PACKING AND TRAVELING:

Packing for the trip was initially extremely hard for me.  I searched online a lot and found a guide line for packing and made a checklist.  I started off with basic things like, 1 towel, face wash, basic grooming materials, etc.  When packing my clothing I made sure to bring things that I didn’t care to much about.  This was really beneficial l to me because I am planning to leaving most of it in Czech. I made sure to bring many basic layering pieces that I could mix and match, and either dress up or dress down.  I am really happy that I packed a little notebook to write down the little things, and keep different things that we have collected over our travels.  However, I think I could have only brought 1 pair of boots and been okay.  

When it comes to traveling my only suggestion is to do you research ahead of time.  It is best to map out what you would like to do and where you would like to go before you get here.  If you are like our group you are always one the move so theres not a lot of time for research.  I bought a blow up neck pillow, ear plugs, eye mask and passport holder from target before our trip which made bus rides a lot easier.  Also when it comes to planning your trips I would take advantage of Air bnb and the Student Agency.  Both were extremely helpful and spoke English.

SOCIAL LIFE:

To be honest we really didn’t meet to many Czech students.  We made some friends from living in the dorms, but it was hard to meet people.  I spent a lot of my free time exploring the coffee shops and antique stores during the day.  Generally, we went out to the pubs or clubs during the week and traveled away during our free weekends.  My main regret is not documenting the trip better.  You keep track of the events in your blog, but I wish I would have journaled my personal thoughts during the trip better.  My views on many things changed in the duration of the trip.  You learn a lot about culture and yourself especially.

As for social events the Erasmus group threw a party once a week that we usually attended.  They also kept us informed through the Facebook page of things going on in the community.  Most times it overlapped with travels so we were unable to attend.  You have to be social and not afraid to fail to go on a study abroad I believe.  You are going to get lost, you are going to be confused, you are going to fail but you have to be willing to put your self out there and try something new.  Really get to know your group of study abroad students.  Generally at school people stick to people similar to them.  Through this program I have meet some of the most amazing people that without this trip I probably wouldn’t have gotten the privilege.

SCHOOL WORK:

School in Czech is very different from the US.  Be prepared to be confused!  The structure of school is very different especially.  Classrooms are very relaxed, and generally just lecture.  The grading for us was based on our notes, our blog, our Czech final, and then our grades for our main class.  Our study habits while here were probably not the best.  Generally the morning before class I would grab a coffee and cram quick before class.  It was hard because there is always something going on and the internet never worked properly.

MONEY & COMMUNICATIONS:

I had around $4,000 for our trip, and I am cutting it pretty close on money.  However, I traveled on every free weekend that we had, and did lots of shopping.  When it came to managing my money, I put most of it on my debit account and did large amounts of withdraws.  My plane tickets and larger expenses I put on my credit card.  For communication I mainly used my Facebook and email account.  Most people used there imessage to text, but mine didn’t work, so I wouldn’t rely on it.  Listed below is my estimated guess of how much I spent on various things.

Books: $15 on school books, and $100 on various books purchased

Supplies: <$10

Food: $30 a week on groceries, $30 on dining at restaurants

Entertainment: Most was free, other than movies

Local Transportation: $5 per cab ride in Olomouc, usually once or twice a week because the trams close around 11:30 pm

Travel: $20-$40 on travel in Czech by train or bus

Toiletries: <$15, but prepare to have to pay $1 to use the bathroom 

Airfare: $1,200 round trip to Czech, $250 to Spain, $375 to Rome and then Malta

Laundry: $10 per load at the laundry mat (recommend it over the ones at the dorms)

OTHER COMMENTS/TIPS: Anything pertaining to your experience overseas not included above. Example: take rain gear and warm clothes.

My greatest advise is to be open minded about the trip.  Most of it will not go as planned, so you have to be flexible and go-with-the-flow.  It was one of the best decisions that I have ever made, but that doesn’t mean that it was a cake-walk.  Pack a variety of clothes for all seasons, but I wouldn’t bring anything that you would be heartbroken if you lost.  Invest in good walking shoes and a good BIG backpack.  It also wouldn’t hurt to get in shape before you go, you will be on your feet all day most days.  

1. Go hiking in Slovakia!  We spent a majority of our time in big cities, so it was refreshing to be in the woods.  We traveled to Liptovsky Mikulas and said at the hostel Rotunda.  Take bus 13 to Jasna and start your hike!  The whole trip cost about $100.

1. Brno is another great trip and it is just a bus ride away from Olomouc.  While there take the bus to the outside of town and there is a HUGE lake lined with small shops.  Stop at the stand with the “Lucky Bastard” beer, best beer yet.

