Wednesday 23 October 2013

Charles "University" in Prague


In theory Erasmus is supposed to be an exchange directed at widening students’ academic perspectives via exploring a new country. Having this in mind I thought it would be a good idea to pretend that this is indeed the case and write a post about the peculiarities of the University I occasionally attend in Prague.

A few weeks ago I wrote about a few aspects of the Czech nation that point towards a conclusion that the Czechs are a silly nation. Well, Charles University is another solid argument for this thesis.

Firstly, the University is an institution established in the fourteenth century in the centre of Prague. This, logically would lead to the conclusion that there must be a campus located somewhere in the centre of the city, right? Wrong. The only buildings that I am aware of in the centre owned by my Stronghold of Education serve as a tourist shop and administrative offices with maybe two or three lecture halls. Otherwise the bulk of classes are taught all around the city except for the aforementioned centre and the area around the student dorms offered for Erasmus students. For example, all of my Politics modules are taught 15 minutes metro journey away from old town in buildings that look as academic as the southern suburbs of Warsaw (not very academic).

Secondly, lectures. Last week a Czech PhD candidate attempted to lecture us about Polish current affairs. Her English was as clear and pure as the Bulgarian bureaucracy and her knowledge about Poland as deep as the storyline of the “Hangover” trilogy. Furthermore, yesterday I was standing in front of one of the University buildings giving my lungs a favour when another teacher of mine came around. He greeted me with: “’Sup, you got fire, mate?”. I must admit I was left in shock for a second or two, which I managed to get out of immediately and present him with a lighter. Oh Prague…
Finally it is worth noticing that my timetable is not the most overwhelming asking me to attend 9 hours per week spread across two days (three on every other week).

Oh yes, I almost forgot. The Czechs are not very fond of their new President. This is quite understandable, as he apparently likes to have a shot of vodka here and there during diplomatic missions. The nation decided to express its discontent through the means of art. To be precise a huge, violet hand was installed in the middle of the Vltava River pointing its middle finger in the direction of the President’s residence. It looks like this:




Many things can be said about this country but one is certain: You will never be bored here!

Jan

Monday 21 October 2013

A Walk in Prague on a Saturday Night



On a Saturday night, some time ago, when my fellow Erasmus friends were at a football match and I was along at home. The idea of staying home alone on a Saturday night was just too depressing so I decided to go out for a walk. What was meant to be a 30 min walk turned out to be much longer and quite an interesting experience. I was walking through my neighborhood and started to take a few pictures of Prague at night like these ones:  

Near Malostranske Namesti at night fall 



Lockers in the "Venice" of Prague



A view on Narodni Divadlo (The National Theater) from the West bank of the river. 


Prague is an enchanting city at night time and it is quite pleasant to just walk around the city. At this stage I was considering turning back to go back home. However, I heard some music at the distance which caught my attention, so I started to make my way towards the source of the music and I ended up near Kampa Island where I saw stands where they were selling beer, sausages, smoked ham and hot wine. A bit further  a little stage and some music - there was a small concert on. It is was full of Czech people of all ages just having fun dancing and listening to famous pop songs sang in Czech, so if you ever wondered what's the Czech version of "Tragedy" by the Bee Gees or "I Had the Time of my Life" check these 2 videos: 









It was a fun little party where Czechs as well as foreigners, small children as well as older people were enjoying dancing to the classic hits sang live. Knowing the original lyrics of the songs and understanding another Slavonic languages it was interesting trying to understand what was sang in Czech. After a while I decided to move on, crossed the Legii Bridge trying to make my way up towards Charles Bridge to get back home. I noticed how the people around me, locals as well as tourists were in some kind of party atmosphere and  good mood. Prague at night has this very unique feel to it. Walking along the bank of the river, I came across this scene (as shown in the video below or click on link). 



I thought it was quite amusing to see these people randomly partying on the street. I must say that I have witnessed a few strange/amusing things in Prague since I have arrived. After that I just met on my way a few polish guy and then met up with the Erasmus people and I learnt then that a short walk in Prague will never be as short as you think it will be. 

Bye for now! 


Helena 



Wednesday 16 October 2013

I've got 99 problems...but making new friends ain't one of them!


    Settling in Prague in terms of formalities and technicalities did not go as smoothly as I had hope for. During my 2 first weeks here there were a number of things I had to do, which were tedious and sometimes it got a bit frustrating. Do not get me wrong: I really like the city, the people that I have met so far and I am glad that I came on Erasmus here. I am just going to mention a number of issues I had so far.

