Provincial Life Goes Global: Look Ma, I Made It (Daily Life)

I'm going to start by apologizing to all those who read this, much to my grandmother's dismay, grammar was never my thing and even after multiple checks, I may still have some mistakes. Also, this blog is my way of updating everyone back home about this wonderful adventure I have been blessed with, but it is also a requirement for one of my classes so I will have specific topics I need to cover. Now that my disclaimers are out there, we can get to the good stuff.

First Czech beer

Anyone who knows me knows that studying abroad has been a dream of mine for years, much to my parents' dismay. As I come up on the second week of being away from all thing familiar to me, I can say that so far this experience is everything and nothing like I expected it to be, but I am loving every second of it. I have definitely run into a few potholes like being fortunate enough to get the customs officer that had a scowl that made you question if you really knew your birth date, thinking you could master the Prague train station on your second day only to end up struggling all day and arriving at your destination 40 minutes after it closes, getting off a 4-hour bus ride to Olomouc only to find out that your shoebox of a dorm room didn't have wifi (your one source of communication to everyone back home), or waking up at 4am to your roommate telling you that a feral cat was in the room. Honestly, these stories are my favorites so far because they were the best learning experiences and I was fortunate to have an amazing group by my side going through it all with me. And hey, I'm now in the country where beer is cheaper than water so how bad can anything really be?

Our fury 4am visitor

I arrived in Prague on the 8th and luckily all my luggage did too (two of my fellow travelers were not so lucky), but once we all met up we took a shuttle to our hostel and our driver found it all too amusing as we attempted to say the few Czech phrases we knew. After a few days exploring the beautiful Prague (and drinking their pívo), we met up with the rest of the UNK group and headed to Olomouc, my new home for the next 3 months. In my short time in Olomouc, I have already fallen in love. Corny, I know but this city of 100,000 still has the small town feel that I love. The first three days here were filled with orientations and tours of the city, and a week later I am still in awe of the colorful and historic architecture that fills it with so much character and beauty. Being in Olomouc, I learned 3 things very fast: 1. its really easy to get all turned around in the city centers so pay attention, 2. when in doubt get on tram 2 and 7, and last but definitely not least 3. Globus is your best friend. For everyone back home Globus has EVERYTHING (except flashcards), and the first five days we were in Olomouc, I went to Globus every day.

Grabbing the essentials at Globus on our first night in Olomouc

On Thursday we finally started class, and I have never been so excited to go back to school because I was so ready to start learning Czech. Up until then when I was ordering food I would just pick an item at random (menus with pictures are my favorite). Well, let's just say when we left class we went straight to the pub because all hope of learning even a fraction of the Czech language was crushed. Don't worry class number 2 went way better, and all my hope in being able to order my food in Czech is restored.

Classic first day of school picture with my
new found friends

So much has happened in the last two weeks of my life that fitting it all into one blog post is impossible but over the course of the next 3 months, I will do my best to keep you all updated as I embark on hands down the craziest adventure of my life. Look ma, I made it!

XO,
Sheyenne