Hello beautiful people!
In less than twenty-four hours, I will be on a plane headed towards an uncharted future. And I have to say, the anticipation is riveting. I really thought that by this point I would be freaking out – anxious about the idea of living in a place I have never been before, with people I’ve never met before, surrounded by a language and a culture that I have only just recently begun to familiarize myself with. Maybe there’s a part of me that has yet to let this soon to be experience sink in. Is that weird? Or maybe my excitement is just overpowering all my other emotions. Either way, I’m looking forward to being there. Not necessarily the full day of travelling that precedes it though.
I’ve researched some about my host country, maybe not as much as a should’ve. But, needless to say, I’m in for a big change. Us Americans tend to be quite friendly – very hug prone. At least that’s how my family is. But, turns out, the Czech Republic is more often than not quite formal. Handshake, eye contact, formal greeting. I guess that’s not too different from our typical business greetings. Maybe I’m overthinking it. I guess we’ll find out. If you want to read the website I did, here’s the link: https://www.commisceo-global.com/resources/country-guides/czech-republic-guide
What I am really hoping for in the coming months, is to fully immerse myself into the Czechian culture. I want to force myself out of my comfort zone, which I think will ultimately be my biggest challenge. Fear is my greatest enemy. But I have decided that my way of working past that fear is knowing that this may be my one chance to experience everything I can while I’m over there. Four months sounds like a long time but I think it will go by fast. So I will need to utilize my time as best I can while making sure I live in every moment.
If I had to narrow it down, I think as of right now, I’m most excited to get there and marvel at all the amazing architecture! Many people have told me that Prague is a beautiful city and I just can’t wait to see it for myself. Pictures can only show you so much, you know? I want to smell the air, taste the food, hear the people. All the senses!
What scares me the most, honestly, is taking a while to make friends. Going to a strange place by myself is intimidating just because sometimes it takes me time to warm up to the idea of approaching people. But over there, I won’t really have too much time. I think my goal here is to introduce myself to basically everyone and start connecting with people, both within my program and otherwise, and make as many friends as I can as soon as possible!
Now, as John Denver once said;
All my bags are packed, I’m ready to go… ‘Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane.
Talk again soon!