This weekend I went on a weekend trip to Ireland! I went with my roommate, Elana, and our friend Jeff.
We flew in to Dublin late Thursday night, and were incredibly excited but also super tired because it was midnight when we arrived. Jeff went to his hotel, and Elana and I went to her friend's apartment, where we crashed for the night.
Friday morning, we all met up and went on a three-and-a-half hour walking tour of the city. The tour was free of cost but tips were encouraged, and it was an excellent tour. We saw Trinity College, Dublin Castle, O'Connell Street, Temple Bar, the River Liffey, St. Stephen's Green, and much more. Our tour guide, Peter, was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable and did a great job of telling the history of the city. Afterwards, we had lunch at a pub. Then, Elana and I wandered for a bit. Afterwards, I went and checked into a hostel because Elana's friend's couch had caused me some serious back pain the night before, and because I wanted to see what it was like to stay at a hostel. I went to Kinlay House, which is right near city hall and near all the action, on recommendation from Bob, who stayed there when he was in Dublin. For 18 Euro, I got a bunk bed with linens and a towel, free wifi, continental breakfast, and lots of other stuff that I didn't get the chance to take advantage of because I was only there for two nights. It was an excellent deal, the staff were incredibly friendly, the place was clean, and I'd highly recommend it.
Friday night was "Culture Night", which meant that a bunch of museums and historic sites were open late and were free to the public. Jeff and I went to see the Book of Kells (which looked... like a book. a pretty book, but a book.) We also went to the National Museum of Archaeology, which was fantastic. They had exhibits on bog people found preserved and incredibly intact, along with some ancient Egyptian and Roman art. After that, we headed to a restaurant near my hostel.
I don't think I've mentioned this about the Czech Republic, but customer service is sorely lacking here. Waitresses and shopkeepers are generally noncommunicative, if not outrightly rude. Rarely does one get a smile or small talk. Apparently I've gotten used to this, because when our lovely waiter came and talked to us, I was thrilled that he was nice to us. He was very kind. At one point, a group of four came in and he was trying to figure out where to put them. I asked if he wanted me and Jeff to move so that the group could sit together, and he chuckled and said no, it was alright, but that I was a sweetheart and thanks so much. Anyways, apparently I had made a friend.
Saturday, all three of us went on a tour outside of the city. The tour, by Over the Top Tours, took us through County Wicklow and Glendalough. I must admit, I was a bit disappointed by Dublin as a city, but the countryside was everything I had expected and more. We saw peat bogs and hills and forests and waterfalls and lakes, an old monastery, and everything was incredibly green, and there were sheep... it was fantastic. The tour guide was very cool, and told us about both historical sites but also where celebrities had stayed on past visits (Mia Farrow and Daniel Day Lewis have homes in County Wicklow, and many celebrities including Mick Jagger, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Mel Gibson have spent time there at one time or another). I took about 8 zillion pictures, and loved every minute of it. We also saw where scenes from Braveheart and PS, I Love You were filmed. The tour was definitely the highlight of the whole weekend.
After that, Elana's friend Micah joined us and we went to dinner at a genuine Irish pub. I had a shepherd's pie and chips, and had a shot of Jameson Irish Whiskey with my meal. Then, we went back to the restaurant where Jeff and I had been the night before for dessert. The waiter recognized me, continued his witty banter, and in the process dubbed me "Rosie" (I have no clue why).
After a lovely dessert, we headed to a nearby pub to take in the famous Dublin nightlife. We found one with a guy playing live music, it was just him on his acoustic guitar, and he was really good. We sat and talked and watched football, and me and Jeff took a shot of Jameson, while Elana enjoyed a Smirnoff Ice. After awhile, we decided to check out the nightclub downstairs from the pub. It was an 80s themed club, and when we got there it was pretty dead, but it picked up towards the end of the evening. We had a great time dancing. At that point, it was time for all of us to hit the sack, because we had had such a long day.
Sunday morning, we met up, and Jeff and I headed to see St. Patrick Cathedral while Elana and Micah went to the Jewish Quarter. We weren't able to go into the church because services were going on, but we got to see the lovely park next to it. After that, we basically met back up with Elana and Micah and chilled for the rest of the afternoon until we had to head back to the airport.
