A rough start

Monday was full of last straws for me if you know what I mean. I think that my first day of school was the worst day I have had here in the Czech Republic thus far. If you don’t want to hear about the bad stuff then this would be a good opportunity to stop reading. I mean most of what happened didn’t even really have to do with being here, just a crappy sequence of events.
Early morning (for me at least) I awoke with a soar throat and a stuffed up nose. It was unbearable. I couldn’t hardly begin to think how I was to make it through this day feeling like this, dizziness, hunger pain/ the feeling having to puke my guts out, having to blow my nose every three seconds (which never seemed to help) and the inside of my throat felt like I had been trying to swallow sandpaper all night. I made my way to the bathroom and AGAIN the entire bathroom floor was covered in water. It drives me nuts, that our shower is this bad! Nothing seems to drain, except to on the tile floor. After wading trough the bathroom floor water, I headed to breakfast and started my day.
Despite the rough start I made my way to the first studio presentation, which by the indication on the course selection sheet said it was presented in English. HAHA, not the case. After sitting through thirty minutes of Czech; the professor finally looks around and asks if there were any foreigners in the class. About half the room is full of confused faces that slowly raise their arms (thank God I was not alone.) The professor gave a two second synopsis about the topics she had discussed in Czech with the CTU students and continued her presentation in Czech. In all honestly she did try very hard to inform the non-Czech-speaking group of students the various projects available for the semester, and they did seem quite challenging and interesting. However the overwhelming feeling of being cast aside and left out, almost as secondary students was more than I wanted to deal with for an entire semester.
After lunch many of us made our way to another studio presentation. [Here at CTU the studio professors give small presentations on the various studio projects they will be teaching over the course of the semester, the students visit these small/short presentations and decide from there who they want to stick with for the rest of the semester] This room was located in room Z-587. Now one might infer from this room designation that the room would be located in the Zikova building on the 5th floor somewhere, maybe towards the end, who knows. Once again, not the case. Upon entering the building and walking up one flight of stairs I was faced with rooms labeled in the 400’s, naturally and logically, one would think that the next flight up would be home to the class rooms in the 500’s,[never mind the fact that you are on the third floor by this point.] Still no sign of rooms labeled in the 500’s just rooms beginning with 600’s. This is where my frustration level began to raise from the green to the mustard. Feeling a bit nervous that the next studio presentation started in the next five minuets and I still had no idea where the room, I (and a couple of friends) asked for directions.
After being informed of how to get through the labyrinth like corridor, we B lined it to our class room. Up a flight of stairs to the 400’s made a left at the end of the hall where there are 200’s, through a circular room that connected to a secret set of stairs and finally into the hall which housed the 500’s. THANK GOD WE MADE IT ON TIME! Not like it mattered much, the professor was late by 15 minutes; maybe he couldn’t find the room as well.
After dinner I was looking forward to a quiet evening in my dorm room, listening to my ipod, writing, and sketching my journal. I unwound my head phones from around my ipod, plopped down face first on to my bed and shook of my shoes and pressed play. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. I frantically made sure my head phones were properly inserted into the electronic device, yeah that was ok. So I turned it off and restarted it, still nothing, looked at the data that was stored on it, yup pictures still there, music not so much. Apparently the heavens broke apart and decided that it would be a good idea to wipe all the music I had stored safely and soundly (and legally) on my ipod, leaving me music-less. I wanted to scream, throw that good for nothing piece of plastic out the 5th story window and watch it break into a thousand pieces. How all my music left me I will never know; all I do know is that I spent the next four hours trying to figure out what went wrong and reformatting it so I could put what littlie music I had on laptop on to my ipod. Well at any rate I received some music from friends hare and downloaded some music from lime wire, and now I have an astounding collection of 387 songs only down about oh 2,700 songs. Ugh! It has been a rough day hopefully the rest of the week will be better.
the devil

27.2.06


part two....Kuntá Hora

On Saturday we took a day trip to this sleepy city just an hour outside of Prague. Most of the city was closed due to the fact that this is the off season for tourists. However we were able so see some of the sights the city had to offer. Probably the most well known attraction is the chapel that is decorated with bones, human bones. The Chandelier hanging in the middle of the chapel is said to have one of each bone from the human body. Even though there were more than the bones of 40,000 people surrounding me, I didn’t feel creeped out or even mildly disturbed. The way that the pieces were put together were carefully and skillfully created, over all it possessed a unique beauty.
After spending quite a bit of time at the chapel we walked through the almost dead town and trekked to St. Barbara’s. Unfortunately the building was partly covered in scaffolding and the same was true for the interior of the church. After meandering around this church for an hour or so we found an ice patch outside and began to slide and “skate” across the bumpy solid surface. It’s funny how you can find entertainment in the simplest things.

