hope we're on the right way.   

To reach the top of   Løvstakken, one has to almost climb a mountain - that was fun. The upper we were, the windier it was and also Kryštof's optimism about seeing sun was fading away. We almost gave it up just before the top because of a fear from the rain/storm. Luckily, we had decided to give it a try and it was a good decision. The view was amazing and totally different from where we'd been before. 

Seeing most of the people coming from the city, we thought it could be a good idea to go there instead of back. I guess, it was. It was quite adventurous because there were not many people and we weren't sure if we had a good direction, it was pretty wet there as well, but still, it was worth it! The birds were singing, the grass and flowers smelled nicely...

We ended up almost by Gyldenpris, which is my bus stop :)) So, no long walking in Bergen to get to my bus! :)) 

Oskar looked a bit like this.                 Source: http://www.kristiansand.as/dyreparken/eksotiskedyr/hengebuksvin.jpg 

3rd mountain out of 7. Lame HI5.

Happy, happy...

Getting over the "hidden lakes".

View of Bergen, Fløyen and Ulriken

Me again :)

Bergenian spring

They say that it is raining in Bergen 360 days in a year. It's not one hundred percent true, I have experienced more than 5 days without rain but still, it rains a lot. It seems like all seasons of the year are the same, maybe it's a bit colder in winter. So, June has started and it's been raining all the time except for one day. I don't mind the rain that much when I'm aupairing but what's bothering me is that at the time of my arrival home, the weather is supposed to get worse in Czech - I'm planning to have a garden party and spend some days in a cottage - then it matters to me that the weather's gonna be rainy! Shame on the weather if the weather forecast is right!

This pic was taken somewhere else in Norway but it looks pretty the same in Bergen.

How I feel about the weather :)

Chvílema

Chvílema
mívám strašný dilema,
jestli se naučit římsky či řecky
anebo jestli žít na plný pecky,
chvílema.

Chvílema
růžovými brýlema,
vidím svůj život jen v hříchu a flámu,
jindy zas nad knihou hlavu si lámu
chvílema.

...

Chvílema
za plytkými cílema
vyženu zběsile koně své touhy,
kůň však je zchátralý a tratě jsou dlouhý,
chvílema.

Chvílema
unavený mílema
věrného pakoně na cizím pasu
a celé dilema nechávám času,
chvílema.

...
(Jiří Dědeček, Dilema)

Takhle básničkopísnička se mi poslední dobou honí v hlavě spolu s dalšími, ale o těch zase třeba příště :)

Fruits of boredom

I've been bored to death lately. Not that I don't have anything to do but I'm missing some mentally challenging activities, I do miss having a project or a goal. It feels a bit like surviving now. 

Anyway, I have decided to make a website gathering info for people who are thinking about becoming an aupair. So, this is my little project till I'm done here. I'm now facing PHP challenges because I've never done anything with it and still don't know how to begin. But instead of really doing something for getting started, I'm now lost in watching Prison Break. I've got to say I've never watched so many TV shows before I become aupair. 

The next thing I'm working on is a flipturn when swimming freestyle. Had to buy a nose clip for 80 NOK but I guess it was worth the money. I'm not very successful, though. Still practising step one. Have plenty of time to master it before I die :)

Btw. It's June, it's raining and 10°C here :/ 

Week 20

The week of season finales is over as is the sunny weather in Bergen. Unlike with the TV shows, nobody can predict when the sun returns to Saksarlia street. Not only rain and TV shows filled my days in week 20, but also celebration of 17th May, which is a Norwegian national holiday commemorating year 1814 when Norway got its own Constitution. Everyone suits up or "bunads up" and go to the streets. If you want to know more, click on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Constitution_Day because I'm too lazy to describe it, the only thing I want to mention is that it was pretty impressive. It reminded me a bit the celebrations of 1st May before 1989 in the Czech Rep. 

So, there are 4 months ahead of me without any of my favourite TV show. This aupair thing turned me into a total slacker, I've never watched "TV" so much. I desperately need a project to work on!!!  

Btw. I was happy with all the season finales but How I met your mother. It's not a show with supposed great finales, I guess...

1 month, 5 days

On Saturday, 26/06, 7:00, I'll be sitting on a plane taking off to Prague, CZ. Two hours later, I'll be picking up my suitcase with things I don't wear any more which I plan to leave at my parent's house, so I'll be able to pack up the rest into two suitcases two months later. Even though it's still unclear where I'll head at the beginning of September (well, it's pretty clear but I like to keep my options opened ;), I prefer to be prepared than to pay for overweighted luggage.

