Is it really the end of the fall term? I thought we have begun a few days ago.

Ok, after the course I am going back to Prague and I will spend Christmas hopefully differently than with jet lag. Then I should get a job, who knows where. I will also apply for a PhD studies so it will take maybe like 4 years of another study. But I am sure I will enjoy it.

And I will miss Canada, Calgary particularly, of course.

Firstly, Canadian culture is not that different from Czech culture. Czechs, as well as Canadians, love hockey, beer and everything fried. Especially when these three things come together. It has been said that Czechs are the biggest consumers of beer (per capita, of course) in the world. I would like to reject it, but I can't. If you happened to be in Prague, you would see it on your own eyes. And during dark times of prohibition in 2012, we were like Canadians in the moment when you turn the lights off. I also think that both nations enjoy spending summer evenings around a bonfire (I dare to share something from my personal archive as a proof). Which in Canada means maybe two weeks per year.

Secondly, Canadian culture is quite different from Czech culture. Let's admit that everybody in the world loves Canadians because of the friendliness and smiling faces and cute accent and their milk in bags. That is really not the case of Czechs. Also, there is a difference with the attitude. Personally, I think it is because of the close mountains but it seems that everybody in Canada is sporty. Which is a really good thing. However, it also affects the sense for fashion. 

Writing about success can be quite tricky. If you write about how love is amazingly important and finding Mr. Right is your goal #1, you'll sound silly. If you write about how earning "big money" is important, you'll sound like a...er...jerk. That's why I came with a genius solution. I will simply write about my latest success.

It was Monday afternoon in June 2010 when the acceptance letter arrived. The journey has started in September 2010 and ended in really, extremely, unpleasantely warm Tuesday in May 2015. Yes, after five years of battling with myself, I graduated. That's been probably my biggest success in years. And it meant so much to me. I guess it was a proof that all these nights without sleep (except those when we were partying) weren't for nothing.

And I guess that in the close future I will take as a success when I survive the Canadian winter. Big success also will be if I would bake everyones favorite Christmas bread just as good as the last year's.

The best way (and the least painful) how to expand your vocabulary is to talk with natives! Or go to places and just listen. You can learn slang or collocations and you don't even notice.

Dictionaries are useful too (but more painful). Learner's Dictionary, online part of the Encyclopædia Britannica, offers to the subscribers a daily portion of knowing consists of one English word. Here's the link: Word of the Day. There's also the possibility of testing your vocabulary skills, which can be both challenging and depressing.

Progressive people from Cambridge University Press came with apps to smart phones. Some of them are not for fee, but some of them are free. I would recommend for example Phrasalstein (I know, people from Cambridge are smart AND funny!). This app could help with phrasal verbs. It's also suitable for forthcoming Halloween.

My vocabulary has been expanding thanks to books. The most recent book I've been reading helps expand my empty Gaelic vocabulary. Thanks Diana Gabaldon, thanks a lot! Or how would the Highlanders say: Tapadh leat!

Hello hello! Welcome to my blog. 

A few words about me before the real work will start. My name is Pavla Panova (thanks, Dad), I was born a few years ago in Jindrichuv Hradec - beautiful city in South Bohemian Region. I visited an elementary school, high school and even a university. I graduated in May 2015 with Master's Degree in Social Geogaphy. I've recently moved to Calgary from Prague and I am going to stay here for three months. I have one cat named Guinness (the beer, not the book). I left her in Prague but according to the very last news she's doing pretty well without me, as you can see below.