Prague: Upon our arrival we were all surprised by the hostel we were staying at; it's called the Mosaic House and is like a small hotel with group dorm rooms. We claimed our bunks, freshened up, and hit the town for a night I'll never forget! We dined out, having a traditional Czech meal accompanied by pivo which is beer in Czech. During dinner I got the man playing the accordion to play me the Korean Folk Song: Arirang, which essentially set the bar for the evening. After an eventful night out, my roommates and I took advantage of an opportunity to see some of Prague's most historical sites and architectures. Three hours later, and our tour through Prague and first walking day of many was complete.
Taylor Wiese and I enjoying our Czech "dinner"
This is the Astronomical Clock that tourists gather to see strike at the hour. It holds quite the story behind it, but I'll let you discover that on your own.
The next day a hand full of us ventured out on our own tour of the city. Although it was chilly and sprinkling, we still had a blast taking a lot of pictures and just going with the flow. This day was also a long day on our feet, climbing to see the entire city!
On our third day in the Czech Republic, we packed up and headed to Olomouc! We continue to joke that this day was when we made our best decision yet. Instead of trekking through town with our luggage like we did our first day, six of us girls paid for a shuttle to the airport. From there, a bus drove us four hours, from Prague to Olomouc. When we arrived in Olomouc, we checked into our dorm, had just enough time to throw our suitcases down, and hopped on the tram to find some grub.
Olomouc: Olomouc is only five days new, and it's feeling pretty homey already. Between Monday and Tuesday, I don't know which Orientation Day was worse...There really wasn't any pertinent information given to us. I was expecting to get my student identification number and help with accessing the internet, maybe shown where our classes would be held, and a just a basic low down of the university. Instead, we were dragged around town to get our picture taken for our bus pass, and that was most of our Monday. Tuesday, we had a brief sharing of the university, and spent our day walking to another town. As beautiful as the journey was, the cave the tour guides took us to was not worth the long hall. Despite our lack of orientation we treated ourselves to a night out, in spirit of St. Patrick's Day.
Here I am! In the cave that we were supposed to pay to take pictures in... I actually didn't hear any of the presentation during the walk because I was too far behind.
When Wednesday rolled around, I prepared for what was going to be my first class/lecture since December. I feared that our instructors were going to have a thick accent and that I wouldn't be able to understand them. Luckily, their English was clear and the lectures interesting; one about general Czech history and the other about musicians during the Holocaust. After surviving my first of many lectures, I was able to take a nap and then take time getting ready for a Finnish party. Every Wednesday the student organization, Erasmus, holds a party at a nearby club to spotlight a group of students' nationality. Like I said, we celebrated Finland's culture with some of their unique drinks and a special performance. We can hardly wait to give them a taste of America when it's our turn! Thursday was a memorable day with who has to be the sweetest old man in Olomouc. He shared his life story with us in perfect sequential order from when his Jewish friend was sent away by his parents to protect him to his years experiencing what it was like to grow up in Czechoslovakia during the war. Afterwards, he took us on a tour to the three hills in Olomouc, showing us the large and small town squares. Following the tour, we hustled to our Czech Language class and were immediately overwhelmed by it. It's one thing to have already been exposed to and attempting to familiarize ourselves with hearing the Czech language but having to actually take the time to learn it is already an even greater challenge. After three more language sessions today, my crew and I made our third attempt to hit up the local Globus. Globus is an over-exaggerated Hy-Vee but with clothes and a little mall connected to it. It's been a trip and then some whenever we've gone; it's so confusing. Anyway, it's Friday night, I've pathetically been at this for two nights now, and I'm finally wrapping up this first post. I'll try to post more often, so I don't ramble. Thanks for reading, love and miss you all!
-Molly
Random Stuff:
- I am finding myself to be a bit of a picky eater over here--which is not good.
- Walking 20 minutes max across UNK's campus is nothing like wobbling over the cobblestones and up alley ways to get to class.
- I miss my babies from daycare so much, and I think about them everyday! Today, I saw an unattended baby sleeping in a stroller, left in the entry way of where my class is held and nearly burst in to tears.
- I haven't seen any screens on the windows here, so there are moths all over my room.
- I feel like I've known these people for years, but I'm just getting to know them. We already have made so many memories and inside jokes, and it's only been a week. I cannot wait for what the next two months have in store for us!
