My Journey to Brno

Friday, February 8, 2013: the day I left for Czech Republic!  

My plane didn't leave until 3:10 p.m. so we did not have to rush around too much in the morning, which was really nice!  I was surprisingly pretty calm on this day.  I was trying to focus on all the excitement I had to avoid getting sad at all!  This tactic seemed to work pretty well.  My brother was not going to be able to take me to the airport because of school so I had to tell him 'see ya later' that morning.  My grandma stopped by and I was able to tell her see ya later as well!  I had lunch at Spring Creek with my other grandma the day before.  Earlier that week, we had a Mexican night with my uncle.  The night before the day I left, my family and I ate at Bud & Walt's pizza.  I got all my favorites in before I left!  :) 

Finishing up packing!

Then, we headed to the Springfield airport! It still did not seem real at this point.  My parents took me to the airport and the three of us hung out there for a while.  Then the time came when I needed to go ahead and go through security.  I kept telling my parents that they better not cry because I cannot handle crying!  I knew I would start bawling if they started crying.  I gave them several big hugs and each of our eyes were wet with tears.  It was hard to turn around and walk away, but I knew I had to!  I cried more when I turned around and tried not to let my parents see. The poor security guard had to watch me cry as I handed him my passport.  My parents watched me go through security and we laughed because I was really slow at getting all of my things out, undressing, and getting through security.  I got to the gate and shed a few more tears, but I'd say all in all, we all did pretty well!

Springfield, MO to Atlanta, GA: 

The little plane I took from Springfield to Atlanta.

See you later, Missouri!

I had a good first flight!  It was actually really great because 1) noone was in the seat next to me and 2) I got complementary peanuts (the last few planes I had been on, we didn't get anything!). 

Atlanta: 

The beautiful sunset as I landed in Atlanta!

I made my way to the international flight terminal in the HUGE Atlanta airport.  I did not have working phone with me so I went ahead and paid $4.99 to use the wifi there.  I had about a 3 hour layover there so I walked around and scoped out my dinner options.  I decided on a little French restaurant to go ahead and begin my new culture experience.  The workers there were from Atlanta and had extremely thick accents.  I had to ask "what" after everything they said and still didn't understand half of what they said!  I was thinking, "Oh great.  I can't even understand people in my own country!"  It was also a jump start into my culture shock because I heard so many different languages in the international terminal!  It was really a shock when I went to the gate for my flight to Paris and literally everyone was speaking French.  I thought it was cool though!  

Atlanta, GA to Paris, France: 

The BIG plane to Paris

I chose to have a window seat on this plane in hopes that I would be able to see some of Paris when landing!  There were three seats in my section.  I used my backpack for my carry-on, but it is pretty big and was packed full so I couldn't get it to fit completely under my seat.  I really wanted to keep it with me though on such a long flight and did not want to have to go past the other two people every time I needed something out of my bag!  I took some things out of it, including my blanket, to try to make it fit.  It didn't really, but I hid it enough to where the flight attendants did not say anything.  Note to fellow travelers: do NOT bring a blanket on the plane.  They provide one along with a pillow (which I knew, but for some reason forgot) plus my plane was very warm and I didn't need one!  My blanket ended up being a bigger pain than it was worth, but lesson learned!

I thought that I was sitting next to an Australian lady when she talked when I first sat down.  We didn't talk the whole way since it was an overnight flight, but we talked at the very end and I found out she is a med student in Budapest, Hungary from North Carolina.  I was just a little bit off in my prediction!

The flight was really good.  I slept some on and off.  I also watched Perks of Being a Wallflower and Wreck It Ralph.  The first was a little more somber than I was wanting.  The second though, was hilarious!  I definitely recommend Wreck It Ralph no matter your age!  I would also like to note that one of my movie options was Taken 2.  Really?!? Not exactly what I want to watch on a flight to Paris by myself... haha.  The flight left around 9:00 p.m. so I was surprised when they served us dinner on the plane!  I just realized as I was writing this though, that it is probably because the French eat dinner very late so this was probably normal for most of them!  I was bummed that I had already eaten, because the menu looked very good!

The menu- in English and French, of course!

I was slightly hungry, so I asked if I could just have the cheese and bread!  It was yummy French cheese and a baguette of some sort!  I also got hot chocolate, which tasted real and not like the powder kind!  Perfect little "midnight" snack.  :) 

My little French snack!

