Clearly, I made an unwise and poorly researched decision when I chose to study in Prague. I could have picked anywhere in the world, and I picked a city with a climate like Wisconsin's?? In all honesty, I am getting really tired of the gray skies and damp weather, because it's really starting to get to me. Actually, it's been getting to me all week. At least I feel better knowing that I am not alone in feeling like this, because when I talk to my friends here, we all feel kind of "blah" and would do anything for some sunshine around here. So, to make ourselves feel better, we look at pictures of sunny, beautiful places and dream of going there.
Not only that, but I'm also really starting to get the urge to get out Prague. I went to Kutna Hora last weekend, and it was nice, but it wasn't quite enough. I know that it sounds silly to be tired of a city after three weeks, but it's just the truth. See, it's not like I'm moving here permanently, but I'm also not here for a weekend trip, so there's this awkward in-between feeling, that leaves me wondering where exactly I fit. Prague is definitely my home base, but at the same time, my urge to travel is growing. And I definitely plan on acting on that urge. In the next 8 weekends, I plan on being out of Prague for 6 of them, which makes me very excited! But I just feel surprised that I'm already so eager to travel more. It doesn't help that everyone I know here is traveling constantly; I've officially jumped on the bandwagon and started planning as many weekend trips as possible. I'm pretty excited =) I will also be broke when I get home, but do I sound too unhappy about that right now? I'm not. I can always make more money, but can I always do this?
I'm still loving my internship here, and if I didn't have such a great internship to distract me from my chaotic school, I don't know what I'd do. What I'm trying to say is this: my school is quite possibly the most disorganized university I have ever heard of. I still don't have a student ID card (What? You sent us a picture for your ID? Oh....well, can you get another one?), no password for the wi-fi (I'm sorry, you have to be a registered student here to get access to the w-fi. Oh, you ARE a student here? That's funny, you're not in our system...), and just general chaos. And yes, I was asked if I'm actually a student here. They "lost" my name for a couple hours there, I'm told. No worries, I was "found" again. This coming from "the oldest English-speaking private university in Prague." I'm sorry, but seeing as how Charles University here in Prague was founded in the 1300s, making claims that you're the "oldest" university of anything when you were founded in 1993 seems a bit silly to me. Maybe in the States that would fly, but here in Europe, if you're less than 300 years old, you're not old.
Well, it feels good to get that rant out of the way. Spending one semester at this school studying abroad will be fine, but I'm just glad that that is all I will have to deal with. It's not that my classes are not interesting, because they really are. But I am an organized person, and the chaos makes me frustrated! I think even those who aren't organized would be driven mad by this.
One quick side note: I have had my first real bits of homesickness this week. I think that being sick earlier this week brought it on, because, let's face it, who wants to be alone when they're sick? I wanted someone to take care of me! Then after I got better, I was still feeling that way, just generally missing my friends and family (and Brian!) back home. I think it's also wrapped up in my feeling of wanting to get out of Prague, because it's almost as if I feel like I've had my experience in Prague, so isn't it time to go home? I think it's cool though, to have the experience of moving somewhere far away, rather than just taking a vacation for a couple weeks. It's an entirely different perspective. The homesickness isn't very serious, largely because I know 3 more months here really isn't that long!
Anyways, I think that I will let all of you off easy for now and wrap this post up =) As a warning, I have a somewhat controversial topic in mind for my next post; it's a topic I've seen floating around on Facebook, and I wanted to put my opinion on it. So tune in soon for that (and no, of course I won't tell you what it is, you have to come back later to find out!).
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Hang in there Beth. I remember having a few of those days when I lived in New Orleans, LA. but made it 3 years and it turned out to be a great time and experience. You also will be able to appreciate the organization when you get back home.....:) We miss you. Feel a hug. Love you. mary z
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