1. St. Angelo cafe is my favorite in Olomouc. Order the cappuccino with honey and cinnamon, you won’t be disappointed.

1. “The Pub” in Prague is awesome!  Get a large group of you and make a reservation.  You get to pour your own beer, then you race within your table and compete against the rest of the bar.

1. If you go to Rome you HAVE to go to Frigidarium Gelateria.  Hands down best ice cream you will ever eat.

1. Plan ahead and pack accordingly for the American Night at Belmundo.  

1. On your trip to Krakow go to the Cupcake shop by the main square (you will see signs everywhere for it).  Anything you get is delicious. 

1. In Olomouc there is a Jazz Bar not far from the main square.  Great food and you can  Czech out some Czech Music.

1. Take a bus to Holy Hill that is right outside Olomouc.  It is more of a small town feel and just behind it is forrest.

1. Try the Absinth ice cream at the Absintherie in the old square of Prague.  

T R E E S & T E A R S

Alright, I don’t even know where to begin this next blog.  In the past week or so we have visited Terezin and Auschwitz.  We also visited a smaller town in the Czech, but in comparison to the concentration camp visits I feel that is a little irrelevant.  Words can’t describe the lessons I have learned from the classes prior to these trips and the visits.  But, I guess I will give it a go.

T E R E Z I N

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from our Terezin visit.  I knew that it wasn’t a killing factory, but by no means did it make it a spa like what it was presented in the propaganda.  The walk to the camp itself was very humbling.  About a half mile long walk lined with trees and graves to the left leads up to a ghostly front gate.  This gate is trimmed with black and white brick and has the infamous “WORK WILL MAKE YOU FREE” painted.

While we were at Terezin we learned that few people did actually escape.  But, that if you were caught trying to escape they picked your friends to stone you to death.  That to me was extremely frightening.  I can’t imagine what was going through the minds of the people that had to partake in these acts.  The whole experience was very eye opening.. and we were allowed to leave.  When we were there we went into a cell were 600 people were forced to live.  This room was pretty similar in size to my living room.  I just kept thinking while we were there that I would be forced to live with my entire high school and middle school.  This whole trip has taught me so much about gratitude, Auschwitz especially.

S C H I N D L E R

Leading up to Auschwitz we visited the Schindler’s factory.  The night prior I watched it for the first time.  The factory museum really did the holocaust justice, I believe.  The noises that you heard walking through were nothing like I have heard before.  Two parts of the museum really hit me hard.  You had to walk almost a mini maze of Nazi flags, that to me was extremely erie.  Seeing an actual Nazi flag was a little shocking for me.  The sound of bombs dropping while you walk there made me realize my problems are nothing like other people’s struggles.  From there you kept walking through rooms that were dark and all the sudden you turn the corner and it was a white walled room with grey gravel and part of a barbed wire fence.  The whole thing was just very humbling.

A U S C H W I T Z

Our trip from Krakow to Auschwitz was an easy travel.  The 23 of us loaded into our Mercedes bus, continued playing with our iphones and tried to get comfortable to nap.  I just kept thinking while we were on our way that we will get to leave.  How selfish am I that I am upset because I was unable to get comfortable to sleep.  My mind flashed to the cattle cars that they were shipped in and how awful their conditions must have been.    It made me realize all the stupid little things that I have complained about on this trip as well.  The struggles with the internet, or the poor showering conditions of our hostel, my pillow not being as fluffy as mine back home is nothing in comparison to the struggles and hardships that they went through.  And, we got to leave.

Seeing two tons of human hair might have been the single my impacting thing I have ever witnessed.  I can’t even think of something that would way 2 tons, no clue.  But, two tons of human hair is enough to make your stomach drop.  While we were the pots and pans also got me a little teary.  Because you know that they were brought my moms would who worried about providing for their families.  Little did they know exactly how little they would have.  I really enjoyed the trees that were planted by the victims.  They were fertilized with their ashes, and planted with their sweat.  Nice to know that they live on atleast throught that.  I don’t think anybody can really describe their experience to Auschwitz.  I think that is an extremely personal thing and that everybody takes away something different.  But if I have any advise, it is that everybody should visit it at least once in their life.  If you really take it all end I don’t believe that you will walk out the same person that walked in.

E T C.

As I noted earlier we also made a small trip in Czech to visit an estate and a wine cellar.  The wine was extremely good but kinda of creepy and smelly down in the basement.  I am glad that we went, but it was nothing like what I thought it was going to be.  I really enjoyed the trophy room at the palace that we visited.  It reminded me a lot of home, which is creeping up fast everyday.  But, we also stopped on our way to Krakow in Ostrava at the industrial center and at the Salt Mines.  Personally loved the mines and however I could have been okay if we didn’t stop at the industrial center.  I am sure many people on our trip enjoyed it, but it just wasn’t a main topic of interest for myself.  All and all very influential week.  Thank you for reading.

