Kde Domov Můj

Sunday, September 19^th, 10:24 PM

   I'm finally home! As I type this I'm sitting in an armchair in my room listening to Nohavica and the hum of the washing machine making my clothes clean and fresh and new. It's a relatively small apartment but quite a big room, with wood floors and a balcony, and it's mine! There's even a gas stove, about which I can't wait to tell David in loving detail. I'm only half-unpacked and stuff is everywhere, but I'm thrilled to have a place to call home.

   It's been an interesting weekend. I arrived in Ostrava from Prague on Friday, met up with Misa, went out with him and Petr to one of the local pubs, and drank burčák and watched folk dancers perform in the corner of the pub. Burčák, recommended to me by the devilishly handsome and blazingly intelligent Andrew Burgard, is basically new wine fresh from the pressings, and it's quite the thing in Moravia this time of year. The height of the season is apparently just barely past, but it is delicious, so I imagine I shall consume some more before the season is laid to rest. Yesterday, Misa's family went out all day to celebrate his dad's birthday, so I spent essentially the whole day getting things in order – I've found a gym, found the archive, the public transport center, the Foreign Police office, wrote some stuff, played some Puzzle Quest. Tomorrow I'll get to carry out my dastardly plans to take care of things, but it shouldn't be that difficult.

   Today we did a walking tour of Poruba, which is the area in Ostrava in which I live, then Misa took me to his favorite čajovna, or tea house, where I had a delicious strong dark tea infused with cardomom and several other things which I didn't understand. It's a fascinating little place, built into the ground and guarded by a thick mediaeval door with iron viewing visor. Purchases are calculated in fifteen crown increments (about 75 cents) by taking away iron coins from a roll of them given out to each customer, each coin worth fifteen crowns. At the end, you present your roll, they check to see how many are missing, and thus is one charged. Somewhat byzantine, but certainly full of character. After that, the big move! Contracts were signed, bags were lugged, a big wad of cash was handed over in exchange for a duly filled-out receipt (for Czechs are thankfully an orderly people) and now I'm happy and I'm home and life is good.

Jsem Konečně Tady

Friday, September 17^th, 6:07 PM

   Again in Ostrava. The Fulbright orientation is formally over, though the (minimal) program this morning was optional and I decided instead to sleep through it. I'm pretty tired, I think mostly because Andrew kept stumbling in at 3 AM and snoring like a rusty chainsaw going through a drainpipe. All told, though, it was nice to live with him, albeit only for a short while. Walking all over creation every day probably helped tire me out as well. I'm really looking forward to getting settled in in Ostrava – finally having a home, and being able to fully unpack, and, like, invest in a coffeemaker and a tram pass. That will, though, have to wait until Sunday, it seems. I'm a little bit worried about the finances aspect, since they strongly recommended that I open my account in Ostrava instead of in Prague, and so I still haven't been paid for September. I have enough money in my account to pay for the security deposit and first month's rent, though I'm only able to pull it off by draining my savings and I think I'll have to let a bit of money roll over on my credit card, which irritates me to no end. The CB ATM rejected my withdrawal request here, but I got a decent chunk of change in Prague this morning, so perhaps there's a daily withdrawal limit I was going over. I think I might try once more before Misa gets here, taking out less, and if that doesn't work I might have to call their international helpline. I really hope that they didn't decide to freeze my account.

   The Fulbright orientation was a little strange but probably good that I got the opportunity. It seemed like the orientation was really heavily oriented towards the English teachers and teaching assistants rather than towards the researchers, but there was some good information, and some documents. Honestly I was a little underwhelmed as to the information available for me in Ostrava, though if I were to be in Prague they'd have all sorts of resources available. I tell myself that I'm a pioneer. I'm not really looking forward to registering with the Foreign Police, though I must and so I will. I ought also register with the Embassy. It'll be a busy week, I think. I need to set up a bank account first of all, so I can send it in to Miloš and get paid so I can afford to do anything else. And then find a grocery store, a shopping mall, maybe a Kaufland, get a transport pass, find the University, meet my sponsoring professor, find the archive, and maybe actually get a little bit of work done. It'd also be nice to find a gym, but I'm still not totally sure about what the process is, or what the best way to accomplish that would be. It might be a huge pain in the ass to try to put together a home gym, especially since I would have to transport the whole thing on my back. Who knows. Not a lot I can do about it now, I suppose. I don't have a lot on my plate for tonight, though we may end up dropping by the apartment. It's unclear. Tomorrow may be a good day to get some errands out of the way.

