Semester 13 Chapter XXII: New Beginnings

Okay, two weeks ago, I was writing about our presidential election back home. So the hot guy has won. You know… The ex-military, ex-communist party member. To be fair, he seems like a nice a guy, he’s a much better choice than the fucking oligarch who ran against him (and who hopefully finally ends up in prison in the foreseeable future) and he’s definitely gonna look good on every picture. He’s gonna be easy to listen to and he might be a very good guy to represent the country. He doesn’t seem racist, he doesn’t seem chauvinist, he doesn’t seem like a douche bag. He speaks well, he’s calm and so far there is no reason to believe he’s gonna turn into an alcoholic Jabba the Hut-like monster as his predecessor. I guess I’m not as wet about him as the majority in the country but I acknowledge all of the above and I honestly think this guy might be the best president we’ve had since Havel. And I got one more point here. I’m also starting liking the fact he was in the Communist Party pre-1989. I feel it’s important. And I feel it’s important that it’s not a huge issue for most of our society (70% turnout is fucking insane btw). I think it’s important to finally acknowledge that shit isn’t always black and white. That not everybody was born into an artistic family back then. Not everybody was an artist or an active dissident. There were people being born into military families, there were people being born into communist families, there were scientists, teachers, architects… There were so many people that entered the party with no bad intentions. That was the time. The fact someone wasn’t putting their lives on the line for freedom doesn’t mean they were shitty people. No matter what the regime is, people just try to find some peace. Lotta people were still good parents, good friends, did their job well, searching for a way. And I’m not saying this to justify being in the party… I’m saying that to say that it’s okay to see things in perspective, understand that some situations are complex, there are many variables all around and we really need to try to comprehend the situation as a whole. Because yes… There is a difference between people torturing prisoners in uranium mines or sending political prisoners to death, and just being in the party because that’s the only reality you know and can imagine. Or not being in the party but still not risking your life because you have a family or you just don’t feel like it. Not saying what’s good or bad here, the context is important tho. And the fact we have a president that has put all of this into perspective and openly explains his story is awesome. And I really see a potential to unite alienated parts of society. I hope this is the new direction.

 

Tenerife has been pretty good. I’ve been working quite a lot and I’m still happy with the new scheduling I came up with for this year. Everything works well. Besides work, I managed to meet up with my friend from London twice. On Tuesday, we did some drinks around Las Vistas and on Friday, we went for a hike. Both enjoyable. I also met with my friend from Adeje for two cool hangouts. Good vibes only.

 

Over the weekend, I got booked for another OWD course. I work with two sisters, 10 and 14 years of age. They are both great but they kinda struggle with warmth. Water is still around 20 degrees but if you’re tiny and it’s not really sunny, you get cold super fast. We managed yesterday and I hope we’ll manage today too. It’s all fun tho.

In two days, I’m leaving for Brno and I’m pretty excited about that too. Lotta cool shit ahead of me. So the next time, I’m gonna be talking to you from the Czech Republic. Hope everybody’s doing well, hope the energy levels are good and spirits are high. One!

 

Highlights:

• The new president.
• Diving.
• Good vibes.

Semester 13 Chapter XXI: Your Language Is Very Offensive, Could You Tone It Down

Okay, it has finally happened. Those of you who know me or have had a chance to speak to me know that I don’t go too far for a “fuck” or a “shit” when I talk. This applies to both English or Czech. To my defense, I learned English literally from listening to hip-hop and I’ve never really cared about how clean the actual statements are as long as the message is. Words are a game anyway. My friend from London came to visit the island and yesterday afternoon we went out for a drink. At one point we started talking about her issues in corporate and I got on a short rant. And true enough, it was a lot of “fucking”, “motherfuckers” and “shit”. I guess I just generally speak like that around people I feel comfortable with. In the middle of my sermon, an elderly guy who sat at the other table behind my back interrupted me. I didn’t even realize how close his head was to mine. Apparently, I manage to irritate both him and his wife. He told me that my language is very offensive and asked me to stop it. I gave him a pretty long look trying to figure out if he’s serious or not. I had sunglasses on so I was trying to read is eyes whereas he was basically starring at a reflection of himself. I totally had the higher ground there. When I figured he’s probably dead-ass serious, I said “absolutely” and really tried to keep rest of my rant PG13 which was a nice exercise. But yeah, it has finally happened! Somebody called me out for using swearwords. At the age of 35. It’s all good. I don’t mind and the guy has a story of making this young tatted-up junkie shut up, saving the day for both him and his wife. More power to him! It’s an interesting thing tho. I feel that me and most of my people use swearwords very loosely but we almost never aim them at people. And by doing that we kinda take quite a lotta power from them. It’s all fun and games. Some of the worst and hurtful things can be said without using a single one of them. The amount of swearwords isn’t really correlated with the degree of hurtfulness. But I guess there’s some people who see it differently. And to them, I’d really like to express my sincerest fucking apologies. Don’t mean to ruin your fucking day and shit, I’m just a motherfucker that really tries really hard. You know?

