Elizabeth, Abroad! (now closed)

This blog is currently closed...

2008-09-12T18:55:00.002+02:00

It may be interesting to restart this blog if I do indeed ever get back to traveling. I kept this before and during the Fall of 2007 when I studied abroad in Brno, Czech Republic. Maybe it will be nice for people to still see it if they are thinking about traveling near Prague or Brno.
In the meantime, I keep a new blog called "Box Living," all about my life with my parents after graduating from college.

I'm Home!

2007-12-21T14:53:00.000+01:00

I hope you didn't think I would stop writing just because I left Brno! :) I'm home now and let me tell you, it's awesome. I will write more about my travels soon. For now I just wanted to let people know I made it back to Louisville in one piece.

Still waiting on my luggage though... :/

I've been awake since around 7am for some reason, even though I was up for over 24 hours yesterday. Anyway, when I opened the Courier Journal this morning a card fell out.
I opened it and it said:
Merry Christmas!
paper boy

How cute! His handwriting was kid's writing too. It's really the little things. :)

No More Internets. :(

2007-12-19T11:00:00.000+01:00

They shut off the internet in my room already, so I'm typing this from the Faculty of Arts G Building. It's not fair that they cut off my internet before I even left, but oh well, that is how Vinarska goes. :P

I am leaving Brno this evening by bus and will stay in a nice hotel with Mollie in Prague. Tomorrow morning I will fly to Louisville. I am excited!

Mostly people keep telling me I look tired, so I'm sure my family will freak out when I land because they'll think I look horrible. I'll just be glad to get home. I'm not looking forward to the flights. I hate flying for that long. It just sucks, and the problem is that I can't sleep sitting up like that!

I don't have much more to say really, except that I am so thankful for this experience and can't wait to greet everyone back home. I really hope that this isn't my last visit to Brno, and that I will see the people I met here again in my lifetime. I think there should definitely be a reunion stateside!

I have almost finished packing. I have a class at 11:40, and then some paperwork to drop off, but this afternoon I will return to Vinarska one last time and get my room sorted out. We have yet to decide if we are going to taxi to the bus station or attempt to take the tram with 4 suitcases and 2 carry ons. Mollie and I are strong, but I don't know about all that mess. We'll see.

I send my love and hugs to all! One more day! xo

P.S.

2007-12-18T11:10:00.000+01:00

P.S.
At home, I hope that...
... the Christmas tree is up and decorated!
... I can have some Mexican food post haste.
... we can please watch Home Alone and other Christmas movies and listen to Delilah and her crazy Christmas radio until I explode!

The End... and New Beginnings

2007-12-18T10:43:00.000+01:00

I can't even type things like a stupid blog title anymore without tearing up. I'm so excited to be heading home, but the trickle effect is killing me. By that I mean one or two students leaving each day until we've all trickled out of Vinarska and the Czech Republic. It's really hard to have to continuously say goodbye to people instead of doing it all at once!
Since I am leaving Brno tomorrow evening, I guess I won't have to worry about that anymore. It is definitely bittersweet. I fly out of Prague Thursday and return to my beloved home in Louisville. I have met so many amazing people here that it is hard to imagine going home and getting back into things.
The people that I spent my time with in Brno have 4 months of my life. I think the hardest thing will be not being able to turn to Pam or Erin or whoever and say what I'm thinking. People at home love me and know me, but no matter how I try to explain the past four months, they will never KNOW what it was like. The only people that can truly understand are the Vinarska kids of Fall 2007.

Today I am making my final preparations to leave. I have called the cleaning lady for checkout. Now I just need to turn in my paperwork to the International Office and continue packing. I had two classes yesterday, have two more this afternoon, and one tomorrow. I also need to write a response paper in the midst of this. As we all know I'm good at blogging at inopportune times.

Tara visited last Thursday until yesterday morning. It was nice to have her glimpse my life in Brno as I glimpsed hers in Stockholm. I felt bad about her visit though because after I went with Pam to pick her up in Prague Thursday night, we ate in a restaurant where I got food poisoning.
It was horrible. I had never had it before and it was truly terrible. I felt so bad because Pam & Tara tried to help me with juice and rice cakes, but my stomach couldn't handle it. Then we had to check out of the hostel by 10am Friday, whilst I was still making trips to the bathroom. Once we left the hostel at 10, our bus didn't leave until 2:30 and Tara & Pam wanted to see some things still. Plus, I wasn't going to try to change our tickets, being that I don't speak Czech.
We bought tickets to see the art exhibitions of Mucha, a Czech artist, and then Salvador Dalí. I think I only saw about ten pictures total because I sat in the corner most of the time with my head in my lap. Then while Pam & Tara went into a souvenir shop, I hovered over a trash can outside, nauseous. I really hope tourists didn't photograph that. It was embarrassing, but mostly I didn't care about what was going on around me because I was so sick. At noon Tara & Pam agreed to just go wait at Florenc bus station with me. It was a bad idea because it was so cold and we sat there for 3 hours. I really appreciate that the girls put up with me and took care of me.
The bus ride to Brno reminded me that my stomach hurt, but at least I didn't get sick again until back in Vinarska. I went to bed pretty soon after and it was only around 8pm. Poor Tara. At least her hotel room had TV. She was jazzed about that. On Sunday we just sat and watched two stupid shows on MTV because we missed television. It was funny.
We also went to Spilberk Castle, and unlike my visit with Erin, we actually made it inside this time! The only other thing I showed Tara was the Christmas market and a restaurant that smelled like dirty cabbage and cigarettes. I bet she had fun! Not. Oh well... at least we were together!

Luckily, I am no longer sick and can enjoy my last Czech meals. I guess for now I'm off to do more packing. Love to all, and see you soon.

Vsechno nejlepsi k narozeninam to me!

2007-12-12T17:41:00.000+01:00

Happy Birthday to me!
I turned 22 yesterday. It was certainly not a traditional b-day without my family and without a cake, but it was nice to go to dinner with some good friends here in Brno. We ate at, where else, but the American Restaurant?! I mentioned it once before as the place called Rodeo Drive that Erin and I stumbled upon one day. It was fun to go in a big group.
Birthday Photos

I leave Brno in one week exactly. I will spend the night in Prague the evening before my flight, meaning that I get home on Dec. 20th. I'm excited, but am sad too because the time here went by so fast.

"...for no journey is complete until we carry the stories home."
In my U.S. Literature class here we read a book by Scott Russell Sanders called Hunting for Hope. This quote stuck out to me because it's indicative of my semester abroad.

I didn't want to do it, but inspired by my friend Pam, my chats with the girls, and Mollie's sadness, I have created a list of things I will miss. It may be a bad idea and I could be wallowing in the sadness of leaving great people and memories that no one else will truly understand, but so be it.

I will miss...
... being down the hallway from friends.
... feeling accomplished just because I did laundry and made it to the grocery store in the same day.
... milkinis.
... strangely flavored potato chips, like paprika.
... the starry skies in Brno, so much clearer than in Louisville.
... hot chocolate and "gossips" with friends.
... Czech movies, at once awkward and hilarious and perfectly offbeat.
... Czech food--so filling and delicious.
... discovering something new or wonderful every day.
... getting stipend money.
... having cash on me, and pretty looking cash at that.
... hearing non-native speakers of English speak in English.
... shopping on Česká or going to H&M three times a week.
... saying the word Zmrzlina (ice cream).
... repeating everything the recorded voice says on the tram.
... a reliable (and dare I say fun?) public transportation system. C'mon Louisville... get on the ball!
... hearing what Czech students have to say about things.
... my professors, and especially Dr. Prajznerová.
... Pam (Pam-ELA) English: her humor, hand gestures, and Pamspeak.
... Mollie Vining: her free spirit, laughter, and tipsy hugs.
... Judit Fekete: her correcting people's English, yummy food, and having such similar body clocks that we bump into each other in town.
... Erin Young: her capacity for carrying chocolate around, story-telling, and enthusiasm.
... Michaela (Mishka)P. for being the best Slovak friend I've got and getting the Tuesday crew together.
... Jan P. for being my tutor and putting up with all my questions.
... Nick McRae for his jokes and his easy-going ways; Thad B. when drunk or sober for being hilarious and playing the guitar.. and being a sport when we say he looks homeless; Bláza N. for being my Czech buddy and laughing with me in class; Laurissa T. & Kathleen C. for being two of the most caring and beautiful people I have met in this world, and so many others that I apologize if I forgot to list you. I'm tired!

I just hope that when I leave next week it will not be the last time I ever see these people or this place. I look forward to Louisville, but this semester abroad really was the best decision I've ever made. I feel like so many doors have been opened and that things can only get better. Heres hoping I still feel that way as a college graduate in May 2008!

From Brno With Love

2007-12-06T16:01:00.000+01:00

I'm so busy with homework and hanging out with friends who are leaving that I haven't been able to post much. Also, since I don't really have time right now, I'll just post the email I sent to mom and others on Tuesday.

**************************
From: Liz
Sent: Tue 12/04/07 9:57 AM

So I haven't really been able to talk to you recently and I have some free time, so I'm going to write you an email. :)

I got back from Budapest, Hungary on Sunday night. It was another one of those crazy fast weekend trips that make my head spin! We had some trouble because the bus was 1) kind of broken down, and 2) too tall to fit through some streets and tunnels in Budpest. That made for an interesting trip, where we walked a lot more than we would have. It was fine though.
I discovered that Budapest is actually 3 cities. Buda, Obuda, & Pest. We stayed at a hostel in Pest but visited Buda on Saturday. Obuda or Old Buda, is on the same side of the river as Pest. Buda & Pest are split by the Danube River. I love seeing bodies of water, because Brno is hopelessly devoid of large masses of water. The architecture in Budapest is also really cool. Especially their Parliament building which is in the neo-gothic style. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungarian_Parliament_Building)

I took pictures, which I will put on the blog when I've got the chance. I'll also talk more about the trip. That depends on homework, because I'm so close to the end and things are getting hectic around here. I only have 16 days left! I can't believe it.

Tonight I am going to see the Nutcracker Ballet with some friends at the Janackovo divadlo, the theater. It is the same place where we saw the opera our first week here. Luckily though, we won't be confused like we were during "the Bartered Bride" opera, because Ballet is language-less! I also really love the Nutcracker because mom used to take me all the time for my birthday. I wish she could see the Czech Nutcraker Ballet with me! I will have to tell everyone all about it. I'm also in the mood for Christmas, so I can't wait to hear the music of the Ballet that reminds me of the holidays!

I am just sitting in the computer lab of Gorkého 7, one of the campus buildings for Masaryk University. This is actually the only building I ever really go into because all 5 of my classes are held here. I can't say I'll miss it much!!

Plus, this Czech keyboard is so hard to type with. (I think I started this email 20 minutes ago!)

I love you all and will be seeing you very soon. I hope that Scott had a really good birthday. I forgot to call from Budapest, and I couldn't reach anyone Sunday night when I got back to Brno. I think I may have missed the return call because I was asleep.

Also, if you haven't stopped already, please don't send any more snail mail my way, as I may not receive it before I leave Vinarska Residence and the Czech Republic on December 20th. As far as I know my flight still arrives at 7:28pm Louisville time at Standiford Field. I send the biggest virtual hugs and kisses possible, to tide us over until my return!

xoxoxo Liz
************************

The Ballet was fun. It wasn't as fancy as the Louisville Ballet productions, but it was charming. The only difference was that I'm used to Clara being the niece of the man who gives her the Nutcracker, but here Clara was a homeless girl he brought in off the street. Interesting.

Here are Budapest/Ballet photos.
Album 1
Album 2
Album 3

Only 14 more days! Yikes. Tara comes next week and I've just bought the tickets to pick her up from Prague.

Well, I'm off to eat lunch/dinner. I've been doing errands and homework all day!

Less than 3 weeks left!

2007-11-29T18:20:00.000+01:00

I can't believe my time here in Brno is almost over. It is so sad because I feel really close to the people I have met and our group is slowly getting smaller as people journey home.
I never would have thought that you could form relationships with people so quickly and easily, but I guess being so far from home we were forced to. I really am thankful for this experience and hope to keep in touch with the people I have met. They are really great people and I will miss them!
Enough about that mopey stuff.