T R A I N S & P L A N E S

Alright, I feel like I can officially say that I did some back packing in Europe because of the amount of miles that I have put on my $19.99 Walmart backpack in the last couple of weeks.  And partially because I used it as a pillow on my overnight stay at the Rome airport.  Recently I have been to Dresden, Brno, Vienna, Venice, Rome and Malta.  But in this post I will focus on my experiences in Vienna & Venice.

V I E N N A

As I sit in my messy dorm room, bags still packed from our trip, Vienna feels like forever ago.
Although, I think I learned more on this trip than any other we have taken thus far.  While there we saw St. Stephen's which was as beautiful as ever.  I don't think I will ever get sick of visiting European cathedrals.  Our trip to Vienna taught a tremendous amount about the Habsburgs as well.  We went to a museum of their riches that were taken from them, and let me tell you,  I think they might of had more money than Google.  I really enjoyed going through the apartment of the Habsburg.  I was pretty nervous at first because it started off with pots and pans that they used, but it turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the trip!  Sisi Habsburg was a fascinating lady.  Not only did she use cocaine on the daily and have hair down to her ankles, but she lived a pretty fascinating life.  I really liked how the museum was set up like a story as you walked through it.  You learned a lot about her personal life and daily routine which I found very interesting.

While we were in Vienna we also went to an amazing art gallery that dabbled in a little bit of everything.  I am a little angry with my self for not brushing up on my art history before the trip.  But I felt I would have appreciated everything so much more if I could have remember more of my studies. Loved seeing the votive statues and stone scarabs throughout the Egyptian section.  However, the Klimt paintings decorating the hallways and ceilings stole the show for me.  I will never forget gazing up and admiring the architecture and then realized that it was paired with Klimt paintings.  I really just loved how lively the museum was as well.  Around every corner there was an artist working on a master's copy or children on an art field trip.  I can't help but to be a little jealous of the art resources people of Europe have.  Here art is all around you and is a major part of their history, and they take great pride in it.  Between this gallery and the one in Dresden I can die a happy soul.

Growing up I was a little obsessed with the Lipizzaner stallions, so it was pretty darn cool to be in their homeland.  But I would be lying if I said I wasn't upset that we didn't go to the barn.  But, I will take the blame for not doing my research ahead of time.  This trip has taught me a lot about the way I travel too.  I am extremely go with the flow, and like the roaming aspect of not having any plans.  But then it bites me in the butt a little when I miss out on things I would have really enjoyed.  Oh, I also learned that I don't do well with crazy people on drugs...

When we were at the groceries store a block from our hostel when Tara and I realized that: 1. we couldn't pay with our card and we didn't have Euros and 2. that they were trying to close as we were roaming around trying to read labels.  Next thing we know we look up and see a cracked out lady banging on the glass doors, yelling gibberish, and trying to get in.  We then excited out the other side, and she saw us and ran to that set of doors.  We were than trapped in an hallway hiding behind an ATM while she screamed and banged on that set of glass doors for about 7 minutes, the scariest 7 minutes of my life.  A lady that had a key to the building had no clue what was going on and opened the door for the lady.  The cracked out lady proceed to get in my face and yell at me in German.  After sarcastically yelling danke (thank you) and I am sure a couple cuss words she started banging on the next set of doors.  As you can image Tara and I took off at a sprint back to the hostel.  Needless to say we survived, barely.

V E N I C E

How cool is it that I am now able to say that I was a St. Marks on Palm Sunday?  In the moment it is really hard to take everything in that we are doing on these trips.  Literally touching history.  The first day we were their Jan took us to the Jewish Ghetto of Venice.  Not exactly what I expected it to look like, but it was probably very different than the Ghettos that we have been studying about.  When we were their discussing the history of it, an older lady in a huge magenta hat decided to join in the fun of our group.  She kept raising her hand to ask a question, and Jan would just proceed with talking.  Then.. a few seconds later she would raise her hand again.

The Basilica of St. Mark was one of my favorites of the trip to Venice.  The facade that faces the Piazzetta is like  none that we have seen so far on the trip.  The four famous horses that were previously at the entrance of Hippodrome in Constantinople were pretty cool to see as well.  While we were in their we also went to a museum and toured the prison sells.  The main thing that stood out to me at the museum was a child size set of armour.  Jan then went on to tell us that generally nobles would learn to fight at a young age, and compete in life threatening competitions.  After seeing that, and seeing how scary their prison was, I have came to the conclusion that I would never want to mess with an Italian.

