Praha ha ha ha! {A Weekend in Prague}

This past weekend (February 22-24) I was privileged to go on the ISC (International Student Club) organized trip to the beautiful city of Prague!  Here is the run down on my weekend: 

We were supposed to meet at 8:00 a.m. at the main station in Brno.  A big group of us met in the lobby of our dorm and headed to the train station together.  You can imagine the looks on the locals' faces when a giant group of foreigners with suitcases take over the bus.  

We met the student leaders of the trip and headed to the train!  Once inside the train, the challenge was finding a seat.  We walked through the first train car...no seats.  We walked through the second...no seats.  We walked through a third...no seats.  The next train car we came to was first class.  There were plenty of free seats there!  We didn't see anyone taking tickets, so we went ahead and sat down.  We were lucky enough to enjoy the luxurious first class  of the train for a good 3 or 4 minutes before getting kicked out.  It was nice while it lasted and was at least worth a try.  We ended up finding random seats here and there, but weren't able to sit together.  That was fine though, because most of us wanted to sleep anyways.  

I wanted to stay awake for a little bit at least so that I could gaze out the window.  At first, we went through a beautiful snow-covered forest with very steep hills.  We also went through quaint little villages.  It was a wonderful first European train ride!  

We arrived in Prague around three hours later.  We groggily stepped out of the train and into the Prague train station and walked about 15 minutes to our hostel.  Our hostel was called "Hostel Elf" and it was pretty nice.  We dropped our bags off and headed to lunch.  I can't get over how cute the restaurants are here.  They are just like something out of a movie.  I had the traditional Czech meal of beef and dumplings.  I have to admit that I did not like it near as well as in Brno!  Score 1 for Brno.  

After lunch, we went to meet our tour guide in the Old Town Square for a 3 hour tour of Prague.  This day was part 1 of 2 of the coldest days of my life.  I don't think it had started snowing yet at this point, but oh boy was it about to!

On the way to meet our tour guide...first views of Prague!

Our tour guide was actually from America and has been living in Prague for a while!  He had so much cool information for us and presented it in a fun way.  I wish I could remember all of the history about this town, but I am really bad at remembering details and it was too cold to concentrate.  

Jan Hus memorial.

The Astronomical Clock!

Prague is truly an amazing city due largely in part that it was virtually untouched by the war!  Hitler actually really loved this city and wanted to preserve it...what a kind man! Ha.  Prague was definitely not entirely free of the effects of the war though.  The picture below is of the astronomical clock tower along with a piece of a red wall.  The piece of the red wall used to extend towards the right, but was destroyed during the war.  

All of the above mentioned, is in the Old Town Square which is so amazing!  Here is a video of a band playing in the square and a panoramic view of the square to help give you a better idea of it:  

(also this is on Sunday when the sun finally came out!) 

Next, we headed over to Josefov, the Jewish Quarter.  Many Jews living in this ghetto were deported to Terezín, north of Prague, and then later to Polish death camps.  The strange thing is that many of the artifacts in the Jewish Museum in Prague were brought here from all over Central Europe on Hitler's orders.  He wanted to create a museum dedicated to the soon-to-be extinct Jewish race.

I think this is the Jewish Museum...If not, then it is one of the Jewish synagogues.

The next thing we saw was The Old Jewish Cemetery that is above ground, which goes against Jewish law.  It was the only spot they were given to bury their dead though, so they were forced to use it.  It is a very small cemetery and I don't remember the exact number of how many are buried there, but it is a shocking amount.

The Old Jewish Cemetery 

We saw several other things, but were pretty frozen at this point.  We convinced our tour guide to let us stop inside a coffee shop and warm up for a bit!  This was a fantastic idea because we got to warm up, I had some delicious hot chocolate (they only have real hot chocolate here, not the powdery stuff like at home!), and the best part: they had PEANUT BUTTER cookies.  I, of course, had to get one because anything peanut butter is hard to come by here.  I experienced peanut butter food insecurity, for my fellow health science majors. ;) 

After warming up a bit, we braved the cold and continued with the tour.  I don't think I have pictures from the remainder of the tour due to the fact that I could not risk my fingers falling off from getting out my camera any longer.

