Hello all! Tomorrow will mark 2 weeks before I leave Prague! Crazy...although I'm sad to leave, and I know that I will especially realize how much I miss it once I am home, I canNOT wait to go to the UK to see Brian. I am like a little kid anticipating Christmas Day or something like that, just bouncing around with this excited feeling in my stomach! That boy means so much to me...
My mom just left Prague early on Tuesday morning after spending a week here, and we had such a good time while she was here! We toured Prague and took a day trip to Cesky Krumlov-a town in the southern Czech Republic-and spent the weekend in Berlin. Needless to say, neither of us slept much that week! It was so different having someone with me in Prague, because I am so used to being alone while I go about my routine here. To have someone to talk to in the grocery store and on the tram and while walking around was so nice! Of course, I have traveled with friends when I leave Prague (except for Krakow), but here in Prague, I'm used to being on my own when I'm out of my apartment. It was so fun to have someone to show around the city, because I feel proud of how much I've learned and how much more comfortable I am with Prague since arriving here!
For the first time since coming to Europe, I had absolutely no mishaps or confusions with a train trip, which was nice! Not that anything has ever gone majorly wrong, but I always have a million connections or crazy conductors or people mugging me, and so to have a direct perfectly smooth train ride to Berlin and back was so nice! I found Berlin to be such a dichotomy of old and new, historical and up-and-coming, urban and traditional. It was really interesting, and of course since my Mom and I love history, we really soaked up that part of the trip. I keep thinking over and over since this semester started how crazy it is that I am actually visiting or living in places that I used to only read and imagine about. Growing up in Wisconsin, when I would hear about how Eastern Europe was under Communism, it all sounded rather abstract and far-away. Hearing about the Berlin Wall seemed like it was on another planet. Reading about battles fought in World War II was far removed from me. It's interesting to realize that so much of that kind of history is not that far removed when I'm here, and I am walking through the places where this actually happened. Not only that, but you can take it so much further back. Oh yes, this was built in the 800s. That was constructed in the 1200s. My oh my, are things in the U.S. so new in comparison!
When I said goodbye to my mom, I thought that I was doing pretty great, but as I rode the bus home, I realized how alone I all of a sudden felt. I liked having someone familiar with me, I liked having someone to chat with. That's what I miss about home, being able to call someone up and hang out with them whenever, or at least just call someone while I'm driving in my car, something else I miss so much! And the thing is, as wonderful as new friends are, nothing replaces the friends that you've had for years and are as comfortable as anything with. I'm really excited to have my phone (ok, I have a phone here, but this Vodafone POS doesn't count in my mind), a car, Miller Park, Brown Deer Road, Pick 'n Save, English, dollars, non-military time, temperature in Fahrenheit, things measured in miles and pounds and inches and gallons, Mountain Dew, Taco Bell, normal-priced Starbucks (really, $7 for a frappuccino here??), Jude and Luke, my family, my sweet Grandma...that will be wonderful! But there is so much that I will also miss here...See why it's so bittersweet?
I went paintballing for my first time ever just this week, and I've got an especially awesome bruise on my leg to show for it! It was indoors, and I did alright for my first time! I shot some people, I got shot plenty of times, I was the only girl there...all around, quite a good time! : D We went out for beers afterward at a Slovak restaurant where there were musicians playing old Slovak music and I honestly felt like I was back at Alpine Village (if you know that place, you really know me haha). And yes, I know Alpine isn't Slovak, but the decor and feel to both places were very similar! It was a fun experience, and I knew that my brothers would be proud. And I'm definitely doing it again!
<3
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Write in my blog? Or write my research paper? Guess what won out.
Ok, this research paper isn't even due for another couple of weeks, but I want to get a head start on it since I know that my last weeks here will be busy and I won't want to spend them writing an entire 10 page research paper. I'm sorry that I haven't been too good about posting on my blog as opposed to when I first came to Prague, but I've gotten busier, and every time that I want to sit down and write a post, I second-guess my topic and tell myself it's not that interesting anyways. Well, I've finally decided that since this blog is for me as much as it is for other readers, I shouldn't judge myself on whether or not something is interesting. I should just write it. The past couple of weeks have been fairly uneventful, as I've been working on homework, putting a lot of hours in at my internship, and planning what my Mom and I are going to do when she comes here (we're going to Berlin for several days while she's here, I'm so excited!!). As much as I want to go out and explore Prague more, the "new-ness" of it has worn off quite a bit, although I'm really excited to show my mom around the city =)
It's only 26 days until I leave Prague, and it feels unfaithful to say this, but I'm really looking forward to getting back to everyone. I MISS all of you guys back home! It's weird how you can track your feelings over the course of a semester, and how your thoughts and emotions shift from those early weeks, to settling in, to getting comfortable, then to getting antsy. I can definitely say that that has been the case for me! And as much as I love traveling all around, it's tiring to plan trip after trip, let me tell you! I'm spending a lot of time planning Brian's and my trip to the UK, because we're going to be couchsurfing while we're there, so I am contacting various hosts and trying to figure everything out. Don't get me wrong, though, this has been absolutely amazing. It's weird to think how long it might be before I'm back in Prague, because to be honest, as great as Europe has been, I want to visit other continents next before coming back here. I want to travel to China, India, South Africa, Australia, Japan, Egypt, and on and on! I'll be back Europe, don't you worry, I've just got a lot of other things to see too!
School has been, interesting. There has been more homework than when I started the semester, so in that regard, it feels a bit more normal to me (Is normal good in this case? I don't know haha). But this is all old news to both you guys and to me; it's all just part of the AAU experience! : P I have 4 weeks left of school and of my internship. My internship has been a really good learning experience for me, and last week, I went to an NGO market fair and worked at the Burma Center Prague booth with my colleagues. I had a really good conversation with a woman my age who spoke fabulous English, and she was interested to know how an American girl who knew zero Czech ended up at NGO market fair that was being held entirely in Czech. I explained to her that I was interning at BCP, and we chatted about the differences in attitudes towards volunteerism and humanitarian work in Eastern Europe versus the U.S. and Western Europe. I have talked about this topic to some length in my online posts for my internship course, but I never cease to learn new things every week at BCP about working in an intercultural workplace. It has taught me a lot!
I have to confess to all of you now that as hard as I have been trying since coming to Prague to stop being such a worrier (some of you might remember my earlier blog post about that), it's been an uphill battle. I guess I was hoping that this would be one of those things that I stopped doing and never dealt with again. Of course, I knew that couldn't actually happen, but one can always dream, right? Sometimes, I just want to step outside of myself and lecture ME. Tell me to stop thinking about what other people do, stop thinking about my faults and my missteps, stop comparing myself to anyone and everyone, and just ACCEPT myself. Easier said than done, of course. I know that I'm not the only one who deals with this, but it's funny how your brain can trick you into thinking that you're all alone in something and that you're failing while the rest of the world is blissfully happy. I want to tell that constant little feeling of anxiety inside of me to chill out and relax, but it's always bouncing around inside, telling me to do this and do that, go here and say this, write this and visit that. I know that that same feeling is also the one that always keeps driving me forward and keeps me motivated, but I think the problem comes in when it's the one that starts to control me, as opposed to me controlling it. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's hard for me to explain...
Alright, I better get back to this paper!
