United We Stand

Summer English Camp in Nectiny

2006-09-03T00:50:00.000-07:00

From August 21 till 3Oth I was in Nectiny where my summer camp takes place every year. This year I had only 25 kids which compared to last year when I had 62 was a piece of cake. I was glad though as it was not such a big hussle. Every year I try to come up with new activities so the kids like it. It was very successful this year I believe.

A trip to a nearby Manetin

Classroom activities

Fall of trust

The best thing this year were the weddings, where all the kids had to have their own vows in English and they also had their minister.

A lot of sports..........archery, cross-country

And many, many activities. Both the teachers there and the students had fun.

Let's be a little bit patriotic.....

Holly came for my camp

2006-09-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

The same day Kylowna left, my another friend came. Holly Emberton from Wales, UK is a friend of mine who I used to look after when I was an Au-Pair in London. She is 14 now and back then she was 2,5 years old. She came for my camp helping me with teaching English. She is like my second child and it will always be like that. Together with her came Mark who is a 33-year old fisherman from the same village in Devon. It was fun to have them both at the camp in Nectiny. This year I had only 25 kids but it was very nice time. A lot of new activities I brought with me from my stay in US. Next post is gonna be about the camp itself.

Bara, Mark, Holly and Me

Kylowna leaving Czech Republic

2006-09-02T15:08:00.000-07:00

Kylowna's leaving was very sad for me. We get along very well with each other and we found a very good friend in each other. The whole exchange in our case was the best ever I dare to say. Kylowna is a wonderful person I will always admire. She touched so many people here in their hearts. They will never forget her and I dare to say that the whole town will always remember her. It will always be open for her and she will always be welcome here. The whole year has been really the best one so far I believe for both of us.

Krakow

2006-09-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

The last stop in Poland was a very beautiful city called Krakow. Beautiful architecture.

Auschwitz in Poland

2006-09-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

The biggest and most important trip while being in CZ. The Concentration Camp Auschwitz. I dare to say it was the most horrible thing I have ever seen in my life. I could not believe my eyes there. How can someone come up with such an idea????

Terezin was terrible itself but it was NOTHING compare to this hell!!!

From all those places the Jews were brought to be put in gas chambers in Auschwitz.
Auschwitz - Burkenau
It was the worst part of the whole area where people (75%) were sent into the gas chambers right after they came locked in on trains for many days. The guides here say that some people were cremated alive as the gas did not kill them. The visit here is incredible experience.

Zatec - Town Tennis Tournament

2006-09-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

While Kylowna was still in CZ there was a tennis tournament going on. I played both singles and doubles. In singles I lost in third round and in doubles I won together with my best friend Ondra. I was very happy as I am now Town Champion in qualification in doubles. It was only a qualification for a main game next week, but who cares, right?? I got a gold plaque, award and some other stuff.

Nectiny and Pilsen

2006-09-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Another trip was to my most favourite part of the Czech Republic, Castle Nectiny where I have my Summer English Camp for my students every year and Pilsen which is a nearby city where I studied. Because this year the camp was when Kylowna was already at home I needed to go there to show it to her.
It is a lovely place indeed.

Pilsen itself is also interesting but this time it was very dull and Kylowna didn't like it that much.

Terezin

2006-09-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

Kylowna is crazy about Jewish culture, history and I would say with everything that has something to do with the Jewish. Probably as much as I am with the cemeteries, right Ky????
One of the things I had to promise was to visit the Concentration Camp Terezin and Auschwitz in Poland. As I promised, I did.
I was in Terezin when I was a school boy and didn't remember anything really since then. One of the maaaaaaany things I have in common with Kylowna is imagination. And in places like that it works really well. We were just constantly amazed by the place and what had happened there.
TERRIBLE!!!!!

Barracks - rooms were people suffered extremely.
Gallow
Shooting areas

A short trip to Most

2006-09-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

Denisa went to Croatia with some of her friends and therefore I had to look after Adela some days. The rest she spent with her grandparents in Southern Bohemia. The town of Most is always a good choice for a trip as there is McDonald's which Adela loves the best. Besides that there is also a very beautiful medieval castle. Kylowna liked it very much up there. Except the food we had there.

Karlovy Vary and dinner in Marianske Lazne

2006-09-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

Karlovy Vary is a very beautiful spa town indeed. Alicia liked it very much I would say and was very brave with drinking all the springs there. It was fun to watch her making faces after drinking them.

Here we are Alicia nad me Kylowna and Maurice

The picture is taken in quite an expensive pizzeria where we had lunch. Then we took a funicular up the hill where we climbed (elevator) on KV outlook tower from which there is a beautiful view over the town.

The architecture of this town is picturesque.

It was the very last day of the four of us. Maurice left the next day and Alicia the day after.

Coming home - Alicia and Maurice

2006-09-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

Coming home after a year abroad is a very special and delicate thing. On one hand nothing has seemed to change and on the other one everything was new. Immediately after I landed in Prague I started to miss everything back in LA. The things I used to do there, the people I used to see and be with, the life there itself.
But it was the reality I had to face. Kylowna was patient enough to listen to me describing every detail of my feelings from all the changes I had to go through. It was very nice to have somebody like HER with me.
There were almost three weeks more for the two of us to spend together and oh boy I can tell you those were very busy weeks. We had a plan for every single day in the Czech Republic.
First of all, Kylowna invited her friend Maurice from UK over. He is a very interesting fella. He was born in UK but spent a lot of time with his family in Australia. The day after he arrived Kylowna, him and me went to Prague again to pick Alicia up at the airport. Alicia is my fellow teacher from Birmingham who I invited to come over as she was in Spain improving her Spanish. To make a long story short, all the four of us had a great time with capital G. We visited Prague, Karlovy Vary and Marianske Lazne. Ibelieve they all liked it very much or at least as much as I did. Kylowna and I noticed that Maurice and Alicia had crashes on each other and therefore we established MATCHMAKING Agency!!!!! It was really fun and hopefully we will see each other again some day.
All the four of us in Prague

Yes they really liked each other a lot.

Leaving the USA

2006-09-02T13:13:00.000-07:00

I was very happy Kylowna came back to US to spend my last days there with me. She really helped me not to feel that sad leaving my second home and also coming back to the Czech Republic. We had a great time in New York City and Niagara. And I felt I owed her for it. Thank you Kylowna.

Niagara Falls

2006-07-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

My last trip on US soil was to the Niagara Falls. They are breathtaking indeed. The journey from NYC seemed neverending but Kylowna made a very good navigator and the whole journey was fun. On our way there we stopped at a gas station where we booked a trip of the whole Niagara and it was really worth it.

American Falls
Rainbow Bridge
Both American and Canadian Falls

American Falls from a boat
Bridal Veil
The Horseshoe in the mist
Wearing these ponchos was fun. Indeed.

And so was walking under the falls.

Liberty and Ellis Islands

2006-07-24T22:41:00.000-07:00

The best day EVER!!! Everything started at this fortress that is named Castle Clinton. There we purchased the tickets for Liberty and Ellis Island. The weather was unbearable and the queues miles long but nothing could have stopped us to see it.

Battery Park is very close to Wall Street and Broadway where this beautiful statue of a bull is.

After our ferry left we had this beautiful opportunity to see NY Skyline.
Security and safety is very important.
Ellis Island with it museum of immigrants in the background.

There she is. AWESOME!!!!!! I wanted to see her all my life.

My granddad was born in Pittsburgh and his dad went to the US through this place - Ellis Island. They have a database of all the people who came here and I wanted to see my ancestors signitures or something that belonged to them. Believe me or not, but the visit itself was soooo interesting that when I finally got to the computer where I could have found all the information they told us we had to leave because the last ferry was leaving in a few minutes. I was very disappointed. Very. Well, another reason to come here again.

Not everyone had the luck to enter the US soil. Some people were depoted back home.

After we landed back in NYC we admired the beauty of its architecture.

Queens - Flushing Meadows

2006-07-23T08:37:00.000-07:00

Because Kylowna and I are big fans of tennis, we could not miss visiting Flushing Meadows where US Open takes place every year. We took a train that day to Queens where the tennis center is. On our way was another stop which was Union Station, beautiful train station where Michael Jordan has his own steak house. Aaaaaaaaand because I LOVE Michael Jordan I could NOT miss it.

The menu with so many goodies. Hmmmmm, yummy!!!

This is the steak I had with the bowl of macaroni (recommended by Carye) which was delicious. Recepe from his grandmother. Everything was very good but the best thing was the appetizer, right Ky????? Bread with cheese and garlic sauce.
Unfortunately the tennis center was closed. The reason is unknown, but we supposed it was because of the US Open that started in a few weeks. So we just walked around a little bit and therefore saw it from many different angles.

The Big Apple 2

2006-07-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

This time Kylowna and I attacked NYC at night. It obviously has its beauty even at night.

Times Square
Empire State Building is really a magnificent piece of work. It looks very majestic.
Ground Zero, former WTC was one of the places I really wanted to see. It has weird atmosphere and I couldn't help not to have goose bumps. It must have been a horrific scene.

These boards with all the information about the terrorist attacks, telling you minute by minute how it all happened.

These are the plans of a new tower which is going to be built on the same place. It is called Freedom Tower. Hopefully it will survive better than the Twins.

The architecture of NYC reminded me of London a little bit. The whole atmosphere I would say.

.....and Paris:-)

Port Monmouth - New Jersey

2006-07-22T06:50:00.000-07:00

Port Monmouth is a very beautiful area in New Jersey overlooking the Big City. Here we stayed at Kylowna's friend Srdjan and his partner Sasha. I would really love to live in a complex like this one. The houses are gorgeous. It is quiet, clean and the best thing here is a fitness center in the middle of the complex. It has everything one can imagine. I can still hear Kylowna screaming and complaining about the " sooooooooooooooore" the next day.

The inside is very tastefully furnished and the hospitality was just PERFECT, the food we had DELICIOUS. Simply, Srdjan and Sasha contributed greatly to this wonderful trip.

Apollo, the lab we all love.

New York, New York

2006-07-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

So I finaly arrived in New York City. The flight was nice and smooth and everything went pretty well. It was amazing howKylowna and I could coordinate our flights. She landed from the Czech Republic at the same time I did from LA. I was happy to see her there and our adventure could start. Because we are staying in New Jersey we had to take a taxi from JFK which became quite an adventure. The taxi driver picked us up and after an hour of drive when we got to New Jersey he could not find the street we needed. He was driving like crazy round the small town, Kylowna kept calling for directions and we still could not find it. It was also raining so it was impossible to identify the streets names and the driver just did not want to slow down. It reminded me of the movie the Terminal with Tom Hanks when there is a Russian driver who got to NYC a week ago and is already driving people around. Well, to make a long story short, we obviously found the place and had the first night on the East Coast. The place we stay at is called Port Monmouth and it is a small part of a larger Middletown.

The next day we could not wait to get to the BIG city and see in person whether it is really so special as everybody says. Here are some pictures of the places we saw on our first day.

This was a great thing on Times Square. People text their secrets over the phones and they anonymously appear on this skyscraper. Some of them were very funny actually.