The tour was very informative and everything we saw was beautiful, but I think we were all very happy for it to be over.  It is also hard to concentrate when it is so cold and hard to see the beauty of the city when you have to look down at the ground to try to block your face from the snow and wind.  We went back to the hostel and relaxed for a little while and then ordered pizzas.  So many pizzas!  I think there were like 30 pizzas for 40 people or something crazy like that!  It was my first experience with pizza here in Czech and it was very good!  I had what I thought was pepperoni pizza, but it turned out to be salami and jalapeno pizza which was amazing!

Later, we headed out to a pub where I enjoyed a nice vanilla milkshake!  :)  It was $7 and I think only got 2 sips haha, but it was still good.

The other Megan and I with our $7 milkshake. 

Saturday was Prague Castle and Charles Bridge day!  It snowed SO much this day, but made me feel even more like I was in a fairy tale!  It was so beautiful!  

A snowy Prague castle up on the hill!

In the castle courtyard.

One of the cathedrals in the castle.

Part of the Prague Castle.

One of the entrances to Prague castle.

I have a lot more pictures of the castle and of Charles Bridge that I will add on facebook, but they are not cooperating with going on here for the moment! :)

In between the castle and the bridge, we took a lunch break which was much appreciated!  I had some delicious hot chocolate again.  I'm not sure what the total hot chocolate count was for the weekend, but it was quite a few!  I ordered beef goulash with potato pancakes and it was so good and warm. :) After we finished eating, we had to put all of our snow-soaked scarves, hats, coats, and gloves back on!  I think wet winter attire probably defeats the purpose, but oh well, we survived!  

Later, we went back to the hostel and rested.  Some of us decided to go to a gyro place down the street.  I went with a soaking wet head from my shower and no make up, but it was definitely worth it.  So good!

Much later that night, we left for the biggest club in central Europe (5 stories).  It was not very impressive, but I can at least say that I went.  There was also an ice bar inside which was kind of cool, literally.  Everything in the room was made of ice, including the chairs and the cups.  We stayed out much later than I am used to, but it is not exactly safe to leave by yourself at the time that you want!  A few of us ended up taking a cab back to the hostel at around 4:00 a.m. Yawn. So late (or so early, I guess).  

We had to wake up a few short hours later to pack our things up and be out of the hostel by 11.  We had some free time for a few hours before our train left.  I went with a group of people and we walked around like zombies for a little while and stopped and sat down several times.  We were supposed to meet back at the hostel at 3, I think, so we started to head that way.  Well, after several cups of coffee and water that morning, I really had to go to the bathroom.  

Bathrooms are hard to come by in Czech Republic.  You can not find them just anywhere and you cannot just walk into a random restaurant or store and expect to use their restrooms.  The group I was with was waiting at the bus stop for our bus.  Up until this moment, my motto had been "stay with the group no matter what".  Well, having to go to the bathroom very badly makes one not make the best judgment calls.  So I made the impulsive decision to walk off and go find a bathroom by myself.  I knew what bus I needed to take to get back to the hostel so I figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal.  There was a giant mall across the street that seemed like an obvious and easy choice for a bathroom.  This mall was 5 stories I think.  I was running around desperately looking for the wonderful letters, "WC" (the sign for bathroom).  Several different floors later, I thankfully finally found the WC. 

 After I left though, I had no idea where in the mall I was.  I couldn't even remember how many stories I had gone up or down and it all seemed like a huge maze.  I knew I wasn't anywhere near the entrance I came in, so I decided that I should just try to find any exit.  I finally found one and when I stepped outside I thought I knew where I was.  Well, I didn't.  I walked down a street where I thought the bus stop was, but it wasn't it.  I tried not to panic too much because I knew that wouldn't help anything.  I did know though that I needed to find the stop fairly soon because our group was leaving from the hostel to go to the train station in 30 minutes.  I love Prague, but I really didn't care to be left in the city by myself that day.  I eventually found the bus stop much to my relief.  Thankfully, the bus I needed came after only a couple minutes of me waiting.  I didn't know the exact stop to get off at, so I needed to be on top of my game of keeping my eyes peeled for the little hostel sign.  I, of course, was praying the whole time asking God to guide me back to the hostel.  A few stops later, two of the student leaders of our trip got on the bus!  I was so happy to see them because they knew the stop we needed to get off at and it meant that they hadn't left for the train station yet!

