get me OUT of these Czech classes!

UGH when will they end? (this Friday!!!)

I'll admit it, I've been kinda down and out of late (ever since Friday's cell phone debacle), and I really haven't known why. It's that annoying tired feeling, where you don't feel like anything is particularly exciting, and that fact really frustrates you because hey, you're in Prague, things should be exciting! This Czech course, while I'm definitely learning something new, moves at a snail's pace because the language is so complicated. So I only have so many more things I can allow my mind to focus on while our teacher describes all 14 cases of a certain group of adjectives.

Today, though, I think I figured out the source of my problem. During a short break, our Czech language teacher told us she was studying for her PhD at Charles University, and she was studying Fairy Tales. SO COOL! I immediately went into "Evan-is-a-major-nerd" mode and asked her if she had looked into fairy tale motifs in film (something I talked about a bunch in a class). While the whole class laughed at me, I got really excited about something for the first time in a long time, and we talked briefly about what she studies (interpretations of fairy tales across cultures. neat!) and how those motifs go into so many media forms.

An intellectual conversation! An exchange of words that didn't have to do with finding out what school someone goes to, what their major is, what sorority they're in, and whether they like Lost or Grey's. It was really refreshing, and it made me realize how much I miss going to school. Wow, I can't believe I said that, and it's true. I'm incredibly excited for our classes to start on Monday (the syllabus for one of my classes looks SWEET!).

My awkward mood was only exacerbated by my on-again-off-again relationship with other people in this program. It has been very comforting to hear from both JC (my Prague expert) and Lisa (my all-things-travel expert) that they too had issues with people on their programs. Everyone here is really nice, don't get me wrong...but it just doesn't seem worth the huge effort to try to become "in" with the crowd. So I'm attempting to become comfortable with the fact that I'll probably do a lot of my traveling alone (some of it with Dan, hopefully).

But it got better today. I wanted to go to Munich for my birthday weekend (in two weeks) and couldn't find anyone to go with me. So I was going to go alone (JC promises I wouldn't be celebrating alone if I went. But it still wasn't ideal). I was really happy today when I lamented about it, only to find a friend was going to Krakow that weekend with a group, and would I like to come along? Of course. So I may be doing that, which would be great.

I've also decided to take some other advice to heart. JC told me not to spend more than an hour at a time at home, and since he said it, I've been feeling guilty every time I find myself looking for something to do around the house. So starting tomorrow, I'm going to find somewhere new in Prague every day I have some time. Tomorrow, it's the old Jewish ghetto. Sunday, some museum. From there, I haven't made plans.

The reason I'm here

Thanks for the travel suggestions everyone!

Last night was unbelievable. I said to Vaclav at one point during the evening that there was nothing he could have told me about it to prepare me, so I thought I'd try to illustrate this post with some photos (these won't show up on the Flickr)

The day was relatively uninteresting. I got a new phone, finally one that worked, and it was sold to me by a black guy. Black people are about as rare in Prague as they are in Northbrook, so I had to ask him where he was from. When he said Sudan, my heart kinda skipped a little.

The night was the fulfillment of an invitation from Jonas from a few weeks back. Every year here in Prague, the high schools (or Gymnasiums as they call them) hold what they call a "Maturity Ball" (translates horribly, doesn't it?). Kids here compare it to American prom. At 18, you're of full legal age for everything in CR, so the ball is a graduation celebration and a welcoming into adulthood. Everyone's invited - every student in the school, their parents and friends, alumni, and anyone else who's dressed well and can pay the 160Kc admission. I had been told that kids go really all-out for this - they dress up to the nines, and even take dancing lessons (waltz, tango, etc) in preparation.

So last night, Jonas had the good fortune of landing a role in a Coke commercial and wasn't going to make it (no big deal, his ball isn't till next year), so it was Vaclav and me. I put on my suit (black, but I only had brown shoes. oh well), grabbed my camera, and kept an open mind.

We took the tram into town and got off at Wenceslas Sq. After a quick bite at KFC (I knew I'd eat there once while I was here...), we entered the Lucerna little mall-thingy that's in a small nook just off the square and proceeded through it to the auditorium entrance on the other side.

"Auditorium? They can fit an auditorium in here?" I thought.

It was like something out of Harry Potter. Down a flight of stairs to a coat check, though a marble-floored foyer filled with people ages 15-80 dressed in evening gowns, suits, and tuxes, and the room suddenly opened up into a massive, three-tiered hall with a dance floor in the center. Nearly 1000 people, easily.

That was my first view. That's a full band on the stage - sax, trumpet, guitar, bass, piano, conductor, the whole shebang. On the dance floor, people were waltzing in big swirling circles, some of them clearly not as experienced as others. All around me were high school students, impeccably dressed, speaking Czech (for some reason this part was crazy to me, to hear so many people near my age speaking a foreign language, and hearing how much it sounded like American teenagers speaking English). We took a lap around the place, me refusing a drink for now, choosing instead to get drunk off the absurdity of the situation. Here's a view from the end of the room:



The rest of the evening was a series of worthwhile stories. Highlights include:

-My meeting one of Vaclav's old teachers, a man in his late 70s who had been teaching in the school since he was 20. He taught German and Phys Ed, and had taught himself how to speak English (since, during Communism, the only second language a person could learn in school was Russian). He spoke very well, spitting all over me with passion and excitement at the opportunity to show off his skills, and he asked what I would like to say to President Bush (who he then pretended to punch). "And how about Hillary?" he asked. Is she really that popular already? Let's go Barack!

-Seeing the many many customs associated with this ball. Remember (I didn't) that European schools are organized WAY differently than US schools: students stay in one classroom all day and teachers go from class to class. Once in a class, a student stays there for their entire school career. So the classes get to bond a whooooole lot with each other and their teachers, and graduation is a HUGE deal. At one point in the evening, they all get "sashed" (ie, get sashes put on them), then stand in a circle and each waltz with a teacher. Later, each class grabs a big sheet and walks around the dance floor as people throw money from the balconies onto the sheets (that's the picture over there). Crazy!

