Prague Journal

Friday, October 8, 2004.

This morning I went to talk with Gareth Davis, head of the TEFL program at Prague Schools. This program had been recommended to me by Molly’s friend Kate who attended their TEFL certification class last spring. I’m considering taking their intensive 4-week session, probably in January, to better understand language construction (and teaching methods). Since my year here is, really, for my personal edification, I want to take advantage of things that I can’t do or learn easily in the US. On the other hand, I'm not sure that studying English is the best use of my time in Prague. I should probably study Czech instead.
The afternoon was spent in interesting discussion with Veena and Karen, two Fulbright students, and Ingrid, a young German woman. Both Karen and Ingrid are doing dissertation research on gender-focused NGOs. Veena, a recent Brown University graduate, had hoped to do NGO research as well, but most of her project is already being done by others. So, over coffee and bagels at the newer Bohemia Bagels in Old Town, we four women talked about interesting developments and women’s roles in NGOs and brainstormed a few research ideas. Mostly we talked about mutual interests and career paths.
I got caught in the rain meeting Rick to join Marty and Harriet at the Church of St. Martin in the Wall, near Bethlehem Square, for a string quartet concert. This little bare-bones church, unheated even in winter, is the site of many such concerts, and is one of our favorites from seven years ago. The Chamber Ensemble Musica Pragensis, as the quartet is called, played mostly familiar Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach and Handel compositions, with admirable precision and grace. The acoustics in the stone church are surprisingly good. Its brightness was softened a bit by the large crowd (which surprised me because tourist season has started to taper off with the start of the school year).
Music must be followed by dinner, so we four went to one of Rick and my favorite restaurants from seven years ago, which has changed its name from “Fish Restaurant” to “Near Bethlehem Chapel.” The word-carved wall décor is unchanged, but the high-backed chairs have been replaced by standard chairs and benches and the menu has been expanded and is now written in four languages. At Marty and Harriet’s suggestion, Rick and I had eel, a platter for two, which was, indeed, tasty and filling. The eel platter was placed on a wire stand that held two candles (small, like votives) to keep the platter warm, so we took it upon ourselves to think of them as Shabbat Candles. When the waiter came to remove the platter after we had finished, I asked that the candles stay. The waiter interpreted my request to mean merely that I wanted candlelight at the table, so he took the platter and returned with a small candle in a ceramic holder. I’m not sure whether the sometimes-heated lively discussions promoted beer drinking or was the result of it, but our conversation took interesting turns—about immigration and culture issues, politics, mathematics, economics, anthropology, linguistics, food, wine and sailing (Marty’s passion)—and lasted for well over three hours. By the time we headed home the rain had stopped.

posted by JWinn @ 7:22 PM