Nové Mêsto pod Smrken

Since Friday, September 21st, I've been in a small town called Nove Mêsto pod Smerken in the Czech Republic.  My group (Taylor, Emily, and I), took a wonderful coach bus to a town called Liberec.  From there we transferred to a train that took us to our final destination.  I always wondered what it would be like to travel on a train in a foreign country, riding through the countryside.  It did not disappoint.  The view was amazing, and each town we passed had a small little train station terminal and a couple buildings and houses that were the base for the town.  Otherwise, when we weren't passing quickly through the towns, we were in the mountains, riding under tunnels and picking out different livestock in the distance.  After about an hour on the train, we finally pulled up to the last stop: Nove Mêsto pod Smerken.  It was the last stop on the train because any further, and we would be in Poland.  That's how close to the border we were.  Anyways, we get off the train, and we are greeted by two French assistants, Tibaud and Sandra, who are volunteers at the 'House of Children,' where we were volunteering during our stay.  We walked with them to the 'House of Children' and as you can see from the picture, it is just a normal house, used for the children as an after school program.  The purpose of the organization is to give children and students the opportunity to expand their knowledge and participation in different areas of study, such as art, beekeeping, computer study, and sport activities.

The House of Children, where we slept and participated for the trip.

So on the first day, we brought our belongings to the house, and met a group of boys upstairs in the meeting room.  They ranged from ages 8-15 years old, some of them knowing only basic English words, others knowing a better range of English words and phrases.  They had a nice welcome meal, goulash and potatoes (again), and a little English introduction.  It was nice to learn a little bit about them and see how good their English was.  

Emily, Me, & Taylor walking around the town in an open field.

For the rest of Friday night, we spent our time with Tibaud, Sandra, and their other French friend Lucas.  We went to a pub around 8:30pm and stayed there until at least 12:30am, drinking beer after beer, making small talk with the locals, and singing Czech songs at the top of our lungs in the pub.  It was exactly how I imagined a small, local foreign pub to be, talking in Czech, downing beers, and aggressively playing the accordion.  The "funny man" of the night was a gentleman who clearly still thought it was the 1980s and rocked a mullet.  He did the BEST Adolf Hilter impression I have ever seen.  I have video of it, and I will try to upload it at another point so everyone can hear me cracking up as he is screaming German. It was one of the highlights of that night.

Saturday was a relaxing day. We slept in a bit, and started drinking at one of the pubs again around noon.  I didn't have that much because I was still kind of hungover from the night before.  Then, my group and our new French friends took a bus to the next town over, walked around there, and enjoyed the sights.  It was a quaint little town with a beautiful church and a nice little stream that flowed behind the church.  The afternoon was calm, and we were able to walk all around town in just a couple of minutes. We headed back before the sun set and had a nice dinner.  The night portion was interesting because we attended an "underground" discotheque, where they played cool Czech music, and people were dancing and enjoying the night. 

The church a town over from Nové Mêsto.

One thing you that I learned about the small towns on the outskirts of the Czech Republic is that they are very small, and therefore, the people know everyone who is anyone.  It was rumored that we Americans were the talk of the town because if anything happens in the town, everyone knows about it because the community is so small.  Over the time we spent here in this town, I'm pretty sure we met everyone in the town at one point or another.  We definitely met all the children, which was nice because they would wave whenever we walked around the town.

Sunday was the most active day since I came to the Czech Republic.  We all woke up around 9:00am, and met the boys from the "House of Children" around 10:00am to go hiking.  It was a gorgeous day, and we hiked all the way up to the highest mountain in the area.  We started at 10:30am and got back at 4:30pm.  The mountain was beautiful, with many trees and streams going through the paths.  We hiked up very steep portions of the trails, and made it to the top around 1:00. The height of the mountain was 5,550 feet above sea level, which means my legs were going to hurt 5,550 times more. I was happy to reach the top, because I love nature and scenery.  It was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.  Just feet away was the Poland border and you could see a bunch of mountains in the distance.  The sky was so clear and the sun felt nice on my skin.  It was nice to get a little tan again.  Once the sight-seeing was over, we tracked our way back down the mountain, safe and sound.  I went straight to the shower and laid in bed for the rest of the night with Emily and Taylor.

Me, Emily, and Taylor hiking midway up the mountain. Beautiful view in the background.

Me at the top viewpoint of the mountain, 5,550 feet later.

The view of Poland, literally just feet away from the top.

The whole group together for a nice picture.

Monday & Tuesday were our last full days in the town, and we were able to get a chance teaching in the local schools.  We attended the primary school, the secondary school, and the special school for a visit.  The first two schools we went and taught English to the children.  They were very happy to have visitors from America, especially New York. We went from classroom to classroom teaching some basic letters, animals, and phrases in English (i,e, the letters A,B,C,D,E, my name is… i am 20 years old… I am from New York,,, dog, cat, duck, elephant). The secondary school was a little bit more advanced in that we were able to talk about favorite movies, colors, what do you want to be when you grow up, and how many family members do you have?  The special school was for children who don't have much money and need help increasing their IQs.  There, we sang some songs and played a few games with the whole school.  It was a very rewarding experience.  Many of the children we encountered came up to us after the lesson and said thank you, and wanted pictures with us.  Some even wanted to be my Facebook friend, haha.

The primary school classroom with the 3rd graders. We taught them basic alphabet letters and animals in English.

Emily & I with the special school children. Such a great experience.

Our last day on Tuesday was nice because we were able to enjoy the rest of the evening and relax.  Emily and I got a bottle of wine, hiked up a mountain nearby, grabbed a blanket, and overlooked the town as we drank wine on a grass field.  It was very relaxing and breath taking. The night ended with us saying goodbye to the boys and talking about some cultural topics and how we can stay connected in the future to see how things are changing.  It was definitely a heartfelt goodbye to them, as they have been very hospitable and gracious for showing us their town and their community.

I sit now on the bus back to Prague, where I will meet up with the rest of my colleagues, and head to the southern border of the Czech Republic for a little debrief until Friday. The town is called Česky Krumlov, a heavy populated city in South Bohemia, near the Austrian border.