It always
impresses me with how much can happen in one day. Yesterday was Friday, and our
last day of orientation week. After getting off on an uneven footing and
showing up late by a few minutes each morning, I made a conscious effort to
remedy my course before developing a habit. That is why I went home following
the dinner at Kri Kri and not out to a club where many of the kids on the
program were. Dinner ended at 11:30 and I was exhausted from the night before,
so I tried to read a little of my handbook. I didn’t get very far but I skimmed
over the schedule and was able to set my alarm before slipping into a deep
sleep.
I woke up just
past 8 and was out the door by a quarter to nine to be there for the beginning
of orientation at a quarter past. Mira had told me that it would take 30
minutes to get to campus all told and he seems to be spot on. I think it took
me 28 minutes all told so things were going according to plan. Something seemed
wrong though. I should have run into other kids on the program on the way to
campus, or on the grounds, I expected to at least see someone else walking into
the Study Center, but there was no one! Turns out I can’t read and orientation
actually started at 9:45, so I had thirty minutes to burn. Fortunately for me,
there were people in the building and another girl and her Czech buddy made the
same mistake, so I got to meet a new friend. Her name is Lauren and she goes to
Emory.
Following the
same pattern as orientation all week, we were split into different groups and
sent to sessions to learn about information that will help us through the
semester. Friday’s topics were about the academics for the semester and what to
expect (Dad, you should be happy to know they tried hard to tell us this was a
real semester and we could not get by with doing no work), the best ways to
immerse ourselves and use the available opportunities (i.e. interest groups,
volunteering, Czech family and friend programs, and the photo contests), and
how to adjust to and cope with cultural differences.
Milan’s session
about adjusting to a new culture and how to cope with it stands out in my mind
for reasons both good and bad. Unfortunately, Milan’s ability to lead a
conversation has not improved as the week proceeded; however, he was assigned
the most interesting topics (in my opinion). Though I didn’t mention it, Milan
also led a conversation on stereotypes and generalizations yesterday. It was an
interesting subject that I think Milan is simply ill equipped to lead with a
group of students from America. I say that because at least in my case, it is a
topic that I have discussed at length at the superficial level. This being the
case, when I talk about it again, I hope it will be a more in depth conversation,
delving deeper into the subject and maybe trying to understand why we have
stereotypes and how they develop from generalizations. That’s probably just me
though and most everyone else is fine listening to Milan try and evoke some
conversation in vain. Friday’s conversation could have been interesting, but a
language barrier prevented a connection between Milan and the students. His
English is actually pretty good, but I think since he still has a strong
accent, it is hard for many of us to look past it. Trying to make the most out
of the situation, I listened to what was being said and when something
interesting popped into my head, I wrote it on my notepad for further
rumination, so I now have a list of potential questions to explore when I have
time. We’ll see if I ever actually get around to it.
After the
orientation sessions, CIEE had an activities fair during which the Study Center
was converted into a convention center with each group getting a room to talk
about their group and what activities they had planned for the semester. I
signed up for a few different ones like the cooking club, sports, and art and
theater.
When the
activities fair ended, I stayed behind for a bit to try and rework my schedule
and familiarize myself with the classes I’d be taking by looking at the syllabi
provided by CIEE. Assuming the drop/add session goes according to plan I have a
pretty awesome semester lined up! I’ll be taking Czech, Czech & Central
European History, Comparative European Economics Systems, Europe and US: A
Transatlantic History, and the course I’m most excited about (sorry Dad),
Cinema Dance! I know what you’re thinking, well, actually I don’t, because you
could be thinking a bunch of different things, but I’ll try to address a few of
them. One, yes, UW does acknowledge the value of this course and offers
academic credit in exchange for it in Comm Arts (UW Course Guide - Comm Arts 513), but maybe that’s saying something about the
Communication Arts department? No, the class does not require that I dance on
film (I don’t think), but even if I do, I am taking it! So, now you’re
wondering if I’m not dancing, what exactly is Cinema Dance, right? It’s a three
credit course condensed into 96 hours during which time a small group of
students (I think around 20) go into the woods, shoot a movie, edit it on-site,
and drink with the teachers when that is all said and done. You tell me how I’m
supposed to pass up a chance like that? Sure, I could do something more useful
and take another economics course to maybe graduate with some extra credits in
my major, but it’s not like I’m leaving Madison before I have to, so why not
take a class that offers a unique experience I’m unable to find anywhere else?
