I have internet on my computer! I can use skype! I can upload pictures! Finally!!!!!
Pictures up soon.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Settling in
So it's been almost a aweek since I've been in Prague, which is hard to believe. The first 6 days have gone by so fast, it's really been one big blur looking back on it. It seems like we had so much to do, so fast, that I never really had time to sit back and think about it. We got thrown into our apartments, taken to a pub, then a club, all on the first night. Two days later, the 40 students in the program were split into 3 groups for our Czech language intensive class. The class goes from 9 (much to the chagrin of the students) to 1:30 with two 15 minute breaks where we go and grab snacks from little shops near our school. By the way, there really is no central campus for Charles University. It's not set up like campuses back home. The buildings for the university are split up and are all over the place. We're south, down by the river. Anyways, the class has been going pretty well. We had our first quiz yesterday, and I got a 34/36, so I'm pretty pleased with that. We're learning a ton in a short amount of time, so it really takes a lot of concentration and focus, but hey, it's worth it, and it's only two weeks. The language can be tough, but its not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. By the time we're done with this mini class, I'll know enough to be polite with the locals and with people in restaurants and such.
I've already seen some of the big sights in Prague. (I have taken many pictures, but I still haven't gotten internet on my computer yet, so I can't post them quite yet...but it will be soon.) I saw the Charles Bridge and Astronomical clock, both of which lived up to the hype. The sun came out today for the first time since I've been here, which made the view from the bridge out over the river quite beautiful. There weren't that many tourists on the bridge, which also made it much more pleasant of an experience. I've also seen the old Jewish cemetary and the Spanish Synagogue. The old jewish cemetary is where all the jews from the old Ghetto's in prauge were forced to be buried. More than 20,000 jews are buried in an area the size of a football field, with more than 12 to a grave. The tombstones are overlapping, and basically out of control. It's a little depressing, but very interesting, and is located right in the middle of town. The synagogue was extremely pretty inside, and I'm sure it was the first of many to come.
I've got to say, it sure is a huge difference living in a big, bustling city. It's a strange feeling using the metro to get places. I mean, I'm a california kid who usually longboards to school. But I like the change, it's a cool feeling. Random thought: Speaking of the metro, its amazing how quiet Czech people are. A packed metro-tram is usually pretty quiet. Maybe its just because it's full of people who are strangers to each other, but its amazing how quiet these people can be. It makes you notice how loud and obnoxious americans are. Speaking of which, its pretty easy to figure out who Americans are just by looking at them. I can't tell you how many times I've walked by a person and we're looked at each other with that look of "Oh hi! You're an American too!" on our faces. Kinda funny. I'm not sure what the giveaway is, our clothes, our hairstyles, or what, but there's just something that makes it obvious.
Something cool I was thinking about: Since I've been here, I haven't turned on a TV once, have hardly listened to music, have been waking up at 8am and haven't spent hardly any time alone (besides right now actually). Does that sound like the Steven you know? (I'm sure these habits will change a little, but still.)
Alright, I'm gonna head over to some friend's apartments to hopefully download a driver that will allow me to use internet on my own computer...cross your fingers. If this doesn't work, I don't know how I'm going to use skype or upload pictures...
Nashle!
I've already seen some of the big sights in Prague. (I have taken many pictures, but I still haven't gotten internet on my computer yet, so I can't post them quite yet...but it will be soon.) I saw the Charles Bridge and Astronomical clock, both of which lived up to the hype. The sun came out today for the first time since I've been here, which made the view from the bridge out over the river quite beautiful. There weren't that many tourists on the bridge, which also made it much more pleasant of an experience. I've also seen the old Jewish cemetary and the Spanish Synagogue. The old jewish cemetary is where all the jews from the old Ghetto's in prauge were forced to be buried. More than 20,000 jews are buried in an area the size of a football field, with more than 12 to a grave. The tombstones are overlapping, and basically out of control. It's a little depressing, but very interesting, and is located right in the middle of town. The synagogue was extremely pretty inside, and I'm sure it was the first of many to come.
