last dances with czechs

i just came home, at four in the morning, and there is some strange girl already snoring in what i thought would be an empty bed tonight (since i. left in the morning).  i was at our school's end of the year party, dancing along to "thriller" and "material girl" with my remaining friends and people i had never seen before that smiled big smiles at me.  of course msc did not call me today, but this was to be expected.  however, just before midnight, a miracle happened.  i looked at my phone to find a mile-long text message: he was in brno all day and just returned, he is so sorry for not replying, can he see me tomorrow?  what time will i leave? he has two exams tomorrow so he is pressed for time, but in case we don't meet, do i have some email address?  this is the first time ever that he has demonstrated to me his ability to use the telephone.  how very magical of him, after a whole month, to remember about me on my last day in prague, but better late than never, i say.

two nights ago, i joined two friends on a trip to the cinema to see coco avant chanel.  the film is in french with czech subtitles, which greatly worried me, but you know, i understood everything.  sure, many words here and there were not clear, but i got the idea of everything that was being said!  i noted that some of the words i knew because they are similar to russian, but most were ones that i had learned in class or independently.  i tried to pay attention to some grammar usage too, but i cannot do so many things at once.

about the slovaks

a few months ago, n. introduced me to her friend from bratislava.  b. doesn't speak any czech, but she doesn't need to, because czech and slovak are so similar, that slovaks can speak their own language in the czech republic and be understood, and students even have the option of taking their exams in slovak.  the language is closer to russian in the "relaxed" way words are pronounced, and there is no dreaded ř sound, making slovak much easier for me to understand.  sometimes, when talking groups of people passed, i would get excited that i could understand a lot of what they were saying, and then n. would say "slovaks," smothering my fragile hopes.  i think a lot has to do with czech pronunciation, seeing as i understand written czech so much better than spoken.  and then there is also a prague dialect, which i can hear sometimes in individual words such as mléko (milk; "mlee-ko" in prague-speak) and polévka (soup; praguers say "po-lee-vka").

yes yes yes yes yes

the visual arts masters program show opened today, but i did not really get to see it, because magical sweater czech walked into the school.  this was it, this was it.  i was so scared that the two glasses of wine i downed at the opening in record time did zero for my nerves, and after i spent 15 minutes hyperventilating like a 12 year old outside of the architecture studio, with i. and j. dragging me to the door and trying to convince me that i have nothing to lose, he walked out of the room and down the hall. 

inspired by the old communist saying: "we solve problems by marching ahead," i took the initiative and ran after him like some kind of demented troll.  he was gracious enough not to call the ambulance, but actually smiled as i made it perfectly clear that i have no speech prepared.  two hours later (!), i found out that he lived up perfectly to every notion i had about magical czechs - except maybe the pet bear - and now i am on cloud nine.  he speaks little english but enough for me to understand, and lo and behold, i can apparently speak a little czech!

mildly molested

today in drawing class my model was one old man, for whom my not speaking czech and his not speaking english is apparently not an obstacle to his incessant talking to me and asking me whether i understand, and occasionally flicking the tip of my nose with his index finger.  when i came in to the classroom after a break, he approached me, flicked me on the nose, and told me something along the lines of - here my lamentable understanding of czech and my careful observation of his gestures worked together - that next time, if i don't close the door behind me, he is going to spank me.  yes, that's right.  and if i had only known the czech word for "spank," i could have spared myself - and the rest of the class - the demonstration.

co je to droždí?

čerstvé mléko ("fresh milk" in czech, "sour milk" in russian)

every day i try to go as long as possible without giving up and using english; just calm down and try to concentrate on what someone might be saying at me too see if i can understand.  i was caught off guard when i went to buy groceries this morning, and the checkout woman mixed my things in with the person before me.  there was a little cube of yeast left behind, and when i looked up i realized that i was being asked a question for the second time.  i gave up and let her know that i have no idea what she was talking about, but when i left the store i was so frustrated with myself, because she was asking if the yeast was mine, and i could have understood the question (i know the word "droždí" (yeast) from the russian "drozzhi").  i could have just said "ne" and avoided having to be looked at like there is no hope left for me in this world.  oh well, i suppose everyone is taken for an idiot from time to time.  some more than others.

čeština pro cizince

jmenuju se jelena bryksénková. nejsem češka, jsem cizínka. bydlím v praze sedm, ulice se jmenuje na výšinach. mám útulný pokoj v koleji mikoláše alše. studuju v ateliéru ilustrace a grafiky na vysoké škole umělecko-průmyslove v praze jedna u naměstí jana palacha. nemluvím česky a rozumím velmi špatně, ale jsem ráda, že jsem tady v praze. 

česky jazyk

today was the first czech language class.  it seems that i am going to be studying quite a lot on my own if i truly want to learn it.  "kdo je to? to je babička.  cto je to? to je ananas!"  (учительницу зовут зина копецка.)