Mid Program: “A day in the life”

November 3, 2023November 3, 2023rothg2

It’s hard to convey an “average” day in the life of a study abroad student. Every day looks different, since we’re all trying to be tourists and go on adventures amidst the stable schedule of classes. In this post, I will nevertheless try to describe what is closest to average for me. Accordingly, I’ve tried to pick out my most ordinary pictures for this entry (instead of showing off all the most exciting ones). In addition, I’ll give a little update on the goals I made at the beginning of the trip, and share advice to future students about community engagement.

^this sweet statue, “Dívka s holubicí,”or “Girl with a dove” stands next to the tram station that I take to go almost everywhere^

I start most days by waking up and opening my window, which looks out on a neighbor’s plant-filled balcony. The crisp air in the morning may smell like autumn, or cigarettes (it’s a toss up). I’ll get ready for school, and usually have a bit of time to get started on my to-do list before class.

At 11:45, I leave Belgická 2/24 (my apartment) and walk less than five minutes to my school. The walk is short but sweet; the streets of Vinohrady are lined with tall trees, now dripping with orange and green leaves, and I always walk by locals going about their day. Once I arrive at UNYP, I mentally prepare for my three-hour class period (some classes require more mental preparation than others…) before entering the classroom. At three pm, I’m dismissed, and the rest of the day is up to me.

At this point, the day-to-day variety is high, but here are some common ways I spend my evenings:

studying! I might take the metro to Old Town and walk to to Městská knihovna, a public library. This is the location of the famous “infinity book tower” which I have pictured in my Photos page (if you can find it in my sea of other pictures, i’m impressed). If I’m feeling slightly more fancy, I’ll go to a cafe. One of my favorites is Cafe Academia in Václavské náměstí, a 20 minute walk from my apartment. There are many closer options, but this is just one I like a lot.

^the outside ofMěstská knihovna^

choir practice: on some days, I walk a few blocks away from UNYP to the school where my professor’s choir rehearses.

^from the walk to choir!^

some fun social activity in Prague: from pub karaoke, to trying a new restaurant, to live music, to an art exhibit, to clubbing, to park picnics, the list of evening engagements is long! I’m so grateful to be in a place where I have such easy access to a variety of options. Because of all of these things to do around town, I use public transit a lot (see pictures from the metro and tram below).

walking: I like to go on long walks to/from destinations around town, so if I have enough time, I’ll walk somewhere instead of taking the tram. Along these walks, I get to enjoy the architecture of Prague’s streets, observe locals (though public transit has been the best for people-watching in my experience), and slow down during a busy day. I can also enjoy the cinnamon smells of the prolific trdelník pastry stands, or, again, cigarette smoke. Some pictures from these everyday walks are below.

Goals from the beginning of my trip:

When I first arrived, I had a few main goals for my visit. These included: getting to know the city, being present and not future-oriented, taking time for mental health and slowness, reducing my priority of academics, and interacting with Czech culture. In general, my goals have been going well. As time has passed, I’ve gotten better at balancing my priorities and knowing when I need to focus on school vs socialization. I’ve realized that getting to know the city is unfortunately beyond my capabilities for a four month stay, but I will explore what I can. I’d like to put more effort into engaging with Czech people, especially peers I’ve met in classes that I’ve neglected chances to talk to. One example of me trying to do this is starting an Eco Club at UNYP with my classmate and friend from my environmental studies class! Thankfully, I still have a month and a half to work on my goals and experience life here

^My flatmate Megan feeding some ducks on the bank of the Vltava^

In terms of strategies for community engagement as a study abroad student, here are some helpful things I’ve learned since I got here:

at your host school, the student life office can connect you with volunteering opportunities nearby
join school clubs if you find some you’re interested in! It’s a great way to find like-minded people and experience local culture through club events
talk to people (classmates, teachers, locals, etc)! Don’t pass up the simple conversational ways to learn about their lives and cultures. Its also been helpful to engage with people who are very different from me, so I can get a broader sense of the diversity of human experiences. But still pay attention to kindred spirits! People who are similar to you are just as valuable friends to make while abroad.