The view from the Empire State building was magnificent. Manhattan is indeed a breathtaking place. Despite the fact that the weather was not that great we took some very nice pictures I dare to say.

The building is very beautiful also from below.
Central Park. Awesome place. Kylowna and I were sitting there for hours I would say. We got into a discussion and becauseour dicussions are always about a serious thing we just kept sitting and talking. I just love the way we chose to explore the city, NO rush. Just soaking the atmosphere inside our bodies. No running anywhere.

Kylowna is crazy about Donald Trump right now. About his life and the way he handles his businesses. I had a chance to take a glance in her book and he certainly is funny. So visiting his Trump Tower was a must.

This was the salad I had there. DELICIOUS!!!

We also managed to visit Rockeffeler Center which has this beautiful statue in front of its building.

Then we were just taking hundreds of pictures of NYC.

Leaving LA

2006-07-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I promised a while ago to write down my feelings, thoughts and my overall point of view about the whole year. To be honest I have been thinking about all of that since I wrote it down. As many of you may know I am a last minute man. It has its disadvantages but also many advantages. Well,......the first and the most important thing for me personally is that it has been a great year with a capital G and the fact that I actually proved myself that I am able to survive. I dare to say I am very proud of myself. I came here, asimilated and won. I won over myself and I conquered the length of one year living abroad. Right now I can NOT think of any negative thing that has happened while on the exchange. I truly believe and am convinced that such exchange stay brings only positive things with it. Onehimself finds out thelimits andbrandnewthings open up. That is what every human being should experience. This program is such a wonderful thing. It is a BLAST actually!!!!!! You grow both personally and proffessionaly and I dare to say it has to change your life. I believe it has changed mine dramatically and it pushed me somewhere where I had never been before. It pushed me forward and mygoal now is to start from that point when I get home. I am a little bit afraid of the reverse culural shock but it is a part of the whole think and I will deal with it the best I can.
Right now I am sitting at the LAX airport, waiting for my flight to New York City. I just can NOT believe it is over here!! I know I will miss LA tremendously, its atmosphere, people I met here and all the time when I was treated like a very special person here.I left a part of my heart here and I am leaving it with the feeling that the little place on the map of the world which it used to be before have changed in my eyes and heart into the place I will always love. So this is just another of many THANK YOU to all the people who made me feel so great here.
Last night I spent time with Carye and Hugh at their home. I guess we had fun and a really great time. We should have done it more often I am regreting now. They are very fun and nice people and we DO have similar opinions on different stuff:-) I hope I will see them. Thank you Carye for taking me to the Flyaway station so early in the morning. I OWE you.

So I am about to board the plane which I hope will take me safely to NYC where I will meet Kylowna and we will spend ten days there hopefully with visiting Niagara Falls. I will inform you obviously about the vacation time with Ms. Moton. Wish me luck!!

That's what I call VACATION!

2006-07-05T23:07:00.000-07:00

Altogether 2565 miles (4104 km) in 8 days but it was worth the energy indeed. I just love traveling and "exploring" new places. West Coast with its diversity is an awesome place incomparable with anything else. While visiting Arizona I learnt that California is unique. The people there are somehow different. They differ from the rest of the United States. I am glad I can compare now after I have seen the "ordinary" Americans. Every place here has its own allure and charm. It is almost impossible to believe that it is only 9 more days for Denisa and Adela here in US. I will have 4 more days before I leave to explore New York City and Niagara Falls with Kylowna. I guess I will spend the time on my own by thinking and recapitulating the year here.
STAY TUNED!!!

Four States in one day????? CRAZY!!!!!

2006-07-05T22:41:00.000-07:00

Well,.....today it was 500 miles. I realized I just went through whole Arizona and that is CRAZY indeed. This time we went to see the Four Corners and Monument Valley. I was warned of the posibility to get tickets for speeding in Navajo Nation Territory. The local police there is merciless and will ticket you anytime they stop you. I was scared and sticked to the speed limit ALL the time. I survived needless to say.

The most interesting thing about Four Corners is the fact that it IS the only place in US where four states meet in one point. And that is ALL about it really.

The roads again were endless.

This is the wonder.

Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. 4 states in one day!!!!

We entered the Four Corners from New Mexico. We entered, we left.

And now the more interesting part of today's journey.......Monument Valley.

Endless roads AGAIN!!!!!!! Why is it such a vast country??

But then.......BEAUTY!!!!!!

THANK YOU!!! A very reliable steed.

Grand Canyon - never the same

2006-07-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

The one and only "bad" thing about Flagstaff is THE TRAINS!!!!!!!!! There is a train every 20 minutes (also at night) going through the town and I believe waking all its people up. I felt like My cousin Vinny.

Some of the trains have 107 carriages!! And the drivers certainly love to blow the horns.
After breakfast in our hotel we set out on our next journey. This time to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The distance is about 80 miles one way and it is through magnificent nature. The last time I saw this "hole" it was from the north and it was very different to what I saw this time. The advantage of the South Rim is that you can walk along the canyon as long as you wish or you can take a shuttle that will take you to more remote parts.

There were hundreds of Harley-Davidson lovers on the way to the Canyon. I have observed that you must be of a certain proportion to be a proper rider!!!

It is a beauty, isn't it?? The photos can NOT capture the exact depth of the GC.

It is simply amazing.

On our way back to Flagstaff we stopped at this watch- tower from which there is a beautiful vista over the canyon. It is Indian of course and it is at so called Desert View. Its interior is beautifully designed with Indian motives.

And this is the beginning or the end of the GC. You can compare it with the people in the background.

Because 200 miles per day is "nothing" we decided to visit Sunset Crator National Monument which is just 10 miles from Flagstaff. It is a volcano which erupted around 1064 AD and you can walk on Lava Flow trail which is really worth the time. It is amazing indeed.

I had never seen real lava before. It looked like asphalt.

We also managed to hike for a while and Adela showed her strength again.

Arizona

2006-07-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

After a day of resting back in LA we took off for Arizona. I must say here that we had spent maaaaany hours of "lying" in maps before making a decision where to stay. Flagstaff was the town we picked. There were many reasons actually. It is the largest town on the way to Grand Canyon - South Rim. It has some history. It is in the mountains. And there are a lot of things to see and do around. Flagstaff is situated right on historic Route 66 and it has a very beautiful downtown which history dates back to 1890's. It is a home of Northern Arizona University which is a very neat building and Lowell Observatory where the planet Pluto was discovered. The distance from LA is about 477 miles which we managed with only one stop. Adela was very nice by the way.

We checked in our hotel and went for a short ride to see what the town really offers. It was exactly how I had pictured America.

The roads were endless..........

Finally........The Grand Canyon State welcomed us.

After a quick shower I was eager for exploring. These are some of the typical places for Flagstaff. I really didn't get much what these huge wheels were used for but something about lodgings and lifting wooden logs.

A church (one of many btw).

And because it was 4th July, the houses and the entire town was decorated with all kinds of ribbons and flags, etc. Very pretty indeed but probably because the high risk of fire there was not a single fireworks. Well, ......maybe next time.

Some people are veryyyy patriotic.

Well,....the first day in Flagstaff is over and the best thing is we still have three more!!!!!!

Goodbye San Francisco

2006-06-30T23:06:00.000-07:00

I would say that San Francisco did not like us very much. Or the rumors about the weather here were true. Today we woke up into a gloomy day again. Fortunately there was only the "last" attraction left on the list, the Coit Tower. Symbol and also remembrance of the huge eartquake in 1906 in which many firefighters died. There is a very beautiful view over the city from the top of Telegraph Hill.

The stairs were closed and the only way how to get up to the top was the elevator. I did NOT complain at all and neither did Adela.

The view was great but the colors!!!

The last view of Alcatraz and off we go!!! We got to SF on I-5 and to go back we chose 101. One of the reasons was the town called Hillsborough where our friend Michaela from Indiana will spend next year. She will move to SF area in August and therefore we checked her future home. The area is very nice, literally it is in the woods. Beautiful for a romantic kind of person. I am not sure abut Michaela though. No palm trees, no beaches nearby. Well, hopefully she will like it. It is definitely a better step from Indiana:-)

This is her house.

Then we continued on so called PCH (Pacific Highway) along the coast towards Los Angeles. It sounds fun but it was really 450 miles altogether which is about 724km. But it was worth the effort. PCH is really incredibly beautiful. Most of it is a scenic route and there is no doubt it is scenic area.

On one of the beaches were the sealions. I remember this stop from 4 years ago when we accidentally stopped right here and could not believe our eyes. I was very happy I had found it.

The sealion beach is not far away from Hearst Castle but it is the place where Kylowna will take me one day as she promised. I made it only to the lower level parking lot. The tours were sold out for today. It must be beautiful inside really. I saw some pictures on the walls.

It was a very beautiful day and journey back home. We have driven exactly 898 miles in those four days ( 1445km) and now I am "dead". Tomorrow we are staying at home, relaxing and then the other half of our plan, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and Four Corners. STAY TUNED!!

Big THANKS to our fourth memeber of our family. I love rentals.

San Francisco - Day 3 - The "Rock"

2006-06-29T21:49:00.000-07:00

Since the morning I was really very excited about seeing ALCATRAZ so called The "Rock" today. The weather got better so there was nothing to spoil this day. We decided not to drive the car today and try the cable cars instead. It took us aprox. 30 minutes to walk to Powell Street where we boarded the trams. It is a must and very romantic indeed. Sometimes I had to hold my breath when the old things are climbing the steep streets of San Francisco or "falling" down the hills.

Everything here is still done manually.

On our way to Fisherman's Wharf we stopped at Chinatown.

A typical SF cable car with Transamerica Pyramid, the tallest building of this city.

The view from Nob Hill with Alcatraz in the background is really magnificent.

Before we reached the Fisherman's Wharf I needed to check on the very famous chocolate factory Ghirardelli which has been renovated to a very beautiful center full of restaurants and shops. A very nice place to sit and relax while listening to street musicians.

Then we moved to Pier 41 from where we took the ferry to Alcatraz. Pier 41 and 39 are very nice to walk on by the way.

Then we waited in a loooong line to board the ferry.

Last night I was reading all kinds of historical articles about Alcatraz. Such things just fascinate me and I couldn't agree more with the author who said:" If only the walls could talk". I also read about the inmates there such as Al Capone, Robert "Birdman" Stroud and "Machine Gun" Kelly. What stories they had to tell. It is also said that out of all the escapes nobody survived but there are still some inmates reported missing which gives me the hope:-) It is said that Alcatraz was the only penitentiary with only hot water which kept the prisoners from acclimating to cold water. It is only 1mile from the shore but the water in the bay is very cold.

Alcatraz (pelican in Spanish) served as a fortification in the 1850's, then a war prison during the Spanish-American War and in 1934 Alcatraz became the maximum security prison for members of organized crime.

After we landed on the island there was a surprise waiting for me. One of the former inmates Darwin Coon was there in person signing his book about Alcatraz. Can you believe it??? Obviously I bought the book and I have the REAL Alcatraz prisoner signed my book. How cool is that?? He served 4 years here and was answering peoples questions. He was like a hero there. Funny, from a prisoner a hero. He is said to be the last one though.

