Done with Czech!

It's official, I am now done with my Czech intensive language course!  Oh my, such relief!  We had our final yesterday that everyone was stressing over and was about half of our grade but I did very well on it.  Today we met up with our class and watched the movie Hair because the director is from the Czech Republic.  Then afterwards we went to this very nice and fancy cafe called Louvre, it is named after the Louvre Museum in Paris.  It was quite delicious and had truly amazing chocolate cake.  Now it is the beginning of the weekend before classes officially begin.  

My time so far in Prague has been amazing.  I love venturing out and seeing the different sights, buildings, finding coffee shops, and all of the historical areas.  I found a cute coffee shop/american bookstore which may become my favorite hangout.  I went there the other day and just read for two hours, it was beautiful.

One of the biggest things which I believe I am learning about here is all about World War II.  I feel like this may be kind of a dumb comment, but I did not really realize how much Prague and the Czech Republic was impacted by the war (I mean, I should have since it truly did impact the entire world).  On a field trip the other day in class we watched a movie about how these two men came to Prague and assasinated this man (I'm terrible for not remembering his name) who was Hitler's number 2 guy and was running the Nazi group in Prague.  After he was assasinated they were looking for the men who killed him and began to kill thousands upon thousands of people who even slightly were okay with the killing.  They also went into small nearby villages and killed everyone in them and destroyed the cities.  We saw footage and photos of them doing this and it was truly horrendous.  There is so much history in this city that it is all overwhelming.  Everything that this country has been through in the past 100 years begins to make you realize why the people are the way they are.  It truly makes me feel amazingly blessed that I have been able to live a life with very few complications and that it has been nothing compared to what these people have seen.

Well my mom comes on Monday and then my aunt Debbie comes on Tuesday so I am very excited for them to come and for me to show them around.  I will have more updates soon.  Much love!

Lazy Weekend

After a week of the torcheress Czech class and trying to stay away from the cold and sickness that was going around here, I woke up Saturday with of course, a cold.  So this weekend was not too adventerous.  My roommate Kayla (who is also sick) and I spent much of the weekend laying in bed.  

The Czech intensive class is very interesting though.  I am becoming very confused about how to conjugate the verbs and you have to put a u at the end of names some times and there really are not a fan of vowels here.  We learned the word for ice cream today which is 'zmrzlina'.  If you ask me, there are deffinetly not enough vowels.  I am truly so excited to be done with this class.  There are only four more days left of it.

One thing that has been really cool about the class though is the field trips that we have gone on. Last Wednesday we went to the National Museum which has quite a bit of art work including some modern, famous czech artists, and others such as Picasso, Degass, Monet, and many other beautiful pieces.  It was great to just have the afternoon to walk around and look at the art and not have my mind wrapped around verb conjugations.  The day after that we went to Radio Free Europe.  This radio station has been around since about 1940 or the 50's.  During communism they broadcasted to many of the countries who were not able to get any news besides what they wanted them to hear.  They now broadcast to places such as Afganistan, Iraq, Iran, Russia, and many other countries, giving unbiased information which they would otherwise not be able to receive.  It was really great to stop and realize how lucky we are to have such access to so much information and to the news and have so many options as to where we get our news.  On Friday our field trip was to the world photo press tour.  These are photos that have won many prizes for what they have captured and depicted.  There were photos of aids victims in africa, sex workers, norwhal whales in Alaska, photos of the leader Bhuto seconds before she was assasinated, US soldiers fighting, and so many others.  It was a very moving exhibit.

Tonight some friends and I are headed to the Coldplay concert which I am BEYOND excited for!  They have great music and I am so excited to get to see them in Prague!  More updates soon!

