Dobrý Den from the Czech Republic! I’m writing from Olomouc (OH-lo-mohts), where I am spending my last semester of undergrad. I have been in the country for around two weeks; originally I intended to get a post out after the first week. I spent a few days around Prague seeing some of the sights before meeting up with the rest of our group and taking a bus to Olomouc.
The school I am studying at is called Palacký University. Here, we have been taking Czech language classes as well as history and culture lectures. It is all very exciting; I haven’t been this eager for classes in a very long time. Every day is interesting and engaging and the staff all seem genuinely passionate about what they teach. The Czech Republic’s culture is beautiful and deep.
The food here is quite good, if not a little too rich and heavy. Czech cuisine as far as I can tell uses a lot of meat, potatoes, bread, and gravy. I’m not complaining, though – it’s quite similar to those meals one might expect of rural Nebraskan communities. I must confess that even after being in the country for two weeks I still have not had any kolačes. This weekend we took a trip to Budapest, where I got to try real goulash. It’s much, much better than the dish we call goulash in the US. Perhaps I can write more about that trip in another blog post.
The days are full, and I can’t wait to get a better sense of my schedule so that I might be better able to utilize my free time. There are so many amazing bars and cafes in the area, and every side street and alley is beautiful here. There are charming local shops and restaurants – I even found a store with some film cameras when I went searching for 35mm film. They had some Yashica Electro-35s – a camera I experimented with during a class a few semesters ago. I hope to find time to go back and see if one might be in my budget. I have also been taking my mirrorless camera out and shooting on the streets. Every time I do so my confidence grows a little bit. I am becoming very excited to shoot and edit video footage of my time here. Perhaps after this trip is through I will have a fine documentary piece to share with you all.
That’s all I have to share at this time. I hope to post regularly here… and with more pictures!
Na shledanou!
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