This 'n' that from my first two days

The journey began Tuesday, with Scott Folsom behind the wheel of his pickup truck and a damp Baldy sitting on my lap in the passenger's seat. A five-hour wait followed. After that was a flight in which I napped for 30 minutes tops, a four-hour layover in which I dozed for 40 minutes tops, an hour flight to Prague, bedtime at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, 90 minutes of lying awake starting around 1 a.m., a 7:30 alarm when I wanted it half an hour later, and lots of shopping and general getting-to-know-the-neighborhood stuff.

Here are some snippets from the past two days, starting with what you really want to know:

• Baldy's fine. He's a great traveler, and Tuesday/Wednesday marked his fifth trip across an ocean. He's now crossed 17 time zones from Central Europe westward to South Korea. He may have cost me a T-shirt, though. Understandably ready for a bathroom break once we reunited at Ruzyne Airport, I took him out front and looked for a designated pet area. There was none. So we walked along the road in front of the airport and I tried to get him to pee into one of the sewer drains. When he opted for a pole on the walkway, in full view of two people, I had no choice but to grab my light blue T-shirt from the backpack and mop it up. Urine comes out in the wash, right?
• Baldy's also met some friends, including a brown boxer. I wasn't sure how this would work, given that dogs here are trained to stay near their owners without a leash. Thus I didn't see too many dogs play with others when I was here in May and June.
• I'm alone, for now, in a two-bedroom apartment. (Video to be posted shortly.) My roommate is scheduled to arrive Friday. I/we might stay here, or I might move into a studio, based on a couple of factors, once of them being if Baldy will be as charming as he can be or if he turns into Napoleon.
• Already went on my first paperwork errand, to a notary to sign a declaration that I have not committed a crime in the U.S. This is for my visa run, which I am making tomorrow when I meet the school's visa director, Majka, at 6:30 in the morning for the four-hour drive to Berlin; Czech law dictates that long-stay visa applications be filled at an embassy outside the Czech Republic.
• Visited the school library and picked up teaching supplies. Also got a locker in the teachers' room and stashed my dry-erase board markers, mp3 player and speakers.
• Bought my first smartphone. I have a pay-as-you-go SIM card through O2, one of the main providers (along with T-Mobile).
• Bought food -- and by "food" I mean instant coffee, breakfast food that doesn't require cooking, cold cuts, bread, mustard and bottled water. The big trip won't occur until I know for sure where I'll be living.
• Got the runaround on a bus. I live a 15 minutes' walk from school, but after my shopping trip today I decided to take the bus home. First, it took three tries to find the stop in the Budejovicka area that actually goes to my neighborhood. Then, I learned the bus didn't stop at my neighborhood stop on the return trip. Third, I found a bus that did reach my neighborhood, but only after I spent 10 minutes looking up the English translation for a phrase that meant I had to request the driver to stop there (by hitting the orange button on a post near my seat).

That's all for now. Stay tuned for video of the apartment.