Na shledanou!

Arrival: Czech Republic: “I speak English like it’s my second language (and other post-arrival realizations)” by McKenzie Harris

October 18, 2023October 18, 2023nevitth

As of today, I’m officially two weeks into my stay here in Prague.

St. Nicholas Church in Hradcany

The last 14 days have been a whirlwind of new people and near-constant activity planning, mixed with hot afternoons where I melt into my bed and cease to exist for a few hours. I just got here, but I’ve also been here forever. Do you know that feeling?

As I’ve been adjusting to living here, I’ve noticed little things here and there about myself and about traveling/living in another country, so I thought I’d write some of them down in this blog. In the coming weeks, I’ll do a more specific description of my life here and how it compares to my plans and expectations, but for now, here are some of my first realizations.

*^my phone’s best attempt at a nighttime picture of Charles Bridge and Prague Castle^*

I speak English like it’s my second language.

I’ve gotten to talk to many non-native English speakers here, and I find it so interesting to listen to how they talk. While listening, though, I’ve gotten this feeling that I talk exactly like they do most of the time. I feel like it takes me a very long time to search for the right words to say, and I tend to pause a lot before speaking. I have no explanation, being a native English speaker, unlike my peers who are translating many languages in their heads. Maybe translating thoughts/feelings into words is a comparable task sometimes.

There’s something comforting about a warehouse full of unbridled consumerism…

After a week of shopping in cute neighborhood markets with unique and limited supplies, I can’t deny that I felt some relief stepping into a giant, impersonal, and commercialized chain store (Tesco). This was an unsettling realization because up until this trip, I thought myself immune to some of the basic American stereotypes, but here I was in week one wishing for the comfort of Target or Costco! I think I’m very used to only needing to shop in one place, and then not needing to shop for weeks because I could buy things in bulk. It’s a little awkward not knowing where to find things and knowing I’ll run out of things quickly. An unexpected adjustment for me will be learning how to shop in a way that better suits the norms here in Europe.

*^St. Nicholas Church in Old Town Square^*

If I had done this a year ago, I wouldn’t have been as homesick.

I’m very happy to be here, but I still feel very closely tied to my friends and family and home in America. It’s been a weight that I didn’t actually consider much when I first started planning this trip last year. I could explain it by saying that in the planning stages, I wouldn’t have accounted for homesickness because leaving was so far in the future. But I think another explanation is that I really wouldn’t have been as homesick a year ago. During the past year, I’ve become closer with my best friends and my boyfriend, and spent less time in my hometown than I wanted. I think the unexpected homesickness I feel is a product of having more things to love and miss than I planned. I’m looking forward to building familiarity here in Prague and hopefully loving it enough to miss it a lot when I leave!

The culture here is not just “Czech”.

I noticed this most clearly when I was walking through Vinohrady during a Mexican street market festival, eating a sushi burger (pictured above). I reminded myself that like any big city, Prague is a melting pot of many vibrant cultures and ethnicities. I’m so lucky to get to experience not only Czech culture (like trying svíčková for the first time, pictured above) but many of the subcultures of Prague as well.

*^the view of Prague from an arrow slit in the wall of Prague Castle^*

I’m not a tourist, but I’m not a resident either.

What am I then? I’m not sure, because it seems like studying abroad is such a specific and unique middle-ground between being a local and a visitor. I don’t have enough time to make this a home, but I’m not rushed for time. I still can’t speak the language, but I belong more than a tourist. I’m personally very excited to explore this transient but long-term experience, and I’m curious to see how I identify myself among tourists and residents as the months go on.

A few days ago, I was on a walk and came across two European tourists who asked me if I could help them with a few questions. They said they had arrived here two hours ago, and were curious about how to say “cheers” in czech, where to go clubbing, and where to find ATMs. I excitedly told them how to say cheers because I shockingly knew the answer (“na zdraví”). I only knew one club by name and didn’t know where the closest ATM was, but I told them there were many options in Old Town and recommended google maps for both.

