Istanbul and apologies

Well I know what you're all thinking: Where the hell have you been Adam!?!?! I know I know! I have been slacking extremely hard. I don't want to make excuses, but these last few weeks have been sooo hectic. We have had visitors for about five weeks in a row. When one group would leave, another group of friends would literally come the next day. And we have gone on a few trips. I feel bad though because so much has happened in these last two months and I want to tell everyone about my adventures. Maybe I will write a book this summer seeing thats it's impossible to find a job anywhere. Haha yeah right. Okay, well I'm not gonna be able to recap everything that I've done but I will try to give a very broad synopsis of my life in the last two months.

First things first. Prague has officially become home for me now in Europe. Besides for Hawaii, this it is the most amazing place I have ever been to and I know I would not have as good a time living abroad anywhere else. I am so comfortable here now; the people the places have become so familiar to me. And the weather. OMG, it's starting to get warm here and it really is spectacular. I walked to school with tears in my eyes the other day because I realized how lucky I was to be living in such an amazing place (j/k about the tears; c'mon now, I'm a football player...we don't cry). I've especially noticed how happy I am coming home after long trips. I get the same feeling coming home to Hawaii after being away at college. It's great being away, as is college, but just like my girl Dorothy said: There's no place like home.

So as of now, I have traveled to the Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, and Turkey, visiting various cities in each country. I'll give a very brief summary of each:

Amsterdam in the Netherlands is such a beautiful city. On the plane ride over, I sat next to some emo looking kid with tight jeans, big goofy glasses, and a long blond trendy hairstyle. Looked like a total wierdo to me, but I decided to talk to him because I figured he would have some useful information for me about the 'Stam. The kid ends up being this sick DJ from Berlin, who is about to put on this show in one of the top clubs in Amsterdam. He invites the three of us to take a cab with him to the club and tells us he'll get us in free. It was pretty late so we said, SHOOOOOOOTZ hawaiian, lead the way! (just like that). So the $30 cover fee is waived as we walk in with this guy. Pretty ballin' huh? Yeah I felt like a celeb, NBD. We get into this club and they're playing crrrrrazy techno music. This first thing I notice is the people. I don't know if anyone knows anything about the Dutch, but let me tell you, they are MASSIVE. Jack, Jesse, and I actually looked like dwarfs in this place. We were without a doubt, the shortest PEOPLE in the whole place. To paint a picture: I was at the bar trying to get a drink when some guy accidently hit me in back of my head with his elbow.....HIS ELBOW!! I turned around about to give him dirty lickings, but I realized wouldn't be able to even reach his face. It was pretty brutal. Oh well, the night was great, we raged at this place, taking shots with Peter (DJ), while he spun crazy tunes. The entire trip was really cool. Besides for the fact that it was soooo cold (the coldest I have ever been in my life), it was amazing. We rented bikes and biked around the entire city. Haha, Jack completely broke his bike when he crashed into a tree and almost went over the handle bars...soo funny. We went to the Van Gogh Museum, went ice skating with a bunch of little kids, went to the red light district.... OHHHH the red light district. Basically, it a long street with prostitutes dancing in windows, trying to entice visitors to "have some fun with them". I was pretty terrified. We would walk by and a girl would press her butt cheeks against the window, while winking at us, trying to get us to come in. How degrading right?? Not to sound soft or anything, I would be pretty pissed if I was a parent and saw my daughter dancing naked in a little window, selling herself. I really don't think these girls have to subject themselves to that kind of thing. I don't know, it was cool to see, pretty eye-opening, but also pretty sad. Creepy dudes would walk out of the rooms, with smirks on their faces, while crowds of people just watch. Crazzzziness.