We were one stop away from the hostel, when the bus ticket checker (not sure of their official title)  came on the bus.  Let me preface this by saying, that this is a very rare occurrence that they come and actually check bus tickets.  In Brno, I have a transportation pass so that is all I have to show the checker if he comes on the bus or tram.  In Prague, we had 24 hour bus tickets that we are supposed to put in the machine and it stamps a date and time on it.  Well, after all the craziness of being lost, I completely forgot to stamp my ticket.  I didn't figure it was that big of a deal because I obviously had a ticket with me.  Apparently it is a big deal.  The checker was very rude to me and asked me for my passport and ordered me to get off the bus with him.  The leaders said not to worry, because they would explain that I was a student and it was an accident and that I had a ticket and if he had a heart, then he should just let it go.  I was frustrated, but not too worried because I remember my tutor saying that in Brno, if you get caught without a ticket (or without a stamped ticket, in my case), then you might have to pay something equivalent to $2.  

After getting off the bus along with some other tourists who got caught as well, the checker examined all of our passports.  He then said, "1000 korun from each of you!"  1000 korun is equal to about $50.  I finally broke down and started crying at this point.  My leaders tried arguing with him to convince him to change his mind.  The other people who got caught, flat out didn't have a ticket so it sort of made sense that they had to pay (the price was completely unreasonable though).  It did not make sense though, that I would have to pay the same price as them since I had a ticket.  

Unfortunately the (real) tears and explanations did no good.  The guy was a complete jerk and was threatening to call the police.  My leaders told me to go ahead and just pay him.  As much as I didn't want to pay $50 for an innocent mistake, I really didn't care to be arrested either.  With tears running down my face, I handed him the money.  I was upset, but at that point, I was really ready to go back to the hostel and then get on the train back to Brno. 

We walked the 30 seconds to the hostel (that is how close we were) and then headed to the train station.  I walked the 15 minute walk to the train station without a coat and was still hot from the stressful events of the last hour.  I was so happy to get on the train.  It was pretty full and the leaders told us to just find a seat and not try to sit with a group.  I found an empty seat in one of the cabins and there was a very nice older couple sitting next to me.  They didn't speak much English, but they were so nice and the man helped put my bags up for me.

I got up to go to the bathroom as soon as I sat down because I wanted to sleep the rest of the way with no interruptions.  It was very crowded in the hallway and when I came back I could not find the cabin that I was in.  I walked to the end of the train car and did not see my stuff or the people in my cabin.  I turned around to go check again and the sweet man is standing outside of our cabin waving to me!  I told him thank you and apologized and just told him that I had a rough day and left it at that.  I then sat down and ate my chocolate bar that I had in my bag.  My dad laughed when I told him that part and said it sounded like a commercial haha.  It really was good for the soul at that point though!  

Much later, I got up again and walked around and realized that pretty much my entire group was either sitting on the floor or standing in the hallways because they didn't have seats!  They had way overbooked the train.  I felt so bad for them, but selfishly kept my seat because it was the best thing that had happened to me all day.  I listened to music the rest of the way.  My iPod was on shuffle and the most perfect songs kept playing.  Songs about how the Lord is always with us and about praising Him in the midst of trials.  I was feeling so refreshed and just thanking God that nothing worse had happened and that I was on my way home.  Then, "Somewhere Out There" came on, which is my parent's song.  I didn't even know I had it on my playlist.  A few tears slipped down my cheeks as the song sung about being far away from the ones you love.  Next, "Today Was a Fairytale" by Taylor Swift came on and I laughed at the irony haha!  

We finally pulled into Brno and I was so so so happy to be be back at my new home where it is easy to get around, things are cheap, and where there are no tourists!  When others in the group found out that I had a seat, they said things like "you are soooo lucky!".  Oh yes, my day was soooo lucky ha.  If they only knew!  It was also raining when we got back and I did not care one bit that I was getting rained on because rain means that it has to be a little warmer!  

