May 29, 2009
There are so many things that crack me up and make me smile in this country. Although they may not be so funny to you, I thought I’d share them with everyone. These are things I don’t want to forget.
*Miluška, our cook in Ptyrov constantly speaks Czech to me. She can speak a little English, but it’s very limited. It’s just so funny how much she tells me, like I understand her completely. Surpringly I can understand a little bit based on context and words that are similar in English. She is probably my favorite person in the CZ. She is such a happy and friendly person and she is so good to me! She knows how much I LOVE Babovka, so one day she taught me how to make it (50%Czech/50%English). My favorite food is Svic(h)kova, which is time consuming to make, but because I asked her to make it last Friday, she did J
*I’ve realized how much my vocabulary is changing to include British words and pronuciation. I often say „It’s a pity!“ (haha, and then I laugh at myself for saying it). Other things like, „This svic(h)kova is nice“ as in yummy. I hardly ever say yummy anymore, food is aways „super!“ or „nice“. My American slurring is disappearing too, I enunciate so much more now. I say „res-taurant“, making sure to say the „t“, which Americans never do. Also, „comfor-Ta-ble“, but atleast I haven’t started saying „comfor-TABLE“ like my students! So many say „vege-TABLES“ haha. Shoot me when I start speaking like that!
*I often hear things like, “It was a catastrophe!” Which makes me laugh, and something went “kaput”, along with Nice! Super! It’s a pity!
*I haven’t had any Czech lessons recently, so my Czech is limited to what I’ve picked up from Miluska or my students. My favorite is “Shoop Shoop!” Which is basically “chop chop!” get moving. Except that it’s really said to dogs. But, I like the sound of it, and when I say to my students “shoop shoop!” they crack up laughing.
Whenever the students don't understand something and the finally get it they always say, “A-HA!” It like clock-work, and just they way they say it makes me laugh.
Another commonly used Czech work is “pas(h)ak”, which means give yourself a pat on the back. Pas(h)ak is so much shorter and easier to say.
*No,no,no= yea yea yea (The ‘no’ is Czech, and they always say it 3 times!)
yes=yes or ano=yes
but, yes does not = no!
I’ve gotten pretty good at knowing when they mean “yes” when they say “no, no, no”. However it still gets me sometimes, and I’m like “HUH?!” Why not?! Then I realize the person actually means yes, not no. The biggest problem is when I’m teaching the intensive courses and there is only English, then someone will speak to Miluska and she says “no,no,no”.
A lot of times people will say a full English sentence and at the end say, …no? Which is like saying, “yeah”? I’ve caught myself doing that a few times, but I’m trying not to get into the habit out of fear of causing major confusion to people when I move back to the US.
*I’ve been given a whole host of nicknames since moving here. At the school in Mlada I’m known as “Tea-Honey” or “Honey-Tea”. (People constantly drink tea with honey in it and they think my name Te-Hani sounds like Tea-Honey”.
Czech people have a million ways to change names, they add, subtract, and change things around to create new nicknames. I’ve tried to get students to explain it to me, but I just don’t get it. My boss calls me “Tehaneeshkoo”, which cracked me up the first time. ….eshkoo is a popular ending.
Due to my obsession with Babovka I’ve been given a new nickname, by which my boss and the students at the last camp referred to me by. It was given to me by Miluska. BA-BO-VICH-KA. Babovic(h)ka. Haha, I should record that so you can hear how it actually sounds. I kinda like it, it’s funny J
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