Mom and Dad's Visit!!

9 Months. That's how long it had been since I had seen my parents. Yes, I was happy to see them, but it was strange adjusting to being around them again. They arrived in Prague on May 14, and had a few days in the city alone while I was forced to stay in school. On the Thursday, I met them in Wenceslas square and ran around Old town all afternoon. That evening, we had dinner at a 'boatel' (boat hotel and restaurant) before going to the National Theatre to see 'The Secret'. On Friday, we met and had coffee with my mom's coworker who happened to also be in town visiting family, then had lunch with a fashion designer friend who I met in Branson last year. Next, we caught the train back up to Trutnov, where my first host dad picked us up and took us to his/our hotel in Pec, half an hour away. We had dinner with my first host family (only one family member short) and had fun talking in Czech-lish. Saturday we hiked up the tallest mountain in the country, Snezka, and rode the chairlift back down in time for dinner and a dance show of traditional folk dances. Sunday we went hiking again, explored the town, and went back to Trutnov. we checked into my 3rd host dad's hotel, then went to dinner back at my first host family's house. They had the BBQ up and going for trout and veggies, and it was another great evening. Monday I put Mom and Dad on a train to the local 'rock town' and went to school for the day. That evening was Rotary, and my big presentation. I had a 25 minute speech/PowerPoint, a discussion time, and a very quick trombone concert for everyone. Then we went out for drinks with my second host family. Tuesday morning, we met my dad's Polish colleague , and he drove us to his research spots all around south Poland. We were out and about all day, mainly looking at rocks. But, we also saw the only Norwegian church outside Scandinavia and an interesting old Abbey. We stayed at a research lab, and went up into the mountains on Wednesday. Back in Trutnov, we had another BBQ, this time with my second family. It was such a fun evening, everyone laughing and joking together. Thursday, my second host mom picked up my parents and took them to another town, Pardubice, to catch the train. I was a little worried, because I had no heard the woman say more that 10 English words in 3 months, and she always said that she didn't know any English. I went off to school, and later talked with Mom and Dad, and they said that the talked in English the whole morning!! Friday, I joined them in Olomouc, my favorite town, and we had a nice evening exploring the cafes and restaurants. Saturday morning we rode the bus to Telč. We were lucky that there just happened to be a festival going on to celebrate the 15 years of being a UNESCO site, so the town was filled with historic dancers and bands. After lunch and a castle tour, we saw a parade, but were rained out as the first band began to play. So, we went back to the train station, collected our bags, and waited for the hail to stop. When it did, we went to the bus station to catch our 4:00 bus. It never came. I though there was a 5:25 bus, but it never came. Finally, we ended up taking a taxi to Jinřichův Hradec. This was the town were I had language camp, and I was happy to be back. We had dinner in the best Pizza place, and I showed them all the favorite places in town. Sunday morning, we took a tour of the castle before taking trains to Cesky Krumlov. There, we were 15 minutes too late to tour inside, but we walked around outside and explored before eating dinner at a restaurant overlooking the castle. Monday, we rode buses back to Prague and I put them on a plane back to Brussles.

Eurotour part 2

Wow, life's been crazy! But I'm back now to finish my story.

From France, we took a passenger/cargo ferry across the English Channel to Dover. I was soo excited to see the White Cliffs, after learning about them in school so many years ago. Then, we rode the bus up to Greenwich for the afternoon. After taking pictures of the Prime Meridian, we toured through the observatory and slowly moved onto the Maritime Museum. It was amazingly well done!! Of course that topic was right up up alley, but I really did like everything. Before joining back with the whole group, I happened to run into my friend Mary, who is at my same school in Trutnov this year. Talk about a small world! Then, we all rode another ferry up to the center part of London, near the London Eye. The street performers entertained us for a bit, then we piled onto the bus once again and drove to our hotel in Crystal Palace, nearly an hour away. Once we were settled in our rooms, I worked with a bunch of my friends to book play tickets for later in the visit in London. The next day, we had a guided bus tour around the city with a Czech/English lady who was happy to show us around. We were set free at the Tower of London, but the 26 USD admission price was a little too much for us students. I ate lunch with some girls, then we rode up to the center and walked to the British museum. We soaked in some more history until it closed, then we wandered around the center and enjoyed taking pictures. The bus picked us up a little later, around 9:30, so we were back at the hotel late and went to sleep. Tuesday was completely free, that the Rotarians gave us our round-trip train tickets and said "have a nice day". I rode into the downtown with a small group, then split off for some family time. I rode the train to a suburb to visit the only relative (that I know of) in England. we had a wonderful lunch together, then he gave me a quick tour of his town. Back in London, I couldn't find the girls I was supposed to meet up with, so I played tourist on my own for a bit. That evening, I went to an amazing play in the West End, Equus. Yes, it is also known as the 'Naked Harry Potter play'., but it isn't just about the actors. It was intense, and really well done. When it ended, all of us (7 in all) rode the metro and train back to our hotel and checked in with the adults before sleeping. The following day was mainly a transport day, but a family reunion for me. We rode the bus back to Dover and caught another ferry to Calais. The we drove to Belge, in Brussels. Mom and Dad were there visiting Colin, so we met up for dinner and a family evening. The group was staying in Ghent, so I rode the train there with my family. After dinner we took a taxi to my hotel and said goodbye for another week. ON Thursday, we had over 9 hours to look around Brussels. It was a nice town, but a little small for that amount of time. I tried some Belgium waffles, saw the main square, and enjoyed the musical instrument museum. At the end of the day, we met the bus again and began our long, all night haul, through Germany back to the Czech Republic.