After wishing them luck and walking away, I felt so proud of my somewhat unhelpful advice, and it reminded me of this one specific scene from The Great Gatsby:

“It was lonely for a day or so until one morning some man, more recently arrived than I, stopped me on the road. “How do you get to West Egg village?” he asked helplessly. I told him. And as I walked on I was lonely no longer. I was a guide, a pathfinder, an original settler. He had casually conferred on me the freedom of the neighborhood.”

I feel like that quote sums up my experience here pretty well, sarcasm and all.

(I’ve added many more pictures to my pictures section of the website, so I’m not putting a bunch at the end of this post like I did for the previous one)

Arrival: Czech Republic “The chronicles of traveling for 24 hours, and my first few jet-lagged days!” by McKenzie Harris

September 6, 2023September 7, 2023nevitth

Prague – Unsplash @ceye2eye

The chronicles of traveling for 24 hours, and my first few jet-lagged days!
At 4 am, bright (not) and early Saturday morning, my parents dropped me off at my hometown’s airport. By 7 am, I had landed in Seattle, where I settled in for a 7-hour layover. During my time haunting the airport, I practiced my Czech flashcards, watched Once Upon a Time, got food, started a new book, and generally wandered. The hours passed surprisingly quickly, probably because I was in a half-asleep fog the entire time.

The near sunrise of my early morning flight to Seattle.

My next flight was the longest leg of the journey, a 9ish hour flight to Paris. I knew it was important to sleep on this flight because I would be up for many hours after, which is probably why I couldn’t sleep a wink the entire time; murphy’s law and all that. Despite not really sleeping, I did spend most of the flight resting. Once I had landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport, I had an extremely tight layover that made the hour between landing and leaving for Prague very stressful. Thankfully, the airport seemed very well-organized and I made no wrong turns on my way to my connecting flight. I rushed through halls, up and down escalators, and bore the unbearable slowness of each line, without time for the bathroom or a single mistake, until finally I reached my gate. At the point I arrived, they had called all groups to board the plane. Once I was finally in my seat, sweaty and gross, my hands sort of shaking, it took basically the whole 2 hr flight to Prague for me to calm down. I was very excited to have made my flight on time, though. Seeing Europe below me, and the first glimpses of Prague (pictured below) also made me feel better.

At 11 am Europe time, which was 2 am to my body, I landed in Prague. This marked hour 23 of traveling (counting from when I woke up the morning before), but I wasn’t really letting myself be tired, because I still had one more leg of the journey to go and I couldn’t afford to stop functioning after I made it so far! I left my plane and stopped by the bathroom, where someone spoke to me in Czech for the first time. A woman told me thank you (“děkuju”) for holding the door, and it happened so fast I couldn’t say “není zač” in return, but it was exciting nonetheless.

Before continuing to the exit, I took a moment to get all of my immigration paperwork together because I assumed the Czech customs would be strict. These documents were my passport/visa, proof of my purpose of stay (acceptance letter), proof of accommodation, plane tickets home, and even proof of financial support. As it turned out, I didn’t need any of them; I walked straight to baggage claim and out of the airport. That was a little hard to wrap my head around, because up until that last checkpoint, I think part of me was still worried that something would go wrong and they wouldn’t let me in. I was met at the exit by a UNYP student shepherding a group of 7 new arrivals like me, who had flown in from the East US coast, South Korea, and more. We were shuttled to our apartments in small groups. I’ve since gotten to know all of these people at orientation and 2 of them coincidentally are also my flatmates! The group of visiting students is quite small (around 100), so it’s been nice to see the same people every day and build familiarity.

For the rest of my first day in Prague, I slooooowly unpacked my suitcases and decorated my side of the room, in between eating, a small shopping trip, and a walk to our school with my flatmates. In general, I was going through the motions in a sleep-deprived fog. It took me until the next morning to feel fully excited about being here.

The front steps of my host school.