What. a. weekend.  Despite a rough ending, I absolutely loved Prague and had a wonderful weekend!  I am really excited to go back and visit when it is warmer!

 Even though I did not consider myself so lucky on that last day, I am actually beyond blessed and very thankful for all the Lord blessed me on this trip (& every day)!   

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!

My First Official Weekend in Czech!

Friday (2/15/13):

I started the morning by attending a lecture on intercultural communication and Czech culture!  The professor made many interesting points.  He talked about how we each see things from a different perspective based on our nationality.  He also spoke about different stereotypes we each might have about people of different countries and how it can be fun to see if the stereotypes are true or not!  He said that the stereotype of the Czechs is that they drink a lot of beer, which he said is true. :) He then picked up a bottle and took a drink and said, "This is water." :) He then briefly explained Czech culture and the general attitude of the Czechs in public.  On the outside, the Czech people appear cold and distant.  They don't make eye contact or smile in public.  They don't make small talk with strangers and in public are very quiet.  Sometimes if I am with some friends on the tram and we are talking and then stop for a second, I realize how loud we are because the tram is absolutely silent!  This brings me to another point he made about how by being in a new culture, you often learn a lot about your own culture!  I have found this to be very true.  So far, I have learned that Americans are pretty loud. :) The professor further explained that just because the Czech people appear sad and distant, it doesn't mean that they are at all!  That is just how this culture appears in public.  They are very happy and smiley people once you get to know them. :) 

Next, we went to the canteen and I accidentally ordered a vegetarian meal with fake meat!  I didn't realize this until afterwards though.  I was wondering the whole time what kind of meat I was eating ha!  It was pretty good though and I learned that the positive about ordering a vegetarian meal is VEGETABLES!  Vegetables are hard to come by here so it is very exciting when I get to eat them!

We had our last day of Survival Czech, but I liked it so much that I signed up for the semester-long course!  After class, we went to Tesco and I saw the other floors of the store!  It is a great place!  It is always a gamble when buying food though, because the majority of the food labels are in Czech.  This adventurous food-lover finds this to be quite fun actually!  I have done pretty well so far.  I managed to get normal milk (my friend accidentally got buttermilk!), smoked turkey, and smoked cheese of some sort.  My new favorite food is the smoked turkey and smoked cheese sandwich on fresh bread!  Yumm. :) Also, everything is very inexpensive!  It's great!  I got quite a bit of food for only $10 and so far have had 9 meals and several snacks from this one Tesco trip. :)  

Later that night, a group of us went to get dessert at the place near our dorm (I really need to learn the name of it).  I got "honey cake" and it was very good!  

Saturday (2/16/13) : 

We bundled up and headed to Macocha Caves.  It was about an hour by bus.  We drove through the rolling hills and weaved in and out of what reminded me of a ski resort (especially with all the snow!).  Once we arrived, we had a twenty minute walk to get to the caves.  Someone described it as being like Narnia and I can't think of a better description!  My camera stopped working shortly after we got there, but that's okay because pictures surely cannot do it justice!

The first part of the tour through the cave was on foot.  Our tour guide stopped and talked about many different stalagmite and stalactite formations, but my favorite one was one they call "Romeo & Juliet".  These are directly opposite from each other and were in the (long) process of joining each other!  Since there is no water there anymore though, they will never be together!  If there were still water, then it would take approximately 750 years for them to finally close the 2 inch gap!

Romeo & Juliet (I stole this pic from the internet)

We walked further and then all of a sudden turned the corner and saw the highlight of the tour: the abyss!  I think each of our jaws dropped at the beautiful sight that was before us.  Someone jokingly asked, "Am I in Heaven?" and that is truly what it felt like!  The dramatic angelic music they had playing in the background added to the accuracy of this question.  There was also snow which just added to the beauty of the abyss! It was absolutely breathtaking.  

The abyss.  There was snow when I was there though! (Another stolen picture)

The second part of the tour was by boat through the caves.  This was really fun and something I had never done before!  

