We spent the first weekend looking at all the sights in Prague. I won't blog about these now, because I have already written about them. Czech the side bar under the Czech Republic (get it? Check?)
I'm really lame.
Showing posts with label Prague. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prague. Show all posts
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Ahoj
BH and I recently took a trip around central Europe. Our first stop was Prague. Prague is one of my most favorite cities in the world. It is the first place I traveled abroad, and where I chose to study abroad in college. The city is like a fairytale, with looming spires, gorgeous streets, and fantastic churches. The only drawback is the food.
One or two bites and you can already feel yourself gaining weight. This has a cream sauce with dumplings, pork, and whipped cream. When I was a kid, I loved dumplings. As an adult, I just feel like they are undercooked bread. At least the beer is delicious.
We spent the first weekend looking at all the sights in Prague. I won't blog about these now, because I have already written about them. Czech the side bar under the Czech Republic (get it? Check?)
I'm really lame.
We spent the first weekend looking at all the sights in Prague. I won't blog about these now, because I have already written about them. Czech the side bar under the Czech Republic (get it? Check?)
I'm really lame.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
A Day in the Life of a Mule
I woke up early on the 31st of August without an alarm clock; my body has become great at waking up when it needs to, but I’m not sure if it is just from anxiety and a fear of being late or a true skill... maybe a mixture of both. After I made sure all my bags were packed, I took a taxi to the bus stop, managed to get all my baggage on the bus, and set of for the 22 hour bus-ride back to Prague. Only after leaving the city limits did I remember that I hadn’t written down the place of my residence in Prague or how to get there, but no matter. I was on the way back to the most beautiful city I have ever visited.
I’m really surprised at how I have not lost anything during my month of travel. I have traveled through six countries, stayed in four hostels, and still have all my important electronic appliances (iPod, computer, and camera). The only thing that I left behind was a book and a towel in Veliko Tarnovo. The towel was on purpose, but the book was my one companion at the time, and I was quite upset when I realized it was missing. Luckily, it is a popular book and I was able to secure another copy of Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall in Sofia. I am now near the finish, and, although I like the book, and especially its progressive stance on female rights during the early 19th century, its focus on the aristocracy bugs me. The characters all have these huge dilemmas and drama, but the life of the servants who have to live under them is barely mentioned. The protagonist constantly lounges about all day, and complains about not having anything to do. Where the money comes from is not explicitly stated, but it seems preposterous that they have the leisure time to gamble and drink, go hunting, throw massive parties, when their servants are the only people actually doing any work. I think that is my major problem with 19th century literature; although the stories can be fascinating, and you can read into a perspective of life in the period, it is a very small sliver of the population.
Anyways, as I was delving into the novel at the border between Bulgaria and Serbia, the woman in charge of the bus was walking around handing out cartons of cigarettes to passengers. I wanted to refuse because I absolutely abhor smoking (too much Bronte, huh?), but I didn’t know how to say abhor in Bulgarian, so when she came up to me, I figured that I would just follow the mold. I had heard of this happening before; passengers smuggling in items bought at duty-free zones and then giving them back to the person who had bought it. It was being performed at a massive scale, and the operation seemed to go quite smoothly. The carton stayed in my backpack until we crossed the Slovakia-Czech Republic border when the woman collected all the cigarettes. The whole time, I was joking with my neighbor, in broken Bulgarian, about us carrying contraband across the continent. It was my first experience as a mule, albeit not nearly as dangerous as those who smuggle cocaine to the States from Colombia. It was a rather exciting experience, and one I couldn’t see happening in the United States. We would ask questions like why am I doing this for you, and what do I get out of this deal. Perhaps illegal trading of cigarettes acts as a way to finance these expeditions across the continent, and people let it happen so their bus rides can continue to be cheap.
My neighbors were very kind and talkative. On my leftt there was a Bulgarian and on my right two Czechs. My Bulgarian has exceeded my Czech, however, so Bulgarian was the language of choice. I’m going to miss Bulgarian, but hopefully I can continue to take classes at the University...
I was perusing (another Bronte word of the day) my book when I suddenly looked up and realized that we were well into Prague. It was shocking to suddenly see the National Museum. It wasn’t long before I picked up my extra luggage and took a cab to the student dorms. My location is idyllic; right behind Prague castle, our dorms are spacious and include a mini-kitchen. The walk to classes is somewhat long, but public transportation is easily accessible. After settling in, three of my suite mates and two girls in another suite went out to explore the city. I hope I was helpful with my prior knowledge, and I brought them to Tesco to pick up some appliances as well as showed them a few sights. It is great to be back in a city with which I am becoming quite familiar.
I’m really surprised at how I have not lost anything during my month of travel. I have traveled through six countries, stayed in four hostels, and still have all my important electronic appliances (iPod, computer, and camera). The only thing that I left behind was a book and a towel in Veliko Tarnovo. The towel was on purpose, but the book was my one companion at the time, and I was quite upset when I realized it was missing. Luckily, it is a popular book and I was able to secure another copy of Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall in Sofia. I am now near the finish, and, although I like the book, and especially its progressive stance on female rights during the early 19th century, its focus on the aristocracy bugs me. The characters all have these huge dilemmas and drama, but the life of the servants who have to live under them is barely mentioned. The protagonist constantly lounges about all day, and complains about not having anything to do. Where the money comes from is not explicitly stated, but it seems preposterous that they have the leisure time to gamble and drink, go hunting, throw massive parties, when their servants are the only people actually doing any work. I think that is my major problem with 19th century literature; although the stories can be fascinating, and you can read into a perspective of life in the period, it is a very small sliver of the population.
