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!