It's only 26 days until I leave Prague, and it feels unfaithful to say this, but I'm really looking forward to getting back to everyone. I MISS all of you guys back home! It's weird how you can track your feelings over the course of a semester, and how your thoughts and emotions shift from those early weeks, to settling in, to getting comfortable, then to getting antsy. I can definitely say that that has been the case for me! And as much as I love traveling all around, it's tiring to plan trip after trip, let me tell you! I'm spending a lot of time planning Brian's and my trip to the UK, because we're going to be couchsurfing while we're there, so I am contacting various hosts and trying to figure everything out. Don't get me wrong, though, this has been absolutely amazing. It's weird to think how long it might be before I'm back in Prague, because to be honest, as great as Europe has been, I want to visit other continents next before coming back here. I want to travel to China, India, South Africa, Australia, Japan, Egypt, and on and on! I'll be back Europe, don't you worry, I've just got a lot of other things to see too!
School has been, interesting. There has been more homework than when I started the semester, so in that regard, it feels a bit more normal to me (Is normal good in this case? I don't know haha). But this is all old news to both you guys and to me; it's all just part of the AAU experience! : P I have 4 weeks left of school and of my internship. My internship has been a really good learning experience for me, and last week, I went to an NGO market fair and worked at the Burma Center Prague booth with my colleagues. I had a really good conversation with a woman my age who spoke fabulous English, and she was interested to know how an American girl who knew zero Czech ended up at NGO market fair that was being held entirely in Czech. I explained to her that I was interning at BCP, and we chatted about the differences in attitudes towards volunteerism and humanitarian work in Eastern Europe versus the U.S. and Western Europe. I have talked about this topic to some length in my online posts for my internship course, but I never cease to learn new things every week at BCP about working in an intercultural workplace. It has taught me a lot!
I have to confess to all of you now that as hard as I have been trying since coming to Prague to stop being such a worrier (some of you might remember my earlier blog post about that), it's been an uphill battle. I guess I was hoping that this would be one of those things that I stopped doing and never dealt with again. Of course, I knew that couldn't actually happen, but one can always dream, right? Sometimes, I just want to step outside of myself and lecture ME. Tell me to stop thinking about what other people do, stop thinking about my faults and my missteps, stop comparing myself to anyone and everyone, and just ACCEPT myself. Easier said than done, of course. I know that I'm not the only one who deals with this, but it's funny how your brain can trick you into thinking that you're all alone in something and that you're failing while the rest of the world is blissfully happy. I want to tell that constant little feeling of anxiety inside of me to chill out and relax, but it's always bouncing around inside, telling me to do this and do that, go here and say this, write this and visit that. I know that that same feeling is also the one that always keeps driving me forward and keeps me motivated, but I think the problem comes in when it's the one that starts to control me, as opposed to me controlling it. I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's hard for me to explain...
Alright, I better get back to this paper!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Italy: the land of sun and gelato
Hello there everyone! Yes, yes, I realize that it's been a little over 2 weeks since I posted on here, and I'm sorry about that! I spent 10 days in Italy from April 3-12 for my spring break and had a wonderful-albeit exhausting-time there. There is simply SO MUCH to see in Italy, and yet our group tried to tackle as much as we could in the time that we were there. We started out in Venice, then moved on to Florence (where we toured Florence and the surrounding countryside), then to Rome, and then we went to Salerno, which is on the Amalfi Coast. Once there, we all traveled to the town of Amalfi for a day, and a friend and I took the next day to see Pompeii. All we saw of Naples were the train station and the airport as we were leaving, but by then, none of us cared to sight-see anymore anyways and just wanted to get back. Unfortunately, we all returned to a chilly and rainy Prague, which was a huge disappointment after sunny and warm Italy.
I am going to be perfectly honest and say that when we left Italy, I didn't want to be returning to Prague. I wanted to be going back to the U.S. I know that the other girls in our group felt similarly, too. There's something about a long trip that makes you look forward to home, and now that we can all see the end of our time here in Prague rapidly approaching, it's an odd mixture of sadness that this amazing trip is coming to an end with an excitement to be heading back home. I think that my feelings of homesickness were very greatly compounded when I got bad news from home while in Italy about the health of two people very close to me. Never have I wanted to be home more than I did when I heard about that. But I am really looking forward to my Mom coming out here in a little over a week, and I know that I am going to have so much fun in these last 5 weeks I have here. Basically, I think that when I leave, I will be ready to go home to all those that I love, and while I will be sad to leave Prague, I will know that I lived my life fully while I was here, learned so much, and had amazing adventures!
Now, about my actual trip :-) Venice was incredibly beautiful, and everything that I ever imagined it to be. However, it's not the type of city that I could ever see myself staying in longer than a couple of days, because it was nothing but tourists as far as the eye could see. Which was fine for the day and a half that we were, but I felt like I got a lot out of the city in just that time. Venice is where the gelato tasted the best, and none of us could get over the fact that around every corner, there was another beautiful, windy canal snaking around an old, paint-chipped building with ivy tumbling down from the windows. It was such a romantic town. Our maps were largely useless there, as the roads never lasted long, soon turning into a dead end at another canal. The city is relatively small, though, and since it's on an island, you really can't ever get too lost. We were in Venice over Easter Sunday, and so we all went to church that morning at a small, local church near our hotel in the suburbs. Although the service was obviously all in Italian, it was still nice to be able to go to church on Easter. It made me miss my family, though!
Next, we were on to Florence. Our hostel in Florence was a joke, to be honest. I am struggling to find one good thing about it...ok, it had a good location near the train station. That's it. However, we were hardly there since we were out and about all the time, so it's really alright. Who needs hot water anyways? We were just lucky to get in there at all, because the night we checked in, the lady behind the counter informed us that she *oops* overbooked, and we didn't have a room. Although she first tried to get us to just leave to find a hostel she knew of (that was pricier than this one), we vehemently informed her that that was not our job. She spent over an hour calling other hostels with no luck, and she finally ended up giving us a room that was supposed to be filled by another group coming that night, but since it was almost midnight and we had arrived first (with a reservation and confirmation and a deposit paid), she gave us the room. We felt badly for the other group, but at this point, it was first-come, first-serve.
Florence was beautiful, although the majority of our exploring was in the countryside around Florence, rather than the city itself. Our second day there, we went to a small town called Greve, which is in the Chianti region of Tuscany. We shopped, went to a wine-tasting (my first!), and hiked around the hills. Basically, it was glorious. The rolling hills were ruggedly and wildly beautiful, and there was such a peaceful calm all around. It felt great to be outside of a city and experience such wide-open beauty. Our next adventure was to head to Rome. Unfortunately, our trip didn't start off on such a great foot. Our train ride to Rome involved all of us getting gypped for 5 euro each (although the conductor claimed he could've charged us 40 euro each) for not getting our train tickets validated, something we knew nothing about. He claimed that we could've used these tickets twice already to go between Florence and Rome since they didn't have a date stamped on it, and although we explained over and over again that the last 2 train conductors we'd already had in Italy hadn't brought this issue up, he was a completely jerk about it. Trust me folks, he pocketed our money for himself, and we all knew that, but he was very threatening and rude and angry despite our attempts at defusing the situation. Ah well. Then we barely made the last metro of the night when we arrived in Rome, and raced to get on the bus. Our bus driver then proceeded to only stop at the stops when someone pushed the "stop" button, and since we were relying on counting the number of stops in order to find our hostel's stop, we got lost. Past midnight. 6 girls with their backpacks wandering around completely lost in a sketchy neighborhood with our hostel not answering the phone. We finally found our hostel and thanked God repeatedly that we were safe.
