I have been living in the Czech Republic for a while now and while I intend to write more about many of the very interesting things and moments I have experience and that have changed who I am, I must first start by the beginning. This is the story of how I first arrived to this country with the intention of spending only 10 months here.
I came here after working as an English teacher and activity counselor in a summer camp in France. A Canadian colleague and friend of mine, whose camp name was "Soup", was going to move to the Czech Republic once camp was over. But 2 weeks before he should move, he decided that teaching in the Czech Republic was not what he wanted to do, so he called up the agency that had hired him and gotten him a job in a school, to let them know he was no longer interested in taking the position to which he had already been accepted. I happened to be in the same room as Soup when he was on this phone call. I looking to buy my plane ticket back to Mexico, after all it was almost the end of the summer holidays which meant that the summer camps would come to an end and I would be back home soon enough, doing what ever it is I was doing before I came to Europe.
As I sat there looking for the best (Aka cheapest) flight home all I could hear was how he was saying he was not going to go and he was very sorry for any inconvenience he would be causing, but that is when things suddenly got interesting. If I had to pin point a moment in my life where I could say, "this is how it all began" this is the day that really changed my life" then this was that moment for me. Out of the blue, without previously discussing it or any kind of preparation Soup holds down the phone and covers the mouth piece and whispers to me "Hey Monty, (my nickname at the time) how would you like to teach in the Czech Republic?".
I was baffled and intrigued at the same time. At that moment in my mind I immediately pictured myself living in the Czech Republic, I had spent a few hours in Prague on my way from Vienna to Berlin a few months back, I didn't get to see much then, but I remembered liking it, oh and I did remember the women and the beer, both without comparison. I also thought of how my mom and would react since it had been over 6 months since I left home to travel and work in Europe. I though about how she would probably be sad, but at the same time proud of yet another achievement her "little baby boy" had done. I also reflected about my time in France, which had been so far one of the best experiences I had ever had: I had traveled and seen cities, towns and villages, I had eaten in high end restaurants and in little brasseries in villages. I had walked up and down vineyards and I had made a ton of friends and acquaintances, and lastly I was able to pick up the French language pretty easy with no lessons. All this went trough my head in about the same time it would take a hungry fat guy to eat a slice of cake.
".... Monty ... teach ... Czech Republic..." the words hung in the air as think as smoke and at the same time the airline website lit my computer screen with flight options for my way back home. "Yes" I said, and just like that he uncovers the mouth piece and tells the person on the other side of the phone how he has already talked to someone else that he can recommend to take the teaching job his place, "as a matter of fact he is sitting here with me" he said "sure, you can talk to him"...
The next 3 days I had a couple of phone calls, several email and had to answer various types of questionnaires, but at the end I got accepted. Once I had passed all requirements that the agency had setup they with gave me a choice. It turned out that because I speak both Spanish and English (and theoretically could teach both languages) they would prefer if I took the job in one of 2 schools where they needed such a teacher. One school is in Brno and the other one in Mlada Boleslav. I had never heard of either of this towns. The guy on the phone told me: "you know, Mlada Boleslav is not so far from Prague, it is also the place where the SKODA factory is located". At this point I didn't know what a SKODA was, but living nearby Prague sounded appealing, so I said OK. Sign me up for Mlada Boleslav.
1 week later I landed in the Prague airport where a strange older guy who was missing 3 fingers in one hand and 2 in the other was waiting for me.
"Are you Irving?" he asked in a raspy voice with a very strong British accent. "Yes, that's me, you must be Bohumil".
At the moment I didn't know what to expect out of the whole situation. I had just turned 25 a couple of weeks before, I was living away from home and everything felt like an adventure.
As it turns out, being in the same room as Soup could have been fate, could have been luck, whatever it was it was 7 and half years later I still think it was the best decision I have ever taken.
 |
| The School were I taught English and Spanish for 2 years |
 |
| Me walking to school in my new town (2006) |
No comments:
Post a Comment