One of my last posts from Prague

So, this will probably be my last post from Prague. I leave in less than 48 hours, and I already have one suitcase completely packed, and the other one will follow suit tomorrow. I am going to be sad to leave some of the people here, but I glad to be going home. I have really enjoyed my time here, but I have learned things about myself in a way that only four months in another country, with little Christian fellowship, can accomplish. I will say though that I love the three girls that I live with. Kristina, my roommate, has been an absolute joy. She is just a TAD compulsive, but it has worked out fairly well, and I became the messier one of the two. And considering I am not that messy, living conditions were never an issue. She also has one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen in another person. She is really considerate and always does her very best not to be too loud when she gets back late, and I love her for it. She is really sweet and thoughtful as well. Now that it sounds like we are dating, I just want to add that I am going to miss her personality. She is funny and loud and crazy and a little inappropriate, but she makes every day an adventure. Right now, she is wearing a thong on her head while she packs. What will I do without her. Sally is my favorite suitemate. She can tell stories even better than I can, and her supply of entertaining stories is endless. She is very practical and so often offers pretty good advice. She also never makes me feel bad for not wanting to go out, and I appreciate that very much. She always makes me smile, and I think people are just drawn to her personality. She is very real, yet also fairly inappropriate :) Are you sensing the theme of our suite yet? She is also a very caring person, and often offers to make me dinner or pick things up from the store for me if I need anything. I will miss seeing her everyday, as well as her ever-present food-baby "Susan." I will also miss the constant yelling back and forth between Sally and Kristina over anything and everything. Because face-to-face interaction is overrated. In fact, right now, they are singing back and forth to each other (because they are in love) in crazy voices, and switching songs every 30 seconds. It is going to be hard to leave that behind. Elina is Sally's roommate, and my other suitemate. Elina is fluent in Russian, because that's where her family is from, and is pretty much the coolest thing ever to hear her skyping with her family. Elina is a senior as well, so this was her last semester in school. She is the "fireplug" of the group. Elina and I have also done a fair amount of bonding over the t.v. shows we watch. Her computer doesn't work, so she often uses mine for her work as well as catching up on t.v. So, occasionally, I will watch them with her, and we have a good time. Interestingly enough, she is probably the one out of the three of them who is the most interested in the cultural aspects of studying abroad. She will go on the walking tours fairly often, and she does a lot of exploring on her own.

Overall, I have had quite an amazing adventure with these girls, and I will miss them. I do have to say though, humbly, I might add, that I have learned a lot more about myself this semester than I had thought I would. I have always been pretty mature for my age. My mom always tells me that I was ready to be on my own from the time I was 15, and to a large extent she was right. I have always been independent and free-thinking. I won't be forced to do anything, and the best way to get me to do something is to tell me I can't. I am then forced to show you I can :) Since my family moved around a lot when I was growing up, I have often been forced to adapt and change to new situations and environments. I think that this is one of those instances where God is showing me how His plan is working out for my good. I hated moving growing up, and I greatly resented my parents each time that we did. My personality resists change immensely, so all that moving was like trying to force and A.D.D. child to sit still in a chair and stare at a wall, but in reverse. It went against everything in my nature, but I had to adapt. It was the only way to survive. Those habits helped me to make the most of my trip in Prague. A lot of the students had a harder time adjusting than I did, just because this type of adjustment was something that they hadn't had to go through in their life, or they had only had to do it once before. So, I am not saying that moving around all the time was awesome, but there might have been some redeeming qualities in it after all.

Second, this might have been the first time in my life when I was really challenged in my beliefs. Not just about Christianity, but about drinking, partying, smoking, work ethic, appropriateness in behavior towards the opposite sex, swearing, intentions, life goals, purpose, and many others. The reason I said 'humbly' at the beginning was because I pretty much thought that I had all of those things figured out. I knew where I stood on them, and that was that. Growing up in a Christian home and school has its advantages and disadvantages, but I never thought that one of the advantages would be my friend choices. In college, I wanted to be friends with Christians, because I knew that we would have the same morals and everything, but I think it went deeper than that. I made friends with people who all held to the same belief system that I did, and I thought that was just a perk of them being Christian, but I think that subconsciously, I was also choosing them for other reasons as well. I made friends with people because I knew that they wouldn't rock the my belief system boat. No one really wants a friend who constantly makes them feel uncomfortable or who pressures them to do things contrary to what they would otherwise do...like party instead of write a paper. Therefore, it never really occurred to me that my friends were half of the reason I never found myself in certain situations. We sometimes talked about drinking, but only when we were 21, we would talk about not doing our papers and spending the whole night watching Hugh Jackman movies, but we never did. We talk a big game, but when it comes right down to it, I think I chose friends who were as structured as me, and I didn't do it on purpose. I have never been so thankful or so proud of my friends in my whole life! I'm even getting a little emotional thinking about it :) I just can't believe that I could have ever taken the amazing people that God has put into my life for granted...and I will be sure to tell each and every one of them that in person when I return. I mean, I loved my friends before I came here, simply because they were my friends and I chose them for who they are. But now, I appreciate the little things, like movie night, or card games till three in the morning, or lying on the floor in the hallways during exam week talking about nothing and everything. I thought all friends did that, but I find that that is not really true. And since I love getting to know people really well (really it's kinda a hobby) spending time with people like that is one of my favorite ways to hang out with my friends. I just love my friends :D