As the proud history geek, I thought Rome was super amazing. The other girls weren't as fond of it, but I loved it. Plus, I'm a huge fan of Audrey Hepburn's "Roman Holiday", and I was excited to see all the sights from the movie. We went to the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Square and Basilica, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Colosseum, Pantheon, the Castle of Angels, and many other things! Crammed it all in :-) My getting sick put a damper on Rome, though, and although my cold was only awful for 2 days (it's been an annoyance these past 2 weeks though), those 2 days were when we were in Rome. Therefore, we were all looking forward to relaxing on the Amalfi Coast. We were giddy with excitement when we saw the hotel that we'd booked. Since it was outside of the city center, we were able to get an actual hotel room for a great price. I mean, people, we had hot water, continental breakfast, our own room, a pool, and a clean bathroom! This was like heaven to us. College students don't ask for much. We took a ferry to Amalfi on Saturday, and none of us could stop snapping pictures. This was one of those places that lived up to all of the hype about how beautiful it was, and as we laid on the beach in our swimsuits soaking up the Mediterranean sun, I had one of those moments (I've had several of these since coming to Europe) where I just thought: studying abroad was the best idea ever. I looked around at our surroundings, tried to absorb the fact that we girls were sunbathing on the Mediterranean, and just turned to Madison and said, "Can you believe we're actually doing this??" We had a little pizza and wine picnic on the beach before we took a bus ride home that I feel lucky to have survived. The scenery was incredible, but the bus was taking these narrow, winding turns so fast, and there was nothing more than a 3-foot barrier along the cliff edges separating the road from a several hundred foot drop. Eek.
Natalie and I headed to Pompeii on Sunday, which was a really cool trip. We walked all over the place, oohing and aahing over these ancient ruins that were still kept intact. Only thing that wasn't fun was the fact that the roads were quite possibly the bumpiest I've ever walked on. And I thought that Prague was bad with its cobblestones. These were more like boulders in the road. It's so amazing to visit a place like this, because it's the kind of thing I studied about every year in history class growing up, and I never thought about the possibility of one day seeing some of those places in person, and here I am, doing exactly that! When we arrived back in Salerno, Natalie and I had the bright idea of "Hey, rather than waiting 2.5 hours for the bus that will take us back to our hotel, why don't we walk?" Two hours and 15 kilometers later, we realized how foolish of an idea this had been, but we made it. Never in my life have I ever been honked at so many times in my life as we walked back. In fact, the entire time we were on the coast, it was like that. And it wasn't just a car full of young guys or creepy old men, it was everyone. Of course, guys honked, but there were families and couples that would honk and yell "Ciao bella!" at us. I have yet to figure this out.
All in all, Italy was amazing, I ate like 8 gelato cones, as well as oh so much pasta and pizza and wine and delicious pastries. Every window we passed seemed to be filled with yet another tempting treat (and we often gave in to them). It was an exhausting trip too, though! So, having written this novel, I will say "Ciao" and hope that all of you are doing well :-)
I am going to be perfectly honest and say that when we left Italy, I didn't want to be returning to Prague. I wanted to be going back to the U.S. I know that the other girls in our group felt similarly, too. There's something about a long trip that makes you look forward to home, and now that we can all see the end of our time here in Prague rapidly approaching, it's an odd mixture of sadness that this amazing trip is coming to an end with an excitement to be heading back home. I think that my feelings of homesickness were very greatly compounded when I got bad news from home while in Italy about the health of two people very close to me. Never have I wanted to be home more than I did when I heard about that. But I am really looking forward to my Mom coming out here in a little over a week, and I know that I am going to have so much fun in these last 5 weeks I have here. Basically, I think that when I leave, I will be ready to go home to all those that I love, and while I will be sad to leave Prague, I will know that I lived my life fully while I was here, learned so much, and had amazing adventures!
Now, about my actual trip :-) Venice was incredibly beautiful, and everything that I ever imagined it to be. However, it's not the type of city that I could ever see myself staying in longer than a couple of days, because it was nothing but tourists as far as the eye could see. Which was fine for the day and a half that we were, but I felt like I got a lot out of the city in just that time. Venice is where the gelato tasted the best, and none of us could get over the fact that around every corner, there was another beautiful, windy canal snaking around an old, paint-chipped building with ivy tumbling down from the windows. It was such a romantic town. Our maps were largely useless there, as the roads never lasted long, soon turning into a dead end at another canal. The city is relatively small, though, and since it's on an island, you really can't ever get too lost. We were in Venice over Easter Sunday, and so we all went to church that morning at a small, local church near our hotel in the suburbs. Although the service was obviously all in Italian, it was still nice to be able to go to church on Easter. It made me miss my family, though!
Next, we were on to Florence. Our hostel in Florence was a joke, to be honest. I am struggling to find one good thing about it...ok, it had a good location near the train station. That's it. However, we were hardly there since we were out and about all the time, so it's really alright. Who needs hot water anyways? We were just lucky to get in there at all, because the night we checked in, the lady behind the counter informed us that she *oops* overbooked, and we didn't have a room. Although she first tried to get us to just leave to find a hostel she knew of (that was pricier than this one), we vehemently informed her that that was not our job. She spent over an hour calling other hostels with no luck, and she finally ended up giving us a room that was supposed to be filled by another group coming that night, but since it was almost midnight and we had arrived first (with a reservation and confirmation and a deposit paid), she gave us the room. We felt badly for the other group, but at this point, it was first-come, first-serve.
Florence was beautiful, although the majority of our exploring was in the countryside around Florence, rather than the city itself. Our second day there, we went to a small town called Greve, which is in the Chianti region of Tuscany. We shopped, went to a wine-tasting (my first!), and hiked around the hills. Basically, it was glorious. The rolling hills were ruggedly and wildly beautiful, and there was such a peaceful calm all around. It felt great to be outside of a city and experience such wide-open beauty. Our next adventure was to head to Rome. Unfortunately, our trip didn't start off on such a great foot. Our train ride to Rome involved all of us getting gypped for 5 euro each (although the conductor claimed he could've charged us 40 euro each) for not getting our train tickets validated, something we knew nothing about. He claimed that we could've used these tickets twice already to go between Florence and Rome since they didn't have a date stamped on it, and although we explained over and over again that the last 2 train conductors we'd already had in Italy hadn't brought this issue up, he was a completely jerk about it. Trust me folks, he pocketed our money for himself, and we all knew that, but he was very threatening and rude and angry despite our attempts at defusing the situation. Ah well. Then we barely made the last metro of the night when we arrived in Rome, and raced to get on the bus. Our bus driver then proceeded to only stop at the stops when someone pushed the "stop" button, and since we were relying on counting the number of stops in order to find our hostel's stop, we got lost. Past midnight. 6 girls with their backpacks wandering around completely lost in a sketchy neighborhood with our hostel not answering the phone. We finally found our hostel and thanked God repeatedly that we were safe.