Anyways, as I was delving into the novel at the border between Bulgaria and Serbia, the woman in charge of the bus was walking around handing out cartons of cigarettes to passengers. I wanted to refuse because I absolutely abhor smoking (too much Bronte, huh?), but I didn’t know how to say abhor in Bulgarian, so when she came up to me, I figured that I would just follow the mold. I had heard of this happening before; passengers smuggling in items bought at duty-free zones and then giving them back to the person who had bought it. It was being performed at a massive scale, and the operation seemed to go quite smoothly. The carton stayed in my backpack until we crossed the Slovakia-Czech Republic border when the woman collected all the cigarettes. The whole time, I was joking with my neighbor, in broken Bulgarian, about us carrying contraband across the continent. It was my first experience as a mule, albeit not nearly as dangerous as those who smuggle cocaine to the States from Colombia. It was a rather exciting experience, and one I couldn’t see happening in the United States. We would ask questions like why am I doing this for you, and what do I get out of this deal. Perhaps illegal trading of cigarettes acts as a way to finance these expeditions across the continent, and people let it happen so their bus rides can continue to be cheap.
My neighbors were very kind and talkative. On my leftt there was a Bulgarian and on my right two Czechs. My Bulgarian has exceeded my Czech, however, so Bulgarian was the language of choice. I’m going to miss Bulgarian, but hopefully I can continue to take classes at the University...
I was perusing (another Bronte word of the day) my book when I suddenly looked up and realized that we were well into Prague. It was shocking to suddenly see the National Museum. It wasn’t long before I picked up my extra luggage and took a cab to the student dorms. My location is idyllic; right behind Prague castle, our dorms are spacious and include a mini-kitchen. The walk to classes is somewhat long, but public transportation is easily accessible. After settling in, three of my suite mates and two girls in another suite went out to explore the city. I hope I was helpful with my prior knowledge, and I brought them to Tesco to pick up some appliances as well as showed them a few sights. It is great to be back in a city with which I am becoming quite familiar.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Heading to Bulgaria
I had to buy a bus ticket for Bulgaria the other day, and if you are ever in a similar situation, I warn you that it is quite a process. The various bus companies are all over the station, and you have to match where you want to go with what bus company you need to go through. However, there is no master list that displays which buses go where. No, you have to go from company to company to try and find the appropriate bus station. Furthermore, the station is not in the best part of town and is surrounded by vendors selling luggage and t-shirts who will not say no for an answer. (I ended up buying a small carry-on luggage, because the lady was so nice, I really did need it, and it was only 16 dollars) I finally did find my bus, but it was a hectic experience.
I’m going to head out for Bulgaria tomorrow morning, a 24 hour trip, so hopefully there are no letters getting sent my way to Prague. I’m excited, but I am going to miss my new friends and my new home in Prague. Although I didn’t know anyone coming in, I feel like we have created a strong community and I will want to see them in the States again. Nevertheless, I cannot wait to see Bulgaria. It seems like I will be heading further into Eastern Europe and Slavic culture and am extremely excited to see cultural differences not only between Bulgaria and the US, but also between Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. It should be a notable experience.
I’m going to head out for Bulgaria tomorrow morning, a 24 hour trip, so hopefully there are no letters getting sent my way to Prague. I’m excited, but I am going to miss my new friends and my new home in Prague. Although I didn’t know anyone coming in, I feel like we have created a strong community and I will want to see them in the States again. Nevertheless, I cannot wait to see Bulgaria. It seems like I will be heading further into Eastern Europe and Slavic culture and am extremely excited to see cultural differences not only between Bulgaria and the US, but also between Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. It should be a notable experience.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
A Soft Kind of Power
Sometimes, obviously, the United States can piss me off. It’s a great country, don’t get me wrong, but it makes mistakes. One of its biggest fallacies is its desire to transform states into democracies. The Democratic Peace Theory states that democracies do not go to war with each other. If every state was a liberal democracy, war could be abolished and, ideally, peace would reign. Of course, there are many factors that try to define if a state is a democracy, if other states perceive it as democratic, and what exactly the definition of war is. Nevertheless, empirical evidence has shown that liberal democracies tend to live peacefully. (Unless, of course, you count World War II, in which Hitler was elected democratically, but it can be argued that immediately afterwards, it’s liberal values were completely demolished)
That was a little off topic, but what I’m trying to get at is that in order to promote peace, the United States supports liberal values, especially free markets. In order to create such democracies in typically non-democratic regimes, however, the United States has had to use force at times. If you look at the War in Iraq (I’ll try to be objective) the US has used force to stop Saddam Hussein’s regime and establish a democracy within a previous dictatorship. Regardless of the horrors that Hussein committed, and the fact that we originally lied about our intent, it needs to be questioned whether or not it was a democratic to try and enforce democracy. The force that was used to establish a pseudo-democracy in Iraq was hard power, and though it had its benefits, mainly quick action, it also involves the death of US soldiers and innocent Iraqis. Furthermore, the war continues with no end in sight.
Soft power is a lot more appealing to me. It gives people the resources and the information to choose their own destiny. Rather than directly interfering with the affairs of a foreign state, you can provide information and education, which may end in peaceful regime changes from the bottom up. RadioFreeEurope RadioLiberty, or RFE/RL, is one such organization that uses soft power to give societies the ability to embrace liberal values. RFE originally was established during the Cold War to provide states within the Soviet Bloc objective information about not only domestic affairs, but also international news. Broadcasting from Germany, it acted as a way to allow individuals who would like to hear equal and fair news the ability to find information that they could trust was not being filtered by the government. Although success of such soft power is hard to determine, it could have had an effect on the dissolution of the Soviet Bloc.
