Getting to Prague, a little doubt, and some beer

Ahoj!

I am not really settled in yet, but so much has happened that I want to check in and get it all down before I start forgetting!

First of all, I made it here to Prague safely, and for that, I am thankful! My flight into London was easy, and being my first international and first long flight, I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the time went. I flew British Airways, and not only was it fun simply because the whole crew spoke with British accents, but I had a window seat and an empty seat next to me, the movie I watched was cute (Hotel Transylvania), the food was yummy (chicken curry with rice, salad, a roll, and carrot cake), they served wine with dinner, the tea was good and strong, and they even gave us a muffin and hot drink for breakfast. Watching the sun rise from the plane was amazing (my pictures do not do it justice). All of the stewards and stewardesses were very nice, and the other guests on the flight were, too. We even landed half an hour early!

Once we landed, I made my way through Heathrow, which, again, was super easy! I had to take a bus from Terminal 5 where we landed to Terminal 3, from which our flight was taking off. Everything was clearly marked and simple enough for me to do it, even though Heathrow is enormous. I got to chat with a really nice American woman who is currently living in Kazakhstan where it apparently gets EXTREMELY cold! She said she pretty much just leaves her husband, who is stationed there for work, and tries to travel as much as she can to stay away from the cold. She wished me luck on my time in Prague.

Once I finally made it to my gate, I was luckily one of the first in line, and didn't get bumped from the overbooked flight. This gate was CRAZY. All but four adults on the flight were study abroad students (all doing a program together, but a different program than me). Everyone knew each other, or had friends that knew another group of people, and it was so loud! It was almost like being back in a high school cafeteria on the first day back from summer with everyone just chatting away, giving hugs, and introducing each other.

I felt very out of place, and very anxious. My thinking went something like this: all of these people know each other, they are all already friends, they are all taking their classes together and living together, they all have people to go explore with, friends to go out with, and of the above, I have none.

I wasn't even in Prague yet, and I was so overwhelmed by anxiety, worry, and fear. How will I make friends? What am I going to do with all of my time? Who am I going to hang out with? I had already tainted my trip with doubt, and it had hardly begun.

I chatted with the girls in my row on the plane, and they were very nice, but they definitely have their own plans and expectations for study abroad, and those differ greatly from mine. They are, of course, here for the experiences, but for them, this seems more like getting to go hang out with your friends in a different country. For me, it is embracing a completely new culture where I literally know nothing and no one. I think the defining difference is that for them, this experience will probably be relatively easy and comfortable, and they probably will never have to go anywhere, do anything, or figure something out all by themselves. For me, this experience is going to be challenging and pretty uncomfortable at times, and even though I have my awesome program director, Tereza, and my roommates, I am not going to have a friend by my side every step of the way. This is going to be a personal journey and exploration, too.

So, we landed in Prague after another easy, but much louder, flight, where we learned that half of our bags didn't make it onto our plane. My two checked bags were in the group that didn't make it -___- At least I had my carry-on, although there was barely anything in there that I needed - no toiletries, underwear, pajamas. Fun facts: I brought one hand towel in my carry-on, so I used that after my shower, and I wore jean shorts to bed that night. Not my best night ever. Thankfully, my bags arrived the next morning, and all is well with those.

Karma kicked me in the butt for overpacking my bags. One weighed 51 pounds, the other just shy of 70. Did I mention yet that there are 78 steps to get up to my apartment, and no elevator? Yeah, I got my workout in that morning. Holy cow. Bringing those bags up the stairs was one of the most difficult things I have done. I walk down and up those steps at least four times a day, but I am glad to get some exercise in! I will have some strong legs by the end of this trip!

The steps are not the only barrier to getting into my apartment. There are so many doors, so much locking and unlocking. Let's start at the beginning: I am in my room; I leave the room and lock my door with a big old skeleton key; next, I use a second key to unlock and open our front door from the inside, then close and lock the front door from the outside; I walk down 78 steps, but if it is nighttime, I make sure to press the light switch first, even if the lights are currently on (more on this later); next I arrive at a metal gate /door that I use a third key to unlock, then relock from the other side; lastly, I use that third key again to unlock the building door from the inside, then relock it from the outside. By this time, I am not sure I even want to leave my apartment anymore, because I struggle with every single lock. Ugh. At least I am safe? Unless someone is chasing me, of course. Then I am screwed.

About the stairwell lights: the other night I was walking down the lighted stairwell to meet Tereza for dinner. As I was a few steps down from the second landing, I hear the gate downstairs close and then all of the sudden, the lights go out. That stairwell is PITCH BLACK at night with the lights out! Since I had just heard the gate close downstairs, I thought somebody had just come into the building and shut the lights off on me! I stood frozen for a second, every SVU episode flashing through my brain, before I bolted back up to the second landing and slammed my hand into the light switch!

There was, of course, nobody in the stairwell but me, but I learned my lesson quickly - ALWAYS hit the light switch at night before ascending or descending those stairs, or they might time out on you and leave you in complete darkness! I honestly was terrified!

Luckily, the rest of the night was really fun! Tereza took me to dinner at a little pub type place where I got a very traditional Czech plate with three different kinds of dumplings (the potato were my favorite), a bed of cooked cabbage, and three different kinds of meat: a slice of beef (eh), a slice of pork (very good), and some kind of sausage thing that tasted like kielbasa (also good).

The meal was paid for by my program, but they don't pay for any alcohol, and since I neglected to exchange any money at the airport, Tereza kindly offered to buy me a beer.

The beer is so good!! Tereza joked that there are so many different kinds here because every other town in the Czech Republic has a brewery. We drank Pilsner Urquell (the German name; the Czech is Plzeňský Prazdroj), which originated from a town named Pilsen in the Czech Republic. Pilsner Urquell, by both its German and Czech name, translates into "original source of pilsner," and is indeed the original pilsner. The drink was delicious. It was moderately hoppy and bitter at the end, but not unpleasantly so. Apparently Pilsner Urquell is known for that bitter taste. It is very good, and seems to be extremely popular throughout Prague. There seems to be at least one bar or restaurant on every block with a green Pilsner Urquell sign!

Tereza told me that there is a beer museum in Prague at which you get to taste many different brews from around the country, and I am really excited to check it out!



Overall, my transition into living in Prague has been a whirlwind of emotions. I am so excited to be here, but I cannot wait to get into my own routine, meet some people, and find some local places. The hardest part is not speaking Czech. Even though many people speak English, at least a little bit, making friends with people who speak a different language is tough. The biggest thing for me is being patient. I am really REALLY not good at being patient. I know that all of the things I listed above will eventually happen, but I just have to embrace this experience to the fullest until they do!

Thanks for checking in on me!! More to come later, including pictures (once I clean up my room)!