Week 13: Who will I be when I go back?
And it isn’t living in just this city that has made me happy and brave and curious… Studying abroad has taught me to be all of these things no matter where I am.
Week 12: Experimental Garden Under Blaníkem Volunteer Trip
One part of me wanted to laugh, cheer and cry at how cool this was, but then I thought, this is just these people’s lives. For them, this is their daily life.
Week 11: Vienna and Feeling Like I’ve Adjusted
History seeps out of every alleyway and cobblestone crack, as it was the seat of the Hapsburgs and an incredible cultural crossroads connecting the East to the West.
Week 10: Berlin and the Mezipatra Film Festival
So this past weekend, I had the incredible opportunity to be in Berlin during the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall.
Week 9: A Few Notes on Czech Culture
People from Prague always seen to have somewhere important to be. Like New York and other urban environments, there is so much going on in this city and very little time to strike up new relationships while in transit.
Week 8: Salzburg, a Personality Test, a Metal Wire Crown, Etc.
And my schedule has started to resemble the Divoká Šárka-bound 51 night tram at two in the morning: absolutely packed to the gills.
Week 7: Volunteering and a Little Czech Town
It’s like I’ve been living in a place with a stronger gravity compared to that of the US: going back home, a hundred pound weight will feel as light as a feather.
Week 6: Gratitude and Homesickness
And although at times I feel weak or inadequate for being uncomfortable as I adjust to new environments (“Why am I not okay right now?â€), I remind myself: Nick, if you’re always comfortable, you’re probably doing something wrong.
Week 5: A New Definition of Culture and a Weekend in Poland
Remember when I said that I was starting to get Czech culture? I changed my mind. Or rather… I’ve changed my definition of culture.
Week 4: From Small-Town Moravia to Charles University Internationalism
I sat down at a table with my classmates: two from Iceland, two from Italy (unrelated), a Polish guy, a Londoner (Josh), a Spaniard, and a girl from Croatia.
Week 3: How Many Hours Are in a Czech Week? Never Enough
The more I learn about how I am different from people of other nationalities, the more I learn that we are the same.
Week 2: Diving into Czech Culture: the Deep End
There is an interesting kind of international football-centered body language that you speak when playing with people with whom you can’t communicate.
Week 1: London/Adjusting to Prague
Later that night, we both met up with another friend, Britanny, and found a place to sit outside a cafe and shared some pretty intimate details about our lives back home.
Pre-Trip Entry: So Great to Meet You!
I struggled to keep pace, not to win first place, but because I wanted to join their conversation.