Italy was also extremely beautiful. The first town we went to was Verano, which is where Romeo and Juliet took place. We saw Juliet's balcony, and I touched her statue, which is suppose to make you find love...no luck yet :( haha ewww. We then traveled north to ski the Dolomites in the Italian Alps. I really would like to explain how beautiful this place was but it really is impossible. I have been to a lot of mountains, but this place was by far the most beautiful and biggest. We skied untouched runs all day, in waist high powder. It was mind-blowing. I'll put some pictures up for you to see for yourself. The only bad part about the day was that we did not have any ski clothes at all. We didn't actually think we were gonna go skiing so we did not come prepared at all. Sooooo, I wore jeans and a sweater. Let me give you some advice: don't EVER go skiing in jeans and a sweater. I thought, you now, I'm a pretty good snowboarder. There have been a few days where I haven't fallen. I'll just be really cautious and won't fall so everything stays dry. So we take the lift all the way to the top of the mountain and go off on an unmarked trail that has the perfect untouched powder I was telling you about. I stood at the top and watched Jesse and Jack rip down the hill, screaming because they were so stoked. My turn. I turn sideways, and AS SOON as I start moving, my snowboard got stuck in the powder. I summersaulted down the entire run. I'm talking full on head to feet 360 summersaults. It didn't hurt because the snow was so soft, but when i finally got to the bottom, I was covered head to toe in sticky powdery snow. It was in my pants, down my shirt, in my beanie, my face was covered, I'm talking everything. "HEY SNOWMAN!! Let's go!! I hear Jesse yell, as he's laughing hysterically with Jack. Yeah real good friends I have. Tease me when I'm down. Snowboarding that day was awesome though. The sun was out, not a cloud in the sky. I mean, don't get me wrong, my pants were rock solid frozen by the end of the day (no joke, frozen solid), and my sweater was soaked.....but it was grrrreat! Oh yeah, did I mention that me and Jesse almost died?? Forgot about that. So Jesse is insane when it comes to snowboarding. He rushes anything, anywhere. So I am at the bottom of one of the small hill, right after I face planted and almost dislocated my shoulder, with my feet sticking out of the snow, when I hear Jesse yell, "Hey Adam, is this run clear?!?! ANY ROCKS!?!?!" I look up and Jesse is at the top of this SUPER steep hill that has some trees in the middle. There weren't any rocks and though I would have never rushed it, I knew Jesse would be okay. "Go for it braddah!!! You're good!" So I'm sitting at the bottom, watching Jesse get ready to charge this crazy hill. He takes two great turns, then all of a sudden the entire hill starts to move. It all happened so fast, like a blur. All the snow on the hill gave way and I could see Jesse caught in it. I watched as he came in and out of my sight. He banged into trees and tumbled over rocks as he had no control in the avalanche. I thought we were both dead, as I was on the bottom, looking up and watching this entire wave of snow head right in my direction. Fortunately, it stopped one foot in front of me, as huge ice balls rolled by me. If I was ten yards further up, I would have been covered. When the avalanche stopped, I turned to Jesse who just popped out of the snow. His face was covered with blood. I tried to run over to him, but the snow so soft and deep that I couldn't walk. "JESSE! Are you alright!??!" He looked like a deer in headlights, I'll never forget that look. He was so shaken. I watched as he felt around his body for any breaks. Miraculously, he was not injured, besides for some pretty bad scratches on his face. I looked up at the hill and there were huge boulders everywhere. The snow must have just barely been covering the rocks. Fortunately, Jesse fell down the mountain on his butt, instead of face first. If he had hit his head on one of those rocks, this would be a bad tragedy instead of an epic story. Europe 2010 baby!! good times.

Besides for our amazing day of skiing in the Italian Alps, we also went to a Dave Matthews concert in Milan. That was super nuts. We also met this Italian girl on a train. Apparently we were all passed out on our way to Trento, a small town we were going to stay before skiing, when the train stopped and we had no idea where we were. I guess this girl noticed that we were confused so she offered to help us. LONG story short, we end up hanging out with this girl in Trento, her hometown. She showed us around the town and took us to a really cool bar/restaurant. She ends up being this 19 medical student, studying in Bologna, who actually did an exchange program in Georgia. She was really nice and apparently really liked us. So much in fact, that she invited the three of us to stay in her apartment in Bologna. So we went! I thought she was gonna lead us to some house and kill us, but I figured she should be more scared than us. I mean, we were three strangers she had just met. It was pretty ballsy of her to invite us to her place all by herself. Lucky we weren't three psychos. Jeeze Louize. But she made us dinner, we jammed, and had a great night. All in all, Italy was amazing, We ended up going to 9 different cities in 5 days. Whew, good thing for the Bank of mom and dad!! Thanks guys! I'll pay you back with love!!