To Jiri Harajda ...Darwin Coon.....his number was 1422 and he was there 1959 - 1963

The audio tour is fun and very informative. I don't know how Adela but I loved it. The prison itself is a very scary place. The conditions are just ......well, horrible.

This is one of the cells where the prisoner attempted to escape. They used many different tools and digged the hole in the wall. They also used the dummy heads to mystify the wardens.

This is the scariest one so called "hole" Cold, dark and tiny. The prisoners spent there from 2 to 5 days. They didn't have a notion of time and space. One of the inmates described the activity he did there to make the time run faster. He flipped a button in the air and then turned around many times and then he looked for the button in the dark. When he found it he repeated it over and over again. Can you believe it?? I wouldn't like to do it for 5 hours and he was there 5 days.

Scary, isn't it??

The only good thing about the "Rock" I can think of is the view over San Francisco. It is really beautiful and it must have been even more beautiful for the prisoners.

I really did loved the visit today and I would love the walls to be able to speak!!

On our way back to our hotel we had to stop to take some picture again. Do you like it more with such weather?? It is prettier, isn't it?

Lombard Street with the Coit Tower in the background.

San Francisco - Day 2

2006-06-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

The weather is the same but the forecast is better for tomorrow. It needs some finger-crossing I guess.
Our first stop in the morning were so called "Painted Ladies" the old victorian houses on Alamo Square. They are really beautiful. The most photographed spot in SF.

After that we went to the Pier 41 where I bought tickets for Alcatraz for tomorrow. Actually I am very happy about it as I missed it last time and I do want to see it. Al Capone....hmmm.

Then we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge, which was in fog and therefore we did not enjoy it that much, to the Muir Woods - Red Wood National Monument - kind of Sequoia trees.

The climate in San Francisco is really funny and the weather unpredictable. Just a two miles off the bridge it was sunny and beautiful so the visit to Muir Woods was nice.

The trees here belong to the longest trees on Earth. Incredible.

On our way back we stopped at the Fort Spencer which was used as the protecting fortress during the WWI and WWII. There is a beautiful view over the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.

And the last stop today was Golden Gate Park where apparently Arnold Schwarzenegger also contributes as a governor and its Japanese Tea Garden. Really beautiful place.

The Tea Garden.

Karate Kid

The First Stop - SAN FRANCISCO- Day 1

2006-06-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

Our original plan was Grand Canyon first. I happen to have a good friend who works there on the North Rim and was willing to put us up for two nights but Man proposes, Nature disposes. Right before our arrival the trees caught on fire and all the area needed to be evacuated. It was a bad news but hopefully it will stop before we get there. We changed our plan and went to San Francisco first. I was here 4 years ago and to be honest I didn't like it that much as LA but there are some people who really adore this city so what I am doing now basically is, I am giving to it a second chance.
We rented a very nice car and set out early in the morning. The distance from LA is about 370 miles and surprisingly we got there by 2pm. Therefore there was enough time to explore the city a little bit even the same day.

Bay Bridge brought us into the city but the weather did not welcome us very pleasantly. It was very foggy, we couldn't even see the downtown.

We are staying at the Best Western Hotel right in the heart of SF, a walking distance from Civic Center.

Adela is always very excited about traveling and staying in different places. It is amazing how much she has experienced this year. She is still 3 years old and she has been to so many places that many adults will never see. Hopefully she will remember some of it.

I was tired after the long drive but I wanted to see how much it has changed since the last time I was here so we went for a very short walk to the Civic Center and I must admit the homeless people multiply faster than anything else. The buildings there are beautiful but the sights of lying drunk people in the streets (everywhere), dirty people pushing their shopping carts and beggars asking for money on every corner spoil the beauty of this city. Very shocking is the fact that people here smoke in the streets and the streets are very dirty. It is weird though. I can not help not to compare SF to LA and for the first day the score is 0:1. We will see tomorrow.

Summer Vacation Has Just Begun

2006-06-28T20:21:00.000-07:00

Going to school every day brought some kind of a rhythm or pattern to my life here. I have already discussed this with Kylowna but still I have this weird feeling of emptiness now. I know I should simply enjoy myself and just "be" but I guess I need some kind of a plan to follow. Well....I will see what it is going to be like those few following days that remain. Before the school ended I already had made plans for some more traveling here. It should help to kill the boredom I believe. My plans are to visit Gran Canyon, Monument Valley, Four Corners and San Francisco and Muir Woods. Literally explore the northern part of the precious Golden State.

So before I do so I would like to share one special moment Kylowna and my parents have experienced in the Czech Republic while visiting the Presidential residence in Lány. They were very lucky that day and met the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus with his wife.

Last SOKOL class meeting

2006-06-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 25 was our last time we saw all our Sokol memebers. It is such a wonderful group, a real family, with the roots from the Czech Republic. I will never stop admiring them. Czech people love traditions and try to keep them as long as possible. Sokol in LA is a perfect example. Everytime we went to see their Czech lessons we experienced them all in a good mood, having fun there with the language and with one another. I dare to say my family and I will miss them terribly as they were a little piece of home for us. It has been an honor to me to get to know them all. I wish them to keep gathering together and be healthy as long as possible.

We also had a delicious lunch with them. Milly insisted on SOKOL paying for it so thank you very much again and just to let you know, I was very happy to give you that hug :-)

Don and Ruth celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary (can you believe it??) so we also had an opportunity to taste their cake. Yum!

Don and Ruth saying thank you for the gift they got.

Milly and Jim

Dry Town - last day with Alicia Vazquez

2006-06-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

Alicia Vazquez was my next door teacher at BHS. It was her first year of teaching at BHS too but she is much more experienced in US school system than me so I went to see her quite often, asking different kind of questions and she always helped me. Literally she helped me a lot to survive there and made the year a nice experience. It is always good to feel you have somebody to rely on but apart from the usual school stuff we did not have a chance to get to know each other more. When the school ended she invited my whole family to a new water park in Palmdale and it couldn't have been a better goodbye I dare to say.

The park is called Dry Town and was open only two months ago, so everything is brand new there. We met Alicia, her mother and a twin sister in front of the park. They paid for the tickets and lunch and really everything. I still feel very bad about it because they didn'twant any money from me. So now I OWE them. They really made the day very beautiful.

The water park itself was not that big, but it was not packed with people and therefore it was a very pleasant experience. Palmdale is in a desert so it is a very hot and dry place. The attractions were cool and Adela really enjoyed it.

At the end Alicia's brother came and invited us over to his new house to celebrate his daughter's birthday. It was a very nice day indeed.

Alicia is spending her vacation in Europe this summer and she promised to come to the Czech Republic for three days. I hope she will, so I can be as hospitable as she was here. Thank you Alicia once again for such a great day.

Graduation Ceremony at Birmingham High School

2006-06-23T20:03:00.000-07:00

In the evening on Thursday a Graduation ceremony took place at the football stadium at BHS. About 630 seniors graduated from high school. It was an excellent event for both students and their teachers. The stadium was full of parents and friends watching their "sweethearts" receiving the diplomas. Everything was very well prepared and organized. I had the opportunity to volunteer there so I really saw it from a very close perspective. It started with the pledge of allegiance then the national anthem sung by a student then a school choir singing a beautiful song and at the end for teachers calling those 630 names and students picking up their diplomas.

Supervision of the stadium. Do you see the look? The gown is from The University of Ontario

Students are the only ones who wear the cap. After receiving the diploma they are supposed to move the tassel from the right side to the left.

The security really took care of everything, they didn't want any "incidents". Well, everything went very well until the moment when one of the students, while picking up the diploma, opened his gown and had only very tiny thong on, showing his naked butt to the audience. Everybody was shocked but I guess it spiced up the event a little bit :-) The security took him out of the stadium and the next day I learnt he was an A student and nobody expected it from him. Well.... also the way how to be remembered.

I am through and I survived!

2006-06-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

Thursday June, 22 was the very last day of instruction. The very last day of school here in LA. The very last day of teaching. The very last day with my "KIDS". INCREDIBLE!!!!! It was just yesterday when I opened the door to C87 for the first time, wondering what the year will be like. And now I know it has been the most wonderful year ever. I have really learnt a LOT here and I will be going home with happy memories. Birmingham High School is a special place indeed. I have made many good friends here and hopefully I will come back to see them and also to see my students graduate.
Because there were finals from Monday through Wednesday we planned our "party" in my classroom for Thursday. I was told by other teachers that the kids would not show up so I was a little worried. Not because of all the sodas I had bought but because I really had not had a chance to really say goodbye to my students. They did NOT put me down, they came and we had a good time I dare to say. There were about 30 students and they stayed in the classroom the whole day. The pizza place opened at 11 so everybody was very hungry by then. Abdulah saved us when he brought a huge cake which we all ate in ten minutes.

It was a very nice end of my "being" here indeed. At the end I got a gift and a card with all my students' names and they clapped their hands for me which was the best gift I could have possibly got. They told me they would miss me a lot. It makes me obviously very happy and I know now that the year was worth the effort. I will miss them all terribly. I guess we will be in touch and I wish them to have excellent lives here in US.

I could NOT wish for a better year.

Then I was just taking thousands of pictures. So here they are, my students:

Chris Pillado - both very funny and very annoying bug sometimes. I will miss your rapping Chris

Juan Benjumea - a Malibu surfer, cool kid. I will miss you bro!

Iris Rodriguez - a pleasure to have in class. Very nice girl.

My whole Period 6 - tough most of the times, but also a lot of fun

Ana Ortiz - from El Salvador - A big help in class. I will miss you "pelotas" a lot.

Ana "Banana" Bautista from Mexico and Arshak Grygorian from Armenia. Great kids.

Anakaren Cebrero - the sweetest girl I know. I will miss you a lot Karena.

Manith from Cambodia and Abdulah Zafar from Pakistan. I will come to see your graduation and I will be proud!!!

Guadalupe and Luis Rodriguez from Chile I am very happy meeting you both. Good luck with your lives.

Yasmin Rodriguez - my "Pele" Good luck next year on that Soccer team Yasmin!!

Jackie Alas from El Salvador and her assistant. I will miss you Jackie, thank you for the very nice letter you wrote for me. I will always remember you.

Hugo Munoz from Guatemala - I will miss you Hugo. Take care.

The boys - Arshak, Ivan, Omar and Jose

The girls - Yasmin, Liana Pilian( Armenian from Germany) and Anakaren - I will miss you a lot girls.

Elizabeth Rocha and Marisol Bustamante - both from Mexico. Where is the Kleenex Marisol???

Maira Gamez, Fabiola Macias and Krissia Gamez - Senor Potter will miss you girls.

I really had the best kids I could have possibly got and yes, I would undergo the year again, if I could. I will miss you all indeed.