They also served breakfast on the plane which consisted of a baguette and jam, fruit, and yogurt!  Yum!

Paris:

I was slightly disappointed when I landed in Paris because the only thing I could see was snow, but it was still pretty!

Landing in Paris.

I only had a little over an hour before my next flight left, so I knew I had to hurry through the big airport!  The signs were not very clear and there was a big line to get through the foreign police.  After a while of waiting, I was afraid I was waiting in the wrong line.  I tried to ask the people behind me about it, but the only spoke French.  It was finally my turn to go to the window and the police lady didn't even look up at me.  She was just sitting there on her phone for probably 30-45 seconds.  So weird!  She eventually gave me my stamp in my passport though, which I thought was really cool and it made it seem a little more real!  

I started walking quickly to find my terminal.  I didn't get very far before a group of ladies with clipboards stopped me and asked me what my gate # was.  I told them and then they tried to get me to give them my information for something.  I realized then that they were not airport workers.  I told them no thank you and walked away.  I heard the lady mimic me in her very sarcastic and obviously angered French accented voice, "No thank you!"  and then mumbled something in French angrily haha!  

I was still kind of confused by the signs, but then found that I had to go through security again to get to my gate.  The security guy there was very nice and helpful.  He held my backpack for me while I tried to cram my laptop and other things back in my bag.  

Unlike most other airports I have been in, the Paris airport does not have the flight schedules listed in many places!  I found my gate, but I didn't see the word "Prague" anywhere.  The only thing I saw on the sign in front of the gate, was a map of South America.  The Paris airport generously offers 15 minutes of free wifi, so I used it to contact my parents to see if they could look up the flight for me!  My dad told me it was a different gate number, but I had just looked and I was at the gate that the schedule said!  He also said that it looked like the flight was delayed, but again, I had just looked at the board and it said the flight was on time.  I was really confused and starting to worry because my plane was supposed to leave very soon.  I tried to ask the people sitting next to me if they knew anything about the flight being delayed and I'm not really sure they understood me, but they said "no" anyways.  I then walked quite a long walk back to the flight schedule board to check my flight again.  I then saw that it did say my flight to Prague was delayed.  I had a bus ticket purchased from Prague to Brno and didn't know if I was going to make it there before my bus left at 5.  My tutor was supposed to pick me up in Brno at 7:30.  I barely had any time left on my free internet and I used the remainder of it to e-mail my tutor telling her I might miss my bus and that it would be later!  I ran out of my 15 minutes so I didn't see if she replied to the message or not.  

The plane ended up being delayed even more (2 hours I think).  I decided to wait in the long line at Paul- a French bakery.  I was very excited to use some of my French from the beginning of high school to order.  "Je voudrais pain au chocolate!", I told the cashier.  (I know I probably spelled/said this wrong, Mrs. Jackson ;) )  He then answered to me in English.  I guess he could tell that I wasn't really French...haha at least I tried!  

Pain au chocolate!

 

Then, the plane finally came!

Paris, France to Prague, Czech Republic: 

I sat next to a lovely French couple who did not speak English.  They were so cute and we communicated through smiles.  :) I fell asleep before the plane even took off and then woke later to a lady saying something to me in French.  It was the flight attendant wondering what kind of sandwich I wanted for lunch!  I might not sound very French, but I must look French when I am sleeping.  Yes!  I got a ham sandwich which was so wonderful because it was on a French baguette with the creamy cheese on it.  It was definitely worth waking up for!  

We began the descent into Prague shortly after lunch and the view was beautiful!

Welcome to the Czech Republic!

Prague: 

It felt even more real when I stepped off of that plane.  I was happy to see that the Prague airport was colorful and had clear signs!  I followed everyone to baggage claim, hoping that both pieces of luggage made it, but deciding in advance that I would just laugh about it if they didn't!  Well they both made it, but one lost a wheel in battle.  

So here I was with 2 pieces of large luggage, one without a wheel.  It would have been difficult to maneuver by myself anyways, but the missing wheel added to the challenge!  I had instructions from my tutor to take the metro to the main bus station.  That sounded easy enough.   I asked an airport worker which way the metro was and she looked at me with wide eyes and said, "It is a very long ways away, but it is that way" and pointed to the left.  Hmm.  Okay, well I guess I will walk to the left and hope I run into it at some point?  

