It's still light outside

Spring has most certainly sprung now, since the clocks changed. I'm completely thrown off by how late the sun is out! It makes me feel guilty for being at home, inside. I'm going to start carrying a book around with me so I can always stop in a park and do some reading whenever I find myself with nothing to do (I'm trying to read more books. I feel like I don't have time to read for pleasure at home).

Which is exactly what happened today. Class ended at five and the sun was still bright in the sky, so I took a walk around the Vysehrad area and found myself gazing, once again, over this fantastic city. I love how familiar the skyline looks now - between my Art and Architecture of Prague class and my own sightseeing, I've managed to get at least a little background on almost all of the most prominent buildings. That familiarity that was missing at the beginning of this trip? Well, when I got off the plane yesterday and took the bus back into the city, I suddenly felt at home, relieved to be not understanding Czech again (as opposed to not understanding French and German). Guess I'm familiar now.

Another sign of this: Zuzana's cooking dinner right now, and told me we'd make garlic mashed potatoes again, like last time. I said "but Tomas didn't like them!" And she replied "he'll have the plain ones, we'll have the garlic" and smiled in that sneaky way mothers do that seems to say ain't he boring?? Familiarity and family. And I'm thousands of miles from home. (Or am I? Oh now I'm going back to a very old argument of mine...)

The warmer weather reminds me even more of home, as in Northbrook home. I'm remembering how much I always loved that first day of warm weather in high school, the first day when you could take off your jacket on your way to your car and leave the windows open while you drove home, music loud, drumming on the steering wheel. And around Vysehrad today, there was a smell of a grill coming from a restaurant that to me could only mean Memorial Day or July 4th.

I love this time of year, if you can't tell, and I'm excited to spend it here. This weekend I'm traveling with my program to southern Bohemia, a town (and UNESCO World Heritage site) called česky Krumlov. The next weekend, Dan and I hit Amsterdam. And then, before I know it, my parents are visiting and we're driving to Budapest. With less than two months remaining here, I'm just excited to let it all happen!

Spring break begins

Midterms are over, the temperatures are still balmy (for now), and I am officially on spring break. Not a moment too soon - it's high time I did some traveling around Europe, don't you agree? My trip to Switzerland is going to be awesome.

There's nothing truly like waking up in the morning (afternoon) in a foreign country, where you've been living for only two months (as of Friday), and opening up the newspaper to see your own face staring back at you. No, I wasn't arrested (yet), but there's an ad for the play in this week's Prague Post, and my picture is in it. This whole experience just keeps getting more surreal.

Yesterday, I went with Tomas and Zuzana to a family gathering of sorts, celebrating a cousin's birthday (and, we found out, to announce her pregnancy). I always find it really fun to be in a room full of people speaking Czech. I've become a master of people watching and pantomiming as a result. The food at this little lunch affair was absolutely incredible (pork, cous cous, ridiculous cakes, including JC's favorite babovka, beer, espresso), and it's always interesting to see how people react to me, the first student this family has ever hosted. Highlight of the afternoon, though, was when the five-year-old son of Tomas's cousin (the one who directs the wonderful Baroque music group) tested out his English skills by calling me "small." I said "you're small!" He pointed at me and said "Taky [also] small!"

I rushed from there to the theater, and had to take a nap in the dressing room. The show went very well again last night, and the audience was our biggest yet. Afterwards, Dan and I met some people from his program (they had come to the show...everyone from my program is on vacation already, remember) and along the way, we were recognized by a few people who had seen the show. Now, admittedly, we're a pretty physically memorable pair of guys. But I'm still kinda floored.

Last night was a great night. I love hanging out with Dan's friends (I can and do call them my own friends at this point, but it's easier to refer to them as "Dan's friends" so you don't get confused), probably more than I've enjoyed people from CIEE. We hopped from bar to bar to club last night, dancing and talking the whole way.

My hair is really long. Not like really long like it was when I left LA, really long like when it's wet it easily blocks my vision. When it's dry, it's the same length, only sticking straight up, and there's nothing I can do to make it do anything else. On the sides, it sticks out like a pair of wings, but no matter how fast I run I haven't been able to take off yet. Rob made a great comment about it on my Facebook wall: "i was perusing your photos, and noticed that your izro (israeli fro) paired with your new glasses makes you look more jewish than jesus."

Today will be a day of recovery, filled with basketball and doing as little as possible. If USC beats Texas, I might be able to recall my hitmen from their "murder Vince Young" mission. But only maybe.

Prague Spring Fever

Show went well again last night, save for a hilarious moment when Dan and I almost cracked up on stage. Jonas was in attendance, as were another few people from my program, and they all enjoyed themselves thoroughly. I'm having a lot of fun performing again! Maybe I should be an actor...

Anyhow, today has been a fine day, punctuated by a dinner courtesy of the University of Southern California. The adviser from the USC abroad office is here until Wednesday, and he took all the USC kids out for dinner. He's a great guy - getting a masters in PoliSci, and in the meantime gets to take all-expenses-paid trips to Prague (and Poland). I knew I liked him the minute I met him. While advisers from other schools were all in their suits, ties, and dark colors, this guy is wearing khakis and a powder blue button down, looking like LA incarnate (plus he's Filipino...and everyone in Prague is white). He could have gone to dinner with his colleagues but, in his words, "I was like, I'm....gonna go out with my kids!" Drinking on USC's tab is always fine with me! (and we got a FIVE seed??? Fight on!)

It made me realize something (oh, here he goes again. yeah, eat me.) that I've learned by being abroad, and by turning 21. I suddenly feel much more experienced. Where I've always felt a sort of gap between myself and anyone I spoke with who was older than me (like I should be almost reverent), I now feel a bit more qualified to identify with them. I don't feel so young. It's nice. And scary.

Today I should finish the book I've been reading since I got here, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. It's a new favorite of mine, and as with all books I like, I find myself wishing it was longer because I feel like it's come to sort of define this moment. My voice in this blog has certainly been influenced by it (if you can't tell, click the link above and read the first page. You'll get what I mean). So I almost feel like there's going to be a change in my general feeling soon.

And I'm not the only one feeling that way. I think it's the weather - in the 60s for the rest of the week. It's springtime in Prague, and it's almost the halfway point of our little journey here. I see those couples who've been together since the beginning (in secret, of course, never officially together because that would close off options and being in your 20s is all about keeping options open. Which is why no one can ever decide what club to go to), they suddenly start to look all too familiar with each other, like it might turn into a "real" relationship. And friends are beginning to settle even more, people moving into a new phase of confidence in their Prague identities. I certainly am.

Change is always good.

Time to study for my midterm.