Pražské Podzim

Monday, September 13^th, 4:22 PM

The summer school has been laid to bed. After a whirlwind of Becherovka, Gambrinus, and declination, my friends are back home and I'm in Prague at the Villa Lanna. Orientation starts today, with a dinner in an hour. The schedule seems a little sparse to justify a full week, but given that my apartment isn't available until the 19^th, it's probably good that I have somewhere both nice and free to stay as well as a few things to do and some people to meet. The hotel is very nice, though unexpectedly it's two to a room. Fortunately, I'm bunking with Andrew Burgard, who I'm friends with, so I don't anticipate that being a terribly big problem. I'm looking forward to getting paid, so I can stop freaking out so much about money, but otherwise things are going fine. I had a hell of a time finding the villa, since the map wasn't very clear about the metro exits and all I had to go on at the time (being without a printer) were some jotted notes, so I ended up overshooting the place and making a couple circles. Good thing I wasn't in any hurry, but it would've been a nicer walk without all of my luggage having to be hauled along. The wheelbase is beginning to give way – I suppose it's about time, considering all the punishment I've put it through over the years, but I'd hoped it would last somewhat longer. In any case, I'm afraid I'm not feeling terribly interesting, so I'll close here.

Fortfortfortfort dreh'n sich die Freunde

Friday, September 3^rd, 5:26 PM

  Sometimes it seems that things move very quickly in life. This whole summer school concept is something of a hothouse concept, admittedly. Intensive language study in the school itself. Intensive socialization in the limited group of peers thrown together in a strange place, with the same courses, free-time activities, and living space. And for me, at least, acclimation to a new country and a new mode of living. I bought a cell phone yesterday – it was actually very easy. Misa had recommended a type of phone to get, so I walked over to the shopping center and walked into the store. Ten minutes and forty-five dollars later I walked out with a sweet new phone. Pre-paid is all the rage in Europe, so I draw down my balance whenever I talk to people, but given how seldom I use phones I think I'll manage to not bankrupt myself. I'd been worrying about having to sign a contract, provide identification, provide an address, verify income stream, but no. I was proud of myself for undertaking the entire transaction in Czech, though. And not just mime and gesture plus noun Czech, but an actual conversation.

  Most people are out and about doing various things at the moment, and I'm somewhat at loose ends. We got a free afternoon off of class, since there was a museum tour, but I didn't even think about it until after it started. I was in the computer lab taking care of some things for my trip to Ostrava this weekend, and panicked a little bit when I looked at my watch and saw it was 1:45, until I remembered that classes were cancelled. Olga has gone early to Prague, Alena is in Tábon with Luiza and some other people, I think most of the Germans went on the museum tour, so I spent a couple hours finishing off Mass Effect 2. Seems to have been worth the effort.

  I'll be happy when the construction is over. The elevators are being rebuilt, so the stairwell is a construction zone full of tools and bags of cement, and the drone of high-powered drills and cutting saws start as early as 7:00 AM, weekend or not. God knows what kind of particulates are coming out of that thing. At least I haven't been terribly hung-over since I arrived – a fair miracle, to be honest, considering how much we drank the first week. Mmm. Maybe they'll get back soon.

Erfrierend

Monday, August 30^th, 5:59 PM Prague Time

It's cold, and my head feels like it's stuffed full of cotton. My English diction is losing its luster and fading into my 'foreigner English', and I have to find a new apartment somewhere. But regardless, life is actually going pretty well. Looks like another enjoyable evening with friends in the dilapidated kitchen for the floor, playing card games, drinking becherovka, and attempting to keep everybody abreast of the multilingual conversation. Soon I'll need to do laundry, and I wish I had some more time in the day, as well as internet in my room like I was promised oh so very long ago, but I suppose one can't have everything. Well. In any case, I can at least have dinner. If uninspired, at least filling and (potentially) nutritious. I wish I had more protein in my diet. Perhaps next time I head out on a shopping trip/internet, I can see if there's anywhere in the area that could reasonably be expected to have some. Though it may be better to just wait until I'm in Ostrava. We'll see.

Dobrodružství

Thursday, August 26^th, 6:42 PM Prague Time

Time is a little short, honestly. I'm about to head off to a folk festival with some of the Russians, but I haven't updated recently. I was originally assigned to class 3, but after one round of it which was insultingly easy I switched up a class and now things are going much better. It's a challenge instead of a bore, though I still know or at least have known the material at some point. It seems like I'm getting to know more people. Just by being more forward (i.e. inviting myself in to conversations/groups) and switching classes and just doing things I'm getting to know a few people a little better. My roommate Jesse finally arrived, so sadly my single room is vorbei for now, but he says he'll be leaving again in a few days, so I'll have it back for most of the course. Adapting to Czech habits and equipment proceeding apace, though the shower arrangements are still irritating and the meals have become rather repetitive. There's pretty much always a meat thing and a potato thing, and while I like both of them they aren't terribly well-prepared or terribly good, to be frank. I walked out towards the suburbs this afternoon and found a Billa and an ATM, so I can get money again. I bought a few things for breakfast and some lemon water. It looks like Misa has found me a good apartment in Ostrava, so I'm planning to head out there next weekend to sign the lease and pay the deposit and suchlike. It will be good to have that all in order, I'm very thankful that I ended up getting in contact with him. Czech is fitfully but relatively rapidly returning. I'm glad I decided to come study up a bit before Ostrava, frankly. I would've been terrible without some practice. I'm still kind of shaky, but I think by the end of the course I'll be doing much better. Oddly enough, I feel like I'm getting more use out of my German than out of English, which is unusual. I'm happy to know both, though – I can talk to pretty much everybody, though there are a couple people that I think our only shared language is actually Czech. Which is okay, we can get along. Though it's a little more difficult to get to know somebody in Czech, seeing as how I don't speak it as well as I could've hoped. Anyways, I'm off to adventure.

