Všechno

(Translation: Everything)

I haven't updated with a substantial post in a LONG time, so I am going to try to cover the major events of the past few weeks as best I can!

Tarah

Jenny and I met Tarah last Saturday evening at the airport. We had a great week with her, taking her to all of the major sites, and going out for a lot of great meals. To highlight the contrast between my two weeks of visitors: I described the week with the dads in one word, beer, but to describe the week with Tarah, the word would have to be wine. I don't know if I drank as much wine this week as I did beer the week with the dads, but it might have been close.

As great as it was to see the dads, it was different with Tarah. I live with Marc five months out of the year, but at most I see Tarah for about four hours a handful of times each break. Gainesville is far. Jenny, Tarah, and I realized that since Mount, we probably have not all seen each other as much as we did last week, so it was really something special. It made me realize how glad I am that we have kept those high school friendships, at least enough that Tarah would fly all the way from Gainesville to see us!

It was sad seeing Tarah off yesterday morning. It's a good thing that I was still too asleep to cry, but it was almost sadder than when the dads left (sorry, Dad), especially because I know that I will have plenty of time to get sick of Dad over break (kidding), but it will be back to a handful of times with Tarah. Just going to have to start planning a roadtrip to Gainesville!

Thanksgiving

Tarah and I are champs. We put heels on at 1pm and wore them until 2AM. That is talent!

More importantly, Thanksgiving was just like Thanksgiving at home. I got to celebrate with some of the friends that are the closest to family to me, so it was almost like being at home. We started the day rushing to get ready, just like I would have at home. We met Jenny at the pub near her dorm where we had small salads for lunch. Then we went back to her room and had some Thanksgiving wine and just hung out doing not much of anything, just like I would have at Aunt Michelle's. Then we went to the Marriott for the most expensive Thanksgiving dinner I will probably ever have. It was an amazing spread of almost everything you could think of, and we managed to have unlimited wine. For those of you that are wondering, no, I did not have turkey! We met lots of other American students, and we also met a lot of their drunk parents who were so excited to see other Americans. We stayed until they turned all the lights on, and then moved on to Radost. (That's the place I wrote about before, with the Rhianna music video). All in all it was a great Thanksgiving that I will always remember. I was very thankful to not only be in another country to celebrate the holiday but to have two of my best friends right there with me!

School

Worst thing you can do to your grades: have your dad come visit during the week of midterms. In the next few weeks I have to write FOUR ten-page papers and study for four finals. Back to the real world already!

Youtube

I have added several videos to my Youtube account. You can get to them by clicking here. (On the right it says "Uploads 15" and then under the little thumbnails of videos it should say "see all," and if you click that you can choose from all of them which ones you want to watch). They are from various places over the course of the last few months. Sometimes scenery looks prettier in a panorama, or scenery at night comes out better as a video, so in some of them the sound doesn't matter (meaning Grandpa and Dad, if you don't understand/hear what is being said, then it probably isn't that important).



That's about it for now. Next time: Christmas markets! Oh, and I will put my Vienna pictures up soon!

They have gingerbread lattes in Prague. I am never coming home.


P.S. Dad, I just realized that I make fun of you a lot in this post, but I don't mean it; I swear.

Tatínky

(Translation: Dads)

I put the pictures up from the week that the dads were here. I've been falling behind, but I will update on everything else soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to wish everyone at home a Happy Thanksgiving!

I've been having a great week with Tarah, and I will update everyone on it as soon as I have time!

Berlin

Photos are up! There are a million 'cause I took pictures of all the murals on the wall at the East Side Gallery. Hope you like them!

Sleva

(Translation: Sale/Discount)

1. Tarah arrived safely at 16:00h today. Her bag arrived about five minutes ago. At least it arrived!

2. I just wanted to share with everyone the conversation that I had with Mom a little while ago. As she and I spoke Dad was drinking Pilsner beer. Apparently he was able to answer enough trivia questions about how it was brewed when he was buying it that the guy gave him a discount. Congratulations Dad, you actually paid attention on the tour!