Third, and probably the one that I have spent the most time thinking about is how I have come to stand a little firmer in myself. I think I have mentioned before that I am fairly hard to convince if I have decided that I don't want to do something, and I always thought that was just a superior ability to resist peer pressure (humble, I know), but now I think it has to do with the fact that I have never really had to the choice to do things that I don't normally do. Again, I think that was a friend choice thing. For the first time, really, I had to decide what I was going to do. It is legal to drink here, so I had to decide if I was going to drink, to what extent, how often, etc. Smoking is "legal" in Amsterdam, so again, do I smoke? Party time is every night except Monday night...how often do I go out, and when I go out, how do I dress, and who am I dressing for? I had thought that these things would be easier to deal with it, but when it is everywhere around you, it becomes harder to remember why you decided not to do it in the first place. I had to set boundaries, I had to know my limits, I had to decide which limits I wanted to set, and that was a first for me. And it was especially hard, because I was surrounded by people with no limits. But, at the end of the day, I know now where my limits are, and that I firmly intend to keep them where they are.

Overall, my trip here has been a learning experience in more ways than one, and God has been there for me through the good times ad the bad, and there have been a few bad times. I can't imagine how my life would have turned out if I hadn't gone on this trip, but I can say that it was an unforgettable experience with memories that will last a lifetime.

Amsterdam photos!!

So, I am trying to make up for all that lost time after I had my camera stolen...so here is a quick glance at Amsterdam. Again, I am sorry that I can't be more specific about these photos, but it is finals week over here, and this is the easiest type of post to make. Therefore...enjoy!

PHOTOS!!!!

So, I am in the process of begging people to let me upload their photos from about mid-March on, and here are some of the ones that I have gotten so far. I don't have time right now to label them, but this batch is from my trip to Vienna, which as I have already mentioned...I LOVED. I will say this much though, just to avoid some confusion 1) It is only a replica of the Last Supper by Da Vinci, 2) the box thing is a WW2 monument to the Jews of Vienna, 3) Excaliber is the place with the dragons, 4) Mozart actually lived in that house, and 5) all the palaces were even more beautiful than the pictures.

"Hey guys, what should I title this blog?" How about, "The three people sitting in this room are alcoholics and need to go to AA, except one..."

That title pretty much sums it up. It sums up what every conversation comes back around too. It's like the "your mom" of Prague. If you are losing the witty conversation battle, then you just have to say..."Well, who passed out last night after throwing up because they drank too much?" Victory is yours. Don't be too quick to judge though...there is a lot more to the kids here than meets the eye. So, I promised to post about some of the life experiences I have been having and some of the stuff I am learning about myself, and I don't want to let you guys down. THe last couple weeks have been pretty non-eventful, minus the week my folks were here...and I will post about that as soon as I have some more time. Also, I will try to do another post like this one after I have been home for a week or two, because I here that reverse culture shock is a bigger issue than I thought it would be.

So, first thing I will talk about is what everyone keeps asking me...what is the biggest difference between Prague and the United States? I will try to share a few of the things that have impacted me the most since I have been here. First, and probably the biggest difference, is the people. The Czech people are very reserved. Almost to the point of being outright rude. They don't smile whenever they are out in public, but they maintain as much eye contact as Americans...so it comes across as blatantly staring. They also don't want you to look, speak, or think about their kids or their dogs. It is not ok to smile at or engage with other people's kids, nor is it ok to try and pet their dogs. However, it is important to note that the Czech Republic was under Communist control until about 40 years ago. The average adult still vividly remembers what it was like growing up in a communist school, and being afraid of their own government. One of my teachers postulated that the reason Czechs are a very reserved people is because they are still coming out of their shells...so to speak. They used to live double lives; outside of the comfort of their homes, they had to learn to keep their mouths shut and conform...or at least not publicly dissent. Than at home, they would be able to speak or act as they wanted. Therefore, Czechs have a very rich home life, but out in public they are much more quiet and reserved. Still, it doesn't make it the nicest place I have visited. In fact, I am always HUGELY amazed by how friendly everyone in countries other then the Czech Republic are. I always find myself falling in live with the cities I have visited elsewhere in Europe, mainly because I think that the people are wonderful! I think a lot of that is just being outside of the Czech Republic...had I visited these countries at some other point, I might not have found them as friendly. It is definitely going to take a while for me to adjust back to the overall friendliness of people in the States...I have just grown use to quiet streets where people pass anonymously on their way.