After 1989 and the transition to democracy in the ex-Soviet countries, RFE needed to find a new purpose; funded by the United States, some Senators wanted to use tax dollars elsewhere while others looked to extend its purpose to other arenas. RadioLiberty was created, and it continues to be broadcast in states that suffer from totalitarian regimes. To save money, the station was moved to Prague, and we were lucky to tour the site on Tuesday. The organization completely fascinates me. I’ve always had somewhat distrust in enforcing one’s ideologies upon another, but providing factual information, particularly domestic news, can create a bottom up change in repressive institutions. Of course, it has its difficulties. It can be hard to get a radio signal into a country whose dictator does not necessarily want such information being broadcasted. It does seem to have some success. I know I sound kind of like a poster boy, but if you want to read more about the organization, its website is www.rferl.org. Maybe I can get an internship there...
That was a little off topic, but what I’m trying to get at is that in order to promote peace, the United States supports liberal values, especially free markets. In order to create such democracies in typically non-democratic regimes, however, the United States has had to use force at times. If you look at the War in Iraq (I’ll try to be objective) the US has used force to stop Saddam Hussein’s regime and establish a democracy within a previous dictatorship. Regardless of the horrors that Hussein committed, and the fact that we originally lied about our intent, it needs to be questioned whether or not it was a democratic to try and enforce democracy. The force that was used to establish a pseudo-democracy in Iraq was hard power, and though it had its benefits, mainly quick action, it also involves the death of US soldiers and innocent Iraqis. Furthermore, the war continues with no end in sight.
Soft power is a lot more appealing to me. It gives people the resources and the information to choose their own destiny. Rather than directly interfering with the affairs of a foreign state, you can provide information and education, which may end in peaceful regime changes from the bottom up. RadioFreeEurope RadioLiberty, or RFE/RL, is one such organization that uses soft power to give societies the ability to embrace liberal values. RFE originally was established during the Cold War to provide states within the Soviet Bloc objective information about not only domestic affairs, but also international news. Broadcasting from Germany, it acted as a way to allow individuals who would like to hear equal and fair news the ability to find information that they could trust was not being filtered by the government. Although success of such soft power is hard to determine, it could have had an effect on the dissolution of the Soviet Bloc.
After 1989 and the transition to democracy in the ex-Soviet countries, RFE needed to find a new purpose; funded by the United States, some Senators wanted to use tax dollars elsewhere while others looked to extend its purpose to other arenas. RadioLiberty was created, and it continues to be broadcast in states that suffer from totalitarian regimes. To save money, the station was moved to Prague, and we were lucky to tour the site on Tuesday. The organization completely fascinates me. I’ve always had somewhat distrust in enforcing one’s ideologies upon another, but providing factual information, particularly domestic news, can create a bottom up change in repressive institutions. Of course, it has its difficulties. It can be hard to get a radio signal into a country whose dictator does not necessarily want such information being broadcasted. It does seem to have some success. I know I sound kind of like a poster boy, but if you want to read more about the organization, its website is www.rferl.org. Maybe I can get an internship there...
Friday, July 13, 2007
The Comfort of Repetition
Sometimes its hard to break out of a mold. Your life tends to follow patterns. Wake up, school, work, play, sleep. Obviously, some order is needed so you can, for example, become specialized in a certain area. Repetition is comfortable and needed in most jobs in the name of efficiency. Waking up and going to bed are also important for physical well being and mental health. Repetition within school as well as going to school every day is needed so that you can learn. But that other part of the pattern of your life doesn’t need to follow a pre-destined order. Playing in different ways is definitely healthy, and experiencing a broader part of life can increase your understanding of the world.
Sometimes, my play gets stuck in a rut. By play, I mean going out to restaurants, the path that I take my morning jog on, dishes I cook, books I read, parts of Prague I visit, etc. You find something that you really like, and you continue to do it because you like it so much. We originally wanted to go to a different restaurant every time in Prague. We failed pretty quickly and already tend to go to Friends. It’s a really fun place, with a great atmosphere and great food. Of course, there are tons of other places in Prague that I should visit, but I’ve found my comfort in Friends, and it tends to be a place we visit. The problem is it is hard to break out of this rut. It’s scary to try other places. You never know what you are going to like, and what it is going to be like. If I jog a different path, I won’t know where I’m going. But at the same time, I would be able to see more and learn more about the city. It’s good to break out of repetition.
Why do we like repetition so much? It creates the familiar and it reminds us of our home. We create a group of people that we like and an atmosphere that we enjoy. For example, right now I’m typing with my friends in room 305, the room we always chill in. I’ve created a little Lindstrom in Prague, but with its own little quirks. But Lindstrom is a small town, and I’m limiting my experiences by trying to create a new home within the city. I need to actively increase the size of my comfort bubble and increase my capacity to enjoy life. This can be scary; what if I don’t like what I’ve found? But do you know what’s worst? Not finding what’s better.
Sometimes, my play gets stuck in a rut. By play, I mean going out to restaurants, the path that I take my morning jog on, dishes I cook, books I read, parts of Prague I visit, etc. You find something that you really like, and you continue to do it because you like it so much. We originally wanted to go to a different restaurant every time in Prague. We failed pretty quickly and already tend to go to Friends. It’s a really fun place, with a great atmosphere and great food. Of course, there are tons of other places in Prague that I should visit, but I’ve found my comfort in Friends, and it tends to be a place we visit. The problem is it is hard to break out of this rut. It’s scary to try other places. You never know what you are going to like, and what it is going to be like. If I jog a different path, I won’t know where I’m going. But at the same time, I would be able to see more and learn more about the city. It’s good to break out of repetition.
