12 July 2006

A Couple Short Notes...

Hey.

I realized that I never posted pictures of my non-Maturita students. These folks are just as great as the older students, so they too certainly deserve some space on the blog. Enjoy.

So tomorrow morning... er, six hours from right now... I'll be boarding a plane to Siberia. I'll be spending 3 weeks on the southern edge of Lake Baikal with 5 Czech friends. If you're a praying person, a short prayer for safety would be greatly appreciated. I'll be back on July 31st... so don't hate me when I don't reply to emails or post any witty or insightful blogs during the next few weeks.

I hope your summer is going well and that you're staying cool (in both quality and temperature.)

Talk to you soon.
Mike

My 4.G (eighth grade) students... pictured on the school's fancy new outdoor classroom terrace.

One half of 6.G (Sophomores). This picture was their idea. For real.

The other half of 6.G.

02 July 2006

Eireann Go Braugh

At the end of every school year in my town, one week is specifically set aside for students to take trips across the country, continent or planet. Trips are organized by teachers and only a handful of students opt to stay home during this time. You may remember that I took a trip to Croatia last June with students. Well this year I decided to organize a trip of my own... to Ireland. I mean, why the heck not?

Accompanied by 17 students and two other teachers (Zach and Zdenek, our head English teacher) I flew to Dublin Irland on June 22nd. The flight was a first for at least three of the students. We spent two nights in Dublin and filled our days there with walking tours, photo opportunities a bit o' Guinness beer. After our second night in Dublin we bussed to Galway. Galway is an amazing town situated right on the coast... everyone quickly fell in love with the parks, shops, and music that the city had to offer. Day 4 of the trip involved a day-long bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher. Overall, the tour itself was kind of blah... but the cliffs made the monotonous tour guide and bumpy riding all worth it. The Cliffs of Moher may be one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. There's no way I could possibly describe the cliffs to you in a way that would even come close to doing them justice. So I'll just include some pictures. Three days of touring, dancing, frisbee throwing and shopping ended with a bus back to Dublin. By this point in the trip most of us were pretty pooped, so the last night was pretty laid back. It was a great trip. Some of the students even went so far as to say it was the best school trip they'd ever taken. When we returned on the 28th, school was over and my goodbyes began. More on that to come... Anyway, I have to run. I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Dublin Castle.

The Ha'Penny Bridge in Dublin.

In the middle of Dublin is a giant metal spike that reaches 120 meters into the air. Tereza, Iva, Pavla, Kristyna and I are pictured at the base of it. I just thought it was a cool photo.

St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.

Galway, Ireland.

Atop of the Cliffs of Moher.

The Cliffs of Moher. To give you an idea of how big the cliffs are, look closely for the people standing on top...

The whole group in the middle of Dublin.