About an hour later, after I get my 50l black Carlton, I'll meet up with Viktor at the main train station and we'll head to my hometown, better to say homevillage where my mum will serve us some delicious meal. Then the preparations for my little engagement party can begin. Everything's been arranged with my mum, a cake is ordered from the same lady who'd done all my previous delicious birthday ones....it seems that everything should work out perfectly!

Sunday shall be filled with hanging out with Lenka and her boyfriend. (Viktor hopes to hit some bars with the boyfriend :) I can't wait to see them again. So pity I can't be at their wedding later in July :(

Monday-Wednesday - I need to get a new passport and do some legal stuff - booring! After all that is done, me, Viktor, my mum and hopefully dad can sit in the car and travel to our relatives' cottage close to Slapy reservoir. We used to spend there several summers when we were kids, I'm genuinely looking forward to seeing the place again!

On Thursday we should say bye to my family and take a train to Prague where we intend to stay until Saturday when our travels back are scheduled. First time we won't stay in a friend's apartment but we booked a fancy hotel. Hope it'll be fun! :)

As you can see from above, it's going to be exciting to be back home, it'll be far more interesting than making the boys to do their homework and un/loading the dishwasher.

I guess, my stalkers are very happy now because I told them my itinerary :)

How to get over feeling blue

Couple of minutes ago, I published a very concern post about my job future with this picture of me attached.

But! While looking for this picture, I found some of my old videos featuring me playing the piano! :) They totally made my day. Not because I would feel that I can make money as a pianist :D, but because I remembered how much fun I had playing it, even though I wasn't good at all.

So, if you ever feel blue, email me and I can send you my recordings ;))

Back on Askøy

Except for meeting people from the Internet, I also have a thing for Askøy, which is an island close to Bergen. 

Because Kryštof didn't know what he was missing that he'd never been there, we'd decided to take a trip there. On Sunday morning, he picked me up in his father's old Toyota Corolla in the city centre and we drove there. So much more comfortable than taking a bus! :)  

First we went up the Dronningen, which is the highest mountain of the island. It took about 30 minutes to get up, so you can imagine how "high" the mountain is. We spent about two hours up there, enjoying the sun and I was also enjoying my book Pretty Little Liars. 

Second destination was a big lake (Båtavikvatnet) I got fond of in summer 2008. We have this fight with Kryštof where we're gonna bath this summer, I am fighting for Båtavikvatnet and he wants us to go swimming somewhere close to Åsane. I think he liked the lake but we'll still have to visit his place, too. 

  Båtavikvatnet

Under Askøybrua (Askøy bridge)

 It was a very nice, lazy Sunday. We both got a very "funny" suntan :D 

Nothing interesting has been going on lately

only:

• Spring is here and it's awesome! It's the only season in Bergen when there are some days without any rain!
• My last Norwegian course hasn't been opened, so I'm quite irritated by that!
• I've started to teach the boys to put their plates in the dishwasher, I'm 70% successful! :)
• My tax deduction is about 37% - so my salary is just ludicrous.

All in all, if there wasn't that promised trip to Nordkapp in summer, I would be already probably packing my things and moving back to Estonia. I was even offered a job there, the same company I declined last year when I chose to work for MarkIT instead. So, 3 and half month of (very probably boredom) ahead of me and a very uncertain future from September. Wish me luck! :)

Fløyen-Stoltzen (over Storevatnet)

Let’s start from the beginning, Krzysztof was unfashionably late for our 10 o’clock meeting down at Fløibanen because he couldn’t find his second shoe. Anyway, we managed to get on 10:30 funicular train and took the right path which should lead us to Storevatnet  (it’s a lake).

Me and the ice-cream. Let the trip begin!

The weather was just perfect! The sun was shining but it was not too hot, not too cold, not so many people,...it was mostly us discussing very different topics (like why is Kris’s nose always red, how do we call fe/male pig in our mother tongues, etc.) and people, whom we were either passed by or who passed us by. We had a whole day for this 10km trip, so we had time to take pictures, sit down and chit chat, eat (but Kris doesn’t like to share my food) and comment on people walking by.

First place we've got lost.

