The Visa Maze

I feel like every time I think I'm close to sorting out this visa paperwork something goes wrong. I spent two hours traveling around the city today trying to get things fixed, only to learn about more problems. I'm trying to keep my hopes up, but also starting to look at other options. Where in the world should I go next, if I have to leave sooner than planned? (Note: it must have easier visa requirements or less meticulously mean embassy workers.)

On the bright side, I was just 50 yards away from a beautiful castle, leaning against a pillar outside of a palace, while I had a mini-meltdown today. It couldn't have been a more picturesque setting for a melodramatic moment. Also, I couldn't help but feel better listening to the tourists speak so many different languages while I went about my boring and frustrating business in one of the most lovely and famous areas of town.

Studying, Sightseeing and Socializing

Early this month I headed to DesignBlok, an exhibition of art and design that goes outside the box. My friend had gone before so she took me and we spent the afternoon snapping tons of photos of the thought-provoking and unique creations on display. Some of my favorites were the jewelry with toy cars, as seen in the picture, and a room with furniture and other at-home designs with geometric shapes that played off of shadow and light, like this clock that reminded me of a sunflower. 

The last few weeks I've been pretty focused on school. I'm taking ten classes, which sounds like a heavy load but it's manageable so far. I'm happy with some of them, but on the whole I haven't been as thrilled with my program as I'd hoped. Classes are mostly larger than expected, due to many Erasmus (European exchange program) students taking Masters classes because there are no Bachelors classes offered in English. This is great in the sense that you get to hear from people with pretty diverse backgrounds and ideas - however, classes have minimal discussion time and many students don't participate when discussions are opened. As a result, I don't feel as engaged in my courses as I would like to be. On the bright side, I'm not alone in my frustration , and several other students and I have bonded as a result. Some of the professors have also been reaching out to us this week, offering extra seminars or trips around Prague, which is nice. Hopefully things will continue to improve, since several professors also want to see the program be re-designed some to improve our experience.

Václavské náměstí

Staré Město Námestí

But, enough about my school. I continue to be taken with Prague more and more each day. A fellow teacher friend from Korea came to visit for a day, and we went to the Hrad/Castle area finally. It was a beautiful day for it, too, we were lucky. It had been raining all week, but on that day the sun was shining. We started at my favorite place, the Farmers' Market, and grabbed brunch. Then we ended up walking across most of Prague, starting from my place at noon, and coming back at 6pm. We went to Václavské náměstí/Wenceslas Square, where several mass demonstrations took place in November 1989 before the fall of communism here. Then we went to Staré Město Námestí/Old Town Square, to see the Astronomical Clock and to go to the Mucha/Dali gallery. I really loved the gallery, and grabbed some new Mucha playing cards to add to my collection (yes, little known fact, I collect decks of cards from all over...).

Hradčany

Katedrála svatého Víta

After that we headed over the river (but not through the woods) to Hradčany/Prague Castle. We wandered through some pretty gardens, the Senate building, and then up a winding road to the Hrad/Castle and Katedrála svatého Víta/St. Vitus Cathedral, which is an imposing and beautifully ornate building. It didn't take long for us to tire of the crowds, though, and we didn't want to pay to go in to any buildings, so we started the long walk down. 

Talk about a tourist center! How many can you read?

We passed some lovely vineyards, with a beautiful view of the city, and walked through Kampa, the neighborhood along the castle side of the river. We saw some interesting sculptures and graffiti, in addition to watching the sun begin to set over the river before arriving back home. 

A simple truth :)

Although my feet were sore by the end, it was a nice day to be a tourist and to see some of the sights which have made Prague famous. Often I catch glimpses while walking through on my way to get errands done, or to meet people, so it was nice to slow down and appreciate things with a more patient eye and a friend to share the sights with. 

But, as the weather begins to get chilly, and November nears, I will be spending less time outside and more time reading and writing in libraries - or in my cozy loft on lazier days like today, when my roommate is out of town and I have the place to myself. I'm also really enjoying spending more time with other students, and have been meeting more people in my classes as the weeks progress.

Praha

Vltava River

It's be wonderful to have nights, like last night, for instance, when I find myself at a table surrounded by people who all speak different languages and come from different places, but who all have a reason to want to be here, together. We had a wonderful Diwali dinner with my professor, who is from India, and students from Germany, Quebec, Israel, the USA, and the Czech Republic. As I looked around I couldn't help feeling that, despite some bureaucratic headaches and school imperfections, I am so lucky and thrilled to be living here.

Swans, Strangers and Sniffles

After returning from Vienna, I had a lovely weekend settling in to life in Prague.

