Now that I've been back for a few days, there are certain things from the States that are different than how my life was in Prague, and there are some I hate, some I love, and some that just annoy me.
First is cell phones. This isn't unique to the Czech Republic, but it is unique to my abroad experience. In Prague we had pay-as-you-go cell phones; therefore, we were cheap and never used them. We used them out of necessity and rarely just texted someone for fun. (Grandma and Grandpa, "texted" means "sent someone a text message"). It was nice because it meant that when we were out somewhere no one was on their phone. Everyone was fully in the conversation and wasn't talking with someone that wasn't there. Now that I've been home I've realized how bad Americans, me included, are when it comes to their phones. I've been going out with friends to catch up, and I don't think that there has been a single meal that neither me nor my friends has read a message while at the table, and it makes me miss that aspect of my semester. I think I might start leaving my phone in the car at meals or turning it off or something. Prague showed me my phone isn't as necessary as I always think or pretend that it is.
The second thing is a difference that I love. There is customer service here. In Prague it barely existed. Waiters and waitresses acted like you were inconveniencing them by ordering, and they made no effort to be friendly. I think customer service is important, so especially yesterday when I worked a cashier shift at Target I tried to be as holiday-spirited as I could. It was nice to hear the other cashiers wishing people a happy holidays as well, and I really appreciated the positive spirirt that just isn't present in transactions like that in Prague. On the other hand, it really stinks to tip again. In Prague you maybe leave ten percent, but it isn't really required, so the price you see on the menu is the price you pay. I wish it were the same here!
Finally, this difference isn't so much a difference as it is a new realization. Never before in my life have I been able to hear a "Boston Accent" or a "Rhode Island Accent" when someone speaks. When you grow up around something like that it's just normal speech to you, not an accent. However, after spending a semester with minimal exposure to such accents, they are now all I hear. I spent my first shift back at Target cringing every time someone spoke. With every dropped r I heard I missed the regular English of my friends from Prague, and I even missed the more broken English of my professors.
I'm off to search my suitcase for all the Christmas gifts I stashed away and subsequently now cannot locate. Merry Christmas to all of you, and thanks for keeping up with my trip this semester!
24 December 2009
20 December 2009
Vánoční v Praze!
(Translation: Christmas in Prague)
For such an agnostic country (they get slightly mad if you call them atheist), I have been so impressed with the Christmas spirit in Prague. They have Christmas stuff everywhere! The Christmas markets are my favorite! This video is from the one on Old Town Square.
The Christmas markets consist of a bunch of different booths. Some of the vendors have annoying souvenirs, but others have really nice hand-made traditional Czech gifts. There was also traditional Czech foods everywhere, including these cinnamon sugar things called Trdelnik, goulash in bread bowls, sausage and hot dogs, potato pancakes, and Czech wafers. Walking around shopping with the smells of all of the foods was really nice!
On my last day I stumbled upon a fire at one of the manger scenes in the Christmas markets. It was pretty crazy, and I'll put the pictures up when I put up the pictures of the Christmas markets.
For such an agnostic country (they get slightly mad if you call them atheist), I have been so impressed with the Christmas spirit in Prague. They have Christmas stuff everywhere! The Christmas markets are my favorite! This video is from the one on Old Town Square.
The Christmas markets consist of a bunch of different booths. Some of the vendors have annoying souvenirs, but others have really nice hand-made traditional Czech gifts. There was also traditional Czech foods everywhere, including these cinnamon sugar things called Trdelnik, goulash in bread bowls, sausage and hot dogs, potato pancakes, and Czech wafers. Walking around shopping with the smells of all of the foods was really nice!
On my last day I stumbled upon a fire at one of the manger scenes in the Christmas markets. It was pretty crazy, and I'll put the pictures up when I put up the pictures of the Christmas markets.
19 December 2009
Home!
Since I'm back in the States I figured I'd start titling my posts in English.
I made it home! After not being able to sleep Friday night, I left my dorm at 3am Prague time Saturday morning. After spending almost eight hours in the Frankfurt airport due to delays, I arrived in Boston a little after 5pm Eastern Time, or 11pm Prague time.
I'm exhausted, so I'm heading to bed. For now it's nice to be back, and I hope to see you all soon!
I made it home! After not being able to sleep Friday night, I left my dorm at 3am Prague time Saturday morning. After spending almost eight hours in the Frankfurt airport due to delays, I arrived in Boston a little after 5pm Eastern Time, or 11pm Prague time.
I'm exhausted, so I'm heading to bed. For now it's nice to be back, and I hope to see you all soon!
18 December 2009
Nashledanou!
(Translation: Goodbye!)
