Prague So Far

Finally, a blog about life in Prague!

The first thing is that it is very cold here. Very cold. It's a different kind of cold than in NC. Just really dang cold. The sun has not been out except for two hours one morning last week. They tell us that it will come out eventually, but I don't believe them.

I have never really appreciated the value of a good scarf, but here it makes all the difference. I packed everything that I brought based on fuction rather than what it looked like. Everything except a scarf. I brought a free giveaway scarf from a Panther's game because it had a Panther's logo on it. Living in NC, I have never been able to appreciate the value of a good scarf. The scarf sucks, and makes me cold. No wonder it was a giveaway.

Besides that, so far I have brought everything I need and nothing I don't. I'm glad I took so much time thinking about just exactly what I need to live out of a backpacking bookbag for three months. Space was limited, but everything has worked out so far.

Getting around Prague is amazing. I have never lived in a city with a well-running, well-used, well-funded public transportation system, but Prague definantly fits into this category. Almost everyone in the city uses the public transportation and walks everywhere and anywhere, there are really no cars in the city except for taxis. There is also no fast food except for, you guessed it, fatty American foods (McDonald's and KFC). Everyone eats veggies and fruits and buys food from the local marketplaces that dot the streets.

Anyways, they have three metro lines that are very easy to navigate. We have a metro stop about five minutes from the hotel we are staying at, which we walk to and take to a stop about three minutes walk from the NC State Institute. It takes about fifteen minutes total time to get to school via the metro. The metro runs from 5am-12am. Superbowl night, the game ended at 415am, we tried to take the metro back (thought it opened at 4am), weren't able to, decided to take a tram back (24hrs, see below), got on the wrong one, took it all the way out to almost the airport, realized we were wrong, got off, and walked until we found a metro station, and took that back to the hotel, arriving at 530am. Gotta love late night public transportation adventures!
NOT HAVING TO DRIVE FOR 3 MONTHS IS AWESOME!

If I don't want to take the metro, I can easily take the tram (above ground cars that run on tracks in the middle of the streets via electricity (don't laugh, this is a new concept for me!)). There are about fifty different tram lines that run throughout the city, and during the day each tram stop has a tram coming every 4 minutes. It's pretty cool how many people use this system. The trams run 24 hours, during the time of 4am-12am they hit each stop every 4 minutes, and during the times of 12am-4am, they stop at the stops every 30 minutes. We have a tram stop right near our hotel, so going to bars and getting back late night is as simple as hopping on the tram (make sure to plan it out before hand and know which one to take, I have already been lost 3 different times trying to take the tram late night!). The good thing about being lost, though, is that eventually you will find the way with the great public transportation system! Just have to keep your head up and your wits about you.

Lots of people speak English here (although I say "speak" very loosely). I am in a Czech language class, and already we have already learned basic grammar skills and vocabulary necessary for building a larger language understanding in the future. I feel very confident going to a grocery, restaurant, or other shop and not speaking a word of English the whole time. It's really cool! There are some here with me that want to speak English everywhere, but I am definantly trying to learn the language and "be one with the native peoples." Ha, that will never happen, but I'm getting there for sure!

I am in 18 credit hours. That is a lot. I think I will drop one class. Right now I am in:

Landscape Architecture Design Studio (6 credit hours):

We have been given a humungous site (a mile long, 300 yards wide) that is the "central park" so to speak of a large community designed during the Russian Constructivism period, where whole communities were planned based on the communistic ideals and values of the Russian empire. It is a cold, unused, centralized area of this little community, and our task is to take this space and bring it into the 21st century, and make it feel like a part of center-city Prague, a trait that it most certainly lacks right now. I guess the best way to describe it is: picture a really old lady bundled up from head to toe, scarf wrapped over her head, old wrinkly face, cane in hand, moving at the speed of a sloth in the cold, gray, dreary, empty environment that looks like it was built during communism. It's actually pretty depressing. The site is off of one of the metro lines, so gettting to it is no problem, its about 20 minutes outside of center-city Prague. This will be an intense studio (as they always are!)

Landscape Architecture Perception and Behavior (3 credit hours):

This class examines why people do the things they do in a given environment and tries to explain the reasons behind it. I love this kind of stuff, very much a study of human behavior and learning how to apply what we find to the field of design. Being in Prague is the perfect environment for this class! Way Way Cool.

Intro To Czech Language (3 credit hours):

This class is great. We have learned many basic phrases and words necessary to survive in the Czech Republic for three months. I have to get 7 years of Spanish out of my head, though. It's tough to get out of that mindset. No written homework, just to get out and use the language!

Czech Literature (3 credit hours):

We have to read excerpts from famous Czech literature, answer questions, and discuss. We also have to read 3 books written by the most famous Czech authors, and write two-page response papers. We also have to write a 5 page final paper on a Czech topic of our choice. It won't be bad, just a lot of reading.

Intro to Bees and Beekeeping (3 credit hours):

I haven't actually had this class yet, the first one is next week. I think I will drop this, though. It will be an awesome class, but there is really no benefit of taking it in the Czech Republic, like my other classes.

So, that is, right now, a total of 18 credit hours. Thats a buttload in the States, I will drop the Bees class, giving me 15 credit hours. The studio will take up lots of time, as will the literature class, and I just don't think I can do the 18 hours. Too much for a semester abroad.

So thats the weather, transportation, and my classes.

Next post will be about things in Europe that are different from the USA. Shorter, too!

Beer is good!

-Terry