Let's speak Czech!

This post covers pretty much this past week in it's entirety because I finally have some free time to sit down and write this when it's not 12:30 am and I'm ridiculously tired, so it's going to be kind of lengthy, just warning you now.

So on Monday we started taking our required 2 week, 3 credit intensive Czech language class, and it's actually been pretty insane. We're in class every day from 9 - 1:15 with 2 15 minute breaks, and our teacher is really cool and everything, it's just that that's a lot of Czech in such a short amount of time. The language is also a pretty difficult one to master... the grammar part comes pretty easily to me because of the 7 years of Spanish I took in grade school, but the pronunciation and phonetics are so entirely different because Czech is a Slavic language, so their word formation is entirely different. We spend most of our class time on pronunciation and phonetical spelling, so it gets really tedious and frustrating super easily, but it'll all work out in the end. I'm starting to get the hang of it, so hopefully things will go quicker from here. My teacher said I had really good pronunciation, so obviously I must be doing something right, even if I feel like I'm not. I'm voluntarily taking Czech Language and Culture I throughout the whole semester because I really do want to try to learn the language enough so that I can at least have a conversation with someone at the grocery store or in a restaurant. I'm working on it.

So we've had all these orientations and walks around Prague in the afternoon after class, which has been really cool. We've had walks of Vysehrad (the district of Prague that our school is located in) and New Town (where a major portion of Charles University is located) as well as a walk through the Old Town, which is the famous historical center of Prague with the astronomical clock and all the fun touristy areas. The days are exhausting though, getting up at 7 for class, leaving my 8:15 to get to school by 9, then sitting in class until 1:15, grabbing lunch somewhere real quick (like the cafeteria in the basement where the check out guy knows us now and is super cool) to be back by 2:30 for orientation and such, but I really couldn't have asked for anything different. I'm having such a fantastic time and I've made so many new friends that I couldn't have asked for anything better. Prague is everything I imagined and more.

I've done a bunch of exploring on my own, too, though, which has probably been the best part. Early this week, me and a couple friends walked up the street that our school is on and found this huge castle complex that the district is named after on the top of the hill (hrad = castle, so Vysehrad is the name of the castle and the district) and walked on top of the fortress wall where we found the most beautiful view of Prague. You can basically look down at the city and see across the river, it was absolutely breathtaking. We've also explored the area around apartment a bunch, as well as Old Town and the historic center. Another place we ventured to was the outskirts of town with the student helper for the USAC program, Geiger to this small little pub where old people go every other Monday to play traditional Czech folk music and sing and dance, and it was such a fantastic time. Every one made friends with the locals and it was such a great time, I'll post a video on Facebook soon. We also went to this huge outdoor market (we found it on the second try... try one we went the wrong and got lost but found some really cool thrift stores, so it made up for it!) where everything was super cheap and they had so many things to choose from. We're definitely going back.

On a completely different note, I may actually be staying for a couple extra weeks at the end of the program to go backpacking with Ian across Europe before I come home. We're trying to work it out so that he can come meet me in Prague when I have to move out of the program housing here for the semester and then we'll just travel around Europe for a couple weeks and then head back home. I just think it would be so cool to do that and it's the perfect opportunity since I'll already be here and Ian can just come out and meet me and we'll do Europe the way we want to. :)

Well it's nap time now because I can't go to bed early tonight... we're going out to this huge 5 story music/dance club in the center of town that's apparently so much fun, so I'm excited! More on that later!

I'm here!

Gahh Prague is so amazing. The flight over Friday night/Saturday was really uneventful, I don't have much to write about that. The most interesting part was probably that I watched Avatar in it's entirety for the first time ever on the flight to London, so that took up a portion of my time. But basically I flew by myself from DC to London, and then took a group flight from London to Prague, so I got to meet a bunch of people in my program. Then we took a bus from the airport to our apartments where we met our resident director and his assistant student director. Our apartment building is so cool! It's above this restaurant called Pivovarsky Klub (pivo = beer in Czech) that has like 250 different beers to choose from on their menu, it's amazing. First off, the stairs are twisty, which I think is so cool, and there's so much room, the ceilings are super high and the rooms are ginormous, totally not what I was expecting. But anyway, last night we walked to dinner then took a little walking tour of the city center, and then basically the whole group when to this huge, multi-floor dance club called Lucerna where they play 80s and 90s American music (complete with music videos) and everybody dances like crazy and has a fantastic time. So much fun. And then I came back and promptly fell asleep because I didn't sleep much on the plane.