bone chapel

heads up

bone chandelier

After returning home from Kuntá Hora, we were able to take the tube to old town square and watch the fight for the bronze metal in men’s ice hockey. The Czechs were set to battle the Russians in the consolation game. The square was set up with two huge jumbo screens and a random stage for random performances during the intermissions. The buildings surrounding the square were all a light, looking awesome in the cold February air. Despite the nearly freezing temperatures there were quite a lot of people crowded around the screens waving Czech flags, wearing Czech jerseys and showing their Czech pride in various ways. Chris and I were the most into the game doing all the cheers the locals were doing, however we had no idea what they were chanting, we just followed along. After watching the Czechs skate to victory, we headed to a bar nearby, where drinks were 65 kc for one beer, after one we headed back to the dorms and only spent 24 kc on our victory drinks.

GO CZECH!!

27.2.06
School starts tomorrow, and what can I say but bring it on! We have had a very busy weekend to cap off a busy first week. So what have I been up to since the last time I updated? That is a good question.

Plzen- beer tour, it was pretty cool to see the way that European brewer creates their beer as compared to an American brewery say,...I dunno Budweiser. Just before I left the states I went on the Budweiser tour and was pretty impressed at how much of a craft creating the golden beverage was. However when I came to Plzen and saw their process and the history behind the process I was even more impressed. We toured the different tanks that held varying stages of the brewing process and then toured the corridors bellow the earth that in the past held hand crafted barrels of beer that could hold a small nation. After walking throughout the many cellars like corridors we can to the most anticipated part of the tour. The Tasting. The sampling at Pilsner-Urquell is very different from Budweiser in that, we got unfiltered, unpastuerized, straight from a wooden barrels keg beer. A man stood at the end of a long arched corridor with his hand on a spout that was puncturing the wooden barrel. We all marched down the corridor with our cups in hand ready to sample the raw brew. It tasted pretty much the same as the bottled version, but then again I’m no expert, just a mere admirer. After the tour we headed to the beer garden for lunch, and it was wonderful. I had a Czech goulush, with 3 different kinds of Czech dumplings. It was grrrrrrrreat! I was stuffed! We continued our tour of Plzen by walking to the Cathedral there Of St. Bartholomew. It had a large bell tower which was open for people to climb to the top. Not a single one of us hesitated to journey to the top, but as the stone steps turned to steep, almost vertical steps, the crowd began to slow and the burn in the legs started to set in. Thank goodness I ran like crazy over break, my legs were in good shape to take the climb. I made it to the top and my legs didn't feel like Jell-O, I think that was the real victory. Once at the top we took out scenic pictures and climbed back down. Soon we were on the bus headed for home.

copper brew tanks

what heaven must look like for homer simpson

yeah climbed to the top of that sucker

a view from the top

stained glass window

This is the best dorm room ever, killer accommodations and a stunning view!

our room!!!
my bed, oh so...Cozy
there is our grand entry way on the right and the toilet room ahead, shower to the left down the hall, my room is the near door on the right
the kitchen, if you can call a sink mini-fridge and two burners a kitchen
Hello Mack, woring hard, or hardly working?

me!
Masarykova Kolej H535
Thákurova 1
160 41 Praha 6
Czech Republic

nazdravi! (cheers)


yuck!!!


Kate and Laura (my british flatmates) standing next to a barrel of Becherovka.


it was snowing all day!


natural spring stop


lady filling her mug from the spring, you will see people all over the city carrying these mugs and stopping at each spring for a drink.

Well today is Friday Feb. 24 today we take a bus to Plzeň where we will take a tour of the Pilsner Urquell brewery, yeah more beer! On Tuesday we visited Karlovy Vary, and toured the natural springs located throughout the city but also visited the Jan Becker Muzeum home of Becherovka bitter sweet herbal liqueur. Wow all I have to say is that stuff will put some hair on your chest. I'm sure by the pictures above you can tell how yummy it was!
Things are going great, it's is very cold here, yesterday it snowed all day, but today is looking pretty good, bright and sunny, maybe a bit brisk outside but I guess I will find out when I get there.
Hope everyone is doing well -Na shledanou

best band in the world


Jan Hus


our lady...

