Prague Journal

Thursday, October 21, 2004

When I signed up for my bank account last month, I was told, or so I thought, that my ATM card would be sent in 2-3 weeks. The statement that I received had charged me for the ATM card and, separately, for a PIN number. I finally had time to go down to the bank to inquire as to why I had still not received my card. The teller was puzzled, since the computer showed that I had, in fact, received the card as well as the PIN number. Well, how silly of me to have expected that they would have mailed it to me! The card was safely at the bank (at a different desk) waiting for me to pick it up, as was my PIN number (and no, I cannot change it from the assigned number). The teller explained that the bank would never mail the card since the mail was unreliable and unsafe! So, after signing several official documents, I am now the possessor of a Československá obchodní banka VISA and ATM card. I am told that the fees for withdrawing money with the card are less than from withdrawing money personally at the bank, unless I use another bank’s ATM, and that I can use the VISA card in shops and restaurants here for no fee. We shall see.
I had visited the office of the City of Prague Language School yesterday and had gotten directions to attend a Czech for Foreigners class there which meets on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. I went to the class this afternoon, which, like the class I had attended at VŠE, was working on plurals and possessives. The class was small—about ten students, only one of whom was American—and the instructor spoke in Czech most of the time. However, this class looks to be more at the level that I need, so I intend to go next week as well, after which I will have to commit to paying the class fees or stop going.
Rick’s Monday-Wednesday Czech class was held this evening instead of yesterday because of a conflict of the instructor’s, so I attended this class as well. The repetition is good (it’s the pronunciation and listening that I need the most), but I don’t intend to go to this class again.
The class ended at 8:30 and Rick and I wandered over to the Globe Bookstore and Café just down the street from the language school. It was nearly 9:30 before we wandered in to a nice Czech Restaurant “U Bubenicka” not far from the school. The menu was only in Czech so we really didn’t know what we had ordered until it arrived, but we were pleasantly surprised by a thick stew (mixed meats, cheeses, and vegetables) in a bread bowl.

posted by JWinn @ 7:59 PM