Day 2 or When the Jet Lag Kicks In

I woke bright and early this morning, ready to meet new people and see new places - including my flat (apartment). My buddy and I hopped on the tram and headed to the administration building for my faculty with the intention of getting some paperwork done. When we arrived, however, the halls were full of undergraduate exchange students (part of the Erasmus program across Europe). It was clear that my questions could wait until my smaller graduate orientation on Friday. My buddy likewise tried to get her work done but the admin person basically told her, "I don't care. Come back a different day." So she and I both ended up getting nothing done. Still, I did run into two Canadian girls in my same program, which means there are at least three people in my major - and that's a good sign that there could be more! They were both very friendly and I'm glad to have met them by chance.

After getting nothing done at the admin building I headed down the river to my flat to meet my roommates and to see where I'll be living for the next four months. First impression of my roommate: she seems outgoing, athletic, and adventurous. We hit it off right away, as we did via email, so I felt a wave of relief. The flat itself is located in a nice neighborhood, very close to the river and close to several parks, including the city's botanical gardens - which is funny to me since my brother lives across from botanical gardens in Philly. The kitchen is spacious, the bathroom has a tub and is pretty spacious, too, and the rooms have big windows with sheer curtains that let lots of light in, so those were all great perks I noticed immediately. On the other hand, I'm out of practice living with other people, aside from family (and even that was hard to adjust to this summer), so living with five strangers who are all Czech will be an adventure and probably a challenge. I think I'm up for the challenge...?

After seeing the flat, my roommate and I headed out for lunch. We walked a bit until we found a Chinese restaurant and had a nice meal - with tofu (which, coincidentally, I saw for very cheap at the supermarket yesterday, which was a huge relief). Then I headed off to meet my buddy to go back to her flat, but got a bit lost-ish in the process. By lost-ish I mean I knew where I was supposed to go, and had an idea of where I was, but had no sense of how far I should walk and if the streets were going to get me there. Happily this meant that I accidentally took a detour through Old Town and ended up on the main tourist street, Karlova, which turns into the Charles Bridge to go to the castle. It was so fun to be swept up in the mass of people walking by, to pass the tables of patios filled with people eating, drinking and people watching, and to see the amazingly beautiful buildings along the way. Luckily, with some help from my discreet mini map and from my buddy's texts I managed to turn around and head to Namesti Republiky to meet her, and get away from the throngs of tour groups and their flag-waving guides and back into lovely narrow cobblestone lanes.

All of the walking and wandering and being lost-ish made the jet lag kick in, so I settled in for what I meant to be a short pick-me-up but turned into a two hour long sleep. I woke to a text from my college friend, S, and realized I was supposed to be meeting her and another friend, M, right then. I scrambled to meet M since she lived in the area, and planned to meet up with S in the city center, but my phone died and in the end I didn't get to connect with S. Still, I had a really nice time with M. We headed across the Charles Bridge and down into Campa, which is a cute neighborhood just south of the castle along the river. We found a bar and each had a glass of Kozel, a black beer (only one glass, dad ; )), and had a great chat, catching up on life and talking about travel and living in new places.

Whew, I didn't plan to write this much, especially when I wrote a lot yesterday. Right now everything still feels so unreal that it helps me to write it down just to keep everything straight as I'm adjusting! As I walk around I feel like I'm constantly mentally pinching myself. I feel as if I might wake up tomorrow in Madison and have dreamt this.

First Impressions of Praha

After two surprisingly smooth (but relatively sleepless) flights - Chicago to Madrid, Madrid to Prague - I arrived safe and sound in Prague. After changing some money and rearranging my luggage I headed out to the waiting area with some anxiety. I had plans to meet my university "buddy," who said she could help me with my bags and offered her home as a place to stay until Wednesday, when I move into my flat. What we hadn't discussed included: where exactly we'd meet, our appearances, phone info or backup plans.

As I glanced around trying to look nonchalant but secretly flipping out, I heard my name ring out from the crowd. I spun and saw my tall, composed, and beaming buddy coming towards me to save me from my nerves. Luckily for me, she had assumed that I would not look Czech or Spanish, and that I would have more luggage than most people. When I (being obviously neither Czech nor Spanish and lugging more than my weight in suitcases) stepped out of the doors she knew she'd found me. I've never been so happy to be an obvious American.

