Go Eagles! Links to Yemi's team and games.

I wanted to post the different links you can use to follow Yemi's games.

You can watch live games on tvcom.cz. They also have archived games on this site so you can watch whenever you need a basketball fix.

You can follow the teams rankings in the EuroChallenge including stats and who plays who next here.

The team has they're own website at bkprostejov.cz. This site is in Czech but you can translate it w/ google translator.

Tomorrow they have a big game against Bonn, Germany. It's a home game and the boys are looking good. They beat them on the road last time and this time we have the advantage so it's looking good.

Hand Made Moravian

Today at the Christmas Market I found this vase and I have to share it with you because I love it!

It is hand made and hand painted in a town outside of Olomouc by Keramika Sekereš.

We also bought from them a carafe, tray, and cup set. This will make a nice addition to our travel collections:)

Olomouc Christmas Market

Hot spiked punch, it's that time of year again!

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Christmas markets are on my top ten favorite things about Europe.

These begin popping up in almost every medium to large town square in Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia about four weeks out from Christmas day.

I blogged about the goods and fun to be had at the Vienna and Bratislava Christmas markets here last December. People say Vienna has the best and largest. It may be the largest but I find that every one I visit has it's own unique fare and flare which makes it equally as exciting as any other.

Here in Czech instead of gluhwein, they sell a hot spiked punch with fruit and almonds spooned in before servered. You can get medovina; the hot honey wine but it's not as common as in Slovakia. The punch is delicious so last night I took the opportunity to do as the locals and have a couple glasses with my friend Martina in Prostejov square! Such a great past time.

On Sunday Yemi and I went to Olomouc to check out their shops and food. I got some good pictures of what they offer, enjoy!

Mailbox for Letters to Santa Claus

We were so bundled up, I'm wearing leggings, jeans two pairs of socks

and three layers up top. Yemi has two pairs of sweatpants and we were

still freezing after about twenty minutes of walking around.

We ran into Yemi's assistant coach and he was eating this interesting plate of food

He explained it as a traditional Czech meal of 'blood sausage' but couldn't describe

it much beyond that. Yemi and I tried it, it has an interesting taste

but it's not for us....

So instead we had this plate of Klobasa with spicy mustard

and dilled vegetables it was good but difficult to eat outside when

it's less than 15 degrees. Our fingers and toes were freezing!

Look at the animals. So cute! Theres a llama, a sheep, a baby sheep, and a goat I think

all though I'm not officially sure about the distinction between goat/sheep.

Murals of St. Nicholas and the Devil

A little game where you catapult a beanie to try and knock

down the devil.

They have tons of stands selling varieties of pork meat. The freezing temps mean no refrigeration needed!

On the left in this picture is an ice rink they have set up.

Looks fun and reminds me of Rochester, MN when our dad

used to take us ice skating all the time!

I would try to coax Yemi out there but my luck he'd get hurt

and the whole team would be mad at me!

We enjoyed an awesome afternoon there but Yemi had to get to Prostejov for practice so no hot punch this round. We'll be back though!

It has come to my attention...

...that my blog is a tad unsophisticated. I realize that to a serious blogger this would be a huge understatement.

This realization came when I visited the Blog Guidebook blog. Thanks to this amazing website I'm learning ways to make this blog more interactive and entertaining.

My goal with this blog has always been to share my experiences in Europe with my friends and family, but I think to attain this goal I need to make my posts and page a little 'prettier' if you will.

So my friends over the next few weeks I will be adding a little sparkle dazzle and all that jazz to this here hobby/mild obsession. If any body following this blog has suggestions or glaring improvements to be made please comment. I will take all the help I can get!

St Nicholas Day

St. Nicholas, the Golden Angel, and the Devil

It's St. Nicholas Day. The first holiday of the Advent Calendar.

In my experience we don't do a lot to recognize this holiday in America. In the Czech Republic it is a fun event that most families with small children celebrate.

On 5th of December family members and teenagers from the community dress up as St. Nicholas, the Golden Angel, or the Devil. They go to homes of family members and ask the small children to recite one of three poems associated with the day. They also ask if they've been good. If the children recite the poem they get some type of candy, if they cannot or if they have been misbehaving the are told that the devil is going to take them away. It looks like Halloween outside on this evening with people dressing up and going house to house.

In my English class the students were telling me about their childhood experiences. It's really pretty scary for the young kids who believe it is the devil visiting their house! But it's all in fun.

They have some more info about it's origins and how it's celebrated here.

Prague with Aneta

The Old Square, they have the Christmas Market up in this picture.

A few weeks ago I went to Prague to visit my friend Aneta who lives in a flat right off Wenceslas Square and do some shopping.

I love Prague. It's a beautiful city with so much history and great shopping! I also learned while there that they have tax free shopping for none EU citizens. This is huge because they have a VAT tax here of 22%. They give you a tax voucher to be filled out when they ring up your purchase and then you can mail it in or cash it in at the airport when you leave. Sweeeeet!

It was a great time, we topped the night off with some hot wine and klobasa (Czech Sausage) at the Christmas Market in the Old Square. I LOVE this city!

This is Aneta, we're on Wenceslas Square

The large building in the back is that National Museum.

Playing, about to leave to the Christmas Market for a night cap:)

Pictures from Prostejov

I took most of these in the beginning of November just when the leaves were changing. This is our town here in the Czech Republic

The Down Low on the Dental License

Long time, no post friends. I am back now and newly committed to updating! Let me catch you up on whats been going down in Central Europe.

After my last post I put all my resources into finding out the appearantly closely held secret of obtaining a Czech Dental License.

I dug out all of the intricacies of this endeavor and am now a wealth of information for any foreign trained dentist wishing to practice. My good friend Martina who is dentist here in Prostejov helped me beyond measure. Without her I do not think I would have been able to get any information because the bureaucracy is next to impossible to navigate without a native Czech speaker.

To obtain a license one must take a series of 2 tests. The first test covers all the same information covered on the American dental board exams but also includes a section on the Czech insurance system and Czech law.

After passing this test you work under the supervision of a licensed dentist for 5 months and complete 5 case studies. After 5 months the supervising dentist writes a letter to the ministry of health on your behalf and you can set up a date for the second test. The second test is an oral exam that must be conducted in Czech. At this time you will present one of your 5 case studies and answer a series of questions from a board of 6 dentists. If these questions are answered to their satisfaction then you pass and are granted a dental license.

The request to take the exam must be sent in with all of the paper work which includes a background check no older than 90 days and a translated copy of your diploma. The first test is offered in September and March.

Unfortunately I missed the cut off and will be leaving in April so practicing is out of the question. I have made some great contacts through my understanding of this process and will continue to observe and learn from my Czech colleagues!

Martina gave me a great tour of the Olomouc Dental School and Medical Campus. It is a great facility and reminds me so much of my time at CU.

Medical School auditorium for didactic classes.

Imagine sitting in those seats all day, no thanks!

Entrance to the lecture hall for the medical campus.

The building on the right is the Dental School's Pre-Doc Clinic

Such a cool location, right off the town square!

Pre-Docs hard at work!

This is one of the operatories in the building from the pic above.