Global Brands Make the First Impression

I felt the global nature of Prague first, before I felt the Czech nature of Prague. There is so much that is familiar here, especially the brands. My TV set is Daewood. The Kleenex is Kleenex. The laundry soap I'm using is Tide.

Even the “international brands” are familiar. It’s as if the “international aisle” in an American grocery store had just been expanded to many more aisles.

It really struck me when I got over here and saw all of these familiar names what an accomplishment it is to have your product for sale all over the world and to dominate one's global niche so completely. Even in the grocery store, the song the store is playing is about a guy’s girl named Delilah. The exact same song is playing back in America.

One of the upsides of familiar brands is that one is supposed to know what to expect at each encounter no matter where it happens. Right? No surprises. Take McDonald’s, for instance. I know there will be Big Macs for sale in America, coast-to-coast, every time I go into a local store. I also know there will probably be a Playland and a bathroom I’m welcome to use.

Not so in the Czech Republic! McDonald’s charges Czechs to go to the bathroom! So some poor Czech mom, juggling two rowdy children, has to dig out the coins to give her kids a bathroom break.

McDonald’s, say it ain’t so! When I ask Czechs what represents American culture to them, they always cite McDonald’s. So, McDonald’s global headquarters in Oakbrook, Illinois, you’re representing our entire nation! Please quit charging the Czechs and let them go to the bathroom for free.

Besides, I want my own experience of your brand to be the same globally as it coast-to-coast. Free the bathrooms! I respectfully ask -- is this the sense of hospitality that got you where you are today?

One Week of TEFL Classes

Teaching is one of those things that when someone describes or models the techniques involved, it sounds and looks simple enough. When one actually gets up there to do it - it's harder than it looks to remember not only content but teaching techniques, especially when I'm with a class of students who have a different mother tongue.

As TEFL instructors, we are urged to get all of our instructions down to the smallest blocks of language possible. Stand up. Discuss. Sit down. Otherwise it sounds like so much blather to the students. It's hard for them to find the instructions in the verbiage.

We taught twice in our first week and observed an experienced teacher's class as well. The Czech people taking the courses are wonderful because they encourage us as much as we encourage them.

I can tell working as a TEFL teacher is a great way to know a culture fast because everything is a potential topic. In a discussion about Czech food, the Czech students told me I need to try this really, really smelly cheese from the town of Olmouc and two kinds of dumplings known as "dumplings with hair" and "naked children." The "dumplings with hair" are laced with sauerkraut. And the other dumpling - I have no idea!

We ended our week with our first Czech lesson. The hour flew by. It was so much fun! Our teacher, who is also one of our regular instructors, put so much energy into it and I understood what she was teaching throughout the hour. TEFL lessons that we teach are supposed to involve no mother tongue whatsoever. Watching her teach us helped me understand how it feels from the beginner's seat.

Thinking back to great learning experiences I have had, I decided my goal as a TEFL teacher will be to give students the feeling I have received from ski instructors. I remember it this way: starting at zero and standing up. Each day I get a bit better. My spirit soars with that wonderful feeling of "I can do this!" and each passing day brings "I can do more!"

Done well, teaching is fostering within people increased confidence and joy as they master a skill.

One week in Prague

Two weeks ago on this site I shared a very funny Youtube video detailing all of the unpleasant things I would experience in Prague as an expatriate.

I've been here one week!

I can report I have seen no spiders.

I have not been overpowered by anyone with B.O.
Indeed, if there are smelly Praguers out there, I haven't met them yet.

Nor have I stepped in any dog poop.

All of the smelly people with spiders and dogs in their houses must live somewhere else.

What helped you learn your second language?

This weekend I've been learning all about what makes a terrific language lesson when someone is learning a second language. That's from the book, of course. Now I'd like to hear from those who've done it. What did your language teacher do in a lesson that really helped you learn? Share with me your best memories please.

This weekend I heard a wonderful 'Czechism.' In a discussion about lack of literacy, we would say someone is unlettered. My Czech friend said, "they are unalphabetized." I love it!