3. Vienna was beautiful. I was in my glory because there were Christmas decorations everywhere, and their Christmas markets were already open. Their town hall was decorated as an Advent calendar, with every window having a number. It was so exciting. We walked around the Christmas markets with mugs of hot wine for a while. I loved it. I definitely think that it was the kind of city that I would appreciate much more if I was older and therefore richer!

It will be a busy week living it up with Tarah, so I don't know how much I'll be posting. Pictures to come eventually!

Tatínky

(Translation: Dads)

The post you for which you have all been waiting! (Notice how awkward that sentence sounds because I didn't want to end it with a preposition.) Anyway, this post will most likely disappoint because I don't have anything extraordinary to report.

If I had to choose one word to describe our week, it would be beer. I am not a big beer drinker, so I think that last week I drank more beer in one week than I have since I've been here. (Not that I haven't been frequenting the establishments, I just usually stick to bile vino.) Anyway, I not only had more beer last week than the entire two and a half months I've been here, but I also had more Czech food. They loved their beer and Czech food. My liver and stomach are still recovering!

I think my mom put it best in the email that she sent me:

"they talked the entire way home about everything - you and Jenny, beer, the museums, beer, the hotel, beer, restaurants, and beer. Do you see a theme??"

She was definitely right. I had a great time showing them around the city though. I love Prague so much, and it's not like I can share that with other people here, so it was great to show everything I love to an outside person. We walked the city on Monday, and on Tuesday we went to the castle, Vysehrad, and to our free sangria night on Tuesday. The dads got to meet my best friends that I've made in Prague, and that was important to me. Wednesday the dads were on their own, so they visited various museums. We also went to dinner on the roof of a hotel that night, which was beautiful. We ate outside, overlooking Old Town Square, and it was honestly one of the best dinners that I have had so far in Prague. Thursday Dad and I went to Petrin Hill, and then we all saw a photo exhibit, had lunch at one of my vegetarian places, and did some souvenir shopping. Friday we took a trip to the city of Pilzen where we saw the American Military Museum and took a tour of the Pilsner Brewery. At night we went to a Czech hockey game. In between each of the things we did every day included a stop at some sort of pub. I don't think we ever went more than a few hours without a beer. It was the most Czech that I have been since I've been here!

What I thought was pretty interesting was that after being here for about 24 hours, Dad and Mr. Burns commented on two things that I no longer even notice. They pointed out that doors in the Czech Republic open in, not out. When you enter a store, restaurant, or building, you don't pull the door, but push it. I had subconciously started doing this, without noticing that it was even different from home. It was interesting to have someone point it out. The other thing that they loved to comment on was the "Czech red" hair that is very popular here. People of all ages, from teens to the elderly, dye their hair a shade of obviously fake, bright red. It is all over, and Dad especially loved making fun of it.

In the ten weeks that I have been here before they came, I can honestly say that I was not homesick once. I love it here, and I adjusted very well. However, when I got back to Prague from Berlin Monday night, it was weird no longer having Dad here, and I was slightly homesick Monday and Tuesday. I am definitely over that now, as it is the weekend so I have been out and about, but I find it interesting that it took a part of home coming here for me to miss home a bit. And that was all that it was was a bit. I honestly don't think that I want to be home. I just want the people from home to be here too.

Dad and Mr. Burns, thanks for everything over the course of the week. It was great having you guys, and I hope that you enjoyed it as much as we did!

I got back from Berlin Monday night, and I leave for Vienna in the morning. I am just going for the night because my friend Tarah, who went to Mount with me and now goes to the University of Florida, is coming in on Saturday. I definitely don't even have time to be homesick because I am so busy. The best part is that home is coming to me next week, so I won't even have reason to be!

There is exactly one month from today that I will be back on U.S. soil. I am not exactly thrilled. I guess if I NEVER COME HOME, then there isn't one month left!

Na Tramvaj

(Translation: On the tram)

"What is your major?"

Czech boy: "Forestry"

"Wait, like Smokey the Bear?"

Czech boy: "WHAT?!? I DON'T SMOKE BEARS!"

"Klaus není náš prezident!"

(Translation: "Klaus is not our president!")