The culture of Italy I really enjoyed as well.  It was amazing how easy it was to get lost in Venice, and how easy it was to enjoy being lost.  I feel like that is how a majority of the time there was spent, but it always lead us to extremely friendly people or a great ice cream shop.  In the last couple of days I have been checking this off left and right from my bucket list.

Pasta in Italy... check!  Scuba diving... check!  Sleeping in an airport... check!  Seeing a Michelangelo... double check!  But I will have to save all that fun stuff for next time!  Thanks for reading.

 

P R A G U E

If you would have told me how much I would love this city, I wouldn’t have believed you.  This was the best started city to our European tour that you could ask for.  Old towne was breathe taking.  The freedom that comes with being in a city that nobody knows you is unmeasurable.  We originally flue into Prague prior to Olomouc, and then we ventured back last week with the school.

When we arrived the first time, the first night there we went out to eat at a true Czech restaurant.  Of course while being in Czech the first thing they do when you arrive is bring the PIVOS!  Our lovely waiter brought their original beer, which was to die for.  Dark beer is officially my go to for drinks.  He also brought two kinds of shots, one which waste their version of Fire Ball, and another that was a honey wine called “Sweet Honey.”  Molly of course proceeded to call our waiter Sweet Honey the entire night, and even went back after him the following night to try to get him to go clubbing with us.

Mosaic, the host that we stayed at put on a tour of the city our first day there.  Rob, our tour guide pictured below in front of the St. Nicholas Cathedral gave us the low down on all the historic building and myths behind them.

Above you can see the view of the castle from the Charles bridge.  One of my favorite things from the trip thus far.  You can also see two detailed photos of the Cathedral inside. It amazes me that attention to detail in every aspect of the city.  The artist made sure every aspect was not only ascetically pleasing, but near perfection.

You can definitely tell that Prague is a tourist attraction on comparison to the other cities that we have visited.  With this come pros and cons.  Personally, I love the art and the history behind the city, but I could do without the over crowded streets.  I did wildly enjoy the town square tho.  The smell of fried bread with sugar filled the air, rather than the smell of meat and cigarettes like most other places in Czech.  And the people their seemed to be more alive.  In the picture above you can see the HUGE bubble that were blown, and the young children amused by them.  For the older generations live concerts played American 90s music.  On a side note, few people here speak English, but EVERY store, restaurant, and student only listen to American music!

We one of the days we hike to the top of the Petrin tower.  The view on the way up and the view from the top were both like none I have seen before.  They say when you travel you learn a lot about your self.  That is so true in my case.  I found that I am terrified by stairs.  On multiple occasions I have thought I was going to pass out on the way to the top of buildings, however this Petrin tower takes the cake on the most scared I have ever been.

Forever Prague will be my home away from home in Europe.  It marks the start of the journey, the start to the friendships, and the start of the reality of this trip.  How extremely horrible the Holocaust was.

Yesterday was an extremely emotional day of me.  For our lecture a Jewish man came and spoke with us on the Jewish past, present and future.  It's hard to really explain the Czech culture and my observations in the past couple of weeks.  The place in general is just very cold and reserved.  And I was astonished to find that a country with SO MANY beautiful churches didn't have God in their lives.  But after hearing this man speak of the holocaust, I understand why they drink their days away.

In my mind the Holocaust was so far away in both time in location.  Because of the horrors we learned about yesterday and how false my thoughts on the matter are, lets just say I am running off about 20 minutes of sleep.  The man who spoke with us Grandparents had met in Terezin and been Holocaust survivors.  The horror of that alone would be to much for me to handle, knowing how many times my Grandparents were near death.  I will never fully understand the hardships that came from the holocaust, and are still effecting people in this region today.  And for that I will count my blessings twice.

Pictured above is a shot from a Jewish cemetery in Prague.  It hard to tell from the photo but the ground is elevated about 6 feet higher, this is because the bodies were buried on top of each other over and over again.  The most chilling factor about this part of Prague was Hitler's plan for it.  Prior to entering the cemetery we went through the Jewish Museum.  The Nazis systematically burned synagogues all over.  But as the story goes, they chose to leave Prague's Jewish quarter intact so that when the finished their plan of murdering all the Jews this would be the "Museum of the extinct race".  A chilling concept to grasp.

I will leave you with a preview of my experience in Dresden.  Next Blog will be full of Brno, Venice, Vienna, Rome, and Malta!  Hoppy (early) Easter!! 