Today was day 2 (“dva”) of orientation and day 3 (“tři”) of my trip. In the last 2 days, I’ve met many interesting and friendly fellow visiting students. I’ve also enjoyed some sightseeing with my 5 flatmates and other new friends. One of the most exciting things about this trip so far is that our apartment and school are located within walking distance of Prague’s most famous areas. In our walk to T-mobile to get sim cards, for example, we walked through Wenceslas Square and all the way into Old Town. While we were there, we walked a little further to pop by Old Town Square and the Astronomical Clock—as if it was just a normal walk around the neighborhood! I’ve been in such awe over the beauty and architecture of the city, and it feels so fulfilling to see all of these famous things I’ve researched and seen pictures of.

I’ve definitely had moments where I’ve been homesick, felt tired and dizzy, or gotten overwhelmed at the prospect of 4 long months before me. But I brought many little reminders of home with me, and I hope I will eventually develop routines and familiarity that make Prague into a home as well.

Below are some pictures from my neighborhood, Vinohrady, a picture from a walk with my orientation group, and a video from Old Town Square. I have no pictures of the most famous things yet, because so far I’ve only walked through them without my nice camera. I also apologize for the poor picture quality—I don’t know how to upload pictures to WordPress without them turning grainy 🙁

Pre-Departure: Czech Republic “The Calm Before the Storm”- A week before departure – by McKenzie Harris

September 6, 2023September 7, 2023nevitth

Prague – White bridge over river in daytime – Unsplash Photo @leachmar

“The Calm Before the Storm”- A week before departure

Hi everyone!

This first entry in my study abroad record will hopefully orient you to where I am in my preparations for studying abroad, as well as go over the main steps I’ve taken up to now. For those of you who are here for fun pictures and stories about what I’m up to in Prague, you will be sadly disappointed by this post, as it will hopefully be very dry compared to my future ones. This post is also partly to test if I know how to post things on WordPress. As of right now, I don’t really know how to use this website, so fair warning: the formatting of my posts and pictures will be quite lackluster.

My completed pre-departure tasks from earlier this year:
– Visa application
– register for classes
– buy plane tickets
– register with STEP
– paperwork both from my host school and home school’s abroad department
– make a budget estimate with my advisor
– figure out how to switch my cell service provider to get a better international plan

As summer made its way into the year and my abroad trip got closer, I switched my focus to the more exciting things—learning the language, deciding what to bring, and researching the Czech Republic.

The notebook I’ve been using to record what I’ve learned of the Czech language.

An example of an average ill-organized page!

I think part of being a respectful traveler is making an effort to learn some of the country’s language. Since I’ll be in Prague for 4 months, I’m trying to learn as much Czech as I can before I leave. I’m focusing more on learning common words and conversational phrases than grammar, thankfully (I’m not going anywhere near the seven Czech cases any time soon!). My main resources for language learning have been youtube (mainly Czech with Kateřina but there are many good channels!), duolingo, a podcast (One Minute Czech), and quizlet flashcards.

Part of my packing list.

Ideas for the things to do in Prague!

In addition to learning Czech, I’ve also had fun researching Czech history, customs, geography/things to do, and food. For these things, youtube has been my best source (travel vlogs, tour guide videos, etc). As you can see above, I made a list of ideas for things to do and places to go while I’m there, and nearly all of these items came from videos I’ve watched. There are so many places in Prague itself that I want to see, not counting all of the cool places outside it. I’m very excited to try some Czech dishes, like knedlíky (dumplings), svíčková (cream sauce over a roast), bramboráky (potato pancakes), and trdelník (a swirly pastry!).

I leave for Prague on Sept 2, which is a week from tomorrow. As the date looms closer, Prague feels no more real than it did when I applied to this program, but I’ve gotten some nerves about the trip that I didn’t feel until now. I’m nervous about being lonely in a new country, and about the way that every simple task feels complicated in a foreign place. I’m also nervous about things like my safety, transportation, and the immigration process.

But I’ve prepared as best I can, and I hope that will allow me to be flexible while I’m traveling and adapt to the inevitable complications that may arise. During this trip, I hope to lean into the experience of being alone in my dream city, because there’s freedom in being my own company, I think. I also hope to meet interesting people, participate in my interesting psychology classes, take too many pictures, and share them here with all of you.

Na shledanou!