Sometimes I see people on the trams give me the once over--look me up and down and by the time their eyes have made it back up to my head, their mouths are pursed and their faces grim. It is entirely possible that instead of this being an indication of their disapproval of my outfit, that this is their typical Czech reserved "street face," devoid of all emotion.
Today, however, I saw a young woman in the tram give me the once over--start at the bottom and rise up to my face where our eyes met and her upper lip curled. This action was subtle, it would hardly have been noticeable to a bystander not in the direct line of fire. But because the lip curling action was directed at me, or at least was a direct result of my clothing choice for today, I was very aware of it. I prefer to think of it as a lip curl of jealousy--jealous that my legs looked so shapely and muscular and toned in my legwarmers--but, being somewhat realistic most of the time, I realize that it was done in disapproval for my legwarmers.
Had this exhibition of disapproval occurred anywhere else in the world, other than the Czech Republic, I would have been offended and, overwhelmingly, embarrassed. Luckily, though, I in the Czech Republic, land of the asymmetrical haircut, and therefore am able to defend myself by simply saying (in my head, obviously), "This is the Czech Republic. One in every five people has a mullet!"
And that is how I would win that argument.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Generous Support for Minnesota Public Radio
I just donated money to Minnesota Public Radio and I think you should too.
I will admit, though, that this generosity originated with a bad bout of procrastination combined with an intense desire for a Radio Heartland Canvas Bag. It also helps that by streaming MPR, I am able to get my much-needed Minnesotan accent fix. Not to mention it is for a good cause. Plus the Current is excellent study music, though I suppose it is also important to note that I have not accomplished any work since I turned The Current on.
This is my justification for spending money on things at home while I am away.
I will admit, though, that this generosity originated with a bad bout of procrastination combined with an intense desire for a Radio Heartland Canvas Bag. It also helps that by streaming MPR, I am able to get my much-needed Minnesotan accent fix. Not to mention it is for a good cause. Plus the Current is excellent study music, though I suppose it is also important to note that I have not accomplished any work since I turned The Current on.
This is my justification for spending money on things at home while I am away.
Twenty-First: Zurich-Style
I saw this on the news, and I'm not sure if any of you felt it at all, but at midnight on Friday night (that would be 5pm Midwest time), a jolt went through the world. The Earth shifted a little on its axis and a buzz began to radiate out from the molten lava housed in the depths of the earth that ran to the very highest point of the Eiger, announcing to the entire planet's population that someone (that would be me) had finally come of age.
I was in bed when it happened, exhausted from looking at the high Zurich prices, and thus missed this momentous event that will no doubt go down in history as one of the greatest natural phenomenons in the world, no doubt to be called simply "ER21-2009," but I heard tell of its wonders the next morning. Halloween 2009 Morning.
It is a morning that will go down in history, not only because it was the first morning where Emily Rose was 21 years old, but also because it is the morning that Emily Rose finished an 145 CZK (approximately $8.25) bottle of Champagne before breakfast. The plan had been to bring Champagne to share with her friends Eric and Andrew, as well as the people who had been their couchsurfing hosts. But as it would turn out, it was Emily Rose's birthday and she did not feel the urge to wake up with Andrew when he went to leave for a saxophone thing, and thus missed out on giving him his Birthday Breakfast Mimosa, as well as giving one to Matt, one of the two couchsurfing hosts.
The door had hardly closed behind Andrew when Emily Rose decided that she had better wake up to make the most of her birthday, so she rolled over onto a different, colder part of the rug that she was sleeping on, and pushed herself up. "Eric! Hey Eric! It's my birthday. Want a mimosa?" Emily Rose called up to the top bunk.
Eric groaned and said, "I'm sick. I'm going to sleep."
"But Eric! It's my birthday! I'm twenty-one!"
"Do you realize how sick I am?" And he rolled over and went to sleep.
This left Emily Rose with the Champagne and Romy. As she left the room that she and her friends had been sleeping in, unopened Champagne bottle in hand, she ran into Romy. "Do you want a mimosa?"
"I think I'll have tea."
This left Emily Rose alone with 2L of orange juice and 0.75L of champagne to finish before sightseeing. Nothing could remain.
So Romy grabbed Emily Rose a champagne flute, and upon seeing Emily Rose's ineptness, she helped her open both the champagne bottle and the orange juice carton. Emily Rose filled the champagne flute with orange juice and a little bit of champagne--it was morning, after all, and one had to be classy with her drinking--and pulled out her Kafka book for some light, breakfast reading.