The trip was, all in all, a great success. I enjoyed Ireland, and hope to go back someday (seeing as I didn't get to go to Knock or Cork!)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
I have put off this blog post long enough! Numerous times now, I've sat down to blog but have felt overwhelmed because so. darn. much. has happened since last time. So I have decided that I will give you an extremely watered-down version of recent events.
My friend, Sam, came to visit me the weekend of the 9th! He stayed Thursday through Sunday. We had a fantastic time, and it was wonderful to hang out with someone from home. We went to the Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral (even up in the tower!) and Old Town Square, and it was fun just to show him the city. It made me realize how quickly i've adapted to life here, and how much I had already learned even though I had only had one week of class!
I've been in class for a couple weeks now. So far, they're all pretty interesting. Here's the breakdown:
- Czech Republic in Transition, Communism to the EU: This class was one I wasn't looking forward to taking, as it focuses on economics, not my cup of tea. The readings are hard for me to get through, especially since the only time I've ever taken a course in Econ was junior year of high school. However, the professor is INCREDIBLE. He's sarcastic and funny and tells funny stories and is really good at keeping us engaged.
- Prague, Vienna, and Budapest, An Intellectual History: This class is really interesting in that it's interdisciplinary, and we cover a lot of random subjects. To illustrate, the first week we talked about the famous Ring Street in Vienna along with architecture in Budapest and Prague. The second week we talked about some philosophy and applied it to Kafka's Metamorphosis. It's a bit difficult for me to bounce around from subject to subject so quickly, but the content of the course itself is incredibly interesting. The professor is a very nice, somewhat softspoken, but nonetheless witty man, but unfortunately, he has a kind of monotonous voice that makes it very easy to zone out.
- Political and Cultural History of Eastern Central Europe: This class makes me feel inadequate, because I obviously have forgotten, or simply haven't learned, much world history. The focus of my World History class in high school leaned towards ancient history, and I feel like WWI-present got squished in at the last second. However, I'm keeping pace alright, and it's really fascinating stuff. It's incredible to get a Czech perspective on historical events. For example, the Munich agreement is referred to as "The Munich Betrayal". When you read about it in American textbooks, they made the agreement seem like a desperate, yet noble attempt at appeasement. Not so here. Anyways, the main instructor has been out of town for the past week and a half, so we've had a substitute who tries very hard but whose English isn't the greatest.
- Nationalism, Minorities, and Migration in East/Central Europe: Block class. Which to me makes this class difficult to sit through. However, the contents of the class have been interesting so far. I'm particularly looking forward to learning about the Roma people, especially with how much they've been in the news lately due to their expulsion from France.
So that's the scoop on my classes. As a whole, they are going ok. However, there is a TON of reading for these classes. It can be overwhelming at times, and I can't tell if it's because there's more than I'm used to, or if it's because it's not in subjects that I'm particularly well-versed in. Either way, I'm doing my best to stay on top of things despite a strong knack for procrastination.
This is one heckuva long post, so I'll stop here. More about things that have happened, like my trip to Cesky Krumlov and such, next time.
My friend, Sam, came to visit me the weekend of the 9th! He stayed Thursday through Sunday. We had a fantastic time, and it was wonderful to hang out with someone from home. We went to the Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral (even up in the tower!) and Old Town Square, and it was fun just to show him the city. It made me realize how quickly i've adapted to life here, and how much I had already learned even though I had only had one week of class!
I've been in class for a couple weeks now. So far, they're all pretty interesting. Here's the breakdown:
- Czech Republic in Transition, Communism to the EU: This class was one I wasn't looking forward to taking, as it focuses on economics, not my cup of tea. The readings are hard for me to get through, especially since the only time I've ever taken a course in Econ was junior year of high school. However, the professor is INCREDIBLE. He's sarcastic and funny and tells funny stories and is really good at keeping us engaged.
- Prague, Vienna, and Budapest, An Intellectual History: This class is really interesting in that it's interdisciplinary, and we cover a lot of random subjects. To illustrate, the first week we talked about the famous Ring Street in Vienna along with architecture in Budapest and Prague. The second week we talked about some philosophy and applied it to Kafka's Metamorphosis. It's a bit difficult for me to bounce around from subject to subject so quickly, but the content of the course itself is incredibly interesting. The professor is a very nice, somewhat softspoken, but nonetheless witty man, but unfortunately, he has a kind of monotonous voice that makes it very easy to zone out.
