The best vase to have a sheet on the beach...

Learning English is made difficult for Czechs because we don't have those little accents & funny little shapes above our letters to emphasize, or at least give a clue, that the word should sound a certain way. An amusing example of this was provided recently in one of my seminars.

One young man was telling us a story about an accident he had at work. He was a waiter, and he was laying a table...
'And I put a ways on the sh*t...' 
'You did what?!!'
'I put a ways on the...'
'Ways?'
Yes, you know, for flowers.'
'Ah ha! A vase!' (I quickly scribbled it on the blackboard...oh, the perils of American English!)
'So, I put the vase on the sh*t...'
(Cue uncontrolled laughter from his classmates.)
'Sheet! I think you mean 'sheet'!'
'...and I accidentally pulled the sheeeet and the ways fell on the floor...' Remembering this video - 

I quickly added that I'm glad it didn't happen on a beach :-)

A first, for me, in Czech Republic!

Well, it's been a while since I wrote something - there have been stories, for sure, and I hope that I can remember them all, but in truth it has been a VERY busy term - planning lessons, preparing tests, marking tests & essays, also some other teaching that I'm involved in...oh yes, and I have actually got a life outside of school too :-) And that has also been interesting, as well as busy!

A few weeks ago, I met an old friend for a drink. We wanted to go to 'The Pub With No Name' - sounds a bit like the kind of pub that Clint Eastwood (famous in his Spaghetti Westerns as 'The Man With No Name') would hang out in.

It's just off Kateřinská, not far from the Market...a little side street, on the way to the Court Offices...and there it is, on the corner. Just a sign for beer, but - no name!

It's a very small pokey pub, as we say in England - but the beer is very good!

So, in we went, and my friend ordered 2 beers...
'We have no beer?'
'I'm sorry...did you say you have NO beer?'
'Yes. No beer. I can offer you wine or non-alcoholic beer.'
'Are you serious? This is a pub in Czech Republic, and you have NO beer?'
'Yes, I'm sorry, but the beer will not be delivered until 5.00pm.' (It was 3.30pm)
'I think we'll go somewhere else, thanks.'

And so we went to find another pub, where sanity reigned and beer was on tap!
A Czech pub without beer?

It's a bit like:
England without tea
France without croissants
Germany without sausages
A chip shop without chips!

This is certainly a first for me, and for my friend too...has anyone else ever experienced this?! :-)