What Makes Me Smile

What makes me smile is the same thing that makes me go nuts sometimes, and that’s my new puppy of a yorkie, Trapito. Check him out for yourself

Between jobs

Yes, I still do have the old teaching job and I’m going there tomorrow again for the first time after lying sick in my bed for last two weeks, but…  But I’m applying for a new job, in a new city, new country and a new continent.

Who knows me well already noticed I love travelling and being in one place for a long time. And I also hate being for such a long long time without my love. So I decided to move to Colombia for some time and now I’m trying to find a job there, a job that would pay my bills.

I don’t know what’s your experience with finding jobs, for me it’s never been easy. Either I have too much education or too little experience, but I never got the job I really wanted so far. This time many new factors are lying in my way – it’s very difficult to find a job in a foreign country so far away, especially as I don’t speak Spanish very well.

But heck, this time my bad luck will change. I applied for the perfect job and I will get it.

Howgh, domluvila jsem.

Teaching experience

 

Ok,  I’m all into writing about jobs now, so what . 

Just a few weeks ago I was so unhappy about becoming a teacher for the next ten months. Now I’ve been teaching for more than a month and I must say … it’s not that bad. I’m surprised that I’m actually enjoying it because it’s the first of all of my jobs that is never boring.

Being a teacher is a very challenging job. Well, maybe not for everybody. But definitely for someone who wants to teach the kids something worthwhile and make them enjoy it. The lessons are as you make them. You and only you. You want to be a traditional teacher standing in front of the blackboard? Do it. You want to show your students how the first people lived? Do it!

Image via Wikipedia

I’m not saying every single one of my lessons is a blast, but I’m trying. And my students seem to like it. I’m happy this year won’t be as bad as I pictured it in the beginning. The children are different every day and never let you be bored. They are very sensitive and notice every single little insecurity in you. That’s amazing because I’ve always been very insecure and this is making me work on myself all day, every day.

Image by turbojoe (away) via Flickr

Hell lies in Doornspijk

So much about excitement of going to Holland. The horses were beautiful, Hanka only slightly annoying, but the so called employers turned my very short stay into hell. Have you ever noticed that people who have money tend to treat you as if they owned you?

I won’t bore with details of the worst job I ever had in my life, I won’t tell you about never ending unpaid overtimes, wage that was lower than Dutch minimum wage, midnight phone calls to ask me if I could take a video of a horse, attempts to turn me into a maid or refusals to give me a contract, it all resulted in me simply buying a ticket home and leaving as soon as I could.

Now I’m reporting the Tromp family to local offices and I’m hoping no one will ever have to suffer as I did working for them.

So much to Holland, amazing Holland. Oh, one more thing. Watch out for bikers. They can legally run over you if you don’t clear the way for them on time. I’ve got some personal experience.

P.S.: That pic is obviously not from Holland. That country doesn’t even have hills. HILLS!

 

 

 

Image by Dave Haygarth via Flickr

Between Spain and Holland

I thought this summer would be lazy and uninteresting, but it turns out it’s going to be quite exciting. Without planning I spent a week in Madrid with one of my best friends who happens to be my boyfriend’s sister, too (thank you, Caro!).

Spain was certainly interesting, I always like staying in places where people smile without reason and sales assistants don’t stare at you as if you want to steal something (yeah, if you want to visit Czech Republic, get ready for it). Spain also included self-esteem boost, as I got many guys who seemed like they wanted to eat me alive. Not that it’s not annoying, especially if the guy looks like Anthony Queen when he had his last kid. Oh well, I still find different styles of flirting in different countries quite interesting.

Coming home was pretty interesting too, but slightly less amusing. I found out my grandma had a surgery and was in hospital and I was lied to almost the entire week in Spain. I can understand why my family didn’t tell me, but I would still like to have known. Oh well.  Or do you think enjoying holiday is better than knowing one of your closest people is very sick? Let me know what you would do.