I have some pictures from Thanksgiving thanks to Heidi, an Aussie friend, and also of the USA/Bulgaria/Estonia country presentation that was last night, thanks to someone from Facebook.com.

At Thanksgiving we took a big group (of 15) to the restaurant Pegas.

Even without the Turkey it was a fun night. Here I am connecting Pam's freckles to see if they truly did form the dipper. For the record, it's true.

Afterwards we had apple pie (thanks to the girls' church here) in Jacob & Michelle's room. There we made Pilgrim and Native hats. A little ridiculous at 21 years of age, but still fun. We also tried to explain Thanksgiving to some Aussies, a German, and an Estonian.

Last night we presented the United States of America to a group of 200 international students at Masaryk University. Estonia and Bulgaria also gave their presentations last night.
As a part of the presentation, countries serve food. We went crazy with peanut butter crackers, peanut butter on cookies, and peanut butter apples. :) We also had homemade salsa that was very good for the ingredients this country has to offer! For drinks we had sweet iced tea and "jungle juice" which is a fruity vodka drink. I also got rid of the rest of the Halloween candy that my wonderful family sent! People LOVED the candy (and Christy's salsa). Apparently peanut butter is an acquired taste, but all of the food did go.
Here Mollie is helping to lay out the spread.

Justin and Zach introducing the AWESOME video that Zach put together to explain "Amuricah" to the rest of the world. :)

The beginning of the video:

Most of the Americans lined up for a "class photo."

Front row L-R: Me (KY), Pam (IL), Erin (UT), Kelsey (CO)
Middle row: Mollie (NY), Nick (GA), Christy (VA), Justin (PA), Sean (PA), Zach (TN)
Back row: Thad (CO), Joe (WA)
Missing: Kellie (GA), Eric (IN), Nathan (IN), Chris (TN), Nina (CA), Michelle (MT), Jacob (MT)

What fun!
Tomorrow we leave super early for Budapest, Hungary. It is my last trip outside of the Czech Republic besides flying back to the states. I am so lucky and excited!

P.S.
My roommate Kaisa and her boyfriend Jussi told me about the most addictive and guilt-free online game. It's a great tool for procrastination, vocabulary prep, or busting boredom... and just plain fun! FREE RICE

Happy Plates

2007-11-25T21:50:00.000+01:00

Regrettably, I did not take my own photos on Thanksgiving, so I am waiting for others before I publish photos. I did have a very fun, non-traditional Thanksgiving. I did miss the turkey (there's always next year), but don't think I'm not eating well.
I wanted to post this mostly for my dad, who seems to think I am malnourished just because I don't go out to dinner that often, and cook for myself on the hotplate.
So, I took some photos of things I've eaten (and cooked) recently.
Last weekend I made chili, thanks to the chili powder my mom mailed, and ate that for the next few days. It was yummy.

This weekend, suffering Mexican food withdrawals, I spent the exorbitant amount of money for tortillas and seasoning to make quesadillas. It was so yum, and gone too fast.

Just this afternoon I had a grilled ham & cheese sandwich with a side of cous cous (also, a gift from my mom). The cous cous was good with cucumber and onion, but I missed the feta cheese that I usually put with it at home. I didn't want to try finding that in the store here. It's too easily mixed up.

It may not be gourmet, but it's good enough for me! Told ya dad!
xo

Thanksgiving

2007-11-20T22:37:00.000+01:00

Hope everyone can view the video. Sorry it's so dark and shady-looking. ha!

Happy Thanksgiving! (I realize that I am early.)

Thirteen of us are going to dinner on Thursday at Pegas Restaurace in Brno for Thanksgiving dinner. We decided it would be too stressful to try to cook (since we don't have ovens and such) and to find ingredients, so we're going out to eat Czech food. Pegas is a good restaurant, so it's not a bad thing.
Eat lots of turkey, stuffing, and Sharon's broccoli casserole for me. :)

XO

I also wanted to post a list of some of the songs played by the "DJ" that lives above me in Vinarska. It's so RANDOM!
Justin Timberlake- Sexy Back
Enya- Only Time
R. Kelly & Snoop Dogg- That's the Sh**
Tupac- Dear Mama
Elton John- Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
Sean Paul- Like Glue
George Michael- Careless Whisper
I'm not sure what kind of events he supposedly DJs for, but his music sucks. LOL.

Until we meet again.

Breakfast in Brno

2007-11-17T23:53:00.001+01:00

Thanks to yet another wonderful package that mom sent, I had Bisquick mix for pancakes!

So when Kellie and some of the girls decided to have Saturday morning breakfast, I brought the mix along and we had a good time in her cramped kitchen. We made the pancakes, which for some reason turned out thin and crepe-like, and also some french toast. Since Maple syrup is way expensive here, we had them with honey. It was still delish.
Here are some photos that Kelsey took with my camera. Laurissa also came, bearing fruit that we swallowed in a heartbeat. She always finds the best food! (Which is fitting because at dinner the other night she simply said, "I love food." We all agreed.)

P.S. We have actually found peanut butter at a store called Interspar, so I no longer have to import it from Hungary. :) The funny thing is, that it is in the ETHNIC FOOD Section! I never would have thought of peanut butter in that section, but we are in the Czech Republic.

P.P.S. Do you think that the punishment for killing my loud dorm neighbors would be harsh? Just wondering.

Playing babička/matryoshka again

2007-11-16T13:39:00.000+01:00

The cold has come to Brno for good. It's really unfortunate because I hate the cold. It's only good if the snow falls and you're able to stay inside a warm building with some hot chocolate. Since the snow isn't falling, the wind is prickling, I have to venture out of Vinarska, and I'm too lazy to buy hot chocolate mix, Brno winter does not bode well for me.

I have more photos of me playing the babička/matryoshka because I'm bundled against the cold!
These are from Erin's camera photos from Poland.

Catching snowflakes.

Three matryoshka!

Warm on the bus!

And one by Juci.

Another Whirlwind Week

2007-11-14T13:56:00.000+01:00

I am finally able to post something after returning from Poland on Sunday and then being extremely busy with schoolwork for the past few days. I had a presentation and 2 papers to finish so it has been a crappy week. I'm so glad I am finished with classes for the week!

Tower in the center of Krakow, Poland

Pope John Paul II-picture of a picture somewhere in Krakow where they had a statue of the him. I like his shoes. :)

We never actually made it to Wadowice where PJPII was born because of a heavy snow fall. Plus it was already dark because our day had gotten off track on Sunday.

Once again here is a link to more photos from Auschwitz & Krakow. Because I was lazy and got sick of dealing with my battery failures, Erin took about 90% of the photos. Still, I managed to be in only 1 of them! I have to start being in more photos of this European adventure!

Okay.. so I guess the best thing to do would be to recount the trip by going day by day.

Friday

This was the day that we saw the concentration camps in Oświęcim, Poland. Auschwitz is a German name. We saw KL (German abbrev. of concentration camps) Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenou. Since we were a student group of 70+ people, we split into 3 groups to tour the camps. We had an excellent tour guide for our group. She was very quiet, almost as if out of respect for the events that happened there. Her soft voice forced everyone to listen intently and I was glad that no one goofed off or made jokes during the tour.

Our guide kept saying the phrase "please remember _____." In one way it was to remind us about the historical events that we have perhaps forgotten from schooling. In another it was to try to explain the events to a generation of us who weren't alive at the time. Lastly, it was to speak for the people who endured or died at the camp, reminding our generation not to forget... to remember. Always.

The whole tour was very emotional. They don't allow photos to be taken except for outside of the buildings. Inside of each building in Auschwitz I they had separate stacks of personal belongings. Stacks of shoes; glasses; toothbrushes; suitcases; pots, pans, cups; and HAIR. All of these things belonged to someone--have a person attached to them. Many people thought the camp was temporary and that they would be starting a "new life" after they got out. Many never got out. I couldn't even count how many items there were. All of the suitcases had a name handwritten on them and the address of that person. Many never returned to that address. Some suitcases had the Star of David in bold handwriting. I am always surprised to remember that Hitler's prejudices were not limited to Jewish people. Children who were orphaned, many Poles, political prisoners including Czechs, Soviets, Yugoslavs, French-men, Austrians, & Germans, thousands of Roma (gypsies), Homosexuals, and so many others were killed along with all of the Jews that Hitler could find. People came from as far away as Oslo in Norway to die at the camps.

The camps were also used as laboratories where SS Dr. C. Clauberg experimented on LIVING people. His tests involved sterilizing Jewish women; biological examinations of people, mainly Slavs (presumably to test on color/race); experiments on twins, to figure out how to "clone" more Aryans; and tests on handicapped people for various discoveries. They also liked to rub various toxic substances onto prisoners' skins or try to transplant skin from one person to another.

It's hard to imagine such inhumanity. It really puts what I think of as a crappy day into perspective.

There is a metal sign over the entrance to Auschwitz I which reads "Arbeit macht frei" or in English "Work makes (you) free." It was so sad to see the sign and know that it was a lie to these poor people and that many of them believed it up until the end.

Auschwtiz II-Birkenou was even more gruesome because of it's sheer magnitude. The prisoners of the camps themselves had to build it. It was huge. My guide book says that it covers 425 acres. There were 300 cabins, each holding 20+ three tiered bunk beds, where each tier slept 6 people. That's over 300 people per cabin. They approximate that 100,000 people were in the camp at one time. Of course, with each death, more prisoners could be brought in, and then killed.

It's so horrifying and spooky. The weird thing to me was to stand by the main gate at Auschwitz-Birkenou and look out into the surrounding neighborhood where people live today! In houses! I could never live next to a place like that. These few homes weren't around until after the war, but still, it's a creepy place to live next to.

Friday evening we boarded our bus to head to Krakow, all sobered by the experience in the camps. It was a very quiet ride.

In Krakow we had to stay in two separate hostels because our group was so big. It was my first time in a hostel, but I think the particular one we stayed in was very nice. If you ever go to Krakow, I can recommend Hostel Lemon. Just don't room next to any Spanish boys. (More on this later.)

Saturday

After an interesting night of sleep (trying to sleep anyway with our Spanish schoolmates partying/fiesta-ing next door at daybreak), we had breakfast as a group. This involved a cheese/meat plate with bread, butter, and jelly. There was some sort of meat paté or Dr. Seuss' Who-Hash as we took to calling it. After tasting it, I quickly pushed it to the side of my plate. At least the cheese and ham and bread were good. (These things are the same in just about every country--can't go wrong there!)

We took a walking tour of the city centre, where most of the pictures were taken. My batteries died pretty soon after. I think my camera sucks power out so fast! Our tour guide had a funny habit of saying v-words with a "w." Wodka. Wisit the castle. It was very fitting in Poland, because every word seems to have a "w" in it!
After this, the group split up so we could -"do our own thing."

Erin, Pam, her sister Diane, Laurissa & Kathleen from Australia, and I went to see Wawel Castle. I'm not making that name up. It was a nice "wisit." We saw the State Rooms, treasury and armory. I think they had better state rooms in Sweden's palace, but Poland definitely had a better treasury & armory. Sorry Sweden!

Krakow was shockingly similar to Stockholm in many ways:
Kebabs (They're everywhere in both places!)
The Palace/Royal stuff
English (people don't get pissed when you speak it, and actually speak back to you in it!)

The group of us had lunch at a Kebab place and it was delicious. I almost forgot to mention it! Kebabs are NOT what we think of in the U.S. No sticks are involved! Kebabs are more like gyros without the pita bread. Kebabs are on buns but with the same type of meat, veggies, and dressing you get on a gyro. The guy asked me if I wanted the spicy sandwich or the mild one. I said spicy. He got a big grin on his face and said "Are you sure?" Of course I wasn't after that! I said, "Is it spicy?" He said knowingly, "Oh yes. It is spicy." I said, "Then not spicy, thanks." He said with a wink, "Maybe medium spicy." I said ok.
After eating I was so glad that he did not give me the spicy one! The medium one was great, very delicious, but definitely hot enough that I had to gurgle some coke in between bites.

I guess we probably wandered around more after that... I just can't remember.. OH wait! I do.
Next we went to a museum called Czartoryski . We were able to see some cool artifacts and artwork, but the most special thing about it was that we saw paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt. The da Vinci piece is called Lady with an Ermine and the Rembrandt piece is Landscape with the Good Samaritan. Both are much better in person. In fact, part of the paint on the Rembrandt piece looks neon.

