SAM TURNED 21!

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY SAMANTHA!!!!! my praha roomie and one of my bff's from mich!!!

Last night we celebrated Sams birthday. First with a cake from bakeshop(AMAZING) and then with a pregame at our apt before we went to one of her fave places.. double trouble! It is a bar less than a mile away from us, with a cool dance floor and a spot where all the abroad kids know to go to.

Something to note about prague TAXI DRIVERS SUCK.  They will try to rip you off charging up to 30 dollars for less than a mile for a cab of 4 people.  Our program warned us of this and told us to only use AAA cab which is the most reliable.  However, even they try and take advantage of the students knowing we are desperate to escape the cold and have no clue where we are going.  Also, they will only take 4 people at a time, and you have to call and reserve cabs which is a bit of an issue since you cant exactly call them on viber. So to avoid these obstacles we walked. Our apt is all michigan and wisco kids, so the snow is not a big deal.  When leaving, half of us took cabs, while others walked.  A man followed my friends home.  She was texting me the whole time, and when she arrived home we went to meet her.  To get into our building there is a huge glass and wood door where u need an electronic key and then a gate where you need another key.  The man followed her into the first entrance.  We pulled them inside the gate and quickly slammed it and ran upstairs.  We heard shouting and a few minutes later we found out he had shattered the glass in the door and broken the wood.  The glass was inside the building so he broke it after he left.  We didn't feel unsafe or threatened, just a little scared in the moment and did not know the mans intentions. We called the CEA emergency number so 1) we wouldn't get charged, and 2) so they could fix it and 3) so they could review the security tapes to make sure nothing else sketchy happened.  They were finishing up replacing the door when we woke up this AM(okay so like 2:30), but lesson learned.. worth it to take the scumbag cabs.

Another discovery of last night. Props to courtney to finding a pizza delivery place.  In prague there are non-stop restaurants meaning they are open 24/7. She ordered on a czech website too.. impressive!

(Lauren when she discovered our re-modled front door)

The landlords however are not very happy with us, and I'm pretty sure they turned off any hot water we did have...because they came in this AM and were playing with the hot water heaters. (They know this is our only complaint). Guess we are going to have to start adapting to the euro way of hygiene..aka none..Although I am joining the gym tomorrow and I am very excited because they have showers there! Hopefully they will be hot. I am now sitting in Starbucks doing some work for internships and things for University of Michigan.  It is weird that I needed to remember to bring a converter to charge my computer.  A bunch of my friends are visiting this weekend and I cant wait to see them so I am getting my work out of the way now. 

sNOw

(hot wine and bread covered in cinnamon sugar are common street foods, that is not powdered sugar on top, but snow)

It is always a good idea to look out the window before going outside in Prague.  Today did not get off to a great start.  I  couldn’t sleep so thought it would be a good idea to take a shower at 5:30 in the morning.  You would think there would be hot water… WRONG.  After finally falling asleep for what seemed like 5 minutes, I woke up and ran outside to the tram only to find the ground covered in snow. While it does look beautiful it is definitely something I could do without.  Also the ground was pretty slippery which I didn't expect.  We are really lucky to live about 2 min from a tram that takes us to school.  The tram runs about every 3 minutes, and there is always room to get on.  While I couldn't navigate around the city on the trams yet, it is definitely a convenient way to travel.  My first class of the day was Czech, where we had our first conversations. Heres a sample:

Ahoj

Jak se mas?

Fajn

A ty?

Fajn jsi student/ka

Jsi american/ka

Ano, jsen student/ka. Jsem American/ka

Odkud jsi?

Z Maryland.

Tesi me! Tak ahoj

Ahoj

Easy right? See if you can figure it out, or even better say it.  But then when we got to the culture half of the class I saw how amazing the Czech republic really is.  This video is a little long but i highly suggest you watch it.  It shows what a truly amazing country the czech republic is.  Watching it today in class we all had chills 

After I had my innovations management class... back to porters 5 forces... may have to drop that one.  Afterwards, I came home for a nap and Sam, Rachel, Marissa and I all ventured back to school for our 6:30 class.  I had digital photography where I was greeted by a dog! Very different than american school.  This is probably the class I am most excited about, as I want to learn how to capture the beauty of this amazing city without the filters of Instagram. We are so lucky school is so close to the castle so we will be taking trips there in different lights. We also will be making a flikr portfolio so as soon as I have that link, I will share it with you guys so you can look at my class work too 

(our furriest classmate picking his seat... i got in trouble for taking this pic... ironic for a photography class)

It is my roommate Sam's 21st bday so we got a cake and are having a party for her tonight!