Our last visit - Jari, my Fulbright mate from Detroit

2006-06-23T17:48:00.000-07:00

This year there have been three teachers from the Czech Republic. Jari Patlokova in Detroit, Jarek Chudoba in Montana and me here in Los Angeles. I really do not know much about Jarek because we were not in touch that much but thanks to Jari's website I was able to watch how her year was going. Her school ended a week earlier than mine so we invited her with her husband Ivo over to Los Angeles. It was a short visit but very nice indeed. Every day we went sightseeing and I have the feeling we really saw the entire LA area. I dare to say they both liked this metropolitan city a lot and Ivo fell in love with Jamba Juice smoothies:-). We had a great time and drove almost 300 miles in those 3 days. But I just love driving around here showing off:-) I was very happy they were here, we had a chance to compare our exchange experience and we shared our opinions on many (very many) different issues. On Wednesday morning they left for San Francisco and therefore the next time we are going to see them will be in the Czech Republic where we will be dealing with the reverse cultural shock. I am looking forward to it indeed. Thank you for coming over Jari and Ivo and see you in CZ.

Hollywood Boulevard - a must here.
Ivos in Pasadena with his Jamba Juice drink.

Goodbye to & from SCOT people

2006-06-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

Southern California Overseas Teachers, a private organization that looked after us exchange teachers during our stays here in LA. They did it really excellently. We had the opportunity to visit the Museum of Western Heritage, LA Zoo, the Festival of Lights. We went Whale Watching and I can not forget the first Pot-Luck meeting where we all met for the first time. I am very glad that Kylowna passed on the information about them to us. I dare to say we have made friends for life. The two members who we have been meeting on many different occasions during the year are Ruth Bates and Bob Roberts.

This Saturday June, 10 they invited us to a goodbye lunch at Market Cafe in Burbank. Because the weather has been gorgeous for a many days we could sit outside. Market Cafe is a very cozy place overlooking the main street in Burbank. It was our first time in that part of LA and we did love it a lot indeed. The lunch was great as usual and so was the time with SCOT people. We will truly miss them all.

It was also the last time we saw Jef and Ann Fox from UK, hopefully the last time only here in US!

Here is the SCOT group. Bob keeps saying they need new blood, so I wish them many and many new members. Thank you once again for those activities you organized and for the happy memories we have.

Burbank is the part of LA area closer to the mountains and it makes it very pretty. After the lunch we spent a few more minutes cruising the streets there.

This blooming tree caught our eyes. Isn't it beautiful?

The very last barbecue at Ann Kerr's

2006-06-04T20:26:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I keep using the term " very last" a lot recently. Obviously it is because my exchange year is almost done and it is the time of looking back and review. It also makes me sad that I will not see all those wonderful people I have met over the year here in the US again. But somewhere deep inside I believe I will.
So this Sunday June, 4 we were invited for a hike and a barbecue at Ann's beautiful house in Pacific Palisades. Some of the scholars and teachers gathered in front of Ann's house at 9:30 and all together we walked in the hills over to the home of Will Rogers, the famous journalist, humorist, cowboy who established a ranch and polo fields in Pacific Palisades in the 1920's and 30's. The trail took us down into a canyon and then up again. It was a good trail with many switchbacks.

This is the group. People from Ukraine, Portugal, Iceland, Spain, Pakistan, England, Serbia, Russia, Italy, etc.

As a reward at the end of walking was this beautiful property of W. Rogers who sadly died in a plane crash.

The horse barn was a very beautiful piece of work. Very well restored. In front of it are buried two of his most favourite horses.

In front of the house was a polo match going on. It was my first time to see this game in person. Very romantic old-fashion sport I must say. Joy to watch.

The way up back to the house was a nightmare indeed. It was because of the weather. Soooooo hot ( you can tell when looking at my wet behind). I must admit here that Adela surprised us, the other people and probably even herself. She walked all the three hours, except those five minutes I was willing to carry her on my back. Good job girl!!!!!

When we got finally to Ann's house I was so thirsty I almost drank the jacuzzi up. It was worth going though. A very beautiful place indeed. At about 1 pm other people joined us for lunch. It was a very nice afternoon where everybody chatted with everybody. People exchanged email addresses and will keep in touch. After the lunch a local historian, Betty Lou Young told us about the history of Pacific Palisades and an educational and cultural movement the Chautauqua.

This is Fernando from Salermo, Italy. He really fell in love with Adela and actualy gave her this hat (Spanish btw).

And this is the basketball hoop on Ann's house where her son Steve Kerr shoots the ball.

This is Ann Kerr. Thanks to her I have learnt so much on this exchange.

The TIMES

2006-05-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, May 31 was the day when we were invited to visit the Los Angeles Times. It was a great opportunity to tour The Times, meet and have a discussion with the editors of this newspaper. It was my first time visit of this kind so I learnt a lot from it. The tour itself was very informative, fast and not tiring. At the end of it the editors of the papers joined us and answered all te questions there were. We learnt about their budget, their reporters, readers, how they deal with the other mass media such as the Internet, TV, also how the papers are financed, what they plan for future, etc. Many of their reporters and photographers have won the Pulitzer Price, many of them are still covering the war in Iraq and Afganistan and literally risk their lives to bring the news.

The Times building is in Downtown Los Angeles, very pretty both from the outside and the inside.

The entrance hall with the globe symbolizing the entire world covered in their news........

........and the Eagle, their symbol created by the same person who created Mount Rushmore, Gutzon Borglum.

And this is the place where the editors work. It is a looooooot of work I can tell you. A lot of reading and writing and obviously corrections.

The equipment used back in the days....

This picture became one of the symbols of the war in Iraq. It was obviously taken by one of the LA Times photographers. The mariner himself is now back at home in US. He suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and we were told he used to smoke 6 packets of cigarettes a day. The saddest thing is that the reports from a war are the most valued work for any reporter.

One of the most incredible things and my favourite was this place. It is a test kitchen where they cook different foods and taste wine from all the countries around the world and then write articles about it.

And these are the Pulitzer prizes for LA Times reporters and photographers.

Memorial Day

2006-05-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

The very last holiday of this semester. I really enjoyed another "no school" day, especially when you have a longer weekend. Niiiiiiice. I had a little run in the morning (4 days in a row and my legs are killing me now) and after a quick shower we hit the road. There are still a loooooooooot of places to see here in LA and the number of days left gets smaller and smaller every day. Our favourite area along the Sunset Blvd still needs some more exploration I guess. So this time we went to look for houses of celebs who live in this beautiful neighborhood.

The day itself got more adventurous than we had thought. (see the end :-))

Paris Hilton.......

Nicholas Cage........

Eddie Murphy..........

Aaron Spelling.........

and also these "beauties" where we don't know the lucky owners.....
Then on our way back home we passed Los Angeles National Cemetery and thousands of US flags caught our eyes. It looked very pretty so we entered the place and because cars are allowed here, we drove through it and took a closer look. There are war veterans, from the Spanish-American War, World War I and II , Korean War, etc.

And now what the end of this nice day looked like........ I was driving up Sepulveda Blvd when suddenly.......I am stepping on a gas pedal and......N O T H I N G!!!!!!! The car just died in the middle of an intersection. Bummer!!!! I thought: GAS, and it WAS gas. NO gas again, but the fuel gauge still shows half tank. Hmmmmm. OK, next time I have to watch the miles because aparently I can not trust it. Thanks to being a member of AAA, I was able to leave the place after about 30 minutes. The tank was refilled and it cost only 7 dollars, but because it was my third call, it was also the last one FREE. Hopefully the very last one for me.

So this is how the day started......

And this is how it ended......

The Very Last Fulbright Meeting

2006-05-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

The meeting started with an informal dinner at Martha Hart's, San Diego Program coordinator. Those dinners are a great thing. There are always people with so many interesting stories from their exchanges, that I would have listened to them for weeks. I am honored to be a part of it, being a member of the Fulbright Family. The dinner itself was delicious and so was the place. Martha's house is on Coronado Island, which is in my opinion the most beautiful place in San Diego area. Beautiful houses again.

The biggest attraction is obviously famous Hotel Del Coronado. It was built at the end of 19th century and it is the largest wooden structure in US, designated a National Historis Landmark in 1977 . It is beautiful and luxurious indeed, especially the inside part in Victorian Style. Reminded me of Titanic a little bit. It has accomodated several presidents, celebrities ( Marilyn Monroe among many others) and is hosting the ghost of famous Kate Morgan. The only disadvantage is that you have to cross Coronado Bay Bridge to get there. For us, who suffer from vertigo, it is a huge sacrifice but it is worth doing it.
On Saturday morning I left Denisa and Adela at the hotel and drove to the meeting site. There were about 20 people. Alumni, international teachers and Americans going on exchange next year. For me it was a wrap up meeting as I am done in 5 weeks of school. Personally I can not believe it. The first meeting we had in September when everything was new seems just a few months ago. There I wished to know what the year would be like and I pictured what it would be like to be an alumni one day. And now here it is. I was able to give advice about my exchange to the people going for their first time. I realized that I had experienced so much during the year and it is really one of the best years of my life. The fact that my exchange with Ms. Moton is exceptional makes me happy. And as I said at the meeting, this is just the beginning, right Ky? The exchange has definitely changed both my personal and professional life and it put me somehow I believe forward and my goal is to move from that point furthermore.

This is Martha Hart and Michael Kuban from the US State Department.

Wild Animal Park in San Diego

2006-05-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

As my exchange stay is approaching its end, I am about to attend the last Fulbright meeting down in San Diego. It takes place on Saturday May,20 in SDEA center. I took the liberty of taking a day off on Friday before the meeting to visit the Wild Animal Park here in San Diego - Escondido. We were told that this park is the best of its kind in the world and that it was a must for us to visit it. The weather was really awesome and made the visit even more enjoyable. Everything here is very well planned and organized so all the visitors have a chance to see all the animals and attractions the park offers. The best thing here is the Wgasa Bush Line Railway, where you board a train that takes you all around the entire park. The journey takes 45 minutes and includes an expert description of the park, its animals and history.

The park has a rhino as its symbol because they have bred incredible 90 rhinos over 34 years here.

The park features: an Elephant show..........
......Petting Kraal
......Balloon Safari
......and much more.......

Oh and this is fun. One can stay there overnight, having the feeling of sleeping in Africa. They call it "Roar and Snore"

You have a chance to sleep right next to this "King of Animals"

Do shoes have something like "shoe heaven"???

2006-05-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

My new pair of tennis shoes!!!!! Andy Roddick Reebok......isn't that beautiful?

My old NIKE going into retirement. We have gone through many great matches together needless to say.

One aquarium is never enough!

2006-05-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

This time we went to the Long Beach Aquarium. It is a little bit different to Camarillo but also very entertaining. Water tanks full of so many different fishes, crabs, jelly fish, etc. You name it we saw it.

Also the area around the Aquarium is very beautiful. Another pretty place in Los Angeles area.

Oh, yeah I was pooped on by parrots. Two I think. In the Czech Republic we consider it lucky when a bird poops on you. I don't know who could have come up with such idea, maybe to calm down the victim, because I did not feel lucky at all. But maybe it was a sign that we will win the lottery at last Ky:-).

