Ice Skating and Cinema

We had a fantastic night out at the Hockey, on Saturday. The game was between Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague, and it was very exciting, with Slavia taking an early lead and holding it for a fair while, dominating the game. Then in the 2nd 3rd Sparta came back very strong and were decisively up for the challenge. They scored 2 goals very close together and gave Slavia a kick up the bum. Then Slavia took a surprise point, and the score line was even stevens. This led to extra time but with no goals scored. So it was a penalty shoot out to decide the result of the game. Unfortunatley, as I am a Sparta fan I was disappointed that Slavia took the game on penalties.

The other bit I must mention about the game is how good value it is and how much of an entertainment event the locals make it. Between the 3rds are breaks, which in the first break we had a synchronised figure skating show with about 24 Czech lovelies galloping around the ring. We had a coulple of mini Zepelins flying around the ring and then in the next break we had a promoters competition with 3 of the crowd involved, it really was a lot of fun.

To add to this we had a police incident with the Slavia fans and at least 3 player scraps. So I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Last night we had a trip to the cinema to see the new release “Night in the Museum” it was really light hearted and fun, but I didn’t realise it would be dubbed in Czech, mostly the films are played in English with Czech subtitles, so I don’t really know the content of the story, but I did understand the gist of it.

What about the Gyms

This week has been rather negative for us, because we lost the flat to another buyer; the reason… the developer and the solicitor didn’t do what they promised. All we needed to be able to get on with buying was to have the contract produced according to the discussions we had, unfortunately neither of them produced the contract as agreed, and another buyer who didn’t care as much about the contract, paid the reservation fee and gets the flat.

Petra faces a little uncertainty at work, because her boss is being forced to transfer to another role, or possible out of the company, so she doesn’t know what will happen for her.

My experience at the gym is interesting when making comparisons to everything I was used to in the UK, The gym I go to is reasonable well equipped but doesn’t have any of the most recent additions that are seen in UK like ‘Bosu boards’ and other training aids that do not require you to use the conventional equipment. The amusing part for me is the staffing structure, I haven’t yet seen a club that has it’s own instructors, they tend to have Personal Trainers, however, they are not anything like in the UK, the education level seems very poor and most of the ones I have seen are just ‘meatheads’ like we used to have, dragging their knuckles around the gym floor, they are nothing more than ‘counters’, by this I mean they stand next a client on a machine and count each rep they perform. Such a total waste of money. They gather around the reception desk eating bananas and drinking protein shakes all day, flexing at one another and grunting, whilst the receptionists eat bags of crisps! Yes, I have seen lots of eating at the reception desk, and using mobile phones around the gym, it strikes me as so unprofessional. Petra tells me that she has also seen a PT wearing flipflops on the gym floor! They do not seem to have a visible marketing plan or campaigns, and aren’t aware of retention strategies. I had a meeting with one of the PTs at my club to ask more about their working agreements and the companies views towards areas that were a key focus in the UK and I was alarmed at what I heard.

There is also a distinct lack of understanding of health and safety, I already mentioned the flipflops which I have also seen a member wear to the gym, but also glasses of drink are taken into the gym area and stood on the top of machines or around them, I have seen a notice board (like a flip chart) stood in front of the fire escape corridor, and no-one has to complete a par-q form, take an induction or have any supportive tuition to go to the gym. I have watched trainers teaching incorrect technique to clients. The sun-beds appear not to be regulated, as I have seen people using them without it being logged. I also must comment on the cleaning staff, as being British I am particularly uncomfortable with this, you’ll be standing in the shower (no private cubicles, only a communal shower) soaping up your privates and so on when the FEMALE cleaner strolls in and mops around your feet, the particular one I speak of is often heard grumbling about actually having to clean up behind members even though it’s what she is employed for and seems to take great pleasure in walking up the and down the changing room slamming the locker doors, it’s a right racket.

The other negative for me is that the club is aimed at the Czech market rather than the international market, so our receptionists don’t speak any English, a minor point really because I am meant to be speaking Czech but it would help.

Liberec

Since last week, we agreed that this weekend we would have a trip somewhere and towards the end of the week we agreed it would be to Liberec a town to the north of the Czech Republic. So this morning we took the metro from Roztyly to Florenc, then Florenc to Cerny Most, here you can pick up the Bus to Liberec. The coach was waiting when we arrived to we thought we would quickly pop into the toilet before the journey which would take about 1 hour, when we came back out of the toilet the bus has left! We then had to wait 1/2 hour for the next one. It was not big deal really we just had a coffee in a cafe near the stop. At 10.30 we boarded the Bus and paid the driver, just 70Kc each for the trip, about £1.75 for a journey of 60 miles, the driver was also accompanied by a rep who gave us complimentary magazines and a coffee on the way. Thats what I call value for money.

We stopped at Liberec at 11.30 and made enquiries at the office in the station about the return timetable. Perhaps we should have done this before our trip because we found out that the last bus back was 7.00 pm but it had no spaces left, neither was there on the 6.00pm return, so the only choice we had was to buy tickets for the 4.30pm return, and this made us a bit disappointed as we thought we would want the whole day. This turned out not to be the case, because we struggled to find anything to do, sure there is plenty if you do really have a long time or if you are well prepared for your trip, neither of these applied to us. First we walked to the town but found that quite boring because most of the shops closed at 12.00! unusual on a Saturday, but I guess it's what they are used to. So got the tram to Jested which is a nearby mountain with a tower/hotel and restaurant etc plonked right on the top, and it's been there since 1973. After the tram we took the cable car a little practically to the summit, then enjoyed the view, it was incredibly windy and has not been very good weather, so we didn't really stay outside long. We had lunch in the restuarent in Jested which was lovely (the lunch not Jested) and then made the return trip back to the town. We had a little more time to spare before our bus at 4.30 so we had a coffee and a dessert in a bar in the town, this was also lovely, then walked back to the station for the ride home.

In summary, I found the day quite boring, but I think this was only because both the weather and the town restricted what we were able to do, therefore we did very little but hope we made the most of it. http://www.jested.cz/hotel/en/index_dn.php?strana=1
on another trip there we will equip ourselves for the WaterPark and the Zoo, both of which are legendary here and I'm sure we will have a better day.

Into 2007, but no snow

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I wont bother to go into it because it's too boring, it was technical rather than personal.

No bloody snow yet! I was expecting to spend most of my weekends skiing once I had moved here, unfortunately things are not going to plan, because mother nature has decided to skip a year and not snow. We could, of course, book something in italy or Austria , maybe in France, however, Petra won't be able to book holiday for quite a while so we'll have to be patient.

Petras job seems to be going well, she enjoys it and it's not too taxing, she can switch off when she comes home (which she seems to do anyway!) I am looking, and have sent CVs to a couple of places. I'm glad that my brother is visiting soon, he called me yesterday and has decided to come and see us in February, so only 6 weeks away. We'll still be in the rented flat at that time, so he only needs to buy flights, and lots of chocolate for me!

I have been doing a little photography lately, and liking the results, but it's a shame that I can't get the pictures to upload to my blog at the moment. When I sort the problem out I'll post new ones as often as I can. I have been getting updates from my mate in California, he recently had a new baby boy with his wife, and they seem to be doing well. He emigrated 18 months ago to start another life in San Francisco, and by all accounts it appears to be the right choice for them.

I have started a new school, which after one lesson I can say seems to be really good, the teacher is completely different, and I hope to become more confident and competant with the spoken language. I still have a few lessons at the old school to attend so I am at school 4 days per week for now.

Happy New Year to everyone.