So today we woke up and met underneath the horse's tail for orientation. There's this statue of Good King Wenceslas riding a horse in one of the main squares of town, and so our meeting point was underneath that horse. Then we had a super boring orientation at the school and stuff, but afterwards we went shopping at this absolutely huge Tesco, which is basically like an oversized Target. There's a supermarket in the basement and then 5 floors of everything you ever wanted to buy... ever. So we came back, I finished unpacking, we went to this pizza/pasta shop down the street for dinner, I hung out with a few new friends, and now I'm back here, typing this and getting ready for classes to start tomorrow (totally not prepared for this at all). I'm slowly but surely finding my way around the city and learning how to navigate the metro, tram, and bus systems, and the people here are actually really helpful. Most of them speak English, but even those that don't try to help when they can (commence the Charades playing), and it's been quite the adventure figuring everything out.

It still hasn't hit me yet that I'm here for the next four months, though. I feel like I'm just here to visit for the week or something, and even though I'm pretty much unpacked now, I don't think it'll hit me for a couple more weeks. I'm having such a great time already though (and it's only the second day!) that I really don't foresee myself having any problems living here for the next fews. Bring it, Praha.

Anyways, sorry for the ridiculously long post about basically nothing (just boring travel details...), but I just feel like I need to document everything so I can go back later and reread everything once I'm home and look back on all the memories. :) Pictures to come soon!

A WEEK!

Gahh I leave in exactly a week! This is so exciting, I can't believe it's finally here! So what have I done in preparation for my adventures that start in 7 days...? Nothing.

No, not true, it just feels like nothing because there's still SO MUCH I need to do before I leave! (But that's to be expected.) But I finally found out where I'll be living this semester, which is in an apartment at: Křižíkova 17, Prague, Czech Republic (I already stalked via Google Maps so I know what it looks like, I'm so weird, I know). I'm so excited, it's right above a place called Pivovarsky Klub, which is basically a beer hall since the Czech word for beer is pivo! And I've finalized the classes that I'm taking while I'm there, which include:

1. Czech Conversation and Culture, which is a required 2-week intensive Czech language course that everyone in the program takes right when we get there to help us get accustomed to the Czech language and such.
2. Czech Language for Daily Communication 1, which is the optional semester long introductory Czech language course that I opted to take so I can learn more about the language of the place in which I'll be living!
3. Alternative Culture, Literature, Music, and Lifestyles, which is an anthropology course all about the subcultures of Prague and the alternative nature of Czech society, which should be really cool!
4. From Medieval to Contemporary: Exploring the Great Art and Architecture of Prague, which is basically a study of all the famous works of art and architecture that either use Prague as their subject/represent Prague in some way or that are found in Prague. How could I not take this when I'm going to be in the city that everything we discuss in centered on?! It was way too good to pass up.
5. Stories of the Stranger, which is really the study of existential Czech literature and should be so fantastic! Yay for Kafka! (I highly suggest The Metamorphosis.)
6. And finally... Travel Writing, which is actually a writing workshop all about creating a good and effective travel narrative, so we'll actually get to take lots of field trips of our own and create our works, which seems perfect for a semester abroad!

In other news... I still need to pack basically everything (trying to pack away my life for 4 months in to 2 pieces of luggage and a backpack is proving to be a lot more difficult that I imagined...), but I'm getting there. I have a list, which is a start! I've actually got all my money stuff squared away already and I'm trying to hang out with everyone that I possibly can before I leave because I'm horrible at saying goodbyes and don't want to have to do that. :(

And Jan, who is the resident director for my program in Prague, keeps sending out more and more emails with information about this upcoming semester and I keep getting more and more excited about what's to come and I just can't wait to get on the plane next Friday night and go and live in Europe for the next four months! I know this is all probably seems glamorized now, but I really am truly excited to go and spend the next few months of life in a foreign country, this is really what I've been wanting to with my life for the past few years, so I can't wait to get started! There are so many trips and opportunities that I have to take advantage while I'm there that I'm really hoping I'll be able to see a good portion of Europe while I'm there, too.

Well I'll try to update again right before I leave, but the real fun starts once I'm there! So until next time... peace out, girl scout.