Not only has saying goodbye to the city been tough, but saying bye to my friends is even worse. It's not that I don't want to go home, because I am looking forward to seeing everyone, but I just want to be able to come back next semester with all of the same people.
I've given a lot of thought to whether I'm going to continue the blog once I get home, and I've decided that for now I am. There are still a bunch of things from my last week that I want to write about so that I remember them, and I have a feeling that there are going to be a lot of things about the trip that I won't truly appreciate until I am back home and notice the differences and have time to reflect on it. Therefore, stay tuned, because the boring ramblings of my trip aren't over yet!
I leave my dorm in three hours, and my flight leaves in five. I will be back on U.S. soil in about twenty hours. See you soon!
Not only has saying goodbye to the city been tough, but saying bye to my friends is even worse. It's not that I don't want to go home, because I am looking forward to seeing everyone, but I just want to be able to come back next semester with all of the same people.
I've given a lot of thought to whether I'm going to continue the blog once I get home, and I've decided that for now I am. There are still a bunch of things from my last week that I want to write about so that I remember them, and I have a feeling that there are going to be a lot of things about the trip that I won't truly appreciate until I am back home and notice the differences and have time to reflect on it. Therefore, stay tuned, because the boring ramblings of my trip aren't over yet!
I leave my dorm in three hours, and my flight leaves in five. I will be back on U.S. soil in about twenty hours. See you soon!
14 December 2009
Kvalitní Tři
(Translation: Top Three)
I've started reflecting on the trip and the "top three" in a bunch of categories. I'll start with a few today and add them as I think of them.
Cities I Visited:
1. Paris
2. Krakow
3. Berlin
Three Things that Scream "Czech"
1. Bad Hair: This includes the most fake red hair you've ever seen but it being totally normal for women of all ages, dreadlocks, and mullets.
2. Plaid reinforced pants
3. Dogs everywhere and on every form of public transportation.
Things I Miss from Home:
1. People
2. Vegetables
3. Feeling 100% Clean
Cafes:
1. Rembrandt Cafe (for all the free samples!)
2. Bohemia Bagel (all of them)
3. Kavarna Slavia
K, that's all for now! I'll post more as I think of more categories! I might do some Prague superlatives, so let me know if you have any suggestions!
I've started reflecting on the trip and the "top three" in a bunch of categories. I'll start with a few today and add them as I think of them.
Cities I Visited:
1. Paris
2. Krakow
3. Berlin
Three Things that Scream "Czech"
1. Bad Hair: This includes the most fake red hair you've ever seen but it being totally normal for women of all ages, dreadlocks, and mullets.
2. Plaid reinforced pants
3. Dogs everywhere and on every form of public transportation.Things I Miss from Home:
1. People
2. Vegetables
3. Feeling 100% Clean
Cafes:
1. Rembrandt Cafe (for all the free samples!)
2. Bohemia Bagel (all of them)
3. Kavarna Slavia
K, that's all for now! I'll post more as I think of more categories! I might do some Prague superlatives, so let me know if you have any suggestions!
Finále
(Translation: Finale)
This past weekend was a blur. MaryBeth, one of my roommates from PC, came for the weekend. She is studying abroad in London for the year, so it was nice to get a chance to see her!
We had a great weekend. It was nice showing her around the city because I got to see a lot of my favorite places for the last time! Friday MB got in late afternoon and we got dinner at Lehka Hlava (Clear Head), my favorite vegetarian place. Then we walked around the Christmas markets. (I know I still need to tell you about them, so I think I'll just do a whole post about them tomorrow). Anyway, after the Christmas markets MB and I made red and green chocolate covered pretzels, the closest thing to baking that I have done all semester. Later Friday night we went with all of my friends to a place called Absinth Bar (which is all the explanation of that you are getting), and then we went to a club called Lucerna for eighties and nineties night. It was a lot of fun 'cause the music was so good.
Saturday we decided to go on one of those free tours that I've been doing in the other cities. I figured I should see Prague the same way I had seen other cities, and I knew that they could be better tour guides for MB than I could. After the tour we headed back to the dorm to warm up. This weekend has been the coldest days that I have had in Prague all semester, so being outside was tough at times. We did have a lot of snow flurries though, so it is putting me in the Christmas spirit even more! Saturday night we went to Pivovarsky Dum for dinner, the place that I have taken the dads and Tarah. There were ten of us that went, so it was a lot of fun. It's a microbrewery, and they finally changed their seasonal beer, so we got to have vanilla beer that came with vanilla cookies. After Pivodum we went to U Sudu because we needed a more quiet night after our previous one, but we ended up staying there for hours!