Also just around the time I gave up on my friend Hanka’s promises about employing me for a couple of weeks in Holland, she called me and told me we are leaving in four days. On a truck with her horse and a guy who used to transport dolphins and sharks for the big aquariums in USA. Hanka says he likes to tell stories, can’t wait. Just  I need to get to our starting point first, and that means four hours by train and 3 different trains. Oh well. Main thing the summer is not boring. Holland, I’m cominggggggggggggg, weeeeeeeeeeepaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! http://www.klarenbeekarabians.com/

Firefox add-ons I can’t live without

Because I’m still sick and I’m bored at home, the one thing that can entertain me for hours is my precious laptop. And if I should think about a piece of software I love the most it would definitely be Mozilla Firefox.

I’ve been using  Firefox for quite a while and though I tried other browsers and lately I use Google Chrome quite often, too, Firefox remains my favorite. I just can’t live without some of the Firefox add-ons and discovering new ones is one of my hobbies. Today I want to share with you the add-ons of my choice.

 Download Statusbar by Devon Jensen. I don’t like the default Firefox download manager, it requires  too many extra clicks to see what’s currently going on with you downloads. With this tiny bar at the bottom of your screen you always know how your downloads are progressing. The default download bar in Chrome actually looks similar.

Delicious Bookmarks by Yahoo! Inc. I like being able to access my bookmarks on any computer, and that’s exactly why I use Delicious. This add-on integrates Delicious with Firefox, makes it easy to bookmark and tag  new pages and view them in a sidebar. There are some alternatives like Xmarks. 

Greasemonkey by Anthony Lieuallen, Aaron Boodman and Johan Sundström. This add-on allows you to customize the way how a webpage displays. It doesn’t do anything alone, but installing scripts allows you to customize pages like Facebook or Flicker.

Cleeki by  Cleeki. By highlighting any text on a webpage you can search/share/publish immediately and preview results in the same page. A real time saver.

New Tab King by Eddie Weber and Adam Green. See the pages you visit the most, recently closed tabs, suggested sites, search box and shortcuts to some of your desktop applications every time you open a new tab.

StumbleUpon by StumbleUpon. Discover interesting web sites based on your interests. Watch out, it’s addictive!

Sxipper by Sxipper. Forget passwords and form filling. This handy add-on can manage all your passwords and open IDs, with a little training allows you to fill registration forms with a single click.

Colorful Tabs by Shivanand Sharma. This add-on colors every tab with different color and makes them easy to distinguish. And it looks pretty!

Avant.garde.10011 :rosa by Rob.Holian. My favorite Firefox theme. Not compatible with Firefox 3.5 yet, so I’m using PinkHope by TwisterMc instead. Both are Pink. Hey, I’m a girl!

What I like about being sick

I just moved back to my hometown and I had plans what to do when I get here. I wanted to get fit, redevelop my social network here, redecorate the apartment I’m living in, but guess what. I’m sick.

I’ve got a nasty flu and all that I’m capable of doing is lying in my bed with Brian Lumley’s Necroscope books, TV and my laptop. But though I don’t feel very good, lying here reminds me why I used to enjoy being a little sick when I was a kid.

Even if it’s only the fact I can eat cake for breakfast, get hot tea served in my bed whenever I want to, shamelessly ask for pancakes at 10pm or leave all the things I like within  my reach around my bed and nobody minds the mess. Plus I’m developing the strategies for the upcoming months, discovering the power and joy of blogging and micro blogging ( becoming a twitter addict and proud of it).

Yes, being a little sick sometimes is not bad, but heck, I can’t wait to go out and grab what life has to offer me. 

Ground Zero

I’m lying here on my bed in my mom’s house and listening to Colin Hay’s Waiting For My Real Life To Begin and that’s exactly how i feel.

I’m 26, just graduated from university, spent last six months trying to find a job in my beloved Prague and did not succeed. I’m broke, I had to move back to my hometown, my boyfriend had to move back home, to Colombia. So I’m here alone, at the other side of the world and I feel like a loser. The only job I managed to find was an elementary school teacher. That would be cool if it wasn’t exactly the job I never wanted to do though I’m a good teacher. I even like teaching, but I need something more exciting in my life. Something more challenging.

But wait – this is a challenge! I have all the time in the world to make my life what I want it to be and that’s exactly what I’m going to do! I’ll combine my wit, my education, my art skills, my geekiness and make the best out of this situation.

This blog is a part of the way.