Good: Even though the winter in the Czech Republic stretches on far longer than I would like (and it’s only November), one thing that I love about living here is the Christmas markets. The markets in the Old Town Square will not be up until Saturday, but there’s one set up in a square a few blocks from my work ( Read more... )

After a five-hour train ride last night, I am back from nine days in Vienna. That was nine days spent in close proximity with Chris, living in his apartment. Aside from two nights out--one at a concert during which I met two of his brothers and his parents and the other at his best friend's birthday party--our time was entirely one-on-one ( Read more... )

My grandpa died yesterday. In the hospital of my hometown, where I am not. I didn't go home for Christmas; I stayed in Prague ( Read more... )

Today is day 24 without internet access in my home. O2, my lovely Czech internet provider, told me that my inability to receive proper service is due to my inability to speak proper Czech. Charming ( Read more... )

I took the internet's advice and gave my parents the bad news before Christmas. Actually, it wasn't a rational decision to let them cope before I arrived; I had become anxious to the point where I could no longer function as a normal human being. I felt that if I didn't tell them, I was going to explode from the pressure of holding in such a ( Read more... )

The bad news that I polled you guys on last week is directed at my parents. I still haven't decided when I'm going to tell them, but I think it might happen during the holidays, the option that no one voted for. This is the first time that I'll see them in person and I think they would appreciate being told face to face and not over the phone ( Read more... )

I took the last two days off from work for what my PTO request will describe as "cold/flu/plague." I hope my boss finds that as amusing as I do ( Read more... )

Leon commented this weekend that I've not been posting very much lately, and although I pointed out that I had three new entries last week, he said that this was hardly anything and I suppose he's right ( Read more... )

Last week, I emailed most of my family about our plans at Christmas, specifically, what I should buy as gifts. No one responded ( Read more... )

I enjoyed it when lostarcadia posted what she was buying for people, so I thought I'd do the same--complete with links!

I'm a little more than halfway through with my Christmas shopping. So far, I have purchased:

For Leon, a 20 GB ipod. This is not what I originally planned on buying him. Instead, he was getting Bose noise-canceling headphones, but I ( Read more... )