As the proud history geek, I thought Rome was super amazing. The other girls weren't as fond of it, but I loved it. Plus, I'm a huge fan of Audrey Hepburn's "Roman Holiday", and I was excited to see all the sights from the movie. We went to the Vatican Museum, St. Peter's Square and Basilica, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Colosseum, Pantheon, the Castle of Angels, and many other things! Crammed it all in :-) My getting sick put a damper on Rome, though, and although my cold was only awful for 2 days (it's been an annoyance these past 2 weeks though), those 2 days were when we were in Rome. Therefore, we were all looking forward to relaxing on the Amalfi Coast. We were giddy with excitement when we saw the hotel that we'd booked. Since it was outside of the city center, we were able to get an actual hotel room for a great price. I mean, people, we had hot water, continental breakfast, our own room, a pool, and a clean bathroom! This was like heaven to us. College students don't ask for much. We took a ferry to Amalfi on Saturday, and none of us could stop snapping pictures. This was one of those places that lived up to all of the hype about how beautiful it was, and as we laid on the beach in our swimsuits soaking up the Mediterranean sun, I had one of those moments (I've had several of these since coming to Europe) where I just thought: studying abroad was the best idea ever. I looked around at our surroundings, tried to absorb the fact that we girls were sunbathing on the Mediterranean, and just turned to Madison and said, "Can you believe we're actually doing this??" We had a little pizza and wine picnic on the beach before we took a bus ride home that I feel lucky to have survived. The scenery was incredible, but the bus was taking these narrow, winding turns so fast, and there was nothing more than a 3-foot barrier along the cliff edges separating the road from a several hundred foot drop. Eek.
Natalie and I headed to Pompeii on Sunday, which was a really cool trip. We walked all over the place, oohing and aahing over these ancient ruins that were still kept intact. Only thing that wasn't fun was the fact that the roads were quite possibly the bumpiest I've ever walked on. And I thought that Prague was bad with its cobblestones. These were more like boulders in the road. It's so amazing to visit a place like this, because it's the kind of thing I studied about every year in history class growing up, and I never thought about the possibility of one day seeing some of those places in person, and here I am, doing exactly that! When we arrived back in Salerno, Natalie and I had the bright idea of "Hey, rather than waiting 2.5 hours for the bus that will take us back to our hotel, why don't we walk?" Two hours and 15 kilometers later, we realized how foolish of an idea this had been, but we made it. Never in my life have I ever been honked at so many times in my life as we walked back. In fact, the entire time we were on the coast, it was like that. And it wasn't just a car full of young guys or creepy old men, it was everyone. Of course, guys honked, but there were families and couples that would honk and yell "Ciao bella!" at us. I have yet to figure this out.
All in all, Italy was amazing, I ate like 8 gelato cones, as well as oh so much pasta and pizza and wine and delicious pastries. Every window we passed seemed to be filled with yet another tempting treat (and we often gave in to them). It was an exhausting trip too, though! So, having written this novel, I will say "Ciao" and hope that all of you are doing well :-)
Friday, April 2, 2010
I blinked, and March was over!
I honestly cannot believe that the month of March is already over. February really seemed to take forever, but March seemed to last about a week! I did so much this past month: I traveled to Paris, Austria, and Poland, got long hours in at my internship, and, of course, kept up with school. I only have one midterm left, but never has a semester ever been so relaxed. I realize that I am used to working in hyper-drive when it comes to school, so that may make things seem easier than they are (I'm told that AAU is actually a very rigorous school!), but STILL! Here, there is a lot less busy work, and the focus is on the midterm, the final, and other larger projects. It's really nice, because this way, I know from the beginning of the semester what days certain things are due, and I can plan around that. I am watching my grades because I know that grad schools (especially if I apply to grad schools overseas) will be looking at how I did while I was studying abroad, but it's still nice to know that only my course credits, and not my GPA also, are transferring back to UWM.
I have been keeping a close eye on the countdown of days until I leave Prague, with a sense of both dread and anticipation. In case you were wondering, it's 49 days ;-) I am so excited to see everyone back home, and especially since I just heard that a very close friend of mine is pregnant, I can't wait to hurry back to the States and see her!! I have another very close friend getting married, and my brother and sister-in-law are adopting two children this spring...so there are a lot of important things that I am looking forward to being a part of! Of course, on the other hand, thinking that my adventure is now on to its second half floors me. Time really does fly when you're having fun! I keep thinking about where in the world I want to travel next after my European adventure is all over, and I keep thinking that I would love to see India, or Japan, or Africa or the Middle East...Australia....there's a lot I want to see! I'm looking forward to wherever my next adventure takes me. Of course, there will still be parts of Europe that I won't get to on this trip, so I'll want to see those too someday!
UWM just posted their class schedule for next fall, and so I was going through the courses and picking what I needed to take. I'm at the point now where I really don't have any leeway in deciding WHAT I want to take, it's more so that I just have to make sure that I get all of my required courses to fit into my schedule. I can't believe that this will be my final year of college! On the one hand, I don't want it to be over; I don't want to move on to the next stage because I like this stage. On the other hand though, I want to go to grad school, so it really won't be over when I graduate from undergrad. One thing that I won't really miss about college is the "poor college student" feeling, but it's also kind of fun to be doing things on a budget. I know that sounds funny, but it's true. If college wasn't so darn expensive, I would probably extend things by a semester or two, but I know that I can finish in 4 years, and so I will. I also think that while this semester has been nice, once I'm back home, I'll remember all of the stress of balancing school and work! Besides, I like to get things accomplished in a timely way, in case you didn't already know that ;-)
I am leaving tomorrow for my 10-day trip to Italy with 3 other girls, and I am so excited! We're traveling to Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Rome, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast while we're there (and yes, we're going to manage to fit all of that in : D ). I am very, very excited for Rome, but I'm also really looking forward to the Amalfi Coast. If you've never heard of the latter, you need to google it =) The pictures will blow you away! As exciting as sight-seeing is, it can get tiring to trek through a city and snap pictures of buildings, which is why I loved my ski trip so much, and also why I'm excited for the last couple days in Italy. It's fun to actually go out and do something active while you're traveling, rather than just looking at things. I don't know if I'll have much internet access while I'm in Italy, so my next post might not be until I get back, but we'll see! I'll have lots to say then, and a million pictures, I'm sure.
I have been keeping a close eye on the countdown of days until I leave Prague, with a sense of both dread and anticipation. In case you were wondering, it's 49 days ;-) I am so excited to see everyone back home, and especially since I just heard that a very close friend of mine is pregnant, I can't wait to hurry back to the States and see her!! I have another very close friend getting married, and my brother and sister-in-law are adopting two children this spring...so there are a lot of important things that I am looking forward to being a part of! Of course, on the other hand, thinking that my adventure is now on to its second half floors me. Time really does fly when you're having fun! I keep thinking about where in the world I want to travel next after my European adventure is all over, and I keep thinking that I would love to see India, or Japan, or Africa or the Middle East...Australia....there's a lot I want to see! I'm looking forward to wherever my next adventure takes me. Of course, there will still be parts of Europe that I won't get to on this trip, so I'll want to see those too someday!
UWM just posted their class schedule for next fall, and so I was going through the courses and picking what I needed to take. I'm at the point now where I really don't have any leeway in deciding WHAT I want to take, it's more so that I just have to make sure that I get all of my required courses to fit into my schedule. I can't believe that this will be my final year of college! On the one hand, I don't want it to be over; I don't want to move on to the next stage because I like this stage. On the other hand though, I want to go to grad school, so it really won't be over when I graduate from undergrad. One thing that I won't really miss about college is the "poor college student" feeling, but it's also kind of fun to be doing things on a budget. I know that sounds funny, but it's true. If college wasn't so darn expensive, I would probably extend things by a semester or two, but I know that I can finish in 4 years, and so I will. I also think that while this semester has been nice, once I'm back home, I'll remember all of the stress of balancing school and work! Besides, I like to get things accomplished in a timely way, in case you didn't already know that ;-)
I am leaving tomorrow for my 10-day trip to Italy with 3 other girls, and I am so excited! We're traveling to Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Rome, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast while we're there (and yes, we're going to manage to fit all of that in : D ). I am very, very excited for Rome, but I'm also really looking forward to the Amalfi Coast. If you've never heard of the latter, you need to google it =) The pictures will blow you away! As exciting as sight-seeing is, it can get tiring to trek through a city and snap pictures of buildings, which is why I loved my ski trip so much, and also why I'm excited for the last couple days in Italy. It's fun to actually go out and do something active while you're traveling, rather than just looking at things. I don't know if I'll have much internet access while I'm in Italy, so my next post might not be until I get back, but we'll see! I'll have lots to say then, and a million pictures, I'm sure.