Why do we like repetition so much? It creates the familiar and it reminds us of our home. We create a group of people that we like and an atmosphere that we enjoy. For example, right now I’m typing with my friends in room 305, the room we always chill in. I’ve created a little Lindstrom in Prague, but with its own little quirks. But Lindstrom is a small town, and I’m limiting my experiences by trying to create a new home within the city. I need to actively increase the size of my comfort bubble and increase my capacity to enjoy life. This can be scary; what if I don’t like what I’ve found? But do you know what’s worst? Not finding what’s better.
Prepositions and Propositions
Yesterday, I was wondering around the city and I got kind of lost. I knew where I was going, but I thought that there was a faster way and I tried to take a shortcut. Unfortunately, I don’t know the city as well as I thought, and it wasn’t very long and I was very lost in Old Town. Luckily, I know enough to ask “Kde je Narodni Divadlo?” (Where is National Theater) and I asked multiple people where it was. However, I had no idea what they answered. I didn’t know enough Czech to understand their response, so I ended up just getting more and more lost.
I started noticing something interesting, however, and I was really excited to see that all the stores were using the preposition “u”, which means at, around, by, etc. When you use u, the following nouns and adjectives have to change to the genitive case (which is a complicated case within the Czech language, but kind of exciting for loser linguists like me). So, I was just wondering around, saying things like “oh, u Staromestke Kavy comes from Staromestka kava”. Well, that is a bad example, because I don’t think I ever found an Old-Town cup of coffee, but I think you get the point. So, I would alternate between exclaiming in joy when I saw another prepositional phrase and asking randoms on the street where Narodni Divadlo is. I finally found two Slovak men who had decent English, who were also lost, and we continued searching for Karluv Moct. I asked this older women if she knew where Charles’ Bridge was, and she told me to follow her and I did. Well, she brought me to a random door and said “joint” and obviously, I responded “ne”. She then made hand motions towards my crotch and obviously was implying that she would have sex with me. So, that is how my happy day full of prepositions changed into an encounter with a prostitute.
The guys and I finally found Karluv Moct, and they wanted to go to a club, but it was too expensive. I tried to convince them to go with me to Friends, but right before I got to Tingl Tangl, they left me, so I walked home alone.
I started noticing something interesting, however, and I was really excited to see that all the stores were using the preposition “u”, which means at, around, by, etc. When you use u, the following nouns and adjectives have to change to the genitive case (which is a complicated case within the Czech language, but kind of exciting for loser linguists like me). So, I was just wondering around, saying things like “oh, u Staromestke Kavy comes from Staromestka kava”. Well, that is a bad example, because I don’t think I ever found an Old-Town cup of coffee, but I think you get the point. So, I would alternate between exclaiming in joy when I saw another prepositional phrase and asking randoms on the street where Narodni Divadlo is. I finally found two Slovak men who had decent English, who were also lost, and we continued searching for Karluv Moct. I asked this older women if she knew where Charles’ Bridge was, and she told me to follow her and I did. Well, she brought me to a random door and said “joint” and obviously, I responded “ne”. She then made hand motions towards my crotch and obviously was implying that she would have sex with me. So, that is how my happy day full of prepositions changed into an encounter with a prostitute.
The guys and I finally found Karluv Moct, and they wanted to go to a club, but it was too expensive. I tried to convince them to go with me to Friends, but right before I got to Tingl Tangl, they left me, so I walked home alone.
Monday, July 2, 2007
Losing Oneself
Is it possible to get lost on purpose? I set out, trying to get lost and, as a result, get to know the city better. What a fun objective. Map in my pocket, I hoped to see parts of the city I had never seen before. Of course, I didn’t want to get truly lost, so I started by heading to part of the city I knew, Praha 2, and on the trip back, took some routes that were different.
When losing yourself, you often discover things you never truly understood. One event demonstrated that foreign languages can add to the hilarity of a situation by adding extra confusion and nonsensicalness. For example, in a café, I was looking at my map to reorient myself and write on my map where the café was. A guy in the café yelled to me “Pane, Pane”. He was trying to get my attention, and when I finally noticed this, he tried to help me find my place. I could not explain that I didn’t need help; I was not yet lost. It seems that it is a lot easier to get help when it is not needed than when you are truly in need. It took a good minute before he realized that I didn’t need his help. It was also difficult to be allowed to look at the art at the gallery in the café and tell the proprietor that I enjoyed the paintings. Instead, it seemed that I wanted to buy some works; as a student, this was not possible. Still, people were helpful regardless of my purpose.
Afterwards, I headed back home down a different street. It is so weird how fate works. Had I instead walked back on my path, I wouldn’t have ended up in the right place at the right time. A couple of different turns, and I’m in a different place of history at a different time. Have you ever seen someone leave something on top of a car? It could be a scarf, a box, food, maybe even a baby. Had I not tried to get lost, I wouldn’t have found this car, driving along as if there wasn’t a care in the world. Striving to get their attention, I realized I didn’t have enough vocabulary to tell them they left their groceries on the roof of their car. All I could manage was “meloun a yogurty!”. Of course, the response was various Czech words shouted left and right. Gestures, however, are universal. I pointed to the roof, and tried to get them to notice. Finally, I grabbed their groceries (watermelons, puddings, fruits, and some yogurt) and handed it to them. This situation is universal. Crossing cultures, and languages, we all laughed that a potentially catastrophic accident was averted. Alright, it wasn’t catastrophic, but it could have been messy. The hilarity of a situation can be multiplied when no one can truly understand each other.