I spent most of the day Friday either at Ikea or at home, and got my room all set up. My roommate and I had a really nice time shopping together, and we're both happy with the results. I'm so relieved that everything is working out so far with my flat. My flatmates are also very nice, and have been welcoming and happy to help me with my Czech and to practice their English with me. One of them is bringing Czech films from home so we can have a culture weekend. There are six of us, but often only 2-4 at home at one time, and so far there haven't been any issues with the bathroom or kitchen. Fingers crossed that things continue to go well!

Before

After

On Saturday I headed to the river, which is about a two minute walk from my flat, and walked around the Farmers' Market. I bought myself a rosemary plant and a slice of baklava, and enjoyed people-watching and swan-watching for awhile. It also gave me a chance to just sit in the sun and read a book, which is always a great weekend activity. 

Swans on the Vltava

Farmer's Market

On Sunday my roommate and I headed to Petrin Hill, which I first read about years ago in The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. Not only did it become my favorite novel, but it also was my first inspiration to someday come to Prague. I was thrilled to be going to a location which featured heavily in the book, and I was not disappointed. We took the funicular up the hill, and at the top we discovered beautiful rose gardens, lovely old buildings, a mini-Eiffel Tower, as well as walking paths and grassy areas to rest in. We found a spot where she could slack line while I read a book. While there, two Egyptians and two Germans happened to come by and we all got to talking about religion, politics, and life. The Egyptians shared their bananas with us, and we all sat around passing the time with great, spontaneous conversation. The Germans left, but we ended up walking down to town with the Egyptians (on the way I rolled my ankle and scraped my knee, which has resulted in a pretty ugly bruise, but no real damage). We grabbed dinner at an Italian restaurant near our flat and continued our deep conversations. It was one of those encounters that makes me sure that I am on the right path, making travel a priority in my life. I was so happy to be debating morals, belief systems, history, logic, and political revolution with strangers. I am so happy to have met them, and to have had the time to give to the conversations we had. 

The Rose Garden at Petrin Hill

My roommate doing slack line - she's so much cooler than me, haha : )

Unfortunately, by Monday, my allergies and asthma problems, which have been bothering me slightly for several weeks now, turned into what seems to be a full-blown cold. I feel like my head is full of fuzz, and I am constantly embarrassed by my violent coughing fits in public. As a result, after my first class on Tuesday, I thoroughly dusted my room, washed the windows, and made a homemade neti pot with saltwater and a ziploc bag (it works!). Luckily, several of my classes have been canceled this week, which has given me more time to rest, so I think I'm on the mend...I hope! That could just be the Theraflu talking, which I found in with my tea, leftover from my bouts of colds in Korea. I've heard pharmacies here need prescriptions for just about everything, so I was relieved to discover it.

Boats on the Vltava at sunset

Swans on the Vltava at sunset

My classes so far seem manageable, so I've decided to take 8 classes for 48 credits. I decided not to look for work until the spring when my visa is all sorted out, so I have a lot of time to study this term. I'd like to finish in a year and a half if possible, so hopefully it will work out fine. My impression so far has been that US schools are more rigorous and have higher expectations, so I'm maybe better prepared for the course expectations than my European peers (based on what other students and some professors have said). Of my 8 classes, though, only 3 have actually met this week, so I'll have to wait two weeks to get a better idea of what they will all be like. All of my classes are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, except one (which will only meet 4 times in the semester, and always on Friday mornings). I don't know why I'm giving so much detail...so I'll stop.

For now, I'm trying to focus on getting well, getting paperwork taken care of, and getting started on the readings for my classes. I'm looking forward to sitting by the river for the Farmer's Market tomorrow (it's every Thurs and Sat) and reading about counter-terrorism. And yes, really, I am so excited : )

The Ups and Downs of Vienna

On Wednesday I headed to the train station to get a train to Vienna. It was a beautiful morning, and I woke very early, as I have been doing all week. I got to the station just after a train left, so while waiting for the next one I walked around enjoying the neighborhood, and then planted myself in front of the Departures sign to find out my platform. While waiting, I overhead the people next to me speaking a language I thought only I knew - Spangtalian, a mix of Spanish and Italian. So, after pondering this oddity for a moment, I got up to courage to speak to the woman in Italian. This led to us carrying on a conversation entirely in Italian for about 20 minutes, until our train arrived. It was fantastic! I had no idea I could still make any sense when speaking Italian. I can kind of write it, generally, but usually Fraspangtalian comes out when I try to speak (yes, I added French to that mix - why not?).

After saying arrividerci to my new Argentinian acquaintances (ah! the Spangtalian makes sense now, right? I felt that way, too, when I heard). I found a seat near some Spanish speakers, but sadly with Italian filling my brain, the only straight Spanish I could muster was gracias when they explained (in English) that I could sit anywhere. Which I did. For the next 5 hours I say glued in my seat with my eyes firmly facing out the window, trying to take in all of the beauty we passed. There were streams, lakes, rolling hills, and quaint towns with the occasional castle or cathedral differentiating it from the others in a spectacular way.