Feb 19th

Sunday morning was a beautiful sunny day, slightly warmer than the past few days. Feeling ambitious Luke, Chris, Mandy, Mackenzie and I sought out a catholic church with a service in English. Thanks to Mandy’s research we had found St. Thomas’s which is near The Charles Bridge in Malá Strana (little quarter). Built in the 13th century the church was truly of another time. It has a narrow nave and archways that soar to the heavens. The pews were the original wooded high back benches with a wooded kneeler that served as a place to put my feet, and when it was time to kneel the plain unpadded plank of wood felt hard and stiff on my knee caps. I could see my breath in the cold air as I said the various prayers and responses. As my eyes wondered across the church and settled on the faces of the regulars I could see the white foggy breath coming from their lips as they sang the different hymns and worship songs. The church was dedicated to St. Thomas and was filled with different images of this patron saint. Every inch of the church as covered with ornate carvings of cherubs, garland, and statues of different saints and religious figures. Being able to keep up with the catholic choreography made me feel more at home in this new place of worship. It was amazing to me that despite being hundreds of miles from home things were pretty much the same, even down to the same songs that they sing at St. Peters (I don’t sing I like to be able to listen). As the priest rambled on in the homily I began to reflect on how I was sitting in a church that was not only older than country but hundreds of years older. It stunned me to think of all the Catholics that had come to this very place, sat in the same pew I was sitting in for century’s seeking the same salvation and spiritual fulfillment I was seeking. I found inspiration and saw the presence of God in this church, all just by observing the amazing architecture and the dedicated faithful surrounding me, it was a great start to a wonderful day.
We left the church after mass and made our way down to Charles Bridge and began to wander around with all the other tourists. We meandered down to The square where there is the astronomical clock, the Jan Hus monument, and the Church of Our Lady Before Týn. The square was full of people enjoying the beautiful weather and the warm sunshine. There was even a group of men (about 5) providing the people with uplifting and energetic music. The man that was singing had a voice that reminded me of sandpaper caught in a garbage disposal, but for some reason it ft perfectly, and was easy to listen to. The other men were playing their various instruments such as a clarinet, a bass cello, a banjo and drum set. A crowd surrounded them watching and bopping along with the festive, polka-like music. After watching the group of performers for a few songs we wandered away and ended up in the Melantria Passage (famous for being in a painting by Václav Jansa.) Taking this route led us to the open air market area. Each of the bins of fruit and vegetables spilled over, the various greens, yellows, reds, and oranges made the market feel alive and vibrant. Mackenzie and I wandered through the space looking at the various foods and souvenirs. We found the coolest wooden carved) tulip bouquets. Badly needing some color in our dorm room we constipated if the 700 kc was worth it. We decided against it seeing how it would be barely impossible to ship home. Walking away empty handed we headed to Tessco to finish our errands,[getting a bucket to hand wash some of our clothes] and then proceeded to head back to the dorm, where we wrapped up the day watching the Czech team beat the Italian hockey team in “thrilling” game.

kind of a rainy day in praha


longest german word i have ever seen
at tesco, yeah that is a list of the departments


praha!

this one is for the boys...yeah


st. viteus (sp?)


praha castle


mack, chirs, and luke at school!