-Czech covers of American songs are hilarious. For anyone who cares to urinate on themselves from laughing, I will sing "Proud Mary" like this singer did.

-Vaclav and I found a table of girls sitting by themselves and decided to sit down with them. After we got over the initial language issues, they began drilling me with questions about myself, the US, and my time here in Prague. Vaclav bought them a bottle of wine (my first wine in Prague, a 160Kc Moravian white that was better than any I've ever had!) A girl asked how long I've lived here. "Two weeks," I said, charmingly adding, "how long have you lived here?" With a laugh that indicated an answer of my whole life, the girl responded "Sixteen years!" I took a VERY large gulp of wine and continued talking.

-It gets better. The very cute girl sitting next to me barely spoke English, but we managed to communicate at least a bit. She had been learning Spanish for the past 2 months, so we bonded over that for a moment. After the "sixteen years" comment, they asked how old I was and I told them the truth. Some more small talk, then a brief pause and the girl next to me asked, "Do you have any children?" I took several very large gulps of wine.

-At 11:30, the band left the stage and a DJ started to spin, and I swear, the place turned into a Bar Mitzvah: YMCA, Grease medley and all.

There was so much more, but this post is getting very long and you get the idea. An incredible evening that is just one more example of why I'm here.

he thought I was dead

For those wondering what Evan W thought had happened to me when I never showed up at his place: he also couldn't find me at first on our trip to Kutna Hora, so he honestly thought I had been murdered. And really, a part of me was murdered that night...

Another weekend in Prague

Spent my second weekend here in Prague again, for the most part, save for a short day trip yesterday (though CIEE) to the historic mining town of Kutna Hora. Lots of cool pics on the flickr, including plenty from inside the incredible Bone Church - a church decorated with the bones of over 40,000 people. Creepy.

Last night, after the trip, I hung out at the house, waiting to see if anything was going on with the rest of the folks in town. While I was waiting, Vaclav came home, and we spent some time together - he showed me this awesome movie he had seen at the youth film festival held yearly in Karlovy Vary, an Israeli film called "Blue White Collar Criminal." If you can find it, it's work a watch, only 45 min long. Then, spoke for about an hour with Mike back in LA, which was awesome.

When I finally heard from someone (Paige), it was about 10:00, and for some reason a 45 minute trip to go to a club for hours, only to take a night tram back and have to walk up the hill again...didn't seem too interesting. So I was really relieved when Vaclav asked if I wanted to go with him and a friend to a bar near the house, where they were meeting another friend of theirs. It was a great time - good drinks (of course) and very nice company.

It was awesome to hear from my sister in Sydney, where she's of course having a ridiculous time and doesn't want to come home. Makes me excited to come back here in the future!

Today was a very relaxing day. Woke up late and, as always, was immediately handed a cup of coffee and some coffee cake (seriously, the homestay was the best idea I've ever had). I spent the morning researching a bunch of trips I want to take (looks like I might not get to Russia after all. But Amsterdam by plane is really cheap...and Athens isn't but it's so necessary).

The afternoon meant a short trip cross-country skiing with Zuzana and Tomas. Now...this seems normal enough, of course, but let's remember who we're talking about here. I've cross-country skied a total of one time. But hey, I figured, it's just walking with skis on!

Ah, but it's definitely not. It's more like hiking with annoying shoes on. Or downhill skiing with skis that aren't wide enough to make good turns...let's just say I entertained Zuzana and Tomas for a while, including a particularly memorable moment when I was stopped, talking to Zuzana, and then suddenly fell directly on my ass without even having moved.

The highlight of the afternoon was our brief stop in a "mini Zoo" that was along the trail. Lots of birds, some cool Lynxes and Ram-like things, and this one particular Raven with whom Tomas struck up a friendship:



That continued for a good 10 minutes.

This whole waiting-for-classes-to-start thing is becoming quite tedious. I am definitely ready to be out of my daily Czech lessons and into actual college courses again, and I am very anxious to start traveling around Europe! Any suggestions where I should go? Here's the list as of now (in no order):

-Munich
-Amsterdam
-Berlin
-Vienna
-Budapest
-assorted places in CR
-Athens, and other parts of Greece
-Scandinavia - Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo

Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm open for 'em. But now I'm going to bed.

worst. night. ever.

I exaggerate a lot. I admit it. But truly, honestly, from the bottom of my heart. This was the worst night ever.

I must start at the beginning. Today was a fine day - more Czech class, and afterwards I went and had my cell phone from home unlocked (the used phone I had bought was great...I just couldn't hear anyone when they called me). With my phone unlocked, I began the trek back home and ran into Evan W in the metro. He turned me around, and we went to a thrift shop in the center of town that he had heard was the best in Prague.

He had heard right, the place was awesome. I'm not much for thrifting because nothing fits me, but I still like seeing places like this. I bought a few ties (so sweet) and a scarf (best buy of the day), and Evan spent 480Kc ($24) on several shirts, 5 ties, a vest, a cardigan, and a plaid suit. Definitely legit place.

Tomorrow, we meet at 8:30am for our day trip, so I wasn't exactly looking to go nuts tonight. But hey, I'm social. I don't need sleep! I'll go out for a bit, catch a few hours, and be a little tired tomorrow, no prob. Everyone else was going out anyways.

So I had dinner at home (goulash, followed by pancakes with jam. heaven) and waited till about 8 before trying to get ahold of anyone. For a change, no one was committing to anything, and finally I just decided to head to Evan's apartment and figure out what was up from there. This was at 9:30.

It's tough to tell when I started to get the feeling that tonight wasn't going to be the best. Maybe it was the realization that this phone, too, has issues (I can receive calls but can't make them, and it loses signal for absolutely no reason). Maybe it was a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was tired and shouldn't go anywhere for the night. But I really really wanted to wear one of those ties. And hey, I'm a sociable guy, I'll wake up once I see some people.

