(upbeat music)
- Good morning, everyone.
Welcome to the inside of my apartment.
We'll get into that later.
It is 8:30 in the morning here.
So if you're in the United States,
very early for you.
I'm gonna finish getting ready,
have my breakfast,
and then we will start the day.
So stay tuned,
ask your questions.
I will post a link,
and chat with you soon.
But I will be honest with you all
and that it was very hard
to make a nice gang of friends.
It did take me a few months.
And so moving abroad was a bit challenging
for me at the beginning,
because I felt very alone.
But now that I have a community,
honestly, the best experience.
But just know
that it might take you some time,
and that's okay.
Go to cafes,
go to meetups,
things like that.
I got really lucky
and had a roommate that I love
who introduced me to her friends.
Okay,
so going along with moving alone,
I think this question is great.
I have never felt unsafe.
Also, I came from Chicago,
so I felt more uneasy in Chicago
sometimes walking at night,
based on US laws.
Here in Prague,
I don't feel nervous to walk.
I actually walked home
from hanging with my friends last night,
or a couple nights ago
at four in the morning.
And felt very safe.
So it's all about judgment, though.
Use your call.
There is Bolt and Uber here.
Okay, so here you do not need
to know Czech to get around.
You can live comfortably with just English.
However, I would always recommend
to learn some of the language
so you can say hello, goodbye,
things like that, at least to start.
But no, you are fine with just English.
Okay, this is a huge question,
especially because I've got some health things,
I needed to make sure I was covered.
So healthcare is free in Europe,
however, as a foreigner,
you do have to pay for it.
I am on a (indistinct) visa,
which means that I am an independent contract.
So that means that
my employer does not pay the monthly fee
that I need to for my healthcare.
So I pay healthcare and social security,
and it roughly comes out to
about 6,000 crowns a month,
which is about $250 a month for both.
And that's all I need to do.
And then I will have healthcare,
and I can go to the doctor,
and specialists,
and things like that.
So it's much cheaper than the United States.
There are some visas,
basically called a blue card,
that is an employer-sponsored visa
that I do not have.
But if that's the case,
then it works similarly like the US,
where your employer takes the pay
out of your money each month.
Okay,
so I'm about to go in to teach my first class.
I just walked all the way
to the Czech kindergarten
where I teach a 45 minute class
every Wednesday morning.
But I wanted to answer this question before I go.
The beer is amazing.
I do not drink beer.
I didn't, and now I do.
It's about $1,50 a pint.
Okay, so, done with my class.
I just stopped by
to get some tea and some lunch
before hopping over to my other job.
I have a bunch.
But on the next slide
I'm going to post my budget
and talk about that.
So.
Okay,
so I actually found my job beforehand
on expats.cz.
I work for multiple places.
And I actually no longer do one of those jobs,
and I got another job while I was here,
which was very easy.
They're always looking for English teachers.
I did not use a recruitment agency
or anything like that.
I just did it myself.
And then based on connections here,
I ended up getting the job I currently have.
But what I did pay for,
and I always recommend,
is a visa agency to help with the visa.
It costs money.
But it's incredibly useful
to have a visa agency.
They do everything for you.
You don't have to worry about it.
They go to the ministry of foreign police,
and all this.
So, worth it to pay for a visa company.
And then I got to go to Berlin
to pick my visa up,
which was cool.
So my schedule does vary sometimes,
especially with single classes
'cause sometimes they get canceled,
which ruins your budget.
So, be wary of that.
But I go to my preschool, brick and mortar,
four days a week,
three days full-time,
one day half-a-day.
So, I'll go today.
And then on Mondays,
I actually teach a kid in her home for three hours,
and then I babysit.
Tuesdays, I'm at the school.
Wednesdays, I do this mix that I'm doing today.
Thursdays, I'm at the school.
And Friday, I'm at the school.
Tuesday nights, I also teach, as well.
Okay.
Before I take you on the metro,
I wanted to pop in about travel
around different countries.
It's very easy here
with lots and lots of trains available
and relatively cheap prices.
However, with the war happening,
prices have gone up.
So we're currently saving
for my next trip to Croatia this summer.
And I'm hoping to go to Morocco
around Christmas time.
But travel has been pretty easy
and I've been lucky enough to
get cheap trains
to be able to go all over the place.
Oh, hostels and everything
are relatively cheap, as well.
And I felt very safe
as a solo female traveler
going to these major cities
and doing it by myself.
It's really rewarding.
It makes me feel really proud of yourself.
And I always recommend it.
Hello, from the metro.
I'm about to go pop on the metro
to go to my preschool job.
You do not have to wear masks anymore.
It's not really a thing at all.
But I still feel comfortable on the metro
'cause it's underground
and with a lot of people.
But I still wear mine.
Okay, so while I'm waiting for the metro,
it just makes me think,
like if I was watching this
and I never done it before,
I would be freaking out.
And truthfully,
when I did do it,
I was freaking out about moving abroad
and all of this,
and all of the information can be a lot,
but I'm a super anxious person
and I did it by myself.
I figured it out.
It's really not that daunting
once you like get a groove,
and it's really empowering.
So, I believe in you.
I know you can do it.
If you're thinking about it,
take that leap.
It's so beyond worth it.
I thought I was going to only stay for a year,
and I was like,
"Then I'm gonna go back to the States.
Do like, whatever."
No, no.
Now I'm staying longer
and I'm really excited about it.
So, I know you can do it, too.
Hello.
Welcome to my brick and mortar
preschool kindergarten that I work at.
We have a giant class today,
about 23.
So I will show you some of the kids later
once they finish lunch.
But I wanted to answer this question
about bachelor's degree.
Yes.
It is required to have a bachelor's degree
for most places that you work here,
and a TEFL certification.