Monday, March 29, 2010
::Polska::
This past weekend was another adventure outside of Prague, this time to Poland! I chose this weekend to go because several of my friends were going to be going to Krakow for the weekend with their study abroad program, and I had planned to meet up with them once they got there so that we could hang out. Well, that didn't exactly happen, since my phone decided that it could not make phone calls or send text messages as soon as I got into Poland. I actually saw some of my friends at Auschwitz (kind of a weird place to have a "Hey, look, it's so-and-so, fancy seeing you here!" moment, but I digress), and I knew that there was a chance I'd catch them while I was there since their group would be there on Saturday like I was, but I only spent about 15 minutes with them. However, it actually turned out just fine, because I met a lot of new people on this trip, something I might not have done had I spent all my time with people I knew. And besides, I love meeting new people. I really do. And I've had to do a lot of that since coming here to Prague, because I came here knowing NOBODY, not a single person here. It's good to go places alone sometimes though, because then you have no choice but to branch out. Plus, it's also good to be alone sometimes. I think that too many people (myself included) are sometimes afraid to really spend time with themselves and travel alone. It was a great experience for me, and I continue to realize more and more that I can be comfortable in my own skin. It's a freeing feeling.
Anyways, I got to Krakow on Friday afternoon with only a couple problems along the way ;-) I had to take 3 different trains to get to Krakow, and the second train I took was running about 10 minutes behind. Normally, no problem, but the third train was supposed to leave only 5 minutes after I got to the station, so I really couldn't afford to be running even 10 minutes late. When I got to the station to catch the third train, the lady at the ticket office managed (with my lack of Polish and her lack of English) to explain that I missed the train. Feeling depressed, I decided to check the boards again, and amazingly enough, I saw my train posted up there as also having been late, so it was just now pulling into the station! Yet another miracle that I've had this semester. Then, when I got on the train, the conductor (who also spoke about 3 words of English) started to freak out when he saw my ticket, and I realized that he was trying to say I wasn't supposed to be on this train and had to get off at the next station. I got so worried, and then he even walked away with my ticket in his hand. Five minutes later, a different conductor came back with my ticket in hand, and handed me my ticket back. I asked if everything was alright, and he just looked at me with a very bored expression and said, "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" And that was that!
I did my own little walking tour of Krakow on Friday afternoon and evening, and as I was heading back to my hostel at around 19:00, I saw a sign posted outside of a gorgeous cathedral saying that there would be a chamber orchestra playing there that evening at 20:00. So I walked up to the man selling tickets outside the door, and after hearing that it was 50 zloty ($20), I figured that that was a little much. I started to walk away, but then turned around and asked if there was a student discount. Sure enough, I got in for $12. The concert was beautiful, and I met two very nice ladies who were also traveling alone while I was there, one from London, the other from New Zealand. While I was sitting there in this gorgeous cathedral with vaulted ceilings and elegant artwork and architecture, listening to some of the most beautiful songs that humanity has created, I couldn't help but think of what a stark contrast that evening would be to my day the next day when I would go to visit Auschwitz. I felt as though that evening, I was experiencing the best of humanity, the most beautiful offerings that mankind has, while the next day, I would be seeing the absolute worst side of humanity, seeing what horrors a person or group of people can be capable of. It gave me the chills.
I was up early on Saturday to get to Auschwitz, and though people told me that it was a bad idea to go by myself, I knew I didn't really have a choice. All of my new friends at the hostel had either already gone or had absolutely no desire to go there. So, I got on the bus and headed there alone. However, I decided to strike up a conversation with the girl sitting next to me on the bus and learned that she was also traveling alone to Auschwitz, and so we agreed to spend our time there together. And boy, am I glad that I had her with me. I realized when she left (she had to catch an earlier bus, so I spent the last 45 minutes or so alone out of the 3.5 hours I was there and didn't find my friends until almost the very end of that) how horrible I felt going through the camp alone. I actually started to go numb to what I was seeing and reading by the end, and the last building I went through, the one where the prisoners had their hair shaved off and were given their prison clothes, was basically in a daze. For those who haven't been there, there are actually 2 camps to see: Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The first one is much smaller and is a museum. About half of the old barracks are filled with exhibits, and there is a lot to read and see. At Birkenau, about 3 km from the first camp, it is nothing but wide open spaces of old barracks and crematoriums. And, of course, the crushingly infamous set of railroad tracks that led straight into the camp...
Birkenau is massive, and when you walk along the railroad tracks with the wind whipping past you and the long rows of barbed-wire fences on either side, you can't stop yourself from imagining what it must have been like. If you were led to the right off of the train, you were taken to the barracks to begin a life of slave labor. If you were taken to the left off of the train, you were immediately killed. The women and children (except for the ones saved for cruel medical experiments) were almost always taken to the left immediately, and perhaps the saddest thing I saw all day was at the museum, where they had a gigantic pile of children's shoes that the Nazis had saved from their victims and were planning on selling. I felt as though I was going to lose it right there, but again, this was where it helped so much to have a friend, and she was very sweet, patting me on the back, asking if I was okay. The other moment where I felt as though I would break down and cry was when I was walking through one of the barracks where they had hung the pictures that the Nazis took of the prisoners when they first arrived at the camp. The pictures had been framed, and had the person's birth date, arrival date at the camp, and date of death. I couldn't help but glance at the birth dates on some of the pictures, and I found so many that were from 1920 or 1921, making those prisoners about 20 or 21 years old when they arrived in 1941 (that was the only year where they took pictures. After that, the volume of prisoners got so high that they stopped taking their photographs). All of a sudden, I stopped at a picture of a young man who was 21 when he arrived at Auschwitz, and who only lived about 6 months there before passing away. What arrested my attention was his eyes: he was looking straight at the camera with the calmest face I have ever seen, and all that I could think was that he was the same age as I am now. My heart broke to think of the life that had been stolen from him, yet he looked so calm and brave. I will never, ever forget that face and that moment in time where I felt as though he and I were connected. I am crying as I write these last few sentences, because I still can't believe how gut-wrenching of a feeling that was. I had always wanted to go to Auschwitz very badly, and it was an experience that I am very glad I had and one that I think everyone should have at least once in their lifetime, but it was so heart-breaking. It's actually a state requirement that every Polish student now go to Auschwitz with their high school graduating class, which I think is very important.
