First week in Prague

So, I have been in Prague for a little over a week. Europe is a big change for me, but it has been very exciting. Prague is a beautiful town. It almost feels like I am watching a movie. The architecture and castles in town are amazing. The public transportation works very well. It is easy to get around without a car. I am so used to driving everywhere so it is taking me some time to familiar with it. There are metros, buses, and trams. I am starting to get accustomed to using them. Every little thing is different here. You have to pay for your grocery bags. You have to pay to use some bathrooms. The beer is really cheap (2 US dollars for 16 ounces of beer). Beer is cheaper than water. There are two bars in the basement of the dorm. Almost every street is made of cobblestone. There is a foosball table in almost every bar, which is awesome because the table they use here is exactly the same as the one I had at home growing up. There have been some very intense and exciting games. More to come throughout the year.

My roommate is from New York and the other people in our suite are from New York, Canada, and Costa Rica. The people I have met are from all over the place: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, France, Scotland, Finland, Netherlands, and Ireland. There is a group of students from Union College in New York and a few students from El Paso, Texas. The accommodation is better than I thought it was going to be. The pictures of the dorm that were on the internet made the rooms look really small but they are actually pretty nice. Three rooms of two people each share a common room with a kitchen, bathroom, and shower. The kitchen has two stovetops, a sink, and a small refrigerator but it should work well. The international student club is very well organized. They have hosted a few integration parties that were fun and there are country presentations every Wednesday night. The club is also organizing several trips throughout the semester for the exchange students. I think there are around 400 exchange students at this university alone and there are a few other universities so there are a lot of students in Prague.

We took a tour of the Prague and saw a few of the bigger tourist attractions in the area. Prague Castle, Charles Bridge, and Old Town Square. It was a good first tour but I am looking forward to exploring more on my own. This weekend the international student club hosted a trip to the northern region of Czech Republic called North Bohemia. We saw two castles, natural rock towers, Jested TV tower, a beer brewery, and visited an aqua park. Vladstejn is the oldest castle in Czech Republic and Bezdez is the largest castle. The view from the top of the tower at Bezdez was amazing. The brewery tour was interesting, we got to see the traditional way to brew beer. The beermaster said that beer is a way of getting the vitamins and minerals of the earth to the public in liquid form. I have never seen anything like the rock towers. They look fun if you are into rock climbing.

Classes started on Monday and they should be easygoing during the semester. I do not have any classes on Friday so that will be nice for taking trips. The final exam period is going to be much busier than the semester. The final exam counts as your entire grade.

I miss everyone back home. It feels as if I have been gone for months rather than weeks. When I come home maybe the beer will finally be in stores!

This weekend Pope Benedict is going to be in Prague so I am planning on going to see him. I am planning on updating this every few weeks. I will be putting pictures up more often than posts. My albums can be seen here: Prague Tour, North Bohemia

Rock Towers

Prague Castle

Czech Paradise