 

Okay, back to this blog. Last weeks was kinda business as usual. Lotta work, regular runs and workouts, some walks, a hangout with my friend from Adeje. Weather is still pretty warm over here although I wouldn’t mind a bit warmer mornings and nights. But that’s just me being spoiled. My people in Europe are fucking freezing these days. I got book once more for some diving for Friday and Saturday. It was a mom and a daughter doing an OWD together. I was expecting the kid to be easy and mom being a bit more difficult, turned out to be the other way around. We managed to do it all and even thought the dives weren’t like super eventful, it was good being down there. As always.

 

It’s Sunday early morning, I’m in the middle of my morning wourkout and I have the whole day of almost no responsibilities ahead. We’ll see how that goes. Hope everyone is safe, hope everyone is doing well, hope your spirits are high. Sending love to to all. One!

 

Highlights:

• Diving.
• Swearwords.
• Workouts.

Semester 13 Chapter XX: Communism Is Bad Unless It’s Like Really Good Looking And It’s Really Not Communism

I’m gonna have fun with this one. So… We have presidential election going on back home. First round has just passed and now we’re nervously waiting for the second one. On the fucking edge of our seats. Those who read this little blog of mine probably know where I’m at at the political spectrum. So this won’t surprise you. Similar to the rest of the world, we have this weird thing with leftism in the Czech Republic. Yes, we had communism for 40 years and yes, it was a criminal regime responsible for unjustifiable things. I’m not here to debate that. I would also like to point out that you can say basically the same about regimes all over Europe and US nowadays. The fact that our shit is made by kids in Bangladesh and mined by kids in Congo doesn’t really matter in the bigger picture now, does it... The fact that we are literally ruled by super rich who we celebrate as geniuses and new-age messiahs while those fuckers destroy lives and the very planet we live on isn’t very nice neither, is it… The fact that you can barely afford to pay rent on average salary in our cities these days is also kinda fucked, right? Okay, I believe I’m kinda making my point here. Apparently, we are in a situation where left X right spectrum moved to alt-right X right. Social democrats globally have usually very little to do with the concept of social democrats. In the Czech Republic, any social measure is almost always met with counter-screams such as “communism”, “gulags”, “Stalin”… Let free market deal with shit. Regulated rent? Taxing the rich? Environment? Equality among humans? Supporting non-white immigrants from war zones? Nah man, we’re good. All that bullshit is communist and we don’t want that. So at the moment, we have two presidential candidates going at it live. One is like the richest guy in the country and former prime minister prosecuted basically by everybody for all kinds of frauds within his multi-billion dollar empire. Has kinda Trump vibes. The last thing he cares about are poor people but in the absence of functioning left, he has somehow become their voice. The other guy is a former general in military, he spent some time in NATO structures and he’s kinda hot. Good shape, silver fox vibes, nice voice. Oh and he’s also totally a former Soviet era communist. He’s not one anymore simply because the regime fell in the late 80s. He has a real chance of winning this whole shit show which is fine I guess. Still feels like a less bad choice than the other guy. But I got two points here. First of all, nobody can tell me that like 95% of his appeal are his looks. I fucking guarantee if you had a fat bald guy with two chins, weird voice and a career in the “most hated regime” in the modern Czech history, he wouldn’t have come anywhere close to where he is now. And no, I don’t think 95% is exaggeration. I actually feel like he’s a male version of a “hot bitch” in hip-hop videos. I believe we are in a historical moment of a man being low-key objectified and people don’t talk about it enough. I’m expecting him writing a book titled “I’m not just a piece of meat” in about a year or two. Second, I see this fascinating turn in people. For whatever kind of reason, people who can spend hours talking shit on communism, throwing everybody who had anything to do with the party in the bag of spineless opportunists… Basically people who really see that part of our history in black and white (regardless of what they had or hadn’t been doing themselves at that time)… They suddenly don’t give a shit. Let’s vote for the hot guy. He’s solid. Like not in the “lesser of two evils” kind of way. Really in “this is the guy for real” kind of way. I personally don’t believe in black and white interpretation of this thing right here but I’m also not heavily invested in arguing with anybody. It’s just fascinating to watch. Both of these fuckers are shit. And yes, I’d give it to the hot guy too if I had to. But like that old South Park episode… Every presidential election is basically a choice between a shit and a turd. So I guess let’s hope the hot guy ends up on classrooms’ pictures, on stamps and shit like that. Because that’s honestly the biggest contribution to anything I can realistically see him doing. Yay, Czech Republic.