- Political and Cultural History of Eastern Central Europe: This class makes me feel inadequate, because I obviously have forgotten, or simply haven't learned, much world history. The focus of my World History class in high school leaned towards ancient history, and I feel like WWI-present got squished in at the last second. However, I'm keeping pace alright, and it's really fascinating stuff. It's incredible to get a Czech perspective on historical events. For example, the Munich agreement is referred to as "The Munich Betrayal". When you read about it in American textbooks, they made the agreement seem like a desperate, yet noble attempt at appeasement. Not so here. Anyways, the main instructor has been out of town for the past week and a half, so we've had a substitute who tries very hard but whose English isn't the greatest.
- Nationalism, Minorities, and Migration in East/Central Europe: Block class. Which to me makes this class difficult to sit through. However, the contents of the class have been interesting so far. I'm particularly looking forward to learning about the Roma people, especially with how much they've been in the news lately due to their expulsion from France.
So that's the scoop on my classes. As a whole, they are going ok. However, there is a TON of reading for these classes. It can be overwhelming at times, and I can't tell if it's because there's more than I'm used to, or if it's because it's not in subjects that I'm particularly well-versed in. Either way, I'm doing my best to stay on top of things despite a strong knack for procrastination.
This is one heckuva long post, so I'll stop here. More about things that have happened, like my trip to Cesky Krumlov and such, next time.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Czech word of the day: Kostel- Church
This is a very strange post for me to write, because it deals with events that caused a great amount of introspection on my part.
As you may or may not know, for the past few years I have no longer considered myself to be Catholic. I tend to identify myself as a secular humanist or agnostic when asked about my faith. I maintain that I am open to discovering a spirituality that "fits", but have yet to do so. And while I respect religious beliefs and practices, I have a personal distaste for organized religion in general.
So, some people might find it strange that I opted to head to Catholic Mass today.
One of the sights I have wanted to see in Prague is the Infant of Prague statue, which can be found at the Church of Our Lady Victorious in Old Town. While looking up information on it yesterday, I found that there is an English mass at noon every Sunday. I remembered how cool it was to go to Mass in Notre Dame when I was in Paris, so I thought hey, why not.
I went by myself, because almost everyone in the program is Jewish. I dressed kinda nice because I wasn't sure how formal of a parish it was going to be. On the way to the church, I stopped by Charles Bridge to take pictures of the statue of St. John Nepomucene.
I got to the church like an hour and a half early, but it was open, so I decided to go in to see the statue. The church was interesting, because it had very bland walls and architectural elements, but then tons of golden decorations. Baby Jesus was hanging out in a glass box on the side of the church, surrounded by tons of gold cherubs and such. My cynicism broke through at that point, and I caught myself smiling at the absurdity that people regularly come from all over the world to see this 1 foot tall doll made of wax and wood.
I had some time to kill, so I went to a cafe, and returned in time for mass. Imagine how I felt when the first notes of the song "Sing a New Song" began playing on the pipe organ! I was caught off-guard a bit, but it was nice.
The priest was from India, I believe, and had an Indian and Czech accent when he spoke English, so it was a bit hard to understand him at times. That being said, the whole mass was familiar. I got a bit misty-eyed a couple of times, because it was the most home-like setting I've been in since I've gotten here. The homily was very good, and the priest even addressed the main issue I had with the particular gospel. It was hard to tell who were regular parishoners and who were just visiting like me, but even the lectors wore jeans, and the whole service was very casual. Two little girls were in charge of the collection, and the whole thing had a very St. Pat's vibe to it.
So, who would have thought that the place in Prague where I feel most at home would be a church? I'm certainly considering going again sometime.
As you may or may not know, for the past few years I have no longer considered myself to be Catholic. I tend to identify myself as a secular humanist or agnostic when asked about my faith. I maintain that I am open to discovering a spirituality that "fits", but have yet to do so. And while I respect religious beliefs and practices, I have a personal distaste for organized religion in general.
So, some people might find it strange that I opted to head to Catholic Mass today.
One of the sights I have wanted to see in Prague is the Infant of Prague statue, which can be found at the Church of Our Lady Victorious in Old Town. While looking up information on it yesterday, I found that there is an English mass at noon every Sunday. I remembered how cool it was to go to Mass in Notre Dame when I was in Paris, so I thought hey, why not.