Last week, we got back from Hungary, where I cruised pahty with my braddah MARC DACANAY!! We had an awesome time. Hungary, to me, is very similar to Prague, in its architecture and nightlife. I was sick a big chunk of the trip because I ate something bad and didn't poop it out in time, so I wasn't feeling at the top of my game. It was still awesome seeing Marc in his hometown and grinding ono food. One small story: We went out one night to this huge crazy nightclub. After a great night of dancing and singing Hungarian Karaoke, we made our way home. Jack and I have a little game we play where he lines up as a receiver and I am a defensive back. He tries to get by me, while I guard him. Anyway, he lines up on the busy streets of Hungary at 3:00 am in the morning with tons of people walking by. It was a challenge so I couldn't back down. I lined up with him, and on HIKE!, he exploded out. I could see the hitch coming so I slowed down. I must say, Jack is quite tricky. He unexpectedly did a stop and go! My feet got tangled up and when I tried to spin I face planted right into the ground in front of a large group of people. My knee scrapped the cement, leaving a huge hole in my jeans and a large strawberry. I laid on the ground as people asked me if I was okay. I was in a lot of pain so I just stayed on the ground for a while. I could hear jack laughing like a hyena. Sucking guy got me. How embarrassing. Oh well, all in good fun!! Europe 2010!!

Well this was just a few stories of my travels to other countries. Obviously, there is so much more, but I'm not J.K. Rowling or anything. I can't write a billion pages. I know it's my fault, I should be doing this more often, but like I said....I'm lazy. haha We've had a lot of good times here in Prague as friends from college have visited, girlfriends of Jack and Jesse, families of Jack, Jesse, and Jazz (I wish my family would come......clearly they don't love me. As a middle child, I'm use to it though. haha, just kidding, maybe if I didn't spend all their money, they could afford it. love you guys!) But yes, it has been great.

Istanbul will come later because I think it needs a separate post. I just got back yesterday from the craziest weekend in my life. It was the biggest culture shock I have ever experienced. You will hear later :) hopefully not in a month, but I'll try to get on it soon.

Well, hope this has given everyone a small picture of what has been going on lately. I wish I could tell you everything but I just can't. Plus I have to save some stories for when I get home. Some just can't be explained in writing. Okie dokes, time for a nap even though I slept 12 hours last night. This writing has really taken a lot out of me. Plus I'm on my spring break, so it's time to relax.

I hope everyone out there is doing great. I am missing everyone so much. It is hard not seeing family and friends for so long and the fact that it is so hard to communicate is very frustrating. All I can do is send out my love to everyone and say thanks for reading, it means a lot. Lami, I hope you are feeling better. I love you so much and I know you will win this fight. Love you all!!

Aloha,

Adam

p.s. for all you who think I am just partying out here....you are mostly right. haha but no, my classes are going great. I am learning a great deal about the history, politics, and literature of central Europe. It really is interesting stuff and I am enjoying all of it. There is also a good deal of work also, so don't think I'm just on vacation out here....Just 99% of the time. shooooootz :)

pps I didn't proofread any of this soooooo comments about spelling and grammar are not allowed. If I hear any, I'm gonna have to start whooping some serious butt...jackie chan style.

Cesky Krumlov

Hey Hey!!!

Yeah Yeah, I know it's been a while. I'm sorry to my thousands of followers!! Well, there definitely have been a few events since my last post and I will try my very hardest to remember them. The days are starting to mesh together though (hopefully not because of the beer) so it might be a little hard, but here goes!