I made the trek down to the tram, all the while attempting to text Evan that I was on my way. "Sending..." the phone said...and then it failed to deliver the message. I sent again. Five minutes rolls by. It sends. I board the tram, no problem. As I'm getting off again, it's about 10pm, and I text Evan again for directions to his apartment...I waited for it to send...it failed...I sent again and waited...success! (this seems tedious, but it's important) His reply: "go south 2 blocks and turn right on Lozarka. and by right I mean left."

I walked. It snowed. The wind blew. My face froze. Knowing how long it took to send a text message, and that it would probably fail on the first attempt, I quickly texted back "Which building"and waited. Failed. Try again. Failed. Again. Failed. By this time I had walked almost to the previous tram stop. I started to walk back to where I began, looking for the street and trying to send this damn text all the while. This was great; I had a phone that could neither make calls nor receive nor send text messages. Wind. Snow. Cold.

As comedic irony slowly turned into bullshit, and 10:30 turned to 10:45, I began to entertain the thought of just going back home to a cup of tea and a warm bed. And here, my friendly readers, here is where my phone started to mock me. Because when all hope was lost, when I had returned to my starting point and tried walking the other way for a block, I turned the phone off and back on, and found signal again! A quick text message (it worked!), and a short wait for a reply meant another trip the way I had come (howling wind. really literally howling, I've never heard anything like it)...and I found the street! Surely this was it, the payoff for all my hard work! The building would be obvious, or else he would have told me which one it was.

There were two apartment buildings on the street. Neither had a recognizable name on its outside buzzer. I pulled out the phone to tell him I was outside, and was astonished to find...there was no signal. I tried texting. Failed. Again. Failed. I turned the phone off. on. off. on. off. on. off.

...back at the tram stop, as I waited for the tram to come and take me home, I took off the cell phone's back cover, removed the battery, took out the SIM card. Then I turned around and, in a magnificent heaving motion, chucked the phone into the Vltava river.

Ok, no, but I seriously considered it and it sounded super dramatic. It's interesting how much my life depends on technology. Not neccesarliy a good thing (look what just happened to me), but something I have to deal with all the same. I'm getting a new (brand new, not used) phone on Monday, because this is truly ridiculous.

A true adventure

First: happy birthday mom!

I say this blog is for my daily adventures, and let's face it, not every day is an adventure (I can only get lost so many times). But today, Sheldon and Dan stormed back into town from Poland on their way to Israel. Cue adventure music.

I met them in Old Town at about 430, just as it got dark enough for the street lights to come on (it was absolutely incredible weather today - not a cloud in the sky, and all the snow made everything bright and beautiful). We started walking toward a pub, any pub, but were stopped by the Western Union currency exchange...where Dan and Sheldon proceeded to spend 15 minutes trying to figure out whether or not they would be getting ripped off by changing their Polish money to American dollars (to do this in CR, you have to go via Korunas). After grabbing the calculator from the man behind the counter (who was really trying with his English), and yelling for a bit, we were finally on our way again, no money having been exchanged.

Ah, but how could we pass the Swarovski crystal store without going in? Admittedly, Lorraine (Dan's mom) has a fantastic collection of Swarovski crystals. But the timing. Dan and I left Sheldon (who had taken yet another calculator from another clerk in his quest to figure out whether it would be less expensive to buy the piece here) and retired to a nice little bar. Two beers later, no Sheldon.

Realize what the plan had been: they had been under the impression that Czech Airlines allows more luggage than they actually did. To solve their problem (remember how much luggage they brought?), they wanted to leave one of Dan's bags here, with me. Which meant Dan and I were going to take a cab down to Branik (my neighborhood, south of the city) with the bag, and then come back to meet Shelly for dinner.

Well, after lots of attempted conversations with Lorraine (in the USA), one lost pair of gloves (Dan took them off in the crystal store he thinks. Or the exchange place. Point is, they're gone), a recharged cell phone battery (we happened to be sitting next to the store where they had unlocked their cell phones. Of course they were tight with the guy who worked there, who was nice enough to let them charge their phones), and me finishing my homework for tomorrow (score!), the plan had been altered. We would get the bag to my place, grab dinner around here, and they'd go off to the airport.

But first they had to reconfigure their bags. We spent a good half hour in the luggage storage room of the Intercontinental Hotel as Dan, calm and orderly, took out what he needed, and Sheldon, frantically, took vodka shots.

Cab ride home was uneventful (comparably...remember we're talking about two hugely tall men in a small cab filled with hundreds of pounds of luggage, a driver, and another small human being). I awaited, with bated breath, the final meeting of Sheldon and the Jančářik family. Tomas and Sheldon in the same room just seemed way to good to be true.

Oh but it was so true and it was so glorious. I introduced them (and immediately felt horrible for not giving the family proper warning), and after a few frantic moments (Zuzana in her pajamas, the bag they were storing here covered with snow, no one knowing what was going on), we finally settled down, Dan in the library checking their flight status, Sheldon and Tomas polishing off a whiskey bottle (Tomas: "It's not very good", Sheldon (upon tasting it): "This is real shit!").

There are so many things I could say, but I think my personal favorite part of the evening was Sheldon's realization that Tomas spoke German. From then on, Sheldon spoke nearly exclusively in Yiddish, admittedly a related language...but not that related. Zuzana (now changed from her PJs) Tomas, and Jonas (occasionally translating) listened intently as Sheldon told (mostly in Yiddish) jokes and travel stories, described his restaurants, gave Zuzana a recipe for pickles, and generally was his outlandish, strangely charming self. (Dinner, by this time, was pretty out of the question. Oh yeah and the cab was waiting outside this whole time. But don't worry, Shelly had invited the driver to dinner with us. They were tite.)