I went by myself, because almost everyone in the program is Jewish. I dressed kinda nice because I wasn't sure how formal of a parish it was going to be. On the way to the church, I stopped by Charles Bridge to take pictures of the statue of St. John Nepomucene.
I got to the church like an hour and a half early, but it was open, so I decided to go in to see the statue. The church was interesting, because it had very bland walls and architectural elements, but then tons of golden decorations. Baby Jesus was hanging out in a glass box on the side of the church, surrounded by tons of gold cherubs and such. My cynicism broke through at that point, and I caught myself smiling at the absurdity that people regularly come from all over the world to see this 1 foot tall doll made of wax and wood.
I had some time to kill, so I went to a cafe, and returned in time for mass. Imagine how I felt when the first notes of the song "Sing a New Song" began playing on the pipe organ! I was caught off-guard a bit, but it was nice.
The priest was from India, I believe, and had an Indian and Czech accent when he spoke English, so it was a bit hard to understand him at times. That being said, the whole mass was familiar. I got a bit misty-eyed a couple of times, because it was the most home-like setting I've been in since I've gotten here. The homily was very good, and the priest even addressed the main issue I had with the particular gospel. It was hard to tell who were regular parishoners and who were just visiting like me, but even the lectors wore jeans, and the whole service was very casual. Two little girls were in charge of the collection, and the whole thing had a very St. Pat's vibe to it.
So, who would have thought that the place in Prague where I feel most at home would be a church? I'm certainly considering going again sometime.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Nice Driveway!
So, today was long, but good.
It started out with Czech class, which honestly at this point is nearly unbearable. Tomorrow is our last 4-hour class, thank heaven. Hopefully having other classes will give me a break from all the intensive linguistic torture that is the Czech language.
After class, I went on a tour of Josefov, the Jewish Quarter of Prague. This wasn't a required tour for me, but I decided to go along cuz I figured I might learn something. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware that it was going to be a 5-hour long excursion. Our tour guide was interesting, but she kept going off on tangents, and then giving us only 10 minutes to look around the synagogues. Anyways, it was pretty awesome to go into the Old-New Synagogue, which is the oldest continuously-run synagogue in the world (built in the 13th century). We also went into the Spanish synagogue, and two others whose names escape me at the moment. By far the most moving part was the synagogue that had the names of all of the Czech Jews that had died in the Holocaust written on the walls... it was mind-boggling to see so many names.
This evening was also interesting. Zuzana had some friends that wanted to hang out with us and practice their English, so me and Elana went out with them. The guys were named Jara and Jon. They took us to a club called Cross Club, which was AWESOME. It's really tough to describe, but basically the whole building, including the patio outside and all the rooms inside, is decorated in scrap metal sculptures. There were tons of gears and pipes and all kinds of stuff everywhere you looked. Two bands played while we were there, the first was a kinda crappy Ska band, and the other was a rock band. It was really interesting to sit and talk with Jon and Jara, but I got the feeling they thought that we were kind of killjoys because we refused to drink much cuz it was a school night. But they were really cool and really nice, and I hope we get to go out with them again.
It started out with Czech class, which honestly at this point is nearly unbearable. Tomorrow is our last 4-hour class, thank heaven. Hopefully having other classes will give me a break from all the intensive linguistic torture that is the Czech language.
After class, I went on a tour of Josefov, the Jewish Quarter of Prague. This wasn't a required tour for me, but I decided to go along cuz I figured I might learn something. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware that it was going to be a 5-hour long excursion. Our tour guide was interesting, but she kept going off on tangents, and then giving us only 10 minutes to look around the synagogues. Anyways, it was pretty awesome to go into the Old-New Synagogue, which is the oldest continuously-run synagogue in the world (built in the 13th century). We also went into the Spanish synagogue, and two others whose names escape me at the moment. By far the most moving part was the synagogue that had the names of all of the Czech Jews that had died in the Holocaust written on the walls... it was mind-boggling to see so many names.
This evening was also interesting. Zuzana had some friends that wanted to hang out with us and practice their English, so me and Elana went out with them. The guys were named Jara and Jon. They took us to a club called Cross Club, which was AWESOME. It's really tough to describe, but basically the whole building, including the patio outside and all the rooms inside, is decorated in scrap metal sculptures. There were tons of gears and pipes and all kinds of stuff everywhere you looked. Two bands played while we were there, the first was a kinda crappy Ska band, and the other was a rock band. It was really interesting to sit and talk with Jon and Jara, but I got the feeling they thought that we were kind of killjoys because we refused to drink much cuz it was a school night. But they were really cool and really nice, and I hope we get to go out with them again.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Today I'm feeling a lot better today than I was yesterday.