San Pedro and Palos Verde

2006-05-13T06:59:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we went on another trip with UCLA scholars and exchange teachers. This time it was to San Pedro to Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, which is a non-profit public aquarium/museum dedicated to promoting knowledge and awareness of the marine life of Southern California. The guided tour there was excellent and I wished we could have learnt more. A lot of interesting facts and information about the marine life of Southern California.

A touch tank was great. An opportunity to touch sea stars. Yuk!

Activities for children EVERYWHERE of course. It is a must.

Then all the participants enjoyed a small snack right on the beach.

After that we continued to Palos Verde (green trees), where we hiked and also had a guided tour about the flora and fauna of this beautiful area. The beach there was just gorgeous.
Well, some people hiked, some..............DID NOT!!!

On the way to the beach we had to pass Donald Trump's Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verde where there was a Michael Douglas & Friends tournament. Among the players were actress Heather Locklear, actor Martin Sheen and actor Samuel L. Jackson. Unfortunatelly we did not see anybody famous.

After our 2 hour hike we got back on our bus and went to our host's house where they prepared a delicious dinner. We had a chance to talk to our English friends Jef and Ann Fox again. It was a very nice day and I bet all the people enjoyed it as much as we did. California is indeed a very beautiful place.

How I saw the real beauty!

2006-05-10T07:14:00.000-07:00

Malibu is really a great place. So many beautiful houses overlooking the ocean,so many stars living in this area. I always wonder what lives do those people have. Being always mad about paparazzis taking pictures any time anywhere. I always keep telling myself: "Those people really don't have their privacy. It must be very annoying not to be able to "just" walk anywhere. But yesterday I parked my car in front of the post office in Malibu when a beautiful black Bentley arrived, the door opened and gorgeous Cindy Crawford got out of it. Wow, very beautiful. When you are so very close to such celebrity you automatically grab a camera and take a picture. It was a weird feeling, you are embarrassed but still you feel like you DO have to take the picture. I didn't bother her at least and she smiled at Adela in the store:-) So here are the pictures ( not very good I know)

Beverly Hills 90210

2006-05-07T07:43:00.000-07:00

Michaela from Indiannapolis is staying over for a couple of days again. She is a younger generation who used to be crazy about 90210 so we had to take her to see the actual house. It is not in Beverly Hills by the way but in Altadena. It took some time to convince her that Brandon actually doesnt live there:-)

Birmingham Tennis Team

2006-05-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

So here they are. The boys I play with.

Santa Barbara - the gateway to the paradise

2006-04-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn't feel very well on Thursday so I listened to Kylowna's advice and took a day off. What an idea?? Excellent. Both staying at home and the weekend ahead made me feel very well:-) I had heard many times how beautiful Santa Barbara was so we went there. The weather was not that good but still.......it is not far and we can do it one more time again some day we thought. It is really worth going there. Very beautiful place indeed. It is something completely different to what we are used to here in LA. Nice buildings in Spanish style, good restaurants, shops, beautiful beaches and mountain views.

Accommodation we found on State Street which is the main street in SB. A cozy motel 5 minutes from the town center.

Santa Barabara's County Courthouse and a beautiful view of the town (or city??)

The streets with their shops and restaurants are picturesque. Reminded me a little bit of Europe.

The best attraction of them all is probably Mission Santa Barbara "the Queen of Missions"

Oh, this was funny. I don't know why she was doing this!?
Hmmm...very interesting. Oh, you know how I love all the cemeteries and graveyards.

Another very nice place is the Sterns Wharf with its Moby Dick. (we are reading with my sixth right now, what a coincidence?!)

And as usual, we admired the houses here. Nice american style.

Educational Weekend at Pierce College

2006-04-25T21:42:00.000-07:00

It was called "Farmwalk" and it took place at one of the nine Community Colleges in LA area, Pierce College. Animals, animals and more animals, plus activities, displays, games and music. Everything was very well organized and I dare to say that all the kids who were there enjoyed this day. In some point it was really incredible for us to find this "piece of countryside" right in the middle of the city. It is a very beautiful area by the way and the scent from the fresh-cut grass was just adorable. The attractions we could find there, while listening to a live country band, were:Sheep Shearing, Wool Spinning, Cow Milking, Clydesdale horse, Petting Zoo, Horse Activities including roping, etc. The visitors were standing in lines to get on this "hay ride".

The animals were very clean and very well loked after (I sound like an expert on farming, hmm).

Who looks more vital and enjoying it??? Can you see that look the cow is giving you?
This was funny. The pony (I am sure it was not a pony but some kind of a miniature horse) itself not that much as the presenter with the cowboy hat. He had such a huge "hickie" (sp.?) on his neck that I couldn't concentrate on the skillful horsie. Can you imagine???? You let your girlfriend (I can not even think about a boyfriend) make this monkey bite the night before you appear in public in front of I don't know how many people!? What was he thinking????

Another concern I had there was the size of horses here. During my stay here I have seen so many sculptures of horses and they seemed so short. First I thought, it was the lack of space but now I see they were all the accurate copies.

See??? Do you understand what I am talking about?? Does it seem shorter than usually to you??? I am not complaining, I just got used to the fact that everything in US is larger than anywhere else in the world, but this horse....? Will his butt pop out one day, or he is done?

A huge THANK YOU

2006-04-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

I would like to dedicate THIS post to THIS car which was very reliable all the time, comfortable, modern, fast, safe, expensive, luxurious...............RENTAL!

Last day

2006-04-16T21:54:00.000-07:00

It was my mom's name day and also a last day in LA so we went to a japanese restaurant Gyu Kaku and had a......... FEAST!

Day 8,9 - Sequoia National Park

2006-04-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

It was my third visit of this park and again incredibly beautiful. This time it was a little bit colder than last time but also winter has its own beauty, right Ky??

oooooooooohh, yes we saw a live bear. BEAUTIFUL!

Day 6,7 - Hollywood Blvd. and Universal Studios

2006-04-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

Those two day were also very nice, the weather was great and therefore there was nothing to stop us to have fun.

Obviously the most photographed sign.

The Walk of Fame.

And after a very good lunch we went to our most beloved place........the beach in Malibu.

Where Adela made friends again.

The next day it was Universal Studios Hollywood. Fun for everybody. I was amazed how my mom didn't hesitate and went on all the rides there are. She is brave I need to say. Well, there was some screaming...........aaaaaaghhhh, oooohhh, ughhhhh.

Day 3,4,5 - Las Vegas

2006-04-16T20:40:00.000-07:00

The original plan was San Francisco, but somehow we changed our minds and went to Vegas. A very good choice by the way. We stayed at The Tropicana Hotel, which is one of the first hotels in Vegas, right on the Strip and enjoyed our stay every minute. We strolled the Strip, ate delicious food, visited the Hoover Dam again, climbed the Stratosphere and played a little. Kylowna and I went to play roulette but we didn't feel it somehow, right Ky?? Well, I was the greenhorn and Kylowna my teacher. Who do you think lost more money????

Our favourite Starbuck's.

And finally our hotel.

Sightseeing with the best tour guide in the world?????

A little bit of sunbathing while Kylowna was having a spa treatment. ( recharging batteries)

The next day we went to admire our favourite Hoover Dam.

It is deep, I am telling you.

Who would not welcome my mom?? Even Nevada did.

On our way back home to LA we had to stop at Calico, a very romantic place. Remember when we did it at Christmas?

Who is not smiling in the pictures??? Me???

A little morbid I know, but dead people don't leave their handbags on the benches!

Here is the tombstone I forgot to take a picture of last time, remember??

Day 2 - Renaissance Fair

2006-04-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Great place, great fun, great time. Kylowna offered us to go to see this fair, Adela was sick so it was only my mom and me and it was worth going. I am a little used to it here but my mom was amazed how happy, cheerful and friendly all those people were. I will let the pictures speak. Enjoy!

Those two were hilarious.

Old English, old customs..........

And the Jousting was almost as real.

Then in the afternoon I drove my mom around to show her the beauty of "my city" And she loved it indeed. All the most beloved places.

The weather as you can see............... Something else than snow covered home, right?

Eagerly awaited Spring Break is here.

2006-04-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

Heaven!!! I really couldn't wait. Especially because my mom and Kylowna arrived on Friday. Right after I finished playing tennis I rushed home, then Flyaway station and then hurry hurry.... the airport. I was so happy they were both here!!! We rented a car ( a beautiful one this time with all the gadgets we possibly need, right Ky??) and rushed to the valley where Denisa and Adela were impatiently waiting for "grandma" After all the necessary procedures we all went to bed and looked forward to all the new adventures which we had planned weeks before. It was a very busy week I have to say, but perfect!!! My mom fell in love with California just as everybody who comes here does. The weather was also brilliant ( thank you Ky).

My mom was very patient with Adela showing her all the new toys and all the rooms in our apartment.

Rocky, Rambo............He is HERE!!!

2006-04-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

I know it is being veeeeeeeery childish but it has been our first real "star" so far. Sylvester Stallone surrounded by his bodyguards taking a stroll down Rodeo Drive on Saturday morning.

NHL game - Kings Rule ( slaughter a little bit )

2006-03-15T20:37:00.000-08:00

Another of my dreams came true (how many more are still out there I wonder?). Well, it was a great night out. Nancy got tickets for 120$ (premiere seating) and we really enjoyed it. Staples Center is a great place and watching sports here in US is really number one thing. A great show, no matter which sport you are watching. It is always great fun. This time it was the event full of laughter and jokes with Nancy. Not so much fun it definitely was for the players as they lost to Phoenix Coyotes 2:6. The game itself is faster than what we are used to in Europe and the size of the ice ring is also different. I have learnt that there are about 70 Czech players in NHL, which is amazing and something to be proud of. Everybody here knows Jaromir Jagr of course, however in this particular game there was only one player, Zbynek Michalek, very good defense by the way.

We experienced a smashed glass, fights, great goal tenders, etc.

What it is like to be Lance Armstrong??

2006-03-13T20:42:00.000-08:00

Just kiding of course, NOBODY is that great. I am just excited and very happy to have my bike finally. Thanks to one of my BHS colleagues Terry, who was that kind and lent me his bike for the rest of my stay here in LA. I will be able to ride to and from school here. It made my day indeed.

Boy,I'm BIG and the tires look flat, don't they?

Whale watching or Whale sensing???