The second thing that was pretty different is how Europeans dress. I know everyone has heard the rumors that people in Europe dress nicer on average than Americans, and I am here to tell you that the rumors are true. Wearing jeans and a t-shirt in public is equivalent to wearing sweats and slippers to meet your friends for the day in the States. I know, most of you are like "what's wrong with that, I do it all the time?" well, I was in the same boat as you. But, remember how I said that Europeans stare a lot, without smiling, well before I realized that's pretty par for the course, I was pretty sure they were judging me in my jeans and t-shirt. So, you do what you have to do to survive...you adapt, and I did. But let me tell you, I am excited about being able to wear flip flops again...oh yeah, didn't I mention that they don't approve of flip flops either, they are too casual. You have to wear "real" sandals. Every time that Europeans go out somewhere, even if it is just to the corner store, they look presentable...always. Men here are also much more fashion forward than men in America...to put it simply...they look good. I am definitely going to miss seeing slacks and vests and jeans that fit. Maybe that's it...their clothes actually fit them. They are not afraid to wear their actual size, even if they are a bit on the small side...they don't over compensate for it. I am going to be angry for weeks after I get back just looking at all of the oversized, baggy clothes that guys where...not ok. I will miss the well-dressed men. However, their hair is an entirely different matter. I am not impressed by the hair here in general. Guys hair is too long, girls hair is too short, and don't even get me started on the colors. I have seen grandmothers with periwinkle afros and I have seen little boys with orange mullets...If you can imagine it, I have seen it. There is even a girl in my theater class who has long, regular hair on one side of her head, and the other side is completely shaved...this includes the eyebrow for that side...gone. I am ready to get back to the good old days of business style hair cuts for men, and regular colors on women.

The third thing that is pretty interesting is the process of "going out to eat." The Czech Republic is very different from America in that it doesn't have "in-between" meal options. There are either pastry shops and the supermarket, or a legitimate sit down meal. No in-between. So you can have a croissant and coffee (or tea, for those of us who don't like coffee) for lunch, of you can have a full meal, complete with two side dishes and an appetizer. So, in order to go "out to eat" you have to be really hungry, otherwise it is kind of a waste of money. But, when you do go out, the experience is also pretty different from that in the States. Generally, when you walk into a restaurant, you will seat yourself. Sometimes you don't even see the staff till they show up with your menus, which they leave at your table without any comment. Then, you order at your leisure. The server is attentive, but there is no pressure to order or eat in a hurry so that other people can take your table. Dinner usually takes about two hours because everything is so relaxed, and we sit for some time after the meal just talking. Mostly, I like that we actually sit around and talk after meals...talking is my favorite. They don't bring the check until you ask for it, and they always express gratitude when you leave a tip. I always fell like I made their day when I leave a tip, because tipping isn't as "required" as it is in the States. You actually tip based on service, and so the service is always good. I didn't even notice how slow-paced meals were here until my parents came to visit. We would sit down to eat, and before everyone was even finished with their meals, my dad would ask for the check. I was actually surprised the first time he did that. I assumed we would sit and talk for a while, and I even told him that we didn't have to leave right away...that it is expected for us to talk for a bit. In fact, the whole week they were here I felt like I ate faster than I usually do. They finally slowed down a bit by the end of the week, but not before I really had the chance to compare the pace of our culture with theirs. Czech culture really does move a a slower pace than American culture. I think part of that is because they rely a lot on public transportation to go places. You can't just hop in a car and make up lost time on the highway...you just have to be late...so being late isn't really as big of a deal as it is in the States. In general, it is less stressful than the States, I think. Maybe not at work, but in restaurants and stores, leisure reigns supreme.

These are just a few common things that I miss about the States: free refills, English as a first language, non-smoking sections in restaurants, driving, outlets that fit my plugs, not having to pay to use the bathroom (yes, it's an issue), paved roads...cobblestones are quaint and all, but paved roads are much easier on the feet, and hugs. I know that hugs seems like a weird one, but in four months, you can't really get to know someone well enough to be on a hug basis...it's sad. This post wasn't as thorough as I would have liked it be, but I feel like I hit the big differences...at least the ones that were the hardest to adjust too. I will make another post soon, because my suite mates and my roommate will probably throttle me if they don't make it into a least one blog...I promised. So, hopefully I will update soon.

Stay tuned!

Up till...now :)