G I L D E D H O R S E F E A T H E R S

gild·ed [gil-did]

adjective

1. covered or highlighted with gold or something of a golden color.

2. having a pleasing or showy appearance that conceals something of little worth.

Czech word: pozlaceny

horse·feath·ers [hawrs-feth-erz] 

noun

1. (used with a singular or plural verb) something not worth considering.

interjection

2. rubbish; nonsense; bunk (used to express contemptuous rejection).

Czech word: nesymsl

My speech professor told me that the worst thing to do is an introduction apologizing, and telling why you are not qualified to be giving a speech.  And although this is a blog and not a presentation, I feel he would give me the same advise.  However, I am going to apologize to him, and anybody reading this.  This whole blogging thing is a little awkward in general.  And I am going to apologize for the grammar errors in advance.  But I can’t think of a better way to document this crazy, fun, beautiful, touching, and strange study abroad experience.  Which brings me to my next point, Gilded Horsefeathers.  This name was given to the blog because of its meaning, more or less golden nonsense, which if you have ever been to Czech couldn’t be a more perfect name for this blog!  Now that we have covered why my blog is named so funky, I will tell you why Czech is a little funky as well.

Today marks one week survival in Czech, and I can’t decided if it feels like 3 weeks or 3 days.  We have seen, and done so much in this one week that I can’t even put in words.    It’s strange to think that a week ago I didn’t know the people that are on this trip either.  Nothing like submerging into a foreign culture to really get to know people.  Lots of odd events so far. I am writing this blog from our “student union” which sells both beer and cigarettes at the front desk.  Not only can you purchase these items here, but its perfectly acceptable to pre-game here before going to the local pubs.  If we are speaking of nonsense two major events in my last week here stick out, Globus and Orientation.  I am getting a headache just typing it!

G L O B U S  &  O R I E N T A T I O N

o·ri·en·ta·tion [awr-ee-uhn-tey-shuhn, -en-, ohr-] Show IPA

noun

1. the act or process of orienting.

2. the state of being oriented.

3. an introduction, as to guide one in adjusting to new surroundings, employment, activity, or the like: New employees receive two days of orientation.

Czech word: orientace

Alright folks, this is where the nonsense kicks in.  Never in my life will I take for granted a lot of little things the that we have in the US, such as Walmart and Loper day.  For starters once we arrived we were really given no information, about anything.  We were here for a couple days before “orientation” place.  In this time we had to learn to fend for ourselves in a country that nobody spoke English and (for lack of better words) is ass-backwards. 

When I think of orientation I think of exactly what the definition above says... a guide to adjusting to new surroundings.  That was not what this was at all.  First off, right off the bat the President of some organization, Misha, that was supposed to be our tour guide left not only 4 students, but our fearless Pharaoh Kami.  When we finally found the group we confronted Misha and her response was, “Oh.  We are laid back here in Czech, just drink a beer and go with it.”  

Next, we found out that we missed two classes on accident, because they for got to tell us that we had them.  Oh, and they also forgot to tell us to bring professional photos for our student ID.  So all 24 of us had to go to this little tiny Walmart quality photographer to waste time getting some nice headshots.  Honestly, its been fine, and it has been a blast.  But just a major lack of communication.  Our orientation classes consisted of visiting caves, listening to Holocaust music, and learning an overview of Czech history.  I envisioned more of the simples things, like how to get on the tramp (didn’t know you had to push a button), what to do with our trash in our rooms, how to do laundry (because there are no dryers in Czech), and basic laws (not that we have had any trouble with that yet, but we really just have no clue what we are doing at all times).  Which leads me to the least logical experience thus far... Globus.

When first hearing about Globus we were honestly STOAKED, we kept referencing it to Disneyland if that makes you understand our excitement.  It is this huge colorful building with a mile long walkway with flags leading to it, so you can imagine our excitement leading up to the infamous GLOBUS!  But, a 3 year old could have organized this place better.  The isles went babyfood, beer, some oatmeal, more beer, clothing, than fruit.  Plus, the workers were not the nicest, and it doesn’t help that none of us speak Czech to ask for help.  And we can’t read what the product even says. One of our professor summerized it perfectly, “In America the customer is always right, in Czech the customer is an asshole.”

The moral of this post is to not take advantage of the little things.  I will forever feel remorse for the Asians roaming Kearney with no clue of what is going on because I have been in their shoes that whole last week.  But it was the best week of my life.  Now that I have gotten my frustration out in this blog, I will make sure my next blog tells all the juicey details about the AMAZING people I have met, and the tear jerking churches in pictures below!  Thanks for reading.