Sigh of Relief

Just wanted to write a quick note and let everyone know that my passport arrived this morning, and my visa is in tact. I could not be more excited. I am simply relieved, though I always knew God was in control. Thanks for all the prayers!

Germany for a Day

This past Saturday the 18th, we took a bus to Dresden for the day. It was a completely free trip, so why not right? We got up to our annoying alarm clocks at 6:30, and took off down the free-way. It was a fairly short bus ride lasting about 2 1/2 hours. Everyone else slept, but I anxiously starred out the window. Let me explain, for those of you who have not heard the great news, I was officially approved for my visa, and I had to send my passport back to the US. My mom sent it off to the Czech Embassy in LA, where it still remains. Until then , I am in a foreign country with no passport.  I am hoping they will quickly return it back to me with the visa in place.  I was told that I should be fine without it, since they have established the European Union, but I was nonetheless anxious. The way they explained it to me is that because of the EU, its like traveling in-between states within the US. Its not really that simple. Though it is easier to move about from country to country, it is illegal to do so without a passport unless you are a European citizen. Luckily, I never had an encounter with an immigration officer. Ok, back to Germany. We arrived at about 11, and went on a tour of the city. Just a little background of this special place: In 1945, during the second World War, the US bombed Dresden, which left the entire inner-city basically destroyed. It has since been rebuilt with architechture that is structured to resemble that of the past. It was such a beautiful city. It is situated around the Elbe River, which of course added to the beauty. Dresden was much like most European cities in that the buildings were incredible. The city was filled with museums, traditional German restaurants, and endless amounts of tourists taking photographs. Following the tour, we went to a restaurant and grabbed some lunch. I had onion soup and a salad, but everyone else had very Germany meals. They had sausages, pretzels, and beer. Meredith was disappointed in her lunch. It consisted of a cold slab of meat that was basically the left over meat from many different types of animals held together by a gooey gelatin. She was not satisfied. We followed up lunch with some gelato, and walked around the city to do the tourist thing. After weeks of being here, we still stand in amazement at the structures. They are absoloutely incredible. There was a sadness to think that they were not originals, but duplicates, but they were still amazing. As we walked around the city, there was pictures, both painted and photographs, of the city when it was leveled, and bodies that were killed during the explosion. It was sad to think that the US was responsible for such a tragic event, though I fully accept the fact that I am not "war" minded, and therefore I always think it is unnecessary. Anyway, after we took some photos, we did some souvenir shopping, payed 75 cents to use the bathroom ( they are never free in Europe :), and spent some time in a Beer Garden. They are very common in Germany. They are just an area, usually like a park setting, where there is tables and chairs set up and people can order a beer and some food, usually a pretzel or sausage, and sit for as long as they would like and enjoy nature. I hate beer, but I love the setting, so I had fun. After this, we explored a little more, and headed back to meet the group. After boarding our bus, we headed back for Prague. I was still a little anxious, but after multiple people told me I had nothing to worry about, I found myself fast asleep almost the whole ride back. I woke up just as we were pulling into the city. It was such a fun trip and mind-blowing to think that Saturday I was in Germany for the day. The thought never leaves my mind of how blessed I am to get this experience! 

The Kolej

I have had many occasions where people ask me about my dorm so since there is not to much going on this week, I figured it would be interesting to make a post about it. I'm not going to lie, on September 7th, when we pulled up, it took me a while to believe this was where I would be spending the next four months. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, it was just a little shocking. We live in a "kolej" which translates to student dormitory. It was constructed during the communist era in Prague, so it is simple and slightly bland on the outside. The rooms were bigger then we expected, but bigger does not always mean better! Our mattresses are very thin, and are more of a pad than an actual mattress. There are four girls that live in each suit. When you walk into the room, there is an area to hang coats, the "WC" which is the bathroom, a shower room, A small kitchenette, and two bedrooms. It is quite roomy. The bathroom is very little. There is about enough room to shut the door, spin in a circle and sit down. To flush, you put a handle that is attached to a container of water mounted to the wall. You have to close the lid before you flush, or needless to say, splashing occurs ( I learned from experience upon arriving here :). The bedrooms are very communist, for lack of a better term. Everything in the room is marked with a six digit number, so the room feels very "rented." We have pretty standard furniture, a bed, wardrobe closet, chair and a desk. It is plenty. They supply a pillow, sheet, and a blanket, which is great because I didn't being any of those. They have maids here who come every day and change the garbage, mop the floors, and every three weeks give us clean bedding. They are always really sweet, though they don't speak english, so not to much communication occurs. I am still adjusting to how common it is to smoke anywhere here. People can walk around anywhere in the Kolej and smoke. It is crazy considering how strict the US has become. There is unique smell inside of the rooms, and up until a few days ago we had no idea what it was. Last weekend three rooms flooded, and the girls were freaking out, called the resident director, and were stunned at how calm she was. Come to find out the Kolej floods often, and as a result there is now mildew in the walls. They said they will probably have to start looking for a new building to host the international students next year for health and safety reasons. I thought that was so crazy, so now I'm paranoid to leave anything on the ground. When I leave I try to put stuff on my desk, chair, or bed. I brought so many clothes, it probably would not hurt to lose a few articles of clothing though haha. As far as I can tell, the kolej is in a good, safe area of town. It is located about fifteen minutes outside of the downtown area, so we just walk up the street a few blocks and catch a tram. It is in a nice area, especially right now with all the fall leaves everywhere. There is a park across the street, and a few little markets throughout the neighborhood. A guy from Cincinnati moved to Prague and started a restaurant right behind the Kolej, which was a genius idea because he gets a lot of business from all of the international students here. Its not healthy food, but it sure tastes good. At night when we are walking around, and I see a homeless person sleeping on a bench, or on the street, suddenly I feel so thankful for the "communist bland" place that I get to come back to every night! 

