So I recently finished my online orientation and I am soo excited to leave for Prague, Czech Republic in a few weeks! I've read a ton about Prague, Central Europe and other places in travel books. I'm also pretty sure I've managed to read every study abroad blog where students go to Prague. From doing my research and reading material CIEE (the program I'm doing) has given us I have come to the conclusion that I have no idea what to except over the next few months. But I'm really excited to experience new things, meet new people, eat lots of different foods and explore Prague and other places in Europe!
I am really sad to leave Madison, WI though. I'm going to miss all my friend there, burgers at The Sett, Mifflin, State St. and all other Madison things, but I'm really excited for this experience and ready to come back to Madison with a ton of stories!
Most people don't actually know where the Czech Republic is so here's a little pic for ya! Also when I tell people I'm going to Prague most of them still think it's in Czechoslovakia. But nope, the Cold War happened and since 1993 the Czech Republic and Slovakia are two separate countries
Some things I have learned though is that Czech is an extremely hard language, which scares me a lot. After taking Spanish in high school I came to the conclusion that studying languages was not my forte, and I've heard that Czech is really hard and that Americans have an especially hard time pronouncing certain sounds in Czech.
I've also heard that Czech people aren't as outgoing as Americans. That doesn't mean they aren't nice, they just don't start conversations with strangers and it takes more time for them to warm up to people. I'm usually really talkative, so either I'll bring some Czech people out of their comfort zone or just make people really awkward and uncomfortable, we'll see.
Czech food is a lot of meat and potatoes, so I'll pretty much be eating non-stop. But it's probably better than if I had gone to Italy because my favorite foods are pizza and pasta and I would've gained 20lbs. One interesting thing I've heard from a lot of people is that at restaurants water is more expensive than beer. The concept of "free tap water" doesn't exist in most of the world, but in the Czech Republic I guess I'll be drinking a lot of beer if I want to try and save money.
A lot of the Czech Republic wasn't destroyed during WWII so old Gothic buildings and cobble stone roads are all over the place. During my time in Prague I hope to travel around the city a lot, visit random little coffee shops and stores, see lots of art galleries and just explore the city. Knowing me though this is going to get me lost a lot because I have absolutely no sense of direction.
I don't decide my classes officially until orientation my first week. I'm a Political Science and Journalism major so I'll definitely be taking classes in those genres. But I'm also looking to take some fun and interesting classes, so I'll just have to see what I end up picking. My classes will be in English at the CIEE Study Center and Charles University. I don't find out about housing until my first day in Prague but I'll either be staying in an apartment with 3 other people (2 Americans in my program and one Czech buddy), or in a dormroom with one other student.
Along with traveling around Prague and the Czech Republic I also hope to travel around some other parts of Europe. I've been to a lot of Western Europe with my family so I want to go to places I haven't been.
I want to go to:
I definitely won't have time to go to all of these places, but I'll see where I end up! My next post will be after I arrive in Prague so we'll see how I feel about all of this then!
I am really sad to leave Madison, WI though. I'm going to miss all my friend there, burgers at The Sett, Mifflin, State St. and all other Madison things, but I'm really excited for this experience and ready to come back to Madison with a ton of stories!
Most people don't actually know where the Czech Republic is so here's a little pic for ya! Also when I tell people I'm going to Prague most of them still think it's in Czechoslovakia. But nope, the Cold War happened and since 1993 the Czech Republic and Slovakia are two separate countries
Some things I have learned though is that Czech is an extremely hard language, which scares me a lot. After taking Spanish in high school I came to the conclusion that studying languages was not my forte, and I've heard that Czech is really hard and that Americans have an especially hard time pronouncing certain sounds in Czech.
I've also heard that Czech people aren't as outgoing as Americans. That doesn't mean they aren't nice, they just don't start conversations with strangers and it takes more time for them to warm up to people. I'm usually really talkative, so either I'll bring some Czech people out of their comfort zone or just make people really awkward and uncomfortable, we'll see.
Czech food is a lot of meat and potatoes, so I'll pretty much be eating non-stop. But it's probably better than if I had gone to Italy because my favorite foods are pizza and pasta and I would've gained 20lbs. One interesting thing I've heard from a lot of people is that at restaurants water is more expensive than beer. The concept of "free tap water" doesn't exist in most of the world, but in the Czech Republic I guess I'll be drinking a lot of beer if I want to try and save money.
A lot of the Czech Republic wasn't destroyed during WWII so old Gothic buildings and cobble stone roads are all over the place. During my time in Prague I hope to travel around the city a lot, visit random little coffee shops and stores, see lots of art galleries and just explore the city. Knowing me though this is going to get me lost a lot because I have absolutely no sense of direction.
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| Old Town Square - Prague |
Along with traveling around Prague and the Czech Republic I also hope to travel around some other parts of Europe. I've been to a lot of Western Europe with my family so I want to go to places I haven't been.
I want to go to:
- Berlin & Munich, Germany
- Budapest, Hungary
- Brussels, Belgium
- Vienna, Austria
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Madrid & Barcelona, Spain
- Possibly Dublin, Ireland during St. Patrick's day weekend
- Somewhere in Poland - either Warsaw or Krakow
I definitely won't have time to go to all of these places, but I'll see where I end up! My next post will be after I arrive in Prague so we'll see how I feel about all of this then!