Czech class today was interesting. I guess I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to language, because people were falling asleep in class but I was really into it. The pronunciation is starting to come a bit more naturally. I had forgotten the worst part of learning a new language is the rote memorization involved... so much vocabulary. And since we have Czech class 4 hours per day this week, it's pretty fast paced. But it's really really cool that I'm starting to recognize words. It's also nice to be able to say hello and thank you and such in a shop, because I felt so ignorant not knowing ANYTHING.
After class, I had a bit of time off, then it was time for the guided walking tour of Prague. It was really cool to get the back story on a lot of the monuments and things. The guide was excellent and made sure to recommend restaurants and spots to spend time. I got to go back by Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral... I have a feeling I'll head there often, it's just so beautiful, and the view from the top of the hill is literally breathtaking.
Amusing sights from today:
- A child wearing a do-rag. He looked to be about 4.
- A guy with a mohawk wearing a kilt
Czech class today was interesting. I guess I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to language, because people were falling asleep in class but I was really into it. The pronunciation is starting to come a bit more naturally. I had forgotten the worst part of learning a new language is the rote memorization involved... so much vocabulary. And since we have Czech class 4 hours per day this week, it's pretty fast paced. But it's really really cool that I'm starting to recognize words. It's also nice to be able to say hello and thank you and such in a shop, because I felt so ignorant not knowing ANYTHING.
After class, I had a bit of time off, then it was time for the guided walking tour of Prague. It was really cool to get the back story on a lot of the monuments and things. The guide was excellent and made sure to recommend restaurants and spots to spend time. I got to go back by Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral... I have a feeling I'll head there often, it's just so beautiful, and the view from the top of the hill is literally breathtaking.
Amusing sights from today:
- A child wearing a do-rag. He looked to be about 4.
- A guy with a mohawk wearing a kilt
Monday, August 30, 2010
It's certainly been an eventful couple of days.
Saturday, Elana and I went to Plzen to go check out the Pilsnerfest. This was a somewhat spontaneous move, which made for some difficulties. We had no problem (surprisingly) getting to the train station (Havlani Namesti) here in Prague and buying tickets to Plzen, or even finding the train. But once we got to Plzen, things were a bit difficult. Unlike in Prague, there was no English signage anywhere. The information booth at the train station was closed. And due to poor foresight on our part, neither Elana nor I knew anything about Plzen. We hadn't even looked at a map of the city. This realization was somewhat overwhelming, and it made for a frustrated, tense half hour or so. We began to wander, hoping to find either someone to ask or signs or some sort of map. The weird thing was that almost everything was closed, stores and restaurants alike. I hadn't eaten lunch yet at this point and it was already past 3, so I was certainly grumpy. We made our way towards a large museum, then heard music. We followed our ears and found Pilsnerfest!
Pilsnerfest was interesting. It was on the grounds of the historic Pilsner Urquell brewery, the birthplace of Pilsner beer. There were a ton of people, including parents with their young children. Again, there was nothing in English. We made our way around the festival. It consisted mostly of tents selling beer, tents selling more beer, tents selling all kinds of unknown foods (some of which looked pretty unappetizing, to be frank), some stages with live music, some inflatable carnival-type things, and a ton of people.
I was overwhelmed by the whole thing, so when I saw a stand selling hot dogs, I wimped out and went for the familiar. I also bought a beer, which I tried to drink.. but after a few sips I couldn't stand it because it was so bitter.
We left Pilsnerfest and went back towards the museum, where there was a beautiful garden. After exploring that, we decided to head back to the train station, and took the train home to Prague.
Yesterday, we had the second half of our orientation, in the form of a scavenger hunt. I was teamed up with a guy named Peter and two girls, Emma and Hayley. I knew Hayley a tiny bit because I'd seen her around AU. We did an awesome job running around Prague collecting things and answering questions. It was a lot of fun, and we got to see a lot of sights that I plan on returning too, particularly Prague Castle, home of St. Vitus Cathedral, by far the most beautiful building I've ever seen.