After leaving them to their picnic, I continued to try to get lost in the city. However, I wasn’t successful. It seems that it is not possible to get lost by force. It is too easy to know at least where you’ve been and what direction is the known. You can’t get too far into the unknown on purpose, or it slowly becomes part of the known. It has to be an accident. Its like accidently running into a car that has a basket of food on top and saving them before they go on the highway- a spontaneous action.
In the end, I ended up finding a shortcut to my home, the Jerome House. I didn’t get lost, but I had a blast just the same. Hopefully I can get lost. When saving that basket of food, I was in the right place at the right time. If I want to get lost, I have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both sound great.
When losing yourself, you often discover things you never truly understood. One event demonstrated that foreign languages can add to the hilarity of a situation by adding extra confusion and nonsensicalness. For example, in a café, I was looking at my map to reorient myself and write on my map where the café was. A guy in the café yelled to me “Pane, Pane”. He was trying to get my attention, and when I finally noticed this, he tried to help me find my place. I could not explain that I didn’t need help; I was not yet lost. It seems that it is a lot easier to get help when it is not needed than when you are truly in need. It took a good minute before he realized that I didn’t need his help. It was also difficult to be allowed to look at the art at the gallery in the café and tell the proprietor that I enjoyed the paintings. Instead, it seemed that I wanted to buy some works; as a student, this was not possible. Still, people were helpful regardless of my purpose.
Afterwards, I headed back home down a different street. It is so weird how fate works. Had I instead walked back on my path, I wouldn’t have ended up in the right place at the right time. A couple of different turns, and I’m in a different place of history at a different time. Have you ever seen someone leave something on top of a car? It could be a scarf, a box, food, maybe even a baby. Had I not tried to get lost, I wouldn’t have found this car, driving along as if there wasn’t a care in the world. Striving to get their attention, I realized I didn’t have enough vocabulary to tell them they left their groceries on the roof of their car. All I could manage was “meloun a yogurty!”. Of course, the response was various Czech words shouted left and right. Gestures, however, are universal. I pointed to the roof, and tried to get them to notice. Finally, I grabbed their groceries (watermelons, puddings, fruits, and some yogurt) and handed it to them. This situation is universal. Crossing cultures, and languages, we all laughed that a potentially catastrophic accident was averted. Alright, it wasn’t catastrophic, but it could have been messy. The hilarity of a situation can be multiplied when no one can truly understand each other.
After leaving them to their picnic, I continued to try to get lost in the city. However, I wasn’t successful. It seems that it is not possible to get lost by force. It is too easy to know at least where you’ve been and what direction is the known. You can’t get too far into the unknown on purpose, or it slowly becomes part of the known. It has to be an accident. Its like accidently running into a car that has a basket of food on top and saving them before they go on the highway- a spontaneous action.
In the end, I ended up finding a shortcut to my home, the Jerome House. I didn’t get lost, but I had a blast just the same. Hopefully I can get lost. When saving that basket of food, I was in the right place at the right time. If I want to get lost, I have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both sound great.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Czech Theater
Czech theater is very strange.... I was fortunate enough to be able to go to the National Theater yesterday (or národni divadlo) and was pleasantly surprised.
Well, maybe I shouldn’t say that I was fortunate, because the theater was only 30 Krona. That’s right. One dollar and fifty cents to see a matinee at the national theater. It was displayed as A Walk Worthwhile, an opera. We were expecting true opera, but it was not an opera. It was very similar to a musical, but with lines of music that were very unmelodic (think Wagner, but a little more musical) but the plot was completely different. It involved a couple who were getting a divorce, but their kid could inherit a million dollars, so they were thinking of getting back together but there were two guys who also wanted to get married to the woman so they could be part of the inheritance. It was magical and fantastical, and a really artsy show. I know some people didn’t like it, but I enjoyed it a lot. Also, it was amazing to see the inside of the national theater. The outside looks like a Louis Vuitton purse, and I was curious to see if the inside was interesting as well. It didn’t disappoint. It was gigantic, and very European if you know what I mean.
The applause after the show was a little ridiculous. I swear the curtain closed and reopened a good 20 times after the end of the show. People would not stop. It got annoying after a while. But they deserved the applause. I was expecting a low budget show, since we payed so little, but the show was fantastic. The voices were great, and the scenery was truly impressive. I could have gotten a seat in the front center for only 200 kronas. I kind of wish I would have done that.... I was near the back of the second Mezzanine, and there was a pillar in my line of sight, but it helped that I was so high up and could read the superscript. I wish I would have had my videotape and could have taped this crazy show...
The writers of the show, which wikipedia does not have any information on surprisingly, Jiri Suchy and Jiri Slitr, wrote the play in the sixties, but it seems to still be very popular in Prague. (Ps, Jiri has the hard r in it... fun name) I kind of want to go again, but I’m not sure how much other people liked it. Milos Forman was the director of the show. If the name sounds familiar, he is the Czech director who moved to the states and directed both Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I’ve never seen these movies, but I really want to now that I have seen how he put A Walk Worthwhile together. Oh, there is one more theater device that I loved! When we went through the door, there was an accordion player outside of the theater with his case open for money. I thought it seemed rather odd at such a popular theater (and boy do people dress up) but I forgot about it as soon as I entered the theater. However, he made a presence again on the stage! There was a homeless accordion player who was on and off the stage throughout the stage, and I think that said device was amazing.
