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Surviving in, Adjusting to, and Falling in Love With Prague

posted 25th March 2011    Written by: Katie    CATEGORY: Katharine, Life Lesson, Season 4, Travel, Travel/Adventure

Dobrý den!

(that means ‘hello’ in Czech)

Well, I finally made it.  I moved to Prague and survived my first week living as an expat.  The city is gorgeous and the architecture is absolutely stunning.  Now I know why everyone says Prague is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

I have to be honest though, I can’t believe I’m here.  I can’t believe I had the guts to move to another country, determined to reclaim my life.

Adjusting to life in Prague is hard.  Nearly everything – street signs, posters, menus, and labels – are in Czech.

Grocery shopping is by far the hardest thing to do here. Every label (with the exception of the big name brands like Heinz ketchup, Coca-cola, and Lays) is in Czech, and when you don’t speak the language, or have even the slightest clue what any of the words translate into, it makes buying food rather challenging.  Two of my classmates bought what they thought was milk (it turned out to be a runny form of yogurt), so needless to say, I won’t be eating any cereal while I’m here.  Knowing my luck, I’d end up pouring cottage cheese on it.

It’s been a very overwhelming experience so far, but it still seems so unreal.  I mean, I’m doing all of these things like walking the cobblestone streets in Wenceslas Square, and struggling with the language barrier, and paying for toilet paper in public restrooms, yet it still doesn’t feel real.

My biggest fear was moving to another country. Now that I’m here, I look back on everything and it doesn’t seem so scary.  That’s the thing about life-changing decisions; they’re terrifying to make and follow through on, but once you do it, you look back and realize that it wasn’t so scary.  Life changing decisions force you to gain the kind of confidence you need to do anything you want with your life.

I know, it’s only been a week, and yes, I’m experiencing the beginning of my life as an Expat with 24 other classmates which does make the transition a lot easier, but you know what?  Moving out of the country and diving right into this TEFL certification program was one of the best decisions I could have made for myself.

I wanted adventures, creativity, and passion, and holy hell am I getting it – the adventures of grocery shopping and navigating the Center; the creativity it takes to write and execute effective lesson plans for the students; the passion (and fire) that’s building inside of me as I work to make a difference in peoples lives and live my own life with the kind of freedom that I’ve always dreamed about.

If this is what it’s like to teach and live in a foreign country, then I don’t ever want to return to the States.

Well, at least not for a while…

{photo credit: me}

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Injecting a Little Passion in my Life

posted 3rd February 2010    Written by: Heather Rae    CATEGORY: All Posts, Heather Rae, Job/Career/Work, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 2

INTRODUCING HEATHER RAE

As life goes, I used to think I was doing things right.

Now, I’m not so sure.

I went to college, then grad school – I got a solid education.  I studied things that interested me, but I wasn’t necessarily following any great passion.  I was trying to be practical.  I should also confess that I was trying to make other people happy. If I wasn’t attempting to impress a professor, it was a boyfriend or some family member.

After being out of school for a while, life really looked good – on paper, that is.  I worked at a prestigious university, had a seven year relationship with a wonderful man, lived in a sought after zip code.  Yet, I looked around, and something just wasn’t right.  All that time spent impressing someone else left one person completely unimpressed – me.

So I decided it was time to make change.  What kind of change?  I had no idea.  I just knew I needed to inject a little passion in my life.

First things first, I had to figure out what to do about my career.  My job might have looked good on a resume, but it certainly didn’t look good on me.  It was boring.  Really, really, mind-numbingly boring.  The good thing about doing work that made picking my hangnails seem entertaining was that I had a lot of time to think.

So I did just that.

I researched, examined, even tried out, nearly every job that seemed remotely interesting. I read every career guide on the library shelf.  I took quizzes in magazines, had a psychic read my fortune and met with a career counselor.  They all told me the same thing:  my personality suited science and research. 

What? Seriously, that’s what I already did.  The career path was logical, practical and, it seemed, perfectly matched my natural tendencies.  Only, I was miserable.

So in the midst of all this career planning, and a seemingly endless lack of ideas, I did something different.

I stopped looking and took up hobbies.  I took classes at night at a local community college.  I started reading voraciously.  I took hula dance lessons and pole dance lessons.  I took drawing classes and bought books about art.  I started blogging.  I started writing.  And that’s when it hit me.

I fell in love with the idea of creating something. I wanted to write, make art, dance.

Of course, now that I had this newfound love, what was I supposed to do with it?  I’d always been told all this creative stuff made for great hobbies, but it sure as heck didn’t pay the rent.  Only a select few got that lucky.  And I wasn’t one of the lucky ones.

But then I had this thought:  why not? That’s right – why couldn’t I make a career out of writing novels or painting canvasses?  What made me limit myself to jobs that seemed practical?  There was no good reason.  I realized it was all just fear.

I told my fiancé about my wild ideas, perfectly ready to accept the disparaging look he was sure to give.  But instead, he cheered.  He said I should do it.  He was behind me 100%.  Wow, maybe I am one of the lucky ones.

So here I am, staring fear in the face.  I’m turning it all upside down.