Ok, so this post makes me officially caught up!! Aren't we all excited? So, this past week was fairly uneventful...surprise, surprise, but I will tell you about it nonetheless. So, Monday I went to forensics, and we learned some more about crimes scenes and such...good times. I went out to dinner after class with Carly, and had the same thing I always have when I go out, chicken schnitzel and french fries. It is pretty much the best meal ever. No matter what restaurant I go to , I am never disappointed by this choice. After dinner, Carly and I headed back to the dorm. I started to work on my midterm paper for theater class, which was due Wednesday, but I only made it about half-way through. Tuesday, I went to cognition class...lame as always. But, I did finish writing the rest of my midterm paper during it, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. After class I went to The Globe, a bookstore/bar, and started my blogging update hardcore. I was there long enough for happy hour to roll around, and the Globe offers half-off cocktails...so I had a shot called the B52, because it came recommended to me. It has Absinth, Bailey's and Kaluha in it, so I thought it would taste pretty good. They brought it to me with a box of matches, and I was like "whaaaat?" So, I Googled how to drink a B52 (and wikipedia helped too), and supposedly you can drink it flaming if you want to...I did not want to. So, I drank it without the fire, and I have to say, it wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be. My lips were numb for like a minute from the Absinth too...that stuff is hard core. So, check that one off my list as a no-go. After I finished blogging about Liverpool, and finalizing my theater midterm and reflections before I sent them to my professor, I just headed back to my dorm. I completely forgot that it was Tuesday, so I didn't get back to the dorm until around 7:30 p.m. so I completely missed home group. I was really bummed because I slept through church, and then I just completely forgot about home group...not good. So, I spent the rest of the night at the dorm...nothing too exciting. However, this was the first night that I really started to feel sick. Robbie and Kim were both sick in Amsterdam...they had actually been sick for a while before that as well, but it wasn't until after I drank from the same bottle as Robbie that he remembered that he was sick...in fact Kim actually reminded him. However, although I did not continue to drink after either one of them, I wasn't really that concerned because I usually don't get sick like that. In fact, I can't remember the last time I actually got sick because I contracted it from someone. But, Tuesday night...I was like "crap...I think I got the sickness." I was not happy, but I still wasn't convinced it would be all that bad.

Wednesday, I had theater class again. I love theater class. It is my most diverse class in that probably has more international students in it than American students, which I love. Also, there are some kids in it from Britain, and I love British people! Best class ever, actually. After class, I walked across the bridge near our school to a cafe on the other side so that I could continue blogging. It was actually a little cold and cloudy out, so I decided not to go to the park like I usually do. Instead, I decided that I wanted to go see Clash of the Titans. So, after I finished my post, I looked up some movie times. I decided to give myself a little time, so I went to go see the one at 9 p.m. I headed back to the dorm from the cafe, and had about an hour to change into warmer clothes (probably didn't help the sickness that I was underdressed all day) and have something to eat. I headed out to the movie from there. It was a little bit of a let down, actually. Minus the fact that the main character was really attractive, it wasn't as exciting or action-packed as I thought it would be. Not the best action movie I have ever seen, but it wasn't bad. I did enjoy it, I just think that my expectations were a little too high. After the movie I spent the rest of the night in. Thursday, I felt really sick. I woke up for class and couldn't even breathe for like 5 minutes because I was coughing so hard. And since my Thursday class is mainly a walking class, I knew I wasn't going to make it. So, I went back to sleep. I dragged...and I do mean dragged...myself out of bed at around 2 p.m. because I had to go pick up my tickets for the ballet. If you don't pick up your tickets, they subtract the charge from your "cultural events" deposit that you have to make at the beginning of the semester. So, I pulled on some sweats, went to AIFS, picked up my ticket, and then went to a pharmacy to get some medicine, because I was in pretty bad shape...the sickness was vicious. I had enough time to shower before I had to head back out to the ballet. The ballet was actually really good. It not only kept me awake for three hours, but I was thoroughly entertained. Men in tights can do that :) After the play Carly, Stephanie, and I walked to McDonalds and got some ice cream. I love ice cream at night. We got back to the dorm around 11:30 p.m. I was in bed within minutes. I was not feeling well.

Friday and Saturday were probably the least exciting days of the whole week. Friday I only managed to leave the room once...and that was to do laundry. I thought maybe washing the sickness off of my clothes would help...and it did kinda. I did get to skype with Tina and that was fun. It had been a while since we chatted, so she filled me in on some of what had been happening at Tech, and I filled her in a little on some of what I had been up too lately. Then, even more exciting...Stephen joined the world of skype! We didn't get a chance to work out all of the bugs, but we got pretty close. I am sure next time will be a success. After that very stressful day I was wiped...really, I had no energy at all. I curled up in bed at like 8 p.m. with a movie and then went to bed once the movie was over. It was an all-around pretty miserable day for me. Saturday, I was feeling a bit better. I still had my horrible cough, but it wasn't as frequent, and my nausea and headaches had pretty much gone away. I think I even had a fever at one point on Friday. So, since I was feeling a little better, I decided to go out and get some fresh air. I went back to my favorite cafe, updated my blog again and then headed out to my favorite park. I do have to say that the park was absolutely gorgeous! All of the tree are green and in bloom. They have peacocks in the park, and they were all felling good too, so they had their feathers all spread out. The fountain was going, and the best thing was that although a lot of people were there enjoying the sunshine as well, it was so peaceful. No one was being loud or playing games or anything. It was almost silence reverence for the beautiful place we were in. I am going to be really sad to leave this park behind when I come home...I spend a good amount of time there, and it is such a relaxing place to be in that I never want to leave. The sun setting is usually what drives me out. I went back to the dorm, and Kristina (my roommate) and I had a night in watching chick flicks. We watched Confessions of a Shopaholic and Center Stage (a classic). We stayed up kinda late, but those movies were really good.