Today was the first of our intensive Czech classes. It was really overwhelming to be at the beginning of learning this complex language, but our teacher is very kind and patient. I still haven't gotten some of the pronounciation down well yet, but I should with practice. Afterwards, I just came home and took a long nap. I'm feeling a bit under the weather, and I can't tell how much of it is just being constantly overwhelmed and exhausted, how much is fatigue, how much is just me being in a mood. Tomorrow morning I have Czech class again, and in the afternoon I go on a walking tour of Prague. Tonight, I need to head to the store to get notebooks and some other miscellaneous things.... I just have to get motivated to go to the store, which I know will be another challenge. But I'm trying to keep positive and remember that overcoming these small challenges is what studying abroad is all about.
Saturday, Elana and I went to Plzen to go check out the Pilsnerfest. This was a somewhat spontaneous move, which made for some difficulties. We had no problem (surprisingly) getting to the train station (Havlani Namesti) here in Prague and buying tickets to Plzen, or even finding the train. But once we got to Plzen, things were a bit difficult. Unlike in Prague, there was no English signage anywhere. The information booth at the train station was closed. And due to poor foresight on our part, neither Elana nor I knew anything about Plzen. We hadn't even looked at a map of the city. This realization was somewhat overwhelming, and it made for a frustrated, tense half hour or so. We began to wander, hoping to find either someone to ask or signs or some sort of map. The weird thing was that almost everything was closed, stores and restaurants alike. I hadn't eaten lunch yet at this point and it was already past 3, so I was certainly grumpy. We made our way towards a large museum, then heard music. We followed our ears and found Pilsnerfest!
Pilsnerfest was interesting. It was on the grounds of the historic Pilsner Urquell brewery, the birthplace of Pilsner beer. There were a ton of people, including parents with their young children. Again, there was nothing in English. We made our way around the festival. It consisted mostly of tents selling beer, tents selling more beer, tents selling all kinds of unknown foods (some of which looked pretty unappetizing, to be frank), some stages with live music, some inflatable carnival-type things, and a ton of people.
I was overwhelmed by the whole thing, so when I saw a stand selling hot dogs, I wimped out and went for the familiar. I also bought a beer, which I tried to drink.. but after a few sips I couldn't stand it because it was so bitter.
We left Pilsnerfest and went back towards the museum, where there was a beautiful garden. After exploring that, we decided to head back to the train station, and took the train home to Prague.
Yesterday, we had the second half of our orientation, in the form of a scavenger hunt. I was teamed up with a guy named Peter and two girls, Emma and Hayley. I knew Hayley a tiny bit because I'd seen her around AU. We did an awesome job running around Prague collecting things and answering questions. It was a lot of fun, and we got to see a lot of sights that I plan on returning too, particularly Prague Castle, home of St. Vitus Cathedral, by far the most beautiful building I've ever seen.
Today was the first of our intensive Czech classes. It was really overwhelming to be at the beginning of learning this complex language, but our teacher is very kind and patient. I still haven't gotten some of the pronounciation down well yet, but I should with practice. Afterwards, I just came home and took a long nap. I'm feeling a bit under the weather, and I can't tell how much of it is just being constantly overwhelmed and exhausted, how much is fatigue, how much is just me being in a mood. Tomorrow morning I have Czech class again, and in the afternoon I go on a walking tour of Prague. Tonight, I need to head to the store to get notebooks and some other miscellaneous things.... I just have to get motivated to go to the store, which I know will be another challenge. But I'm trying to keep positive and remember that overcoming these small challenges is what studying abroad is all about.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Ahoj!
So I definitely planned to write EVERYTHING about this trip down, but already I've fallen short of that goal. However, the trip is young and I plan to document it as best I can.
My journey here was mostly uneventful. On the 8 hour flight from JFK to PRG, I sat next to a slightly large, very friendly Russian woman. I'm not much of a talker on plane rides, especially since I knew I wanted to get some sleep on the red-eye, but I did end up talking to her some. She was from Brooklyn, and was going to a Spa outside of Prague for a few weeks because her sons sent her. She was a nice lady, but she had some practical issues... She couldn't figure out how to adjust her seatbelt, so I did that for her. Then, we both were watching one of the in-flight movies (Ugh, The Bounty Hunter). We had been watching for probably a half hour when she turns to me and says "so you speak Czech?" I replied in the negative, and she, puzzled, asked how it was that I was following the movie if I didn't understand the language. At this point I leaned over and changed the audio channel on her armrest to channel 2, which provided the English soundtrack for the movie. She was embarrassed and kept saying "Oh! So stupid! So stupid!" I felt bad. But she seemed to have an overall pleasant flight.