After the champagne bottle had gotten considerably emptier, Eric made his appearance. Once again ER offered him a Birthday Breakfast Mimosa. He did not seem receptive. She offered him some orange juice. He accepted on the condition that ER not put alcohol into it. When he wasn't looking, however, she added a small (small!) bit of birthday cheer. This was not met happily, and he ignored her claims that the orange juice would be really good for Vitamin C if he was sick and left the glass sitting next to him for the remainder of the morning, untouched.
Luckily, at this point, Romy came in, and asked if she could partake of the mimosa celebration, filling her juice glass with orange juice and some of Emily Rose's champagne. It was after this occurrence, while Eric and ER were working on making enormous amounts of oatmeal, that ER finished off the bottle.
After leaving Matt and Romy's house, the day was spent making Swizz purchases--a watch, some chocolate--and checking out the art at the Kunsthaus. At 6.30pm, Emily Rose, Andrew, and Eric met with Romy and her friend Cindy (?), a teacher at the international school in Moscow, for drinks at a Mexican restaurant. To give you an idea of why they planned to meet for drinks rather than a full meal, the amount of money they'd spend on one or two drinks would be equal or greater to a full meal in the Czech Republic.
When Emily Rose, Andrew and Eric got there, the world travelers, it became apparent that staying just for drinks was not an option. On the way over, Moscow teacher had informed Emily Rose that she was picking up her dinner, and once seated at the table, Romy said she'd get the first liter of cranberry margaritas (Moscow got the second, and Emily Rose was in the bathroom so she missed who got the last half liter).
Of course, a birthday restaurant meal is not a true birthday restaurant meal without telling the waiter that there is a birthday guest at the table. So, after coming back from the bathroom, the lights went down in the restaurant, inspiring Rocky-esque music came on, and the waiter ran out of the kitchen with two pieces of cake, on fire with sparkler candles, ran to one side of the room as a fake out, and then ran over to Emily Rose and set one piece of cake in front of her, and the other in front of a woman the next table over (I can only imagine it was her birthday as well, or else she can thank Emily Rose for the random free piece of birthday cake she got).
So Emily Rose, in a particularly charitable mood, bolstered by the random appearances of Swizz Trick-or-Treaters trickling in through the front door of the restaurant (apparently they Trick-or-Treat in restaurants there), passed the cake around and allowed everyone to partake of the Swizz Chocolate cake. It tasted like everything that's wonderful in the world.
After that, Andrew, Eric, and Emily Rose went to Cafe Schober, a place suggested by the lovely Romy, to have some Seven Dollar and Fifty Cent (yes, I feel that price should be capitalized) hot chocolate (it is Swizz land, after all). Here, again, Emily Rose was sung to, though this time it was only Andrew, Eric, and the waiter singing while Emily Rose sat in front of a group of Swizz coffee shop goers while a pianist tried to pick out "Happy Birthday" on an electric piano.
So ended an excellent twenty-first birthday. Zurich style.
I was in bed when it happened, exhausted from looking at the high Zurich prices, and thus missed this momentous event that will no doubt go down in history as one of the greatest natural phenomenons in the world, no doubt to be called simply "ER21-2009," but I heard tell of its wonders the next morning. Halloween 2009 Morning.
It is a morning that will go down in history, not only because it was the first morning where Emily Rose was 21 years old, but also because it is the morning that Emily Rose finished an 145 CZK (approximately $8.25) bottle of Champagne before breakfast. The plan had been to bring Champagne to share with her friends Eric and Andrew, as well as the people who had been their couchsurfing hosts. But as it would turn out, it was Emily Rose's birthday and she did not feel the urge to wake up with Andrew when he went to leave for a saxophone thing, and thus missed out on giving him his Birthday Breakfast Mimosa, as well as giving one to Matt, one of the two couchsurfing hosts.
The door had hardly closed behind Andrew when Emily Rose decided that she had better wake up to make the most of her birthday, so she rolled over onto a different, colder part of the rug that she was sleeping on, and pushed herself up. "Eric! Hey Eric! It's my birthday. Want a mimosa?" Emily Rose called up to the top bunk.
Eric groaned and said, "I'm sick. I'm going to sleep."
"But Eric! It's my birthday! I'm twenty-one!"
"Do you realize how sick I am?" And he rolled over and went to sleep.
This left Emily Rose with the Champagne and Romy. As she left the room that she and her friends had been sleeping in, unopened Champagne bottle in hand, she ran into Romy. "Do you want a mimosa?"
"I think I'll have tea."
