Daily Life

This week we just got back from our first field trip which was to Prague. I had a great time an our group has gotten even closer from the experience. I think I have finally figured out my daily life here in Olomouc. However, there is still some areas that can be improved with our group while in Olomouc.

Our classes begin at 3:00 P.M. most days so I usually wake up around 10 A.M. once a week I will go do my laundry in the morning but usually I start my day off in the DayBreak coffee shop. I know I go there often because the girl working there knows exactly what I want to order. After I have a coffee I make my way to town wondering around looking through shops. I do this until about lunch time and eat somewhere for about 75 Koruna to 125 Koruna which is about 3 to 5 dollars. The food here is extremely cheap compared to the USA. When I am done eating I make my way back to the dorms and meet my roommate Jon where we hang out and study a little bit before class. Class is about four hours long and in class we learn about the Czech culture, language, and the holocaust. All of the professors are very nice and love to teach us about the Czech Republic. Usually what happens after class is the group splits up and some go back to the dorm to eat and the others go eat something in the square. Depending on the day of the week tells us what we are usually doing for the night.

On Monday people can go out to a club called 15 minuts that holds a lot of dance parties for the foreign kids. Tuesday nothing is going on and is spent watching a movie in our dorm room. Wednesday there is also a dance party at Belmondo that people can attend. Then usually Thursday are spent in the dorm room. Once the weekend hits we go traveling with our group to different places. Two weekend ago we spent Friday and Saturday in Olomouc and the town was completely dead. Many students travel during the weekend so nobody is left around which can be sad at times.

I really am enjoying my time in Olomouc; however there are somethings I wish can improve. I feel we haven’t found much to around the town with our group. Usually it is just a few of us at a time going to hang out. I also wish that we lived closer to town. If we want to go into town it is just a 10 minute tram ride, that isn’t bad, but closes down at 11:30P.M. To end on a positive note I think with time we will find all the hidden secrets of this town and completely fall in love with it. 

All of the guys on the trip took a band cover picture in Prague!

Here is another one of us messing around in our Hostel. 

Locals

I have officially been in the Czech Republic for a week. I first landed in Prague and missed the other group of people that booked a van ride to the hostel. So after sitting and thinking for a bit I decided to get a head start understanding the public transportation system in the Czech Republic. I asked the information desk at the airport and she gave me a map of busses and trains to take to get to the hostel. Everything ended up going very smoothly I only had to try and communicate to one person to see if I was going the right way to the hostel.

After being in Prague for two days I realized how busy of a city it was. Before coming I could not find any information on the Czech Republic besides the Wikipedia page of how big the cities were. I had learned that in the Czech Republic they listen to American Pop music everywhere. Also at the movie theaters here there are many American movies in English with Czech Subtitles. For two days in Prague we walked around the city and found so many nice little restaurants to eat at. I was surprised with myself because I was nervous about how the Czech food was going to taste but after the first meal I fall in love with it. On Sunday we checked out of our hostel at 10 A.M. and had to wait in the airport for a few hours before everyone else showed up.

My first experience meeting a local Czech person was at check in for our dorms. Jon and I had gone to the wrong building number and a girl was very nice and took us to our dorm and showed us how everything worked. After unpacking we went to Globus which is the Walmart of the Czech Republic. On the way I saw a little restaurant on the side of the road. After getting back to the dorm I went to the little restaurant to get some food to eat. There I saw the same girl from earlier that helped us to our dorms sitting with Billy Yaw. So I sat down and started to learn about her culture.  Her name was “Yid-Kah” and she is from Brno which is about a 1 hour train ride from Olomouc. She talked about her family and schooling. Yidkah knows four different languages which blow my mind. Over the week she helped me with my Czech language class assignments. I am very grateful of getting to know a local. 

Plane Ride

The moment the plane took off. I felt like I was finally living in the present again. A while back I found a quote that was describing the way I was feeling. I will attach the image below. Back to the plane ride... No longer was I anxious about living in the future. I have been waiting so long to hop on this plane and take off to the Czech Republic. Many nights have been spent talking to people about my departure. I have also been working long weeks to save up for this trip. At this very moment I am on the plane writing my first blog. Study aboard have so much adventure and excitement. It is truly indescribable with words. The feeling I have on a study aboard is relief, enjoyment, excitement. Being here on this plane at this moment I have no worries at all in my life. I am just here enjoying the thoughts of the months to come. I am very excited about the group going on the trip and couldn't have asked for better people. I should be arriving soon in Chicago. After Chicago I will go to Canada then Germany and in 26 hours I will walk off the plane and be in the Czech Republic.