1- My place

   I am extremely lucky that I have a studio in probably the prettiest, safest, best located and best connected area of Prague, besides the fact that it is a touristic hotspot, I love my neighborhood  However, I had troubles getting used to my studio because it felt very empty and the disposition is a bit awkward. Explanation: To go from the bathroom to my room, I have to go through my kitchen and an entrance hall which I share with other people; therefore, if I walk half naked between my bathroom and room I might bump into a random person entering/exiting the building.

    I was a bit surprised when I moved in because I realize that a few things are missing in the flat. There is no washing machine at my place and no launderettes nearby so it is going to be a real challenge to wash my clothes: hoping for a charitable soul to help me or I’ll have to do it all by hand! The phone line and the internet were not working for the first 10 days, so I really felt disconnected and alone when I was in my studio at the time. Living on a street where there are at least 25 security cameras and guards day and night, I should probably feel safe. However, knowing that there is a serial stabber loose in Prague who has murdered 3 people not far from my place, that someone already broke into my neighbour’s place and that I’m defenceless girl living alone, I have started to become slightly paranoid.
 
My street with the numerous security cameras


The view from outside my entrance door- a view of Prague Castle




2-Money

   When I went with my father to open a Czech bank account, it was all very easy, the staff spoke good English they were warm, nice and helpful. The next Monday when I went to pick up my bank card, things were a little different. When I asked if my card had arrived, the lady was wondering if I got robbed or if there was a problem with my account. When she understood the purpose of my visit, she went to another room, came back confused, checked my details and disappeared for 15 minutes… Then she came back with an envelop looking even more confused. The problem was that instead of spelling my name “Helena O’Rourke-Potocki” the name on the card was “M. H. Rourke O’ P.”…they very nicely explained to me that my name is too long and complicated for the computer system, that the card was therefore invalid and had no pin for it, that they had to cancel it and make me a new one and I had to wait another week. I walked out of the bank, feeling down and quite annoyed, wondering what’s the problem with my name and why does it cause problems. A week later when I came back, they managed to resolve the problem, helped me set up my pin code and internet banking, really making sure that everything is in order, and they were extremely apologetic. I walked out with my fist up in the air feeling victorious.   



   The Czech money is traitorous, it is very hard to get a feel for the money and you think that everything is so cheap so you just end up spending more. Life is quite cheap here, but it is very easy to go over budget.

The Czech crownes- a weird currency that consists of big notes or small coins




3- Telephone  

   The plan was to register with a phone company instead of getting a prepaid sim and having to top-up all the time. We went to a small shop near the Florence metro stop in a Mafioso looking street. The staff there did not speak a word of English, literally, so with a mix of polish, google translate and sign language, taking over an hour we managed to sign a contract and I got a sim card. As the sim needed a few days to connect to the network during that time I was using my Belgian number which was really not practical to contact other Erasmus students. It was fun for a week to be living alone with no internet and having a phone number that did not work. After a week, as the card still did not work I went back to the shop and showed them the sim. The people at the shop inserted the sim into their phones, had a look at my phone, searched the internet, again we had to communicate using google translate, we had a good laugh because the situation was just too ridiculous. They came to the conclusion that the chip had a default, so they filed a complaint against their provider, told me that they will try to contact me when they get a new sim card for me. When I walked out of the store, I just went to buy a prepaid sim card.



A few days ago, when I was on my way to the metro I realized that my bag was leaking, I opened it to discover that my bottle of water had spilled and my phone and camera were in a pool of water. I ran back home, put my camera and phone in cuscus hoping that it will absorb the humidity out … it was too late water had entered in the devices and destroyed them. For the phone, I lost all my phone numbers which was really annoying and I had no choice but to just buy a cheap phone. For the camera, I am furious because I lost a whole bunch of pictures that I took of this beautiful city and I have to wait a few weeks before I can buy a new one... :'(     



4- Paper Work



      Since I have arrived in Prague, I registered with the foreign police, filled in forms for the Erasmus office, queued 2 hours to get my student card, got my student travel pass, register for the online portal, discovered that some classes that I initially was going to take are no longer available, I had to choose new classes, discovered that I need a permission to take political science classes, send emails to ask if I can follow certain classes, went back to the Erasmus office to get some documents stamped, filled in forms to send back to Trinity, etc… All were necessary to do, all absolutely boring to do.



     When moving to a new country and settling in a new place there are always a number of things to do, plus getting used to the new environment can be quite disorientating. Having problems with my bank, with my telephone and breaking my camera and mobile were a bit much to have all in the same fortnight and made me wonder if these things only happen to me. I feel that I have gotten use to living here but I don’t feel quite settled yet. I know that most if not all the paper work is behind me, so now I have more time to enjoy the place and my stay. The reason probably why I didn't go insane in these 2 weeks trying to deal with all these different things, is because I have met other Erasmus students here from all over Europe and the world, I have socialized and truly started to enjoy my stay here. Moving to Prague I had a few “problems” but meeting my fellow Erasmus student is not one of them! 