cheers! first beer in the Czech Republic

February 18th 2006

After arriving yesterday morning it was non stop hustle and bustle getting paperwork filled out, deposits paid, clothes unpacked and meeting new faces However we were able to sit down with our Czech buddies and partake in a Czech meal and a couple of Czech’s finest beer. Mack and I split a platter that had a little bit of everything on it, pork, beef, and chicken with fries, rice, and cooked potatoes. It was absolutely wonderful! It was a nice introduction to Czech food. Later that evening Mack and I unpacked our massive suitcases and enormous a started to fill the shelves and cupboard in our room. It wasn’t until that evening when we were able to catch up wit all the other k-Staters and head out to dinner. We choose a small Italian restaurant/pizzeria. The menu was lucky in both Czech and in English so picking out a dish wasn’t hard to do, just making a decision was the though part. After dinner we retreated back to our room and chatted with our English flat mates Kate and Laura. They are both really awesome and very friendly; they both are here to study civil engineering.
However today was chalk full of adventure and learning more about the inner city of Prague or Praha as the Czechs say it. At about 10 Mack and I set out with adventurous sprits and our walking shoes. We had maps stuffed in our shoulder bags and money in our pockets we were on a mission to find the Tesco and a cute café that we could call our own. We set our walking towards the main roundabout in our area and decided to take the third spoke from the right not knowing where it was going to lead us. We stumbled on to a min street that took us over the river and towards the Prague castle. Without knowing it we had found our way to one of the largest ancient castles in Europe home to St. Vitus’ cathedral. We walked past the guards decked out in full uniform and standing with such strength and decorum, it was almost intimidating until Mack and I got close enough to see that they guards were young and very attractive. We made our way into the cathedral and admired the wonderful gothic architecture with incredibly detailed spires and soaring columns holding delicate spring like arches above. It was stunning to say the least. It is easy to say that we will be coming back in the future to sketch and take pictures of the interior (you have to buy the right to take pictures, a great scam.) we continued our jounry around random streets and neighborhoods. We finally made it into the inner city where most of the real touristy things take place. We crossed Charles bridge slowly, careful to admire the various statues lining both sides of the bridge. While we didn’t know most of the saints that we portrayed we were able to recognize St. Patrick, the patron saint of architects. After reaching the other side we meandered further into the city, and saw various tourist shops, cafes and restaurants all selling virtually the same things however with different atmospheres. After about and hour of wandering we decided that we need to get back on track and find what we had originally set out for, Tesco. In order to save time and our legs, we found the information center and asked for directions. When getting directions on how to get somewhere in this city sounds a little like this, go down this street for a ways and the go left for about a hundred meters and then go around this bend and you should be fine. But what they don’t tell you is that the street winds in and out of other streets, which leads to other windy street and soon you find your self on a street that is in the opposite direction that you wanted to go in the first place. And they certainly don’t use North South East West, because you get so turned around that they wouldn’t help you at all. But in all that we found it, making Mack and I feel like we had accomplished the most prestigious task in the world, and it was just as rewarding. For those of you who don’t know what Tesco is, it basically is a 5 story Wal-Mart that makes you pay before you leave each of the department. We stocked up on the essentials such as pink toilet paper (it was a tough choice between the pink and the orange) miniature paper towel rolls and air freshener for our room. While we were trying to decipher the instruction on a bottle of drain-o (our shower turns into a bath in min and lasts for hours) Chris tapped on our shoulder and asked if we knew were to get the hand soap. Turns out that the entire crew was there as well. Mack and I concluded our shopping trip and rode the tube back to the dorms with the rest of the gang.

For dinner Mack and I decided to try the sandwich shop that is about three blocks from our dorm, people are always in there so we decided it had to be delicious. Here in that shop I came to the realization that all Czech food as an element of surprise to it. Even if you think you have chosen the most typical most familiar meal you will inevitably thrown off guard by and extra surprise ingredient. For example I went with the safe bet, the roast beef sandwich, it was the only thing I could read on the menu and the meat didn’t look raw, safe bet right , meat cheese and bread, how in the world can this be any different from what I would get back home? Ha! As I took my first it and looked at the sandwich I notice some brownish green shreds, some mysterious topping. I couldn’t quite tell if it was onion or lettuce. I was so hungry by this point of the day that I didn’t relly care, after walking for about five hours and who knows how many miles all I cared about was where and how I could get more fuel for my fire. All in all it was a good tasting sandwich and at some point will return for another, however next time I will ask for no mystery toppings.

To top off the evening we headed to the pub in the basement of our dormitory, which serves big mugs (about 24 oz. maybe, they are way bigger than the pints we had in England) of beer for 24 Czech crowns (ck). This price is pretty typical across Prague, which equates to about 1.20 in US dollars for about 2 American bottled beers. Down in the pub we mingled among the other foreign students, meeting Canadians, Spaniards, Scottish people and others. But it was the K-Staters along with the Birts (Kate and Laura) who had the most fun talking loud, telling jokes, stories, and also discussing American television shows. As the night went on I hung out and talked mostly with the Scotts and even busted out my impression of their Scottish accents. They were rolling on the floor and astounded and how accurate the impression was, I continued to next with my English accent and Kate and Laura were quite impressed too as to the accuracy of the dialect, even after a few beers. It was quite funny to talk to them all night about random stupid things that made everyone crack up, all in all it was a great evening filled with fantastic drinks and even better company!

