Hello!
Hoowee. Trying to make this a blend of thoughtful writing, an accurate representation of myself, a diary, stream of consciousness, and something that is relatable, while still trying to have a point lol.
Firstly, I am in Prague. Made it safe, the flights were long but it's all done now. The apartment is nice, I am still trying to figure what to do with my dirty laundry besides keeping it in a pile beside my bed, but that's my most realistic option right now.
This past week (starting Friday, then Monday - Thursday) was a Czech language intensive, culminating in a midterm today but I know I did well so hey, cheers I guess lol. Learning the language was actually kind of .... fun? But then again how much of that feeling is just because I was good at it? Anyway I have been talking for a while here are some photos: |
Národní divadlo, the National Theater. The next picture is of the National Theater itself (couldn't fit the entire thing in the photo
The spacing on this is weird, I couldn't quite figure how to do this cleanly. The following two photos are of the Vlata River, which divides Prague into its east and west constituents, featuring Prague Castle (Pražský hrad) in the background... and then it's the exact same photo, only 10x better :)
Onto the Nitty Gritty:
Food - is interesting. Really heavy. So it's nice as a comfort food during the chilly winter but I have started to order salads every once in a while when I eat out just to help my body out lol.
It's wild just trying to eat and keep myself sustained; someone would always be making dinner back at home, I'm on the meal plan at school, so this is my first time ever really having to feed myself. I usually eat out or stay inside and have cereal, but stay tuned for the Adventures of Chef IT.
Beer - Stuff I kept hearing before I got here was that the beer was superb here and that it was cheaper than water. I can attest that the latter is true, but I cannot tell the former because I just don't like beer. Part of it is that I haven't really had a taste for carbonated drinks since cutting out soda for high school cross country. The other part of it is that, apparently, beer is an "acquired taste", that takes something of practice to enjoy? This'll sound crass but it's just not a taste I am trying to acquire, my sugar addiction-fueled love of juice will suffice.
Nightlife - I am a boring fella. Never really been a partier or clubber, but for the first time I felt fomo (fear of missing out) during the weekend when everyone was exploring the bar/club scene in the city. So I went as well, for a night. I confirmed who I was and went home after a couple hours lol. I think it is good that now I can say I did it, and won't feel like I am missing out on anything that I do not already have an idea of/know how I feel about.
Cell - T-Mobile has this simple Global plan and that's been useful since I can be reached at the same number, but that has been less helpful in that the data is slowed down to 2G, which is sometimes not useful when I need to use Google Maps or some other app to navigate. Plus it is hard to break away from my prior life (not to say I'm trying to put everyone in my past, but I need to be oriented toward my current experience) when my number is the same and I'm still getting spam calls from random telemarketer fools.
People - the people in the program and my roommates are cool! I am glad, the social aspects are so important to the experience I have and I was worried about this beforehand, but everyone is in a similar place as I and trying their best to make friends. Plus, it's always helpful when you have shared interests.
Academics - film classes start tomorrow I think. Which is exciting and intimidating because I feel like I just do not know enough, but this is the start of a journey to knowing and growing! And dare I say that the Czech language is easier to learn than it looks? I would say it is somewhat straightforward, but let's see how I feel about that in two months.
All things considered, it has been a solid week. I definitely get a little tight in the chest when I think about how I still have four months left here, and simultaneously feeling like that is not enough time to do all that I want to do, but I just have to take a deep breath and trust in the decisions that I make for myself.
Here's A New Playlist for ya: Mám hlad
(The title is Czech for "I'm hungry" because I'm hungry to do better, you feel me? As always, some of the songs are explicit, listener discretion is advised)
Onto the Nitty Gritty:
Food - is interesting. Really heavy. So it's nice as a comfort food during the chilly winter but I have started to order salads every once in a while when I eat out just to help my body out lol.It's wild just trying to eat and keep myself sustained; someone would always be making dinner back at home, I'm on the meal plan at school, so this is my first time ever really having to feed myself. I usually eat out or stay inside and have cereal, but stay tuned for the Adventures of Chef IT.
Beer - Stuff I kept hearing before I got here was that the beer was superb here and that it was cheaper than water. I can attest that the latter is true, but I cannot tell the former because I just don't like beer. Part of it is that I haven't really had a taste for carbonated drinks since cutting out soda for high school cross country. The other part of it is that, apparently, beer is an "acquired taste", that takes something of practice to enjoy? This'll sound crass but it's just not a taste I am trying to acquire, my sugar addiction-fueled love of juice will suffice.Nightlife - I am a boring fella. Never really been a partier or clubber, but for the first time I felt fomo (fear of missing out) during the weekend when everyone was exploring the bar/club scene in the city. So I went as well, for a night. I confirmed who I was and went home after a couple hours lol. I think it is good that now I can say I did it, and won't feel like I am missing out on anything that I do not already have an idea of/know how I feel about.
Cell - T-Mobile has this simple Global plan and that's been useful since I can be reached at the same number, but that has been less helpful in that the data is slowed down to 2G, which is sometimes not useful when I need to use Google Maps or some other app to navigate. Plus it is hard to break away from my prior life (not to say I'm trying to put everyone in my past, but I need to be oriented toward my current experience) when my number is the same and I'm still getting spam calls from random telemarketer fools.
People - the people in the program and my roommates are cool! I am glad, the social aspects are so important to the experience I have and I was worried about this beforehand, but everyone is in a similar place as I and trying their best to make friends. Plus, it's always helpful when you have shared interests.
Academics - film classes start tomorrow I think. Which is exciting and intimidating because I feel like I just do not know enough, but this is the start of a journey to knowing and growing! And dare I say that the Czech language is easier to learn than it looks? I would say it is somewhat straightforward, but let's see how I feel about that in two months.
All things considered, it has been a solid week. I definitely get a little tight in the chest when I think about how I still have four months left here, and simultaneously feeling like that is not enough time to do all that I want to do, but I just have to take a deep breath and trust in the decisions that I make for myself.
Here's A New Playlist for ya: Mám hlad
(The title is Czech for "I'm hungry" because I'm hungry to do better, you feel me? As always, some of the songs are explicit, listener discretion is advised)
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