2006-03-13T20:04:00.000-08:00

The event we were really looking forward to since the first day on the US soil. First of all the weather forecast wasn't very pleasant for this particular Saturday, however we stayed brave and got ready for the thunders, rain and I dont know what else. I had been sick the whole week before needless to say. Anyway, we arrived there on time, parked the car and joined our friends from SCOT organization who organized the trip for us and also paid for the tickets. The weather wasn't really that bad and the forecast discouraged many people I dare to say, which was another plus. The boat was literally empty and we all had nice seats to observe the sea from. At the beginning we were announced that the journey would be 2,5 hour long, which proved to be "neverending" (not for the sea lovers though). After an hour we saw some dolphins jumping in front of the boat, had our faces beaten by the wind and had our bodies frozen to the bones. After a few more minutes I decided to go inside. There after a short while I started to feel sick. "No, I am not sea sick, what is it??" .........it is unbearable.." What shall I do?" " Lie down?, Have my eyes closed?? Open?? So finally I ended up lying on the bench, praying for the captain to turn the boat back to the port. It was so bad, that I even could't open my eyes. Bob Roberts told us he had seen whales only once out of seven chances he had had, so I didn't regret my being sick. Until of course when I heard the announcment how lucky we were, because there is a pair of grey whales right next to our boat. Everybody, except me, ran outside to watch the whales ( the goal of this journey of course). They had a very nice experience and obviously took a lot of pictures. I was lying still inside, listening to the captain's description and wasn't even able to lift my head up to see at least the fin. Then I fell asleep and luckily woke up when we were back at the port. What a day?! Now I am glad Denisa is taking so many pictures everywhere as I could see the whales I had planned to see myself. I will share it with you.

Our friends from SCOT organization (still with me).

Well......... nice, isn't it? What is it like in person?.......I, I don't know.

Hopefully useful info for next year Fulbrighters

2006-03-10T15:19:00.000-08:00

After being matched:
I recommend communicating with your partner as much as possible . You have to learn as much info about where you are going as possible. It depends on the relationship but it is recommended to have a mutual agreement between the partners on the things like utility payments, housework duties, car exchange, etc. You can also exchange the photos of the school, classroom, houses or apartments, neighborhood, etc. Then arrange possible requirements from your partner, e.g. Internet connection, cell phone, etc.
Air ticket and insurance:
As you probably know, the Fulbright Commission pays for the grantee's ticket and also insurance. Dependants have to provide themselves with both. Don't forget that you start your stay with a "5 day orientation" in DC which makes the tickets for your family more expensive. The thing I did was, I flew to DC and then to Los Angeles where my family joined me. They flew directly to LA. Obviously it depends on the financial situation of each family. The Fulbright Commission was very helpful and booked the tickets. As for the insurance for my daughter and wife, I learnt after I came here that my employer (LAUSD) also includes medical insurance for my dependants. We had to cancel the insurance we bought in CZ, with cancellation fees. Therefore I recommend to contact your host school and find out whether it covers also the rest of your family.
The grant:
Your stay will be supported by a grant. You will be paid three times during the course of the year. I have to say it is enough money for the year. It, of course, depends on where you will be placed, as different cities and states have different costs of living; in any case it is enough money to travel, go to restaurants once in a while, pay for the utilities, gas, etc. The first three months will be the most difficult because you will be learning the value of the dollar and finding out the costs of things. Also you will probably have more expenses in the first three months (mostly car and different deposits). Here are some examples of regular expenses: car insurance 50 $/mo., phone bill ( dish network, Internet conn.,cell phone, land phone incl.) $300/mo., gas bill $40 /mo., water and power $20 /mo., gas $30/full, one week grocery shopping $100, dinner in a restaurant $30-70/2 adults (ordinary restaurants),etc.
Car and driving in US:
It obviously depends on the mutual agreement between the partners, however Fulbright doesn't recommend car transfers. We did it anyway. We transfered the car, I paid for the transfer, smog check, and the insurance (these are the expenses you have at the beginning of the stay) and at the end of my stay here I will transfer the car back to Kylowna. Anyway, if you decide to buy your own car, prices of a used car start at about $2000. I believe and you know what car dealers are like all over the world:-). Then in depends on the particular state again but it is required to have a local driving licence when one works there. You will go to DMV, go over a vision test, fill out some paper work, get the brochure and set an appointment for the written test, and the on-road driving test (only after the written test is passed), which is in your own (insured) car with an instructor (very brave men, btw). It is not that difficult. I myself took it twice as I underestimated the written part the first time. You will have to spend some time and read the manual carefully because some questions are really tricky and will get you if you aren't careful with word meanings. Driving here is really easy, even in large cities.
School and teaching in US:
It's completely different to what we are used to in CZ. Which is a good thing of course, for one can learn so many new things: activities, approaches, methods, etc. The schools are bigger; the classrooms are more crowded: students are of all possible levels in one classroom. It is a combination of all our secondary education varieties under one roof. It obviously takes some time to get used to the system. The most difficult thing for me were the abreviations. Americans are abreviations lovers and seem to assume that everybody will understand. So when you hear: TA, LEP, LAUSD, PA, MPR, etc you are completely lost. What the hell is TA? And what's more, I should have one?? Now I know it is a teacher's assistant who helps you in the classroom, but it took some days to figure it out. I didn't want to look silly so I didn't want to ask all the time because I figured everybody had enough to do with his or her own problems. After all the first days and some obstacles, you will naturally become a regular staff memeber. It requires a lot of commitment and adjustments, but you will love your kids and enjoy the teaching. I already know I will miss them tremendously.
Orientation in Washington DC:
Five days in the capital city of the USA: very informative, very tiring, very overwhelming. I understand it is a must and it can help you to get prepared for your own stay but it will never prepare you 100% as nobody knows what the year will be like. The meetings in Prague where we had the chance to talk to former Fulbrighters were much more helpful, I think. However you will definitely meet so many interesting people here in DC and will have so many such interesting discussions and will hear so many stories like never in your life. You become a part of such a big family of Fulbrighters right there in the capital. They will make you feel special right there and the feeling will stay with you the whole exchange. The most important thing is you will meet your exchange partner for the first time!!! You will also aplly for a social security number, you will get A LOT of informational material, etc. It is a very pleasant 5 days when you also will have chance to participate in a tour of DC, which is short but informative and worth going.
It depends on the place of your exchange again but I believe everywhere you will have the chance to take parts in so many organizations which will make your stay so much enjoyable. I was very lucky to have Southern California Overseas Teachers (SCOT), SOKOL and Fulbright Visiting Scholars Enrichment Program at UCLA here to join.
Hopefully the text above is informative a little at least. Don't forget I am describing my own situation in California. Yours may be completely different. If you have any other questions, please contact me.

One of the best years I have ever had.

2006-03-10T15:10:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago it was the end of the fall semester and I was so called “ half way done”, now it is only three more months and I can almost call myself “former” Fulbrighter. On one hand I can’t believe it, the time flies so fast, but on the other hand I have experienced so much here that it seems like ages. I need to emphasize that it has been indeed one of the best years I’ve had in my life. If I had had the opportunity to undergo it again, I wouldn’t have hesitated a single second. It is “a school of life” in all its aspects. I have been or at least I feel very lucky starting with the place of match, selection of my exchange partner, the school, the teachers to work with, who have been really very helpful, etc. All these things are making it pleasant experience. The purpose of the entire program is to increase understanding between the USA and the rest of the world. It is happening of course because one has such enormous experience to learn about the country, its culture, customs, people, etc., like probably never before; however there are more things that are going on here. Everybody will deal with them differently as there are no two identical exchanges. The past weeks I received emails from the next year Fulbrighters who just passed the selecting process. They are full of questions and concerns obviously, just the way I was almost a year ago. In the following post I will try to summarize the first days and obstacles I had. Hopefully it is helpful. The first thing to tell you is “Feel proud of what you have achieved, it’s going to be a wonderful year you will always remember”.

"D-Day" at BHS

2006-03-04T19:04:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 27. Very important they at BHS. I do not know how about the rest of the teachers, but I took it pretty seriously. LAUSD representatives announced their visit to BHS. The purpose of the visit was to check and make sure that there are only qualified teachers eligible for teaching particular subjects. The school turned topsy-turvy and the nervousness of both teachers and administrators was evident. The whole week before I was getting tons of different materials, posters and regulations to be posted on the walls. The more papers I got, the more nervous I got. Trying to assimilate and become one of the regular staff here (if it is ever possible) but still you always feel as a greenhorn. We were told THEY can come to any class of those 6 we all have. I was teaching as on usual days but still... somewhere at the back of my head I waited for the people. They came at the end of the second period and just took a look around my classroom. I thought:"That was it??" But I was wrong. They came again my fourth period and observed me for about 10 minutes, taking some notes. Obviously I turned red (damn) but continued teaching. My class was great, they smiled at me, they knew I guess. At the end of the week I got a report from the LAUSD representatives and it made my day or rather, it made my existing stay at BHS. Here is the proof:

For those who need glasses, it reads " Does a great job with ESL students."

The 78th Annual Academy Awards

2006-02-19T22:09:00.000-08:00

March, 5 is the day when the actors, actresses, directors and movies are going to be awarded with Oscars Statuette. All is getting ready for this special event around Kodak Theater. Red carpets, posters with the names of nominees and of course the statues of Oscars everywhere. Our eyes were caught by the sign which read The real Oscars to be held!!! Unbelievable, I had the chance to hold the dream statuette for all people from the showbusiness in my hands. Pretty heavy to be honest but beautiful. If it only were the real event.........maybe one day, who knows???

Sorry for the face Kylowna, I know..... but there were so many people around:-)

Even more people around here.

The Jewels of LA.

2006-02-19T21:38:00.000-08:00

On the first day we visited "some" of our favorite places here. They are certainly also some of the most visited spots of the City of Angels where you can come over and over again and you will never get bored I guess. So the day we started with Bel Air, then Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive....

Ky, can you believe that I took this picture?

The Hollywood Walk of Fame.....

Hollywood Sign.......

Second day we went to Olvera Street, Union Station, Downtown, Queen Mary, Long Beach....

A visit, getting ready for my mom.

2006-02-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

Right now we are having a visit. Michaela Holotova, who also comes from Zatec, being an Au-Pair in Indianapolis now, came down to Los Angeles for five days. We are doing a lot of sightseeing here, which is getting us ready for my mom, who should come on visit at the beginning of April. The weather shouldn't have been good but the luck has been with us since Michaela arrived (knocking on wood of course).

A tennis coach??? Why not?

2006-02-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

I was asked to help with coaching boys' tennis team at BHS. I am so excited. Tennis is my sport number one and it will be great to play every day after school. The courts are not of clay as in Zatec, but I will have somebody to play with and hopefully I can help them out.

Nikte went back home to Mexico

2006-02-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

Nikte Sanchez, my cooworker also on Fulbright exchange here, went home last weekend. She had the exchange only for a half a year. BHS teachers organized a going away party for her. It was a nice afternoon. Sad on one hand but it was a pleasure to see all the teachers and have fun. We will all miss her very much.

Recent trips

2006-02-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

The weather here is just perfect now. I know people in CZ will probably hate me as there is a very cold winter right now, but in California it is really a pleasant temperature. Americans here keep telling me that I had won a lottery, when to be placed in LA. I guess, I had. So we start going out again every weekend. Two weeks ago we went to stroll and bike along the sea in Santa Monica.

Last one we went paddle boating on Lake Balboa.

And this weekend we went to Castaic Lake State recreational area, about 30 miles north of San Fernando Valley. It was very beautiful there. Man-made lake I suppose but very peaceful and quiet.