view of st. paul's from the thames


westminster abby


tower bridge


eye of london

February 16, 2006

Today was a full day in London. It was full of sightseeing and discovery. We started the day with brisk walk to the subway finding our way to Buckingham palace. We thought he had arrived just in time to see the changing of the guard. Of course with our luck, today was not a day in which the held the ceremony. Talk about bummer. We took our snapshots and watch the men on horse back make their way to the palace and proceed to the stables behind the massive gates, not very exciting but at least it was something. Making our way to Westminster Abby we passed St. James park, in desperate search of a trash can to get rid of various breakfast wrappers and bags. For some reason England is against having rubbish bins anywhere in the tube station or out on the streets, it’s a conspiracy! At Westminster Abby we were finally able to find a trash receptacle and make our way into the massive church. After we spent 6.00 pounds to get in we made our way through the various chapels and cloisters. The church was absolutely stunning! The spider web like fanned ribs overhead spread across the ceiling so elegantly. The ribs of the vaulted ceiling looked graceful and elegant. It looked as though these thin strips of carved stone were not enough to hold the ceiling above. The light that reflected off the ceilings captured the amazing detail of the arches above. After walking through the Abby for over an hour we made our way to Big Ben and the houses of parlemnt, we took the usual tourist pictures and made our way back to the subway to catch the tube to the tower of London. Upon reaching the tower, we say that the price of admissions was 14.50 pounds which is roughly equal to 30 u.s. dollars. Not wanting to spend nearly 30 bucks we took pictures and admired tower bridge. It wasn’t too long until we went back to central London and got in the tremendous line for the eye of London. Line reminded me of the type you would find in Disney land, just short of the signs that claim “ if you are reading this sign your wait will be approximately 2 hours.” Thank God we had made reservations, because they meant absolutely nothing, we sat in line with our tickets that we saved 10% on and waited with everyone else. The line went fast and soon we found ourselves boarding the capsule like “ships.” The capsules did not stop for the exiting passengers or the people boarding. Taking care to time my steps I boarded the ship and began to rise into the air. We watched the sky line rise and fall, giving us the best view of London I have ever seen. It was breath taking.
We made our way back to the hotel shortly after departing the London eye, only to have dinner at the Fountains Abby where we had a pint and a had a game of miniature pool. This was a great ending to our time in London, relaxed and fun.
Tomorrow we say good bye to this awesome city and board a plane bound for the Czech Republic to meet out buddies and begin our semester of unquantifiable. I’m a little nervous but that is over shadowed by my excitement. Homesickness hasn’t hit me yet but that is not to say that it won’t or I don’t miss my friends and family. However when I do have internet access I have to say that getting those e-mails makes my heart swell even more, so keep ‘em coming guys I love them!

Lacock village


roman bath and bath cathedral


christ church


the rocks

I have made it! I am currently in England, just 30 min. outside of Oxford! It is amazing! After landing in London we boarded a bus bound of Oxford. We were slamed right way with British culture, including roundabouts and kebabs. We toured different colleges at Oxford University and meandered through Christ church, which was beautiful. Adding to the atmosphere were the sounds of someone practicing hymns on the organ, a truly spiritual moment. After which we made the journey to Cally and Lee Wingfield's home just outside of Oxford, we were greeted by a home cooked meal and the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in, especially after that never ending day, it was great.

Today our group journeyed through three cities, Salisbury, Lacock and Bath. We saw as my sister would say "the pile of rocks" Stonehenge. In Lacock we toured and old time village and Abby St. Cyriacs. In Bath we walked trough the high street, saw the Cathedral, and the Roman baths.

Tomorrow we make our way to London, to take the train to Brighton to see my old roommate Kristin! I can’t wait to see al the wonderful sight the city by the channel has to offer! Until then I hope you all are doing well and shoot me an e-mail sometime at lmi8899@ksu.edu.

Jon, me and Phil @ the red sea, just before Jon was to take to the stage..er...Persian rugged playing area... Yeah, Persian rugged playing area.

Well today was the first day that I didn't have to drag myself out of my warm bed at 6:30 in a long while, and it was WONDERFUL! However the day was full of running errands and doing miscellaneous tasks. I have to say that despite my complaining about working in general, I found myself restless to be busy with something. I think that the time I spent working at Architectural Design Guild in addition to the time I worked at Chrisopher's was good for me, helped to keep my brain busy and ultimately from fretting too much over my departure. But now that I have nothing to do but pack up my belongings, things have gotten a little more stressful. It's amazing how hard I have to think when packing for the upcoming 6 months. I suppose that the truly important things that I bring are my passport and a sense of humor. Both of which are on a list among other random objects and articles of clothing.
I find myself looking forward to the upcoming days before I leave thinking to myself "I can't wait until Friday when I go on the beer tour with everyone" or "I can't wait 'till Saturday to see my family" but as the words "I can't wait..." Cross my mind I think them over again. I should consume and embrace every second, not wishing them away. I have really enjoyed being at home with my good friends and my great family, and I wouldn't want to spend my remaining time at home wishing to be anywhere else but with the people I love. So while I am excited to embark on my journey, I can wait, I will enjoy taking it slow and steady.(I hope they the next four days are the longest of my life.)