Friday- Orientation Day One

Thursday night when I got home, I met my new actual roommate, Matthew LaBelle from Wisconsin. A history major who is interested in 1800 politics of Europe, but plans on becoming a pharmacist once he graduates. Matt is insanely nice, and I could not have asked for a more respectful and kind roommate. He, unlike the majority of students here, puts the experience here and school ahead of getting drunk and being stupid.

Friday morning Matt and I both just slept. He was dealing with jet lag and I was dealing with the exhaustion of walking so much in the cold. By noon the whole apartment was up (minus the last student who was in America, sick, but would join on Saturday) and ready to experience Czech public transportation for the first time. As an apartment, we bundled up and headed to the tram station. Hopping on the 22 at Jana Masaryka, we rode to the Malestranska Namesti station that dropped us off about a quarter of a mile behind the Charles Bridge in Mala Strana. At the Starbucks next to the tram stop, a huge group of CEA (the program we are with) students were gathering and gossiping about how drunk they got the night before (reminding me how thankful I am that I was raised so differently from these people).

After a very boring orientation session, I guided a group of nearly 20 students from the University’s library to the Charles Bridge and through to Old Town. It was really odd to be guiding students my age, but after having been in the city for a day more than them, I felt comfortable with the city and surrounding areas. By the time we reached the end of Wenceslas Square, the group had given up and ducked inside a café for coffee. Feeling like they were fine on their own, after describing to them how to use the map of the city (it was ridiculous how incapable some of the people were), I met up with Hillary and we walked to the welcome dinner that CEA put on for us. The program gave us drink vouchers for beer or wine, and Hillary and I were the only two not to use ours… if that gives you any indication of the students here. We sampled some Czech food before deciding that we did not want to be in the crowd of students that was entering their third round of beers.

Heading out of the bar, Hillary and I walked back toward my apartment following the tramlines. Neither of us had tram tickets, nor could we find where to purchase them, so we just followed the lines all the way back. The walk took us about 45 minutes, and we got lost a few times (we followed the wrong lines at least once). Finally making it back to my place, we sat down to warm up and look up how to get to Hillary’s. After being home about five minutes, Matt walks in (he had been at the bar but had not partaken as heartily as most) talking about how nice and warm the trams are at night (Hillary and I felt kind of stupid for not having ridden the trams).

Around 11, Hillary and I left my apartment and walked the 1.7-kilometer walk to her apartment through a park. The walk took just over 20 minutes, and was very manageable, especially given that we decided to do it at one of the coldest points of the night. We sat around and talked a bit about our expectations for the semester, semi-planning our excursions, discussing what we hoped to take back, and how we needed to stay together to make it through the semester. At this point, we coined our phrase “reverse culture-shock.” This phrase refers to the fact that we had and would continue to adjust quite easily to the European style of life, while we were more culture shocked by the other participants in our program. For the first time ever, we felt ashamed to be Americans in a foreign country, especially given the stereotypes that have been earned by our generation as being avid partiers who get belligerently drunk and are super loud and obnoxious. Hillary had had and extremely rough night with one of her roommates and the two of us were feeling out of place as the responsible ones among a crowd of clowns.

We talked for about two hours and I came away feeling much more comforted knowing that I would always have her to be a sane person to do new and exciting things with. I walked back to my apartment that night at around 2 AM and was shocked by how quiet and safe I felt on the streets of the city. Every path was very well lit, and Prague has actually been proven safer than the majority of US cities. (Parents and Grandparents please do not worry about me walking in the city alone).

During the walk home, I realized how amazing of an opportunity I have right now for the rest of my life. I think back to the days when I contemplated not studying abroad to run for our school’s Student Government Presidency, and cannot even believe that the thought of not studying abroad crossed my mind. I am so thankful to be in this amazing city getting to have the time of my life. I have not even been in the city for a week, but feel like I have been here forever. I love this city, and some of the people I have met here. I know that I will never have another chance to live and immerse myself in another culture. Thank to my parents, my grand parents, all my relatives, and all of my friends for being so supportive of me. I cannot even describe how lucky I feel to have you all not only allowing me to do this, but urging me to do it. Your support means the world to me. Thank you all. I love you.