Barring any drastic changes in UW’s class equivalency policy, I should have a
pretty good semester ahead of me with two classes a day, Monday through
Thursday, leaving me ample time to see the city, and explore the region, which
is really why I’m here. Right Mom and
Dad? It’s education beyond the classroom.
--- Skip Ahead
Three Hours ---
CIEE organized a
boat cruise and welcome dinner as an opportunity for all the students to get
acquainted with one another. Since we live so close to one another, a few of
the CIEE apartments on Sleska street arranged to meet and go to the dock
together. Mira, Red and I were surprisingly on time and out the door when we
needed to be. The same could not be said for the girls, where two of them went
shopping for groceries and hadn’t returned yet by the time we got to their
apartment (this will have repercussions larger than a simple inconvenience
which I’ll get to in a bit). They showed up after a few minutes and continued
to lollygag around the apartment putting away groceries and get ready while
Mira and I waited (Red was on the phone with his Dad outside trying to work out
a lost debit card – a consequence of the prior night’s mayhem). Eventually the
girls were ready to go and we went on our way.
The boats docked
up in Praha 1, in the Old Jewish Quarter. Our Czech buddies led us to the dock
taking us on the metro. At this point the metro is pretty familiar to all of us
but at the transfer stop, one of the Czech buddy gets off without telling all
of us. Fortunately we saw her and the rest of us got off (one group stayed on
with their Czech buddy who decided not to transfer). Following the transfer,
the docks were only a stop or two away. I don’t think any of the Czechs looked
at their watches by this point though, or they didn’t realize that we were
late, because when we arrived at the appropriate docking spot, the boat was no
where to be found. Apparently they left without us!
Our Czech
buddies were shocked; they said that the boat had always waited a few minutes
in the past and thought that it would be the same this year. We didn’t give up
though and our Czech buddies called the resident director who told us to meet
the boat at the lock and dam up river and jump onto the boat there. Running to
catch a tram to overtake the boat, we eventually caught up and did as we were
told: jumped onto the boat while the water level rose to allow the boat to
continue on its tour. At this point I think it’s only fair to acknowledge that
we were not the only group to have missed the boat and another group of five or
six students did as well, though that group that we were riding the metro with
and who didn’t take our transfer had made it onboard.
Once onboard,
the night proceeded as planned. Dining and socializing for a few hours was a
nice break from our normal scheduled activities in the Study Center. The boat
offered a nice spread of food and free (non-alcoholic) drinks and I definitely
took advantage. I had three of those side salad plates and filled them to the
brim with food.
Overall, the
boat ride was nice and the weather cooperated which was essential, because we
could not all have fit inside if it had started to rain.
When we
disembarked back at the dock, groups were formed and we went our separate ways.
Mira and I were invited over to Hannah’s flat to see it and judge for ourselves
whether she had the nicest flat in the program. While I will agree she
certainly has a nice flat, the only advantages I think hers has over my own is
the master bathroom, which has a bath and a bidet, and their small balcony on
the second floor with a view of Prague castle. Other than that, it seems like a
typical apartment, though they certainly are not hurting for space.
Mira couldn’t
stay for that long as he wanted to come back and study for his exams, but I was
invited to stay and hang out with them, them being the four girls who share the
apartment – Hannah, Keira, Marly and Dasha – and Becca. As the girls had heard
about people going back to the Drunken Monkey later, we went to the Tesco, a
grocery store around the corner, to pick up some drinks. We bought two bottles
of champagne and a small bottle of vodka for the five of us. A bigger fan of
grapes than potatoes, I stuck with the champagne. In fact, while we sat around
and talked for an hour or so in the girls apartment, I’m pretty confident I
single-handedly consumed at least one of the bottles of champagne if not more
and when the champagne was gone, I helped the girls polish off a bottle of
white wine they had left over from the night before, so by the time I stood up,
I was pleasantly drunk.