Beginnings New and Old

Monday, August 23^rd, 8:56 AM Prague Time

I'm proud of myself – I actually woke up on time this morning to get to breakfast with the other people in the program! It was a little bit of a struggle getting out of bed, honestly, with only five hours of sleep, but I made it. And when I walked out for the meeting I saw who else but Veronika Akinorev! Though I couldn't remember her name off the top of my head, she recognized me as well. It's a small, strange world sometimes, but it was actually really nice, not necessarily because we knew each other so very well, but to have an 'in', so to speak. I actually spent more time talking to Maria, the Ukrainian girl who was in Veronika's 'group' than to her, but otherwise I probably wouldn't have managed to work up the energy and courage to talk to anybody. The breakfast itself was uninspired – typical European, which is to say more cheeses and lunch meats than what I would consider breakfast, but there was some Semmelbrot (whatever that is in Czech) and there was coffee, so I can't complain too terribly. Especially since I actually did have some company for it, though I was definitely lagging a bit and the conversation didn't necessarily sparkle the whole time. I don't feel like that was necessarily my fault, though – I think I tried pretty hard to be outgoing and try conversational gambits. So so far so good. Apparently today we're going to take a test to divide us up into classes, so I hope I'm neither so lagged out nor so forgetful as to bomb it completely. I'll try to get some studying in beforehand. At least a quick review of the conjugations. I feel like I've forgotten a lot of vocabulary, especially, though I think it'll come back relatively quickly now that I'm speaking it and hearing it on a regular basis now. We'll see.  

Arrivé

Sunday, August 22^nd, 1:36 AM Prague Time

I finally made it to the dorm in Ceske Budejovice. It was quite an adventure, actually, since I missed the 8:15 train by five minutes and there wasn't another one until 10:30, so I got into Budejovice around 1 AM, to be chivvied out of the station by security closing up. Standing outside in the empty street, I had no real idea how I was going to make my way to the kolej. There was a non-stop taxi stand whose definition of non-stop clearly does not jibe with mine. It was deserted. I was standing forlornly at the tram stop, where no trams appeared to go to where I needed to be even during the daytime, when a sketchy car with a yellow thing on the top pulled up beside me and asked if I needed a taxi. Yes. Yes I did. I ended up overtipping outrageously, but I was really happy to not to have had to spend five hours in the street waiting for the city to wake up and the trams to start running. Apparently I have a roommate who hasn't shown up yet in my room, but there also seems to be at least one girl in the room next to mine, judging from the undergarments hung up to dry. There was a lamp on in the room, but I didn't want to disturb them in case they were asleep, so I didn't say hello. Hopefully the shower as I scrubbed the incredible grossness of multi-day international travel off of myself didn't wake them up? Perhaps I shall meet them tomorrow. Speaking of which, I'm scheduled to get up in six hours, so perhaps I ought go to bed. Finally, sweet sweet bed.

Airports and Airports

Sunday, August 22^nd, 5:01 AM Mountain Time

I'm sitting at my gate in Frankfurt, with a Mars Bar, a large coffee, and a little desk where I can plug in my laptop. All told, not a terrible place to pass the multiple hours remaining until my flight to Prague, after which another three to four hours of various travels will have to ensue before I'll arrive at my putatively safe warm bed in Budova K4. The flight over was about as I expected – long and irritating. A window seat necessitated some cramping and curling about, and my neighbor hogged the armrest, but I watched several good (or at least entertaining) movies and read the latest Temeraire book. It was good, though not nearly as epic as the last one. The in-flight meals were definitely up to spec, and the warm towels that came through every once in a while to wash one's face and hands were pure bliss. I certainly don't feel my freshest. On the other hand, though, I don't really feel that wiped out – even on the flight, I didn't feel terribly tired at any point. I think it'll be a few hours yet before I really start to struggle, but if I can force my way though that (and I hope I can, since I have a number of transfers to make in that time) then I ought be good to remain awake until I crash in Budejovice. The passport control gave me a scare – they saw my visa for the Czech Republic, and started asking questions about what it was for and why I was a week early (since the Czech authorities, for reasons unknown, decided that my visa should begin on September 1^st instead of August 23^rd, as I had applied), but the supervisor told him to just stamp it and let the Czechs worry about it. I guess I looked relatively inoffensive. Or at least American. Oh, privilege. At any rate, things is happening at quite a rate in some sense, though the long stretches of sitting and doing nothing make it feel otherwise. And I could really use a shower and a change of clothes. Ah well. Not going to happen anytime soon.  

Testing, Testing, 1 2 3

It's a brave new blog.