Where we ended our boat tour!

After the tour, we went and ate lunch at the restaurant there.  They only gave us 2 options in order to conserve time since we were a big group.  Our options were chicken schnitzel (fried chicken, basically) and potatoes or fried cheese and potatoes!  These are two very Czech meals.  I went with the chicken schnitzel and topped it off with some lovely carbonated water because the waiter did not understand when I said "still" water.  Oops!  I need to learn the Czech word for still water or keep drinking carbonated water until I'm used to it! :) 

The restaurant and gift shop.

When I got back from our excursion, I was able to Skype with my family for the first time!  It was so wonderful to see their faces and hear their voices!  It made my heart so happy!

Sunday (2/17/13): 

Today was wonderful.  It was the most free time I had since being here.  I slept in and then went with a group to Špilberk Castle.  Špilberk Castle is an old castle here in Brno that sits on top of a huge hill.  We just did the free walking around the outside of the castle this day.  It is a really neat castle and I can't wait to come back and explore more!  (I can do that because I live in a town with castles...how cool is that?!) ;) Since the castle is on top of a hill, there are some pretty amazing views of Brno!

Me standing in front of my beautiful city, Brno!

Špilberk Castle

After the castle, a few of us went to a flea market inside a club that also was selling many amazing desserts.  How is that for a strange combination!  

Later, I met my tutor and she took me to the Faculty of Sports Studies to show me where some of my classes would be!  The Faculty of Sports Studies is right next to the main university building.  The best part is that right across the street is a MALL!  I am not a big shopper or anything, but this is very exciting to me because in Kirksville, we have to drive 1.5 hours to go to a mall!  Here I can just walk out of my classroom and cross the street and I am there.  So awesome!  The mall also has a university canteen in it called "Academic Restaurant."  My faculty, the university building, and the mall are all very new and modern buildings!  I didn't think I would like the new, modern buildings in such an old town, but it is actually really neat!  I am very happy that I will have several classes here. :) Pictures to come soon!

What a wonderful first weekend here!  

Days 4 & 5

Day #4: Today was one of my more interesting days so far.  I took the tram for the first time by myself to meet Veronika who took me back to the foreign police to get registered.  We had to take a number and wait for our number to be called.    They did not appear to have a rhyme or reason to their system of calling numbers at first.  Later we found out that there were certain groups of numbers that went to certain police.  We waited...and waited....and waited...and waited for them to call our number.  SIX AND A HALF HOURS later, we finally heard the beautiful voice of someone saying "26" (in Czech, of course)!    Once we got in to see the police, the process took about 2 minutes.  Oh boy.  What a day.  Veronika and I just had to laugh about it though! 

 In 6.5 hours, I had plenty of time to ask Veronika more about Czech culture as well as do a lot of people watching!  There were people from all over the world in the waiting room.  There was one little boy who was maybe two years old who definitely kept us entertained!  He ran around doing the funniest things and making the funniest facial expressions and noises.  Being there 6.5 hours, I was also blessed to be able to see the beautiful sight of children of different nationalities and languages become friends through play, smiles, and laughter.  There was a little girl (3 years old maybe?) who came in with her mom.  The same little two year old boy had a sucker and went over and offered it to the little girl!  She was scared of him and did not want to accept the sucker.  He kept trying though and after multiple attempts, she finally accepted his sweet little gift.  As soon as she took it though, he ran over and took it back from her. ;)  The little boy had an older sister who was probably 4 and she went over to the other girl and reached out her hand to come play.  The little girl was very reluctant, but she eventually got up and the two held hands and spun around in a circle!  They little boy tried to join, but the 3 year old girl did not want to hold his hand haha.  The 4 year old girl then proceeded to jump and the 3 year old girl would do the same thing.  They continued this act of doing what the other was doing (jumping, running, etc.).  When the 3 year old girl and her mom left, the 4 year old girl and her little brother blew kisses to her and she blew kisses back to them.  It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen!  It definitely made waiting for 6.5 hours worth it. :)

By the time we left, we were very hungry!  We stopped by Tesco (the European equivalent of a Wal-Mart or Target) and I got an apple and some fresh hot bread with ham and cheese melted on top!  It was super good, but it tasted even better after such a long day.  It was only 18 korun ($1)!  Love it!  