My first erasmus party- a memorable one


That's all folks for now! 

Helena 

Friday 11 October 2013

It's a Small Step For Mankind but a Giant Leap For Jan


Thomas Friedskind, Thomas Friedskind, Thomas Friedskind (there you go Thomas, you are mentioned in the blog).


The last few weeks were quite…intensive; hence I did not update the blog on regular basis. Except for the obvious intensity of consuming a very wide range of spirituous beverages the last days were marked by the intensity with which I, together with two other individuals coming from the country, which loves wine, baguettes and waving white flags were looking for a flat.

It took around two weeks and 200CZK (8 EUR) of credit to call different agencies and landlords to enquire about a flat. To make it easier, some of them would refuse to communicate in any other language than Czech or Slovak (Polish was already too much of a linguistic diversion for them). Nevertheless, we were a group of extremely motivated individuals and in the end we managed to find an apartment (aka. Szyszko Mansion) in Prague 2, fifteen minutes walking distance from the main street of the city. The view from my window is truly amazing. Except for three, 19th Century, state of the art houses I can also spot a chimney. The fact that there is white smoke coming out of it every now and then leaves me with two conclusions. The first thought that came into my mind was that the neighbours are pretending to be Vatican City and are testing the procedure in case a new Pope needs to be elected. The second thought I have to leave out as I promised myself I will be politically correct on this blog and would not dare to make any inappropriate chimney-Germany references. Never.

Staying in Hostivar for three weeks was a good life lesson. It is one of those experiences that teach you to appreciate the simple things in life. Those vary from enjoying water pressure in your shower higher than one drop a second to having access to an oven. If my written description does not fully reflect the civilizational leap forward I made by renting a flat, maybe Google street view will.

Hostivar:


Szyszko Mansion:

Exactly.

Jan


Friday 4 October 2013

My 16 Hour Journey to Prague


On Thursday 19th September I finished packing my two gipsy-looking bags for Prague. I was quite nervous, wondering if I had all I needed, if I didn’t forget anything, if I wasn’t bringing too much, if I wasn’t bringing too little, etc… After checking and rechecking a thousand times my suitcases, at 1 am I finally decided to go to bed, exhausted. The travel plan was that I flew to Krakow for a wedding, from there took the train to met my father in Prague. In theory it’s straightforward, but in practice … it was a long and exhausting journey.



Woke up early on Friday morning, got prepared, said goodbye to my parents and brothers; before 9 I was out of the house, waiting for the bus down my road.

Step 1: Taking the W bus from Rhode-St-Genèse to Gare du Midi.

Living in the suburbs of Brussels is a pain because it takes forever to get anywhere. On a week day, at rush-hour it takes over an hour to get to the city center. So that’s what happened: I was stuck in traffic for an hour going down Chaussée de Waterloo. When I arrived at the train station, I had to go to the European ticket sell-point to actually get my train ticket from Krakow to Prague.  

Step 1 and a half: Buying My Train Tickets.

Took a waiting number, took a seat, realized that I was 20th in the queue and only 3 desks were open… The patience game was just about to start… 

After waiting patiently for 15 mins I realized that the queue was progressing much slower than what I’d expected. I calculated the average time each person took to buy their tickets: about 7 mins, and based on that estimated the time I had to wait for my turn. I started to get agitated because I still had get to the airport and so if I waited too long I would miss my flight. 175, 176, 177, 178… I couldn’t stop counting the number of people before me and looking at the clock ticking. 

After 25 mins it became harder and harder to stay cool: I was considering the possibility to just go to any desk when they call the next number, or ask someone if they would be kind enough to swap waiting number with me. After 35 mins it became un-bea-ra-ble: I knew I was running late for my flight but, I couldn’t leave before I got my train ticket. I imagined the fight with my parents if I missed the flight. I started to get panicky, getting up, walking across the room, looking at the time, coming back to my seat, sitting down, repeat. People in the waiting room were just starring at me as if I was a nutcase, but maybe I am. 

After 42 mins, the number just before mine showed up on the screen, I jumped up like a football supporter would when his team scores, it was a small victory. When the next desk freed I looked at the man selling the tickets as if he was the Holy Grail, I was going to get my train ticket for Prague: something that seemed intangible in that waiting room.  Before my number was even called, I was standing in front of the desk looking eagerly at the sells man.