Anyhow, time did pass and they did leave with a huge laugh from the family here. Phew! As I told Tomas and Zuzana, any other host family would NOT have had the same reaction to the HurriKane (ah! more puns!), so I was very happy.

An insane afternoon/evening. I've been hanging out the rest of the night, trying to memorize the Czech numbers and days of the week. To end it all, another fantastic quote from Tomas, upon my talking about a bar that had closed at midnight even though it was full of people drinking (spoken in Czech, translated by Vaclav):

"Evan, if all of them drank like you, the bar wouldn't do very much business."

Things I am thankful for

1. My shoes - it has not stopped snowing since last night, and it's not supposed to stop until sometime tomorrow night. As Evan W (amongst others) and his Converse shoes became ice cubes, my tootsies were warm, dry, and happy all day today as I trudged through what must be over a foot of snow. These shoes also keep my feet connected to the ground, which is fantastic, since very few places are shoveled here and salt (or some equivalent) on ice is nonexistent. And they look cool too.

2. My jacket - the snow wouldn't be all bad, in fact the cold wouldn't be all bad, if it weren't for the wind, which somehow finds a way to infiltrate even the warmest of jackets. I might as well give some props to my scarf here too.

3. My mother - for making me buy/bring above items.

4. My camera - we toured Prague Castle today (incredible...pics on flickr soon), and despite the cold, I managed to snap about 40 pictures. And they all look great, even in cloudy, snowy conditions. I'll have to go back with mom and dad and get more when it's nicer outside.

5. My iPod - with me staying farther from the center of town that the other people in the program, I spend a lot of time walking or on public trans. My iPod has become my best friend (and it's the hardest thing to steal, since I'd probably notice...). I think one of the reasons studying abroad is such a growing experience for most people is the amount of alone time you have abroad.

My Czech classes are going very well, and I'm having surprisingly few problems learning the basics of this language (though it gets MUCH more complicated...every noun and adjective has 14 different forms, depending on the way it's used in a sentence. Those forms depend on the gender of the word, as well as whether or not it's an animate object. gawhaaaa????). I'm beginning to miss things about home/LA, mostly just the familiarity associated with it. All this meeting people and trying to establish relationships is really tiring, and I'd really like to just sit down and have a conversation with someone who knows me well again. I'm excited to start finding find a feeling of familiarity here, which is sure to happen soon.

Tonight, Zuzan and Tomas and I are heading to a pub down the street for some New Orleans-style jazz. Hells yes.

it's snowing!

One week here, and finally some snow! It's supposed to do this for the next two days - I can't wait to see what this city looks like with a foot of powder over it! Though the freezing cold winds do make it much more difficult to walk around.

Last night I stayed home, and Zuzan and I had a long conversation about assorted things. Most interesting, however, was her reaction to the fact that Lisa and I both have our own cars. That's unthinkable here, and understandably so. I guess you could compare it to having a car in New York City - who needs one?

I took a new route to class today that bypassed Baneofmyexistnece Hill. I know this probably comes as a shock, but I got lost again, and ended up right against the towering wall of Vysehrad basilica, about 100m directly below where I needed to be. As usual, after backtracking my entire route, I managed to find the obvious sign I had missed, and got to class 5 minutes late. But hey, here's what mom told me:

"btw-in the Frommers book on Prague-it says that if you don't get lost at least once in Prague, you haven't experienced Prague. I thought that was pretty funny!"

I have definitely experienced Prague. In fact, my legs are about finished experiencing Prague and would like a vacation. But here's the nice thing about getting lost, at least for me: my goal here was to try to calm the heck down a little, try to just lay low for a semester. So far, it's definitely been working. I get places late, I'm relaxed about this whole Czech language thing even though if I really want to learn it I'd have to be studying all night (I have a quiz tomorrow), and I'm generally alright with whatever happens. It's a nice change from my ridiculous life in LA.

Speaking of which, congrats to the Troy Tones for making ICCA semis!

Tonight, we have a get-together for our program that involves bowling and pool and possibly pizza and definitely beer (that should go without saying by now). Which means I have to go study for that quiz...

and by the way

I got a new cell phone today (so I don't have to use Tomas's anymore), and the guy working at the place didn't speak any English. He was whistling while he showed me some phones...and suddenly I recognized the James Bond theme. So I whistled the next part to him, and we bonded without ever exchanging words.

Oh, the spiritual power of James Bond!

THE BEARS ARE IN THE SUPER BOWL!

Now, I just have to see the Cubs make the World Series, and I can die happily.

Before the game, I spent Sunday hanging out around the house, doing some reading, nothing special. That night, the family had a small get-together for people on the block, and it was great to meet everyone (honestly, I haven't met a Czech I don't like). Of particular note at this party was our neighbor Edmund, a 60-something year old American expat who moved here from Chapel Hill, NC, about 8 years ago. Seems harmless right? Edmund is completely bald, except for a goatee as white as snow that hangs about three feet from his face. He speaks in a nice, laid back Carolina drawl...constantly. He never. stops. talking. And he speaks no Czech, at all. He doesn't want to learn, claiming he's "re-learning the most basic of languages. When we're in the womb, you know, our first language is listening to our mother's heart, and then we're born and we learn to speak through our bodies. I'm re-learning body language." Kinda a hippie.

The game was great that night. There are a few Chicago people here, one of whom is a ridiculous Bears fan, so it was really fun to watch and be American (which is fun every so often).

It's very nice to have some people here from USC to relate to. Paige, Evan W, and I have been keeping in close contact for the last few days, hanging out often. I'm making sure to get into the city to be with people often (though it's taking a toll on my legs...my knees are killing me from all this walking).

Today was our first day of INTENSIVE CZECH LANGUAGE LESSONS (as it's written on our schedules), and it was....kinda boring. I only fell asleep once (and my friend Steph did too, so it's ok). We're also in the process of finalizing our class schedules (holy crap! i have to go to class here!), and I got very lucky with mine. I only have to change one class, and I only have 1 class on fridays (which ends before noon) - lots of traveling possibilities.