Next, we went to the bank and finished setting up my bank account.  I was even given a nice gift of a web cam shaped like a cat for opening a bank account with KB!  Nice!

Then I finally went home sweet home and boy, was I glad to be there...

Day #5: Happy Valentine's Day!  Today I went to the Czech language course again (I missed it and everything else yesterday, due to spending the whole day at the foreign police).  On the way to Czech class, I had parek v rohliku (similar to a hot dog, but better!) from one of the street-side little buildings! 

There were only 3 of us in class today.  Afterwards, we tried to find a restaurant called "The Pub", but we couldn't find it and settled for Chinese instead.  As we were standing outside looking at the huge Chinese menu, someone came up to me and handed me a heart and a flyer.  The heart actually had a Bible verse in Czech on it and the flyer was for a local church!  I was very surprised by this because as a whole, the Czech Republic is a very lost country who is in desperate need of Jesus!

I thought it was Psalm 26:2, but when I tried to translate it didn't seem like the same verse.  So I'm not really sure!  If it is Psalm 26:2 then it says: 

"Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart."

I was reading through Psalm 26 though, and I think it translates more like Psalm 26:3 which says: 


"For I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness."

This made my heart  happy and reminded me that there is a light in this dark land and that God is still God even if His people don't accept Him!  My heart hurts for these people and I pray that the good news of Christ's saving grace will be made known to them.

Anyways...back to dinner!

I should have remembered what I said the other day about sticking to Czech food.  It tasted good at first, but by the end I was tired of all the fried, buttery food!  So what do I do?  Order fried bananas, of course.  We figured it was Valentine's day, so what the heck.  I had a different, but really good Valentine's day!  I hope you all did too!  :) 

Days 2 & 3: Settling in to Czech life...

Day #2: We had orientation this morning which was very hard to stay awake during!  There was so much information and so much that needs to be done.  It was a little overwhelming especially when all I wanted to do was sleep!  

Afterwards, they were going to take different groups to go open a bank account, get a transportation pass, etc.  My tutor, Veronika, had offered to help me do those things and I really wanted to go back to my dorm and meet her.  I had left my local phone that she had given me in my room and had no idea how to get back by myself.  Luckily (and when I say "luckily" or "lucky", I mean total God moments of Him revealing His love and protection for me--these have happened many times on my journey thus far!) there was someone who needed to go back to the dorm to get money and he knew how to get back!  I went with him and then called Veronika once I got back to my room.  She said she could meet me in about two hours and take me around to get some of those things done that I needed to!  It was so perfect because I desperately needed a nap.  

I have been using my iPhone as an alarm (that and the occasional wifi is about all it is good for here) and had set it to military time the other day to help me get used to how they express time here.  Well, I sort of forgot about that when I set my alarm for my nap so next thing I know I am getting a call from my tutor 10 minutes after I was supposed to meet her!  Oops!  I felt really bad, but thankfully she was very understanding. :)  We then started walking to the tram stop and then I realized I left my folder of important documents I needed in my room.  Oh boy.  My lack of sleep really affected me today! 

We finally were on our way and got my transport pass and opened a bank account!  We tried to go to the foreign police to register, but they were too busy.  We then went to a canteen (one of several university cafeterias they have throughout the city) near the city center.  It was my first time eating at one and I ordered chicken schnitzel and the Czech version of mashed potatoes!  They also have free water here which is extremely exciting news!  

Day #3: Today was the first day of the survival Czech language course during orientation week!  My roommate, Taira, and I left extra early because we didn't know where we were going.  We ended up running into Emily and Anthony.  They were going to go get drinks and maybe some lunch before our class so we went with them to some Czech restaurant that I don't know the name of!  I tried to order water, but the waiter did not understand.  I was really excited because I remembered the Czech word for water ("voda") and he was able to understand me!  We didn't know if we would have time to order food though.  I was just wanting something small to eat like soup, but didn't see any on the menu.  All of a sudden the waiter brings us all soup.  We must have shown our confusion on our faces pretty well, because then an ENGLISH speaking man (rare!) comes and explains to us that they automatically bring soup before the meal.  He was such a nice man to come and help us!  The waiter let us just get the soup and it only cost me 28 korun (a little over $1) for the soup and water! 