Saturday night

This is what I did last night after I needed a break from my textbook. I took the metro down to Andel station and walked to the river which I was seeing for the first time. It's stunning. Even in the fog at night -- maybe especially in the fog at night.

Fireworks were going off over the river in the distance. I watched them from a tram bridge spanning the river. Beautiful touring boats plied the water underneath sharing the space with swans. Vinorady, a famous castle for Czech kings and queens was all lit up, looking spectacular.
This is the Prague I can't wait to explore!

Welcome to Prague!

Friday we had our first meeting as a class and got to know each other. There are nine of us. It's a fun group. Some people are really into language with degrees in linguistics. About half the class has a Master's degree. Some are here for fun or an adventure before they start teaching in a regular school system in the States. Some people just like this side of the world. We are American, Canadian, Czech, and Russian. The ages range from 22 to me!

We received a pile of books and our course syllabus and homework assignments. Later our guide told us, "you are going to be overwhelmed by how much work this is - don't waste time whining - just do it." He warned against past behavior he had seen in the course where some students get behind because they are our partying and just quit coming to class. They just end up living in their apartment until it's time to leave.

So I've decided "no fun allowed" for my first month here. I will really focus on the course and explore Prague afterwards. It's just one month.

After our course orientation, we were scheduled to have an orientation tour of Prague. I thought it would be like a sightseeing bus tour. It wasn't. It was an incredibly useful orientation to practicialities: this is where you get a mobile phone, this is where you can get help with your computer, here's a mall, and here's how the metro and tram work.

Our guide suggested we get to know one Metro station in particular, Meztek (sp?), because it's so huge and such a labyrinth. It's a transfer point between the yellow line (which I live on) and the red line. He said you want to know this station completely before you have to teach at 6:30 a.m. in the morning at some business you've never been to, when you're still half asleep, and you have no idea which of the 20 exits from the station you need to take to get to your class and you're running late.

He said the most common ways teachers get pick-pocketed on the metro was not due to someone bothering them during the day. Rather young teachers go out partying and fall asleep on the metro on the way home. Then the driver is waking them up at the end of the line only for the teacher to discover that his wallet and phone are gone.

I appreciated our guide because he made it clear he had our backs if we ever needed him. He was referring to young men who drink too much but it's the idea that counts. He gave everyone his phone number.

Our group then went out for our first dinner together at a pub across from our school. I don't have internet access in my apartment or I'd post the pics. We all had the famous Czech beer Pilsner Urquell. It tasted great but I'm not a beer expert. The subtleties of it's awesomeness might be wasted on me. Who knows, maybe living in the Czech Republic will turn me into a beer snob.

Denver to Chicago to Warsaw to Prague

My flight over was an absolute delight and didn't contain an ounce of hardship. It was one long interesting conversation after another. I met a gentleman who just finished a book on Japanese counterculture, a couple who were off to hike the Grand Canyon for her 50th birthday, two young professionals from Virginia who were joking about being from the fake part of Virginia (according to the McCain campaign) and happy to pay the taxes for the schools and roads of the real part of Virginia, a young Polish man who will make a fine husband for the girl he is still looking for, and a young Czech executive mother who is now my first new Czech friend.

The people of Chicago are excited that with Obama winning their chances of landing the Olympics just increased.

My flight over did not feel foreign at all because it was all Polish people. What city in the world has more Polish people second only to Warsaw? Chicago. The Warsaw terminal was brand new and spotless. Spoken Polish sounds pretty.

The Warsaw terminal was also full of young people in uniform. I had to restrain myself there because everytime I saw a young military person, my first instinct was always to "thank them for their service to our country." I kept forgetting. We don't share a country!

It finally felt foreign when we boarded the plane for Prague. We did not get on the plane through a gate terminal but took a bus out to the airfield and then boarded a prop plane in the dense fog. I was immediately struck by what a romantic picture it was. I felt like Elsa in Cascablanca! And now here I am, in Praha!