This left Emily Rose alone with 2L of orange juice and 0.75L of champagne to finish before sightseeing. Nothing could remain.
So Romy grabbed Emily Rose a champagne flute, and upon seeing Emily Rose's ineptness, she helped her open both the champagne bottle and the orange juice carton. Emily Rose filled the champagne flute with orange juice and a little bit of champagne--it was morning, after all, and one had to be classy with her drinking--and pulled out her Kafka book for some light, breakfast reading.
After the champagne bottle had gotten considerably emptier, Eric made his appearance. Once again ER offered him a Birthday Breakfast Mimosa. He did not seem receptive. She offered him some orange juice. He accepted on the condition that ER not put alcohol into it. When he wasn't looking, however, she added a small (small!) bit of birthday cheer. This was not met happily, and he ignored her claims that the orange juice would be really good for Vitamin C if he was sick and left the glass sitting next to him for the remainder of the morning, untouched.
Luckily, at this point, Romy came in, and asked if she could partake of the mimosa celebration, filling her juice glass with orange juice and some of Emily Rose's champagne. It was after this occurrence, while Eric and ER were working on making enormous amounts of oatmeal, that ER finished off the bottle.
After leaving Matt and Romy's house, the day was spent making Swizz purchases--a watch, some chocolate--and checking out the art at the Kunsthaus. At 6.30pm, Emily Rose, Andrew, and Eric met with Romy and her friend Cindy (?), a teacher at the international school in Moscow, for drinks at a Mexican restaurant. To give you an idea of why they planned to meet for drinks rather than a full meal, the amount of money they'd spend on one or two drinks would be equal or greater to a full meal in the Czech Republic.
When Emily Rose, Andrew and Eric got there, the world travelers, it became apparent that staying just for drinks was not an option. On the way over, Moscow teacher had informed Emily Rose that she was picking up her dinner, and once seated at the table, Romy said she'd get the first liter of cranberry margaritas (Moscow got the second, and Emily Rose was in the bathroom so she missed who got the last half liter).
Of course, a birthday restaurant meal is not a true birthday restaurant meal without telling the waiter that there is a birthday guest at the table. So, after coming back from the bathroom, the lights went down in the restaurant, inspiring Rocky-esque music came on, and the waiter ran out of the kitchen with two pieces of cake, on fire with sparkler candles, ran to one side of the room as a fake out, and then ran over to Emily Rose and set one piece of cake in front of her, and the other in front of a woman the next table over (I can only imagine it was her birthday as well, or else she can thank Emily Rose for the random free piece of birthday cake she got).
So Emily Rose, in a particularly charitable mood, bolstered by the random appearances of Swizz Trick-or-Treaters trickling in through the front door of the restaurant (apparently they Trick-or-Treat in restaurants there), passed the cake around and allowed everyone to partake of the Swizz Chocolate cake. It tasted like everything that's wonderful in the world.
After that, Andrew, Eric, and Emily Rose went to Cafe Schober, a place suggested by the lovely Romy, to have some Seven Dollar and Fifty Cent (yes, I feel that price should be capitalized) hot chocolate (it is Swizz land, after all). Here, again, Emily Rose was sung to, though this time it was only Andrew, Eric, and the waiter singing while Emily Rose sat in front of a group of Swizz coffee shop goers while a pianist tried to pick out "Happy Birthday" on an electric piano.
So ended an excellent twenty-first birthday. Zurich style.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Switzerland Part One: Advice
Just a few words of wisdom to tide you over until I get the full synopsis of my Zurich adventures posted:
Do not take the overnight bus if you plan on being productive and attending all of your classes the next day. You can only feasibly do one (riding a bus) or the other (being productive). Pick whichever is most important to you: getting the most of your time in a certain locale (for this hypothetical scenario, I'll choose Zurich) which results in taking the night bus home so that you are home in time for your classes, or taking an earlier bus home so that you will not only be home for class but also in a state fit to attend class.
Mull that one over for a bit, and I think it will be pretty obvious how the Zurich trip ended.
Do not take the overnight bus if you plan on being productive and attending all of your classes the next day. You can only feasibly do one (riding a bus) or the other (being productive). Pick whichever is most important to you: getting the most of your time in a certain locale (for this hypothetical scenario, I'll choose Zurich) which results in taking the night bus home so that you are home in time for your classes, or taking an earlier bus home so that you will not only be home for class but also in a state fit to attend class.
Mull that one over for a bit, and I think it will be pretty obvious how the Zurich trip ended.
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