Next, we went to Czech class!  We were all split up into different classrooms.  My class had 4 French students and 5 American students!  Our teacher was super nice and helpful.  Czech is such a crazy language, but I am really enjoying learning basic phrases and words that are already making living here so much easier!  It is also the coolest thing ever when I recognize a word on a building or sign or understand a word or two someone is saying!  I know how to pronounce things too, which is a huge help!  

Our class is 3.5 hours, so we were all pretty hungry by the time it let out.  We went and ate at the canteen at our dorm.  We couldn't find the menu in English at first, but I saw something that resembled "tortilla" and "salsa".  We found the English menu and found out it was a chicken and pork burrito.  That sounded really good all of a sudden, so I went with that.  It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't quite the burrito I was expecting haha.  I think I'll stick to Czech food from now on.  :) 

The internet at our dorm had not been working very well (we don't have wifi), so we decided to head down to the coolest little restaurant to use their wifi!  I wrote my previous blog post from here.  I went with a group of Americans and we were all just on our computers.  We are obviously becoming very accustomed to hearing Czech all the time because when all of a sudden we heard people speaking English, we all perked our heads up and looked around haha!  Just a normal day in Czech Republic... :) 

Day #1

Ahoj from Czech Republic!!!

I am just finishing my 3rd full day here and I love it!  I am currently in a cute log cabin-looking that restaurant that is only playing  Backstreet Boys, Nsync, and other 80s and 90s much.  Either they just have good taste in music or American pop music is a little slow reaching Czech Republic. ;) 

Day 1: I went to the grocery store for the first time with my tutor.  It is called Albert and there are several of them throughout the city.  Everything is in Czech here...it is rare to see English in the city!  In addition, very few people speak English!  I was surprised by that, but it makes things interesting and will force me to learn some Czech. Anyways back to the store... One thing that is very different is that they have many types of breads sitting out market-style.  It smells wonderful and  is super cheap!  One croissant type thing is equivalent to about 10 cents.  One type of "bread" they have sitting out is slices of pizza!  I thought that was really funny.  It kind of looks like really dried out pizza, but who knows, it might be good!  The fruit is also much more organic looking than the U.S.  All the apples aren't perfect and shiny like in Wal-Mart back home, but they are so much better and sweeter!  I also found out that if you want to put your groceries in a bag, then you have to pay for the bag and bag the groceries yourself.  It is not a nice reusable bag, but just a normal plastic one haha!  They are not expensive at all, but it's still funny to me to pay for it!  Also, when I tried to ask the cashier, who doesn't speak English, for a bag she handed me a little colorful package with a toy in it!  That's almost what I wanted.... :) 

After the grocery store, we met up with the other international students in the town center for a scavenger hunt in the city!  It was fun and the first time I really got to see the beautiful city!  Here are a few pictures...I don't have very many yet, because it is hard to get out the camera with gloves on.

 The Brno "dragon" 

After the city game, we split into four groups and went to dinner!  We ate at a restaurant called Pegas (I think) and I had my first Czech meal!  I had beef with dumplings in some sort of gravy and vegetable cream sauce!  It was delicious and I was told it is a very traditional Moravian (the region of Czech Republic I'm in) meal.  

Another fun fact is that you have to pay for water in restaurants here and it is generally more expensive than a beer which I don't think is fair for this water drinker, but oh well! ;) They bring a glass bottle of water and no refills so I am learning to pace my drinking (water people...water!) :)  

After dinner we went to the store again and then headed back to the dormitory (haha noone calls it "dorm" here) and then later went to a welcome party on one of the floors in the dorm!  Very strange that drinking, smoking, and loud parties are allowed in the dorms!  It is not quite my cup of tea, but it was nice meeting lots of people from all over the world! 

