To the tune of June

If June was a piece of classical music, it would be a capriccio for its lively pace. Visitors/birthdays/last days of school/goodbyes/doctor visits/etc. - we're still spinning.

But who's complaining? We've wrapped up our first school year together in Prague and feel blessed beyond measure. So this post doesn't have a point other than to draw a metaphorical neon highlighter across some of the bits that really stood out in what we could remember of crazy June.

I turned 35. Yep, I said it. I was a bit sick on the special day, but did manage to have sushi with the TyVoles and a little shopping/cake outing. My favorite birthday gift was "Retro," a book of Communist-era products and ads, from the TyVoles. It's in Czech, though... Another incentive to learn the language!

Aunts and uncle and cousins - oh my! We were tickled to have two families come in the same week. BW's Aunt T and cousin K stopped in from Iceland and Germany, respectively. They energetically continued on to Munich. My Aunt and Uncle J&J and their girls Lv and Lna made a segue to us from an Austrian tour. Their pipes burst in their small Zizkov Air BnB flat (boo hiss) and they were moved to a luxury rental smack at the end of Wenceslaus Square (woo yes)!

School's out for summer. I finished teaching 6 courses, directing 3 drama productions, producing a literary journal, externally marking IB exams, helping with yearbook, seeding a drama department, chaperoning multiple trips, devising an IB TOK Day, planning a Research Skills week, etc. etc. It was a nutty - but lovely - school year. And I got gifts from students like a bottle of Czech booze. BW also got inextricably involved at school, as an exam invigilator, cookery teacher, English tutor and end-of-year BBQ chef. To top it off,  our spectacular school celebrated 20 fantastic years with a chain of special events like a huge balloon release!

We got cozy with Prague. Partly because we had visitors and partly because we were out more for friends' birthdays and goodbyes (international schools are tough that way), we got to know Madame Praha better. Here are a few things we learned...

1. There's a Stalin/Lenin foosball setup in Vodka Bar Propoganda. It's really just a painting hanging over a game table, but I think it's hilarious.

2. It's strawberry (jahody) season right now. This cafe had lots of the seasonal offerings.

3. There were (are?) exhibits scattered around Prague titled "Against Memory Loss," which paid tribute to victims of the Communist regime and declared that crimes of Communism should not be forgotten. This one was in Lucerna Passage off Wenceslas Square, which is featured in the photo.

4. We tried to visit new places that showed Prague from different angles. Here's a view from a riverside cafe that provides an almost underbelly look at Charles Bridge.