Yesterday was International Students' Day, an international day in observance of student activism. In most parts of the world this day passes like any other, but not in the Czech Republic. I had never even heard of this day until I came here, but here it has special meaning. International Students' Day was instituted after the Nazis violently put down student demonstrations in 1939, and this day became even more important to the Czechs in that it was student protests on this day in 1989 that sparked the events that led to the Velvet Revolution. We got the day off from school yesterday, and most businesses were closed. As this year marked the twentieth anniversary of the 1989 protests, there were many events, including a recreation of the march. That was the quick summary, because I don't want to bore you, but if you want to read more about the history of what actually happened twenty years ago, the New York Times has a good article here, and they also have a good article detailing the events that were planned that you can find here.

We gathered at the designated place for the march, along with more than 5,000 other people. For about half an hour people spoke and bands played. Luckily for us, there was a family in front of us who spoke Czech, but the father looked American, and a person who we assume was his father was there as well, and he didn't speak Czech. Therefore, the mother and father kept giving brief summaries to the older man of what was being said. It was eavesdropping for educational purposes. Some of their friends showed up as well, and I listened to one man, who looked about forty, explain to the older man in English about how he had been there twenty years ago. Even though I felt really sick and didn't stay for the whole march, it was a good experience. It was fun trying to figure out what all of the protest signs read, because there were lots of them. Many were against the Communist Party in the Czech Republic, but there were also a great deal against the president, Vaclav Klaus, who is widely unpopular here.

I'm off to take a midterm on my one day of school this week! I promise to put up my Berlin pictures and tell you about the dads' trip soon, if they haven't already!

"Ich bin ein Berliner" -JFK

(Translation (from German, not Czech): "I am a Berliner." -JFK)

I am a Berliner. I loved Berlin. The city was so different from Munich, so it wasn't really what I had been expecting. Megan, Karen, and I did so much in the three days that we were there. We were a little disappointed that our program had planned Krakow for last weekend so we couldn't be there for the 20th anniversary of the fall, but less than a week later isn't too bad, and there were plenty of exhibits still going on that were dedicated to it.

• We took the train to Berlin. I never realized how much I love trains. It was so much roomier than a plane, and on the way there we had a great little cabin basically to ourselves. I honestly think I would consider traveling on Amtrak in the future.
• Our hostel was not so great. We stayed with some creepy people, but we made it out alive. This was our first less-than-stellar hostel experience, so I'm not complaining.
• Once we checked into our hostel on Saturday we went to Brandenburg Gate. That was where these free tours met. This company gives free tours all over Europe, and you just tip the guide at the end. The tour met at Brandenburg Gate and went to most of the major sites. (When I put the Berlin pictures up, you will see them). The tour guide was from Missouri, and he was very enthusiastic so it was pretty interesting. We got to see the Reichstag, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (its actual name), the former Nazi Headquarters, the parking lot which now stands above where Hitler's bunker was, Checkpoint Charlie, Museum Island, the Wall itself, and a bunch of other things that I don't really remember. The tour was definitely worth the tip we gave him.
• After a great Indian dinner we went to my favorite museum yet. The DDR Museum (no Katie, it isn't Dance Dance Revolution) is devoted to memorabilia from the German Demoratic Republic (East Germany) and is an interactive museum. This meant it was basically like the Children's Museum for adults. We got to try on clothes, play with toys, listen to music, and sit in a Trabi. We had a lot of fun. The best part was that it was open 'till 10pm, so we had plenty of time there after dinner. (If you click on the pictures, you can see them actual size, I think.)
• Sunday we woke up early and went to the Reichstag where they have a giant glass dome, designed by Norman Foster, which you can walk inside. It's pretty cool because (1) it's free, (2) you can see into Parliament through the glass floor, (3) they give you an entire audioguided tour of it, and (4) it's free. Since Berlin is one of the biggest cities that I've been to so far (besides London), it was good to get to see just how large it was from up above.
• We also visited Museum the Kennedys on Sunday, which was actually a very nicely done exhibit all about the Kennedys and their lives. I was pretty impressed with the exhibit; I don't know if we even have something that nice devoted to them in the States. They had a special exhibit for the wall too which was interesting. Later in the day we also went to a temporary photo exhibit with all pictures from the fall and dismantling of the wall.
• Today we went to the East Side Gallery and saw all of the murals that have been painted on a 1.3km section of the wall. It was colorful and interesting, and I'm sorry that my pictures aren't up yet because those are definitely the best ones.
• Today was also interesting because we tried to go to an exhibit we had heard about called Freedom Rocks about pieces of the wall that are now in North America. It was an the Canadian Embassy. After spending twenty minutes having our backpacks and persons searched we were allowed to go in where we found out that the exhibit was ONE ROOM with four TVs. We made ourselves watch it since they had gone through the trouble to search us, but it was pretty poorly done. Only disappointment of the whole weekend though, so I'll definitely take it!
  
