Luxusní víkend II - summary
Luxusní víkend Angličtiny II - Vysočina style
This is a recap of the two-day's relaxation stay at the cottage 'U Švejků' in Litohošť. The summary is written from my point of view but I tried to be as much objective as possible. Objections to it or other additional comments should be posted below.
The event were to be participated by a group of 15 people, out of which I had met only around a half. Basically the idea of this meeting came from the two great teachers - Nina (EnglishBrno) and Glenn (English Třebíč) so the whole lot was actually students or acquaintances of the former or the latter. A fantastic thing was that there weren't only people from the Czech Republic, on the contrary the composition was truly multi-international. There were two Americans (one of them currently living in Austria), two guys from Romania and finally a guy from Surinam/Holland. That all was very promising, because these people weren't able to speak Czech so the official language of this meeting was naturally English.
O.k., let's proceed to meeting itself. I came to Litohošť with other two guys on Friday around 5 p.m. Some other people had already been there for a while so they showed us around the house. No words can convey how amazed I was by that place. The cottage was stunningly huge. I thought they should have provided us with a map in advance not to get lost in such a "maze". The house had everything that anyone could think of - sauna, whirlpool, bar, disco, wi-fi (that sucked), grill, fireplace, swimming pool in the large back garden, you name it.
Anyway, after it dawned on me that this place is just following the words in the title of this even (Luxusní) we went to help the others unload the plentiful supplies of food and drinks. That was a lot of stuff and I thought at that time that we were never ever going to eat or drink it all. I was proved wrong because not much of was left in the end. In about an hour came the EnglishBrno group and as that was the majority of us all, girls got down to cooking the dinner for us. They prepared spaghetti and it was delicious. Bravo girls.
In the meantime the most important thing had started - the thing that the whole event was actually about - to have a natural conversation and have fun at the same time. Everything went easily and even those, whose English was very good were very patient and friendly with those, whose English was yet to bloom.
After the dinner, about a half of the folks moved to the bar-room, the rest continued their talking in the dining room but in the course of time all of the people went to enjoy themselves together, including activities such as dancing, playing pool or just chatting at the bar. The night was long and though some had said they were very tired, quite a few of us stayed up really late (or early???).
The next day started with breakfast. The company gathered slowly, according to how much sleep they were able or willing to get. After breakfast it was time for some outdoor activities as the weather was incredibly beautiful. Leader Kamil, who had studied the map and local brochures, suggested going to the castle Kámen, seemingly not far away of our place. We all agreed on this plan.
We set out at about 11 a.m. for a 8 km's trip. While having some uncertainties which way exactly to go, at noon we found ourselves at approximately one third of a distance to our intended destination. We realised that we were not going to get there shortly so we changed our plan and set off to our way back home. In the last section of the trip, the big group divided. One part headed straight home, while the other group took a scenic route. The first one got back at about 2 a.m., and fixed themselves a light snack. The other group came shortly but two chief persons to start cooking lunch were still missing.
While some people were enjoying the whirlpool (jacuzzi, hot tub), me and bunch of girls decided to go for a walk to check out the near-by horse farm. Not only did we see a lot of horses, on our way back we spotted some exotic animals behind the fence. It didn't take us long to realise they were kangaroos. Yes, there were roughly 15 kangaroos soaking up the sun and grazing grass, about three of them were albino style – completely white with red eyes.
When we got back, the two missing guys had already been back and started to cook lunch/dinner. Meanwhile we spread the word about the kangaroo farm and the rest of the lot went to check it for themselves. When they got back the dinner should have been ready. And it was, actually. However, the Italian risotto was too good to eat so Ginger and other girls went and started to prepare the regular dinner instead. It was very tasty – chicken lumps in tortillas casing with guacamole and sour-cream. Now I have to make a fool of myself because even though many people asked about the name of the dish, and I asked personally too, I hadn't remembered it, I just know it sounded Spanish. Shame on me.
After the dinner was over, it was time for evening programme. Zuzka came with an idea to play „The city of Palermo“. The people who had played it before put the complete rules together and explained it to the others. We played about five rounds and I have to say it was a great fun. Then there was a Salsa lesson, which was organised by Teo. I tried to do my best but I was really helpless. Ginger was very patient to explain me the elementary steps but I found this simple dance far beyond my dancing skills and I had to give up.
There was nothing else prepared for the evening so most of the people gathered in the whirlpool which at that time reached it's peak temperature. Only a few people were missing there, counting me too, because I hadn't been feeling well the whole day so I decided to skip this activity and preferred some chatting instead. At about 11 p.m. I went to bed but most of the folks stayed up. Then, during the night there was some funny story with electricity blackout, that I am not able to account for, because I was fast asleep. Perhaps some other people can add some more info, if they feel it'd be interesting.
The Sunday morning I got up quite early, finding that some people having breakfast. I didn't have very good night and my health condition seemed to deteriorate. So when Radka asked me if it was o.k., if we could leave early, because one of her kids was sick, I agreed.
Anyway, we waited until afternoon when Glenn, Kamil and company prepared great lunch for us. We still had enough time to chat about different things. After that we bade our goodbyes to all of the rest and we agreed that the whole meeting was a great success and such event must be repeated someday. And I think it will be. I just regret that I couldn't have enjoyed all the attraction available due to my poor health on Saturday and Sunday. I hope next time I'll be all right.
And finally let me thank again specially to Glenn and Nina, who were the brains of this event and also to the rest of the lot who were the life and soul of the party. It was please and fun to meet you there.
And what about you guys? Do you have anything else to add or share ?
This is just the first sketch. I wanted to post it while it's still fresh. I try to make some refinements before long. I am sorry about the mistakes. I would appreciated it if you could let me know about the mistakes or omissions you find (and I bet you will).
