Home & Here: things I miss & things I love

Things I miss about home:

 

1. Ranch Dressing - it's not like I eat ranch dressing particularly often when at home, but it's one of those staples you just always have around, because it's good on everything. I mean, who knows when you're going to get a craving for ranch on your sweet potato fries instead of Old Bay?? Just kidding, it would be ranch AND Old Bay. This might just be on the list because I am craving some ranch right now...

2. Taco Bell/ late-night food runs - okay, so I don't eat fast food ALL the time when I'm at home, but I eat it more than once or twice a week. Hey! It's convenient! There are definitely places around to fulfill late-night indulgences, but nothing very close to my apartment. I think I should actually be thankful for that fact...

3. Driving - I miss whipping Baby Car around and having the freedom of being able to drive myself where I please. Don't get me wrong, I really love public transportation (it's actually one of my favorite things about Europe), but some days I have to take the metro home with two incredibly large IKEA bags (seriously, have you seen the size of those things??) and other times I don't bother to check tram schedules, resulting in some very long and cold waiting times.

4. TV - Again, I don't watch TV too often back home, but I do really appreciate being able to put on Food Network for background noise or flipping on the TV for 20 minutes while I eat lunch. Any shows that I really want to watch, I just download, but when you just want to watch something while grabbing a quick lunch, and not sit through a 45 minute episode of Gossip Girl (and let's be honest, it's hard not to watch an entire episode), having a TV to flip on is convenient.

5. Being on a normal schedule - I am most productive when I am busy and on a schedule. This whole experience has been amazing, but I often find myself undisciplined and unproductive. Seriously, I just sat in my room and watched six episodes of Vampire Diaries. Okay, so I worked on a paper, too, but SIX EPISODES, GUYS! Even after seven weeks, I haven't quite found my everyday groove. It's definitely a work in progress!

6. Good roommates - it's not that I have bad roommates right now, but I don't even know them! I guess that makes them kind of bad... It's just weird! I know I have mentioned to many of my friends and family how strange my living situation is, but I don't think I have written about it here on my blog, so here goes: I live with three guys; one is American and has a girlfriend and a ton of friends in a different program, so he is never ever here. In all seriousness, he may not even live here anymore. I have no idea. One roommate is Italian, and he is actually really nice, but every time I see him, we pretty much just say hi. No conversation there. When I have tried to speak with him in the past, it's been fine, but he won't initiate conversation, and I am just awful at small talk, so that pretty much leaves us silently living within the same 50 square meters. The last roommate is an Indonesian guy who rarely leaves his room. We have never said more than "hi" to each other, other than when we first introduced ourselves or when he offered to take the trash bag that I was holding downstairs with him. Brownie points for taking the trash out?

I am now realizing that this makes me sound like I'm not even trying to get to know these guys, either, but that's just not the case! I leave my door open, I come out of my room, I always say "hi." These guys are just hermits or have literally no interest in getting to know me. At this point, interacting is really awkward, and I really miss the absolutely perfect living situation I left back home! I miss my apartment 105 girls!! On the bright side, none of the guys I live with now are disgustingly messy (although cleaning of communal areas doesn't really happen), or loud, or annoying, so I guess I should be thankful?

7. Cell with data - This hasn't been as hard of a transition as I thought it would be, but I definitely have to be more organized before leaving the house than I normally would be back home! I also can't help but think that I might be a little more adventurous if I carried the Internet around in my pocket in this city!

8. Printer in my room/apartment/within walking distance - This is one of the things I miss most! Having to ask someone at work or make my way to an internet cafe to print up boarding passes, information, or just something interesting that I want to print is inconvenient. It's such a small thing, but I miss it!

9. Chili powder - I just can't find it!!!

10. English - Obviously. It's very enlightening to connect with people in a different culture, but can't help but think that something is always lost in an exchange with a language barrier. A language barrier also makes it much more difficult to read people or even just understand everyday conversation. Was that a statement, or a question? Is that something I am supposed to do, or was it just an observation? It gets tricky! Also, I just feel like a complete ass around these people who can usually fluently speak at least two languages besides their native tongue, and often can understand enough of several other languages to get by. I think this is a major major issue in the American education system, but let's not get started.

11. My family - I really do miss my family, but of anyone, I have been able to keep in touch with my immediate family the most. I miss them and my extended family, and getting to talk on the phone or just call them up whenever, but it hasn't been as bad as I expected. Still, they get a spot on the list!