I've got to say, it sure is a huge difference living in a big, bustling city. It's a strange feeling using the metro to get places. I mean, I'm a california kid who usually longboards to school. But I like the change, it's a cool feeling. Random thought: Speaking of the metro, its amazing how quiet Czech people are. A packed metro-tram is usually pretty quiet. Maybe its just because it's full of people who are strangers to each other, but its amazing how quiet these people can be. It makes you notice how loud and obnoxious americans are. Speaking of which, its pretty easy to figure out who Americans are just by looking at them. I can't tell you how many times I've walked by a person and we're looked at each other with that look of "Oh hi! You're an American too!" on our faces. Kinda funny. I'm not sure what the giveaway is, our clothes, our hairstyles, or what, but there's just something that makes it obvious.
Something cool I was thinking about: Since I've been here, I haven't turned on a TV once, have hardly listened to music, have been waking up at 8am and haven't spent hardly any time alone (besides right now actually). Does that sound like the Steven you know? (I'm sure these habits will change a little, but still.)
Alright, I'm gonna head over to some friend's apartments to hopefully download a driver that will allow me to use internet on my own computer...cross your fingers. If this doesn't work, I don't know how I'm going to use skype or upload pictures...
Nashle!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Alive and...overwhelmed
I...made...it...
After flying on a 10 hour flight, (In flight movies: Ratatouille (seen it), The Jane Austen Book Club (No interest) and Rush Hour 3 (seen it, and was disappointed) ) and connecting through Frankfurt I made it to Prague!
So I got my swiss army knife taken away in the Frankfurt airport, but not my other knife, which is a huge buck knife. So yes, I flew all the way from San Francisco to Prague, through two huge airports, with a huge knife in my carry on. So much for all this intense security.
Also, I broke my record and stayed up for 30 hours straight. Once I was finally taken to my apartment, (which I will expand on in a second) I dropped off my stuff and got acquainted with my roommates, Joe, and Jared and Logan. Pretty cool guys, from Maine, Michigan and Texas. Between the four of us, we have the U.S. pretty much covered. The reason I didn't just crash was because it was 4 in the afternoon and to avoid bad jetlag I had to stay up until "sleep time" here in Prague. The two guys who met us at the airport, "Geiger" and Zach, who work for the USAC program, told us that they were taking us to a cool pub and a great club that was playing 80's music. Honestly, these guys are hilarious guys (Geiger read us a short story and some poems on the shuttle from the airport to our apartments via intercom) but they are a couple of clowns. They really aren't that organized and honestly, who takes 40 super tired, jet lagged kids out to a pub and club the first night they are in a huge city they are new to? It was a bizarre first night experience, but I guess it was a good way to stay awake. Plus, the 80's themed club was hilarious. (Madonna! Bon Jovi!)
So my apartment...officially sucks. We have a decent location, next to a beautiful huge church and public square, but our apartment is super small. We also don't have an oven, toaster, or dishwasher. Two bedrooms, one big, one small and a tiny dining/kitchen. Our shower is more of a bathtub that you have to sit down in and hold the faucet over yourself. Needless to say, it's another annoying facet of the apartment. It also doesn't help that every other student in our program have huge apartments with queen beds, living rooms, large kitchens with ovens, dishwashers, etc. I would be okay with this, but we are paying the same rent as them! We're going to see what we can do to move out of our place and into a bigger place, where we can actually have people over. We also have an 80 year old neighbor, who has lived in his apartment for like 40 years, and was a little freaked out to see four 20 year old college kids from the states moving in next to him.
So enough complaining. The city is awesome, but really overwhelming and confusing when you are new to it. It's frustrating not knowing how to get around (I write this from a friend's apartment where I don't know how to get home from and there is a good chance I will get lost by myself in the city tonight, but it's happened to just about everybody at least once).
We started class today, which was interesting. Our professor tries to speak to us in Czech, and nobody has a clue what she is saying, but we are slowly learning the basics. The alphabet, pronunciation, that sort of thing. We're just trying to learn basic friends so we can be civil and polite with people around town and in restaurants and pubs.
Okay, I'm a little blogged out, I'll update when I can, every day here is quite the unexpected adventure and you never quite know what is coming...
Oh and fun fact: Apparently we live in the "Gay District" of Prague. Another plus about our apartment!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Beginnings
Tomorrow (or later today, I should say) will be the last time I wake up in the United States until mid-may. It sounds crazy when you put it like that. The longest I've ever been away from the country is one week. Welp, that's about to change.