Today (I know...it is surreal for me too) I got up a little earlier than usual so that I could get some work done before church. I got one of my assignments for the week done...which is good, because I will hardly do any work once my parents get here. I headed out for church as usual, and it was so great. I am sure that I have mentioned before that worship is my favorite part of the service, and today we had the best worship ever. They sang two of my favorite songs of all time, and since I got there a little early I got myself a seat in the back so that I could really just fade into the music and not worry about what was going on around me. It was just phenomenal. After church I went out to dinner with Carly. I hadn't eaten all day up till then, and I was starving. After dinner I came back to my room, watched some Criminal Minds, and then started this post. It takes me at least two hours for every post that I do, and this one was no exception. Blogging is a lot more time consuming that you would think...it probably doesn't help that I am a fairly slow typer. My parents arrive early tomorrow morning, so this will be my last post for at least a couple days...probably till they leave if I am being honest. But, I am really excited for my parents to get here. These past couple of days have been the prettiest days in Prague yet, so they are coming at the perfect time. I am also really excited about Berlin and getting to visit Danja again...it has been too long. That's pretty much it. Well, I am pretty stressed about the amount of work that I have for the end of the semester. I have four papers, two tests, and a presentation still left, and I have no motivation. It is springtime in Prague! So, just pray that I get all of my work done and that I turn in quality work too. That's all for now I believe, stay tuned!!

Amsterdam...and the volcanic interuption

Ok, so I am getting pretty close to being updated, and even if I don't get updated all the way before my parents get here, at least I will have made it pretty far. Also, blogging does give me an excuse if I don't want to go out at night :) But, last weekend I went to Amsterdam, and had a pretty great time, minus the volcanic eruption in Iceland that kinda screwed up the last half of the weekend we were there. So, here goes...

Thursday, Robbie, Kim, and I set out for the Netherlands at the jolly old hour of 8 a.m. We made it through the airport without a hitch, except for security, where I got my lotion taken away...I just can't win with airport security over here. Remember how I said that WizzAir is first come first sever seating, well, Robbie takes that principle very seriously. He was bound and determined to get the first row on the plane because it has more legroom. I was like, whatever. But we positioned ourselves on the shuttle so that we would be the first ones off and thus the first ones on the plane. The funny thing though, was that there was this middle-aged woman who apparently had the same idea as us. The three of us clearly had the advantageous positions on the shuttle, but this woman wasn't giving up so easily. She boarded the plane after Robbie, Kim, and I, and then proceeded to ask the flight attendant to make us move from the front row so that her and her friends could sit there. Ridiculous, right! Of course the flight attendant was like "Sorry ma'am, I can't do that." So, the woman was in a funk for the whole rest of the flight...which I missed most of because I was napping. Next thing I knew, we were in Eindhoven. Eindhoven is where the airport was, but it was still a two hour bus ride to Amsterdam. I slept through a little of the bus ride, but I was really captivated by the scenery. Amsterdam, and its outskirts are just beautiful in the spring. There were flowers growing everywhere, and it was green and lush in the fields. There were canals flowing in and out of all the fields as well. It was just really pretty. So, we arrived in Amsterdam around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. First thing, we wanted to find our hostel and get checked in. So, we took a 10 minute tram ride from the central station, and then it was about a 15 minute walk from there...but we did walk like 5 minutes in the wrong direction, so we had to backtrack a bit at one point. Eventually we found it, it was pretty discreet looking on the outside. I would have walked right past it if Kim hadn't pointed it out. We were buzzed in...the security was pretty decent here, I have to admit. Then we had to climb the most ridiculous stairs I had ever seen in my whole life, since reception was on the first floor. Something interesting about Amsterdam that is noteworthy, is that back when they were building the city, homeowners and businesses used to be taxed based on how wide the front of their houses or offices were . So the trick was to build narrow houses that were very long, or houses that opened up considerably in the back. Our hostel was a converted "narrow" house. So as a result, the staircase was very narrow and I would say steep, but steep doesn't even begin to cover it. These stairs were maybe 6 inches deep, and at least 10 inches tall. Going up was difficult, but going down was impossible. I literally had to walk down the stairs sideways to keep myself from tumbling headfirst down this mountain. So, we made it reception and then found out that our room was on the third floor, which was really the fourth floor, so we had to climb up three more flights of stairs like the ones we had just climbed...crazy! We dropped of all of our stuff in the room, and now it was like 5 p.m. so we decided to explore a little bit and go check out the floating flower market and then find somewhere to eat dinner. The floating flower market was actually pretty close to our hostel, only about a 15 minute walk. It was really cool, but I think that the season for flowers still wasn't quite there yet, because a lot of the flowers were still just buds. But the flowers that were in bloom were absolutely gorgeous. I wish we had something similar to a flower market in the States, where you can go buy flowers, or flower bulbs, for dirt cheap. I plan to have fresh flowers everywhere in my house when I grow up. Fake plants, but real flowers...I just really love flowers, and I wish it were as convenient to get them in the States as it is in Europe. So, we walked along the flower market for a while, checking out some souvenir shops along the way too. We found a place that we decided to go for dinner, but it still wasn't late enough for dinner yet, so we kept walking. We ran a across a movie theater, and since I love going to the movies, I suggested that we see if anything good was playing, since according to the itinerary that Robbie and Kim had put together, we didn't have anything else to do that night. We were looking at available movies when out of nowhere, this stretch SUV limo pulls up with two guys dressed like the main character of Kick-Ass hanging out of the sun roof. They got out of the limo and were doing flips and stuff and they were making their way to the theater yelling out that everyone should go see Kick-Ass. I turned to Robbie and Kim, and was like "clearly this is a sign that we should go see Kick-Ass." So we decided to go to dinner and then come back and see Kick-Ass afterwards. We had dinner at a nice little place near the floating flower market that had decent prices. One thing I will say about Amsterdam, is that it is a bit pricey in general. We managed to get dinner for about 13 euros, and that's a pretty good deal. Our waiter was very nice, and since we were the only ones in the restaurant for a while we decided to ask him whether we could get a pitcher of Coke. I told you earlier that you don't get free refills in Europe, but we were so thirsty we just decided to see if we could get a pitcher...that way we would all get about two glasses. He was like "I have never really had anyone ask that before, but sure, why not?" So we got a pitcher of Coke with dinner. After dinner we went back to the movie theater to see Kick-Ass. It was a total shocker of a movie...nothing like I expected at all! But in a good way. I didn't expect almost everything that happened, so every ten minutes I was like "what...no way!" It was actually quite an enjoyable movie, and it kept me on my toes. Plus, I am totally in love with the purple wig that the little girl wears...epic! After the movie, we headed back to the hostel, because we were all pretty wiped, and got to bed by like 12:30 a.m. I think. It was a very relaxed and enjoyable first day in Amsterdam.