Unfortunately, classes have started, so we didn't go out much during the week. We were all busy studying and getting our readings done early because we want to be the best students we can be and we want to make CMC and our parents proud! So, after four awesome days of engaging and thought-provoking classes consisting of Central European Politics, Franz Kafka, History, and the Holocaust (soooo fun, I know!!!), we made it to the weekend. I mean, I wanted to come in on Saturday to do some extra research for my professor....but instead I did what I came to Prague for: PARTY!!!

When Friday afternoon came around, Jack, Jesse, and I were really excited. Being so thirsty for knowledge during the week made us thirsty for Beer too! So we sat in our apartment, popped open a cold one, and started discussing plans for the night. Some of the girls were having people over but we didn't want to walk in the cold so we decided to stay exactly where we were and meet everyone at Lucerna (a huge club here in Prague that we've been to before that I'll discuss later) later in the night. However, as we started our merry-making and revelry, a few kids from the program showed up to our place. It was pretty unexpected, but being the kind and generous people we are, we let them in and gave them a drink. To make a pretty long story very short, in about thirty minutes, about 25 people from our program were raging Tyrsova 5 (our apartment). It was pretty crazy because we didn't even tell anyone to come over. They just came. Wierd. Anyway....at about 11:30, it was time to go to the club. Everyone was pretty "warm" (aka supa smashed) at the time so I was interested to see how the night would turn out. Okay, about Lucerna. The last time we went to this place, I swear to God there were 13 year old girls there. No lie, younger than Luke for sure. The wierdest thing was that these girls were talking to old creeper guys, like, dare I say, flirting with them? I don't know how it is in Europe but I was not down for cruising with little kids and old creepers all night. SOOOOOOOO, a group of about 7 of us (including the czech buddies, which was crucial) broke off from the big group and made our way to a smaller club. I don't even know what the place was called but let me tell you, it was quite interesting. So we get in, and I immediately hear hardcore metal rock, whatever you call it, blasting super loud. "Oh no, a gay bar, and now this?" Once again, my mind was telling me "Get out of this place! You'll never survive." But then again I realized, "Oh well, I'm in Prague, let's do this hawaiian."

So Jesse, Pavla, Jazz, and I (Jack went to Lucerna) grabbed a few drinks and made our way to the dance floor. I felt really uncomfortable because people were dancing so strangely and the metal rock was pounding in my head. Oh well. I pounded my drink, looked at Jesse, and we both let out the loudest scream, "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! WHOOOO HOOOOOO!" YEAHHHHH!!!!! We started bobbing our heads up and down, just going absolutely crazy, screaming the entire time. All of a sudden, some guy bumped into Jesse really hard. Jesse looks at me and shoves the guy right back. Then a guy smacks into me. I lower my shoulder into him. (still screaming). Two seconds later people are shoving and running into each other. A true Mosh pit!! haha no way! I thought about taking some ankles out and saving my shoulder, but I didn't want to tear anyone's ACL or anything. The entire night was crazy. We moshed and danced with these wierd people for hours. At one time, these two girls dressed exactly the same came up to Jesse and I, wanting to dance. We couldn't though. We were having so much fun hitting people. It was a free for all too so we didn't want to get blind sided. The people were cool. In the middle of one song, I saw some rasta guy with mean dreads who I nailed earlier and gave him a bro hug. REEEEEEESPECT. Boo yakasha. Just another crazy night in Prague.

SOOOOO, that was friday night. Saturday we kept it pretty mellow because on Sunday we were headed to Cesky Krumlov. Cesky Krumlov is a beautiful town about two hours away from Prague. I'm not really sure it's significance or history (we made the wise decision to nap instead of attending the mandatory presentation on Cesky Krumlov), but the town was awesome and the night, well the night went like this:

During the day, we went on tours of castles and all that boring stuff (I'll put up some pictures). During the night, however, our entire program of about 65 people went to the Local Brewery for dinner...and fun. During dinner, a gypsy band played for us. They were SUPER lame and nobody tipped them so they were done pretty early. We had to stay till 12 though because our program directors rented out another bar for us for the superbowl. SOOOO, BEER BEER BEER!! I mean, we were at a brewery, what else would we do? By the time 11 o'clock rolled around, everyone was hammered, including ALL of our program directors. Wierd right? I mean, our head lady didn't drink, but everyone else did! Anyway, me and Jack start talking to this guy Bryce. Bryce was our tour guide earlier that day. He lived in Florida but moved to Cesky Krumlov about 15 years ago. I'm gonna go ahead and say that he is in the top 7 of the coolest people I've ever met. So we start talking about music and he tells us that he plays guitar. "Well well well, so do we" we said. Eventually we realize that we love the same type of music. We looked on the stage and though the gypsy band was done, all their instruments were there. "You guys want to play right now?" he asks us. Jack immediately says yes and looks at me. "No chance I 'm singing right now brrrrrra. are you kidding me?" All of a sudden, they both get up....and I get up....and grab another beer!!! haha nah, we rushed!!! I grabbed the mic, Jack grabbed the guitar, and Bryce grabbed the bass (which he was sooooo nuts at). Everyone in the brewery gathered around. You probably all know that song Jack started strumming. WAITING IN VAIN BABY!! haha I was so nervous, but I put my head down and we jammed that song harder than I've ever jammed that song. Bryce had mean back-up vocals (not as good as kyle or bar) but still pretty mean. When I was done, the crowd went crazy. Girls were throwing up their bra's, running at me to sign their boobs! I mean, I WAS "in the band." Soooooo, clearly that didn't happen, but the applause was pretty cool. After I sang, Jazz got up there and rocked the mic super hard for like three songs. Jack ripped the guitar up, even killed it on bass, and also sang some mean back-up. Tyrsova 5 represent!!

The Super Bowl. Wow. What a game right?? In short, because I'm tired of writing and, everyone's probably quit reading anyway, it was super awesome. I made a stupid bet, taking the colts. Not so stupid because they lost, but stupid because literally EVERYONE was cheering for the saints except me. When Peyton threw a good pass, I would stand up and cheer and everyone booed my. It was pretty lonely. I went from rock star to enemy in like 30 minutes. Boo. Peyton throws one bad pass the whole game and he's loses it for the team. Well, I guess Brees didn't throw any.

The next day, we walked around, went to a torture museum, ate some ono kine grindz, and headed back to Prague. Now, here I am, about to go to a Czech hockey game. Hopefully I will see a fight! Everyone cross your fingers for me!! SHOOOOOOOTS.

- Adam

p.s. no spell check so no criticism on spelling.....unless you like scrap

just another night in prague....

Ahoj,

Sooooo the other night I was super tired and was contemplating staying home. I mean, five nights in a row is a lot. It really takes a toll on your body. I thought about it for about 30 seconds and realized, "Wait, I'm in Prague!" No rest for the weary baby!! So I did a few jumping jacks, let Jesse punch me in the stomach, and I was good to go.