For dinner we found a cheap restaurant with good food, so we were happy.

Then the interesting night began. When we got back to the hostel and went to sleep it was great... until we got into a bilingual fight through the wall with our Spanish schoolmates.

Sunday

5-7AM Neighbor party night #2- We just can't take anymore = Bilingual fighting a.k.a. The Ordeal.

Here's a reenactment:
Them- Loud talking and banging and clapping (at 5AM)
Pam- Bangs on the wall
Spanish guy- Que? (English: What?)
Pam- I'm really trying to sleep, so please be quiet.
Them- Loud laughter and continued noise
Pam- Bangs on wall. Shut up!
Them- No!
Us- SILENCIO, POR FAVOR!! (English: Be quiet, please!)
Them- Fiesta! (Eng: Party!)
Me- No! Siesta! (Eng: Nap!)
Pam- Sueño! (Eng: Sleep!)
Them- Party!
Us- no!
Them- Laughter.
*later*
Them- Louder partying.
Diane- goes out to their door and bangs on it.
Them- Silence/hushed laughter
Diane- I got blessed with the bed next to your room so if you could be quiet that would be great! She comes back to the room.
Spanish guy- Cobra, cobra. Aqui, aqui. (Eng: Cobra, cobra. Right here, right here.)
Them- Laughter.
Diane- I hope a cobra kills you!
Us- Laughter and gasping for air.
Them- Laughter and continued noise for the rest of the night.

They pretty much blamed us for the whole thing on our tour of Krakow later that day. Whatever!

So, sleepily we ate breakfast and walked around Krakow's Jewish Quarter, lugging our backpacks (as it turns out unnecessarily because of "technical" issues with our bus).

Then we left Krakow on our amazingly fixed bus for Wieliczka. They have a salt mine there that was very interesting. Not really interesting enough to tour it for 3 hours, but what the heck.
At least the tour guide was funny. She said something at the beginning about the tour and how we would have to walk down 380 stairs. Then she said something like "You have no choice." It was so funny. She said equally hilarious things throughout the whole trip (a true comedian, or mistakes because of poor English?). We think she knew she was being funny... but it was the kind of funny that only comes from a language barrier.
It's hard to describe the salt mines.. so here's the website.

The entire weekend it snowed a lot, and even more so as we headed to Wadowice, so we ended up not seeing Pope John Paul II's hometown and skipped on to Brno. The snow was beautiful to drive through and I was glad that we were in a warm bus.
Once we reached the Czech-Polish border there was a big to-do over passports. The guides said they would let us know if they needed the U.S., Australian, & Canadian passports, so Erin & I held onto ours. (The only people who needed stamps were non-EU citizens. That means the 3 countries I mentioned before, and the students from Turkey. All non-EU members had stamped the passports leaving CZ, but we never did know if we had to leaving PL.) Once Erin & I discovered that all of the other Americans, Aussies, and Canadians (but us) had given up their passport for a stamp, we ran to our tour guide and gave her our passports. She was mad, but still there was a delay for some reason.
Finally they checked another girls passport and after waiting around in ignorance for an hour we were allowed to re-enter CZ. No one ever explained the problem to us, but that's kind of how it goes when you don't know the languages.

We didn't arrive back at Vinarska Residence Hall until around 11pm. I was so tired that I just unpacked, sent an "I'm back" e-mail to my parents, and crashed on the bed.

It was a good trip, but very tiring, and it made me very emotional. I know that I only have one month left, and I want to have good memories, but it's so easy to find bad things in Europe because it isn't home. I try to have more good days then bad, but sometimes the system works against me.

Thanks to everyone who has sent letters and candy lately! It's appreciated. :)
Love you all!

Money Money Money

2007-11-07T16:48:00.000+01:00

What's more fun than homework?? Blogging! :D
I'm headed to Krakow Friday with a majority of the international students and the International Student Club (ISC). Here is the e-mail we received. (Italics are mine.)

************************************************************************************
INFO: the excursion to KRAKOW
9 - 11 November 2007

Dear friends!
We are sending our last informations for your trip to Krakow

date:
Fri 9 th November 2007 - Sun 11 th November 2007

meeting point:
lobby of the Vinařská Hall of Residence, Bloc A1 – at 6:10 a.m.

departure:
Fri 09 November 2007 at 6:30 a.m. !!!!

arrival (return):
Sun 11 th November 2007 in the evening

price not includes:
food and beverage

entrance fee (maximum cca 60 – 70 PLN Polski zloty for different entrances. The 40 ZL will be collected in the bus and cca 30 ZL is for the castle. Museum, galerie … what do you like…).

Please have ready 40 Polski zloty for special group entrance fees to Auschwitz and Vielicka – to be collected in the bus (ask in the bank for small notes, that you can give exactly 40 Polski zloty ).
******************
- Please don´t forget, good shoes and warm clothes, towels, umbrella.

- DON'T FORGET your passport and your camera!!!

- Take also your pills if you need.

- Change CZK /Czech courones/ to PLN/Polski Zloty/ for entrance fee a(nd) something to eat… (breakfast is on the price of accomodation)

We are looking forward to (seeing) you !!!

********************************

PROGRAM OF THE EXCURSION TO KRAKOW (Itinerary)

Friday 09th November
06:30 Departure from BRNO (meeting at 6:10 a.m. - Vinařská 5, A1) - on the way short stop for last refreshment in Czech Republic
13:00 Auschwitz - Guided tour in camp of concentration Auschwitz and Birkenau (UNESCO World Heritage Cite)
16:30 Departure from Auschwitz
18:00 Krakow (Poland) - Accomodation in the hostel and a short sightseeing walk in the centrum of historical city Dinner in small groups …. and a night enjoyment (ha!) …

Saturday 10th November
08:00 Breakfast in the restaurant Slaska
09:00 Krakow - Guided walk in the city (UNESCO World Heritage City): Main Square (Rynek glowny), Cloth Hall (Sukiennice), Town Hall, Gothic St Mary´s Basilica, Kanonicza Street (Royal Coronation Street), Grodzka Street, Saint Peter and Paul Church, Barbican, the City Walls, St. Florian´s Gate and Church, the ancien(t) Jagiellonian University …
13:00 – 14:30 lunch time (in the city)
15:00 Castle of Wawel - Sightseeing of the Royal Castle and Cathedral on Wawel Hill, Royal Tombs, Zygmunt Bell, the original Dragon and its Den, river Vistula (Wisla) … and a lot of museums, expositions …
18:00 Time for dinner in small groups … and night enjoyment …Accomodation in the hostel in Krakow

Sunday 11th November
8:00 Breakfast at the restaurant Slaska
09:00 Krakow - Continue of guided walk in the city of Krakow - the facilities for visit the Jewish Quarter and Old Synagogue of Kazimierz, Old Town … Lunch time in the city
12:00 Departure from Krakow
13:00 Salt mine of Wieliczka – visit of the salt mines (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
15:00 Departure from Wieliczka
16:00 Wadowice – visit of the village where Pope John Paul II was born
17:00 Departure of Wadowice
21:00cca (approx.) - Arrival to Brno (Vinařská)
************************************************************************************

I didn't know that we would be visiting Auschwitz. Actually, I didn't know that we'd be visiting so many things--even Pope John Paul II's birthplace. I thought we were just going to Krakow! I'm pretty excited about the trip. Luckily I got into it at the last minute. I really should stop being a procrastinator. On the other hand, if I did stop, you wouldn't get so many blog entries!

Now, for a visual comparison. :) Erin and I exchanged some money into Polish Zloty today. GUESS WHAT??!! The American Dollar is so unbelievably weak!! 1 U.S. dollar = 2.51849837 Polish zloty. I couldn't believe it when Erin told me. Seriously? Poland?? Not that they couldn't always have had such a close rate, but I had no clue.
Anyway, zloty's are tiny compared to most money. Also, they don't have flashy ink so they're not as fun. Still not as ugly as U.S. dollars though.

Polski Zloty: (about $27 worth)

Polski ZL on Dollar: (about $7.94 + $1)

200 Cesky koruna on Dollar: Taller, but not as wide.(around $10 + $1) The rate went down from 20 CZK per $1 to 18 CZK per $1. Stupid dollar!!

50 CZ Koruna note is smaller, so here it is on dollar. (about $2.50)

Now see... this was so much more important than homework, wasn't it??

Observation

2007-11-06T22:03:00.001+01:00

I had an assignment to sit on a street corner and write down what I observed. Here's what I jotted down on 4 post-it notes.

A Wednesday. 1:45-2:45pm. Česká street.
Trams left and right. People walking, eating, waiting, talking on phones. Strollers. Fast. Slow. Laughing. Shoveling holes in pavement- putting in car barriers. Tractor. Groceries. Beer and a parek. Cigarettes. Pidgeons. Daring pidgeons- letting you know that this is their territory. Walkmans, ipods, mp3 players. Dogs walking, leashes jing-jangling. Whir of trams. Bells. Coughing. Talking. Metal tram wheels grating metal tram tracks. Ahoj. Čau. Kisses, hugs. Pizza with ketchup. Wind in your face. Fresh air. Plastering posters with glue in squirt bottles and paint rollers. A language I don't understand. Doors shut. Trams go. Squealing babies. Click-clack of high heels and boots. Sigh. Hey Liz. Erin has come to meet me and I'm not longer alone.

This was last week, if I remember correctly. Time is madly passing by.

Also, it snowed today...

my toy from Prague is hanging proudly...

and Kaisa has started a collection. :)

Video clips from Sweden

2007-11-05T23:45:00.000+01:00

Me spinning around in Tara's broken IKEA chair.

And the band at the Royal Palace.

Sverige and back!

2007-11-05T22:47:00.001+01:00

Well it's disappointingly cold in Brno now... 28 degrees F as I write this post. Well, since I'm warm in my dorm room, I'll tell you all about Sweden (Sverige)!

Sweden was extremely cold. At least I was not surprised and wore thermals. In Brno I didn't think that I would need them!

Anyway, Tara met Erin and I at the Arlanda airport in Stockholm and I let out a scream of joy. It was so good to see the face of my best friend. Now if only I could see more Louisville faces!

Tara brought a Dr. Pepper like any great pal would, and I downed it within minutes on the Arlanda Express. It took us to the central station where we would take a train to Tullinge, the city she lives in. Riksten, the dormitories, are much nicer than Vinarska, so it was a very nice stay.

We tried to cram sight seeing, souvenir shopping, and quality time into 3 days. It was so sad to leave!

When we arrived at the central station Thursday night we ate at McDonalds. It was my first encounter with the Swedes, who speak English as a second language! It was fabulous. Well, not the food. Speaking English however was. Plus in Swedish, "hello" is simply "Hej" (Hey) and "thank you" is "Tak" (tahk). So EASY!

Next we got our SL cards which would allow us to travel freely on buses and trains throughout the weekend.

On Friday, one of the first things we saw was IKEA (ee-key-uh). Since it's a Swedish store, the one in Stockholm is the world's biggest. There we had a delicious lunch of Swedish meatballs and salad. So yummy.

We also walked around Stockholm which was fun. At one point we saw some mysterious figures in white suits. To be honest I thought they were tampons... but it turns out that they were dressed as rice! It was a promotion for new Rice Pringles. They were delicious!!! PLEASE tell me that they have or will release them in the states! They are even better than normal pringles!

We checked our e-mail at the Sodortorn Hogskola library (Tara's school). She said it was award winning and I believe it. It's so cool. They have magazines suspended in the air my clear plastic walls. It makes for a very awesome sight. They also have brightly colored recliners and fun chairs, self-checkout stands, and a lot of computers. It beats the libraries at Bellarmine and Masaryk any day!

For dinner we had BURRITOS! We cooked ourselves, but still, I'd missed them so much. The ingredients are way too expensive and hard to find in CZ for me to ever think about cooking them here, but the Willy's grocery in Stockholm had walls of taco seasonings, tortilla shells, and salsas!

On Saturday we took a tour of the palace in Stockholm. It was All Saints' Day, so they had some performance by army people and a band. They were hilariously NOT in sync. It was so funny.

We toured the Royal Apartments, the Treasury and the Armoury. It was interesting. Most of all we wished we were children because they had a very cool playroom with costumes, shields, wooden swords, and a life-size horse drawn carriage (of wood). It was too awesome.