Friday, we woke up pretty early and headed over to see the Anne Frank house. I actually didn't know that Anne Frank lived in Amsterdam. I always thought that she lived in Germany somewhere, so it really cool to get to see that while we were there. Oh, actually, I was just re-reading my brochure from the house, and she did live in Germany, but her family fled to Amsterdam when Hitler installed an anti-Jewish regime in Germany. You learn something new everyday. :) I think that the Anne Frank house is definitely worth visiting. It was pretty crowded when we were there, but I think that is pretty par for the course. Otto Frank, Anne's father was the only one of the eight in hiding that survived the war. When he came back to Amsterdam, one of his employees that had helped to hide Otto and his family still had in her possession Anne's diary. It took Frank years to read it, but when he finally did, he was surprised at how mature Anne's thought were. She had never really talked about a lot of things that she wrote about in her diary, and Frank realized that the Anne he had known throughout their time in hiding was not the simple little girl that he had thought her to be. One of Anne's desires was to write a book about her time in the Secret Annex. So, Otto had her diary published. The original diary can now be found at the exhibit in Amsterdam. The tour takes you through all of the rooms, including up the staircase hidden by the bookshelf and into the rooms where Anne and her family lived for many months. They even had the windows blacked-out with fabric so it would be just like when Anne and her family lived there. It was really interesting. After Anne Frank's house, we decided to head towards Dam Square for lunch and some souvenir shopping before a tour of the city that we were going on at 1 p.m. It was actually really hard to find souvenirs in Amsterdam that didn't center around weed or the Red Light District. But, we did our best. One thing to note, is that people in the Netherlands, and Amsterdam in particular speak really good English...I mean really good English. They even understand slang. It was awesome! Anyway, we went on a three hour tour of Amsterdam that was really great. It was really funny as well as really informative...the best of both worlds. The three hours flew by, and I feel like I got a pretty good feel for the city, and it provoked enough curiosity that if we had had more time there, I definitely would have done more exploring. Some of things we saw on the tour included: The Old Church, the Red Light District, the Dutch East India Company, the Royal Palace (which was under renovations, so there wasn't really much to see), the widest bridge and the smallest house in Amsterdam (there is a picture of me in front of the smallest house on facebook), the Jewish Quarter, and much more. I really enjoyed the tour. However, after the tour, things got a little dicey. It was around 4 p.m. when we first heard about the volcano eruption in Iceland. At first we were like, well it's in Iceland, no worries...but then WizzAir sent us an email saying that all their flights until Saturday morning had been cancelled. And we were like "WHAT!" We were flying out on Sunday morning, but we met a girl from London at our hostel who said that the earliest she was going to be able to fly back to London was Monday morning. Robbie and Kim, bless there hearts, panic very easily. So, they spent like two hours trying to figure out if our flight was going to get cancelled, and if so, how we were going to get back to Prague. It was kind of important that we get back, because Robbie was leaving for Budapest early on Wednesday morning, and I still thought that my parents were going to be getting in to Prague on Monday morning. While they were freaking out, I made friends with several other people from the hostel, and we had a lovely conversation for two hours or so...I really loved the people of Amsterdam too. They were super friendly and very agreeable. So, after a while, we decided to head down to the central station and talk to the people there about possibly getting a train ticket back to Prague. We weren't allowed in the building! There was already a three hour line for international train tickets, and they weren't letting anyone else in that day. So I asked what time we should come back the next day. The man told me that they were going to open at six, but that I should be there by 5:15 a.m. or so, because there would probably be a line already. We were like, great, we might actually get stuck in Amsterdam. So, we went back to the same place for dinner and talked about what we were going to do. Based on what we had already seen and heard, we were thinking that it was going to be pretty possible that our flight would get cancelled. So we decided after dinner we would go back to the hostel and try to book the tickets online, because we didn't want to risk them being sold out at the station, and they always leave a certain number open for sale online anyway. We spent like another hour once we were back at the hostel trying to find a train that hadn't already been sold out. Eventually we found a train with available seats, but the prices had been jacked way up...all the prices had been. We heard all kinds of crazy stories about people paying upwards of 800 euro just to rent a car for the day! It was ridiculous how much price gouging was going on. We managed to pay somewhat reasonable prices, although they were about three times the amount of the original ticket. I think we managed to book like the last three tickets on the train too, because we had a friend in Amsterdam, who was staying with some friends, and she tried to book tickets like 8 hours later...and the next available train didn't leave until Wednesday. So, that took up most of our night on Friday, and instead of leaving Sunday morning, we were now leaving on Saturday at 7 p.m.

