First Impressions From A Month And A Half In Czechia

So far this has been such an interesting experience, already within one and a half months I have been introduced to many new cultural norms, foods, and people and I don’t regret any part of it.

In terms of food my wonderful host mom Zuzana has made me countless delicious dishes/deserts ranging from Svíčková to Frgál which have been so much fun to eat. She has also taken me to many concerts and hikes which have been a great way to spend the weekends as not to waste time, however with the weather starting to get colder I am going to have to start to find other ways to spend the weekends. One of my favorite trips that Zuzana and Luděk took me on was to Kraków, Poland where we went not only to a salt mine but also to the town square which was such a unique experience. Also that day marked the first time I had been in a country that my dad hadn’t been to (take that dad ;)).

Poland – salt mine

Kraków, Poland

However I cant talk about taking me places without talking about Martina, the person who was supposed to be my first host mom, she was the one who first picked me up in Prague and showed me around the essential Prague tourist places. She then drove me to Ostrava and has also taken me on more adventures even though I am not even living at her house. Some of these adventures include a day trip to Energylandia in Poland which was so much fun and also to South Moravia for a 50km bike ride. Out of these the South Moravia biking was definitely my favorite as we spent multiple days in this town but we also got to be really active for most of the trip.

Besides these grown ups I surprisingly have made more friends than I thought I would have, although lots of them have been exchange students I still have had most fun with my friends in school. Although most people initially did not speak to me after an adaptation course where everyone got to know each other more people started to speak to me which has lead to many fun times in class especially when in German class.

South Moravia

Yes you read that right, I am also learning German while being in a Czech school. Currently in my German class I learn most of the material in Czech which is very difficult but it has significantly improved my Czech and German skills as I need to read in both languages to be able to pass this class. However Czech is definitely the harder langue, while lots of words in German are similar or the same to their English counterparts Czech is very different. Even with this challenge I have noticed so much improvement in my level of understanding, in some of my classes and a lot at home I can understand what my host parents, my peers or sometimes what my teachers are saying. What I would really like to improve on though is my speaking as I do not speak much Czech even if I try to formulate the sentences in my head, but I think that will come with time.

Overall this has been such a good experience so far and I cant wait for what more is to come, although time does seem to be moving faster I still have a long way to go and I hope it is as good as it has been.