Dinner that night was Swedish meatballs cooked by us, thanks to the instant sauce packet from the grocery and mashed potatoes. Even though I was the cook, it was yummy. Mom always says "You know what would make this meal better? If someone else had cooked it!" I agree.. but I think I did a good job. My parents will be so proud. :)

Here are some photos that Erin took from the trip.
The awkward soldiers

and band.

A better photo of the fountain than my own

and the shopping mall.

Funny sign by the river.

Monument by City Hall.

Besties.

Night shot. ("What are friends for except to block your shot?")

Crazy hair!

Playing a babička/matryoshka in the cold weather waiting for a bus.

These links are to the photos that I took. Two albums this time! :)
Sweden 1 and Sweden 2

Sweden was so fun, and I think I've convinced Tara to visit me in Brno in December!
You can see Tara's blog entry here.

Now I've got to focus on schoolwork because we leave for Krakow, Poland this Friday. I love Europe!

P.S. Don't take Sterling airlines. It's not that great even if it is cheap.

Na sled!

2007-11-01T00:49:00.001+01:00

(photo is of Swedish Embassy in Prague. I took it for Tara. :D)

Headed to Sweden!
I'm ready for some $2 Dr. Pepper. It will be worth it!

Halloween in Czechland

2007-11-01T00:48:00.001+01:00

Well, now that Halloween is over, I just wanted to point out some differences from the U.S.

1. Czech people don't actually celebrate Halloween. Some people have parties because it's a fun Western thing to do, but it's not a big deal like in the States. I was actually surprised that people mentioned it at all.

2. Actually, the only 2 countries that really celebrate Halloween are Canada and the U.S. Who knew?

3. The Czechs are great with chocolate... but they're missing out on the good fruity candies. I've only seen gummies and bubblegum. No skittles, no sweettarts, etc. Not even lifesavers!

4. There is no Czech translation for "Halloween" or "trick or treat." It was funny at the Halloween party to hear Czech conversations sprinkled with English words.

5. People stare at you when you have Halloween make-up on. (I guess especially if you're just on the tram with the makeup and no costume because you weren't changing clothes until you got to the party.)

P.S. October 28th was Czech/Slovak Independence Day. In 1918 Czechoslovakia was freed from Austro-Hungarian rule. The Czech Republic and Slovakia would not be formed until 1993. (How do I know this? Not from any indicators in Brno.. but online! I can't believe such a seemingly big holiday passed and nobody mentioned it!)

P.P.S. Photos to come soon from the Halloween party in my room since mom sent a "party in a box" package. :)

Finally, an update!

2007-10-28T12:30:00.000+01:00

So I finally loaded the Prague photos from Nick's camera onto my computer. After about 2 hours in Prague my own camera stopped working, so I took a lot of photos using Nick's camera. At this point, who knows really which photos were taken by whom, but here's a link to them anyways!
More Praha photos

Also, Erin and I went to a Halloween Party yesterday at her church in Brno. It was fun.. even though it was mostly a party for kids. haha! I was Cleopatra, and Erin was a princess.

See more photos from the Halloween party.

Now.. homework! It stinks, but I've got to get ahead this week! We leave for Sweden Thursday.. yes!

HAPPY HALLO-WEEK! :)

Thank You!

2007-10-24T13:22:00.000+02:00

In case I don't say it often and every day: I love my family. Each card I receive at Vinarska makes me so happy. I got great letters from Aunt Sara, Mom & Dad, Andrew & Kim, Grandma & Grandpa K., and Grandma & Grandpa M. I love the doodles, the pictures, or the handwritten thoughts. Thanks so much! :D

I don't have the rest of the Prague pictures ready to post yet, but here are some to tide you over. ;)

Me in front of the astronomical clock.

(Photo by Erin)

Me & Erin in front of the Vltava River. Yes, that is spelled right... Czechs love consonant sequences apparently. haha!

(Photo by Nick on Erin's camera)

What makes the cold, drizzly rain almost bearable? A rainbow... and the widest one I've ever seen to boot!

(Photo by me on Nick's camera)

I will be staying in Brno this weekend. Next weekend I head to Sweden to visit Tara, so I don't mind getting some things done in Brno this week. Plus, I'm going to a Halloween party with Erin on Saturday. We're renting costumes from a theatre company here so that should be fun!
More soon.

P.S. I'm jealous of you Louisvillians and your warm weather!!

Back in Brno.

2007-10-21T18:07:00.001+02:00

What a whirlwind of a weekend! I went to Prague with Erin & Nick. It was great and Prague is beautiful. We all agreed however that we like Brno better! Funny. We're not biased at all I bet. haha.

Here's a link to some photos from the trip.
Prague
I'll add more photos soon, but this is all I got on my camera. It froze up or something pretty soon after I took it out. It was so cold in Prague. I continued to take photos on Nick's camera, so you'll see those later.

We stayed at the BEST place ever! It was like an apartment. It's called Ron's Rainbow Guest House. It was amazing. Ron was great and had the best tips about Prague. We decided to spend a little more to have nice accomodation AND because Ron is from Louisiana! We HAD to stay at an American's place! haha.
More on this and the trip soon.

Praha at last!

2007-10-18T19:22:00.001+02:00

Finally, Erin, Nick, and I are going to Prague! None of us have been yet and we are super excited. :) It's going to be cold, but so is Brno, so why not be cold in Prague?! We leave Friday (tomorrow) and stay until Sunday. Hopefully after that I will have lots of photos to post!
Na sheldanou!

Ahoj!

2007-10-16T22:27:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone! Not much is new here in Brno. Going to class as usual.

I did get the chance to mail letters and postcards though! I hope to send another batch, and to more people, but we'll see how that goes. It was pretty easy to mail things though. I love the things that are so obvious it can't be messed up by language barriers. Two examples: mailing & shopping. Dobry den, scan the thing, pay for it and go. Love it. :)

I also got a package from home!

How exciting! My mom is a packing MASTER! Seriously! The following things came to me in a SHOEBOX!

Cough drops
Ibprofuen (It's Rx here. Boo!)
Disposable razors (So expensive here! Like $10 for the crappy pink kind!)
Tampons (Yeah.. sorry guys.. don't read the rest of this parenthetical. Ladies: The tampons here are sans applicator! Yuck.)
Two cards
A "W:The Fool" sticker. haha.
1 box of Zatarans jumbalaya (love love!)
1 box of cous cous (yay!)
3 pkgs. of salmon (Really, mom? LOL)
2 cans of tuna fish (Surprisingly I missed this.. although they have it here and I just don't buy it..)
1 box of Chocolate pudding!
AND jeans!
In a shoebox! I loved it so much. You rock parents! :)

In other news, my Czech cell phone is messed up. Something to do with the sim card. Who knows when that will be fixed.

Also, since Erin and I never made it to Prague in the last few weekends we ARE going this weekend!

Oh yeah... and if you take a link out of your watch and then think your hand hurts, it's probably because your BURSTING a blood vessel. Just FYI.

I just realized I used capital letters a lot this post. Oh well. :)

P.S. I only have 9 more weeks! That's crazy!

Na shled!

When it comes I wanna wail... MAIL!

2007-10-12T23:07:00.000+02:00

Yes I did just quote Blue's Clues. So sue me! ;)

This pile of outgoing mail sits on my desk as a reminder of my procrastination.

I promise that I will mail these 18 postcards and letters soon. I think. I hope.

And a packet of kleenex to the right for a size comparison.

I really should be doing some homework or something... haha!

Adventures in Brno-land!

2007-10-10T23:25:00.000+02:00

Erin: Do you smell that?
Me: Yeah... burnt smelling something.
Pause
Me: Oh. It's because the trash can is on fire.
Well, another week has come in Brno, and I'm still alive. Ah-mazing! Just kidding. I really like it here, but it does keep me on my toes.

The above conversation took place at the Mendlovo Namesti tram stop as Erin and I journeyed to Spilberk (a whopping two tram stops away from Vinarska) this weekend. Unfortunately, our fear of being too touristy prevented us from taking a photo. We believe it was caused by someone tossing a cigarette into the can. It was a small fire, so it probably went out on its own, right? ;)

Erin did get a photo of a tram & car accident that happened last week. We didn't see it happen but we saw the aftermath. I'll have to get the photo from her. Poor guy's car is destroyed. The tram was perfectly fine. ha!

Also, here are some more photos from our half-trip to Spilberk Hrad.
The following photos were taken by Erin.
A very nice shot that I neglected to take. ;)

..and me not paying attention.. twice.

A very mysterious European type shot if I do say so myself.

We have decided that one major thing we miss from the United States is a refill. The food plates here are so big and they give you one small bottle of water or coke. You have to pay for extra drinks. I miss the free refill!

Tonight I bought my plane ticket to Sweden to visit Tara! I'm excited about that. Erin and some of the other girls are coming too. November will be great fun because besides the trip to Sweden, my brother Scott is visiting Europe. His girlfriend's in Germany, so hopefully they will come to Brno! Also, the International Club has trips to Krakow, Poland and Budapest, Hungary which I plan to attend! Looks like November is travel month!

Ahoj! (It's like Aloha... it can be used for hello or goodbye, so you can decide which one I'm saying!)

Words

2007-10-08T23:13:00.001+02:00

Ok, so I know that technically I just posted something, but I kind of wanted this to be it's own post. I guess you'll see why.

"Children are infinitely credulous. My Lisa was a dull child, but even so she came up with things that pleased and startled me. 'Are there dragons?' she asked. I said that there were not. 'Have there ever been?' I said all the evidence was to the contrary. 'But if there is a word dragon,' she said, 'then once there must have been dragons.' Precisely. The power of language. Preserving the ephemeral; giving form to dreams, permanence to sparks of sunlight."

This is from a book that we've read in my British Women Novelists class called Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively. After reading it, I just had some thoughts & quotes that I wanted to share.

"Today language abandoned me. I could not find the word for a simple object--a commonplace familiar furnishing. For an instant, I stared into a void. Language tethers us to the world; without it we spin like atoms. Later I made an inventory of the room--a naming of parts: bed, chair, table, picture, vase, cupboard, window, curtain. Curtain. And I breathed again."

Being in the Czech Republic has given me a profound appreciation for words. That I can sit amidst 20 people and not understand a word they are saying is humbling to me.
I don't even speak Czech really, but I think my English is suffering. I can't spell anymore. Sometimes I forget words.
Students from other countries, or from the Czech Republic will ask me for an English word and often I just shrug my shoulders. My brain is sluggish, or simply refuses to give me synonyms that would better fit their sentence. This makes me feel stupid... like an English speaking imposter. It's the oddest thing. It's frightening to realize that English could escape me.

But at the same time, I have an overwhelming desire to learn more languages. People in Europe speak two, three, four, or more languages. I guess if they spoke different languages in Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee we would be forced to learn new languages, but it's not just that.
Sure in Europe countries are so close to each other. The U.S. only has Mexico and Canada. Spanish and French. In Europe though, they foster language education. They encourage it.
Juci is from Hungary and speaks English and French. No English or French speaking countries touch Hungary! But she speaks the languages all the same. It's mind blowing.

My goal is to learn Spanish when I return. I know, right? Well, Spanish is the language I have studied before, so it would be the most practical next step. It would be great if I could learn Czech, but in all honesty, I doubt that I will ever need it again. That's sad to admit, but it's true. Plus, this language is dang hard! Word endings change depending on the gender of a word.

Ex.
dva květiny, two flowers
dvě řeky, two rivers
Different gender of the noun=different ending for the adjective

And hello.. the letter ř ??? Impossible to pronounce. You try saying the letters R & Z at the same time.

Czech does sound pretty cool when people speak it, but I pretty much think any languages sounds more fun than English. This experience has definitely given me an appreciation for languages, English included.

Is it seriously this late? (Midnight as I finish typing!) I've got to scoot! xo

Spilberk Castle... kind of. :)

2007-10-08T22:51:00.000+02:00

I do have some homework to attend to, but as the party down the hall is sure to keep me awake a lot longer I'm sure that I will be able to finish the blogging and the homework.

