We had an impressive sun shower here. I wish pictures could show how pretty it really was.

What I love most about being immersed in another culture and language is the way it makes you turn a critical eye on where you come from.

I do an exercise with my kids about stereotypes, asking them what they know about Americans. Here we are from the perspective of Czechs/theentirerestoftheworldthatisn’tUS:

Americans are: Fat. Lazy. Rich. Ignorant about geography. Patriotic. Always attacking other countries.

Americans eat: Hamburgers (most popular answer. If we were doing word association, it would basically go like this: “Americans.” “Hamburgers”). McDonald’s, KFC. Fries, pizza, hot dogs. Peanut butter and jelly. Junk food. Coca Cola.

Americans watch: American football, baseball, basketball. HIMYM, Friends, The Simpsons, Big Bang Theory. And one particularly awesome person said: OPRAH.

In lessons about US Geography and Sites, I got to talk a lot about American history and how so many of the differences between north and south regions really date back to the Civil War and pre-war economic differences. I also get to talk about how only old people live in Florida 😉

In other news:

I discovered a hidden Jewish site in Tišnov:

This past weekend I got to hang out with my friends Jonáš and Martin at the Brno Beer Festival (Slavnosti Pivo)! P.S. You guys should thank me because you’re pretty much famous now.

I also got some new boots at a monthly shoe expo in Tišnov where they sell boots left over from German markets for cheaper:

Got my new Czech textbook in Brno:

Did a little more exploring and coffee-shop-hoppin’ (in preparation for a Coffee Week next month (?!?!?!):

I also went to the Moravian Museum, or Moravské Muzeum, to see the Guardians of Memory exhibit: three artifacts from a special Czech collection of REALLY OLD STUFF…

Also the Muzeum’s impressive World of Minerals exhibit…

Then I finished this all off with an awesome meal of gulaš (goulash) soup and chicken gnocchi at Potrefená Husa.

(this is another Plague Monument… they’re everywhere!)

All in all, it was another great week. =)