Anyways, I was going to try to post about my trip here and the other days all in this one post, but that will take me forever and I know people are anxious to see pictures and hear about my time here!  I'll try to post about the other days later, but for now  I'll give you at least this! :) Miss you all!!! Thank you for all your prayers and encouraging words!! 

Why Czech Republic is Cool

Ahoj!

I am now really on countdown as it is almost 2 weeks before I leave the country!  16 days to be exact.  It is also now officially official because 1) I bought my plane ticket to Prague! and 2) my VISA came in the mail on January 5th!!!

I wanted to update you on my exciting news listed above, but the main point of this post is to describe why I already love the country of Czech Republic and I haven't even been there yet.  It really cracks me up people's responses when I tell them I am studying abroad in Czech Republic.  Here are the usual responses I get which are usually prefaced with a confused look on the person's face:

- "Oh...is that where you wanted to go?"
- "Oh....why?"
- "Why do you want to go there?"
- "Oh...you better be careful over there."
- "Really?  Did you choose that?"

...or some variation of these!

And as a bonus I got these responses:
- "I wouldn't get your hair cut over there if I were you." (my hair dresser)
- "Do not get dental work done over there.  I've seen dental work done in the Czech Republic and it is not pretty." (my dentist)
- *GASP* "Don't go there." (one of my customers....unfortunately it is a little too late for that, ma'am!) ;) 

It is really entertaining actually because some variation of these responses almost never fails to come out of the mouths of those I tell!  I certainly do not take offense to it because I know that I would probably be wondering the same thing if I didn't know anything about the country.  In fact, at the beginning of this journey when I started looking at places I could apply to go, Czech Republic was not even on my radar of places I wanted to go.  As I looked into going to all of the "normal" countries (France, Italy, Spain, Germany, etc.), there was always something that knocked each of them out of the running for me.  Let me preface this my saying that I am not doing a typical study abroad program where you pay big bucks, can choose anywhere you want to go, can go with your friends, and not have to know the language.  I am doing a program called International Student Exchange Program (ISEP).  It is a cheaper option because we are paying the same tuition and room and board as we are at Truman!  Also, you have to apply to several different places and then you find out which place you got accepted to.  Because of this, you can't really plan on going with a group of friends.  ISEP is also more of an immersion program than regular study abroad.  Many of the schools require you to have 4 of 5 semesters of college courses of the country's language.  That is the biggest reason why I couldn't go to any of those "normal" countries.  Many of the smaller, off-the-beaten-path countries though did not have the strict language requirements (I mean c'mon, who is going to know Czech besides the Czech people?) and offered classes in English!  So once I realized that these types of countries were basically my only options (at this point, I was kind of disappointed), I started doing some major researching about these countries.  It did not take long at all to fall in love with these different countries and their rich culture.  So, without further ado, here is why I love this country that I haven't stepped foot in yet:

1) It is centrally located in Europe.  It is a great location for traveling to the rest of Europe.  It borders Germany, Poland, Austria, and Slovakia!

2) Castles.  Europe is home to crazy amounts of castles, but Czech Republic is one of the countries with the most castles in relation to its size!

3) Prague: the capital city.  I've had quite a few people who have been to Europe tell me that Prague was their favorite place they visited!  From looking through pictures, I can certainly tell why.  Prague has its own unique and beautiful look and I can't wait to see it for myself!

4) The culture.  I only need to tell you one fact about the Czech culture to convince you these people must be cool (or at least funny).  In the Czech Republic on Easter Monday, it is customary for guys to (lightly) spank girls and women with a wicker stick with colorful ribbons on the end, in hopes that the women will in turn, give them colored eggs, candy or drinks.  After noon, girls defend themselves by pouring water on the guys.  Is that awesome or what?  I sure hope I get to witness this silly Czech tradition come Easter time.  

5) The quaint villages in the countryside.  

Kutná Hora- 

Telč- 

Karlštejn- 

Anyways, this is a little sneak peak of the beautiful country I am going to be living in for almost 1/2 of this year!  I hope you were able to see a little bit of why I am so excited to go the Czech Republic! :)