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.