Teachin Abroad

Today is my first day as a teacher at the Technical University of Liberec in the Czech Republic. It has been a somewhat hectic day. Classes start early (7:00 am), and when I got to my first one today, I discovered that I had planned a lesson for something the students had already learned. And they did not want to review it. It was not all a wash, though, as after class I went with a few of my students to go get coffee before my next class started.

The next class went smoothly; it was a small class, only four people. But, we got some learning done, and had some laughs while we were at it. The class after that was another one of those “Oh crap” moments. Basically this came when I asked the students to open their books, and they told me that they did not have their books. Can you believe it? I mean I know this is college and all, but I figured at least a few of them would have the books. But nope, not a one. It still boggles my mind.

I have two more classes today–it’s my longest day–then off to my little dorm room to make some sausages fried up with garlic, onion, and bell peppers of the red green and yellow variety. Add in some beans, and serve some rice on the side and I’ll have myself a meal–yummy!

The town of Liberec is a nice little town. Population 115,000 or somewhere thereabouts, and it’s located north of Prague, and is extremely close to Poland. There is no metro (this town ain’t big enough for that) but there is a good tram system, and you can pretty much get anywhere in the small city in fifteen to twenty minutes if you ride the rails. There is also a bus system, but I haven’t gotten the courage to explore that yet, not when the trams get me where I need to go.

There will be many more posts about my teaching experiences here, and I have a pretty good story about my trip to the Ukraine (at least I think it’s pretty good, but eye of the beholder and all that).