I didn't really have the heart to do any other sight-seeing on Saturday night after going to Auschwitz, so I went out with some girls from my hostel to have an authentic Polish dinner, which tasted absolutely amazing. Cabbage and mushroom pierogies with potato cakes = delicious! I also sampled some of the other girls' food, and although I don't remember the Polish names for those foods, they were amazing. Krakow is a really cool city, actually kind of like a smaller version of Prague. Almost the entire city has now been reconstructed from the WWII damage, and I only saw a couple buildings that were under serious renovation. On Saturday night, our group walked down along the river to see the famous Krakow dragon breathe fire. Yes, breathe fire ;-) I had actually seen the dragon from where I was up on the Castle Hill, and I had honestly thought that I was going crazy when I thought I saw fire coming out of the dragon's mouth, but one of my hostel roommates assured me later that day that it does indeed breathe fire. So, we headed down there to be able to see it at night, and it was pretty awesome! We girls climbed up on the sculpture, and, forgetting about the fire-breathing aspect, freaked out when he breathed fire as we climbed up there. Of course, we were far from the dragon's mouth and perfectly safe, but as a reflex, we all panicked when we saw the fire coming ;-)
Before leaving on Sunday afternoon, I headed out to the Wieliczka Salt Mines, which were absolutely amazing to see. The lowest our tour group got (all 3 of us ;-) that's what happens when you take the early Sunday morning tour, nobody is there!) was 200 meters below the earth. The mine became inactive back in 1996 and now is just for tours, but we walked through massive underground chapels that the miners had carved, including the world's largest underground cathedral. It was gigantic and beautiful, and the entire room had been carved out of the salt. They actually have masses down there every week, too!
So, I think that that's enough for now! Your eyes are probably crossing from reading all of this, dear readers, so I will let you go. Life is busy here in Prague this week, but only 5 days till I leave for Italy for spring break! Wooo!!!!
Anyways, I got to Krakow on Friday afternoon with only a couple problems along the way ;-) I had to take 3 different trains to get to Krakow, and the second train I took was running about 10 minutes behind. Normally, no problem, but the third train was supposed to leave only 5 minutes after I got to the station, so I really couldn't afford to be running even 10 minutes late. When I got to the station to catch the third train, the lady at the ticket office managed (with my lack of Polish and her lack of English) to explain that I missed the train. Feeling depressed, I decided to check the boards again, and amazingly enough, I saw my train posted up there as also having been late, so it was just now pulling into the station! Yet another miracle that I've had this semester. Then, when I got on the train, the conductor (who also spoke about 3 words of English) started to freak out when he saw my ticket, and I realized that he was trying to say I wasn't supposed to be on this train and had to get off at the next station. I got so worried, and then he even walked away with my ticket in his hand. Five minutes later, a different conductor came back with my ticket in hand, and handed me my ticket back. I asked if everything was alright, and he just looked at me with a very bored expression and said, "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" And that was that!
I did my own little walking tour of Krakow on Friday afternoon and evening, and as I was heading back to my hostel at around 19:00, I saw a sign posted outside of a gorgeous cathedral saying that there would be a chamber orchestra playing there that evening at 20:00. So I walked up to the man selling tickets outside the door, and after hearing that it was 50 zloty ($20), I figured that that was a little much. I started to walk away, but then turned around and asked if there was a student discount. Sure enough, I got in for $12. The concert was beautiful, and I met two very nice ladies who were also traveling alone while I was there, one from London, the other from New Zealand. While I was sitting there in this gorgeous cathedral with vaulted ceilings and elegant artwork and architecture, listening to some of the most beautiful songs that humanity has created, I couldn't help but think of what a stark contrast that evening would be to my day the next day when I would go to visit Auschwitz. I felt as though that evening, I was experiencing the best of humanity, the most beautiful offerings that mankind has, while the next day, I would be seeing the absolute worst side of humanity, seeing what horrors a person or group of people can be capable of. It gave me the chills.
I was up early on Saturday to get to Auschwitz, and though people told me that it was a bad idea to go by myself, I knew I didn't really have a choice. All of my new friends at the hostel had either already gone or had absolutely no desire to go there. So, I got on the bus and headed there alone. However, I decided to strike up a conversation with the girl sitting next to me on the bus and learned that she was also traveling alone to Auschwitz, and so we agreed to spend our time there together. And boy, am I glad that I had her with me. I realized when she left (she had to catch an earlier bus, so I spent the last 45 minutes or so alone out of the 3.5 hours I was there and didn't find my friends until almost the very end of that) how horrible I felt going through the camp alone. I actually started to go numb to what I was seeing and reading by the end, and the last building I went through, the one where the prisoners had their hair shaved off and were given their prison clothes, was basically in a daze. For those who haven't been there, there are actually 2 camps to see: Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The first one is much smaller and is a museum. About half of the old barracks are filled with exhibits, and there is a lot to read and see. At Birkenau, about 3 km from the first camp, it is nothing but wide open spaces of old barracks and crematoriums. And, of course, the crushingly infamous set of railroad tracks that led straight into the camp...
Birkenau is massive, and when you walk along the railroad tracks with the wind whipping past you and the long rows of barbed-wire fences on either side, you can't stop yourself from imagining what it must have been like. If you were led to the right off of the train, you were taken to the barracks to begin a life of slave labor. If you were taken to the left off of the train, you were immediately killed. The women and children (except for the ones saved for cruel medical experiments) were almost always taken to the left immediately, and perhaps the saddest thing I saw all day was at the museum, where they had a gigantic pile of children's shoes that the Nazis had saved from their victims and were planning on selling. I felt as though I was going to lose it right there, but again, this was where it helped so much to have a friend, and she was very sweet, patting me on the back, asking if I was okay. The other moment where I felt as though I would break down and cry was when I was walking through one of the barracks where they had hung the pictures that the Nazis took of the prisoners when they first arrived at the camp. The pictures had been framed, and had the person's birth date, arrival date at the camp, and date of death. I couldn't help but glance at the birth dates on some of the pictures, and I found so many that were from 1920 or 1921, making those prisoners about 20 or 21 years old when they arrived in 1941 (that was the only year where they took pictures. After that, the volume of prisoners got so high that they stopped taking their photographs). All of a sudden, I stopped at a picture of a young man who was 21 when he arrived at Auschwitz, and who only lived about 6 months there before passing away. What arrested my attention was his eyes: he was looking straight at the camera with the calmest face I have ever seen, and all that I could think was that he was the same age as I am now. My heart broke to think of the life that had been stolen from him, yet he looked so calm and brave. I will never, ever forget that face and that moment in time where I felt as though he and I were connected. I am crying as I write these last few sentences, because I still can't believe how gut-wrenching of a feeling that was. I had always wanted to go to Auschwitz very badly, and it was an experience that I am very glad I had and one that I think everyone should have at least once in their lifetime, but it was so heart-breaking. It's actually a state requirement that every Polish student now go to Auschwitz with their high school graduating class, which I think is very important.
I didn't really have the heart to do any other sight-seeing on Saturday night after going to Auschwitz, so I went out with some girls from my hostel to have an authentic Polish dinner, which tasted absolutely amazing. Cabbage and mushroom pierogies with potato cakes = delicious! I also sampled some of the other girls' food, and although I don't remember the Polish names for those foods, they were amazing. Krakow is a really cool city, actually kind of like a smaller version of Prague. Almost the entire city has now been reconstructed from the WWII damage, and I only saw a couple buildings that were under serious renovation. On Saturday night, our group walked down along the river to see the famous Krakow dragon breathe fire. Yes, breathe fire ;-) I had actually seen the dragon from where I was up on the Castle Hill, and I had honestly thought that I was going crazy when I thought I saw fire coming out of the dragon's mouth, but one of my hostel roommates assured me later that day that it does indeed breathe fire. So, we headed down there to be able to see it at night, and it was pretty awesome! We girls climbed up on the sculpture, and, forgetting about the fire-breathing aspect, freaked out when he breathed fire as we climbed up there. Of course, we were far from the dragon's mouth and perfectly safe, but as a reflex, we all panicked when we saw the fire coming ;-)
Before leaving on Sunday afternoon, I headed out to the Wieliczka Salt Mines, which were absolutely amazing to see. The lowest our tour group got (all 3 of us ;-) that's what happens when you take the early Sunday morning tour, nobody is there!) was 200 meters below the earth. The mine became inactive back in 1996 and now is just for tours, but we walked through massive underground chapels that the miners had carved, including the world's largest underground cathedral. It was gigantic and beautiful, and the entire room had been carved out of the salt. They actually have masses down there every week, too!
