Talking in Telc and buildings in Brno.

 Telc is a very attractive town in Moravia in the Czech Republic.  Every day bus loads of tourists from Asia come there to look around, but we were there to talk English.  I have talked English as a volunteer in Spain and Germany previously in return for board and lodging.  Now I have talked in Telc.  It is a great way of meeting people from other English speaking countries, for example on this trip there were two Canadians, one American now living in the Philippines, two Brits now living in mainland Europe, and about 6 Americans.     After last years run in with a dyed in the wool Trump fan and British supporter of Braverman, I tried to avoid the one person who declared she would vote for Trump again, but much to everyone's amusement she thought one of the Brits was Czech.  Mind you I thought the Liverpudlian from Montpelier was from the States, so many interesting accents were present.  Then there were the lovely Czechs we meet. I was especially lucky with the woman I was matched to mentor as Zaneta turned out to not be the shy person who could scarcely speak English, the person, I first met, as I quickly discovered someone with lots of knowledge but without the experience to use it till asked to do the presentation.   Having set up her first nursery about 18 years ago, she is now the owner of three places and helped set up emergency provision when Ukrainian first came to her town. She also runs the creche for the local film festival so has met the children of all the stars and she has been elected onto the town Council. Hers was definitely one of the best presentations, but all of them achieved well despite the unexpected amount of Czech that was used in a week supposed to be dedicated just to the use of English.  Some were just beginners, whereas previous participants have been intermediate or above, compared with the Spanish and German participants so that explained the less formal approach to participation.  Vast quantities of drink also got consumed, most amusingly by the Trump supporter, who despite her 80 years let rip and complained that us Brits were too buttoned up.  :) and most of the time we all joined in well socially together but sadly the party totally fizzled out.  That is usually one of the highlights for me and the food, which this year was just okay rather than great.  However, the star of the week for me was the location. It was lovely to walk through the park, past the castle, and into this beautiful square and learn about my "students " work or family en route. 

As everyone else sped back to Prague or their homes further afield, I took a short bus ride to Brno.  Not as attractive as Prague, the country's second biggest city is nevertheless worth stopping off in especially if you have studied the history of architecture as one of Mies van der Rohe's most famous houses is here.   I stupidly but accidentally booked a tour in Czech, so recommend double checking before you book, but it is very interesting to visit, despite that.    It also seems to be a party town as everyone was out eating and drinking in the warm September evening when I arrived.  Leaving late on Saturday night I travelled by bus through parts of Slovakia, Slovenia and Austria, before arriving in a wet cold Zagreb but now pleased to say in the warmth of Dalmatia by the sea.