• Everyone had been warning me about pickpockets and beggars in Europe, but until this weekend I hadn't really noticed a high amount of either. However, Berlin was FULL of Roma who came up to you and asked you if you spoke English and held out a card telling their story and asking for money. They were so persistent. I haven't seen any Roma in Prague, so it was kind of surprising.
• Berlin is definitely the most modern city that I have been to so far, besides London. Since 90% of the city was destroyed during WWII, and a lot has been reconstructed since the fall of the wall, it is very modern. Unlike Prague, their souvenir shops, stores, and fashion in general are much more modern, so that was refreshing.

After a weekend in Berlin I will agree with JFK in saying that we are all Berliners (not pastries, actually Berliners), because it reminded me the most of an American city, which I attribute to the vast number of Dunkin Donuts that could be found all over.

My Krakow pictures are up, and more pictures from the dads and Berlin will be coming soon!

Krakov

(Translation: Krakow)

I know that it has been a week since I was in Krakow, and I am very behind, but I definitely couldn't skip this city. You probably would rather hear about all of the adventures with Dad, but that will have to wait. I like order, especially chronological order, so Krakow it is.

I love Prague. Of all of the cities I have visited so far, there hasn't been a single one in which I would have rather studied. However, Krakow did come close. In retrospect, I don't think that I could study there because it was so small. and we did do the entire city in a day, but it was definitely a great place.

We left on Friday with the whole program. The bus ride took us 8 hours, so we didn't get in until Friday night. When we got there all we wanted was dinner. I had been looking forward to dinner in Krakow for weeks because it meant we would get real pierogi. I was excited 'cause I haven't had true pierogi (or "petahair") since Baba passed away. **I searched everywhere online to find the correct spelling/name of "petahair," and was unsuccessful. All I found was that technically the Ukrainian version is spelt "pyrohy," so I don't really understand how we've been pronouncing it all of these years. If anyone could clarify (ahem, Grandma?), I would love an explanation!**

Anyway, we had an EXCELLENT meal of real pierogi Friday night. Then we had a couple scoops of gelato and went out and explored Poland. The best part of Friday night was that I bought dinner, ice cream, and a few refreshments all for under twenty USD! The Polish currency was called the Zloty, which means "gold," but which is fun to say and gave us some laughs. The exchange rate was great too, which made us love it even more.

Saturday our program took us on a couple of long walking tours of the city. It was so small that we saw basically the entire thing. At night we went to a Georgian Restaurant for dinner. I was pretty excited because it's not every day that you see a Georgian Restaurant, and I have a friend in the Peace Corps in Georgia, so it was a great chance to try the food she's eating. (For those of you who don't know, Georgian food isn't grits and fried chicken. She's in Georgia the country, so it was these rich flat breads and cheese and other interesting foods.) Anyway, we loved our dinner and shopping in the Town Square in Krakow, so it was a good day.

Sunday we visited Auschwitz and Birkenau. I am just going to leave it at that.

My pictures from Krakow aren't up yet, but they're coming; I promise! There aren't many, because there weren't a ton of sights in Krakow, but I still loved it!

I did put up a bunch of pictures the other day from a ton of different random things over the last few weeks, so I hope you enjoy them.

There is a city in Europe where I can get dinner, dessert, and good refreshments for under $20=why I am never coming home.

Prozatím

(Translation: For Now)

This week has been a blur. I apologize for not keeping you up to date on the adventures of the dads. For now here's a little something...


Coming soon: all of the reasons why they are never going home.