So, we had to cut some things out of our itinerary since we had less time in Amsterdam than we thought we would have. Also, after having to pay for a pretty expensive train ticket back to Prague, we were trying to keep things as cheap as possible. So, Saturday morning, we packed up most of our stuff and then went to breakfast with the British girl that I met at the hostel earlier the day before. She was really funny, and I wish that we had been able to hang out with her more. But after a delicious breakfast of Dutch style pancakes (which were amazing!) we headed out to take a canal tour through Amsterdam. Although we had already seen a good bit of the city, the canal cruise was something you just can't pass up when in Amsterdam...plus, we got to see the only windmill in Amsterdam proper! Totally worth it. On our canal tour, we met several couples from the States who were just cruising the canals all day because their flights had been delayed for several days at least. We realized how lucky we were that we were going somewhere that could be reached by train, and that we had been able to get train tickets at all...God definitely heard my prayers. We got off the canal tour in a couple of places and took some pictures. We were going to go the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, but we didn't have enough time. I was really kind of bummed, because it is supposed to be a really cool museum, and it has the largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in the world. But, we explored the area around the museum extensively, and took some pictures with the really large I AMSTERDAM sign that is near the museum (those pictures can also be found on facebook). Then we had to head back to our hostel to finish packing up our stuff, check out, and get to the central station. We wanted to get there about an hour early too, just in case anything happened. Our train got there a little early, so it was good that we were ready. Robbie, Kim, and I were all in different compartments, but the compartments were all right next to each other, so it wasn't that bad. The bad news is that we had a 14 hour (which ended being 15 1/2) train ride ahead of us, and we were not in a sleeper car. Let me tell you something, if you ever take a night train that is longer than 6 hours or so...pay the money for the sleeper car. Even if it is twice as expensive...you won't regret it, I promise! Those fifteen hours were miserable. I won't bore you with the details, but I never want to take a train ride like that again. Nobody in my compartment spoke English...although they tried, and, I was sore in places that I didn't even know could get sore. I woke up every hour on the hour because I was in physical pain from trying to fall asleep in those seats. They were less comfortable than airplane seats, and you had to keep your feet to yourself because there were people sitting across from you. It was rough, but we made it! We arrived Sunday morning in Prague. And I was so tired! I was set my alarm to get up and go to church after a long nap (cause church doesn't start till 4:30 p.m. :) ), and I woke up three hours after my alarm was supposed to have gone off. I slept through my snooze for three hours, that's how tired I was! I was kind of bummed though, because I was really excited about being back in time to go to church. But, I pretty much ate dinner and went back to bed.

So, that pretty much sums up Amsterdam. It wasn't filled with smoking weed or partying in the Red Light District, which the majority of stories consist of. It was my ideal weekend trip. Walk around, take some tours, visit a museum or two, and just hang out in an amazing city. I really loved Amsterdam, and when I come back to Europe, I am definitely going to try and have an extended stay there. It was gorgeous, the people were amazing, and the food was great...what more could you ask for?? This past week will be a pretty quick post, and then I will put up a more though provoking one hopefully tomorrow. That's the plan anyway. So, stay tuned!!