We hopped on a bus, transferred to a tram, and then walked up to her lovely flat - which is home to the oddest lift (elevator). The lift stops at the half floor, which means you have to still go up or down a flight of stairs to reach the apartments. After showering off the stench of airplane (a noxious mix of sweat, stale air, alcohol from the winos in front and behind me, airplane food, and lavatory odors...) we headed out to walk from across the river and through the cobbled streets of Praha 1 - Staré Město (Old Town).

Prague is separated into different districts, all numbered. I'll be living in Praha 2 - Nové Město (New Town), which is south of Old Town but still really really really old - by American standards at least. New Town has existed since the rule of Charles IV, who also founded my university in 1348. So it's not that new anymore...But it is home to many beautiful buildings, most built in the 19th and 20th centuries with some still surviving from earlier times.

Back to today. After being a bit touristy and pulling out my camera several times to catch shots of the castle, the river, and the architecture, we met up with my buddy's flatmate and the three of us headed to Zizkov, in Praha 3. We had a tasty meal at a restaurant named Lavička, and were able to enjoy the warm, sunny fall weather on the patio, overlooking a garden. If I hadn't been almost falling asleep in my delicious mushroom risotto it would have been even better, I'm sure.

Back in Praha 7 at my hostess' home we decided to venture out to the Sparta v. Slavia game at the stadium nearby, despite hearing that the game was sold out. Walking over, it became clear that the game was not only sold out but also a huge deal to those in attendance. Like Korea, drinking alcohol in public is allowed here, so the area around the stadium was filled with people tailgating...and as I write, those same people are now filling the streets and cheering as they stumble home from a 3-0 match (for Sparta). Earlier in the day we even witnessed a man chuck his half-drunk beer cup out the window of our tram - and apparently his mouth was a foul as his littering habit. Anyway, when it became clear that we had no chance of getting in to see the game, we hung out on a side street and watched the police drag people out who had become too aggressive, while catching glimpses of the match through a gap in the stadium. We cheered along with the first two goals, which rocked the stadium as fans leapt up and bellowed their appreciation in unison.

While it would have been amazing to stand among that mass of people (the TV estimated 20,000 in attendance), I was happy to walk home, take off my shoes and say na shledanou (goodbye) to my first day in Prague. I'm looking forward very much to an indefinite number of wonderful days ahead in the city that will be my home.

Prague Prep.

In two weeks I should be somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean on an Iberia flight to Prague via Madrid. In three weeks I'll be starting my first day of graduate school classes. Last month I was starting to think my plans were falling apart, but somehow things are coming together.

I left Korea in early June after a wonderful 21 months, and came back to Madison to get my Czech visa. Unfortunately I didn't have a background check from Korea...so I spent the whole summer waiting for that one piece of paper to arrive and watching the deadline to get my paperwork in get closer - until it passed.

Now, I have my background check from Korea, as well as one from the USA, along with the other stack of papers I need to get my student visa - but it's too late to get it from the US. Instead, I'll be arriving in Prague as a tourist, taking a day trip to Vienna to go to the Czech consulate there, and then waiting and hoping for everything to go smoothly. If all goes well, I'll have my visa about 60 days after I arrive. If it takes longer than 90 days...well, I'll be seeing stateside sooner than planned...

I'm practicing "Don't be worry," on the advice of the woman in the international office at my school. Seriously, she said this, in her latest reply to my somewhat panicked email about the airline (which claims it will not let me on the plane with a one-way ticket unless my visa is in hand).

So on that advice, I have paid for Czech health insurance, paid for my flight, set up a visa appointment in Vienna, reserved a hostel for my arrival, and (just today) secured a room in a flat near my school. I found a roommate online (...) and put aside my paranoia when she wrote about being a semi-vegetarian, with similar interests, and a willingness to live with me. How could I say no? This room is for four months, so even if it turns out to be awful (which I don't expect it to, but you never know) I'll be able to look for places in the meantime.

The only thing left to do is pack, which is going fairly smoothly since I only ever half unpacked from Korea. Still, I should probably get to it...