A group of girls from the program were having a little get together at their place, so after an unreal three course dinner consisting of beef goulash, pork with potato pancakes, apple strudel, supplemented by a monster beer (total = $13), the three amigos made the icy trek down the street. When we got there, everyone was pretty ripped. Almost everyone from the program was there so it was a good chance to bond. And bond we did! (some of us even boned ;) haha nah nah. So we were all having a good time taking shots and having inebriated conversations when one of the girls yelled, "Let's go to the karaoke bar!!" Most of the chicks were stoked. I didn't mind. I was like, "shooooots, I'm buss enough to serenade some of these haole girls. Let's do it." So after two tram rides, our huge American entourage rolled in to a place called, "Friends." Here's where the night got interesting. So I'm standing in line talking to one of the girls, when I feel someone squeeze the hell out of my ass. I was like, "WHOA NELLY! What the hell??" All of a sudden I see two dudes walk past me into the bar. huh? I looked around, but there wasn't anyone else by us. hmmmm, okay, kinda weird, but oh well. The place was full when we walked in. I could barely make my way to the bar. Mind you, this was on a Tuesday night. So I get my beer and proceed to sit down on one of the couches. As I sat there, I noticed two guys next to me sitting a little too close to each other. "Wait a second, what's going on," I thought to myself. I stood up and looked over to the dance floor. Yup, I was definitely at a gay bar. I should've known when I heard three guys singing, "It's raining men." So I quickly weaved my way to Jesse and Jack, who looked like they just realized where they were as well. "So what are we gonna do guys?" Jack asks. We looked at our friends from the program and they all seemed like they were having a good time so we shrugged and said, "Alright, let's party." I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't the worst night of my life, mainly because we stuck close to our friends. I did get my butt squeezed like four time, and dudes were rubbing my head (not my schlong) all night. I just ran briskly walked away each time. The night was going well until about 1:30. I was sitting on a couch after dancing (with girls) when I saw jack talking with this guy. I see him look right at me and point. The guy sees me and heads straight in my direction. "No you did not just do that Jack." The guy sits right next to me, crosses his leg in my direction, and says, "Hey you, your friend told me you're a great singer. Let me hear a little something." That was the last straw. I didn't even say anything. I stood up, saw Jack, pointed to the door, and bounced out of there as fast as I could.

It definitely was an experience going to a gay bar. I'm never going to another one again in my life under any circumstances, but hey, I did it. And I got hit on more than I ever have in my life so that was comforting. haha. Just another night in Praha!

Adam

p.s. I hope my grammar was a little better this time Will.... dick. haha

Dobry Den!

Okay, i realize it's been a fews days since my last post but it has been soooo crazy here!! We have had so many activities with our class and we've been partying so hard that I haven't been able to just sit down and write. I barely have to enough time to call the parents (sorry mom and dad, i'll do better with that)! Anyway, so i'll give you a brief overview of what I've been up to these past couple of days:

So I finished my last post on friday, right before we were about to go out. And went out we did! I'd say friday night was one of the most entertaining nights of my life. So, me, Jesse, and Jack had a great dinner at this really touristy restaurant in the heart of the city. The restaurants and pubs here are crazy because they are mostly underground. There are many floors that just spiral into the ground. It is like you are in a winding cave! The dinner was very good minus all the czech people pointing and laughing at us because of our "Americaness". I now understand how it feels to be a tourist in a foreign country, like the Japanese in Hawaii. It is very difficult; we should give these Japanese an easier time. It doesn't feel good when natives just stare and laugh. Lucky we didn't feel like scraping that night or else we would have wrecked all those czechs.

Anyway, after dinner, we didn't have any plans so we started talking to a man on the street who happened to be from Cameroon. He told us about a great "club" that was close, and because we didn't really know the area, we followed him to it. I guess clubs in Prague are different than clubs in America. He took us to a strip bar! We didn't want to be rude so we stayed for a bit, watched the hottest girl i've ever seen dance, and then left. We would have stayed longer but we're poor and we looked liked little innocent kids (which we are), amongst old creepy european dudes. By this point, it was getting late and we were pretty sober, so we decided to get some drinks. Jesse led us to the "sky bar" which was also underground. Inside, we were introduced to the famous, but later learned to be deadly, ABSINTHE. Absinthe is a green alcohol that is illegal in the states because it apparently makes you hallucinate. Fortunately I did not have enough to get to this point. Unfortunately one of my companions, who won't be named, did hit this point. We ended up meeting two girls both in their late 20's: one from Serbia and Montenegro and the other from Poland. The girls, or should I say women, were VERY nice. We laughed, took pictures, and got pretty buss with these chicks. After a couple drinks, the girls wanted to go dancing. Being as it was 4:00 in the morning we gratefully declined. The night ended with us meeting two italian guys, renato and luigi, on our walk back home (which we luckily found after 30 minutes of walking in freezing temperatures). renato and luigi were pretty cool. They told us about italy and all the beautiful women. We finally hit the hay at about 5:30. not bad for our first night in Prague huh?

