If a year ago
somebody asked me about the likelihood of me moving to the Czech Republic, I
would rate it similarly to Poland’s chances of winning the World Cup in
football (or any other sport with a bigger audience than cross-country skiing).
Not very high. More, I did not even
plan on taking a year abroad because frankly, what is the point of that for a
person who already has his studies based in a foreign country?! Yet, here I am
sitting next to my overly large suitcase, counting days until the departure to
Prague. Erasmus!
Why Prague? The
idea came into my head during one of those mornings when going to the kitchen
for a pint of water is the Mount Everest of effort and commitment. None of the
other Erasmus choices really got to me. Stockholm is ridiculously expensive,
Utrecht seems just like Luxembourg relocated on a map and Paris has never made
it into the top 10 of my favourite cities. On the other hand, Prague is known
for its great nightlife, reasonable prices and more than average beer
selection. The last argument was very convincing, I must admit! Before writing
this post, I begun to wonder what do I actually know about the Czech Republic.
They are good in hockey, have quite a ridiculous language, admire the Germans
(who doesn’t?) feel superior to Poles (again, who doesn’t?) and have a fairly
unorthodox group of comedians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5T_uxoV5FuQ.
I also had a few blurry memories from spending a New Year’s in Prague two years
ago but as I said they were very blurry (as some of you know). My knowledge was
widened thanks to a book I got from Helena: “A Xenophobe’s Guide to the
Czechs”. I got to know they enjoy mushroom picking and treat Skoda cars as THE source of national pride. Skoda,
Skoda, Skoda!
The plans for
the year are very ambitious of course. Munich, Budapest, Kraków, Vienna, Warsaw
and several other places might have to handle my presence for a while over the
course of 2013/14 season. That is if I will not use the Erasmus grant solely
for exploring the Czech local spirituous specialities.
All in all it should be an amazing year. This was a very general post; I will try to update the blog quite regularly whenever something interesting happens. Emphasis should be put on the word ‘try’ though. I am sure Helena will be much more regular with it :)
All in all it should be an amazing year. This was a very general post; I will try to update the blog quite regularly whenever something interesting happens. Emphasis should be put on the word ‘try’ though. I am sure Helena will be much more regular with it :)
Jan
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