Academic Life (2)

So far the academic life here in the Czech Republic is way different for me compared to how it is back in Kearney.  Here we do not start class until 3 in the afternoon and go until 7 at night.  In Kearney, I enroll in morning classes and am often times done by early afternoon.  While here, as a group we are all taking classes involving the Czech Republic’s History.  We start the day off by having a guest lecturer come and teach a lesson on some aspect of the Czech’s history.  We have had a variety of topics taught so far.  Some examples are, Political systems, the European borders, Architecture, Religion, etc.  The next class we have is Czech language.  Czech class is definitely the most fun.  Even though trying to learn a new language is extremely difficult, it is a good upbeat class to have in the middle of two lecture classes.  Learning a new language takes a lot of time and repetition.  Along with learning the new language, we also have to learn the pronunciation of every letter, the different rules to pronunciation, and how to spell the words.  So far the hardest part is learning how to pronounce the words for me.  Our last class of the day is taught by one of our two academic coordinators in the Czech, Martin or Jan.  So far these classes have focused more on Religion, mainly Judaism. 

                The classroom structures of the lectures here are taught way different from the ones I have in Kearney.  The lectures here mainly consist of the teacher standing or sitting in the front of the classroom speaking about the topic, often in a monotone voice.  Sometimes powerpoints are used and sometimes the teachers just talk without any props.  The lectures where the professor just talks are the most difficult for me.  In Kearney, many of my classes are big on classroom involvement, hands on learning, communication and the teachers are energetic about teaching.  Compared to this, my classes here are harder for me to retain the information.  I am definitely a visual and hands on learner so the classes that are more for audio based learners are a challenge for me.  Overall, it has been interesting to learn about a new country’s history and what has molded them into how they are today.

Schedule of classes for one week

Czech language books

Personal Excursions(10) -- Spring Break!!

Before leaving to study abroad I had not traveled much.  Most of my vacations consisted of visiting a boarding state of Nebraska and an occasional farther special trip.  All of these trips of course I accompanied someone else who had already planned it out and had the budget worked out.  This study abroad experience has really tested my comfort zone and traveling skills.  The past two weeks I was gone traveling.  The last week I experienced a spring break for the first time by traveling to three different countries.  I started off spring break by taking a train to Rome.  While in Rome I was able to see and tour Vatican City (St. Peter’s Square, the Museum, the Sixteenth Chapel, and Saint Peter’s Basilica), the Colosseum, The Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon.  After Rome we headed to Paris.  We had an interesting start to Paris when it took us three hours just to find our hostel.  Paris kept my feet busy by taking them to the Castle of Versailles, The Eiffel Tower (3 times), the Catacombs, Notre Dame, the Paris Opera House, the Louvre, Pont Des Arts ( the love bridge of locks), and to outside of Napoleon’s hospital and castle.  After Paris wore my feet out, Barcelona decided to take them next.  Barcelona was a whole different scenery.  Everything looked so tropical and peaceful.  We visited La Sagrada Familia, Park Güell, Christopher Columbus Statue, the boardwalk and obviously the beach.

I learned a lot about traveling during this last week.  Some lessons are, make sure you have the directions to your hostel, make sure you find all of the directions you will need previous to leaving for the day or to the place, make sure you know how you are going transport yourself, make sure you double check the directions of the tram you get on, make sure you double check your flight numbers before confirming a flight so you don’t book the wrong one, and many more.  The most important thing I learned is that is hard to plan and figure out every detail to your trip and you often forget to look thing up and one of the previous will happen to you, but when that does happen you just need to make the best of out the situation and remember it as a good memory to remember always of the trip.

Trevi Fountain in Rome

Colosseum in Rome

Eiffel Tower in Paris

Catacombs in Paris

Beach in Barcelona

La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

Cultural Comparisons (5)

While studying in the Czech Republic, Olomouc has become my new European home.  Olomouc is just like my normal home town, it has restaurants, a shopping mall, a post office, a university, a community, transportation, etc.  Although it has many things in common with Kearney and the United States, I have also noticed some significant differences between the two.   Here are five main differences I notice.