After language lessons, we visited the central builoding for Charles University and were given a tour by the head historian (this was after the vice president spoke to us. he was wearing a medal that was made in like 1940something). Everything in this place is older than the US, and it all holds some incredible traditional value to the University - paintings of patron saints, seats in front of statues of Emperor Charles that only the president of CR can ever sit in, stuff like that. Very neat.

I plan to get to somewhere within CR in two weeks (our first free weekend. I have to be back in time for the Super Bowl!), then maybe to Munich for my birthday weekend (but only if people will go with me. Hate to spend my 21st alone! Wow I'm almost 21).

Believe it or not, I actually have to go do homework now...not sure how well that's gonna go.

first weekend

First, a hats off to Casey, Mike, and JC, all of whom have either commented on flickr photos or blog posts. You guys are siick. JC - your advice is great, keep it comin! (see story below)

Nothing particularly interesting yesterday. Orientation in the morning, more touring in the afternoon (after a typical Czech lunch of fried cheese sandwiches. Literally a block of fried cheese on bread, with a piece of lettuce and some tartar sauce. Sooo tasty). Our Czech buddies today (we combined with another group) were fantastic (and gorgeous). After our trip to a big mall in Smichov (kind a suburb, but really close still), we had a big dinner for everyone in the program. It was nice to see everyone all together for the first time - we're a huge group!

My efforts to make sure to socialize were successful yesterday, and last night I headed back into the city at about 9 to meet with some folks and head to some pubs. I asked Tomaš what the best route would be to get to the dorms (where I was meeting people) and back after midnight (when the trams change numbers and routes, remember), and this led to a 30 minute conversation and map-searching extravaganza with me, Tomaš, and Zuzana. I know I've said it before, my I am truly lucky to be staying here, with people who care so much about making sure I'm comfortable with everything I do.

Yes, I had that long rant the other day about cultural poaching etc etc, and last night I was proud to be a part of a small group of us who, while we weren't going to hit the pubs Czech-style necessarily, were definitely not looking to go crazy. We walked...and walked...and walked...and finally settled on a pub on the other side of the river that wasn't the cheapest (40Kc [$2] for .5L of beer? Unheard of!).

The real story is in coming home, which I did successfully, but not without the standard drama. I needed the same tram as my friends in the dorms (thank goodness), and so rode with them half way, and then was on my own. I knew the stop I needed to get off at, but couldn't really hear/understand which stop we were at. So, when I thought it was time, I left the tram, looked around, realized I was in the wrong place, looked at the tram leaving, realized another didn't come for 30 minutes, and promptly panicked for a moment. Then I walked. And walked. And walked. 2.5km. All the way home. (I had gotten off early. Common problem, I hear).

The good part of this story - I got home, huffing and puffing from climbing the other half of Baneofmyexistence Hill, at about 2:15am, went to bed by 3, and woke up at 11:30am. Yay, I'm adjusted to the time zone! This morning, I went with Tomas and Zuzan for a sort of tour of the far suburbs of Prague (they often go with a sort of club of people, complete with a tour guide, to explore their own city). It was a nice walk, but they said it wasn't nearly as interesting as others have been.

Tomorrow, I think I'll start to plan more seriously some of my weekend trips - look up prices and stuff. That's before the Bears game of course, which lots of us are going to find a bar to congregate in to watch.

i wasn't lost, i swear

I left Sheldon and Dan at about 12:30 and caught a cab back to the house (he overcharged me, but I was happy to get home safe and not have to use the night trams...which, while on the same lines, have different numbers than the day trams). Tossed and turned a bit (time change, alcohol, who knows), and ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep. So I was in great shape for the morning, when I had to find my way to a new place - not the study center, but a place we had visited on our afternoon tour. No prob, he says, I love public trans, and once I get there I'll just find familiar sights. I'm a smart guy.

I am not a smart guy. We were scheduled to meet at 9:45. I stepped off the metro (at the correct station) at 9:30, plenty of time to wander around and find our meeting place. I went up and down every street. How hard can it be to hide a group of 100 loud American 20somethings? Up and down the streets again. I try new routes, places that looks kinda sketchy but might be right, you never know, didn't we pass that hostel yesterday? I'm not going to call our resident director, that's giving up (men never ask for directions! never!), oh the McDonald's, I know we passed that! OK, so it's around here somewhere right?

At 9:50, I called the resident director and she didn't pick up. Then I called other numbers on our contact list. No one. Alright Ev. Way to go. Now you're 'that guy.' Remember? The guy in the homestay who couldn't get here. Oh that guy, the short one, I remember him. At almost 10am, I walked far up one street, farther than they could have been, and was resigned to make my way back to the study center. I turned the corner back to the metro. And I've never been happier to see a large group of people. I rule!

So, a morning of more touring (saw a sweet synagogue and Dvorak's grave). Our Czech buddy was much better today, full of energy and knowledge. When we'd seen everything we were supposed to, it was about noon and we had an hour to kill before lunch. So what did we do? Guess. Seriously this tolerance has GOT to improve (and I have to eat bread all the time too, to make sure I can drink more. It's a curse...a wonderful, tasty curse).

Anyhow, after our afternoon orientation sessions (more patronizing rules. But I won't complain here), I met Taryn's friend Steph Beren, who I had spoken to on the phone. She seems really nice. We spoke for a minute, then went our separate ways home.

Which made me realize something important, and I'm happy I realized it now. I love this homestay (if you can't tell), but there is one single downside. I'm going to have to make an extra effort to make sure I meet people, by introducing myself and making sure I give out my phone number (which I didn't have today, otherwise I'd be bar hopping with the apartment kids). Definitely not a big deal. But something I have to keep in mind.

Away I go. I have to start planning out my weekend trips!