Three guys from
the dorms (Zach from St. Louis, Sam from Emory and Graham) came over to the
apartment and hung out with us a for a few minutes before we all headed up to
Old Town square to go to the Drunken Monkey. Luckily for us, the girls’ Czech
buddy, Dasha, was heading up that direction as well and could take us almost
all the way so that we wouldn’t get lost.
The bar was
offering another bar crawl but the girls didn’t want to pay for the wrist bands
since not having one wouldn’t prevent them from actually attending any of the
venues anyway. So, when they entered the bar, they just walked past the young
lady selling the bands; having been there only two nights prior, I decided that
I would at least say hi to her though and when I saw the bracelets just sitting
in the open, I picked up two. I’m pretty sure she noticed, but I don’t think
she minded too much since she didn’t say anything, though she did cover up the
rest of them to prevent me from picking up any more.
At this point,
the night proceeded much like Wednesday night when I went on the bar crawl
except this time, I met Rachel Tipermas, Rebecca’s twin, at one of the clubs
and danced with her for a bit. It’s so cool when you meet mutual friends and
they automatically warm to you because you share that person. Sometimes that
isn’t the case, for example, when you both know somebody and that person is one
of your best friends, but is just a high school classmate of the person you’re
just meeting, then that person is probably left wondering if you’re actually
cool or something. That has definitely not been the case with the Tipermas
twins though and it’s really refreshing! Rachel only lives a few blocks from me
and so we talked about meeting up for dinner at some point, which is something
I’m definitely looking forward to.
At some point in
the night, a group of us went to a different club where a bunch of CIEE kids
were called Lucerna. Lucerna also happened to be a lot closer to our apartments
which was just an added benefit. I had a ton of fun at Lucerna which had a
stage/platform in the back of the dance floor. I found most of my CIEE friends
on the stage so I promptly hopped up and started dancing. Looking back on that,
I think the reason I had such a good time is because I didn’t think so much and
just danced whereas if I had been sober, I would have wondered whether or not
these girls actually wanted to dance with me and also not had enough courage to
ask anyone to dance. At least on this evening, my thoughts didn’t prevent me
from having a good time and for that I am grateful.
Side Note:
Remember Jack from the breakfast at the hotel? Well, at one point he came up to
me at the club and asked quote, “Are you sure you’re not part gay?” I didn’t
take it offensively and Jack definitely didn’t mean it as an insult, I’m only
mentioning it because Jack is not the first person to ask me about my
sexuality. I don’t know what it is exactly since I’m not confused at all.
Either way, not only is Jack not the first person to ask me in my life, he’s
also not the first person on this trip to do so. Food for thought to be sure.
Around three in
the morning, I decided I should leave the club we were at soon and go home. I
fortunately ran into Adam, one of the Czech buddies who lives on Slezska Street
just a few blocks from me, and asked if I could accompany him when he went
home. He said of course and so we left the club.
We were in a big
group as we left the club and I’m not really sure whom all I was with, but I
know that I quickly lost Adam. Without him, I really had no idea where to go or
which tram to take which is kind of a problem, because even though Lucerna is
closer to my flat than the club I had been at previously, it’s not right down
the block. Deciding to try my luck with a tram down the street, I hop on and am
on my way. I get to a stop that I think I recognize named Karlovo Náměsti only to realize too late that what I recognized
was Náměsti, the Czech word for square. Prague
has a lot of squares. So there I was, 3:30 in the morning, in a square I’d never
been to before, waiting for a tram. The problem is that trams only come every
thirty minutes after midnight and I was already dozing off that I worried that
if I stayed at the tram stop, I would fall asleep – a sure fire way to get
robbed. Not wanting to be mugged in my first week in Prague, I decide to do the
only logical thing given the situation. No, not call a cab, walk. There was a
map at the tram stop which gave me a general sense of where I was in the city
and I knew (generally) where my flat was located. After thinking I recognized a
street down the block from me (kind of like I recognized Karlovo Náměsti) and that my flat wasn’t too far away, I
decided I could walk it.
This actually
worked out! It turned out that I misgauged the distance by a bit initially, but
I actually read the map correctly and, with the help of a few friendly Czechs,
made it home safely. With that my night concluded, safe and sound in my flat
and comfortably in my own bed.
(P.S. I'm sorry I've been slacking on the photos, hopefully, I'll get some up soon!)