Sunday I showed MB the castle, St. Vitus, and the Lennon Wall. Then we went to see something that I had not yet seen: the infant of Prague, Baby Jesus. In Our Lady Victorious Church is a DOLL that is supposed to look like Jesus and that the Carmelite order is obsessed with or something. It is world famous and people come from all over to see it. When the Pope came to Prague he came to bless the infant Jesus. Kings and queens long ago used to give the doll fancy clothes as gifts, so there is a whole museum with its outfits. It was quite funny, and I have never had to stifle laughter in church so much. We even got to see the display with THE UNDERGARMENTS OF JESUS. It was definitely the highlight of MB's trip. After that experience we went to see the dancing house, grabbed lunch at Maitrea, and did some more Christmas market shopping. MB and I got a nice dinner at U Prince, the outdoor restaurant on the roof that overlooksOld Town Square. It was a great meal. We wrapped up the weekend with a drink at Bukowski's with my friends. I honestly think that I went to all of my favorite places this weekend, and I had a friend from home to do it all with, so it was my favorite weekend in Prague so far.
It is so sad that I am leaving so soon. It is weird because usually leading up to a trip, either coming or going, you are at least a little excited for the change, but I feel like a kid whose parents tell them that they are moving and they don't have any choice. I have to leave behind all of the places I like and the friends that I've made. Not to mention the fact that I don't want to pack an entire semester back into two suitcases. If you thought that my packing to come here was hard, just wait for the packing to leave!
I will take another study break in a bit to put my Paris pictures up, so I hope you like them!
See you all soon!
P.S. Read this article. (Can you tell I'm avoiding studying?) It'll put you in the holiday spirit!
This past weekend was a blur. MaryBeth, one of my roommates from PC, came for the weekend. She is studying abroad in London for the year, so it was nice to get a chance to see her!
We had a great weekend. It was nice showing her around the city because I got to see a lot of my favorite places for the last time! Friday MB got in late afternoon and we got dinner at Lehka Hlava (Clear Head), my favorite vegetarian place. Then we walked around the Christmas markets. (I know I still need to tell you about them, so I think I'll just do a whole post about them tomorrow). Anyway, after the Christmas markets MB and I made red and green chocolate covered pretzels, the closest thing to baking that I have done all semester. Later Friday night we went with all of my friends to a place called Absinth Bar (which is all the explanation of that you are getting), and then we went to a club called Lucerna for eighties and nineties night. It was a lot of fun 'cause the music was so good.
Saturday we decided to go on one of those free tours that I've been doing in the other cities. I figured I should see Prague the same way I had seen other cities, and I knew that they could be better tour guides for MB than I could. After the tour we headed back to the dorm to warm up. This weekend has been the coldest days that I have had in Prague all semester, so being outside was tough at times. We did have a lot of snow flurries though, so it is putting me in the Christmas spirit even more! Saturday night we went to Pivovarsky Dum for dinner, the place that I have taken the dads and Tarah. There were ten of us that went, so it was a lot of fun. It's a microbrewery, and they finally changed their seasonal beer, so we got to have vanilla beer that came with vanilla cookies. After Pivodum we went to U Sudu because we needed a more quiet night after our previous one, but we ended up staying there for hours!
Sunday I showed MB the castle, St. Vitus, and the Lennon Wall. Then we went to see something that I had not yet seen: the infant of Prague, Baby Jesus. In Our Lady Victorious Church is a DOLL that is supposed to look like Jesus and that the Carmelite order is obsessed with or something. It is world famous and people come from all over to see it. When the Pope came to Prague he came to bless the infant Jesus. Kings and queens long ago used to give the doll fancy clothes as gifts, so there is a whole museum with its outfits. It was quite funny, and I have never had to stifle laughter in church so much. We even got to see the display with THE UNDERGARMENTS OF JESUS. It was definitely the highlight of MB's trip. After that experience we went to see the dancing house, grabbed lunch at Maitrea, and did some more Christmas market shopping. MB and I got a nice dinner at U Prince, the outdoor restaurant on the roof that overlooksOld Town Square. It was a great meal. We wrapped up the weekend with a drink at Bukowski's with my friends. I honestly think that I went to all of my favorite places this weekend, and I had a friend from home to do it all with, so it was my favorite weekend in Prague so far.
It is so sad that I am leaving so soon. It is weird because usually leading up to a trip, either coming or going, you are at least a little excited for the change, but I feel like a kid whose parents tell them that they are moving and they don't have any choice. I have to leave behind all of the places I like and the friends that I've made. Not to mention the fact that I don't want to pack an entire semester back into two suitcases. If you thought that my packing to come here was hard, just wait for the packing to leave!
I will take another study break in a bit to put my Paris pictures up, so I hope you like them!
See you all soon!
P.S. Read this article. (Can you tell I'm avoiding studying?) It'll put you in the holiday spirit!
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