The 12-14th...or those incredibly busy days leading up to Amsterdam

Ok, so as lame as this may sound, I think the only motivation I had for updating today was because I needed something to do while Glee was loading. And for those of you who may not be familiar with Glee, in all of its glory, it is, by far, the best new show on television! You absolutely have to check it out if you are not already familiar with it, and I suggest starting at the beginning, otherwise you won't understand character development.

Anyway, getting on to the more important and newsworthy items, I will commence with the updating starting last Monday. So, I woke up earlier than usual again last Monday so that Carly and I could go over our presentation on psychopaths one more time before class. Class went over without a hitch...same old, same old you know, and I think we did pretty well on our presentation as well. Immediately after class, I headed over to the soccer stadium to catch a Sparta (yes, I know, the most epic team name ever) soccer game. The good news was that our seats were really close to the action, the bad news is that it was raining and our seats were not located under an overhang. After a sad attempt at playing soccer in highschool, during which I learned that I have negative eye-foot coordination skills, I developed a new-found appreciation for the sport. So, I enjoyed watching the game, even though it was in the rain. I also have to say that I enjoyed watching the soccer players in the rain...and I feel that no further explanation is needed on that point :) I had to leave the soccer game early (but don't worry, we won) in order to go to another performance for my theater class. Since I had to walk a considerable distance in the rain, and sat through half of a soccer game in the rain, I arrived thoroughly soaked. The performance in and of itself was ok, but compared to the horrible show I saw the night before, it was amazing. But, I was kinda miserable through the whole show cause I was wet, and then I got cold...no fun.

Tuesday, I didn't go to class because I had too much to do before Amsterdam, and not enough time in which to do it. So, I stayed home and did a bunch a work for that week and the next week, cause at this point I still thought my parents were coming after I got back from Amsterdam. I wrote several reflections, did laundry, went and printed out all of my travel information from AIFS, and then I went to home group. Several of the regulars weren't there, but I did get to meet some guys from North Carolina! There were three of them, and two of them were twins (so cool!), and they were all recently graduated from NC State and they were part of a program where they travel all around Europe, and every week they will link up to a classroom of third and fourth graders back in the States and tell them all the things they are learning about the new countries that they are in. I don't know if they were getting paid for it or anything, but it sounded like a really cool way to see Europe after college. They were couchsurfing at Joe's house, but they also seemed like they were pretty solid Christians. It was really cool to get a little taste of home :) After home group was over, I headed back to the dorm and spent the rest of the night in.

Wednesday, I didn't have class, and that was probably a good thing because I still had so much to do. I did sleep in a little, so I got up around 11 a.m. and got ready for the day. I went into the AIFS office and printed out an application to work in the Education Abroad office next year at Virginia Tech. I filled it out, attached my essay, and then faxed it to the office just in time to leave for my next event. I was going on what we call "cafe outings." Marketa, the program director for AIFS in Prague, takes students who are interested to a local cafe for coffee and cake about every three weeks. It is a cultural event, so AIFS pays for it, and while we are there we can talk to Marketa about anything we like or dislike about our stay, we can ask her questions, or we can just talk about the weather. It is just her way to get to spend a little time with us since she doesn't go on any of our regular outings. This cafe outing was a little different though. With this outing we got a free tour of the Lobkowicz Palace museum, which is the largest, oldest, and most intact private collection in the Czech Republic. The Lobkowicz family still exists today, and they have graciously donated a lot of their family's extensive collection on music, art, hunting, furniture, and everyday things to this special exhibit. Current members of the family actually guide you through the exhibit via the audiotour...and that was pretty cool! It was by far one of my favorite things that I have done in Prague. The Lobkowicz were huge supporters of Mozart and Beethoven, and Beethoven's 5th is one of a number of pieces that was dedicated to the Lobkowicz's. They have the original score, written in Beethoven's own hand in the exhibit! I am definitely taking my parents there. So after we had coffee and cake at the cafe there, we got to go through the exhibit. Then right from there Robbie, Carly, and I went to grab some dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Trilobite, and being a former geology major, I thought that was so great. We had to eat pretty quick because we had to go to the opera at 7 p.m. We went to see Don Giovanni. Now, I know that this is a really famous opera, but I have to say that out of the operas that I have seen so far, this one was probably my least favorite. I just didn't really connect with the characters and their plights. I think that their could have been more emotion than there was. But, it was a good performance nonetheless.

We didn't get out of the opera until 10 p.m. and we all had to go back and pack for Amsterdam, because of course, none of us had done that yet. So, I got back to my room, packed for Amsterdam, which took me about an hour or so, because I was also cleaning up before I left. I hate coming back to a dirty room after a trip, so I always have to clean everything right before I go somewhere. I got to bed around 12:30 a.m., which wasn't too bad, I thought. The next morning we left, but I will save Amsterdam stories until the next post. I am getting really close to being caught up. I think three more posts will do it :) But technically one of those posts won't be chronological. So, really it's more like two "time" posts and a "thought" post. And I have two days before my parents get here, so I think I can get it all done.

Stay tuned, and pray that I feel better by the time my parents get here, because I have been sick as a dog the past couple of days. Later!