So, I think that that's enough for now! Your eyes are probably crossing from reading all of this, dear readers, so I will let you go. Life is busy here in Prague this week, but only 5 days till I leave for Italy for spring break! Wooo!!!!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Spring, Care Packages, and Health Care
I think it's safe to say that spring has officially arrived in Prague. Now, it might get cold here and there in the upcoming weeks, but I think that in general, we're headed towards sunshine, warmth, birds, and short sleeves. I love it. The windows were open all day long at the office where I intern, and every once in a while, I would just stop, close my eyes, and let myself soak up the sun that was pouring all over my desk. Just as I thought it would, Prague looks gorgeous in the springtime. The fresh sunshine glints off of the red roofs, and the river no longer looks dull and gray, but rather shimmering and clear.
I spent the last weekend catching up on and also working ahead on my homework, so that I can continue traveling on the weekends worry-free. It was nice to sleep in, and since everyone I know seems to be getting sick (including my roommate), I was worried that if I didn't take care of myself, I'd also get sick. Plus, who doesn't like getting extra sleep sometimes? ;-) It's strange, because while I only have about 8 weeks left in Prague, I get this feeling sometimes that this, what I'm doing now, is my life. That this is how things will continue indefinitely, with me living here in Prague and traveling around and meeting new people and going to school and interning. It's kind of unsettling to realize that everything I've now come to know will be gone before I even know it! The memories will definitely never be forgotten, as this trip has been life-changing. However, I think that the realization that my time here is short fends off most homesickness and loneliness. That doesn't mean I'm immune to all homesickness though, trust me. It just makes it easier to deal with it if it does hit. Having a boyfriend back home makes a big difference, I think, because no matter how amazing things are here, I am always aware that my best friend and other half isn't there to share in these experiences. On the other hand, the feelings of pride and independence that I get when I realize that I moved to another country and have not only survived, but am prospering and happy, are exciting. But for the record, this time abroad has reminded me more than anything else has before that Brian is my soul-mate. We are learning how to communicate so much better, and we have dealt with the issues of being apart, and while we're not back together yet, I am 100% confident that we're going to get through the second half of my study abroad just fine. When you really want to be with someone, you'll do what it takes to make things work :-)
Just yesterday, I got a care package from my mom and sisters, and it was packed with Easter candy and notes from my family. When I opened the box, I felt as though a whiff of home came right into my apartment. It was exciting to get a package, and promptly ate all of the candy that was in the box within 24 hours (okay, there wasn't THAT much candy in there, don't get any ideas about me being a totally greedy eater!). Brian just mailed out a package yesterday, and two of my friends also sent one this week, so I am eagerly looking forward to receiving those. To have something that you can physically hold on to and touch is a big deal when you're away from home! Don't get me wrong though, I have loved all of the sweet and wonderful messages that I've gotten online =) I honestly feel so incredibly blessed, because I am so happy here, BUT I also have a wonderful life to return to back home with amazing family, friends, and boyfriend. Not everyone can say that, and I realize that, so I am very thankful!
It's interesting to hear news about the U.S. while I am away, and of course, the biggest news right now is the passing of the health care bill. Most Czech people that hear the news are just surprised that it took the U.S. so long to pass such a bill, since even they have universal health care like most developed nations. I am very torn on the subject of this bill, to be honest. I see the fear of "the spread of socialism" as over-the-top in many respects, because to be honest folks, the government has long had control of many aspects of society, and the recent changes in our government doesn't mean that we are suddenly slipping towards the edge of socialist oblivion. Many people also ignorantly associate socialism with Communism, which, simply put, represents a lack of understanding of what socialism and Communism really are. However, I also disagree with many aspects of the bill. What really embarrasses me, though, is the way people are behaving about this. Why is it acceptable for members of either side of this argument to personally attack people for what they believe in? It doesn't make me less of a Christian because I don't wholeheartedly back this bill; yes, Jesus said to care for the poor and suffering, but did Jesus say that the only way to care for such people is by offering them universal health care? I thought not. And why is someone not a Christian if they support this bill? Christianity is now based on your political beliefs, and your political beliefs determine your Christianity? How sad. It's true that we are known by who we associate with, but in today's political world especially, there is a stark difference between the political ideologies of a party and the people that run that party. My point is this: realize what your words are doing. The U.S. is strong because we are allowed to hold different beliefs and ideologies, and in order for that system to continue, we need to respect others. That doesn't mean that we have to stop trying to talk to others about what we believe in and teach others about what we feel is right and wrong, but remember that everything rests in how you spread your message.
I spent the last weekend catching up on and also working ahead on my homework, so that I can continue traveling on the weekends worry-free. It was nice to sleep in, and since everyone I know seems to be getting sick (including my roommate), I was worried that if I didn't take care of myself, I'd also get sick. Plus, who doesn't like getting extra sleep sometimes? ;-) It's strange, because while I only have about 8 weeks left in Prague, I get this feeling sometimes that this, what I'm doing now, is my life. That this is how things will continue indefinitely, with me living here in Prague and traveling around and meeting new people and going to school and interning. It's kind of unsettling to realize that everything I've now come to know will be gone before I even know it! The memories will definitely never be forgotten, as this trip has been life-changing. However, I think that the realization that my time here is short fends off most homesickness and loneliness. That doesn't mean I'm immune to all homesickness though, trust me. It just makes it easier to deal with it if it does hit. Having a boyfriend back home makes a big difference, I think, because no matter how amazing things are here, I am always aware that my best friend and other half isn't there to share in these experiences. On the other hand, the feelings of pride and independence that I get when I realize that I moved to another country and have not only survived, but am prospering and happy, are exciting. But for the record, this time abroad has reminded me more than anything else has before that Brian is my soul-mate. We are learning how to communicate so much better, and we have dealt with the issues of being apart, and while we're not back together yet, I am 100% confident that we're going to get through the second half of my study abroad just fine. When you really want to be with someone, you'll do what it takes to make things work :-)
Just yesterday, I got a care package from my mom and sisters, and it was packed with Easter candy and notes from my family. When I opened the box, I felt as though a whiff of home came right into my apartment. It was exciting to get a package, and promptly ate all of the candy that was in the box within 24 hours (okay, there wasn't THAT much candy in there, don't get any ideas about me being a totally greedy eater!). Brian just mailed out a package yesterday, and two of my friends also sent one this week, so I am eagerly looking forward to receiving those. To have something that you can physically hold on to and touch is a big deal when you're away from home! Don't get me wrong though, I have loved all of the sweet and wonderful messages that I've gotten online =) I honestly feel so incredibly blessed, because I am so happy here, BUT I also have a wonderful life to return to back home with amazing family, friends, and boyfriend. Not everyone can say that, and I realize that, so I am very thankful!