Food, Fun, Friends, and a workout

I have to say, writing this blog has been quite the interesting experience so far. My host family reads it all the time, and clears up any confusions I have about any of the Czech things I write about! It's an interactive experience.

I haven't yet described my typical day so far, which is actually kinda interesting. I start every day with a shower, as always...but Czech showers are not the stand-up-and-rinse style. The shower actually isn't a shower at all - it's a bathtub, with no shower curtain and a shower handle faucet. One has to sit in the tub and run the faucet over the body, turning it off to put on shampoo, etc. Makes me very very happy it's not cold outside right now, or this would be a freezing experience.

Then, there's some breakfast (more about that later), and about a 45min trip (walk, bus ride, metro, walk) to the CIEE study center in Vyšehrad (I got my computer to type in Czech!). The house is on top of one hill...but at the middle of another, bigger hill...so to get to the bus stop I have to climb about 150m up a hill that, I swear, has a 60 degree grade. And teeth. Then it's a short bus ride to the metro stop (public trans is fantastic here, and immaculately clean), followed by another 15 min walk. So I'm getting my exercise. (Pics of this are on the flickr)

Which is a good thing, considering the food. Now, I'd never knock any food of course, and, surprisingly enough, I've had absolutely no gastronomical problems since I've been here (which, if you know me, you know is incredible). But Czech food is a completely different experience from anything else I've ever eaten. For three days now, I've eaten just about nothing but bread, meat, and potatoes, with one or all of the above food items having been fried. Tastes incredible. But WOW that whole trying to stay away from bread thing has gone out the window! So, considering the food and the excessive beer (more on that later), I'll probably come home with calves of steel and a stomach of down feathers.

So after our short tour with our Czech buddies yesterday (I went into Old Town square. Incredible pics on the flickr of that too), our housing director, recognizing that the people in homestays will have a more difficult time meeting people, brought us all to a pub to hang out for a bit. After some drama (Jonas was supposed to pick me up from school and guide me back home, and also give me a house key. and I was supposed to meet Dan earlier), it was a great time. There are some awesome people on this trip who I'm excited to spend more time with. I tried not to order very much, because I kinda figured I'd still be getting dinner at home. But...they knew I'd be here, so maybe they had eaten without me...my hunger got the best of me. I ate the endings of several people's huge meals (a pork chop, some fantastic fried bread, and a bite or two of duck). And, of course, a beer.

Then I went home, managed to get in contact with Dan, and was heading out the door...just in time for dinner to be ready!

Now, let me explain the most important of Czech customs. No means yes. Saying no implies with it the assumption by the other party that you're just being modest, you're embarrassed to say yes. So when offering food, "no" is followed by piling food on your plate. I said no. And ate a lot more (fried meat and rice).

Then I went to meet Dan and Sheldon at their hotel in the center of town. And had another dinner (well this time I didn't really eat. I just had a beer.)

Which brings me to my next point (this is turning into quite the lecture!). When you come to Prague, people tell you that you must expect to drink beer. They are lying. Don't expect to drink beer. Start drinking it, constantly, now, so you can develop a tolerance that might (...might) enable you to still function as a human being here. Rejecting beer isn't really taken seriously here (see above custom). So, when you're on your third, fourth beer of the day (was it that many?) and you didn't mean to drink one (at least not on an empty stomach)...let's just say this lightweight needs to learn to go to class with a buzz.

This post is getting long. I'll end it here and start a new one for today. Dobry den!

happy birthday andrew!

just a quick hello

Sorry I didn't post yesterday, I was honestly running around the entire day. Besides, you probably needed a break from me! I've only got a moment before I have to head off to another day of orientation, so this will be brief for now. I'll be back later.

Yesterday was my first day of official "class," though it was just an orientation day (not very much learning involved). We spent the morning in groups, talking to CIEE instructors about various issues we'll come across here, then we toured a bit of the city with our "Czech Buddies" (I prefer to call them Czech Mates. Oh the pun possibilities!). I spent almost the whole day with the whole group of kids living in homestays, and it was really nice to finally meet some other people on this trip (there are over 120 people total).

I find a divide (at least for now) is kind of inherent between the homestay people and the dorms or apartment. On our tour, one guy (from Buffalo Grove, Scott, he knows you) kept talking about "ridiculous" the night was going to be and kept asking out Czech buddy where a good place was to go out. Number one, I hate guys like that. Number two, it was interesting to hear the difference in mind set. While the dorm folks can go room to room and ask for people to go to bars and have a group to go with...my first thought is, "how the hell would I get home??"

This isn't a bad thing. I think of it as similar to the difference between the tour group I went with in Israel and the tour group Dan went with. Our group was very focused on touring, seeing sights, connecting with Judaism, etc. Dan's group went partying every night. Not to cheapen the latter experience...but I'll take the former. And that's what's happening here. It seems like cultural poaching, almost, to just come here and use the pubs as an excuse to get drunk every night. Czechs love gathering and drinking...but definitely not in the American "frat boy" sense. Don't get me wrong, I'll do my fair share of drinking here. But I'll do it once I can do it within the cultural boundaries.

Whew, that turned into a rant!

There are many more fun things to tell you about, but I'll have to write about it later. Here's a teaser trailer:
1. Czechs value modesty very highly. Which is why they never stop feeding you. I ate three dinners yesterday.
2. I got a cell phone!
3. Showering is quite the cultural experience. As is walking up hills. Every day. I am in pain.
4. This place is ridiculously beautiful and easy to fall in love with.
5. I'm just about the only Jew on my trip (that I've met so far).
6. Sheldon and Dan are supposed to go to Poland today, but have not booked transportation or accommodation to do so. So we had some drinks last night to celebrate!

I'm of to Na Florenci to meet the group. I'm on about 4 hours of sleep (damn time change...). Talk to you soon!