Saturday was a great day with the family. We stayed in most of the day because our heads pounding. Fortunately, Jazz played us some guitar. She has one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard in my entire life, no lie. It is sooo soothing and just turns any hangover into relaxation. Unfortunately Jazz has a boyfriend so none of us can marry her :( Later, we all went out to a restaurant/pub near the Charles River. The dinner was amazing. We had such a great time, eating and drinking together. It really does feel like we're a family. And it's only been 4 days! After dinner we walked over the Charles Bridge for the first time. From the bridge, there is THE MOST amazing view I have ever seen in my life. I really think everyone should come to Prague before they die. I got chicken skin standing on that bridge looking out. It truly was perfect.

On sunday, we had orientation and class activities. We split up into groups of four and had a scavenger hunt around the city. It was cool bonding with the other kids Comly, Gabbi, and Hannah, who I hadn't met before. The scavenger hunt lasted all day and was finished off with a dinner with our entire program. Our group actually won first prize because we found almost all the sites on the list. Jesse's group ended up with the lowest score ever in the program's history! haha. another great day in PRAHA!

Just another manic monday??? yea right, not in Prague! After a long day of classes (intensive Czech), Jazz and Pavla hit off the night with some hot wine and a phenomenal ham, swiss, and mushroom burger. Then it was off to Chapeau Prague, a dance club we heard about from a kid who went on the program last semester. We thought that we'd have a few beers and relax because it was only a monday. the club would be empty right? no way!! not in prague. the club which was three stories underground was popping off!! the floor we were on was filled with young people like ourselves. We drank for a while until we were "warm" and then made our way to the dance floor. The room was filled with smoke, and the lights were flashing different colors. it's exactly what you'd think a european club would be like. just like the movies! As we stood on the dance floor, girls immediately started rubbing themselves on us. it was crazy! i would stand with my back towards jack, jesse, and jazz, and girls would just rub their butts on my butt enticing me to dance. So what's the first thing i do? I was outta there!!! I was soo overwhelmed that I got scared and ran out of there as fast as I could. hey! don't judge me! i'm still new to this whole scene, okay. call me a wuss, but i grew from that experience. maybe next time i will actually turn around before i run away. small steps, small steps.

On our way home, we had the best snowball fight i've ever had. The snowballs packed perfectly. I nailed jesse twice and jack once. Overall, I was the champion. another epic night!

so now it's tuesday. today we went on another tour of prague. I actually took pictures today so ill post a few of them up. but prague continues to amaze me everyday. i am so excited to see what will happen next! i love you all, and now i must ice my hands from all this typing i just did. na schledanou! Hezky den!

adam

My first day in Prague

Aloha!,

Finally, after months and months of anticipation, our adventure has finally began. We made it to Prague! Before I begin describing how unbelievable this country is, I want to tell you about our journey here. So after a great couple of surprisingly sunny days in Seattle with Jack (where we raged of course), we said our goodbyes and made it to the airport. I guess the whole "study abroad in Prague" thing never really hit me until this point. Jack and I could not hold our excitement so right when we got to the gate, we hit the bars! ahhhh, it's great to be 21! Jesse met us soon after and we proceeded to board the plane feeling a bit warm inside (we were actually both super buss). After a quick nine hour flight filled with complimentary wine and pretty grinds food, we made it to Heathrow Airport in London. We were just a couple of haole Americans among many European haoles. We had a two hour layover so we walked around, looked a few shops, tried to blend in with everyone else, a tough task however, especially when you look like a hobbit compared to everyone else.