12. MY FRIENDS - This is #1 on my list of things I miss about home!! I really really miss my friends! We are all so busy that it's difficult to keep in touch, but mostly I miss being around them! It's true that you often don't realize what you have until you don't have it anymore, and I never before thought about how lucky I am to have friends around all the time! I miss seeing them and just hanging out, having classes with them, working out with them, seeing them around campus, going to the caf, attending sports games, going out. I just miss them so much!! And yes, I have made friends here, but not of the same closeness of the friends that I have at home. I miss the convenience of being able to run around the corner to see what everyone is up to, or going out on campus and literally knowing every single person at a party! Being reunited with my friends is going to be the most comforting reunion of all when I get back home!!

On that note, I also miss being around people that I completely trust. Like I said, I have a couple of those people here, but I'm also finding that my personal beliefs & actions don't always align with those of the other study abroad kids here. That's a pretty unfair statement. I can't say that as a blanket statement, but there have been more than a handful of times that I find myself out with people doing things that I don't and won't do. I don't judge them, but I don't always want to be around that, you know? I miss my friends who think and act like I do, or at least kind of like I do. I'm not really sure if this is making sense, but it goes back to the trust thing - I definitely have friends who do things that I wouldn't (and I am sure I do things that some of my friends wouldn't), but I know them well enough to know that the things they do don't make them sketchballs. When you just meet someone, and they seems sketchy, you never know if they really are a trustworthy person making bad decisions, or if they would screw you over in an instant. I miss really knowing the people I'm hanging out with!

Things I love about Prague/being abroad:

 

1. Public Transportation - it is incredibly convenient to be able to hop on a tram to get to work! It is particularly convenient to be able to take public transportation when going out, as nobody has to worry about being the designated driver! There is something special about living in a city with great public transportation - I think you need to experience that to really understand.

2. Being legal - It's really nice to be able to go out to a club or bar! It's also really really nice to have a beer with dinner! I am so bummed that I will be back home for six months before I am legally allowed to drink in the States. Some situations just seem inappropriate without a beer in hand!

3. My internship - I am learning so much and enjoying (mostly) every step of my internship! It's nice to kind of be out in the real world, and although I don't know where I want to work, I am looking forward to finding a fulfilling career in the (ever nearer) future!

4. Food - the food here is just so good! I know it's good at home to, but it's also much less expensive here, making a nice dinner out less of an indulgence and possible to do more frequently!

5. BEER - I don't know what the heck I'm going to do when I get back home! I don't think I will even be able to drink Bud Light, let alone Natty or Busch! My wallet is truly going to suffer for the benefit of my taste buds! I am not kidding, the beer here is just so dang good! When I went to Rome, we got cheap Italian beer, and bleh! I could barely drink it!! I am so used to the deliciousness of beer here, I don't know how I'll ever go back to the yellow-tinted water we call beer!

6. Traveling on weekends - traveling around Europe has been one of the most incredible parts of this experience! I have seen so many historical and famous places just traveling around on the weekends. This is a tradition that I definitely need to keep up back home! Who says a weekend trip a few hours away is out of the question??

7. Meeting new & totally different people - I have gotten to meet so many interesting people through this journey. There are so many nice people in the world! Yeah, a lot of sketchballs, too, but a lot of very nice, kind, and interesting people. I have particularly enjoyed meeting people who are very different from the people I know - it has been an eye-opening and enlightening experience!

8. Being able to walk places - While I do miss my car, it is also really nice to be able to walk out from my apartment and have 10 restaurants within a stone's throw, and an uncountable number withing walking distance. Include the grocery stores, banks, shops, and more, and you have everything you need within walking distance. I really appreciate city life!

9. Living in a real apartment- okay, so I lived in an apartment at school, but on-campus housing isn't exactly really living in an apartment. It is really nice to have (basically, because my roommates barely exist) my own place, my own space.

10. Really really good produce - The variety and quality of produce here is fantastic! It's also inexpensive, making eating these delicious fruits & veggies cheaper than at home!!

11. The culture - The Czech culture, the customs, the history, the food, the bars, the clubs, the shops, the people - I love it all! This really is a wonderful country and an amazing city, and I am so thankful that I ended up here! It has truly been and will continue to be the best experience of my life!! All I need to do is take advantage of it and really spend my time here to the absolute fullest - I just hope I do that!!