PS. Mom tells me people are reading this and getting a kick out of it. Thanks! Remember: you can respond to posts here (if you register with blogger, which you've already done if you have Gmail), or on Facebook (posts are RSSd to my profile as notes). And if you really like something, you can use the link after every post to email that post to someone (it's the icon below that looks like an envelope)

Jonas has corrected me

a mile is 1.6 kilometers. shows what I know.

Lucky

Alright, now that I've caught up on all the posts I wrote but didn't publish, I can finally talk about the rest of the day. And trust me, you want to hear about this one.

Of course there were people form the program on my flight from London to Prague. I didn't get much of a chance to chat though, since I attempted to sleep the whole flight (with some success).

After customs and baggage claim, I walked into the main terminal and found a group of 20somethings that was clearly the CIEE group. I found Paige, said hello, and went to check in with the important people, figuring I'd be sitting there for a bit waiting for my fam to pick me up and would therefore have time to talk some more to Paige. What do we know about assumptions, friends? Vaclav (VAHTS-lav), my 23-year-old host brother, was waiting for me and quickly whisked me off into a car with my host father, Tomas (to-MAHSH).

On the way back, Tomas took the scenic route and showed me "Czech Hollywood" (the town's name escapes me now). Very cool - it's like a small studio city!

I couldn't have been placed with a better family. The house is right on the river at the top of a hill, making the view at sunset just about the best in the city. The whole family is full of energy, constantly doing things and helping other people. Vaclav and Jonas (YO-nahsh) are awesome guys with great senses of humor. Jonas is the man with the plan on the computer - he hooked me up when the wireless wasn't working.

Oh yeah, they have WiFi.

I haven't met Zuzana quite yet, but I spoke to her on the phone and she seems to fit into this pattern quite well. Tomas is completely insane. Not in a "this guy is a threat to himself and others" way, but more of a "this guy doesn't even realize how fantastically hilarious he is" way. I am in love.

A few Tomas quotes from day 1:

Tomas (in broken English): "Czech people are all atheists. I'm a Christian atheist, my wife is a Jew atheist"
Vaclav: "And I'm a Muslim atheist"

after talking about a man who had been in the news lately who had raped 11-year old boys:
Tomas: "We don't do 11-year-old boys here. 20 year old girls, on the other hand..."

Tomas: "I speak fluent German. Most Czechs do"
Me: "You don't speak Russian?"
Tomas: "Ech! I can understand it, of course, I'm probably fluent, so is probably everyone. But it's not our language. Communist language!"

He and I took a bike ride ("WAIT, Ev. A bike ride? You're 5 feet tall. There's no WAY they had a bike that fit you." Ah, but you forget Tomas's bike from the 1960s, the one with the wheels of radius 3in and the lowrider handlebars. There will be flickr pics) Anyway, we took a bike ride around the neighborhood, up a hill that I swear was about a 60 degree grade, and around to a really amazing lookout point. After pointing out the sites (you can see all of Prague) and mentioning the spot on this hill where he and his wife used to make love, we were off back down the 60 degree graded hill (did I mention that this bike only has a front break? cuz yeah almost died) toward a really nice trail by the river.

I woke up at 2:45am. I don't know what time it is in my head anymore. For lunch, before the bike ride, I dunno what we had, but it was delicious and (not surprisingly) filled with ground meat (it was turkey though!) and topped with fresh cheese. Then I proceeded to have the most physical activity I've had since Honors Gym class in high school. And tonight Tomas is taking me to a pub (or "pop" as the call them. and then they mock me by repeating over and over "PUHHHHHHUUUHHHB"). Holy fuck do I need a nap.

Prague is siick.

Beginning of a long day

I am deliriously exhausted. Went to bed early, but of course I woke up at 2:45am (about 9pm in Chicago) and was a) STARVING, and b) wide awake. After tossing and turning for another 2 hours, I awoke and left the hotel with my 837 pounds of luggage (what's that in kg?). I enjoyed the Jurys Inn. They gave me free OJ when I left.

The airport was incredibly painless (I had to do some baggage adjusting. I've checked the big bag and the big half of my backpack. You only get one carry on when flying through Heathrow. That should be interesting coming home...) Now I'm sitting at a lovely little coffee place, sipping a fantastic latte (with caffeine...it's gonna be a long one, folks) and listening to Sufjan Stevens. I'm going to sleep on the plane if it kills me.

I feel like I haven't stopped sweating since I arrived here. Maybe it's the humidity (which is high), maybe it's my body's reaction to being so confused, or maybe it's all the walking. But honestly, I have to meet my host family in a few hours and I've sweat through my shirt already. And who likes sweating at 6:30am anyway?

The next time I write to you, I will be in Prague.

One night in London

A kilometer is longer than a mile. Keep that in mind when traveling in Europe.

Getting off the plane, Sheldon and Dan seemed like they were going to take another 20 minutes, so I left ahead of them and planned to meet them at baggage claim. Great plan, except when one continues on to another country (as they did), one doesn't pick up checked bags in between flights. And thus, my time with Dan and Sheldon ended...far too abruptly. It was like I never got to say goodbye to that feeling of homey-ness before I went into the deep, dark uncertainty of navigating this whole thing alone. Kinda threw me off the rest of the day.

I had no problem finding the hotel, but getting to the Tube from the airport, I finally understood what Moses went through (minus the manna...I was starving).

The rest of the day has been quite surreal. My lack of sleep, intense hunger, and lots of physical activity combined to make my mind completely unable to focus on any one thought for more than an instant. I found myself debating whether to eat or shower, and while debating my body decided to carry my into the shower. Cool. Thanks for the decision making, body!

I ate. I went to sleep. And then I woke up. What the hell time is it? My stomach ached, I was incredibly groggy, and for some reason I was convinced I had woken up late (late for what?). Where am I? Why is it light outside? Ehhhhhh scary.