Oddly, I could tell the moment we switched into Austria. I think it was the roads. By then I also just wanted to arrive, and was happy to get off a little later in a new city - and a new country (Europe is so cool...). I as pretty hungry by then, but had no Euros, so I found my way to the metro I needed and was pleased to discover a mini mart in the metro, where I bought bread, cheese, tomatoes and chocolate which sustained me for the rest of the trip. At my stop, I decided to walk to my hostel, thinking that Google had said it was about 2 km from the station. If that's what Google said then Google lied. While it was easily one of the most stunningly beautiful walks I've taken (think cute mini cottages along tree-lined streets, with gardens and vineyards here and there and people out enjoying the warm fall weather, and a grandma and granddaughter collecting chestnuts at one point...), it was also a steep incline all the way up from the station, and was about 4km, not two. My light bags felt like lead weights by the time I got to the top. And then, as I hit the top, I forgot about my bags.

The view from the top.

In front of me at the top were two buildings - a massive, lovely, fancy white hotel and a cute, neat, inviting hostel. But I barely noticed the buildings because I was too busy looking down the hill, past the vineyard and out upon the whole of Vienna that lay below. The sun was just beginning to set, coloring the sky in pinks and lighting up the city roofs in shades of salmon. I actually stopped in my tracks, dropped my bags, and just stared for a bit before thinking to get my camera out. I checked in, and then headed back out with my food and sat down for a picnic as the sky grew darker and the view more captivating every minute. I almost cried at the beauty of it and at my good fortune to be able to experience such a life-affirming moment in time - and because I couldn't help wishing I had people I loved there to share it with, as I looked around at the families, couples, and friends around me as I sat alone.

I fell asleep at the crazy hour of 8pm, and woke at 5am, but made myself wait til 6 to get ready, grab my camera, and head out again to watch the sun rise again. I was the only person outside for about 30 minutes as the sun began to peek through the grey night clouds and ease its way across the city, slowly illuminating the roofs in an orange glow, as a nearby church bell rang out each quarter hour. Again, I stood, completely mesmerized, until I got goosebumps and stomach rumbles. I headed in for a great breakfast spread provided by the hostel and included in my room charge, and then headed off, this time to catch the bus instead of walking.

Early sunrise over Vienna

I went to Vienna for an appointment with the Czech Embassy there to get my visa process going since I had delays in the USA. I was feeling positive about the trip, and was distracted as I rode the bus...which explains why I got off too early after thinking I'd missed my stop, walked back, found a map, and discovered I had added an extra 20 min walk to my trip...My second accidental workout in Vienna, after the accidental jaunt uphill. I got to the station near the Embassy (again, according to Google) and started walking, but wanted to make sure I was right. A lady told me in German (which I didn't understand) and gestures (which I did) to go back, across a bridge over a river, and walk a while. This seemed wrong but I stupidly did it anyway, only to have a lady on the other side send me back, where I again ran into the first woman. This time she asked a third woman, who clarified that I was looking for the Czech Embassy, not the Turkish Embassy. I have NO IDEA why the first woman was sending me to the Turkish Embassy. So, with the right directions, I began speed walking, because by then I was 15 minutes late thanks to the Turkish confusion, and I arrived stressed, out of breath, nervous, and on the verge of tears 30 minutes late.

I calmed down, and brought my papers up to a mean woman who snapped at me for not speaking German or Czech and told me she didn't speak English. She took my papers and began writing on post-its and tut-tutting me, which was the first bad sign. A bit later, she called a man over and he kindly explained about 8 steps I need to take to change or add to my paperwork in order to have it ready, while I felt tears begin to fall from my eyes despite trying desperately to remain calm. When he finished, I sat, cried, and apologized to another American woman waiting. She said it was okay, that she cried on a weekly basis when she got her Masters at a Czech University. Surprisingly, this did not make me feel better.

Schönbrunn Palace

After washing my face and reapplying makeup to look less awful, I headed outside. Although the palace I'd planned to go to sounded less exciting after the stress of the embassy, I forced myself to be positive and seize the day. Thank goodness for the attitude adjustment, because the Schonbrunn palace was gorgeous, and I got to sit in a lovely garden and eat my picnic leftovers and listen to birds chirp and feel the wind and sun on my face and life seemed almost perfect again.

So I had to fix some visa stuff, so what? I was at a palace!! Wheee! I meandered over to a fountain and as I was snapping a photo I heard, "Hello! Ciao!" from behind. I turned and who should I see but my Argentinian pals from the Prague train station! My day brightened dramatically then, as I felt the rush of serendipity and joy at such a chance encounter, and I was able to hold on to that for the rest of the day and all the way back to Prague and to my new apartment, where new friendly faces were waiting to welcome me home : )

I ran into the Argentinians from the train station!