Another wonderful evening at UCLA

2006-02-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

UCLA, it is becoming one of my most frequent places to visit here. It is also because of my exchange partner who literally worships the whole area here. There is no doubt though, it IS a beautiful place and already with a lot of experiences. This time it was an event when the scholars meet with the UCLA affiliates. It is an annual event where one meets so many interesting people and hears so many life stories that you would not believe. It took place in the faculty center, where we were placed at different tables to be able to meet new people. At our table there were two boys from Pakistan who study computer technology here, a girl from India and three ladies who are those affiliates. We had a great dinner and surprisingly smooth and pleasant conversation. Of course only until the time when Ann Kerr asked all the present people to speak about themselves for about two minutes in front of one another. Another stomach testing experience. I can tell you my heartbeat was louder than me speaking on the mic. But I survived. It was a pleasure listening to others talking about their experience here in the USA. We also met our old good friends Jef and Ann Fox, Bob Roberts and Ruth, with whom we didnt spent so much time as usual but still it was great to see them all.

Geez, I was soooooo glad the speech was over.

RAND Corporation in Santa Monica

2006-01-21T20:27:00.000-08:00

The RAND Corporation, popularly known as a “think tank”, is a highly respected, non-profit corporation formed to further educational, scientific, and charitable purposes for the public welfare and security of the United States of America. This was a program to introduce southern California Fulbright Scholars to their academic counterparts at RAND where scholars work on a wide range of research as broad as the public policy agenda. We had the opportunity to listen to two presenters. They introduced us to two projects: Richard Hillestad's - Health Information Technology and Rita Karam's - The Analysis of Language Policies in the U.S.
It was very interesting and informative.

UCLA

2006-01-21T19:38:00.000-08:00

When we were at Ann Kerr's house for that lunch, she asked me to come to UCLA and talk to her students. The topic was America through different perspectives. I knew that the date would be January 18 and I was patiently waiting. There was no call till Tuesday, the day before so I almost thought that it had been cancelled. But then I got the call and it was the time for me to start my being nervous.......I am the expert of being nervous. (some people may be shocked)

I arrived at Ann's office at about 3:30 and we both walked to her classroom. The lesson started at 4 and there were about 20 students. I must say that despite the fact I was dying of nervousness, I really liked the class. The students had very interesting questions and seemed to be interested in what I told them about. I should have prepared myself much better for it but now it is too late to regret. It was a great experience for me. (one of many here)

Then we went back to Ann's office where she showed me a poster of her son Steve who is a professional basketball player. Steve Kerr who used to play with Michael Jordan, has five rings and is considered the best three-point shooter in NBA history. I was amazed!!! Ann also told me about her face- to -face encounter with Michael Jordan which I was thrilled about.

Ann is an incredible woman with incredibly interesting life.

My classes after almost 5 months

2006-01-17T19:20:00.000-08:00

This is my Period 1,2 - ESL students

This is my Period 3,4 ESL students

Calico - the Ghost Town

2006-01-07T21:56:00.000-08:00

On our way back to Los Angeles we stopped at the town which used to be once the richest in the state for its silver mines. There used to be over 1200 people living and working there. It was established 1881 and was producing over $86 million in silver. When the price of silver dropped it became a ghost town like many of the kind. Today it is operating as a County Regional Park and it is stil alive and well. Thanks to Mr. Walter Knott. You can also camp there today and enjoy the beauty and history of this small town where used to be 600 mines.

And also a live performance...

Fascinating thing was also a cemetery where are buried both people from the time when the town was flourishing and also people who are connected to the town today. One of the people was an artist who died at the age of 71 and was a comedian for sure. He had written on his tombstone " See, I told you I was sick". I found this amazing. I admire that man, his strength and wit.

City of Las Vegas

2006-01-07T21:18:00.000-08:00

Yes, as I said in my previous post it was my "life saver" trip. We couldn't find a cheaper accommodation right in Vegas so we decided on a small town Primm in Primm Valley. It was a good choice. Closer to La and also closer to Hoover Dam which we really wanted to see. And we did. It was overall a great trip and it DID saved my life. Denisa took a lot of pictures (sometimes I feel like I married a Japanese) but I appreciate it and I can show you the place now.

So first our hotel Primm Valley Casino Resorts

And of course necessary casino in every hotel

The trip to see Hoover Dam. It belongs to one of the technical wonders of 20th century. There is no doubt about it. It is sooooo huge and took only 4 years to built. Amazing. On the borders between Arizona and Nevada, so two different time zones.

Some people were excited from standing with one leg in Nevada and the other one in Arizona.

We also went further to Arizona and we found this beautiful oasis in the middle of a desert, Willow Beach. On the river Colorado.

In the middle of a desert I said.

And finaly Las Vegas itself.

And of course Elvis Presley everywhere.

Back to reality (s-l-o-w-l-y of course)

2006-01-07T20:30:00.000-08:00

After we came back from Florida (now I have realized I liked it over there, even though California is still state number one), we had a few more days with Kylowna. It was great as usual. We did again interesting things. Shopping for "our" czech friends was fun, going to see Queen Mary was awesome ( King of the Woooooooorld...), going to movies ( Memoirs of a Geisha was a great movie), Palm Reader was interesting kind of experience, despite the fact that I had to leave the room after the "psychic lady" said I was sending some strong signals which were disturbing her or what, driving round LA and listening to Eminem's "Stan" ( pretty shocking info for people who know Kylowna I guess). But it was all fun and a great tme for me. (oh boy how I hate the word WAS!!!)
Well, I drove Ms. Moton back to the airport and since she left I was pretty out of enthusiasm. My first bigger crisis I guess. I wanted to go home. I felt it was enough for me here. I came home and I was whining for hours. Denisa almost went crazy. I told her I had to get out of here asap. I could not bear it any longer. So we decided on Las Vegas, booked a hotel and set out early in the morning. It was my life saver.

Happy New Year 2006

2006-01-01T20:33:00.000-08:00

Always wondering what the next year will be like....... Hopefully as good as the last one.

Believe it or not museum.

2005-12-30T10:17:00.000-08:00

It was in Orlando. Museum of all unusual things. It was both fun and interesting to walk there. Some things were really very hard to believe.

Mona Lisa made from baked toast bread....

Car made from millions of matches.....

The tallest man......

The biggest chair.......

Walt Disney World in Orlando

2005-12-30T10:00:00.000-08:00

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to Dana and her friend Kareema we got tickets to three parks (free of charge) Apcot, Animal Kingdom and MGM. We spent there ten hours and still it wasn't enough. You would have needed at least a week to see it all. It is almost the size half of Orlando and I learnt that it was Walt Disney who had made Orlando a famous place on the map. I am sorry to say that but without the parks (also Seeworld, Universal,etc) Orlando is nothing. There is nothing really to see except the parks. I was teasing Dana that she is from a village while we are from a city. ( I forgot I was from Zatec)

Xmas Eve in Orlando

2005-12-30T09:50:00.000-08:00

We were invited to Dana's friend Nikola who has lived in Florida for about 9 years and owns a house here. It was a nice evening with a lot of delicious food and a looooooooot of presents. None for me unfortunately. Adelka was in heaven. Santa Claus or Sankataus in her language gave her a lot of presents.

Last day in Miami

2005-12-30T09:05:00.000-08:00

We felt quite sad knowing it was our last day as we got used to the hotel life so much. But who wouldn't, right? For that day we planned to go to see Key Biscayne, its tennis courts than Miami Beach Again and Miami Heat game in the evening. Pretty busy day but also one of the best. The weather was just great. We didn't feel it was December 23.

The tennis courts in Key Biscayne.....

Hibiscus Island ........ Beauty, beauty and beauty.

Sunny Miami Beach.....

The trucks here are sooooooooo huge.

Shaquille O'Neil in Action......

Morning of December 24.......

Magic happens!!!!!!!

2005-12-22T22:19:00.000-08:00

Everybody is in Mexico, as they sing in one of the Czech songs, is not true anymore for me. Everybody is in Key West actualy. It is almost impossible to believe this!!!! I was waiting for Denisa at the lighthouse when I heard " Jirko, Jirko" I kept saying to muself: "It is not possible, it is not your name...." But it was true. It was Magda Micankova (former student of mine) with her family. I couldn't believe my eyes. I knew they were in USA at the same time, but in Alabama. They could have been anywhere else but Key West. They actually decided to go on vacation to Florida at the same time. The same time to Key West and the exactly same time to the lighthouse when we were there. We had a nice long chat there and we hope to see them "expectedly" again sometime. Maybe in LA. That is what I call MAGIC!!!!!!!

Key West

2005-12-22T21:59:00.000-08:00

The southernmost point of the United States. The distance from our hotel was unbelievable 160 miles. 4 hours each way. But it was worth to undergo it. It is a very beautiful place.

We went to see the lighthouse there.....

Some of us climbed up to the top and had an oportunity of such a beautiful view.....

Those who were coward stayed on the ground and looked up to admire their 3 year old daughter who managed without any troubles.....

The Hemingway's house was also very beautiful......

And of course the "dream" beaches......

Miami Beach

2005-12-22T21:52:00.000-08:00

After the Everglades experience we wanted to see just a little bit of famous Miami Beach. The beaches and the sea on the East Coast is better here I have to confess.

Isn't it beautiful???

And the hotels.....

Alligators in Everglades National Park

2005-12-22T21:32:00.000-08:00

Only about 20 miles from our hotel to the Everglades. It was a must to see this. We had a airboat ride, we saw the wrestling and we actualy even touched them. A nice day again.

Yes, they live here in the water!!!!!!!

I am trying to be brave Kylowna!!!!!!! And size DOESN'T matter!!!

Miami

2005-12-22T21:16:00.000-08:00

We are staying in a four star hotel Double Tree overlooking the whole Miami Beach island and the harbor. Beautiful, beautiful and beautiful. Dana (Denisa's friend) found the hotel for us at incredible low price otherwise we wouldn't have been able to efford it. They look after us here like we were kings and queens.

Florida - Orlando

2005-12-22T21:05:00.000-08:00

Sunday evening and I am ready for my flight to Orlando-Florida. I flew American Airlines and because it is Christmas all the food onboard was free of charge. Heaven again. I managed to sleep again a little. When I landed in Miami I had only a few minutes to find my flight to Orlando. I sat next to a lady who runs a scuba diving resort in Miami. We flew only for about 35 minutes but she managed to tell me almost everything about her interesting life. Among her clients is for example Tiger Woods, etc. She also managed to name all the dangerous species living in Florida, starting with little ants and ending with spiders and snakes. Denisa waited at the airport with Adela and gave me a ride to our friend's home. East coast is really different to our "home" on the West coast. I love the mountains we have in California. Orlando looks greener but I haven't seen much of it so far. Immediately after we got there I went to bed and slept for 16 hours. Next day we went to rent a car and left for Miami. The journey took about 4,5 hours.

Incredible journey to Mexico.

