"Um do you speak English?" #4

The difference between the language of Czech and English is not a small one. Learning this language is a little big challenging and frustrating. The most frustrating part is trying to speak to these extremely nice people that have no idea what the heck I'm saying. At first, it was a fun adventure trying to talk to the locals and communicating through pointing and nodding or shaking heads. Now that I have been here for a little over three weeks, I don't feel as much like a tourist, and I feel more obligated to know most of these words or phrases that people use on a day to day basis. Scratching the surface of learning this language is showing how challenging it can be to live where not everyone can communicate as easily as back at home.
On one of the first days that we arrived in Olomouc, Anna and I went to the Walmart of the Czech Republic, Globus. We thought that we would just pick up the basics (sandwich supplies, snacks, wine) and be in and out.  We did not realize how dumbfounded we would be when we walked into a store with little to nothing in English, because for some reason, we expected a Czech speaking country to be filled with English marked foods. It was overwhelming to say the least and all of a sudden I found myself craving things like Cheetos, microwave meals and ranch. Slowly but surely making our way through the store, we decide we want some pickles. Both of us prefer dill pickles over sweet ones and there was no indication in English which ones were sweet vs. which ones were salty. We stared at a hopeless cause for a couple of minutes before we sauntered off with our baskets full of food we didnt really know anything about. We discovered that trial and error is somthing that heavily occurs when going to a non-English speaking country.
I have learned that the most important words are "Esspresso", "English", "Thank you", and "Sorry for being a dumb American".
This experience is making me appreciate simple things like communication, and language differences. I am so happy to be here and I am already dreading the day I no longer get to say "Dobry Den" when I walk into a building.

Prague and Dresden!! #7

Our first field trip was a success!! This past weekend our group traveled by train to Prague, and with it being the first big European city that I have been to, I was pleasantly surprised and I was a bit sad when we had to leave. When we got there we got settled into our hostel and started our day with a walking tour to the Astronomical Clock, Charles Bridge and the John Lennon Wall. Of course all of these things to see make for excellent pictures. Prague was packed when we were there with the beginning of the seasons tourism and the Easter celebrations were starting up with some little stands to buy souvenirs and really good food.

The John Lennon Wall

Astronomical Clock

The second day in Prague we took a trek up so we could tour the cathedral at the top where St. Wenceslas is buried along with about twelve other saints. The architecture was unbelievable and the church in general was so overwhelmingly beautiful.

After we were done with the tour of the cathedral, we got to explore the city for ourselves. A group of us decided we wanted to eat together and go a little off the beaten path to find food that is cheaper. Off the beaten path ended up being lost about five miles away from anything that looked even relatively familiar to any of us and ended up in a suburb of Prague. We walked for a very long time and being the dramatic young adults that we are, we were complaining as if we were going to die if we didn't get food. We found a pizza/pasta place that was cheap and delicious and there were definitely tears of happiness shed over the Italian food. When we were done eating we went to the Prague Eiffel Tower. Since our legs were numb anyways we climbed stairs up to the top to see a beautiful view of the entire city.

The view from the Prague Eiffel Tower

From the Prague Castle

The view we walked MILES for

St. Wenceslas Cathedral

The next morning was an early one, because we had to catch the train to Dresden, Germany. Just taking a day trip to Germany was just something I didn't think I would ever say I would do. It is a very pretty city that just happened to be very badly bombed during World War II. Our first stop was the Frauenkirche Lutheran Church. It was almost completely knocked down during the bombing. The people who reconstructed it after the bombing took the original bricks from the old church and put them in the exact place where they were before it got bombed. After that we tried some excellent schnitzel and bratwursts. We were lucky enough to go to the top of the church to see a view of Dresden. I really enjoyed Dresden and I wish I could have stayed for more than just a day trip.

Our last day in Prague consisted of a tour of the old Jewish ghetto, a synagogue and the Jewish cemetery. We went into the synagogue and on the walls were all of the peoples names from the Czech Republic who were killed during the Holocaust. It was overwhelming and startling to see that there were over 80,000 names written on all of the walls. And in the cemetery there was not much to do but stare and be baffled at the amount of tombstones that were piled on top of each other in such a small space. It was a very heavy experience to say the least.

Some of the gravestones in the Jewish Cemetery

Some of the names on the wall of the Synagogue

With this weekend being our first field trip as a group, I thought it was a blast and I am so excited to go on our next one.

STATS OF THE TRIP

• Miles walked: 24.67

• Flights of stairs climbed: 58

• Hours slept: 13 out of 72

• Laughs: at least 1,000,000

We're Adjusting... #1

I can FINALLY say that I'm in Olomouc, Czech Republic! This has been an extremely busy, exciting and exhausting week to say the least. Getting here was smooth and easy and Erica and I had safe flights to our final destination of Prague. Coming to a different country is completely new to me because the farthest I have been from my home in Omaha, Nebraska is southern Florida. You could say that I was a bit overwhelmed when I got here with new things to see and all of these people to meet.

The first few days here in Olomouc were completely booked with tours, introductions, warm welcomes and good coffee and food. Instantly there was a culture shock with the language barrier with some of the very patient locals that were sweet enough to deal with us while we struggled to order food and then pay for it. The tours that we took were of the city and of city hall. My roommate Anna described the city of Olomouc as a "gothic storybook". It is such a sweet and small town with tons of history that I am looking forward to learning about.

Our "Home Away From Home"

Getting started with the Czech Language class was interesting. The first day all of us walked out of the classroom looking like a bunch of deer in the headlights. Luckily, the second day was much easier and we all magically became fluent.. well not really but we can always dream. 
As I talked about the culture shock earlier, coming to a city where a coffee drink that is $5.00 at Starbucks is $1.50 at a local coffee shop is a barista's dream, and being able to buy a bottle of wine at a grocery store is just as crazy. We all met our teachers and fellow students from Palacky University on Tuesday at a bar. We met our TEACHERS at a BAR! I was so blown away at how casual it was. I enjoyed it a lot and it was fun to meet at a place like that and get to know our teachers before we have class together.

Overall this week was full of firsts, food, and learning. I think that I am going to really enjoy being over here for another 70 days and I cant wait for what new experiences are yet to come.

I'm so excited to embark on my journey to the Czech Republic!