It's interesting to hear news about the U.S. while I am away, and of course, the biggest news right now is the passing of the health care bill. Most Czech people that hear the news are just surprised that it took the U.S. so long to pass such a bill, since even they have universal health care like most developed nations. I am very torn on the subject of this bill, to be honest. I see the fear of "the spread of socialism" as over-the-top in many respects, because to be honest folks, the government has long had control of many aspects of society, and the recent changes in our government doesn't mean that we are suddenly slipping towards the edge of socialist oblivion. Many people also ignorantly associate socialism with Communism, which, simply put, represents a lack of understanding of what socialism and Communism really are. However, I also disagree with many aspects of the bill. What really embarrasses me, though, is the way people are behaving about this. Why is it acceptable for members of either side of this argument to personally attack people for what they believe in? It doesn't make me less of a Christian because I don't wholeheartedly back this bill; yes, Jesus said to care for the poor and suffering, but did Jesus say that the only way to care for such people is by offering them universal health care? I thought not. And why is someone not a Christian if they support this bill? Christianity is now based on your political beliefs, and your political beliefs determine your Christianity? How sad. It's true that we are known by who we associate with, but in today's political world especially, there is a stark difference between the political ideologies of a party and the people that run that party. My point is this: realize what your words are doing. The U.S. is strong because we are allowed to hold different beliefs and ideologies, and in order for that system to continue, we need to respect others. That doesn't mean that we have to stop trying to talk to others about what we believe in and teach others about what we feel is right and wrong, but remember that everything rests in how you spread your message.
Friday, March 19, 2010
You come to our country, you learn our language?!?
Ok folks, so while most of you have probably long since forgotten my promised post on a certain controversial topic, I had not! That's one thing about me, for better or for worse: I will not forget something that I promised to do. So if I promised to pay you back the money I owed you, I will! If I promised that I would punch you in the face the next time I saw you, well, I will also do that (I don't make many of the latter promises though :-) ). I am in Prague for the weekend catching up on homework, errands, and internship work, so I figured this would be a good time to bring this up before I have to post about another wild European adventure ;-)
So I have been seeing these groups pop up all over Facebook that have names generally akin to "You come to OUR country, you learn OUR language!!", and I can honestly say that it completely disgusts me that people actually subscribe to that sort of thinking. Coming to a new country, whether it's for a semester or a lifetime, is always a difficult thing to do. There are a million and one new things to adjust to, and the language barrier is one of the largest hurdles in my opinion. If you can't understand the language, you're blocked from doing so many things. For me, I have learned to tune out Czech when I'm out and about, because at first, it stood out to me so much and always distracted me. I couldn't help but feel painfully noticeable (even if I wasn't speaking!). It's as if I felt that everyone knew I didn't speak Czech just by glancing at me. I still stick out, I know, but I've learned to accept it =) I'm a foreigner and that's how it is.
And while just a simple annoyance with those that are different from you--while still wrong, if you ask me--might be the motive behind a group as the one I've mentioned, I feel that it goes deeper than that for many people. And this isn't just for Americans who are angry with those who don't learn English, although I think that we are typically guiltier than most. Czech people, for example, can be extremely rude and downright unkind if they realize you aren't able to speak their language. They expect everyone to be able to speak Czech and can be judgmental if you do not. Please, don't get me wrong. Not everyone is like that. But it's definitely true of a large part of the population here.
However, I think it's interesting that of all places, the U.S. would become a place that looks down upon those who can't/won't speak English. Your native language is one of your closest ties to your ethnicity, and for many immigrants to the U.S., the first, second, and sometimes even third generation would not fully immerse themselves into English upon moving here. Rather, especially in the large cities in the U.S., pockets of cultures existed in their own neighborhoods, and while some might cry out in fear that the immigrants to our country are no longer blending well, what would you call those huge Irish-,Italian-, Polish-, African-American neighborhoods of the 19th and 20th centuries?
There seems to be this whole debate going on nowadays about whether or not the U.S. is a melting pot or, as some say, a salad of sorts, where everything is all in the same bowl but not blended together. Ultimately, I find it silly, because I feel that a fear of immigrants is a denial of who we all are. I do find the economic and political situation in Mexico to be troubling, and one that should be remedied. Not so that we don't have immigrants here, but so that people do not feel that their only option for survival is to slip across the border. The dislike of those who don't speak your language can often mean a whole lot more than just frustration in dealing with someone who can't communicate with you; it can signal something deeper. And while I think that's it's vital to learn the language of the country that you're living in, I can also sympathize with those who are slow to learn English. When you are thrust into something completely new, it is comforting to converse in your own language, even if it's just amongst your family and friends. It sounds harsh and very close-minded to expect everyone to speak your own language. As Americans, we are lucky that when many people come to our country, even as tourists, they are able to converse in English. When we go to their country though, are we able to converse with them? Remember that the next time you get angry at someone for not speaking your language. English may be spoken by a lot of people, and so it may get easy to expect it out of everyone, but that's naive and unfair. Our country was not built on the ideology that we must all think the same way and act the same way.
So I have been seeing these groups pop up all over Facebook that have names generally akin to "You come to OUR country, you learn OUR language!!", and I can honestly say that it completely disgusts me that people actually subscribe to that sort of thinking. Coming to a new country, whether it's for a semester or a lifetime, is always a difficult thing to do. There are a million and one new things to adjust to, and the language barrier is one of the largest hurdles in my opinion. If you can't understand the language, you're blocked from doing so many things. For me, I have learned to tune out Czech when I'm out and about, because at first, it stood out to me so much and always distracted me. I couldn't help but feel painfully noticeable (even if I wasn't speaking!). It's as if I felt that everyone knew I didn't speak Czech just by glancing at me. I still stick out, I know, but I've learned to accept it =) I'm a foreigner and that's how it is.
And while just a simple annoyance with those that are different from you--while still wrong, if you ask me--might be the motive behind a group as the one I've mentioned, I feel that it goes deeper than that for many people. And this isn't just for Americans who are angry with those who don't learn English, although I think that we are typically guiltier than most. Czech people, for example, can be extremely rude and downright unkind if they realize you aren't able to speak their language. They expect everyone to be able to speak Czech and can be judgmental if you do not. Please, don't get me wrong. Not everyone is like that. But it's definitely true of a large part of the population here.
However, I think it's interesting that of all places, the U.S. would become a place that looks down upon those who can't/won't speak English. Your native language is one of your closest ties to your ethnicity, and for many immigrants to the U.S., the first, second, and sometimes even third generation would not fully immerse themselves into English upon moving here. Rather, especially in the large cities in the U.S., pockets of cultures existed in their own neighborhoods, and while some might cry out in fear that the immigrants to our country are no longer blending well, what would you call those huge Irish-,Italian-, Polish-, African-American neighborhoods of the 19th and 20th centuries?
There seems to be this whole debate going on nowadays about whether or not the U.S. is a melting pot or, as some say, a salad of sorts, where everything is all in the same bowl but not blended together. Ultimately, I find it silly, because I feel that a fear of immigrants is a denial of who we all are. I do find the economic and political situation in Mexico to be troubling, and one that should be remedied. Not so that we don't have immigrants here, but so that people do not feel that their only option for survival is to slip across the border. The dislike of those who don't speak your language can often mean a whole lot more than just frustration in dealing with someone who can't communicate with you; it can signal something deeper. And while I think that's it's vital to learn the language of the country that you're living in, I can also sympathize with those who are slow to learn English. When you are thrust into something completely new, it is comforting to converse in your own language, even if it's just amongst your family and friends. It sounds harsh and very close-minded to expect everyone to speak your own language. As Americans, we are lucky that when many people come to our country, even as tourists, they are able to converse in English. When we go to their country though, are we able to converse with them? Remember that the next time you get angry at someone for not speaking your language. English may be spoken by a lot of people, and so it may get easy to expect it out of everyone, but that's naive and unfair. Our country was not built on the ideology that we must all think the same way and act the same way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