Starting Classes

On Monday we began our two week Czech language intensive.  I really didn't realize how difficult this language was going to be.  There are just so many different sounds that they make with the words.  We sit in class for about 5 hours a day (That is with one 30 minute break and another 15 minute break) and just cram in as much as we can absorb, which at this time, is not that much.  I could tell someone right now that I was a student, my name, where I am from, possibly some directions and can count to ten.  We are taking some fun little field trips though.  Today we went to the National Gallery which has a wide variety of Modern art, famous Czech artist works, and even featured some very well known artists such as Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, Degass, and many others.  Tomorrow we are going to a national radio station which is broadcasted in English all over Europe.  I am not quite sure what we are doing there but it is still fun to go out and about.

My favorite part about the class though is when we get on some random tangents and leave the language behind for awhile and begin to actually talk about the Czech Republic and it's people.  A conversation we had today was about how the Czech people view love.  Our teacher told us that if we are lucky, we would say "I love you" once in our lifetime.  She said that they do not throw around "I love you" like we do in America (Even when we say 'I love those shoes' or 'I love this song').  Everyone in my class was shocked.  We then asked her about if she loved her parents, the answer was no.  Then we asked her about her kids, the answer was no.  And it is not like she is not what American's would consider an unloving person, but that is just how the country is and how the people are.  They have a great liking and fondness for people but never what they would consider love.  It is just very interesting to see the differences between the people.  More updates soon!

What a tiring weekend!  On Friday we left for the town of Brno in Moravia.  Along the way we stopped at a monestary which was a beautiful and relaxing place.  Then that night we went into the town of Brno and ate dinner and walked around the square.  The next day was packed with so many different tours to go on and things to see.  The morning started at nine when we left the hotel to go to the Mendel museum (he was the man who figured out genetic information by cross polanating pea pods) unfortunately, we got there just to find out that the museum was closed.  They then took us to the city center where we got a tour of the city and saw all of the beautiful churches and buildings around there.  In the afternoon we took a bus out to the battlefield where the battle of the three leaders (I believe that is what it is called) took place.  The most well-known leader was Napoleon Bonapart who won this battle.  We then went to a huge monument which they have put up for this war and also went to a museum which talked all about the battle.  After that we went to a small wine cellar and ate a absolutley delicious dinner!  It is a place that is ran by a family and they all make their own wine there.  We got to sample a lot of it and even tried this one wine which is called Berscheque (The spelling may be way off) but it is a wine which has not gone through fermentation yet and has more of a cider-y and grape taste to it.  Even after this wine tasting I am still not a huge fan of wine.  I wish I had more of an appreciation for it because I think that we did get to try some amazing wines but it really is just not my cup of tea.

Then comes Sunday.  We left early again around nine and traveled a few miles outside of Brno to this beautiful cave place!  We walked through many of the caves and then at one point came outside and were at the bottom of this huge abyss that was truly beautiful!  It was filled with beautiful green colors from the leaves, bushes, and ivy that were growing there.  It was truly miraculous and breath taking.  We then kept walking through the caves and then got into boats where we went through the water in the caves.  That adventure was by far my favorite part of the weekend expedition.  We then traveled about 30 minutes to this beautiful church that was in the middle of no where but had beautiful artwork all along the ceilings and walls.  Then we drove for an hour to a castle which sat upon a hill and overlooked this small city.  After that we were on our way back to Prague.

While it was truly a beautiful weekend I am more then done with guided tours, being bussed from place to place and living out of a suitcase.  I am truly excited to now just get to relax and finally settle down into Prague.  We started our Czech intensive today and it is going to be very difficult to learn this language.  Luckily most people speak english here.  Much love and I will write again soon!

I'm in love...

What a truly beautiful day!  After running some errands today around town Kayla and I went purse shopping for her, but if you know me, you know that I usually can't go into a store without coming out with at least one more bag then I had coming in.  I think that all of the wonderful stores here might just be the end of me...or at least of my money.  But this is all besides the point....

Tonight we just hung out in the dorm and made dinner (my now usual of a sandwich consisting of cheese and salami and a few carrots) and then we decided to go out and walk around.  A group of five of us walked to the Prague Castle which is only about half a mile from our dorm here and just hung out around there and talked and looked at the view over the city.  I am honestly in LOVE with this city and know that it will be difficult for me to leave here.  But I can't start thinking/talking about leaving yet, there is still so much time.