So another weekend in Brno, and we decided to try and visit Spilberk Hrad/Spielberg Castle. It is here in Brno, so Erin and I grabbed out maps and headed out. The only trouble was we couldn't figure out which of the 12 admission prices we should pay and the lady only spoke Czech... so we settled for a free tour of the outside. Next time, we'll go in, when we figure it out, and I'm sure the pictures will be much more exciting.

To see more of the photos from the weekend, go here:
Spilberk Hrad... sort of

Hmm.. what else did we do? Oh yeah! We saw Zbouchnutá, a.k.a. Knocked Up! Once again, it was hilarious! If your curious to see what movies are playing you can go to this site. It should be in English, because it's what we check to go to the movies!

That's about all we did this weekend. Besides that I read a lot of homework. What else is new? (At least I've read like 4 novels since I've been here!)

I think...

2007-10-05T23:49:00.000+02:00

... that my neighbors next door in Vinarska have lost it. Or they're drunk. They're music playlist just went from club music to Enya. I kid you not.
Oh wait, they've realized this and changed it back to club music. This from the people who wake me up at 9am with Justin Timberlake and cigarette smoke. These walls are thin, baby.
Oh Vinarksa.

Gotta love lists.. and crazy Czech speaking

2007-10-05T23:05:00.000+02:00

Just so I don't forget, and also for your information, here is a list of places I want to visit before I leave Europe and the Czech Republic. (in no particular order)

1. Spilberk Castle (in Brno)
2. Kostnice Ossuary & Church (in Kutna Hora-Sedlec)
3. Praha! (Prague)
4. Krakow, Poland with the International Club
5. Budapest, Hungary with the International Club
6. Stockholm, Sweden to see Tara
7. Olomouc, Czech Republic
8. Germany to see Scott & Cassidy?
9. The Brno Zoo!
10. Znojmo, CZ
11. Cesky Krumlov

That's all I've got for now, but the list will probably get longer! :)

We went to a Czech cooking class today, which was less of a cooking class and more of an eating class. This was A-Okay by Erin and me! It was by the Czech natives in Erin's church here. The people are so nice and the ladies kept saying "Eat! Eat!" (In Czech of course.) Even when we were full to bursting, they told us to eat! We relied on the missionary sisters to translate for us. It was fun though.
Everyone there is so nice, and this one older lady kept talking about how she played ping pong today. She's probably 80 years old and she went on about how playing it made her feel young today. This story was translated of course, but she did try her English on us from her days as a control tower attendent at the airport. (I know, right?) This consisted of a lot of "Maydays" and "SOS's." :)

Also, I got a card from home! We just discovered that there is a notebook at the front desk that we are supposed to look through to see if we got letters or packages. I don't know why, but they didn't put my card in the mailbox, but logged it into the notebook.
My mom mailed it Sept. 13th and it arrived Sept. 19th. Here I am, finally discovering the notebook on Oct. 5th because NO ONE told us about it, and I saw my name on the page.
The front desk lady yelled at me in Czech about my taking to long to pick it up or something, but I did get it finally. Then she got all smiley like and said some nice things that I didn't understand which is always how it goes with her.
It goes like this. I gesture to something I need. She yells at me in Czech. I nod (but don't comprehend). I attempt to do whatever she asks (like sign something). She smiles and says lovely things and keeps saying thank you & have a nice day (in Czech). I walk away, confused. As always.

No matter what the situation here, the Czech speakers continue to talk to you in Czech when they know you don't understand. Would we do that in English? I have forgotten.

Goodnight! / Dobrou noc!

Dinner, USA style!

2007-10-04T19:38:00.000+02:00

So my roommate Kaisa left town this weekend for Hungary and said, "Oh yeah. Cook my ground beef so it won't go bad, will you?" And I said, "CHEEBURGER, CHEEBURGER!"

So, to go along with our lovely cheeseburgers, Erin and I fried some potatoes and I broke down and bought Heinz ketchup because I've missed it so. I bought Hellmann's before, but it's not the same.

We also made corn to balance it all out. :) I'm so proud of us when we cook a yummy meal!

Check out Erin's big burger! (Mine looked the same. haha!)

And just so you know I'm alive...Cheese!

Not much planned for the weekend, except maybe a movie, and the mall. Love to all.

Jak se mas?

2007-10-03T16:04:00.000+02:00

Borat speaks Czech! Kind of. :) I have discovered that part of the tv/movie character Borat's gobbledy-gook "Kazakh" language is similar to Czech/Polish. He really says yak she mash which is the Polish "jak sie masz," but close to the Czech "jak se mas." Both phrases mean "How are you?" He also says genkuyi which means your welcome as the Polish "dziekuje" or Czech "děkuji."
Just a thought. :)

It's weekend time for me already, because I only have classes Monday-Wednesday. I have to say that I really enjoy this, but it does involve a lot of reading.

Luckily, last night and today I was able to eat REAL Czech food! Thanks to our ISEP Representative last night, and some people from Erin's church today, we ate some delicious food. It's strangely hard to find traditional food in restaurants, without having Czech speakers with you.
If you ever get the chance, try these foods!!
Smazny syr (sma-zhe-nee see'r), which is like a big mozzarella stick.
Svickova (svitch-koh-vah), which is a meat, dumplings, and a melted sweet sauce.
Gulas (goo-laush), delicious as a meal, or as a soup! (Coincidentally, my first meal here!)
Anything with potatoes.. especially dumplings, or knedlicky (ned-li-key) and small potato balls, or croquettes (crow-ket-tee).

Tonight is another country presentation, so we will hear about Hungary and Poland. Last week was Czech Republic and Slovakia. I really enjoy the presentations, because I get a little taste of the world. (Literally! They have food after each presentation!)
The U.S. will present on November 28th with Belgium and Netherlands. The way they paired the countries is strange, but oh well. I think I will make oatmeal fudge for our presentation! :)

Since I do not have any new pictures of Europe and because of his undeniable adorableness, here are some photos of my nephew.

What a heartbreaker!
Squeeze him for me, those of you that can!

Great Success!

2007-09-30T18:47:00.000+02:00

Um, there are a few exciting things going on around here lately!

First of all, thanks to Juci and her boyfriend Leonardo I got the rest of the ingredients for Oatmeal Fudge!
If you haven't tasted it, it's the best cookie in the world, and doesn't even need to be baked. This is a good thing because here we only have a hot plate.
So with some wax paper, Hungarian cocoa, vanilla, & peanut butter, and Czech oats, milk, butter, & sugar, I set out to "no-bake."
Did I mention that I didn't have the capabilties to measure tablespoons and teaspoons? No matter, I eyeballed it. Mom would be so proud.
The best part? The cookies came out tasting great! The oats here are bigger and make the texture of the cookies a bit different, but once I got over that I realized how yummy they are.
When I took some to Juci & Leonardo in thanks, they scarfed them down in my presence. As did Erin, when I visited her with some. Even my roommate said they were good. Very sweet, she said, but good. I was so glad!
Here are the cookies taking over any available table space in my room.

What's left today... and this before Pam & Mollie have a chance to eat them. I will definitely be making them again, but it was a lot of work!

Secondly, Juci, Erin, and I ventured out to IKEA today. I have to say, I want to LIVE in this place. It's amazing.
Just for Tara, here are the flags outside of IKEA.

Not a good photo really, so I took a video. :)

That's Erin's voice in the background, talking about me on the phone. ha! If you can't tell, it's the Czech flag by the Swedish flag because IKEA is a chain from Sweden, which is where my best friend Tara is on exchange.

Third, I went to church with Erin today, just to check (Czech?) it out. She goes to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was all in Czech, so we had to sit by a translator, which was funny. We found out that the church has COOKING CLASSES and it's Czech food! Also, two of the Sisters (title for female missionaries) are going to show us the good Czech restaurants this week. We haven't been able to find Czech food easily, so this is a great thing.

Fourth, the movie Knocked Up comes out in Brno this Thursday! I saw it in the states when it opened, but hello, it is hilarious, and no one else here has seen it, so WE'RE GOING! When we went to see No Reservations last week, the preview for Knocked Up came on, and with the delay in the Czech subtitles we kept laughing at different parts than the Czech audience, which made it more hilarious.

I'm glad that things are falling into place here! Miss everyone at home! xo

Tourist Day

2007-09-28T20:39:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone!

Yesterday Erin and I explored the city of Brno and had a blast acting like tourists.

We even had dinner at a restaurant called Rodeo Drive American Bar & Grill. The chicken tenders were amazing. I've missed them so! :)

I also rationalized that buying a Czech pop up book for 599Kc ($30) was perfectly fine, because it was, in fact Tourist Day. Getting ripped off is all a part of being a tourist, right?

Since I took so many photos, I have a link to them today instead of posting them all.
See Tourist Day Photos

A few enjoyable events in Brno:
1. Using McDonalds like a public restroom, or McBathroom if you will.
2. Acting like fools on a public holiday because no Czechs were around to evil eye us.
3. Finding yummy restaurants.
4. Czech movie nights.

Good King Wenceslas

2007-09-28T14:30:00.000+02:00

Today is a public holiday in the Czech Republic. It is the feast day of St. Wenceslas (you may know him from the Christmas Carol).
We haven't ventured into the city square yet, but we're pretty sure a lot of things will be closed. We are hoping to encounter some sort of festivities.
However, I asked Mollie's Czech tutor Dusan (said: Dew-shawn) what people do on the holiday.
He said, "Nothing. We stay home. That's it."
"No parties," I asked?
"No," he shrugs.

So I guess it's a fake holiday, like Labor Day. :) Even for that my family parties!

Now, just a mental note of something I always want to remember.
Mollie, Juci, & I were on the 38 bus the other day and chattering away as always. There was a little girl in glasses and a pink outfit in the seat across the aisle from us and she kept staring at us. I smiled and turned back to Juci & Mollie. We continued to talk and I felt the eyes of the little girl and her grandmother looking at us. Again I smiled and continued to talk. Then the little girl and her grandmother started to count. It took me a minute, but I thought, are they counting in English? Just then the three of us hear, "eighteen, nineteen, TWENTY!" Mollie, Juci, and I broke into laughter and clapped for the little girl and her grandmother.
It was definitely cute, and one of the most positive experiences resulting from our speaking English. Normally people stare at us in a bad way or sneer at us. Once some people walking past just kept saying "Focking Englishers. Focking English." Of course we laugh or ignore it, but it's awkward to feel hated just for your nationality. Often in stores or restaurants people ask (in Czech) if I speak German, Polish, Russian, Italian, etc. ANYTHING but English. I wish I did, but my answer is always no. The memory of the little girl and her grandmother makes me feel somewhat welcome, and that's always good in a foreign land.

This is what we do..

2007-09-27T15:02:00.000+02:00

We sit around. Talk. Eat. Laugh. Get sleepy. Laugh some more. :)

Juci cooking dinner yesterday.

Mollie, excited for dinner, I guess...

Um... me.

And crashing after dinner.

For dessert: a game of MASH! If you don't know what it is, ask an elementary school girl.

This photo is from Tuesday, which apparently was supposed to be the last good weather day of the season. Crud!

Today it's raining. :(

But I cook a mean panini for lunch! :)

Favorite quote that reminds me of home: "That makes a lot of non-sense."

Well, I'm off to go recover my laundry from the machine downstairs. Wish me luck! A lot of students don't get their clothes back for hours because the door won't open. The advice of the front desk ladies? "Just wait."

Wacky Wednesdays

2007-09-26T16:39:00.000+02:00

I suppose the title of today's entry is misleading because the day has been anything but wacky. I went to class this morning, to the centre this afternoon with Juci & Mollie, and back to Vinarska for dinner.

Mollie and Juci are cooking right now. How did I luck into friends that like to cook and let me sit?? :)

So I just have some more thoughts on life here in Brno.

One of my teachers taught for a semester in Eastern Kentucky, and hopes to get a position at UK soon. She said "I'm glad to have a Kentuckian in class." I thought that was funny. She is from CZ, but she reminds me of Ms. Honey from Matilda by Roald Dahl. (Maybe only mom will get the reference. :))

In classes, they leave the lights off, and only use the natural light from the huge windows in the rooms. I think at Bellarmine people would fall asleep under such circumstances!

The chairs in the classes are what I would think chairs in college would be. The ones with fold-up desk slabs. I've never had a class at Bellarmine with those, so it was kind of fun.