With a surprised look on his face the sell’s man asked: 
-“What can I do for you?” 
I felt that I was begging on my knees when I said:
-“I need a ticket for Sunday from Krakow to Prague, any time will do” 
-“All right” and he started to type on his computer that looked that it was from the early 90’s while I was thinking in my head “Come on, faster, faster, faster”… him typing slowly…Me becoming really impatient… He looked up:
-“Sorry Miss, it seems like there is no trains going from Krakow to Prague”…. I froze, imagining that not only I waited 45 mins for nothing, but on top of that: I was going to miss my flight and wasn’t going to get to Prague
-“That’s not possible, have you checked the one with the connection at Katowice?” 
-“Kato-what?” with a blank expression 
-“Kato-wice!” I cried 
-“Where is that?” 
-“In Poland, not far from the Czech boarder” -“Never heard of it” 
-“Can you please find me a train from Krakow to Katowice and one from Katowice to Prague” I said on the verge of tears. He types on his computer, I am just there: desperately starring at the man… waiting… the time is ticking by…I’m breathing very nervously…calculating how much time I had left before my plane… Finally he looks up smiling: 
-“I found one leaving Krakow on Sunday at 7.53 arriving at Katowice at 10.35 and then from Katowice there is a train at 11.11 to Prague and arriving at 16.45” 
-“Perfect! How much is it?” I said with a huge smile, he looks at me with a hesitant expression: 
-“Sorry Miss, I am not entirely sure that I can sell you this ticket”…Literally I felt that I was stuck in limbo just about to hit my head on the desk. I got firm: made it clear that I was going to get that ticket and the faster the better. I am not sure that he understood that I was in a rush because he kept asking questions on and on “Wouldn’t you prefer a night train? What class? Wouldn’t you prefer another time? Window or corridor? Cash or card? ...” I just replied fast and briefly just to accelerate the process. While the tickets were printing he asked me where I was from, … a big mistake. 

Normally I love having the quick chat with people and the man was very nice, but here it was not the right moment. So, I had to explain in 30s my complicated background and my plan of going on Erasmus and he was obviously very curious and just kept asking more and more questions. It was the prefect example of the awkward moment when you’re trying to end a conversation with someone and they just keep on talking. As soon as he handed me the tickets, I said goodbye, he wished me good luck and I dashed out of the train station.       

Step 2: Getting from Gare du Midi to Charleroi Airport … by any means.  

Don’t be mistaken: the Brussels-South-Airport-Charleroi, is not in Brussels, it is a 40-50 min bus ride from Brussels. So running out of the train station I knew that I needed a bus leaving in the next 10 mins for me to get to the airport on time. As I was rushing to the bus stop, dragging my suitcase along, a man came up to me and slyly asked “Charleroi Airport, right?” Initially, I didn’t understand the meaning of his question. The man was from a taxi company, convincing me that for the same price as the bus one of his colleagues would leave in the next few minutes driving me and a few other people to the airport. I thought that it was probably a dodgy idea and a rip-off, but after seeing that in the mini-van there was a strong Eastern-European guy that would be able to pull off a fight; I decided to go with it. I sat in the cab next to the driver, and as soon as the mini-van was full, we drove off. On the way, I was praying that it was not going to be a bad idea as I always take the shuttle bus to the airport. I was looking nervously at the road making sure that we were going in the right direction. On the highway, the taxi was driving slightly over the speed limit and just before the airport the taxi-man switched off the meter. I was pleasantly surprised: we got from Gare du Midi to Charleroi in about 30 mins, we each had to pay only 13 euros and I had plenty of time before my flight!

Step 3: Flying from Charleroi to Krakow.

Brussels-South-Airport-Charleroi should be renamed “Ryanair’s Airport in Belgium”. For those who never been: it is a tiny airport, in the middle of nowhere, where there are no trolleys for your suitcases, and curiously Ryanair seems to be the only airline serving this airport. Check in, security check, buy some Belgian Chocolates for my hosts in Krakow.

And it was a typical Ryanair flight: people queuing at the gate half an hour before they call for the boarding, staff checking scrupulously with a ruler that your hand luggage is no more than 55x40x20 cm, people having a hard time picking a seat in the plane, while you’re trying to sleep during the flight every 10 mins there is an announcement that they are selling food, drinks, coffee, smokeless cigarettes, scratch cards, bus tickets, perfumes … you feel the plane smashing on the tarmac and then a trumpet announces that you’re arrived on time. Until next time Ryanair! I had arrived in Krakow.

Step 4: Getting from Krakow Airport to Krakow City Center.

