Monday, March 21, 2016

The Charming and Beautiful City of Olomouc, Czech Republic

Hello everyone! Here is just a little insight on how my first week abroad has been going.

The first day in Prague, this park was so much fun to walk through!
It is crazy to think that I have been in the Czech Republic for only a little over a week! Before I started my semester abroad I was told by many previous students that the first week would feel like the longest week of my life, and boy were they right. Our flight arrived in Prague on March 10th, where we then stayed for the first three nights. It was interesting to see how different the culture was right as we stepped out of the airport. Prague is a very touristy city which was exciting coming from Kearney, Nebraska. As we got to the hotel we quickly put our stuff in our room and then left to adventure around and find some food of course. For our first meal we ordered a burger and fries (so American, I know), but it was still tasty! Trying all the food has been amazing, plus dieting is definitely not a priority here (whoops) and there is no holding back!
My favorite thing I ate while I was in Prague
After a couple days in Prague, we finally met up with the entire UNK study abroad group at the airport on Sunday, March 13th. We then took a 3-hour bus ride to the wonderful city of Olomouc. Everyone says that Prague is the the heart of Europe but my heart belongs to Olomouc. If I didn't miss my family so much I think it's safe to say that I could see myself living in Olomouc forever.  Once we got moved into our dorms it finally felt real that we would be living in this city for three months. We also have three other flat mates who are from Brazil, Ukraine, and the Philippines. The first couple of days in Olomouc we were given tours to become familiar with the area which was nice!
The view of Olomouc

Classes have been quite interesting especially our language class. I knew Czech was almost impossible to learn but after attempting to learn just the basics (it is very difficult and pretty much the opposite of English) was when I realized that jumping into the culture would be the best way to slightly become familiar with the language. One thing that is nice about the classes is that Monday through Thursday we do not have class until 3pm which lasts until around 7pm. Then on Fridays we have class from 10:30am until 1pm. It is very fortunate that the classes were set up like that because then if we wanted to take a weekend trip someone we could leave right after class on Friday and return before class on Monday!

Even though three months seem like a long time, after making travel plans I have realized how quickly it all will fly by. "Sometimes it's time to get away from it all and experience things in a completely different way." - Kim Mance. That quote has never fit more perfectly into my life and this is just the beginning! Na Shledanou!

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