Apparently the Czechs like to turn in assignments late, or ask for extensions, because every teacher I have has stressed that they most certainly will not be accepting late work.

In between classes yesterday I took a walk around the school and saw a lot of things that made me smile. The weather was gorgeous (unlike today's chilly 50 degrees.) It was a very peaceful walk, and I felt more comfortable and adjusted to life here.

I spied with my little eye...

...Indian Jones Pub & Disco, and yes that's Indian... not Indiana.

...a wine shop in the wall, with fake grapes draped around the window.

...flower boxes at every window, and mostly stocked with beautiful specimens.

...the A-Z Papír & Ovoce Store attendants hitting on each other, as always. It's quite cute actually. Whenever you go to his store, he's in her's and vice versa. (The Papír store makes copies & Ovoce sells drinks, among other things.)

...an old couple walking hand in hand, and slower than all of those bustling around them, just enjoying each other's company.

...the hardware store attendant picking her nose. :)

...outdoor markets next to the grocery supergiant Alberts.

One thing I learned is that it's hard to write legibally and walk at the same time.

Today didn't offer as many mental snapshots as yesterday, but it was still fun to drink Burcak wine (young wines) in the middle of the sqaure with Mollie & Juci, even if it did make us slap-happy. Actually, I think that was the best part.

Side note: non-native English speakers say "Of Course!" a lot.
Example:
Are we going to catch the 38 bus?
Of Course!

Did you eat cereal today?
Of Course!

Are you Slovenian?
Of Course!

:)

Tonight is a country presentation on the Czech & Slovak Republics. We are going to go every Wednesday to learn about all of the countries represented at Masaryk by exchange students. I will write more soon... and hopefully add photos because I bought batteries!

As Scott would say, "love love love."

Czech Culture

2007-09-25T11:15:00.001+02:00

I was looking over some notes that I made during a Czech culture seminar I attended during orientation week and thought that I would share some "insights" into life here. Jakub, a very funny Media & Journalism teacher, gave the lecture. (Non-Italics are my thoughts.)

Czech government is a Parliamentary system with a bi-cameral parliament: House of Chambers and a Senate.

The inventor of contact lenses is Czech! Unfortunately for the Czech Republic, the government decided to sell the patent to the United States for quick money. In the end it would have been much more beneficial for them to hold onto the patent, but I guess they were desperate.

The average pay for Czechs is $10,000 a year. I couldn't believe this is the salary that people make here. One of the exchange students from Australia mentioned this when someone said things were "cheap" here. He said that the Czechs he talked to wish they could go out to the restaurants we go to every night, but simply can't afford it. Also, at the Jazz Club, Erin's Czech tutor Tina lamented that her friends didn't want to come with us because of the 60koruna (crown) cover at the door. (60CZK=$3.07)

Czechs are early risers. I know this for a fact from our 8am bank excursions. All the shops are open and full of shoppers! This dates back to a Kaiser of Austria-Hungary who was an insomniac and did not want to wake up alone. He ordered that offices, shops, etc. open at 6:00AM. This made it so that Czechs and others in the area had to get up earlier.

Czechs drink beer when they are thirsty. ('Cause it's cheaper than water!) Beer is like food for Czechs. In the middle ages workers' contracts stated that they would be paid in beer, bread, meat, etc. Back then they had beer as soup, hot with butter and bread. This isn't recommended nowadays. If you sit down in a pub, the waiter puts a beer down. Jakub says the thought is "You are in pub... not coffee house. Shut up and drink beer."

The Czech Republic is number 1 in the world for consumption of beer. Czech doctors are trying to remedy this situation, but the beer industry has a powerful lobby in the government here. As Jakub put it, "Until restrictions, we will drink as much as possible."

Those were all the notes I made, but overall it was a very interesting lecture. I am so intrigued by the Czech people. My every day interactions with the people here are so full of inconsistencies and I really wish I could communicate better with them, but in Brno, not many speak (or want to speak) English. I've heard that in Prague English is all over. I might take a trip there soon.

Two classes today. American Literature: 1945-Present and Mexican-American Contemporary Fiction.

First Class

2007-09-24T17:18:00.000+02:00

Well, today was my first day of classes. I actually only had one class today though because my other teacher was sick! Even his e-mail (see below) was beautiful, so I know it will be a good class.

Dear Students,
Our first week's lesson (but hopefully not the second week's) has been thwarted by an egg-salad sandwich with bacon. Yes, indeed! I found myself at the hospital yesterday with what has been diagnosed as "something related to salmonella" (I would certainly be more reassured if the "something related to" had not prefaced the diagnosis :-) Anyway, I have been sequestered to my bed to dine on saltine crackers and black tea (and medicine that tastes like cremation!) and will know on Thursday whether I will be free to continue my normal life, spend another week in bed, or begin a hospital stay.
So, we have no lesson this week. If the second week replicates this one, I will send you another message. Please take this week to explore the syllabus and materials in the ELF page for this course.
Sincerely,
Dr. Kaylor

I wish I could write a sick note as well as that! :)

The class I did have today was interesting though. It is Contemporary British Women Novelists and the teacher is very nice. She is Czech, but her English has an almost British accent to it. I can only describe it as "lovely." The problem with that, however, is that her voice is soothing, and makes me sleepy! I always do have trouble with being sleepy in my afternoon classes, but in this case, I slept all morning and shouldn't be tired!

Dr. Franková also said something that made me laugh to myself today. She said that we would be reading six novels over the course of the semester, but that if we could not read all of them fully, at least try to "get a taste" for each one. I don't think I have ever, or will ever, hear a teacher at Bellarmine say we should "try" to read all of the novels. We HAVE to read all of the novels.
Also, Dr. F says their will be one (yes, only one!) end of term essay, that the students have four weeks to write (from the last class in December to mid-January). I, of course, will write the essay ASAP in December so that I can be home for Christmas.

There is definitely a difference in the education styles here and at home. One girl from Germany complained to me & Erin the other night about having to do a presentation and two papers for a class. In the U.S. I write about a paper a week for my classes and always have some sort of presentation or group project. Plus, tests, which don't seem to happen here very often.

At least I will have a lot of time for other things. I've already read two books since I've been here.

In case you're wondering, here is our reading list for Contemporary British Women Novelists.
1. Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively
2. The Leto Bundle by Marina Warner
3. Gut Symmetries by Jeanette Winterson
4. Still Life by A.S. Byatt
5. The Radiant Way by Margaret Drabble
6. Crusoe's Daughter by Jane Gardam

That's all for now. Tonight the Czech film club is showing a film called Loners and I am going to see it with the other students. I will post about my Tuesday classes tomorrow. xo

I can has cheezburger?

2007-09-22T23:04:00.001+02:00

I love this.

Even if it has nothing to do with Europe.

Oh technology!

2007-09-22T20:25:00.001+02:00

Hello everyone in Louisvilleland, or wherever you're reading from. :)
Today was another exploring day. We just went through town to shops and such.

Pam & Erin in a clothing store.

A mannequin in said store.

Then no more photos because the lady in the store started tailing me. I was only taking photos!

This is Hlavni Nadrazi, or the Main Tram/Bus station we use a lot.

Me & the Colonel (from the KFC window)

I have been doing sink laundry lately.

It pretty much stinks. I don't know how people used to wash their own clothes (or maybe still do?)! My hands are so raw from the hot water and ringing things out. I also don't understand how the sweater and shirt from the photo are already dry, and yet only 1 of my socks is dry?!! What in the world?

Now for something cute... and who couldn't use some cuteness to brighten their day? I got the first photo from my aunt Barbara today from my going away party. My nephew is so cute!

His mommy Kim sent me this new photo this week. He's getting so big and smiley!

Also, because I love the internet, and fun technology, I've got something new for today's post-- videos! This video demonstrates the evil Tesco towel that doesn't absorb water. I'm still mad I bought it.

And a final thought from me.

Hijinx

2007-09-21T10:36:00.000+02:00

Hello everyone! I'm so glad to hear that people enjoy my rambling blog. I like to post on it, so it's good to know people like to read it. :)

To start off I wanted to post a sentiment I expressed to someone in an e-mail. I feel that it sums up my experiences here so far.
So far life in Brno has just been getting to know the city and navigate through it. Everything is an adventure. Buying groceries, going to the bank, taking public transportation. It's all craziness, but luckily I am surrounded by other international students who are all bumbling through the city with me.

Yesterday I noticed that the towel I bought from Tesco (like a Walmart, minus the evil) does not absorb any water!! What good is a towel that doesn't dry?? It seriously combs the water into straight lines. I had to basically drip dry yesterday. My hair was sopping for 2 hours. It's ridiculous. I have created a drawing to demonstrate.

Luckily, the other towel I bought DOES dry... but they were the same brand and price! It makes no sense. I told you things here were an adventure!

The next pictures are from the Club Remix Flag party. I only look ridiculous because I was trying to wear as much red, white, & blue as possible.
(Photo Credit: Mollie)

Me & Erin

Me, Erin, Mollie

On the dance floor

It was pretty crowded.

We were told that Club Remix is only for foreigners (i.e. us) on Wednesdays, but it was so packed, I don't think that it was true.

Erin and I have come to the conclusion that Czechs cannot dance. Pam informs us that that is true of Europeans in general. Not that Americans are the be all end all in dancing, but I can move my body without damaging those around me. ha! (LEE!! You would die laughing!!)

One thing I love is that the clubs, stores, pubs, etc. all play popular English music. Occassionally though, we hear "classics" that you wouldn't necessarily hear at a club in the U.S.
Such a musical gem would be Michael Jackson's "Black or White" (or really, Michael Jackson anything). I'll try to think of more to add later.

To my dismay I have learned that my battery charger does not work. It is too high power, being a 15 minute charger. Here I thought I was helping the environment, and I have to buy the crappy batteries anyways. Maybe I can find a recycling thing? They are good about recycling facilites for the usual plastic, paper, & glass here.
Still, I have crappy electronics luck here.

Last night Mollie and her roommate Juci ("Yoot-zie") made Hungarian food. Well, Juci did. It was delicious! Potatoes and sausage soup stuff with pickles and bread. Dee-lish! I like trying new foods here. Sometimes I get weird stuff, but you know you're safe with someone cooking their native food.
I attempted to find the ingredients for Oatmeal fudge, and was foiled by the crazy Czech grocery. They had no cocoa powder, vanilla, or peanut butter. Apparently those things don't exist! We spent an hour and a half shopping, and I ended up with ice cream.

After dinner, Erin and I met up with her Czech tutor Christina to go to a "jazz club" called Club Dessert. It turned out to be rock night, so that was positive. I felt at home (mostly) because the acts looked exactly like an American unsigned band. Same clothes, swagger, voices, and all. I thought of my cousins Tim & Evan because they've played similar shows.
The difference, however, was that all of the music was in English, but the band introductions and "witty banter" were in Czech. It was quite confusing.

The first act was a solo guy, and he had a beautiful voice. Christina said "like velvet, yes?" :) I took photos, and they're very dark, but here you go.

The only problem with both acts was that their lyrics made no sense. They need a native-speaker of English to check their lyrics because they were seriously hysterical. I felt so bad for laughing during every serious song... but it was really confusing. Christina said, "You understand right? Because I don't." Erin and I just looked at each other and bursted out laughing.

The music was awesome, the lyrics were not. One line I remember went something like "in the closet, or the fridge." Those are nothing alike, so it was confusing, even in context of the rest of the song. Another snipet was something about "Make love to a tree. To a stone. To a snake." Is that not hilarious?

Here's the band. I wish I could tell what their name was, but that part was all in Czech.

It was still a good night.

And here is my window view, in case anyone is interested.

(The same area, when clouds moved in)

I think that's all for now. My love to everyone!

Time

2007-09-19T21:02:00.000+02:00

I have just changed the time setting to Prague time. Before it was Louisville time. Just for your information.

Boredom

2007-09-19T20:32:00.000+02:00

Who would have thought that I could be bored in Europe? I think I feel bored just because I sit around all day while other people have classes already. Mine won't start until next week, so I just go to the grocery or sit in my room.
Until our program money gets put into our Czech bank accounts, we're all kind of frugal. Last week we ate out every day, but this week people are attempting to cook on the hotplates in our rooms. I was able to make a tasty pasta dish today, so that was good.
I also managed to pay my rent for my room here in Vinarska today, so that was also a good accomplishment.