When I had arrived and picked-up my suitcase I still had 3 hours until the wedding reception, I wasn’t in a rush but I couldn’t dillydally too much. I asked for some information and decided to take a bus that apparently went near the city center. For the next 50 mins or so I had no clue whatsoever if I was going in the right direction, sitting on the bus, glancing out the window, listening to music, completely spaced out while the bus didn’t seem to follow an entirely illogical route. The bus arrives at this final destination, I knew I was walking from where I was staying but I didn’t have the courage to start asking for directions...

Step 5: Taking a taxi  
…So I just took a taxi for what was a 10 min walk.      



Step 5 and a half: the wedding    
Just after I arrived, I went for a drink with my cousins and friends at the Dym bar and I had my beloved White Russian, and it felt so nice to be back in Krakow and catching up with people. Then we went back home, quick shower, got ready and we were off to the wedding reception. Weddings are my favorite parties because everyone knows that everyone is somehow related, they have a nice family feeling to them, everyone dances and has fun. When I told people that I was on my way to Prague, they were excited for me, some were telling me that I have no excuses not to come up to Krakow for week-ends, some were telling me that they will come to visit me. Someone even bet with me that he’ll bicycle from Krakow to Prague: I am waiting for it. It was a great night, I stayed until late and by the time we came back home I was exhausted after such a long day: travelling for 8 hours plus the wedding.

 The next day, there was brunch (actually more like “dunch” because it was between lunch and dinner) in the countryside just outside of Krakow with lots of polish food, tea and soup. Several people were sneakily hiding behind their sunglass. When we came back to Krakow, we went to a friend’s place for a casual drink: the plan was to drop by and come back home before 12 to go to bed because I had my train early the next morning. It didn’t quite work out that way.... 



....and I ended up having only 3 hours of sleep. I was meant to be up before 7 am…I didn’t hear my alarm…I only heard Wiri’s alarm ringing for the second time at 7:10….quickly got dressed, quick breakfast and then Wiri and I were off towards the train station walking like 2 zombies. When we got to the station we realized that the train was leaving in less than 5 mins, by the time we found the train the train officer was whistling to signal that it was time to close the doors. Luckily, the officer saw me giving me enough time for a quick goodbye and to hop on the train, literally if I had arrived 20sec latter, I would have missed the train.    

Step 6: Taking the Train from Krakow to Katowice.      

I realized my luck when the doors closed just after I managed to pull my suitcase unto the train, before I even started to look for a seat: the train was already moving. The train was empty and I was shivering while glancing out the window. For the whole train journey I was fighting the temptation to fall asleep because I knew that if I fell asleep there was a chance that I would miss the stop at Katowice. The fact that I was so cold in that train was probably why I managed to stay more or less awake during the journey.  

Arrived at Katowice, I had a little touristic tour of the modern train station, had a sandwich and then I was waiting for the train to Prague.

Step 7: Taking the train from Katowice to Prague

While waiting on a bench, freezing, I noticed a few people with back-packs speaking English with foreign accents and that most people waiting for the train spoke English. That sort of made me realize how international Prague was going to be. I went euphoric when I saw this:



This was the ultimate step, I was reaching the end of my journey, the last mode of transport that I would take, in 5 hours I would arrive at my final destination: Praha! I was surprised how modern the train was: there were plugs next to every seat, there was a board saying what was the next stop and the speed of the train, the service in the train felt like being on a plane. My journey was quite interesting: there was an old British couple seating in front of me – planning their cultural trip around Prague and analyzing the books they were respectively reading. Behind me: an Asian hipster, getting drunk on Martini, listening with loud speaker to some kind of Asian techno. There is no doubt that the old couple and the hipster did not really get along. When we crossed the Polish-Czech boarder we arrived to this stop:  


And the train stopped there for about 30 mins, no clue why. It seems like that the schedule of the train was to be redone because at some stops the train stopped for half an hour and at other only for less than 5 minutes. It was a nice journey as I discovered quite a bit of the Czech landscape from Bohemia to Prague. It varies a lot: there are flat fields with cute villages where people grow their own vegetables behind their wooden houses, then forested valleys where the train meanders along a tinny stream through these gorges, then beautiful lakes and peaceful rivers were men fish on a Sunday afternoon and then gentle rolling hills. It goes rustic rural to bucolic rural to enchanting medieval villages to run-down small towns that have a strong hint of a communist past. I was amazed and pleasantly surprised to how beautiful the Czech countryside is. During the last hour of the journey I started get butterflies in my stomach, I was getting really impatient and looking forward to arriving. And then I noticed that we were at the outskirts of a city, buildings appeared, and I had this view from the train: 





It took me: 1 plane, 2 trains, 2 buses and 2 taxis and 16 hours to arrive to Praha.  

Helena