The excitement was really building now. Only a hop, skip, and a jump away from PRAHA! As our plane approached I could see the landscape out the window. I couldn't believe it. We finally made it. After getting our bags, we walked out of the airport. WHOA! SOOOOO COLD! I immediately ran to make a snowball, but when i threw it, it feel apart into what looked like a poof of smoke. Ahhhh, too dry the snow. Kinda bummed, but oh well, I'm in Prague! haha, I'm sorry if I sound like a little school girl and I keep repeating that, but I've been anticipating this trip forever and I'm just so stoked to finally be here. Anyway, because we were the last group to arrive to Prague, we were driven straight to the dinner that the CET program put on for us. Driving to the city center was pretty amazing. The country was so different from anything I had seen in my life. It was like I was driving through the scene of "Taken". I was stunned......but also freezing my nuts off. When we got to the Pizzeria, Jack, Jesse, and I were finally separated as there were only a few open seats left at the restaurant. Time to make some friends! After a great Pizza dinner, it was time to see our apartment! I had to take a cab by myself which was kind of scary because the driver looked pretty nuts. oh well, i could have taken him.

The driver stopped in front of an old building down a side street: Tyrsova 5, my new home. Shortly after we arrived at our apartment, two beautiful women made their way towards us. Our new roommates! Wow, we could not have picked out better roommates than Jazz and Pavla. I know it's still early but I can already tell that these girls are going to be awesome!! Jazz is from Washington state and goes to Kenyon college where she plays rugby (I know, super cool, right?). Pavla is from the Czech Republic in a city outside of Prague. I already love these girls.

Our apartment is unreal. I've never lived in an apartment before so I'm pretty stoked. I'll put up some pictures. Da boys have to share a room and the girls share a double but it's not bad at all. I mean, it's me, Jack, and Jesse. We're pretty much brothers so no shame in anything (especially when Jesse walks around naked......). After hourrrrrs of unpacking, we decided to hit the hay. We had to be ready for our first day!

So it is 4:45 pm right now here in Prague. There is no way that I can express in words how amazing and mind blowing this day has already been. Okay, let's start with the women here because it is so amazing. THE WOMEN HERE ARE RIDICULOUSLY, AMAZINGLY, HOLY CRAP, O.....M......G, STUNNING. I wish everyone can actually see what I am talking about because I really can not explain it. I'm pretty sure, no lie, that about half the women I saw today would be victoria secrets models. And there are PLENTY of people in this city. TALL, SLENDER, piercing blue eyes, dark perfect hair. PERFECTION. okay, I could go on all day trying to describe how beautiful these girls are, but my mom's probably getting pretty bored (and she's probably the only one reading this anyway). So we met at the city center at 10:00 am for orientation. There are 12 people in the CES (Central European Studies) program. This is the group of people I will be spending most of my trips and classes with. They are a fun bunch; I'm sure we will have a great time. After meeting, JIRI, our group leader took us on a tour around the city. I've never been to New York but I'm assuming it looks like this: stores and restaurants everywhere, big lights, everyone in a hurry. The only difference is the buildings. These buildings are ALMOST as amazing as the women. I guess some are hundreds and hundreds and even more hundreds of years old. Just amazing. After the tour, me, Jesse, and Jack grabbed a sausage hot dog for 2 bucks from a street vendor. You might have guessed, THE BEST sausage dog I have ever eaten in my life. Oh yeah, we also bought a 2 dollar pilsner to go along with the dog. I mean really, does life get any better??? eatin' a dog, drinkin a beer, staring at would be super models in the most beautiful country in the world? Well, I think my life is on a downslope after this because this is really just pure ecstacy.

After some more orientation stuff, the five of us (me, jesse, jack, pavla, and jazz), went on our first grocery shopping adventure! WHEW, and a wild adventure it was. We had no idea what we were getting. Jesse got what he thought to be cream cheese, but ended up being a stick of butter. Good thing we had Pavla with us. She told us all the good things to buy. ooh an interesting note: they don't sell thirty racks of beer here!! oh well, I think we got enough beer to hold us down for a week or two (or maybe two days?). We walked back to the apartment to get a good look at the area where we're living. Again, everything was stunning. I'm still dazed that I am here. It is like I'm dreaming. Everything is perfect. And this is only day 1. I'm stoked to see what lies ahead for us. I will continue to post when I can but hopefully you can all understand how amazing this is. Well, off to dinner with the boys, and then raging tonight!! Na schledanno!!

adam