More sleep, and I felt better, good enough to head out and explore London, which I did with a passion. I decided I wasn't quite ready to do the "authentic" Brit stuff, so I stuck to the touristy attractions: Trafalgar Square, Parliament building, Leicester Square, etc (lots of cool pics on the Flickr). It was all very beautiful, but I was kinda half asleep. I am in LOVE with the Tube (I love public transportation, and this is the best of it), and I love London. Such an easy town to just walk around - not intimidating at all. The old buildings seem to bend over you and give you a hug while you walk.

I ate dinner at the Sherlock Holmes Restaurant, and had the fish & chips I promised Casey I would get. Unfortunately, the restaurant was as schlocky as it sounds and was filled with Americans attracted to the kitsch-y name (...like me...). The entree wasn't really...real...so, sorry Casey, but I still haven't really had fish n chips! I met some girls from BU (and other schools) studying here who seemed kinda confused by me:

Them: How do you know where you are?
Me: ...I don't...the Tube gets you everywhere though
Them: So you're just walking around?
Me: Yeah, I had nothing else to do.

Seems logical enough!

I got on the Tube at Leicester Sq. to go home, but found myself getting off one stop later at Piccadilly Circus. After all, you never know when you're going to see these things again. And yes Mike, I went to the London Trocadero. I can see why you and Matta loved it. I realized I had been there the last time I was in London - I definitely remember one particular photo of me playing a racing video game with the steering wheel on the other side.

Back at the hotel now, time to pack up and get ready to leave (wake up call at 4:45am). Thankfully, I feel fairly adjusted to the new time zone (the walk helped a LOT). Tomorrow is sure to be a day to remember :-D.

Look Boss! The Plane!

Disclaimer: I didn't have internet access in London, so the next few posts were written on the Mac before they were posted. In case you were wondering how I seemed to be able to post from the plane...
____________________________________
The day has arrived! Complete insanity. I had no idea what to think - I didn't really feel anything until after dinner, when all of a sudden the anxiety set in. Not nervousness, definitely not, just wanting to get the transition over with and be here already.

Sally gave me a gift before I left - a journal. I'm using it right now! It's awesome, now I'll remember what to blog about. Let's go down the list:

1. Sheldon Kane is insane. After staying awake until 7:30am the previous night (with Dan)completely changing his and Dan's travel itinerary, he made sure to arrive at the airport with about 7 seconds to spare before he would have missed the flight. Dan was already exasperated, finished with dealing with all of this...I can only imagine what the next few weeks will be between them.

2. On the plane, I sat behind TWO (2) crying babies. Why do I always get so lucky????? WHO ARE THE PEOPLE WHO DON'T SIT NEXT TO BABIES ON AIRPLANES????

3. I haven't cut my hair since September (besides a few small trims) and when I wear a hat, I have wings. I'm still determined not to cut it until I get back in May.

4. Before he accidentally spilled red wine all over himself in his sleep (we saw it coming), Sheldon struck up a conversation with the girl sitting next to him who, it turns out, is an ADPi at USC studying abroad in London this semester. Her name is Andrea and she is very nice.

And that does it for the plane ride. I slept for maybe 90 min, tops, so of course I was a bit groggy. Time to find the hotel!

Ch-ch-changes

before
Originally uploaded by bregman.

So here's me, in January, before I leave...tomorrow...I'll post an "after" picture in May.

Spent the day packing (and recovering from the insanity that was last night). Mom and I managed to fit everything into one rolling duffel bag, which is fantastic. My mother honestly got into a fight with the bag...they had a staring contest. She was determined to fit everything in, even if it didn't like it. dear bag: never mess with Judie.

Saw Scott, Esme, and Taryn one last time this morning (but couldn't eat much at breakfast...). Taryn and I are planning on meeting at some point and heading to Auschwitz, to add another place to our tandem tour of the Jewish world, and possibly also meeting in Dublin for St Pat's Day. It feels like we're making plans to meet at Starbucks: "oh yeah, I'll just meet you in Munich, we'll grab a latte and go to Poland."

The flight tomorrow is at 10:30pm. I'm excited, but not anxious...yet. We'll see how tomorrow goes. I arrive in London at noon Monday, spend the night, and leave for Prague at about 8am Tuesday morning. Seems easy enough. But I have no clue how to get to my hotel in London.

My host family is picking me up in Prague, and what's terrifying is not so much the idea of meeting them (they seem wonderful), but the idea that I have NO CLUE what happens once i get there! I go home, I assume...but then what? Did I miss something in an email from CIEE? Or do I honestly just chill until I'm contacted? And then there's the whole...I speak very little Czech...thing...

Told you I'd get anxious!

first contact!

Today I got an email from my host family in Prague, who said they had read this blog! I'm too excited for words (it always great when the person/people you're going to meet make first contact. Makes me feel much more comfortable). They sent some pictures, but I'll post some of my own once I get there on Tuesday.

I should mention here, I've started learning some Czech (some Czech...). i'm not very good with languages normally (i get frustrated really easily and give up), so I figured a head start wouldn't hurt too much. Jak se mate? Jmenjui se Evan!

My last days in Northbrook are filled mostly with shopping and waiting. A few friends are still here, who I spend lots of time with and with whom conversations seem always to turn to the more serious...and knock knock jokes. I still have a long list of things to do. Like any big project I work on, i don't think I'll ever be complete/ready/prepared. but then again, that's more fun.

Prepare for Impact

Ahoi! This seems to be a great time to start this blog...a new chapter in my life. I like to try to take note of times like this, when it seems like the way I perceive everything is filtered through a new lens. It's at the point now when I become annoyed with things that don't apply to Prague...

My host family sounds incredible on paper. A spacious house, near the river, everyone speaks at least some English (the mother is fluent), and two sons (23 and 17). Host dad (Hodaddy?) is a film producer (wanna give me a job?). The house is only a few blocks from the trams, and probably walking distance from the social centers of the city (New and Old Towns). And internet at home! Incredible on paper. But so was communism...

I'm trying to stay skeptical. But I'm finding it difficult.

I'll be posting some pictures from Costa Rica on the flickr soon.