 

Okay, that felt good. Now back to this. So I’m good. I’m still kinda decompressing and catering more to my antisocial self. Last week, I met up with a friend one day and hung out with her while she was looking after this kid (it’s her side gig). We usually have a pretty easy energy, time flew and kid was pretty entertaining. We got some well deserved ice cream by the end of the day. I also got contacted by the dive center I dived with about a year ago. Ran by the Czech guy I met on my mission in Croatia. They needed someone for the weekend, I was available. I asked for a bit more money, they said yes, I did the course. All good. On Saturday, we actually had quite a lot of beers and properly caught up. I don’t think we’re becoming like real friends anytime soon but I also don’t feel any kinda animosity. Royce once said “holding a grudge is like letting somebody live inside your head rent-free” and I don’t really do that shit. Felt good to be back in water tho.

 

My teaching goes well too. I really work quite a lot but I feel good about it. Shit’s moving. Running is good, working out is good, eating habits are good, I feel good in this motherfucker. Honestly tho, watching people’s diets and routines sometimes scares me. Shit people are willing to eat… Christ. Anyways, frequencies are right, weather is good, life is nice. Hope y’all having a blast too. Sending love to everyone reading. One!

Highlights:

• Work.
• Diving.
• Objectifying men.

Semester 13 Chapter XIX: It’s Still All Love

Yo, we’re back in the bitch. Yesterday, I had a short chat with my man from back in Shanghai which made me realize for how long I’ve been writing this blog. Shit is a fucking testament at this point. One of these days, I’m gonna start going back to refresh some memories. Anyways, I hope you 2023 has started the way you wanted to. Surround yourself with positive energy, get rid of all the negative shit, spend some time with yourself, keep on figuring shit out. Read the room before you open your mouth, think twice before you start preaching and make sure everybody you love knows that. We’re all fortunate enough to see another year but let’s not take this whole thing for granted and let’s not tolerate bullshit. In our households, in our backyards, in our communities. Speak up when you feel shit’s not right, remove yourself from all toxic situations. That’s basically my game plan for the next one.

 

Okay now last week… My friend was here till Friday and again… It felt good having someone around for a change. It made more sense coming up with shit, it was cool having evening drinks, doing hikes, chilling by the sea and generally sharing moments. Happy it all went well and I’m pretty sure both of us felt good by the time I drove her to the airport. Oh, and some fucker smashed the front door of Pluto. It’s not too bad, it’s just a bit pressed in… Doesn’t have any impact on its functionality but still… Whoever is responsible for this… It’s your karma bro…

 

Friday evening, I managed to meet with my friend from Adeje whom I hadn’t seen in a while. That was also cool. I spent Saturday decompressing. I did a full workout, I did my run, I went down to the sea to do some reading, went shopping too. Getting back to my shit. Now I got the new French Montana in my headphones, weather is awesome, got one class to teach ahead of me. Feeling good.

 

I’m really going harder on work in general. Feels like I’m exactly where I set out to be couple of weeks back. Can’t complain. So again, hope all of you are doing well, hope you’re managing staying sane in this crazy world and hope this year is nice to us. One!

Highlights:

• The hangouts.
• Chilling around Medano.
• Running again.

Semester 13 Chapter XVIII: Zero Fucks Given

Yo, 2023 on deck. My 1987 born ass is getting fucking aged in this motherfucker. Still have no idea where this whole shit is heading, still continuously going on and on with my demons, still the same asshole… Hopefully with a little more insight on some things.