Since I am bored, and have nothing else today, I will now post random insights/anecdotes from my time here in Brno.

People smoke like fiends... and in the dormitory too. It's not allowed, but they don't care and they don't get into trouble.

People also walk around with bottles of beer, wine, & spirits and no one says anything. Drinking games go on in the lobby... in front of the reception desk that is staffed 24/7! It doesn't matter, as long as the students don't drag the chairs across the marble floor. That will get you a stern talking to (in Czech).

While sitting at an outdoor restaurant last week, one of the international students commented about a girl walking by. Her skirt was very short and she had on no leggings or tights. The male student actually expressed his distaste for her wardrobe! He said he hates it when girls do that because it leaves nothing to the imagination. Imagine my surprise!

The landscape is beautiful. Some things cannot be captured on camera. Today I saw two hot air balloons fly through the sky and was mesmerized. It was funny to see because I was just taking out the trash. What a pleasant greeting!

I don't think the kids here attend school. Every day in the market square there are a bunch of 15 year olds walking around trying to sell things or hand out pamphlets for different organizations. We can't figure it out.

The kids aren't the only ones bothering shoppers either. There are some women in red spandex pants and (fake?) pregnant bellies walking around, along with the t-mobile workers, and usual vagrants. I wish I knew what those pregnant(?) girls were doing.

I've learned not to say "I don't speak Czech" in Czech. Every time I say "Nevím Cesky" the people continue to speak to me in Czech. I just have to speak in only English if I don't want to be bothered, but then people just stare at me. The other night on our way to a club some drunk men started to talk to us. I said "Nevím Cesky" but they continued to speak Czech. I said "I don't understand" and they started to laugh. Then they started to make jokes on us. Later, we discovered that they had actually followed us all the way to the club. Once inside, we lost them, but it was kind of scary.

If you are looking for a good book to read, pick up Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut. It is simply majestic.

That is all for now. Tonight is the "Flag Party" where we are all supposed to dress in the colors of our home country's flag. This should be interesting. :)

It's a Good Day

2007-09-18T15:07:00.000+02:00

Today has been an excellent day for the following reasons.

1. I slept in.
2. I used the trams and buses on my own all day and did NOT get lost!
3. I made it to the Faculty of Arts to talk to the English Dept. people about getting into classes. The lady said all I have to do is show up next week when classes start, and that it doesn't matter that I am number 70 on the waiting list. She said there should be no problem because I speak fluent English. ;)
4. I went to the grocery and bought FOOD! I now have lunchmeat, cheese, bread, water, yogurt, pasta, tomato sauce, mayo, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch!
5. Did I mention I didn't get lost today?
6. I was officially accepted/enrolled into one of the five classes I want to take at Masaryk.

Woohoo!

We're all so confused!

2007-09-17T19:04:00.000+02:00

Apparently classes don't start today? All of us students are so confused. Plus, other people are still having internet issues, while luckily I am not.

On the way back from waiting around for my classes at the impossible to find English building G, I got lost. I went in a huge circle and called Mollie 3 times before I found my way back.

Anyways, I've got more photos to post. These were all taken by other people, so I've credited them on their photos. :) Enjoy.

The Caves by Jan, my tutor

Our group walking up a hill to the caves. Taken by Jan.

My roommate Kaisa & me at the Beerfest the other day. Taken by Mollie.

Us girls at the opera the other day. From Mollie's camera.

Mollie, Pam, me, Erin. From Mollie's camera.

Me & Mollie out in the town square.

That's all for now! xo

Internet Woes!

2007-09-17T11:57:00.000+02:00

The internet disappeared yesterday, but today I was able to register it for the entire semester, so it should work for the rest of my time here. Anyways, while I can I will post a bunch of stuff. :)

Plans change a lot here.. so we never actually went to the laundry. I think we went to lunch instead. Anyways, we plan to go Friday, so I will post about it then. :)

A few days ago we went to the Starabrno Beer Fest. I tasted the beer... but I don't think I'll go drinking anytime soon. Let's just say it's not my taste.
Here are the girls getting some Ketchup pizza (yuck!) from a walk through.

These are everywhere, instead of drive throughs. Even at McDonalds it's called a McWalk.

Afterwards we went to a planetarium observatory which was neat. My pictures from it are crap, so you'll just have to imagine it. :)

Yesterday, we went on a trip to a cave & the Cerna Hora brewery. As with everything here, there was a lot of walking... but after we left the cave we hiked up some crazy zig-zaggin hill! I thought my chest was going to explode. I guess I was proud of myself for making it... ;)

I took some photos of the day.

A cave opening, where the ceiling collapsed. It was beautiful. The cave had so much reflective water.

Me & Mollie at the cave.

We even got to go through another part of the cave by boat. It was awesome.

Views from the top. I was so exhausted, I couldn't focus on getting better photos!

The Cerna Hora Brewery & Restaurant:

That's Mollie, accidentally in the shot.

Me walking through a door. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

My Czech tutor Jan. He dates a girl from KY. :)

And then, another view of the shops from last night.

Classes start today and I'm sort of nervous because I'm not 100% registered for them. None of the international students are.. so we're all anxious that the classes we want will fall through. Hence, the raising of my stress alert.

xo

First day off!

2007-09-15T13:42:00.000+02:00

Today is our first day off, without trips or lectures being planned. (This past week was our orientation, so we had a lot of stuff to do.)

It's weird to think about being an international student. It's funny.

Um... hello??!! They have KINDER EGGS here! These are my all time favorite candy! It's a white & milk chocolate egg, surrounding a toy! They are so awesome and taste amazing! Occasionally I see them in the states at a fashion bug or something, but here they are in every grocery store. Yum!

Can you tell I'm excited?

After sleeping in all morning, a few of us are going to lunch and to try and find the laundromat. They have laundry "facilities" here in Vinarska, but we've already heard horror stories of trying to use them. People can't figure out how to use them, then the door won't open and people can't get their clothes back. That means they have to go talk to the Czech ladies at the front desk, with minimal Czech language skills that just get them stared at.

So.. we are off to find Clubwash! The ads for it are hilarious. They say things like: "Sexy wash" or "Rewash yourself."
The broken English always makes us giggle... as does the fluent Czech that we don't understand and just keep saying "Nevím Cesky" or "Ne rozumím." ("I don't speak Czech," "I don't understand.")

Just back from the Opera

2007-09-15T00:05:00.000+02:00

Never see an Opera in Czech. That's my advice for the day. We didn't understand anything!

Anyways, I have just a few more pictures. I really need to start taking more. It has been sunny every day but there are so many trees and tall buildings that good lighting is hard to find.

This is a shot of Vinarska, Block A1, where I live.

This is part of the main square of shops and restaurants, banks and post offices, etc.

Another shot.

As you can see, pizzas are huge! This cost about $5 at lunch and is meant for one person. We share a lot because the portions are so big. Sorry for the shadow.

Pam & Mollie at a different restaurant, but with another very big one person pizza. They're both Americans.

Erin & Pam on the tram. Erin is American too.

Erin, studying Czech vocabulary while we wait for the tram.

And a Simpsons sign on the KFC! My tutor said it says something like "Come see the Simpsons donuts!"

More pics..

2007-09-13T22:55:00.000+02:00

Just a few more pictures.. because I feel like I need to make up for the extremely long post from yesterday.

This photo is in the Detroit airport. I thought it was weird/cool that they had a tram inside and overhead.

This photo is from the Amsterdam airport. I thought the sticker in the bathroom stall about the toilet being "a whole new experience" was hilarious. Granted it was five o'clock in the morning.

I was really surprised by the number of cars in Brno. It is the 2nd largest city in CZ though, so I don't know why I was shocked. People park their cars EVERYWHERE. Sometimes in buildings. It's weird. The lanes and parking spots are also very narrow when they are defined. Sometimes they are not lined with any paint.

This is a restaurant down "The Hill." "The Hill" is what we go up and down every day from Vinarska Residence Halls to everywhere else. It is quite a trek. I will take a picture from the bottom soon. The restaurant is called The Blueberry. It's pretty yummy... and trendy. Like a lot of shops, they play only American pop music.

We take trams every day. They're never this empty.

Dinner tonight, from some outdoor restaurant in the main shopping square. It's some sort of pork with dijon sauce, veggies, and mashed potatoes on the right. The mashed potatoes weren't good, to me, but the other Americans ate them straight out of my bowl. I think they miss them. :)

And....
Drum roll please.......

The room!
If it looks crappy, it's because it is. But whatever... I'm in Europe. I can handle crappy accommodations.

A bad shot of the hallway. There is a lot of cabinetry on the left, which is awesome. On the right behind the first door is the toilet, the next door is the shower, and then the kitchen. The end door is the double bedroom.

The craziest shower you will ever see. No one can figure out why the sink is there. It can't be moved either. It's hard to shower and not get the floor wet because you have to cling wrap the shower curtain around the sink. It takes a professional.

The kitchen. The fridge is at an odd angle under the counter, and we cook with hotplates. And when I say we cook, I mean when my roommate cooks... for herself. I eat out. :)

The couch/bed area. The only problem is that they should have made it more of a bed and less than a couch. It would be uncomfortable, if I wasn't exhausted every day from all of the walking.

The window! Notice there is not much of a curtain, and it can't be moved, so I sleep with my head facing the kitchen, instead of the window. I still get woken up by the blasted sun. The window is good for letting air into our stuffy 80 degree room. I'm not exaggerating either! My travel clock has a thermometer! We seem to be the only ones with heat.

Well, that's all for now. I keep forgetting to take pictures, but I promise better ones soon.

Love to all!

Comments

2007-09-13T01:06:00.000+02:00

I love the comments! :) Keep it up!
My next agenda is to post:
Pictures of the "campus" (all of the buildings are in fact spread out across the city.. and my calves are hard as rocks from all of the walking).
Pictures of the room.
And just more pictures in general. :D

Glorious Internet!

2007-09-12T23:53:00.000+02:00

I hope that I didn't worry everyone too much about my non-communication these past 5 days. Let me tell you, it is a whirlwind trip from Louisville to Brno.
But now my internet is fully working and I'm all set!
Just as a warning I will note that this post will probably just be random thoughts and photos. My love to all... enjoy! :)

Blogspot:
The directions are all in Czech now! This is insane!

Travel:
I left Louisville at 11:00am, Sept. 7th and went to Detroit.
I wasn't able to sleep on the plane, even though it was 8 hours from Detroit to Amsterdam. The seats are so uncomfortable AND the lady next to me managed to listen to the same 2 songs over and over for the entire flight. The next time I hear Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" I'm going to lose it! Hearing "Louisville slugger" said Looeyville was too annoying to bear.

Because I couldn't sleep, my in flight activities went like this:
1. Trying to find recline button on seat.
2. Watching part of "The Emperor's New Groove" (I love Disney movies!)
3. Trying to sleep.
4. Watching the movie "Waitress" (Sorry mom! I had to... but I thought of you the whole time, and it was a good movie we will have to watch together one day.)
5. Watching part of "Pirates of the Caribbean 3"
6. Looking at watch.
7. Trying to sleep
8. Eating a strange chicken meal.
9. Frowning at woman next to me. (For that stupid music!)
10. Watching "Pocahontas"
11. Attempting Crosswords, but feeling motion sickness.
12. Looking at watch.
13. Frowning at lady.
14. Trying to sleep.
15. Exiting plane.

Once I made it to Amsterdam, I was confused, but found the connecting flight to Prague. Some guy who was from Virginia, but had lived in Louisville from 1985-early 90's noticed my Bellarmine shirt and struck up a conversation we me. It turns out his daughter is studying abroad in France. It was funny because he was very concerned about my getting to Brno, and when we arrived in Prague he helped me through customs (which turned out to be basically nothing..they looked at my passport and stamped it), with my luggage, and to find the North Terminal for the Bus stop. Then he had to go meet up with his business associates. It was nice to meet helpful strangers.
In Prague I waited for other students because we had made prior arrangements. It was a long 3 hours and I was so sleepy after all of the travel. Around noon two students met me, and we waited for the time to board the bus to Brno. It was interesting to find the ticket counter and then there was some confusion about how we had to pick up our tickets at a different counter.
But, we made the bus and met 3 more students. From Prague to Brno it was 3 hours. I was exhausted and felt like crying. It was culture shock at its worst.
Once in Brno we were lucky enough to get help from someone's Czech tutor (which every student has assigned to them) because the rest of us hadn't made plans with our tutors, or confused their directions somehow.
We made it to Vinarska residence halls, I guess around 4pm Sept. 8th although the time is fuzzy now.
It was an experience to sign in for our room keys because the desk ladies speak no English (which is still the case which makes laundry, etc. interesting). Czech tutors helped us. Finally, while everyone else headed out for the "Pub Tour," I fell asleep, and slept until noon the next day!

