Thursday, August 31, 2006
No, I live in Ostrava
If I could paint a picture of what my first week in Ostrava has been like, it would look something like this:
Cloudy, overcast sky misted with light rain. Leaves on the trees starting to turn brown and people exclaiming that this early autumn is "not normal" as they hop over another puddle. Everyone around me eats with the fork in their left hand and the knife in their right and I stare blankly at the waiter as he approaches me for my order approximately 6 seconds after I sit down. But the Fishnet teachers are smiling and welcoming, and despite the fact that I don’t understand a darn thing anyone is saying, I feel that this is a safe place to be.
Cultural adjustment here has been quite interesting and even funny to me at times. I’m pretty sure I’ve done something stupid every day since I’ve been here. There was my attempt to buy a watermelon at Alberts grocery store (who knew you had to weigh them in the back first?), then I locked myself out of my flat. Most of the time it involves a long "conversation" with one of my neighbors, entirely in Czech, were the most I can ever communicate is a nod or shake of my head. One of them scolded me for cleaning the front windows with glass cleaner. "Voda!" Water only. They why do you have glass cleaner? Then she goes on about how she speaks Russian. At least I’ve managed "nerozumim" – "I don’t understand." Although that never seems to make a difference with them.
The most amusing aspect of the language for me comes in the simple difference between yes and no. When answering a cell phone, many of them will answer with "yo," Wondering if it was a lame attempt to use some American slang, I finally figured out that "yo" means "yes," and, as it turns out, so does "no." "Do you speak Czech?" "No." "Are you from Ostrava?" "No." Those were my incorrect answers to those questions. "Ano," generally abbreviated as "no," is the equivalent of "yes." "Ne" means no. And so begins my quest to learn and understand Czech.
Since classes don’t start until mid-September, I’ve had plenty of free time to explore and get lost. I’ve already seen Pirates of the Caribbean here (in English, thankfully), been to church (where we sit on the second row with big red headphones on so someone can translate for us), learned to make homemade tortillas (I can even flip them in the pan), and hung out with various other Fishnet teachers. Although I’m really ready for classes to start because I like being busy, I’m glad to have the chance to adjust.
I thank you for your prayers and concerns. Once my computer gets fixed I should have better internet access to make regular updates. So until my next one, na shledanou!