Na shle!
Well, maybe I shouldn’t say that I was fortunate, because the theater was only 30 Krona. That’s right. One dollar and fifty cents to see a matinee at the national theater. It was displayed as A Walk Worthwhile, an opera. We were expecting true opera, but it was not an opera. It was very similar to a musical, but with lines of music that were very unmelodic (think Wagner, but a little more musical) but the plot was completely different. It involved a couple who were getting a divorce, but their kid could inherit a million dollars, so they were thinking of getting back together but there were two guys who also wanted to get married to the woman so they could be part of the inheritance. It was magical and fantastical, and a really artsy show. I know some people didn’t like it, but I enjoyed it a lot. Also, it was amazing to see the inside of the national theater. The outside looks like a Louis Vuitton purse, and I was curious to see if the inside was interesting as well. It didn’t disappoint. It was gigantic, and very European if you know what I mean.
The applause after the show was a little ridiculous. I swear the curtain closed and reopened a good 20 times after the end of the show. People would not stop. It got annoying after a while. But they deserved the applause. I was expecting a low budget show, since we payed so little, but the show was fantastic. The voices were great, and the scenery was truly impressive. I could have gotten a seat in the front center for only 200 kronas. I kind of wish I would have done that.... I was near the back of the second Mezzanine, and there was a pillar in my line of sight, but it helped that I was so high up and could read the superscript. I wish I would have had my videotape and could have taped this crazy show...
The writers of the show, which wikipedia does not have any information on surprisingly, Jiri Suchy and Jiri Slitr, wrote the play in the sixties, but it seems to still be very popular in Prague. (Ps, Jiri has the hard r in it... fun name) I kind of want to go again, but I’m not sure how much other people liked it. Milos Forman was the director of the show. If the name sounds familiar, he is the Czech director who moved to the states and directed both Amadeus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I’ve never seen these movies, but I really want to now that I have seen how he put A Walk Worthwhile together. Oh, there is one more theater device that I loved! When we went through the door, there was an accordion player outside of the theater with his case open for money. I thought it seemed rather odd at such a popular theater (and boy do people dress up) but I forgot about it as soon as I entered the theater. However, he made a presence again on the stage! There was a homeless accordion player who was on and off the stage throughout the stage, and I think that said device was amazing.
Na shle!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Czech Adventure III
It’s raining on and off again today, but I am enjoying the weather. Right now, I am sitting in the windowsill of our apartment, looking out on the little Czech alley. I wish I had some espresso, I would feel really European.
Yesterday I went to the Mucha museum. My sister Sarah likes Mucha a lot, and I was interested in seeing more of his works. It was really cool, and his art is really interesting. It seemed that most of his works were used for posters and advertising, which, to me, is a very interesting medium. I also enjoyed the ink or paint which he used. There are a lot of metallic colors and very distinct lines. Most of his works were print-ads, but he also had some oils on canvas, which surprised me. During the second half of his artistic career (beginning of the 20th century) he was working on his Great Slav Epic. Although this epic wasn’t displayed, it really sparked my interest and I want to see this great work; it was completed in 20 panels and the total surface area covers a half of a square kilometer. I think it is displayed in Brno, so I want to visit and see the masterpiece. He also had a very interesting life, and it was interesting to see his life adjacent to his works.
I also did some grocery shopping; the few Czech words really helped me find food that I like. Czech is very interesting- if there are two words used to describe something, like ice-cream sandwich, the first word becomes an adjective. For example,
Ice cream is “zrmlzina” and sandwich is “sendvice”. To make zrmlzina an adjective, we add an “ove” (to match the neuter gender of sendvice). So ice-cream sandwich is “zrmlzinové sendvice” (or something like that). Knowing this rule really helps a lot when shopping for food!
Today I went shopping at a mall on the west bank of the Vltava. The mall was pretty big (no MOA, of course) and I bought a hilarious shirt at Terranova. It was weirdly translated:
SAVE ME!
I DON’T WANT TO GO
TO MIDNIGHT PARTY..
...I don’t want to see Sheila
and her new boyfriend
Best shirt ever. It just is so random... I hope that there are Czech people that wear this shirt and have no idea what it is saying. The clothing stores are very similar to the states, except every once in a while you will see a unique botique that is very European. Terranova is one such store. We went to a carousel as well on the top floor of the mall and rode in the tea cup. That was a horrible idea. My friend Emily and I still feel sick to our stomachs even though it was about 2 hours ago; I think when you are older you can spin faster, and get sicker.
There is a musical festival occurring on the islands on the Vltava this weekend with various music styles. Some of the music is indie, some is folk music, and some is rock. Czech music is really interesting. Well, I guess it is pretty similar to live music you would hear in the States except the words are ridiculous. Our student guides told us that some bands don’t really make sense in Czech, they are just singing random words. Sounds like some bands in the states :-D
I went to a chain restaurant called Bohemian Bagel today that offered bagels, coffee, sandwiches, salads, etc. and it was very similar to coffee shops in the United States. It was weird, because I could be eating in the US, except the menus were in Czech. One huge difference in restaurants is water. You cannot order tap water, but only bottled water. It is expensive too. It is cheaper to drink beer than water. Beer is like 18 Kronos, less than a dollar, while a similar sized water would be like 25 Kronos.
I’m hungry again, I think I will grab some food, and more updates are sure to come!