2005-12-22T20:32:00.000-08:00

On Friday morning we set on our journey to Mexico. It was one of my several dreams and Kylowna made it come true. We left Los Angeles at about noon, because we looked for a certain restaurant where Kylowna could satisfy her precious stomach for breakfast. It is quite late for Mexico, but who cares, right?? We got to the borders at about 3 pm. The only things I had with me was my wallet and my driving licence. We left the car on US side and walked to Mexico. I had never dreamed about "walking" to Mexico in my life but here it is very common. Tijuana, or Tj as americans call it, is right behind the borders. We sat down in one of the millions of restaurants after we had walked round the city for a while. Kylowna ordered Margaritas and we sat there and watched the people who went by. Then suddenly.......... an idea rised in my partner's head: Why dont we go to Rosarito???? It is on the beach and it is nicer than Tj. "OK, let's go there", I said. After we tipped the waiter generously he told us how to get there for a dollar and ten cents. Compared to regular price which was about 25 dollars, it was unusual and surprising, but..... why not? When we got to the taxi pickup I understood. There were about 8 or 9 people in one taxi. Taxis are old american station wagons here. We sat at the place where usually suitcases are but nobody seems to care here. The most important thing is to earn money in Mexico. The quality is on the second place. So, anyway, after about half an hour of terrible ride we got to Rosarito. It was much more beautiful than Tijuana. We went to the beach and at there on wooden chairs. When you order drinks here, they bring you wood and you can have a fire right on the beach. We did it and it was beautiful. It was my first time sitting on the beach at night with a fire. Very romantic. We enjoyed it so much that we almost forgot about coming back. Than another awesome idea: Why don't we stay here in Mexico overnight?? We would have gone only to San Diego anyway. There was no way how to make it back to LA. I mentioned at the beginning that I had only a wallet and ID with me, so we went to the pharmacy store to buy deodorants, toothbrushes, sun cream that looked like a shower gel I swear. That was all we needed. After finding a hotel (which took about 5 minutes) we went for dinner. I had the best tacos in my life. Delicious. The next day we did some shopping, took a picture with a mule and went back to US. So I was also walking back to the USA of course. There were so many Mexican people waiting in the line, that we almost passed out just thinking about waiting in the same line. But we made it. I was happy back in US and happy that I saw Mexico. Beautiful time there.

Kylowna is back!!!!!!!

2005-12-22T20:22:00.000-08:00

Yes, sounds like Arnold, but actualy it was Kylowna who came back on vacation. I was veeeery happy, because we could do interseted things again. It is so great being around her. We went to Guy Kaku, Japanese restaurant with delicious food. We went to see King Kong, which sucks by the way or as my students would say: It was a gay!!!!!! 3 hours and 7 minutes of boredom. At least the monkey was cool. Anyway, we just ate and did crazy and interesting things. Did I tell you how we went to Mexico? Stay tuned.
Oh, we also had a nasty argument in the car, which was NOT meant to be nasty. I needed to say what I said and I needed the explanation Kylowna gave me. For those, who dont know, I am reading a book called "What's up America?" It is a guide to american behavior to understand better the way of the life over here. I love the book and need some more explanations sometimes.

The Festival of Lights

2005-12-11T10:28:00.000-08:00

The DWP sponsors this festival every year. It takes place in Griffith Park. Millions of lights, beautiful decorations. It is about 3/4 mile long. Walking there was beautiful. Much better than driving a car through it actually. They also played Xmas songs and carols there. Simply awesome again.

Autry Museum of Western Heritage

2005-12-11T07:27:00.000-08:00

Another beautiful weekend before Kylowna......... ehm..before Christmas. This time we were invited by SCOT to LA Zoo and Autry Museum of Western Heritage. Because we have already been to the zoo we joined the group only for the museum. It was exactly the type of museums I love. You didnt get bored and all the things on display were interesting to see. And when I say ALL I mean ALL. The museum is dedicated to western culture, even though nobody exactly knows where the WESTern really was and some say it was only the way of life. Despite all of this background it was worth to see it. The real revolvers, rifles, sheriff's badges (stars), clothes, cowboy hats and many others. I was told that this kind of museum can be found only here. It was a very nice afternoon again thanks to SCOT organization.

SOKOL - the Czech language class.

2005-12-04T21:26:00.000-08:00

Today we went to see our SOKOL friends having another lesson of Czech language. It was again in Pasadena, with lunch and nice discussions again. I love being there with those lovely people. The last one before Christmas (or Holidays, right Mr.Bush?) so we also got presents from Milly. It was a surprise, thank you once more again (all of us).
At the end of the teaching and practicing that horrible "Já chci" they all sang Czech Christmas Carols. I have to confess that despite the fact there is a Christmas time already here and with the sun and all those palm trees it is pretty weird, today at the singing and listening to the carols I felt Xmasy for the first time. It made me homesick a little, but I must be a big boy now, so no tears!!!!!!

UCLA lunch in heaven.

2005-12-04T20:57:00.000-08:00

Ann Karr from UCLA invited Fulbright scholars, administrators and teachers to her house for lunch. All the visitors were supposed to bring a typical dish from their home country. Then we shared it and therefore had an opportunity to taste food we would have never been able to eat. The people were again from all over the world. Sweden, Germany, UK, Taiwan, Russia, Poland, Finland, Ireland, India, Mexico, Italy, Egypt, etc. It was all very well organized as usual.

Can you imagine lunch for so many people?? Ann is the lady in the middle with sunglasses.

The house was on the most beautiful place it could have possibly been. Overlooking the downtown, sea and with the mountains behind.

We also had this Irish couple singing their national songs. Beautiful.

Discussing groups.Oh yeah, Luis. Ate almost everything there. Gorgeous dog.

MALIBU - the home of surfing

2005-12-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

The Thanksgiving break was 4 days. HEAVEN!!!!!! What to do with those long 4 days???? Let's go to the ocean again. We haven't seen it for a while. We took Topanga Canyon again, but this time, when we got to the sea, we turned right and headed towards Malibu. The weather was just beautiful. We stopped at the beach and sit there and meditated for a while.

Then we continued up the North to admire the houses and nature along the coast.

My first Thanksgiving dinner ever.

2005-12-04T20:23:00.000-08:00

We were invited by the same couple who took us to the mountains. David and Lynn, remember??? Excellent people. Oh, actually by their daughter Sarah. Their house was in Santa Clarita, which is almost a brand new city built about 20 years ago. We really liked it and took a little ride around before the dinner started. The fall season amazingly plays with the colors. Nature here is incomparable. .....so back to the dinner itself.It started at 5 pm. Sarah and her husband had to remove all the furniture from their living room as they were expecting about 20 guests. I was amazed how much food and especially how well prepared the entire dinner was. We had mashed potatoes, pasta, ham, turkey (obviously), beans and veeeeery delicious desserts afterwards. We chatted while eating and had a great time again. As usual. So this was my first Thanksgiving dinner in my life. Thank you for the invitation David, Lynn and Sarah.

I LOVE THE GAME!!!!!!!

2005-11-16T23:16:00.000-08:00

Believe it or not but I am still shaking. I haven't been so excited for a long time. My first GAME ever. Los Angeles Lakers playing KNICKS. Amazing. Awesome. Incredible. Fantastic. Kobe Bryant was the hero of the event. 42 points. Score 97:92 for Lakers.

The Staple Center also full of movie stars such as Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and many others. Under one roof with me. (much better seats though)

But the best star of them all was Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Sitting there so quietly, taking notes and watching the game. I accidentally happened to be so close to him.

Kobe Bryant - life experience

And last but not least, HALL OF FAME!!

Sequoia National Park

2005-11-14T17:40:00.000-08:00

We had a longer weekend after a while of teaching. I was determined to show my family Sequoia National Park as I found it absolutely awesome when I was there three years ago. We set off for the park on Friday morning. The journey took about 4 hours. We stopped at Bakersfield for my favourite McDonald's and then it was only a few more miles. Buckeye Tree Lodge was a motel that caught our eyes immediately. We got the keys, change clothes and rushed into the park. I really wanted to show General Sherman Tree - the largest tree of the world. Unfortunately it was foggy and very cold so we didn't enjoy it that much.

But the next day it was like a paradise compensating the day before. We went to see Sentinel tree again, then Grant Grove where the Nation's Christmas Tree is, the auto log, the tunnel log, etc. You name it, we saw it. The trees are about 2000 years old. Some of them even older, so that's why they are cold "the largest and longest living things on Earth"

WTA Tour Championship

2005-11-14T17:27:00.000-08:00

For those who don't know, I am a big fan of tennis. Last Wednesday I had a chance to see top women players of the world playing for 3 million dollars in Staples Center in Los Angeles. We (me and Nancy) had quite nice seats and we saw Mauresmo, Pierce, Davenport, Clijsters, Schnyder that day. It was a great event. I was a little upset that Venus Williams didn't qualify for this tournament but it is a life I guess. Staples Center is a great place and guess what??? We got the tickets fo LA Lakers. NEXT WEDNESDAY I will see my first NBA game. Kobe Bryant!!!!! In person. OMG, I stil can't believe it. Need to pinch myself. Stay tuned!!!!!

My exchange partner makes me think!!

2005-11-06T20:34:00.000-08:00

I have just decided that I will write about random things that pop up in my head. When I drive a car here (which is very often) I usually listen to the radio, in my case it is KOST 103.5 Every night there is this special program where people say something nice about someone special. The lady who hosts this event every night has a very affected and theatrical voice by the way but it is kind of nice. I always think who is special to me and who I would mention here. And it is my exchange partner Kylowna. I feel I was very lucky when I was matched with her (it worked out VERY well also for her btw). We chat almost every day online and I learn so much from it. In fact she has been changing me. Sometimes we have arguments and fights, sometimes she is driving me crazy, but geeeez, she makes me think!!!!!! She has allowed me to see my own country and "my" people through her eyes. It is so interesting. It makes you realize many things you haven't realized before. Each of us defends our own country and sometimes we are so entitled to our opinions, and because we are both stubborn personalities, it is very difficult to confess that we might have been wrong. This is another side of the whole Fulbright Program but apart from the fact that I will (hopefully) change my students' point of view of the world after I come, I will also come as a different person. This would be mostly thanks to my exchange partner. I really feel so fortunate to meet Kylowna. (And Ky I know it was a magic..)

Hollywood Sign

2005-11-03T19:24:00.000-08:00

One of our recent trips. To get to the famous Hollywood sign as close as possible. I have learnt that it used to say HOLLYWOODLAND at first as it was a giant ad for real estate development. It arrived on the scene in 1923. The Sign was declared a Los Angeles Cultural Historical Monument in 1973. Some generous citizens and celebrities sponsor each letter every year. Some say it is the most famous sign in the world.

The trails and the weather??? Just unbeatable!!!

Trick-or-Treating

2005-11-03T19:11:00.000-08:00

We were invited by Roin Share (a collegue from BHS) to her friends for dinner and a Trick-or-Treating afterwards. It was an amazing night. The decoration of the houses we saw was just incredible.

Halloween at BHS

2005-11-03T18:58:00.000-08:00

First it started in the classrooms. The kids from the BHS Preschool visited us in the morning. They were cute. Some were really cracking me up. I gave them candy after they said the magic formula "Trick-or-Treat.

Even my ESL students enjoyed it. Well done Marisol.