Well after only being in Prague for about four or five days, we are already packing for another trip.  We are leaving tomorrow morning for Moravia which is about two hours or so away and spending the weekend there.  It is some what miserable to think of living out of a suitcase again for another weekend after already doing it for about two weeks in Portland and Europe, but it will still be a great weekend.  I won't have the internet, or if I do i won't be bringing my computer at least, so no updates at least until I get back on Sunday night.  Then Monday we start our intensive Czech class...5 hours...each day...for two weeks, I'm not too excited.  At least I will somewhat begin to learn the language though.  Much love to everyone!

Settling Down in Prague

After being here for a few days we are finally starting to stop being the typical american tourist with our camera out all the time, and are starting to realize that this is home for the next four months.  Which truthfully, is just so beautiful and exciting to me!  I am loving the city and loving getting to explore and walk around!  

One of the most interesting things here is cooking for ourselves.  First off, the supermarkets are much smaller and much more crowded.  It is not uncommon to get pushed out of the way by a 90 year old woman when looking at the cheese.  It is also difficult to figure out what many things are here in the supermarket.  Because of this dilemma, my groceries consist of bread, peanut butter, jelly, cheese, grapes, and salami.  It will for sure be interesting cooking here.

Today was a very powerful day.  We went to the town of Terezen which was a Jewish Ghetto during World War II.  The man who gave us the tour of the place was our dorm mothers husband who's mother lived in the town and eventually died at the concentration/work camp just right outside of the city.  It was truly an experience that I will never forget.  We went through the camp and walked into many of the rooms in which the people slept in which was unbelieveable to think of so many people living in one area.  There were three sets of bunk beds stacked on top of each other which went across a room that was about 30 feet across or so and to each little section of the bunk bed, which was about 5 feet across, four people would sleep in that area and have one blanket to share.  We also walked down through the sort of hidden walkway which led to the execution site.  The most amazing thing was to hear our guide talk about his experiences during the war and how he ran away many times.  We are watching a movie on Monday called Fighter I believe which is about his life.

It is deffinetly time for a nap though after such a moving and exhausting day.  Much love and I will keep writing! 

London -> Munich -> Prague!

Wow, the last few days has just been a true jam packed adventure!  The last few days in Portland were truly just wonderful!  Brittney and Stacey threw a going away party for Kayla and I and it was great to just get to hang out and say goodbye to people and of course, play catch phrase.  

The trip to London wasn't bad.  Since Kayla couldn't fly with me because she didn't have her visa or passport, it was just me and this girl Chelsea who is so sweet!  She's from Portland and has that Portland vibe going.  

We got into London at about 7 in the morning and went to the Hotel which was located right by Hyde Park, which is equivalent to the Central Park but in London.  We spent the day just kind of exploring and then at night went out to a pub.  My goal while abroad is to learn to appreciate beer.  So far, I really hate the taste but have found one or two that aren't too bad.  So far, it's just really not my thing.

The next day we took a tour bus all around London and saw all of the amazing sights, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Parliament, Big Ben, and just so much more!  Then that night a group of us went to the play Wicked.  It was great to see it again!  Deffinetely different from seeing the Original Broadway cast but the cast did a great job!  It was fun to hear it with the british accents.

We set off for Munich the next day at about four in the morning and got there around ten or so.  We wandered around and Kayla finally met up with us!  I am so happy and relieved that she is here now!  We went to a beer garden that night which was an interesting experience.  There was a playground at it for kids.  It is interesting to see just how much beer is apart of the culture and the lives of the people here.  My friend and I split a beer (still not a fan) and had a big pretzel as well.

We got to Prague yesterday and moved into the dorm.  It's not bad and is better then I expected.  I am going to load pictures up on here as soon as I get my cord to do so.  We had a little tour of the campus and the city and where all the important things are.  Now we're just getting ready to go out to dinner and have an early morning tomorrow with another orientation.

I am truly loving it so far and am so glad to be here!  I'll be keeping in touch and writting more!