Ahoj!

lost in translation

Today was my first full day of classes, which I was not prepared for.  Classes here are 3 hours each which is hard, although we do get "smoking breaks" aka time to check our phones for us Americans.  Marissa and I had class at the same time, but in different buildings, which were in opposite directions.  We took the tram and had an hour extra so we figured it would be plenty of time.  After getting a cup of much needed coffee, I went to find my class.  The one disadvantage to all the buildings looking old and beautiful is that every area looked the same.  While I thought I knew where I was going, I was going somewhere else, and ended up back at the castle...ooops!

Thank god for my global data plan and iphone navigation as I finally made it to my classroom, just in time.

My first class was international journalism.  My teacher is super cool.  He has taught everywhere form NYU to Malta to Utah.  He also just published a book about rome.  The class seems super interesting and our first assignment is to write a news article about a current event in prague.  Also we have class off next Monday because he needs to get his visa renewed in Vienna... lets hope it works!!!

After I had an hour break so I went to bohemia bagel to get a sandwich but the chicken wasnt really cooked so i just ate the bread... back to my diet of toast.

From 6:30-9:30 I had marketing.  So many people of the students in my class were from Kazakhastan which i found very interesting.  The class was similar in many ways to marketing at umich, but also very different.  Additionally just one day made me realize how many more options we have in the US when consuming products.  I definitly felt very prepared for this class, which reviewed many topics I have already learned... maybe all those S.W.O.T. analysis's were good for something....Class ended at 9:30 and I took the tram home alone, which I was nervous to do but proud that I figured out on my own.  At this point I was starving so Marissa and I ventured out to go find somewhere other than the thai place to eat.  We saw a restaurant that looked open and decided to walk down the street and check it out.  It just happened to be GLOBE CAFE... one of the spots written up in EVERY GUIDE that we have.

IT WAS SO GOOD!!! OWNED BY AMERICANS!!!! finally something normal!!!! after a day of classes I am exhausted so going to bed early because it is my roommate SAM BROWNS b-day in 7 minutes PRAGUE TIME!!!

the boys across the hall and (from left) my wisco roomates rachel, lauren, emma, (me..which you should know or else your a weirdo for reading this blog), and marissa

my bus stop home from class... casual (ok tram stop same diff)

who needs to go to italy when we have pesto and PARMESAN CHEESE

One Week down :(

Last night a group of 10 of us went out to Sushi.  Being 10 girls, who all go to either Michigan or Wisconsin between getting score updates and being ourselves, we are not exactly what you would call quiet.  Although we were not screaming by any means, the level of noise that is appropriate at a busy restaurant in America is NOT the same in the czech republic.  Our waitress had to come over and ask us to be quiet and explained that that was the czech way.  There are definitely very different standards of what is rude or not here.  In America, I cant remember the last time I was at a restaurant with a smoking and a non-smoking section.  In prague, you can smoke anywhere.  Whenever we leave bars, restaurants, even Tesco, we end up smelling like ash trays.

I really need to get used to the time difference, because I could not fall asleep until 5 am and I slept till 3!  Tomorrow is the first Monday of school, and I have my international journalism class at 2:45, and hour break, and then Marketing at 6:30.  I cannot wait to meet more people in my classes, even though they are super small.  It is fun because it is an international school, so we are meeting people besides the kids on our program.

Today I am catching up on work and internship apps.  There is so much to do here and it really feels like so little time! I cant believe I have been here a week already.  While everything is still super foreign I am starting to understand the trams, have realized that many places will try to rip us off because we are american, and seen so many of the amazing, beautiful sites.

Tonight the boys who live across the hall and the girls in my apartment are going to go to Usudu, this cool underground cave bar for a few beers to conclude week one.