1.       Smiling and Loudness                                                            

      It is common for people in the Czech to often have straight faces and not smile often.  They also are very quiet while in all public places. This is often hard for my friends and I to follow along with.  It is normal for us to smile and laugh a lot no matter what setting we are in.  At one of our first lectures we were even told that many Czech people think Americans are fake because they always try to come off as happy.  I personally love to be with friends and laugh and I believe that that is how we should live our lives.  It is definitely a struggle sometimes not to be too loud on trains or the tram or in the store or restaurant.

2.       Bathrooms

To me going to the bathroom is part of your everyday life.  Well most public places in Europe do not like to make it that easy.  Most common places here will make you pay to go to the bathroom.  Common places like gas stations, airports or train stations, park bathrooms will all make you pay to use.  I have definitely learned the lesson the hard way to make sure you plan your bathroom trips accordingly.

3.       Transportation                                                                               

Back home the main form of transportation is driving a car around. The normal thing to do when you turn sixteen and get your license is to get a car or atleast be able to drive a car around for yourself.  Well here in Olomouc the main form of transportation is the tram system.  Not many people own cars and just use the tram system.  The trams are nice and handy that you can just get on anywhere and ride to where you need to go, but you the hardest part is learning the tram times and having to schedule to make things on time by the tram schedule rather than being able to leave whenever in your own car.

4.       Dogs

One thing I love about Olomouc is that you see dogs everywhere!  I love animals so I love seeing the fury characters always walking around with their owners.  The funny thing is that a lot of the time I do not see them in the common places you would think.  I have seen many dogs in airports, grocery stores, malls, the phone store, etc.  The dogs literally can almost go everywhere with their owners.  I have also noticed that the dogs here are a lot calmer here and are trained super well.  Seeing all of the dogs sure do make me miss my at home!

5.       Beverages                                                                            

Well I hate to admit this but the saying that “Beer is cheaper than water in the Czech Republic” is true.  This has been something that has been hard for me to get accustomed too.  For example, when we go out to eat back home I would always order water, one, because it was free and two, just because I like to keep myself hydrated and do not drink a lot of caffeine or anything else.  In Olomouc, if you go to a restaurant and want water you will have to pay about $3.  A normal beer in Olomouc is around $1.  To save money and stay away from other liquids, I have started to carry a water bottle in my purse and just fill it up in sinks or anywhere I can find to keep myself hydrated.

Daily Life in Olomouc (1)

It is crazy for me to believe that I have now been in Olomouc for 3 weeks.  My time here seems to be flying through.  Although I have only been living here for 3 weeks, I have grown to notice that I refer to Olomouc as my home.  Especially when we go on field trips to other cities or countries, I notice myself saying I cannot wait to get back home to Olomouc.  Over the past few weeks I have grown a comfort for this beautiful city. 

My schedule pretty much consists of the same thing every day/week.  In the mornings I tend to sleep in until I either, wake up on my own or until my alarm goes off late morning.  The mornings and early afternoons is when we have the most free time.  During this time we often like to go into town and explore the city.  Sometimes we go to different shops or the shopping center or other times we like to just walk around and look at new things.  One day before class, Kara and I were wondering and found a beautiful park right behind our class building.  Every now and then we also go get a bite to eat before class.  We have found a few cheap stands that tend to be our favorite go-to spots for food.  Monday through Thursday we have class from 3pm – 7pm and on Fridays we have class from 10:30am – 1:00pm.  All of our classes are located in the same classroom in the history building of Palacký University.   Our first class is normally some sort of history class, then our next is a Czech language class, and our last is something that is taught by one of our two main professors, Jan and Martin.  After class we are free for the rest of the day.  My roommate and I normally try to come back to our room and make some supper to save money.  After that we either hang out and relax in our room for the night or we go hang out with other people on the trip and do something with them. 

             

   My daily life in Olomouc is a lot different than my life in Kearney.  In Kearney, my day is filled with school, work, meetings, and homework.  I do not have as much free time and have to make time to hang out with friends.  I also am used to waking up early and going to class right away in the morning, then having a little time in the afternoon before work.  Here in Olomouc, my life is way more relaxed and stress-free.  People here live at a way slower pace and relaxed lifestyle.  It has made me realize that I need to slow down and enjoy the beauties in life rather than always stressing myself out and ignoring what is right in front of me.