Upon arriving at the airport in Prague, I met up with three other girls from the program who were on my flight. The first two that I found were my apartment-mates. They were both from New York, and both seemed a bit out of it. I helped them exchange their money at the airport (after warning them that it would be a bad exchange rate, but they didn't care) and went to the baggage claim, after which I led the way to terminal two to meet our shuttle. By this time, comments such as "Wow, you're so, like, on top of everything" and "I guess I'm just in my own little world" had begun. In addition, they both had blackberries that work over here... and were messaging like crazy. My phone didn't have its SIM card activated, so it was unusable.
The shuttle was late, and we were the last to get dropped at our apartment. NYC girls (Laura and Sara) immediately laid claim to the bigger of the two bedrooms, but I didn't really mind, because the apartment is WAY nicer than I expected. There are 3 bedrooms... one I share with Elana, one for Laura and Sara, and one for Zuzana, a Slovakian woman living in Prague while studying at Charles University. I spent awhile unpacking, then Laura, Sara, Zuzana and I went to lunch (Elana hadn't arrived yet). The lunch was good, but Sara and Laura seemed a bit unnerved by the language barrier, and the different type of salad, and the fact that when they asked for water they were brought sparkling water. They also asked Suzanna some inane questions about clubs and drinking... at this point I was in a state of near-panic (or as close to panic as I could be, considering my body thought it was 5 am and I had only gotten 1 hour of sleep on the plane). Would everyone on the trip be as loose with their money and as into partying as these two? Was the amount of clothing I had brought, which I had thought to be excessive, actually woefully inadequate? Was I really in for a semester dealing with girls that reminded me of ladies I had gone to high school with? I went back to my room and laid down for a nap.
I slept like a log, even through my alarm, but was awakened by the arrival of my roommate, Elana (cue trumpets). We began talking, and found that we have much in common... her birthday is about a week before mine (21st birthday celebrations in Praha! Woohoo!), she does tech theater, we're both in the social sciences, we don't drink or party too much but are open to doing so while here, we're both into history and sightseeing and exploring... it seems as though we're gonna get along just fine!
Later in the evening, we headed to a restaurant to meet up with the whole group (about 30 students and some adults). We were kind of at the end of the table, which made socializing difficult, but it was fun. I had my first goulash.. it was really just beef with a thick gravy and a special, squishy bread. I also had a famous type of Slovakian cake.
Today was overwhelming but fun. We had orientation this morning, which was exciting because we started to find out about all the exciting things we get to do. Instead of a fall break, we're going on a Traveling Seminar to Krakow, Auschwitz, Brno, Vienna (and at least one more city whose name escapes me at the moment). I cannot wait to go to Poland and Austria! Then, later in the semester we're heading to Budapest. Soon, though, we're going to a small town in southern Bohemia, called Cesky Krumlov.
After orientation, we went to put credit on our czech cell phones and get our Charles University IDs. In the process, we ran into the International Folk Festival, which consisted of random little parades of people holding flags, playing instruments, and dancing in traditional garb. I hope to go back to see more of it sometimes in the next few days. It was highly amusing to see children in what looked like garden gnome hats and a man carrying his double bass, playing as he walked!
Afterwards, I had lunch with some of the group, then came home and have relaxed for most of the evening. Right now, there are like 20 people in our apartment... pregaming, despite the fact there's no need to since we can all drink. I have so far tasted a sip of Pilsner and a sip of .... some other type of beer, neither of which I like. Right now, I'm debating whether I should go out with them when they finally get their act together to go to the bar, or whether it's not worth it cuz it's so late and I'm tired. I don't want to be pegged as antisocial, but they've been here for at least an hour and it's already midnight... I suppose it depends on when they leave.
Well, that's all for now!
