Monday, August 31, 2009

Mandy and Sean Update........





Hi Everybody....
I heard from the kids today.
Please let me bore you with a brief historical background first.
When my daughter was a junior at the University of Michigan, she had an opportunity to spend a year abroad studying at a university of her choice. She chose Prague because the Czech Republic is not on the Euro Dollar, and it is cheap to live there and to get around. She speaks enough to get by, and she has a minor in Russian.
Now the Czech Republic is a bit of an anomalie, because it was NEVER fought over or invaded during WWII. As you may recall from History class, Neville Chamberlain, the Prime Minister of England during the late 30's, got together with the allies and gave up Czechoslovakia without a fight to appease Hitlers lust for power. He called it "Peace in our time". Because of this,Prague is one of the most pristine and original cities in Europe. With bridges and castles dating to the 13th Century. No wonder Mandy and Sean fell in love with the city.
They went over there with the idea of enrolling in a course that would allow them to teach the English language to foreigners. They arrived, and took the course. It was a very intense training course that took one month to complete. While they were waiting to hear from the results of the training, they took a week-end trip to Poland, the round-trip train ticket cost 52 dollors, and a one nights stay at a very nice Hostile cost about 8 Bucks. Cheap eh?
They are now sharing a flat with a guy that works 3rd shift that they never see, and a female Russian lawyer. They have their own bedroom, but share a kitchen, bath, and living room. She E-mails me from the college, and I have a phone plan through Verizon, that lets me call her for 20 cents a minute.
Anyway.....I get a call from her today, and she sounded very excited. She said that both her and Sean landed jobs teaching English to Czechs. It was a full time job, and it paid 250 Crowns an hour (About 16 Bucks)!! The Govt. was also going to assist them in getting permanent Visa's, and they would then be eligable for health care!!
Well...There are not too many job opportunities in Michigan right now, so WTF!!!
Ahhh, to be young and adventurous!!!
Just a little update for those that might have been wondering.....
Now back to your regular programming.
Peace...!!!

27 comments:

secret agent woman said...

How exciting. And this is just the time in their life to be having such an adventure.

Lou said...

I would go over there in a minute. Ask your daughter if there is a need for limbo instructors.

Connie T. said...

What a beautiful city. Your daughter is so lucky to be there.
It would be an chance of a lifetime.

big Jenn said...

Very cool!jeNN

Anonymous said...

Ask her if they need city bus drivers LOL. great story and thanks for sharing ;)

Serena said...

Wow, wouldn't I love an opportunity like that.:)

Tall Kay said...

It's so good to hear happy stories and goals met with hard work and a few blessings along the way...

If you haven't tried Skype yet...it's free video calls...all over the world. Check it out, but then you probably already know. :o)

Monkey Man said...

What a proud papa you are and how nice your daughter has such choices.

lime said...

well that all sounds like great news. congrats to them on landing the jobs they wanted.

javajazz said...

very wonderful news
G-daddy...!
they're so adventurous
to travel to faraway places
and land those
great jobs!
mazel tov...!
you must miss your kid
like crazy...xo

forever lost said...

ahh daughters are SO much more adventurous than they use to be LOL~ Mine packed and went to live in Italy for 6 months straight from highschool graduation...home now though, decided everything she was looking for in Italy was right here in her own back yard (what that was I am not quiet sure LOL)
I had trouble leaving TN to go to ID

Akelamalu said...

Oh that's fantastic news - well done to them! We enjoyed Krakow very much and Prague is on our list of places to do! :)

the walking man said...

Galen when my son was in Japan we had a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)that was free. Look into downloading SKYPE and see if that works for international, all you need is a microphone.

Shadow said...

damn that's exciting!!! young and carefree you say??? what's that, heee heee heeee

Unknown said...

Wow, that is exciting! You're right -- to be young again.

I'm happy to say, I'll be touring Germany with my daughter and her field hockey team next summer. Can't wait.

Thanks so much for sharing -- great pics.
Smiles,
Sue

Jessie said...

That is Fabulous!!! I'm really excited and happy for the both of them.

I would love to do something like that one day...
lol

smiles,

listen for azure said...

What a grand adventure! I hope they have the time of their lives!!

Mona said...

Yaaay! that is wonderful news about a wonderful start together! :)

James Goodman said...

That is awesome! Congrats to your daughter.

Susan at Stony River said...

Wow, congratulations to them! I hope they get to see a good share of Europe while they stay. You're so lucky too that now we have blogs and e-mail to keep in touch with; when my mother and I lived across an ocean from each other it was hard, with only the mail and a single weekly phone call.

Good luck to them both and I can't wait for more photos!

Lulda Casadaga said...

You know G...I've always felt more European..anyway, would love to be young and carefree again...I left New Jersey for Oklahoma back when I was 21! :D Ok, so it wasn't Europe, but it was like night and day...cowboys & Indians...tornadoes,etc.

p.s. can you ask your daughter about Massage Therapists in Prague...maybe my hands can become worldwide! :D Send my well wishes to her.

buffalodick said...

Good for them! Oh, to be young and starting out again!

clean and crazy said...

wow how awesome, hey you know a co-worker of wEs's has some family in veitnam and they bought one of the verison boxes here and took it to viet nam and they have a local number through the box!! don't know if she has the high speed internet there, but something to think about so they don't have to pay for long distance, oooh, also check out skype!! send her one of those little computer cams for about ten bucks, you can skype online for free!! if you make computer to land line calls those cost ,but computer to computer are free!! then you can see each other and talk!! thanks for sharing your beautiful family with us!!

S said...

You can both call her and chat with her online with Yahoo messenger and it's free. I do it all the time, India and UK FREE!!!!

Sounds like they are really settling in, that is fabulous. Miss you GMAN!

One Prayer Girl said...

Thanks for the update. Sounds like a wonderful adventure for your daughter and new hubby.

PG

G-Man said...

Thanks everyone for your well wishes and thoughts regarding my daughter and son-in-law.
In fact I do have Skype installed on my laptop, but there is a 6 hour time difference, AND their flat does NOT have internet access.
So unless I catch them at the college or coffee shop, I'm resorted to calling them.
Ciao......G

smarmoofus said...

When I studied French in Paris, there were people there from all nationalities, so whatever French we learned was the only language we had in common. Accordingly, it was a French-only classroom. I wonder if I could apply that to teaching English in a foreign country. I would love to try it! I envy them!