Living into a new country seems challenging enough, but when you have to learn a foreign language on top of it… good luck. At least that was my point of view in the beginning of the week.
As a part of the ECES (Eastern and Central European Studies) program, we are required to take an Intensive Czech Language course for two weeks. Now this may seem convenient in essence, but did I mention that it’s five hours each day?
When the first class started at 9 am, our professor taught us more than I thought humanely possible. It was about the same amount of material that you would learn in two weeks in a high school Spanish class, just to give a rough idea.
To my surprise, around 3 hours into the class the professor told our class we were going on a field trip! Apparently, mixed in with our classes are field trips around Prague to help show us students that there is more to Prague than Old Town Square. Throughout the week, we went to the Dancing House, Havlicek park, The City of Prague Museum, and DOX gallery. The reason that Charles University includes these trips within this class is so that we do not feel like tourists, but rather local students. With the guidance of our professor, we went to many stunning locations that wouldn’t have been seen otherwise.
The Dancing House got it’s name from the unique architecture; it looks like someone’s dancing! Don’t just stare at the building though! Go to the top floor for a beautiful view of the city, with the entrance fee of one drink!
Our class explored The City of Prague Museum on Wednesday! This beautiful painting was even larger and more stunning in real life! This museum even had one of the oldest church bells in Prague, dating back to 1323. Right up my alley!
We went to Havlicek Park on Thursday, and were surprised by all of the hidden beauty in the little, hipster suburb of Prague 7. This park even had a vineyard, open to the public for drinks on some nights.
After our “midterm”, we were taken to the DOX gallery! Believe it or not, this place has a wooden blimp that is used as a sort of auditorium for the gallery. It is extremely breathtaking once you climb inside, but also frightening being able to hear the cars underneath you. Within this gallery, I stumbled across a very unique room full of stars. It felt like I was staring up at the most beautiful night sky I’ve ever seen. It was constructed with mirrors on every wall, and lights hanging on the ceiling… but I’d rather think it was just another beautiful creation by “the man upstairs”.
To be brutally honest, even with the Czech language course and field trips on a daily basis, I struggled through the week. I am not so much homesick as I am “people-sick”. I have gone to college for two years in a different state, so homesickness is not as strong a feeling anymore. Rather, I miss all the people I have left back home or who are spread across Europe.
Czech is a hard language; it only just started to click Thursday. It is quite a feeling though to be able to understand fragments of what people say on the trams. I have also been mistaken as a Czech local in the grocery store, so there is some progress. Progress requires some hard work trying to improve myself as I simultaneously try to learn about the language and history of Prague.
Just Czech-ing In 