Speaking:
With all of the Czech language in the city (signs, people, maps, trams) miming or "charades" have become very useful. Also, my English is getting worse. I forget words, or even say things so simply so as to be understood that I feel like a caveperson. It's a strange thing, but my American friends here in Brno have agreed.

Food/Drink:
Um... packaging in the store is not universal. I bought "turkey" which smells like salami and tastes like saran wrap.
They have pizza everywhere! Surprising because I made that my last meal in Kentucky!
I've been told to beware of the ketchup pizza, which even sounds gross, but is not how all of their pizza is.
I hate the bubbly water! It's like sour club soda. They have it everywhere, and I have to be picky about my water because I want the closest thing to tap!

Money:
Change is used EVERYWHERE. I got big bills that no one seemed to be able to break at first. So I then learned that restaurants are good at it. Luckily with my Czech phone and student bus/tram pass, I will no longer need so much change. Yay, for my heavy pockets!

Traffic:
Cars stop for pedestrians (almost) always.. even with their light being green. It reminds me of my visit to UK in 2004 where the tour leader crossed streets with reckless abandon.
A lot of people actual drive cars. Cars are everywhere, and they park in random places.
I saw a Lamborghini today, just parked next to all of the regular short European cars. Somebody tell Scott! I wanted a photo, but I didn't have my camera!

School:
Classes don't start until next week, but we have been taking Intensive Czech language classes this week. They're funny, awkward, frustrating, and interesting all at the same time. Our teacher is Polish and speaks Polish, Czech, English, Russian, French, Spanish, and probably more. It's crazy how multi-lingual everyone but North Americans are.

Restaurants:
The waiters always pour your drink from a bottle into a glass, and then set the glass beside you. Small factoid, but different and interesting to me nonetheless.
You have to ask for the bill from the wait staff or you will sit at the table for hours.
When it comes to paying, the waiter goes around and adds up your bill from the total bill of the table, instead of issuing individual receipts.

Brno:
It's so European! It's got great, beautiful buildings and crazy, stony streets that make me twist my ankles.

Brain strain:
24 Hour time format.
Meters
Kg

And now... for the photos! I only have a few so far, which I got from Erin, a US student here, because I haven't taken any yet... so thank her! I sure did. :)
These are from our tour of Brno today, which was fun and helpful.

The beautiful view from some tower that was crazy tall:

Me on the balcony:

Me at a crazy cone water fountain:

I think that's all for now. The next posts won't be so long, because I won't have to do 5 days in one shot. ;D
Also, the time difference is 6 hours ahead of Louisville in case anyone was wondering!

Oh yeah... and I met a guy from Switzerland who taught me how to say Karrer! Hopefully I don't forget before I return for the sake of the family! (It's something like "Kauer" but also "Kow." Haha! Practice that, why don't ya?)

I'm ALIVE!

2007-09-09T23:23:00.000+02:00

Can you believe it? I'm alive and here in Brno! I can't believe it. As soon as I got here I wanted to pack up and leave. It's very different. But it's getting better. My love to all!

Na shledanou

2007-09-07T00:49:00.000+02:00

Until we meet again!

Today is my last day in Louisville, KY. I will miss it a lot but I don't want to dwell on that too much. :)

Last night was my going away party and I am so glad that my family came to show their support and give me lots of hugs!
We had yummy cake and everything! It was only fitting to make the cakes into flags!

US Flag

Czech Flag

Well, off to enjoy my last meal at home... PIZZA!

Only because he's my brother...

2007-09-04T02:36:00.001+02:00

Per my brother Andrew's request, I have changed the template colors for the blog. He says it's easier on the eyes!
:)

Things I Won't Miss

2007-08-29T04:50:00.001+02:00

Before Tara left for Sweden I told her to think of things she would not miss. Now that I'm getting close to leaving, I've decided to come up with a list of my own things that won't be missed. The items are not in order by rank, but expect the list to keep getting longer!

In Brno I will not miss:
1. Driving. I really do detest it.
2. Traffic. The reason I hate to drive.
3. Ethnocentrism. Although I guess it's a possibility to encounter it in Europe as well, I really won't miss the foreigner bashing Americans love to do.
4. Politics. I consider myself very politically minded, but sometimes I need a break. I WILL be voting with an absentee ballot this Fall, but I'll have the luxury of missing out on the mud-slinging and television ads.
5. The Neighbor's dogs. They are SO loud and bark at anything and everything!
6. Doctor Visits. I've had so many checkups and appointments in the past month that I'll be glad not to deal with doctor/dentist offices at all for four months!

Packing..

2007-08-27T05:10:00.000+02:00

Just to get some of my stuff out of the way (like winter clothes), I started to pack this weekend. I don't know how I'm going to get 4 months worth of stuff into 2 suitcases and 1 carry on. It's pretty impossible. I'm hoping that gravity will flatten the stuff I've packed already so that in 2 weeks time I'll be able to fit more into the suitcases. We'll see how that goes!
I guess it actually isn't even two full weeks before I leave. I'm still pretty nervous-excited, but I'm also starting to feel sad.

I think classes at Bellarmine start tomorrow, and it's going to be so weird not to be there. In some ways I am sad that I will be spending half of my senior year away from Bellarmine, but I think that the experience in Brno will be worth it.

So far Tara has been able to send me updates from life in Sweden, so that's positive. She did run into some speedbumps like not being able to identify foods at the grocery or find ingredients. She also had a 7 hour layover that I know was stressful for her. She sounds like she's having fun though, and that's all I can hope for as well.

Lastly, I heard from one of the teachers at Masaryk University who sent a link to the course materials for her classes. I was really surprised to learn that all of the novels we will be reading are scanned into computer files! I'm relieved that I won't have to buy the 20-something books, but it will be a strange experience to read books from the computer. It makes sense that in the Czech Republic I couldn't just walk into a Borders or Barnes & Noble and pick up the latest English language novels, but it's still a shock to think about reading all of these novels from the web!

I promise...

2007-08-16T20:37:00.000+02:00

I promise to try and blog more once I am abroad. So far I haven't updated that often because I haven't actually left the country yet, so the "Elizabeth, Abroad!" title makes me avoid posting about boring daily life in Louisville, KY. I do love my boring daily life in Louisville, KY, but I just figure it isn't worth reading about. :)
Anyways, my good friend Tara is set to leave the States on Sunday to study abroad in Stockholm, Sweden. She is doing the ISEP program through Bellarmine University as well. I hope to visit her abroad, and wish her the best of luck on her journey!
Today is my last day at the library job. I'll be glad to have a few weeks off before leaving for Brno. I need to relax and spend some good quality time with family and friends!

Haha!

2007-08-01T17:55:00.000+02:00

Little do they know that I'm from Kentucky.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
The South
North Central
The Inland North
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

I'm an Aunt!

2007-07-27T22:53:00.000+02:00

As of 3:24am July 26th I became a proud aunt for a bouncing baby boy.
Caleb Andrew
8 lbs. 0 oz.
19 inches long

I love Amazon.com

2007-07-21T22:18:00.001+02:00

Or mostly just the fact that Amazon ships from Lexington, KY. Meaning I got Harry Potter today!

Classes at Masaryk

2007-07-18T15:10:00.000+02:00

So I've begun the process of registering for classes at Masaryk by filling out a course request online.
I've registered for:
AJ14061 Aspects of the 20th Century Short Story (Britská povídka ve 20. stol.)
AJ15002 American Literature: 1945-present (Americká literatura 1945 do současnosti)
AJ24054 Contemporary British Women Novelists (Současné britské spisovatelky)
AJ25008 Contemporary Mexican American Fiction (Současná mexicko-americká literatura)

They're all in English, but I thought the Czech names were fun. :)

Yay!

2007-07-17T04:05:00.000+02:00

I'm so relieved! I got my student visa after only 7+ weeks. I thought I would have to wait until August, but I didn't. Yay!

I hope I don't need a hospital...

2007-07-08T00:08:00.001+02:00

I was trying to learn some Czech today and I noticed this phrase: "Kde je tady hospoda?"
"Kde je tady" means "Where is.." and "hospoda" means "pub." I hope I don't need a hospital when I'm in the Czech Republic because I'll probably ask for a pub on accident. :)
Hospital is "Nemocnice."

I almost forgot!

2007-06-19T02:17:00.000+02:00

The vacation my family took in Florida was awesome! Just in case you were wondering. :)
Random Sampling of Photos:

Financial Aid and thoughts on the future

2007-06-19T01:54:00.000+02:00

I just got my financial aid package for the 2007-2008 school year. I'm so relieved to say that I got a lot more this semester than normal. This is partly because I will live on campus (in the Czech Republic) instead of commuting and also my younger brother will be attending college. The FAFSA is apparently more forgiving when multiple people from a household attend college.

I only need to come up with $4,062 to cover the room and board fees. While that is a lot, it's not nearly as much as usual. I'm so glad.

So I'm trying to prepare for life after college by planning to take the GRE or Graduate Records Examination. It's like the SAT/ACT, only it's for graduate school. I'm not sure what I will get a degree in.

I was thinking about becoming a librarian. My job at the library this summer is definitely giving me a better idea about what that would be like. Every day I am amazed by how little people know about computers. As a lab assistant I constantly have to help people get onto the internet, create e-mail accounts, apply for jobs, etc. The catch is that most of them don't even know how to use the mouse or click on anything. A lot of them are older people who are great typers, but not much beyond that.

One startling thing about helping the library patrons is that many of them are looking for work. These people have been to the unemployment office or human resources at their intended place of work, and they are referred to internet job searches or online applications. Since they don't have computers or internet access at home, they come to the library. Not only do they need help using the computer, but they need help with the applications, creating resumes, and setting up e-mail addresses because they are required by the applications. It seems so silly to me that job searches and applications are going online, but the people who need the work the most are handicapped by their lack of computer knowledge. The Louisville Free Public Library offers free classes to patrons on computer learning but a two hour class isn't going to give people the knowledge they need.

It is frustrating to see such an educational imbalance in our society, but it is an important thing to recognize, and I'm glad I can be there to try and help.

Oh, the horror!

2007-06-02T22:30:00.001+02:00

So I had an interesting nightmare last night. I dreamt that ISEP had changed my study abroad assignment. The new location was an extremely northern country, and the ISEP people were telling me that a lot of people who go there experience hypothermia. I started to get really scared in my dream and considered withdrawing from the program.
It's hard to explain the dream exactly because I don't remember much except for the intense fear I felt. It was one of those dreams that feels so real that you wake up disoriented and have to think over everything. It's like piecing your reality back together because the dream was so unsettling.
I guess that it was just my unconscious allowing my travel anxieties to surface, albeit in a ridiculous way.

Itching to Shop

2007-05-27T03:17:00.000+02:00

Oh goodness. This always happens in the evening as I look at my computer screen. Just a click away from eBay.com, half.com, target.com, etc. I get this itching feeling, like I want to shop.

I keep thinking of all these things I'd like to have for my trip, such as...

An iPod shuffle:

or a new camera, like the Nikon D40:

I guess I'll just have to dream. :) I don't really need that stuff anyway!

Summer Preparations

2007-05-26T06:15:00.000+02:00

In just a few months I will travel to Brno, Czech Republic. This summer I am making travel arrangements and just getting myself ready for four months abroad!
In my 21 years I have never left the United States, but I am excited to change that this September. I will study at Masaryk University and have high hopes for exciting experiences!
Hopefully I will be able to use this web journal to write about my time abroad in order to save the memories, and also to share them with my family and friends. Expect lots of pictures, because I do so love to take them. Before I go abroad, I will discuss my goals, my anxieties, and maybe the arrival of my nephew Caleb. We expect him in July!