You may be able to find some work without one,
but it is best to have one.
It does not have to be in education or English,
at all.
My degree is in acting.
So.
Hello!
- [Kids] Hello!
- Here are some of my students.
What do you guys wanna say?
(kids screaming)
What did you wanna talk about?
Did you wanna talk about "Star Wars?"
- [Kids] Yes!
(kids shouting)
- Dori, did you wanna talk about water?
- No.
We're learning about water this week.
What did you guys learn about water?
(kids shouting)
You goofs!
What did we do yesterday
that had to do with water?
- [Kids] We make sea.
- You made the sea?
And did we have a water fight?
- [Kids] Yeah!
- Pretty cool.
Do you wanna say goodbye?
- [Kids] Bye!
- Okay, so something on my bucket list
is to go to Bohemian, Switzerland,
which is in the north part
of the Czech Republic.
It has nothing to do with Switzerland.
It's a national park
where you can hike,
and rock climb,
and do all these
wonderful outdoor nature things,
go along the river.
I cannot wait.
Also,
Prague is divided
into a different number of Pragues.
So Prague 1 is in the center
with Wenceslas Square,
the river,
the clock tower,
Charles Bridge.
And the farther you go out,
the farther away from the center you are.
So any coffee shop,
anything like that-
So the farther you go away from the center,
you'll be able to go to some really fun
coffee shops and bars
that aren't super touristy,
which I always recommend.
That's where you can find all those hidden gems.
There's Hani Bany,
which is a really fun-
Okay, so you met my kids,
and now you get to be my co-worker.
- Hello.
- This is (indistinct),
she is from Prague,
she lives in the Czech Republic.
And now we're co-workers.
- Hi.
- [Zoe] Can I ask you,
what are all the white spots?
- [Kid] This?
- Yes.
- [Kid] Uh.
(kid speaking Czech)
- [Zoe] Oh, the condensation?
(kid mumbling)
Okay, this is an awesome question.
I worked with VisaForce
here in Prague, with David.
He's incredible.
I am getting a quote for you
'cause I cannot remember,
but I will PM you that.
If you also wanna know,
let me know.
Also, just a heads up about that.
You are required to have 6,000 US dollars
in your bank account,
so you can move over here.
And it does cost some money
to also pick up your visa
that I had to pay the Czech embassy in Berlin.
So that is also-
This is an awesome question.
Yes, I am saving for retirement.
I have been saving for years, though,
before I moved abroad.
So I have a Roth IRA
that I contribute money to every year.
But I am also trying to continue
to save now, as well.
Okay.
I came inside really fast,
because something just happened
on the playground that I wanted to talk about.
So we all know about
the war in Ukraine at the moment,
and being in Prague,
it's relatively close to Ukraine,
and so we've got a lot of refugees
and a lot of relief efforts
still happening here in Prague.
So one of my children
just came up to me and asked,
"Why we have a little boy in our class now
who is from Ukraine?"
And so I had to answer that question,
and talk about the war,
and talk about why his father
is still in Ukraine.
So this is very real
and very something that is still forward
in our lives over here at the moment.
And it's very,
very personal to a lot of Europeans.
So there have been a lot of relief efforts
and a lot of conversations going on in school
about Ukraine, and war,
and things like that.
So that is definitely something
to keep in mind when you come over.
It is just part of life right now.
At the moment?
No, I am not worried.
I was, however,
concerned for my safety
when the war did break out.
I was almost ready to pack and leave,
or ready to do that at any moment.
But at this point I feel safe.
I'm not worried.
Yes, there are tons of volunteer opportunities,
both with relief efforts,
like getting supplies and things like that,
and also with teaching,
either schools for Ukrainian children, or-
The language school I'm with
is doing free classes in English
for Ukrainians.
Yeah, one of the biggest
culture differences for me
is that Americans love to hug,
and they love to smile on the street.
And that's not so much the Czech culture
when you begin,
when you start out.
So when I first got a hug,
I cried.
It was two months after I came here.
So this is a really important question,
'cause I know part of the TEFL course
is big on lesson planning
and it is important.
However,
I do think the majority
of at least preschool teaching
is all about reading the room
and the needs of the kids in that moment.
So sometimes I don't lesson plan
and my day is great.
But when I talk about my one-on-one classes,
I do do more planning.
However,
it's not as intensive
because I don't need to do
a full classroom lesson plan.
I'm doing a lesson plan for,
like, me and the child.
So that is a smaller, paired down version.
Yes, I would love to go to Italy.
My grandfather was born in Sicily,
so every time I'm in Italy
it feels like home,
and I would just absolutely love to be there.
Hello, hello.
I am now off work,
and I'm clearly at the rock climbing gym
with all of my things.
So I'm gonna go boulder,
and I'll talk to you later.
Okay.
Taking a hot minute from the wall.
Honestly,
the big hiring season is September and January.
But I think schools
are always looking for teachers.
So anytime you need a job,
it's pretty easy to find.
Okay, I've made it home.
So now it's time for a tour of the apartment.
At the moment,
I am kind of in between apartments
and airbnb-ing this place
for a couple months.
It's just how it goes.
But here's what I've got at the moment.
Shower heads usually are like this in Europe.
And then just your basics.
And you come in here to my room.
Hello.
Most beds are lofted, so-
Okay, I am gonna go have dinner.
But-
Whew!
My hair from the beginning of this series
until now.
Wow, we've had a journey.
But thank you so much
for following along on my day.
It's been so fun to tell you everything
and answer all your questions.
You guys rocked it.
So, please follow me.
Please continue to ask questions.
And I can, honestly,
I would love to answer anything you have,
and see what adventures you guys go on.
Thanks so much.
(upbeat music)