As of last week, I officially quit my job.  I’m giving myself one year in which I’ll attempt to have it all (I would give myself a lifetime, but I really do have to eat and pay the rent) – I’m working to finish a novel, exploring the possibility of selling my art and finding time to travel.  I want to sleep under the stars, soak in hot tubs in the snow, go cycling, go rock climbing, go skinny dipping, learn another language.  I want to do all the things I’ve dreamed about but never had the guts to try.

Maybe I’ll fail.  But at least I’ll fail trying.  And perhaps – just maybe – I’ll be wildly successful.

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Can I Have the Last 24 Years Back?

posted 2nd February 2010    Written by: Nicole Antoinette    CATEGORY: All Posts, Nicole Antoinette, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 2, What I've Learned

INTRODUCING NICOLE ANTOINETTE

No one told me my Quarterlife Crisis would come with so much tequila.

I grew up on the move – Los Angeles, NYC, London, back to Los Angeles, back to NYC, back to Los Angeles. A whirlwind coming of age tour in the world’s cosmopolitan wonderland.

I did everything right. Aced high school, worked part time, rocked the extra curriculars, got into NYU, aced NYU (while still working and still rocking the extra curriculars), fell in love, fell out of love, made friends, lost friends, lived the life I had always been told I was supposed to live, graduated (a year early) with $50,000 in debt and a piece of paper that claimed I was summa cum awesome.

And then I cried.

Because I was 21 years old, in possession of one of the best educations student loans can buy, and all I had to show for it was a box of theme party costumes and a big fat hole where my life plan should have been.

The three years between then and now were filled with a lot of shenanigans- emotional, sexual, career wise and the like. I ran a children’s day camp for five summers, helped start a create-your-own cookie shop, worked an inhumane amount of hours, moved around a lot, broke two hearts, made a bucket full of bad decisions, came crashing into the reality of my mood disorder, started a blog, started therapy, and finally realized that the things I loved about my life didn’t outweigh the things that made me want to burrow into the ground and hide.

And then all of the sudden it was August 26, 2009 and I found myself quitting everything to live the life of a professional nomad, traveling around the country, crashing on couches, and trying to answer the big question:

What is authentic happiness and how can I start taking regular intravenous doses of it?

Three months went by; three months of seeing new things and meeting new people, three months of not having a routine, not having stability, and not having a definitive source of income or a guaranteed place to do laundry. The new things were great, the new people even better, but after three months I realized that life at the other end of the super-Type-A spectrum kind of sucks.

So it was back to Arizona, back to my parents’ house, back to slow cooked meals and late night talks with my mom about what, you know, the hell I was going to do with my life.

That was four weeks ago, but in the context of my story it feels like another lifetime. Four weeks ago, I woke up, realized that no one was going to hand me the life that I wanted, got in my car, drove to San Francisco, checked into a hostel, and jumped into the freshest of fresh starts, the kind where there is no backup plan and it’s time to fight like your life depends on it, because it does.

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The Challenge Child

posted 1st February 2010    Written by: Kelly    CATEGORY: All Posts, Love/Relationships, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 2

INTRODUCING KELLY

I’ve never done things the easy way.

I’ve always been the type to learn lessons the hard way and experience mistakes by myself.  Personality traits also come into play; I’m spontaneous, impatient, impulsive and driven.

When I was young, my parents affectionately referred to me as “The Challenge Child”; and you bet that I earned every letter of it.

In 1st grade, I cut my desk mates’ bangs. I told her that to get rid of them, you don’t grow them out, you cut them. I left a trail of hair from the bathroom to my desk. It wasn’t hard for the teacher to find the culprit.

My kindergarten report card read, “Kelly needs to understand that the world does not revolve around her.”

At 6, I convinced my sister that our blanket was a magic carpet. I opened the 2nd story window, knocked out the screen and was ready to push her out. Dad caught on just in time.

I changed my name to Ming in 2nd grade.

My first detention was in 3rd grade. I took ticky-tack and put it in my teacher’s hair. It got stuck, and he had to have the school nurse get it out with peanut butter. They sent a note home, but I stuffed it under the bus seat.

Between the ages of 8-13 the majority of family dinners ended with me eating at the bottom of the basement stairs alone. My parents have pages and pages of “I will not talk back” written on them.

High school years hit me hard; I was far from the perfect student.  Always into some kind of trouble, hanging out with the “wrong” crowd and doing my best to defy authority.  It took a few years to come into myself.  ;)

I am made of tough stuff. This comes from my Mother. I may have to learn everything from my own mistakes, but it has made me the person I am today and fueled me to become the best that I possibly can. My experiences have forced me to look at the world for what it really is, figure out what I need to do and get it done.

About 4 months ago, I met a boy, fell head over heels in love and decided to move to Texas from my little home town, after knowing him 2 weeks. Imagine the hell I raised with this stunt! I’ve been here for 3 months now and I’ve never been happier. I packed up; left everything and everyone I ever knew and moved … 1200 miles away, for love. :)

Which brings me to present day. To my “Quarterlife Crisis”…   I’m living in a brand new city with no solid ground. A supportive and amazing man by my side, but no self-identity in this new world. No job, coworkers or girlfriends and reliant everyday on my trusty GPS, Greta. I find myself examining my life, my patterns and my past … realizing that there are skeletons in my closet … and to lead the life I want to, I must face them.

So, it’s time to shine!

Join me as I spread my wings, find life outside of Buffalo, NY and discover a entire new chapter of my life journey.


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