Study Abroad Blogs

When I saw the email from Matt asking that we submit a blog entry on our experiences abroad I became very excited because there is so much I want to share with all of you. When I actually sat down to start writing this though I realized that it is an almost impossible task because I don’t even know how to sum up my study abroad experience so far in a blog entry. I’ll just stick to generalities. In a nutshell since coming to Prague I’ve traveled to Paris, Budapest, London, Vienna, Galway, Dublin, Krakow, Venice, Florence, and Rome. I have learned a few Czech phrases (Czech is a horribly difficult language), tried Czech cuisine, and traveled to various cities around the Czech Republic.

I have made bonds with people that will last a lifetime. I have made travel memories with friends that we still love laughing about. I have gone on pub-crawls, I’ve gone spelunking, visited a bathhouse, and seen Auschwitz. I visited Nimisha and Marian in London and we got to party with random British guys. Marian came to visit me in Prague, and we got to go to a Czech club together. I’ve gone to school but not really had to put much effort into it. I had to endure the coldest day in Prague in 20 years, while touring the Prague castle; it was 9 degrees. I’ve booked numerous flights, hostels, and train tickets. I’ve had to learn how to use the Prague public transportation without anyone’s help.

Above all I had to learn to plan a trip completely on my own, acclimate to the Czech culture, deal with the occasional tinge of home sickness, and do my best to stay in touch with friends back home. Studying abroad is like freshman year all over again, you get to reinvent yourself, and as everyone continuously reminds me “everything here is not real.” People are constantly hooking up, breaking up, and making up; even those with significant others back home. People go out almost every night, and I have no idea how they aren’t always exhausted. I have loved the cheap prices here, and how small and manageable it is.

I absolutely detest the fact that you have to pay for ketchup, bread, butter, and water. That waiters are usually horribly rude, and that the Czech language is almost impossible to learn and basically, not to be harsh, but completely useless. Besides that I have thoroughly enjoyed traveling almost every weekend and meeting amazing people from all over the U.S. and Europe.

Studying abroad has really allowed me to take a step back from my usual life and realize what is truly important to me and what I miss the most. DOZ is definitely one of those things and I can’t wait to see you all in the fall.

~Ariel