My Trip to Budapest, Hungary

This past weekend, me and a few friends took a bus ride to Hungary. We have an awesome school schedule, which means no classes on Thursday or Friday, so Wednesday night we stayed up all night and then left at 5 am to head to the bus stop. The ride was interesting. There are times that I look out the window and feel like I'm in the US in a rural area, because it looks so similar. From prague to Hungary was about nine hours, but the bus was a lot like flying. There was a hostess, who served snacks and a drink. There was also movies which were in English, so the ride went by quickly. When we arrived, we spent about an hour walking around trying to find out hostel. We finally stumbled upon it, threw our stuff in the room, and headed back out to find some food. We at at this little greek place that had really good food. Everyone had a gyro, and I had a greek salad and some cheese bread. It totally hit the spot. We then wandered around the city. As with most European cities, Budapest had an incredible castle. It even had a moat surrounding it, which was still maintained. We spent a while there, just observing the amazing architechture and of course did the tourist photo taking. We spent the rest of the evening exploring the city near our hostel and then headed back, because all of the yawning got the best of us due to our no sleep. The next morning we woke up at nine and headed out to greet the day. We bought a tram pass so that we could go farther and not waste so much time walking. We rode the tram in the downtown area, and were instantly amused. The city was so incredible. Aside from the immaculate buildings and beautiful scenery, the people were so friendly. As I have mentioned before, Czech people are not fans of tourists. They are usually quite unfriendly, but the Hungarian people seemed excited that we were there. They asked questions, and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. It was also possible to cross the street in a crosswalk and have the drivers actually stop and let you safely cross. In Prague, it is a daily risk to cross the street :). Anyway, after we walked around what we thought were the important spots to see, we decided it would be fun to experience the thermal spas that Budapest is known for. The country is basically sitting on top of a hot spring, and the have developed spas where the water is pulled up and left untreated. When we walked into the building, it was really quite funny, because it did not look like the location for a spa at all. The building was very large and ornate looking. It had large columns and the ceiling was beautifully painted. It looked just like a museum, but people were walking around in speedos and white robes. There were four areas in this particular building. There was a pool inside, and a spa (hot tub) next to it, and then the same set up was outside up on top of the building. It was such a pretty view. We were there for almost three hours. It felt so good since we had been walking basically that whole day. Afterwards, we were quite hungry so we had this restaurant on while we were walking. It had to of been one of the best meals I have had since being in Europe. It was just pasta with vegetables, but for some reason, it was amazing. We also got desert. I had chocolate crepes which was so yummy. We walked back to the hostel, and met a guy who was staying the night there as well. We went out to this pub where everyone had a few beers (no worry I had one mixed drink and stuck to juice :) and the guy came along with us. He is from England and had been traveling for almost nine months. We asked him where he was going next and he didn't know, so we told him he should come see Prague, and he is now coming in three days. Its so crazy that some people have no schedule or commitments, and just plan their lives one day at a time. Saturday, we woke up to a rainy day. We walked to a little cafe and had tea and a muffin and spent the morning just talking. I have really come to adore my new friends. They are such awesome people, and we have a blast together. We stopped in a few shops and bought some souvenirs and then headed back to the hostel to pack. Chelsea and I left a day earlier then the boys because the bus for today (sunday) was sold out. We slept for half the ride and then just talked the other half. We finally pulled into Prague at about 11:30 last night. It amazes me that we have only lived here for about a month, yet getting back last night was such a relief and a comfort to be somewhere familiar again. Hungary was a blast, but so far nothing beats Prague! 

The Start of a New School Year

It blows my mind that here it is October, and I'm just now starting school. In one way, it is sad end to a long summer break, and in another way I'm excited to be back to a routine and be productive. I was mistaken in thinking the professors were from the US. They are all Czech citizens which has proved to make classes a little difficult. It is funny because whenever we talk to anyone around here who speaks English, they always ask us to slow down because our "American accent" is too strong. My initial response is to think that I do not have an accent, but of course to them I do. The teachers here are all fluent in English, but there is definitely still a language barrier. They all speak with thick accents, and very quickly, so we often have to ask them to repeat themselves or to slow down. It is not easy to zone out during class, because everyone is so concentrated just trying to understand what they are saying. It has been interesting thus far, but I'm sure as time goes on we will begin to better understand each other's accent. I'm taking five classes while I'm here. One of them was my immersion language class, which only lasted two weeks, but was five hours a day, for ten days. It was a lot to learn, but I'm really happy with it, because I can now get around the city and ask questions in Czech. I am also taking Sociology of Globalization, Psychology of Nutrition, Personalities in Times of Transition, and Art and Architecture. I am really happy with my classes so far. I go to class Monday-Wednesday, which is nice to have such long weekends, but classes are three hours long. I have about 9 weeks of classes and then a week of finals. I am thinking it is going to fly by. I am kind of a nerd who enjoys school, so I'm actually really excited to get going with my classes. 

I am leaving in the morning for Budapest, Hungary. I am going to be there until Sunday. I am traveling with four other people, whom are also in the same program as me. We found a safe and affordable hostel so it should be an awesome time. For all those who have not heard, I was finally approved for my visa, Praise the Lord! In the upcoming weeks, I will be going to Germany in a few weeks, Poland in the beginning of November, and then to Austria a few weeks later. I feel so blessed and privileged  to be able to do all of this. Thats all for now. This picture is of my school, Charles University. Sorry for the random people in the picture, but there are so many people here that is is quite difficult to get a picture with no one in the way!