More of this 'n' that from the first week

The paperwork is almost completed for me to officially work and live in Prague. Also, I have settled on two professional sports teams to support. Go on, guess which of these facts matters more.

Here's a summary of the past few day as I prepare for my two-day induction that begins Thursday ...

• Monday morning was a time for paperwork. First, I visited the courthouse for a quick criminal record check. This was completed in less than 10 minutes; all I had to do once I found the courthouse was hand over a filled-out form and my passport, and shortly after that I received a stamped document that said I haven't been arrested. After that, I took the subway and tram to the foreign police office, where I watched the second half of Fiji-Samoa in the Rugby World Cup, then received a stamp in my passport stating that it's OK for me to be here.
• Quick note about the paperwork: My school is making life very easy for me. In each case they have given me a copy of the form with the Czech instructions and dummy text stating where to write my name, birthday, etc. This process would be infinitely more difficult with the support of IH-Akcent Prague.
• Today I made my first trip to Radio Free Europe, where I'm scheduled to teach two days a week. Without giving away too many secrets, I went through multiple security checks and now have an ID. I'll expound more about these classes with the radio network's broadcasters once I get a few under my belt.
• Not everyone speaks English, but more do than I apparently give the Czechs credit for. Twice I have now asked, Mluvite Anglicky? (Do you speak English?) after the person already has apparently been speaking English to me.
• Got a new cell phone plan. Unlike the U.S., there's no two-year contract to sign. I'll spend less than 2 crowns (10 or 11 cents) per text message, 6.6 crowns (about 35 cents) per minute on calls (which won't be many) and 40 crowns (about $2.50) per week for Internet use up to 15 MB (which seems OK given that I'll be checking email or using maps, not watching videos). I won't receive bills but will instead buy credit as I go. A few co-workers said the deal sounds fair. Time will tell.
• I've spent quite a bit of time with my roommate Stephen, an Aussie who also has a UK passport. He likes Baldy, and Baldy seems to be warming up to him, except for the times he starts yapping because Stephen has the audacity to walk into the kitchen and make himself breakfast after he wakes up. Among our similarities is that we're sports fans, and we've spent some of our spare time buying tickets to two pro events this week.
• The first event was Slavia Prague hockey at the O2 Arena, an NHL-caliber building (complete with a replica of Michelangelo's David in the lobby) that's a tad too big for the Czech Extraliga. I chose Slavia because its coach, Vladimir Ruzicka, is a former Boston Bruin. That's the franchise that just won the Stanley Cup, by the way. Just, you know, in case you forgot. Anyway, the game had a similar production feel given its noise meter and Kiss Cam and video of cartoon hands clapping on the scoreboard. It was also very different in that the fans didn't need any of that crap. The supporters behind the goal stood the whole time, most of them wearing red and white Slavia jerseys, following the lead of the fan using a megaphone to sing songs and chant. The players also shook hands at the end of the game and, in a nice touch, the Slavia players all lined up, faced the home fans and knelt on one knee as the fans sung to them after the game despite the 4-3 loss. This won't be the last hockey game I attend, especially considering the price (see chart below).
• We'll also be attending our first Czech soccer/football match Saturday. We'll be supporting Viktoria Zizkov, named after the neighborhood it's in, because Stephen stayed in a hostel near the 6,500-seat stadium this past summer. Zizkov faces another Prague team, Bohemians. In true European fashion, neither Stephen nor I will actually wear our Zizkov shirts until we're in the stadium, surrounded by Zizkov fans behind the goal.
• Tomorrow is a national holiday, named after St. Wenceslas. After that, it's two full days of training, followed by my first classes on Monday.

Hockey follow-up: Here is a comparison between the price for the Slavia Prague hockey match I saw
tonight with prices for roughly the same seat location for a cross-section of NHL teams: an Original Six team, a non-Original Six team in a big market, a Johnny-Come-Lately hot ticket, a crap team, and a Canadian team. All dollar values are American.

Team	Ticket price
Boston Bruins	$176.45
Philadelphia Flyers	$178.75
Washington Capitals	$140.55
Florida Panthers	$75.00
Calgary Flames	$187.68
Slavia Prague	$10.00