I have no idea what you would call this emotion. Part nervous, part excited, part anxious. Thing is, I'm ready to get the heck out of here. It's a weird feeling waiting so long for something to come. Sometimes it feels like it never will, but alas, that day always shows up, whether you are ready or not.
Besides the lack of Czech I know, I'm as ready as I ever could be. Of course, I'm overpacked, being the eagle scout (a bunch of people from Chico just laughed) that I am. Speaking of all you Chico people, the last thing I packed was an ultimate-disc, so the love can be spread in Prague. Maybe I'll start up a little Friday afternoon game when I get there...
The flight leaves at 2:10 pm out of San Francisco and I fly eleven hours over to friendly Germany, landing in Frankfurt, where I have the privelage of spending an hour and 50 minutes in their airport. It's too bad I won't have a good friend there to make fun of all the German accents with. Is it true that German's just naturally sound angry all the time because of their language? I guess I'll find out tomorrow.
If all goes to plan my Resident Advisor, Jan, will be there waiting for me and the other USAC students waiting to take us to our apartments. It'll be one in the afternoon, Czech time, and I'm sure I will probably be able to sleep standing up in the middle of the airport, I'll be so tired.
So I'm at the point where I'm rambling about nothing interesting, so at this juncture of the Pragueblogue I will kindly bid you all adieu. I will miss you all, and I hope you all stay in touch through the wonderful world of the internet and skype and of course our good friend facebook. I'll post often, and take lots of pictures. I will leave you with a spontaneous, random list of 10 things I will miss:
1. 2% milk- (I hear milk over there isn't homogenized so it tastes nasty, and if you know me and my love of milk, you know how devastating this is for me...but, I will indeed press on...)
2. Lola- I'm going to miss all the drives we had together... I hope she keeps well in the care of my family...
3. Concerts- Going 4-5 months with a show is rough for me. I'm sure that I'll see some interesting live stuff in Prague and other areas, but it will probably be in a language I don't understand or some crazy DJ playing Euro-pop or something.
4. American cinema- You know me and movies. But hey, I'll get to see Indiana Jones right when I come back, so I'll be okay.
5. Mexican food- Because I doubt they have good mexican grub in the Czech Republic.
6. Bidwell pres and all the door people- You guys make the world go 'round.
7. Chico State and it's fine film program. (Oh wait...)
8. Not the rain. (It snows in Prague!)
9. People who speak English.
10. Sports (watching them, playing them, whatever. I'm going to a land where the sport of choice is Soccer. Maybe I'll get into it, but its no football americano...)
With that, Na shledanou! (Goodbye!)
I have no idea what you would call this emotion. Part nervous, part excited, part anxious. Thing is, I'm ready to get the heck out of here. It's a weird feeling waiting so long for something to come. Sometimes it feels like it never will, but alas, that day always shows up, whether you are ready or not.
Besides the lack of Czech I know, I'm as ready as I ever could be. Of course, I'm overpacked, being the eagle scout (a bunch of people from Chico just laughed) that I am. Speaking of all you Chico people, the last thing I packed was an ultimate-disc, so the love can be spread in Prague. Maybe I'll start up a little Friday afternoon game when I get there...
The flight leaves at 2:10 pm out of San Francisco and I fly eleven hours over to friendly Germany, landing in Frankfurt, where I have the privelage of spending an hour and 50 minutes in their airport. It's too bad I won't have a good friend there to make fun of all the German accents with. Is it true that German's just naturally sound angry all the time because of their language? I guess I'll find out tomorrow.
If all goes to plan my Resident Advisor, Jan, will be there waiting for me and the other USAC students waiting to take us to our apartments. It'll be one in the afternoon, Czech time, and I'm sure I will probably be able to sleep standing up in the middle of the airport, I'll be so tired.
So I'm at the point where I'm rambling about nothing interesting, so at this juncture of the Pragueblogue I will kindly bid you all adieu. I will miss you all, and I hope you all stay in touch through the wonderful world of the internet and skype and of course our good friend facebook. I'll post often, and take lots of pictures. I will leave you with a spontaneous, random list of 10 things I will miss:
1. 2% milk- (I hear milk over there isn't homogenized so it tastes nasty, and if you know me and my love of milk, you know how devastating this is for me...but, I will indeed press on...)
