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