2022 was an interesting one. I feel most of the changes I’ve been through were kinda internal. First of all, I’m basically out of being a diving instructor. It has been a great chapter of my life and I’m forever grateful for being able to go through it but the time has come. I’m not gonna name anybody but all you motherfuckers I've had a chance to work with long-term ain’t shit. That goes for every single one of you. And the sad part is that from business perspective it actually works. You can just drain souls out of new instructors and then proceed to get some fresh meat. I wish it was different. I wish PADI wouldn’t stand for Put Another Dollar In, I wish dive instructors had some sort of union and their conditions were somewhat comparable to say a cashier in a supermarket. Because no, 40-50 EUR for about 7-8 hour working day is not okay (and specifically not in situations when the instructor handles larger groups of people making hundreds of EUR for the session). Especially considering the fact these people are responsible for human lives, create lifelong memories and work their asses off physically. And no, 6 days working week is also not okay. What is this? Medieval times? Furthermore, having a paid leave or sick days is kind of a standard everywhere. Not in diving tho. Can you imagine even coming up with shit like that in any other field? What are we doing? The fact that most of you fuckers don’t even do real contracts (because honestly, it would be illegal to include all this crap in them) is just a cherry on the top. I love this thing. I’m a diver as much as I’m a runner. Being down there is as natural to me as going for a walk at this point. But I can’t do this anymore. Not to myself, not to my energy. It just doesn’t feel right. So yeah, maybe a gig here and there, maybe diving with some friends once in a while, hopefully moving somewhere nice and going for fun dives as a customer. But for the time being, my aspirations on taking this thing seriously as a job are gone. I wanna express my sincere gratitude to all the beautiful souls I have met on the way. All the great adventures, all the people I turned into divers, all the people who came and went, all the people who I’ve made friends with and stayed in touch. This will never go away. And who knows… Maybe at some point under different circumstances, I’ll jump back into it again.

 

There’s been more things connected to what I just wrote. Since I don’t expect to dive very often now, I switched my focus fully on teaching. Therefore Tenerife doesn’t make sense anymore. I love this island but it has its limitations and with diving off the table, there’s really not that many reasons to stay. So 2023… I’m leaving this island by the end of April, moving back to the Czech Republic for couple of weeks. In June, I’m flying to Canada for about a month to visit some of my favorite people who live there. And for the next winter, who knows. Lotta shit can happen. I can fall back in love with Brno and stay there. However, I think some plan on how to avoid European winter is more likely. I’m looking at Asia or Mexico. Grab my laptop, move somewhere warm for half a year and then get back. But this is yet to be determined.

 

Last week, I was actually booked for diving by a center in Medano. Since most of my students took time off between the holidays, I had some extra time on my hands and I took up on it. Eventually, all Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were total shit in terms of weather tho so it all got canceled. However, I got asked to lead a dive on Thursday too and since I got a friend who dives coming to visit Wednesday afternoon, I accepted and took her along. I worked with a lovely group of divers, we had a great time and we saw a fucking angel shark. Not like passing by real quick. We found that motherfucker sleeping. Then he woke up, swam really slowly for a bit and then rested again. Point being, we got good 20 minutes with the animal. That shit doesn’t happen.

 

Rest of the week, I mostly hung out with the friend. It’s refreshing having somebody physically around. Makes it exciting to go places, to do hikes, to go out for beers. On Saturday, we did another dive at Montana Amarilla. This time it was only the two of us. The dive was good but I underestimated waves so the water exit was shit. We survived tho. In the evening, we hopped in Pluto and went to a NYE rave not far from the village of Arico. I was a bit worried about the journey as Pluto doesn’t really like steep hills, but it all went smooth. We got there, enjoyed beautiful views, sky full of stars and eventually jump into the psy-trance madness. Dancing, vibing, feeling good. In the morning, we took a nap in the car and since it was a bit cold, we took it back home. The morning drive was nice. Roads were basically empty and sun was rising.

 

So yeah, January 1^st in this bitch. I’ve had a pretty good start of this one and I hope you guys have too. I have spoken with majority of my close ones already but the ones I missed… Just know that I’m appreciative for having all of you in my life. I’m a fucking weirdo and sometimes I’m not in touch as much as I should, sometimes I retreat into my cave not really speaking to anybody for a bit but I cherish it all. Every fucking human connection I got means a lot to me and I feel fortunate for having a plethora of solid individuals in my circle. There’s much more to come next year. One!

Highlights:

• The rave.
• Angel shark.
• Pluto.