Yesterday I went to the Mucha museum. My sister Sarah likes Mucha a lot, and I was interested in seeing more of his works. It was really cool, and his art is really interesting. It seemed that most of his works were used for posters and advertising, which, to me, is a very interesting medium. I also enjoyed the ink or paint which he used. There are a lot of metallic colors and very distinct lines. Most of his works were print-ads, but he also had some oils on canvas, which surprised me. During the second half of his artistic career (beginning of the 20th century) he was working on his Great Slav Epic. Although this epic wasn’t displayed, it really sparked my interest and I want to see this great work; it was completed in 20 panels and the total surface area covers a half of a square kilometer. I think it is displayed in Brno, so I want to visit and see the masterpiece. He also had a very interesting life, and it was interesting to see his life adjacent to his works.
I also did some grocery shopping; the few Czech words really helped me find food that I like. Czech is very interesting- if there are two words used to describe something, like ice-cream sandwich, the first word becomes an adjective. For example,
Ice cream is “zrmlzina” and sandwich is “sendvice”. To make zrmlzina an adjective, we add an “ove” (to match the neuter gender of sendvice). So ice-cream sandwich is “zrmlzinové sendvice” (or something like that). Knowing this rule really helps a lot when shopping for food!
Today I went shopping at a mall on the west bank of the Vltava. The mall was pretty big (no MOA, of course) and I bought a hilarious shirt at Terranova. It was weirdly translated:
SAVE ME!
I DON’T WANT TO GO
TO MIDNIGHT PARTY..
...I don’t want to see Sheila
and her new boyfriend
Best shirt ever. It just is so random... I hope that there are Czech people that wear this shirt and have no idea what it is saying. The clothing stores are very similar to the states, except every once in a while you will see a unique botique that is very European. Terranova is one such store. We went to a carousel as well on the top floor of the mall and rode in the tea cup. That was a horrible idea. My friend Emily and I still feel sick to our stomachs even though it was about 2 hours ago; I think when you are older you can spin faster, and get sicker.
There is a musical festival occurring on the islands on the Vltava this weekend with various music styles. Some of the music is indie, some is folk music, and some is rock. Czech music is really interesting. Well, I guess it is pretty similar to live music you would hear in the States except the words are ridiculous. Our student guides told us that some bands don’t really make sense in Czech, they are just singing random words. Sounds like some bands in the states :-D
I went to a chain restaurant called Bohemian Bagel today that offered bagels, coffee, sandwiches, salads, etc. and it was very similar to coffee shops in the United States. It was weird, because I could be eating in the US, except the menus were in Czech. One huge difference in restaurants is water. You cannot order tap water, but only bottled water. It is expensive too. It is cheaper to drink beer than water. Beer is like 18 Kronos, less than a dollar, while a similar sized water would be like 25 Kronos.
I’m hungry again, I think I will grab some food, and more updates are sure to come!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Czech Adventures II
It’s raining really hard outside... luckily I have already had class, and don’t have to leave the room. It is a serious thunderstorm- Czech news stations said that the chance of rain was “100%”. Haha, is that even possible? I don’t think that news stations in the United States do that.
I’m kind of hungry. I’m trying to budget my resources, so I can have more money to travel. So I have been having smaller lunches. But I think it balances out with some of the dinners. There food can be pretty rich. I used to get dumplings when I was in Prague 7 years ago. However, I’m not sure if I really like them anymore. They are usually served with either beef or pork in a gravy like stew and sauerkraut. I like this sauce more now, but the dumplings are kind of gross. They are like half-cooked bread... not that cool.
I really want to go to the Ukranian or Romanian countryside. Taking a train through the “old country” would be an amazing time, wouldn’t it? I think I should only take one trip, because my goal is to learn Czech, so the more practice I have the better, right? I’m having less difficulty with the “ř”. It is still hard, but when I get the letter I am really excited.
I’m still amazed at the power of the Czech language. The second you speak in Czech, you are treated much more politely. They respect you for trying and realized that you are staying longer than a couple of days. I really get excited when I find a shopkeeper that doesn’t speak English because than I’m forced to speak Czech. I know I mentioned this earlier, but you also get deals on items. Not like you really need it. One really nice thing about staying in Prague is that the prices are much lower. For a dollar you get about 20 krowns. I’ll give you some examples of what I can buy with such little money:
1.5 liters of water at Tesco? 4 Krowns
2 liters of sparkling grapefruit juice at Tesco? 3 Krowns
A banana? (Or banan) 5 krowns
A loaf of bread? 10 krowns
T-shirt? 200 krowns (about 10 dollars)
I’m trying to limit my expenses to 200 krowns a day. So far, that looks plausible. They give us breakfast, and I have been buying ingredients for making lunch. Unfortunately, there isn’t a full kitchen (just a kitchenette) so I don’t have the capability to actually cook. With the cheap prices, it almost seems smarter to just go out to eat for dinner. You can get a full meal at about 4 dollars if you go to an average restaurace.
The storm actually just finished, and I think I might go to Tesco (the Wal-Mart of Prague, but full of European goods and a little classier) to buy some groceries.
NA SHLEDANOU! (good bye)
I’m kind of hungry. I’m trying to budget my resources, so I can have more money to travel. So I have been having smaller lunches. But I think it balances out with some of the dinners. There food can be pretty rich. I used to get dumplings when I was in Prague 7 years ago. However, I’m not sure if I really like them anymore. They are usually served with either beef or pork in a gravy like stew and sauerkraut. I like this sauce more now, but the dumplings are kind of gross. They are like half-cooked bread... not that cool.
