Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sigh of relaxation.

You know those times when it seems like you just do everything right? Case in point: the last few days.

I haven't really talked much about what's going on back at home, but I have to mention that me and Andrew made the Indiana Daily Student for the event we're (he's) promoting at IU next week. Very cool, I'm really excited to see what happens!

My shopping excursion yesterday was surprisingly successful. I forgot that European people like their clothes smaller, so every store had stuff that fit me!

Last night was also a great time. I went with Dan and some people from his program to a Mardi Gras party on a boat that had been advertised by cheaply-made fliers written in English. Sketchy? You bet. But we had an amazing time. (see my late night Facebook wall posting for evidence)

Which made getting up this morning a bit of an issue. I managed it, though the incredibly foggy weather was strangely mirroring my internal state. The weather got a lot better as the day went on, however, and for some reason all my classes had a really nice, careless vibe to them. had a nice tour this morning for my architecture class, and managed to get a good lunch afterwards. We laughed our way through Czech class, then my boring film class was actually interesting (we played with color temperature meters). The prof then didn't show up for my Cinematography class, so I grabbed a coffee with Evan, Sari, and Alana.

The highlight, of course, was my European Film Analysis class which, as boring as it sounds, it amazing. Last week we watched a Godard film, 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her. Today, we spent an hour and a half just...talking about it. Awesome.

Awesome-er: after class, I struck up a conversation with another American student, who subsequently invited me to dinner with some other FAMU International ladies. Recognizing the wonder in the impulsiveness of the whole situation, and relishing in the fact that I had found some people who really loved to talk about the paradox in Godard's distancing his audiences while preaching to them, I quickly accepted the invitation. What followed was a mass of fantastic conversation, great food and drink, and general excellence. One girl was from Sweden, one from San Fran by way of Taiwan, one from Oregon, a guy from Germany, and the original girl I had talked to was from NYC. New friends all over the globe!

And I now have some plans for the weekend. Apparently Friday, at 6:06pm, there will be an official pillow fight in Old Town Square, the "Prague Pillow Fight." I will be there. There's also a big music/cinema festival going on in Prague right now called Spermfest, the main show of which is this Saturday. Prolly be there too. All night. Better get to sleep now so I can save up for it...

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!