I did not have time to freak out too much because about 30 seconds later I walk through the doors and I see Natty coming towards me!!!!! For those of you who don't know Natty, she was an exchange student at Ozark my junior year of high school and we were good friends.  She is from Slovakia, but goes to school in Prague.  We had talked about her meeting at the airport, but we never settled anything and I hadn't heard from her in several days.  Plus I had only told her what time my plane was supposed to arrive, but not my flight number or anything.  I didn't expect her to be there at all with all the confusion and flight delay, so when I saw her it was seriously the best thing ever!  For one, it had been 3 years since I had seen her and was super excited to be reunited!  For two, I had absolutely no idea how I was going to manage both pieces of luggage by myself or how I was going to get to the bus station!  Natty instantly took one of my bags and walked over to a ticket booth and she started talking in Czech to the lady really fast and got me a ticket!  I don't even remember how many busses/trams/metros we took to eventually arrive at the bus station, but it was several and I would have NEVER gotten there on my own.  In addition, the stations had multiple very long staircases in which we had to carry my big suitcases up.  I could barely do it with one piece of luggage and definitely couldn't have with both!  Thankfully on one flight of stairs, two student-aged guys asked if they could carry the luggage for us.  I was really worried about people stealing things so I wasn't going to let them haha, but Natty said it was okay.  They were very nice and did not steal my bags! :)  

We finally arrived at the bus station.  It was 5:06 and my bus left at 5:00.  It wasn't a big deal though, because the tickets were only about $10.  The next available bus to Brno did not leave until 7:00 p.m. which ended up working out perfectly because I had time to hang out with Natty!  We went to a coffee shop around the corner with free wifi.  I had my first weird experience with a European bathroom because I had to use a code that was written on my receipt to get into the restroom.  That was different!  

We hung out there for the next almost two hours.  It was so great getting to catch up with her!  She was definitely a gift from God to me that day.  I could not thank her enough for being there.  I don't know what I would have done without her!  I also kept thanking the Lord for His orchestration of the events of the day.  

I gave Natty a big hug and thanked her again and then got on my 7:00 bus en route to Brno!

Natty & I in the coffee shop!

Prague to Brno:

I took a Student Agency bus and it was very comfortable!  I also had an empty seat next to me which was super nice.  The bus was very nice and even had movies to watch.  I watched most of Catch Me if You Can which was kind of fun to watch since it took place in Europe!  I slept some too.  At one point, I got up to go the bathroom, but could not find it.  The bus attendant lady showed me where it was.  It was at the bottom of the stairs by the door to get on the bus.  Very weird and hidden!  When we neared Brno, she told the bus some instructions or something, but it was all in Czech so I have no idea what she said.  I guess it wasn't too important though.  

We pulled up to the bus stop and I was looking for my tutor, who had told me she would be wearing a green coat.  There were not very many people at the station and I did not see anyone in a green coat.  I stepped off of the bus into the dark, cool, crisp city air.  I really did not know if my tutor was even going to be there since I was so much later than I was supposed to be.  I stood there for a few minutes looking around and trying not to worry.  A few minutes later, I saw a girl with a green coat!  It was my tutor, Veronika, and her boyfriend!  I was so happy to see them.  

They helped me with my bags and we ran to catch the tram that was there.  We arrived to the stop of my dormitory.  The walk to my dorm is straight up very steep hills.  It felt like forever walking up the hills while pulling my loud, annoying suitcase with the broken wheel!  I just kept telling myself to just keep going and that we had to be close to being there.  

We made it after what seemed like forever!  Veronika had even brought me some bread since I hadn't had dinner.  They also helped me set up my internet which took a while because it turns out, we couldn't access the internet until a couple days later.  Veronika's boyfriend got it to work for long enough so that I could tell my parents that I had arrived.  I am so thankful for Veronika and her boyfriend.  They were so wonderful and such a huge blessing! 

About 24 hours later on Saturday, February 9th, around 11:30 p.m., I was finally at my new home and could go to sleep.  I was so thankful for the events of the day.  I don't think I have ever felt the Lord's love and protection over me so strongly or understood his perfect timing as clearly as this day.  I went to bed with so much to be thankful for.  Plus, I was now in Czech Republic....what?! So unreal! :) 

Thank you all SO much for your prayers over my travels! The Lord clearly took care of me and blessed me tremendously!