My journey here was mostly uneventful. On the 8 hour flight from JFK to PRG, I sat next to a slightly large, very friendly Russian woman. I'm not much of a talker on plane rides, especially since I knew I wanted to get some sleep on the red-eye, but I did end up talking to her some. She was from Brooklyn, and was going to a Spa outside of Prague for a few weeks because her sons sent her. She was a nice lady, but she had some practical issues... She couldn't figure out how to adjust her seatbelt, so I did that for her. Then, we both were watching one of the in-flight movies (Ugh, The Bounty Hunter). We had been watching for probably a half hour when she turns to me and says "so you speak Czech?" I replied in the negative, and she, puzzled, asked how it was that I was following the movie if I didn't understand the language. At this point I leaned over and changed the audio channel on her armrest to channel 2, which provided the English soundtrack for the movie. She was embarrassed and kept saying "Oh! So stupid! So stupid!" I felt bad. But she seemed to have an overall pleasant flight.
Upon arriving at the airport in Prague, I met up with three other girls from the program who were on my flight. The first two that I found were my apartment-mates. They were both from New York, and both seemed a bit out of it. I helped them exchange their money at the airport (after warning them that it would be a bad exchange rate, but they didn't care) and went to the baggage claim, after which I led the way to terminal two to meet our shuttle. By this time, comments such as "Wow, you're so, like, on top of everything" and "I guess I'm just in my own little world" had begun. In addition, they both had blackberries that work over here... and were messaging like crazy. My phone didn't have its SIM card activated, so it was unusable.
The shuttle was late, and we were the last to get dropped at our apartment. NYC girls (Laura and Sara) immediately laid claim to the bigger of the two bedrooms, but I didn't really mind, because the apartment is WAY nicer than I expected. There are 3 bedrooms... one I share with Elana, one for Laura and Sara, and one for Zuzana, a Slovakian woman living in Prague while studying at Charles University. I spent awhile unpacking, then Laura, Sara, Zuzana and I went to lunch (Elana hadn't arrived yet). The lunch was good, but Sara and Laura seemed a bit unnerved by the language barrier, and the different type of salad, and the fact that when they asked for water they were brought sparkling water. They also asked Suzanna some inane questions about clubs and drinking... at this point I was in a state of near-panic (or as close to panic as I could be, considering my body thought it was 5 am and I had only gotten 1 hour of sleep on the plane). Would everyone on the trip be as loose with their money and as into partying as these two? Was the amount of clothing I had brought, which I had thought to be excessive, actually woefully inadequate? Was I really in for a semester dealing with girls that reminded me of ladies I had gone to high school with? I went back to my room and laid down for a nap.
I slept like a log, even through my alarm, but was awakened by the arrival of my roommate, Elana (cue trumpets). We began talking, and found that we have much in common... her birthday is about a week before mine (21st birthday celebrations in Praha! Woohoo!), she does tech theater, we're both in the social sciences, we don't drink or party too much but are open to doing so while here, we're both into history and sightseeing and exploring... it seems as though we're gonna get along just fine!
Later in the evening, we headed to a restaurant to meet up with the whole group (about 30 students and some adults). We were kind of at the end of the table, which made socializing difficult, but it was fun. I had my first goulash.. it was really just beef with a thick gravy and a special, squishy bread. I also had a famous type of Slovakian cake.
Today was overwhelming but fun. We had orientation this morning, which was exciting because we started to find out about all the exciting things we get to do. Instead of a fall break, we're going on a Traveling Seminar to Krakow, Auschwitz, Brno, Vienna (and at least one more city whose name escapes me at the moment). I cannot wait to go to Poland and Austria! Then, later in the semester we're heading to Budapest. Soon, though, we're going to a small town in southern Bohemia, called Cesky Krumlov.
After orientation, we went to put credit on our czech cell phones and get our Charles University IDs. In the process, we ran into the International Folk Festival, which consisted of random little parades of people holding flags, playing instruments, and dancing in traditional garb. I hope to go back to see more of it sometimes in the next few days. It was highly amusing to see children in what looked like garden gnome hats and a man carrying his double bass, playing as he walked!
Afterwards, I had lunch with some of the group, then came home and have relaxed for most of the evening. Right now, there are like 20 people in our apartment... pregaming, despite the fact there's no need to since we can all drink. I have so far tasted a sip of Pilsner and a sip of .... some other type of beer, neither of which I like. Right now, I'm debating whether I should go out with them when they finally get their act together to go to the bar, or whether it's not worth it cuz it's so late and I'm tired. I don't want to be pegged as antisocial, but they've been here for at least an hour and it's already midnight... I suppose it depends on when they leave.
Well, that's all for now!
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