Eurotour! Part 1

The highlight of the year for most exchange students in Europe is "Eurotour", a huge trip all around lots of different countries. We finally get to play tourist instead of immediately trying to fit into society. This year, the Czech/Slovak trip was a little shorter than in the past, but still a wonderful experience. Monday, 30 April, I rode a bus back down to Tabor, and met the big group. We had a huge Mercedes tour bus for all 43 students and 3 adults (great ratio, eh?) We drove to Plzen to pick up the rest of the group, and we were off. Our route took us through Germany, then straight through the night to Paris. We arrived in Paris brgith and early. After a quick driving tour of some of the sights, we went to Notre Dame and looked around for a bit. We had free time until mid morning, then walked on to the Luxemburg gardens. Some of the toured around the fountain/pond and then took a little nap in the sunshine. Then, we went to the Invalides, where Napolean is buried. After lunch, we had more free time, and I went with some other girls to the Effiel Tower. We climbed to the second story via the stairs, but then took the elevator back down because the wait for the very top was too long.

The next day, we went to La Defense (the modern business district of Paris) first thing in the morning. After some window shopping and picture taking, we rode the bus to Monmartre, my favorite place in the city. I dragged my friend katie to the top of the hill, where we looked inside Sacre Coeur, then looked through the artist neighborhood on the top of the hill. Of course we had to also make a stop at the famous Moulin Rouge for pictures. Then, the group had a cruise on the Bateux Mouche down the Seine. The weather was perfect the entire time for pictures and just enjoying the sights. Our next block of free time was at the Louvre. I got in for free (yay for being under 18!) and just soaked in the famous art. After dinner at the food court, we were about to return to the hotel, but they let us off thebus to take night picture of the Effeil tower. There was also a man playing the accordian on the side of the square. He heard us speaking Czech/Slovak, and struck up a conversation. It turned out that he was a Slovak, who lived in the Czech Republic for a while, and is now touring Europe!! What a small world!

The third day in Paris was out free day. I set out with two other girls to Pere Lachaise, the famous cemetary, to see the graves of Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, and others. I knew it was a long walk, but I had no idea it would take us over 2 hours to get there!!! But, in theend it was worth the distance. After looking around, we took the metro back to the louvre to save time and out feet. I then headed towards the Musee D'Orsay, which was my favorite museum. The impressionist art was amaing to see in person, after seeing it in books my entire life. Then, I walked up the Champs Elysee to the Arc de Triumph. I got my pictures, then slowly walked back to the Place de la Concorde to meet the rest of the group.

Day 4 was the visit to Versaille, early in the morning. I took the audio tour with some other students, then we playing in the garden for a while. The bus took us to the Normandy area, where we stayed for the night.

Our visit to Normandy was another of my favorite days. we started at Pont Hoc, to look at the battlefield. There is nothing like seeing Canadians running around in military gear, Americans pretending to be bombed, and Mexican flying their flag from a flagpole. Maybe exchange students can be responsable, but we are certainly not boring! We then continued to the American cemetary and to a little town nearby where the Allies built a harbor right after D-Day. There was a good museum in the town, which we wandered through. We then had another long bus trip to Boulogne sure Mer. It was a quiet town, with nothing to do there, so we just ate and caught up on sleep bofre the next leg of the journey.

New Family, New Adventures

Again, I must apologize for the lack of entries, but this time I really have been very buzy. I now am living with my third and final host family, and it is another good situation. My host parents, Petr and Johana, are the managers of the nicest hotel in town, Hotel Adam. My host sister Maja (short for Marie) is 22 and goes to the economy college in Prague. She is home on the weekends, and speaks perfect English after her Rotary exchange to Wyoming. But, we still talk in Czech most of the time. My host brother, Adam, is 18 and goes to the same school as me. He seemed to be a little more comfortable around me when he realized that he didn't always have to talk in English. We get along fine, but we have our different friends and activities. We live alittle out of town, in a wonderful house near the city park. They have 3 dogs and 3 cats. One dog lives inside, along with 2 of the cats. Less than 2 days after I moved in, they were already discussion adoption, because I speak Czech, cook, clean, work in the garden, and I like to help out. :) I guess that means that things are good.

I was only in the new house for 9 days before I was off on my next adventure, which I have been looking forward to all year. Eurotour.