P.S. I did catch up on uploading some of my pictures. They're sort of a random group of photos from things here and there.

Tatínky Jsou Tady!

(Translation: Dads Are Here!)

Just got back from a weekend in Krakow, which I LOVED. Dad and Mr. Burns finally made it (more about that later), so it is going to be a busy and fun week. I probably won't get to post much, but I just wanted to let you know that they did make it here safely and have already sampled some Czech beer. It's going to be a great week!

Teroristických!

(Translation: Terrorist!)

Since I have a bunch of random thoughts and anecdotes to share, I think I'm just going to bullet this.

• As typical college students, we took advantage of the free admission to the National Museum that they offer on Mondays. Thank goodness that we did, because if I had paid money for that I would have been mad. I really enjoy history, and I find anthropology pretty interesting, but a person can only see so many rocks and so many replicas of bones before they get bored. I do not recommend this museum!
• Tuesday my morning politics class went to see the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the Czech Parliament. My professor's friend gave us a tour. It was probably my favorite field trip so far.
• The best part of the field trip was when we went through the metal detectors. My professor's backpack was searched and they pulled out his Swiss Army knives. My under-thirty-year old professor held up the Swiss Army knives and with a big smile on his face yelled across the room to his friend "AHAHA TERRORIST ATTACK!!!" The guards chuckled and let him through. Try that one at the U.S. Congress and see if you get such a response.
  
• Tuesday night was my FIRST MIDTERM. I have no idea how I did on it, but school is much different here and much more relaxed. I do feel like I know just as much about Czech history as I do about American history now, and I now know every country and capital in Europe. I plan to use this every chance I get!
• I took a little spill on Halloween and got a small hole in my favorite pair of leggings. I've been wondering how I could still wear them without it being noticeable, and it just dawned on me: electrical tape!
  
• It's a small world. When in Budapest I met a girl at the hostel who was backpacking Europe. Yesterday, while sitting in a cafe I saw her walk inside!

I don't know if you noticed, but I have recently taken to ending these posts with little reasons for why I am not coming home. Apparently this alarmed a certain relative of mine, and as I don't want to be the cause of any heart attacks, I reassure you that those were just jokes! I will have both feet back on American soil (and not the soil of the U.S. Embassy) on December 19th, as reluctant as I may be to do so!

At restaurants a glass of wine is at most about 50 crowns, but most are about 35 or 40. With an exchange rate of 17 crowns to the dollar, you have yet another reason why I am never coming home, GRANDPA.

Děkuji, Táta!

(Translation: Thanks, Dad!)

In anticipation of my father's arrival, which will be a week from yesterday, this post is going to be indirectly about him. Don't worry, Dad-I know that when I usually thank you on here it somehow means you paid for something, but today that actually isn't the case. This post is more about electrical tape than it is about Dad, but I have to suck up somehow.

Anyway, the story behind the electrical tape is that when I was packing for Prague, I borrowed a black backpack from Dad to take as my carry-on. I realized when I got here that there was a roll of electrical tape that he had stashed inside that I hadn't noticed. (I'm lucky it was only electrical tape.) I tossed it into my desk drawer here, thinking that I would never need it. However, that electrical tape is turning into the most versatile and useful thing that I brought to Prague!

Case #1: The Poster-As you all saw with my posters, that electrical tape has successfully held them on the wall, and I didn't have to go buy any sort of duct tape, poster tape, or tacks.

Case #2: The Shower Curtain-My roommate bought a new shower curtain, but for some reason it was about 6 inches too short for our shower. She solved the problem by cutting the bottom off the old curtain and taping it onto the new one. When I got home and saw this I was pretty skeptical about its effectiveness, 'cause I wasn't sure about electrical tape and water, but knock-on-wood it's been two months and it's still intact!

Case #3: The Umbrella-Broke my umbrella. Typical solution would be to buy another one (or use duct tape), but the electrical tape saved me from that too!

Case #4: Halloween-I am sure you all saw my lovely cat costume (gag). As much as I hate cats, I will say that my ears were the best cat ears there, thanks to the electrical tape.

The point of all of this is that Prague is making me even more resourceful. At home my only use for electrical tape was to keep my shin guards in place during soccer, but thanks to Prague I now have a bunch of new uses. Who said I wasn't learning anything here?