I really want to go to the Ukranian or Romanian countryside. Taking a train through the “old country” would be an amazing time, wouldn’t it? I think I should only take one trip, because my goal is to learn Czech, so the more practice I have the better, right? I’m having less difficulty with the “ř”. It is still hard, but when I get the letter I am really excited.
I’m still amazed at the power of the Czech language. The second you speak in Czech, you are treated much more politely. They respect you for trying and realized that you are staying longer than a couple of days. I really get excited when I find a shopkeeper that doesn’t speak English because than I’m forced to speak Czech. I know I mentioned this earlier, but you also get deals on items. Not like you really need it. One really nice thing about staying in Prague is that the prices are much lower. For a dollar you get about 20 krowns. I’ll give you some examples of what I can buy with such little money:
1.5 liters of water at Tesco? 4 Krowns
2 liters of sparkling grapefruit juice at Tesco? 3 Krowns
A banana? (Or banan) 5 krowns
A loaf of bread? 10 krowns
T-shirt? 200 krowns (about 10 dollars)
I’m trying to limit my expenses to 200 krowns a day. So far, that looks plausible. They give us breakfast, and I have been buying ingredients for making lunch. Unfortunately, there isn’t a full kitchen (just a kitchenette) so I don’t have the capability to actually cook. With the cheap prices, it almost seems smarter to just go out to eat for dinner. You can get a full meal at about 4 dollars if you go to an average restaurace.
The storm actually just finished, and I think I might go to Tesco (the Wal-Mart of Prague, but full of European goods and a little classier) to buy some groceries.
NA SHLEDANOU! (good bye)
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Czech Adventures I
I walked all around Prague today. It is amazing that I remember certain things since my first visit. For example, we walked across Charles Bridge and all of a sudden I remembered that the John Lennon memorial was nearby. We searched, and we found it. It was a little surreal. I wish David and Sarah were with me. I also remembered how to get to the astronomical clock randomly. It is crazy.
I love the Czech language. There are some letters that aren't found in English and they are really fun to pronounce. One letter is ridiculous. It is a combination of T a rolled R and a Zh sound (like the je in French). Whenever I manage to pronounce it, I am really excited.
Last night, we went to a restaraunt with the entire group. They served amazing food. I had a fresh mozarrella cheese and tomato salad for the appetizer, pheasant over gnochi for the main course, and a chocolate dessert. It was phenomenal. Of course, they also served us wine. Which they kept refilling (for free). So I got a little drunk....
Funny story, I was at this restaurace (how it's spelled in Czech) the other day, and ordered gnochi. I pronounced it correctly (the Italian way) and the waitress gave me a weird look. So I pointed it out on the menu and she said "Oh, it is called guh-know-chi" Our group tried not to laugh. But then again, I'm sure we mispronounce many words that originally came from another language. Spaghetti, for example, actually has an sh sound at the beginning in Italian. Weird.
Czech uses the case system. Which can be difficult. It is also really entertaining. My name, for example, changes depending on the situation. Mark in Czech is Marek. But when you say, "Hey, Mark!" as a friend, you would say, "Ahoj, Marku!" There are 8 cases I think, maybe 7, and we will learn them this semester as well as the past, future and present tense. I really love my Czech teacher. She makes the language super fun, and she is a great help.
The Czech people respond so positively when you use Czech. The second we say something in Czech, it becomes easier to do transactions. It is also cheaper. We went to a restaurant that we heard had great lunch specials. However, the waiters gave us the regular menu. They try to trick non-Czech speakers into buying more expensive entrees. We asked for the lunch menu and they gave it to us. It was in Czech, but we figured it out. We probably saved like 3 bucks.
I'm going to go see what my friends are up to for dinner. More will come later.
I love the Czech language. There are some letters that aren't found in English and they are really fun to pronounce. One letter is ridiculous. It is a combination of T a rolled R and a Zh sound (like the je in French). Whenever I manage to pronounce it, I am really excited.
Last night, we went to a restaraunt with the entire group. They served amazing food. I had a fresh mozarrella cheese and tomato salad for the appetizer, pheasant over gnochi for the main course, and a chocolate dessert. It was phenomenal. Of course, they also served us wine. Which they kept refilling (for free). So I got a little drunk....
Funny story, I was at this restaurace (how it's spelled in Czech) the other day, and ordered gnochi. I pronounced it correctly (the Italian way) and the waitress gave me a weird look. So I pointed it out on the menu and she said "Oh, it is called guh-know-chi" Our group tried not to laugh. But then again, I'm sure we mispronounce many words that originally came from another language. Spaghetti, for example, actually has an sh sound at the beginning in Italian. Weird.
Czech uses the case system. Which can be difficult. It is also really entertaining. My name, for example, changes depending on the situation. Mark in Czech is Marek. But when you say, "Hey, Mark!" as a friend, you would say, "Ahoj, Marku!" There are 8 cases I think, maybe 7, and we will learn them this semester as well as the past, future and present tense. I really love my Czech teacher. She makes the language super fun, and she is a great help.
The Czech people respond so positively when you use Czech. The second we say something in Czech, it becomes easier to do transactions. It is also cheaper. We went to a restaurant that we heard had great lunch specials. However, the waiters gave us the regular menu. They try to trick non-Czech speakers into buying more expensive entrees. We asked for the lunch menu and they gave it to us. It was in Czech, but we figured it out. We probably saved like 3 bucks.
I'm going to go see what my friends are up to for dinner. More will come later.
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