2. Lola- I'm going to miss all the drives we had together... I hope she keeps well in the care of my family...
3. Concerts- Going 4-5 months with a show is rough for me. I'm sure that I'll see some interesting live stuff in Prague and other areas, but it will probably be in a language I don't understand or some crazy DJ playing Euro-pop or something.
4. American cinema- You know me and movies. But hey, I'll get to see Indiana Jones right when I come back, so I'll be okay.
5. Mexican food- Because I doubt they have good mexican grub in the Czech Republic.
6. Bidwell pres and all the door people- You guys make the world go 'round.
7. Chico State and it's fine film program. (Oh wait...)
8. Not the rain. (It snows in Prague!)
9. People who speak English.
10. Sports (watching them, playing them, whatever. I'm going to a land where the sport of choice is Soccer. Maybe I'll get into it, but its no football americano...)
With that, Na shledanou! (Goodbye!)
Friday, January 18, 2008
One Hundred and Fifty Hours away
150. That's the amount of hours I have until I'm sitting on a plane (fingers crossed that it's not delayed, postponed or cancelled) heading towards Europe.
Ready. This is what I am. For the past 10 days or so, I've been watching movies, reading, playing around with my camera, reading about Prague, watching more movies, and making fun of my dog. Needless to say, I'm ready to get the heck out of here. I felt this same feeling right before I went to USC. I was tired of thinking about it, wondering about it, trying to picture what the experience would be like in my head. I just wanted to do it for cripes sake! But hey, good things come to those who wait (at least that's what wise people say), and inevitably those 150 long hours will pass, and there I'll be: sitting on a plane thinking to myself: "Frick. What have I gotten myself into!?"
Excited: I am stoked to be going to Prague! Oh baby! For so many reasons. Let's break this down.
I've never even traveled to Europe much less lived there for four months.
I've been wanting to experience living outside of the states for a while now. I know I'll still be an American on foreign soil, but I'm excited about getting the opportunity to see the world with a fresh perspective and see how people from different countries and cultures live their lives. A big reason I chose to go to Prague was because it was so different from America. I didn't want to go to England (although I am English and I freaking love their accents and their humor, but probably not the best reason to choose a country for studying abroad purposes) or the land down under because these places seemed too similar to the states. I want a new experience. And as nervous as I am about living in a country that doesn't speak English (anyone know a lick of Czech???) I'm excited to learn bits and pieces of a new language and culture. I want to be in a place that has foods I'm not used to, customs that are different, and little quirks that frankly weird me out. I want to be out of my shell! As much as I love California and Chico, I've been squirmy for the past year or so, and have just wanted a change. And not that Europe is the promised land or anything, but I'm ready to be in a place where I'm going to be uncomfortable. And often.
I'm excited to be in a place that actually snows too. Talk about a different climate than good ole Cali. I haven't lived in snowy weather since I was four years old in Denver.
I'm also pretty excited to go to a place where I really don't know anybody. Sometimes I tend to rely on others that I know when I am in a new place, and I'm pretty excited about meeting new people (Muzzy, If you're reading this, here's to hoping that Thad and I develop a nice friendship!) I think this will stretch me in a great way.
I'm looking forward to just exploring. Leaving my dorm and just wandering. I plan on doing this a lot with my camera and filming whatever I find. Unfortunately this is probably going to make me look like some typical American tourist, but whatever. I doubt many American tourists have a camera that is nice as mine...I mean really. And not just exploring the city, or the country, but the entire continent. There's already been some online gibber gabber between some of my Prague-classmates (other Americans) about going to Dublin for Saint Patricks day! How awesome would that be! And I already know that I'm going to Budapest and Vienna on a week long field trip. I'd love to be able to go to Rome and Paris if I got the chance...
Anyways, those are just some thoughts about where I'm at right now. One week left. I'm pretty sure I have everything I need, now I just need to pack it all. Stay in touch.
Oh and if any of you would like to talk on Skype, I'd love to, just search for me under steven.ormsbee I've got a microphone and webcame and everything...