You are probably wondering why I even bothered writing this. The answer: my first midterm is tomorrow. This is the best new procrastination method ever.

And a final plug: Thanks, Dad, for being so crazily prepared that you had that stashed in your backpack. I don't know what my shower, umbrella, or Halloween would have done without you.

Šťastné Předvečer Svátku Všech Svatých!

(Translation: Happy Halloween!)

This has been a very interesting weekend, filled with lots of different experiences and emotions. I somewhat went back to the busy schedule, and I also was super American and went all out for Halloween.

Saturday my friends and I went on a trip with our program. We went to the towns of Lidice and Terezin in the Czech Republic. I had never heard of Lidice or the story behind the town, but I was pretty shocked when I heard the whole sequence of events. I'll give you a QUICK summary.

During WWII Hitler's number three man, Heydrich, was assassinated in Prague. In order to teach the Czechs a lesson, Hitler ordered that anyone who was remotely responsible be punished. There were very vague connections to the town of Lidice, so Hitler ordered that the town be "erased from the map." (I'm paraphrasing.) Nazis went to the town, separated the men from the women and children, and executed the men on the spot. They then sent the women and children to separate camps in Poland where most perished. They burnt down the town, blew up any buildings that were left, and even dug up the cemetery. It went from being a town to being nothing but a field.

All that exists today is a field with several monuments and a museum. It was a very sobering experience, and I was shocked and almost embarrassed that I had never heard about this part of history before yesterday.

After Lidice we went to the town of Terezin, which was a major concentration camp during WWII. It wasn't an extermination camp, but it was one of the Eatern-most camps so many Jews from Western Europe went through there during the war. We visited a few museums there, as well as the cemetery and prison. A lot of what we learned was sad and sickening, so I'm not really going to get into details. On a somewhat lighter note we did see a cell that previously held Franz Ferdinand assassin, so as a history geek I found that pretty interesting.

After our day trip I spent a while trying to warm up. It has gotten pretty cold here, which makes some touristy things more difficult. Once I had recovered from the depressing day, I put on my pretty pathetic Halloween costume and was an obnoxious American. I'm not usually that into Halloween at home, as it is one of my least-favorite holidays, but I think that being away from so much American culture I was much more excited to celebrate it this year.

We bought a bunch of candy and some other "spirits" (haha), and had a little Halloween party with our friends in our program before venturing out to a Halloween party at a place called Sasazu. It was a lot of fun, and apparently there were over 2000 students there at one point. It was definitely crazy, but it was a good way to celebrate Halloween.


This morning was a little rough, but we went to Radost (where we had been the other night), because they have a restaurant too which has great breakfast. It felt a lot like being back at PC where we tear ourselves out of bed and drag ourselves over to the dining hall for breakfast and gossip about the previous night. This weekend was definitely a very American one, but it was worth it because breakfast was amazing.

After breakfast some people headed back to go back to bed, but some of us decided to explore an area of the city known as Vysehrad. We hadn't realized that it was like a big park with a lot of walking paths and great views of the city. It was great to walk through fallen leaves and see the colors on the trees. The fresh air was good for us as well.

When I got back to my room I put on some Christmas music, got out more of the decorations I had purchased, and finished decorating my room! The windows are decked with sparkly snow flakes, and I cut cute pictures out of wrapping paper to decorate my doors and drawers. I know this is early for Christmas spirit, even for me, but my room was very impersonal anyway, and Thanksgiving doesn't really exist here, so I can throw out that date as the social norm for when it is acceptable to begin the Christmas season.

Currently we're at the Globe for their movie night. I had some pumpkin soup and cinnamon tea to complete my very autumn day, and we're watching Casablanca. This is a very home-y way to wrap up a fun weekend. I would say back to the real world tomorrow, but Prague isn't the real world. It doesn't just look like a fairy tale; it is a fairy tale, and therefore, I am never coming home.

Obrázky Konečně

(Translation: Pictures Finally)

I finally put up my pictures from Copenhagen. Not many captions 'cause I wasn't really sure what a lot of things were! Enjoy!

I'll update on my weekend soon!