It will be nice to get into the routine of classes, and all mine really seem so interesting. A week in prague has gone by so quickly and it is crazy to think about what we have ahead of us.  This will be our last full week in prague for a while.  Next sunday we have a day trip with our program.  Then my roomates and I will be going to Berlin.  The first weekend of March we will be traveling to Krakow Poland with CEA.  The next weekend, I will be in belgium for Sensation White.  So many exciting things to look forward too... stay tuned...

Part of our dinner group from sushi last night! 

Today Courtney Sam and I went to explore the castle area.  It is beautiful!!!! Neither words or pictures do this justice.  Tomorrow we are taking a free guided tour from the city at 3 pm.

My roommates and I just booked a bus to Berlin and a hostel for the weekend of the 21st. I'm kind of excited for my first hostel experience... it looks nice on the website... Lets hope I feel the same way after.

Tonight we went to Lucerna, where they have an 80's music party.  While it was really fun it was also WAY too crowded.

Below are all my pictures from yesterday, using my iphone so maybe not the best but no picture can do this city justice.

*** Also, we missed the 3 pm tour so hopefully we will make it to that soon... (ended up not publishing this post last night)

Tonight there is a DJ Nicky Romero coming to a club mecca.  It should be really cool but being spoiled after working for Necto I am not too excited to wait in a 2000 person line for tickets (which you cant buy online) very different

SNOW!

MORE SNOW!

PALACE

                                              

SNOW IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH 

view from the top 

courtney and sam trying the sausages 

John lennon wall 

                                The wall is surprisingly small, but still definitely worth seeing.

My name is a czech word!!! means just or only (depending on the translator you use!!!) 

h2NO

Water is definitely something we take for granted in america.  Here the beer is literally cheaper than water, which can cost up to 8 dollars for half a glass. Also I have yet to have a hot shower, and neither have any of my roommates... oh well.  Additionally no restaurants will serve you ice.  We have tried to bring water bottles out with us, though that is frowned upon at some places.

Yesterday one of my roommates friend visited so we went to old town square for lunch.  We wanted to go to bakeshop, but then saw another restaurant that looked fun.  While I have yet to try a traditional czech meal I had czech meat fot the first time-- the best burger I have ever had.  It then started snowing which was pretty but cold.

We went to a really fun nightclub last night. It was where Rihanna filmed her dont stop the music video which happened to only be a 10 min walk from our building.  They played a bunch of old school american songs, which really fun.

(this is where we were last night)

Czech beef burger

beautiful cakes from bake shop a cute store in old town square

We are going to the castle now!!!

Ahoj

(I forget if I have posted this already, but its my school)

Ahoj! Today I had my first day of classes.  If you thought backpacking at michigan was overwhelming you should see how they do it at AAU.  Much more complicated, but my roommate Emma and I were the first ones there to change our classes.  Although they did not have room for us in the same section, we are both taking czech culture and language, something I am actually very excited about. The first words we learned: Ahoj - hello (pronounced ahoy) and Pivo- Beer.

My professor lived right outside of prague during the communist era, and it caused alot of trouble for her family who was very academic   She said in the 80s people from prague would have came up to us and hugged us for being American, but now many of the country suffers from post-communist syndrome in which they are nostalgic for the old days.  She mentioned how communism is still visible, and we will be seeing how throughout the semester.

This class meets twice a week, with one day focusing on culture, and one day focusing on language.

So far it doesnt seem that bad

poltica=politics

sports=sports

caba=coffee

mleko= milk

pizza=pizza

skola=school (there are accent marks but i do not know how to type those yet...)

Our class wants to make an intramural FLORBAL team 

(like field hockey with a whiffle ball)

Our homework for the week is to try some czech food and learn the alphabet we learned they eat heavy lunch meals here as is much cheaper to eat off the lunch menu.  I also have to learn how to pronounce the alphabet.  While language was something I wanted to avoid I am eager to know what is going on around me.  We have class trips to order food, to dancing lessons, and to grocery shop so i feel as i will really be able to immerse myself in czech culture. (Although we will take it one step at a time, I did have bohemia bagel whre I got a bagel eggs and cheese for lunch and I made eggs for dinner)

Overall I had a great first day.  Everyone says abroad classes are a joke but we definitely have work.  They just seem much more interesting than the classes that we take at home, so it doesn't feel as much like busy work 

Ahoj! (means goodbye as well)