Even though we often just guessed the way, we took the wrong way only twice. For the first time it happened at the place beginning in „Aa“, we walked, walked and then suddenly we realized we were coming back. So, we saw the old ladies having breakfast twice. No biggie. After returning a few meters to a crossroad,  we got ourselves back on the right „road“. 

On the way we could admire rocks, rocks, lakes, rocks, trees and some views. Kris thought the countryside was awesome. Me, unlike him, considered it very Norwegian. Only waterfalls were missing. Anyway, it was a nice path going neither too much up nor down. Just perfect for an afternoon stroll. 

View.

Rocks, trees and a lake.

The second getting-out-of the-right-way happened because Kris wanted to see one more lake. He was so amazed by it that he forgot we had to turn left. We kept walking and suddenly we were out of the map. We got a very good piece of advice there – go back.

Storevatnet and me.

Kris, me and Storevatnet.

Since then, we managed to keep ourselves in the right direction and got safely back to the city with little sore in our legs.

What did I learn today?
Bong means a bumble-bee and fart in Polish.
Girls need to pee more often than boys.
Water is still very cold.

Freezingly cold.

 

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Meeting my internet friend in Sogndal

I've got to admit, I have a thing for meeting people online, resp. meeting them in real life later on. My parents have never understood this hobby and were pretty sure I would end up killed somewhere, which was obviously the better option than being sold as (a sex) slave. Anyway, no matter what my parents thought, I went for a road trip to Norway with a forty year old guy and my immobile friend, found my host family in Norway online, twice; and generally met different kinds of people. 

I met Ole at interpals.net (great page for meeting people and weirdos from all over the world) just before I moved out from Estonia. We've been emailing each other for more than 7 months before I had (have?) decided to take a bus up there. 

After five hours, when I finally got off the bus, nobody was waiting for me. "WTF? Was it some kind of prank?" sounded in my head. I texted him, no answer. There was an old man at the bus station who seemed also to be waiting for someone who didn't come. "I'll be there in a jiffy," suddenly appeared on my phone. Having no idea what "jiffy" means, my head decided to translate it as "in a sec". 

In five minutes he was there with his red mini-van and without any plan what shall we do. I thought Sogndal is a touristic place, so there'll be quite a lot to see. Yes, Sogndal is a touristic place but not as I assumed, most tourists don't stay, they continue to Jostedalsbreen, Jotunheimen or just further on into the fjord. Sognefjord is a really beautiful place. Maybe when I turn 60, I'll start to work in local Lerum jam factory and will produce "mormor syltetøy", which is considered to be the best jam!

In Ole's world, unlike in mine, sightseeing meant to visit a local shopping centre. Good to see all the shops one knew from Bergen but not sufficient for two days. A bit later, Ole bought a map and we have decided to take a trip to a one of the mountains nearby. Both of us had totally wrong shoes for the mud, snow and water. But I honestly had a lot of fun getting over all the obstacles on the way. We haven't made it up to the top because it was getting late and there was more and more snow. 

My dirty palms.

Sogndal in the background

And then I jumped :)

It felt just so good to sit (or lay) down when we came back, turned on Ole's big flat screen and watched How I met your mother. I was surprised how much funny the show is! After some episodes, we switched to a movie a gay guy who made his living out of frauds and cons. I give that movie 7 out of 10.

Ole doesn't eat breakfast and his food supplies were like mine at the university (he's a student). So, when we set out for our second mountain trip, I was a bit hungry. The path was mud-free but not water(fall) free - so, we had to get over some creeks, fallen trees, etc. It was definitely more comfortable than the previous trip. The problem came with missing red mark (Norwegians suck at marking their touristic paths) and a creek made out of water coming down from the top. Neither of us could really read in maps. We kind of agreed that the path continued steeply down, exactly where the water was running down but weren't sure. To make sure we won't get lost, we decided to go back, visit one bathing spot, eat chilli con carne and put me on the bus back to Bergen. 

Water, water and water. I made my sheep to float on one "creek arm".

My sheep getting ready to get soaking wet :(

My city shoes, totally not suitable for the terrain.

Eidefjord

Eide, bathing spot

On the way back, it was sunny and I just couldn't stop watching the mountains, waterfalls, etc. around. It was magnificent!

When we arrived to Bergen, my pillow went missing. I've lost my pillow on a direct bus between Sogndal and Bergen :-( 

P.S. Did you know that 96% of gasoline price in Norway is tax?