Prague Journal

Monday, January 17, 2005.

Getting into gear is slow after a long, relaxing weekend. I spent most of the afternoon working on my slides for the two case workshops I am giving tomorrow at VŠE. I’ve changed my mind about the presentations several times. The good news is that I think I now have a better plan in mind – although that thought was not settled until late in the evening.
Rick went to Czech class – others have joined the group – and I met them after the class for a dinner that (young) Richard had arranged at a Brazilian restaurant – part of the upscale Ambiente chain – not far from Irena’s flat. This restaurant has an all-you-can-eat Brazilian & Sushi buffet that is amazingly reasonably priced if you make it a meal instead of a salad side-bar. Apparently, Ambiente Brasileiro's manager laid the groundwork for the restaurant (opened in January) during a visit to Rio last summer. I’ve never seen an all-you-can-eat sushi bar before, so the sushi itself would have been worth the price – and the non-smoking atmosphere allowed us to linger and talk and eat! In addition to sushi and sashimi, there were various marinated salads and artichokes, grilled peppers, olives, stuffed mushrooms and tomatoes, eggplant and cheese rolls, California rolls, and canapés – a large variety of tasty and tangy treats. They also have a full menu of meats and seafood and an extensive (and expensive) wine list. It’s no surprise that the restaurant is huge and was quite crowded by the time we left.
Only six of us went to dinner together – young Richard, Rut, Brenda, Irena and Rick and me – the “December class.” More people from the original fall class have joined Irena’s private class now, so it is not quite so intimate. The dinner turned out to be a farewell send-off for Brenda, since this is her last class day; she leaves Prague on Wednesday to go to Maastricht to finish her university studies. Rut is also leaving soon, first back home to London then to India, first to her brother’s wedding (he’s marrying an Indian woman) and then to pursue study in yoga.
Matt is back in Connecticut, ready to start the new term on Wednesday. After too many arguments with Czech Airlines, he managed to put the tickets on his own debit card, but had to pay an additional fee for mailing. Unfortunately, they will be mailed to our Colorado address and our poor renters will have to then mail them to him in Connecticut. Such fuss. No excuse given today's technology. But Czech Airlines still has an archaic computer system and insists on paper tickets. At least Matt has confirmed tickets and we will see him in March.

posted by JWinn @ 10:03 PM