P.S. Cloverfield was CRAZY!!!!
Ready. This is what I am. For the past 10 days or so, I've been watching movies, reading, playing around with my camera, reading about Prague, watching more movies, and making fun of my dog. Needless to say, I'm ready to get the heck out of here. I felt this same feeling right before I went to USC. I was tired of thinking about it, wondering about it, trying to picture what the experience would be like in my head. I just wanted to do it for cripes sake! But hey, good things come to those who wait (at least that's what wise people say), and inevitably those 150 long hours will pass, and there I'll be: sitting on a plane thinking to myself: "Frick. What have I gotten myself into!?"
Excited: I am stoked to be going to Prague! Oh baby! For so many reasons. Let's break this down.
I've never even traveled to Europe much less lived there for four months.
I've been wanting to experience living outside of the states for a while now. I know I'll still be an American on foreign soil, but I'm excited about getting the opportunity to see the world with a fresh perspective and see how people from different countries and cultures live their lives. A big reason I chose to go to Prague was because it was so different from America. I didn't want to go to England (although I am English and I freaking love their accents and their humor, but probably not the best reason to choose a country for studying abroad purposes) or the land down under because these places seemed too similar to the states. I want a new experience. And as nervous as I am about living in a country that doesn't speak English (anyone know a lick of Czech???) I'm excited to learn bits and pieces of a new language and culture. I want to be in a place that has foods I'm not used to, customs that are different, and little quirks that frankly weird me out. I want to be out of my shell! As much as I love California and Chico, I've been squirmy for the past year or so, and have just wanted a change. And not that Europe is the promised land or anything, but I'm ready to be in a place where I'm going to be uncomfortable. And often.
I'm excited to be in a place that actually snows too. Talk about a different climate than good ole Cali. I haven't lived in snowy weather since I was four years old in Denver.
I'm also pretty excited to go to a place where I really don't know anybody. Sometimes I tend to rely on others that I know when I am in a new place, and I'm pretty excited about meeting new people (Muzzy, If you're reading this, here's to hoping that Thad and I develop a nice friendship!) I think this will stretch me in a great way.
I'm looking forward to just exploring. Leaving my dorm and just wandering. I plan on doing this a lot with my camera and filming whatever I find. Unfortunately this is probably going to make me look like some typical American tourist, but whatever. I doubt many American tourists have a camera that is nice as mine...I mean really. And not just exploring the city, or the country, but the entire continent. There's already been some online gibber gabber between some of my Prague-classmates (other Americans) about going to Dublin for Saint Patricks day! How awesome would that be! And I already know that I'm going to Budapest and Vienna on a week long field trip. I'd love to be able to go to Rome and Paris if I got the chance...
Anyways, those are just some thoughts about where I'm at right now. One week left. I'm pretty sure I have everything I need, now I just need to pack it all. Stay in touch.
Oh and if any of you would like to talk on Skype, I'd love to, just search for me under steven.ormsbee I've got a microphone and webcame and everything...
P.S. Cloverfield was CRAZY!!!!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Best Films of 2007
I know there are a ton of lists out there of everyone's favorite movies, but I just couldn't resist. It's always fun to look back at the past year and think of all the great films. Here are my favorites of the last year in no particular order:
- No Country For Old Men
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- Ocean's 13
- Zodiac
- Juno
- Ratatouille
- Michael Clayton
- Across the Universe
- Hot Fuzz
- Once
- American Gangster
- 3:10 To Yuma
- Into The Wild
- The Great Debaters
- I Am Legend
- Reign Over Me
- Paris Je'Taime
- Live Free Or Die Hard
- Sunshine
- Charlie Wilson's War
- Enchanted
- Transformers
- Waitress
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford
- The Darjeeling Limited
- The Savages
- There Will Be Blood
- Before The Devil Knows Your Dead
- Rescue Dawn
- Waitress
- Sweeney Todd
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
- Gone Baby Gone
- Hairspray
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Holy Moly
http://img263.imageshack.us/my.php?image=whoaoa5.jpg
The guy survived...the shark was more inquisitive than hungry, apparently...
The guy survived...the shark was more inquisitive than hungry, apparently...
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