First impressions, freakishly long escalators, and a little bit of Lisa Kass

I have now been in Prague for 2 1/2 days and I am still recovering from the culture shock. The flight(s) over here went relatively smoothly, though by the time I arrived in the Prague Ruzyne Airport only to discover that my luggage was missing, I had been in some state resembling wakefulness for almost 36 hours. I was dismayed to learn that while many of the signs in the airport were indeed in English, the widespread myth that "everybody in Prague speaks English" turned out to be utterly false. There I learned that communication with Czech natives would be difficult more times than not.

If there was a bright side to the stressful lost luggage debacle, it was that my load became substantially lighter and therefore allowed me to brave a trip to my apartment utilizing the Czech public transit system, which consisted of a bus, a subway, and a tram. The transit system in Prague so far appears to be truly remarkable for the following reasons: 1) it is very quick and efficient 2) it runs all hours of the day 3) it is easy to navigate even without knowing a word of Czech and, finally, 4) it houses the most gargantuan escalators I have ever seen or ridden in my life. I confess that ever since I was about 4 years old, escalators have petrified me (thank you, Dad :) ). Like most fears of childhood, I faced mine long ago...or so I thought. Without exaggeration, the average height of the escalators seems to be about 3-4 tall stories tall. They are nearly vertical in movement and they move fast. You stand on the right (and hold the railing with a death-grip if you are me) or you casually yet briskly speed past on the left if you are the majority of people in the country. The main disadvantage to sticking to the right is that in spite of their quick speed, these babies still take about 5-7 minutes to transport you from the top to bottom or vice versa. I have ridden these terrifying machines about 12 times in the past 3 days and-much to my chagrin-I will likely face them hundreds, maybe thousands, of times before I depart this city.

Other noteworthy events of my short stay so far include the realization that the nicest Czechs to me have actually been Germans. Last night my roommates and a few other folks on our program ventured out to a divey bar called the B-52, in which a group of four German men serenaded us with The Archies' "Sugar, Sugar" among other tunes then later unsuccessfully tried to teach us their beer pong equivalent affectionately called Franken-ball. In contrast to most US drinking games in which the winner stealthily tends to avoid drinking, German drinking games allow winner and loser to both join in the fun. My short but extremely pleasant stay in the German airport along with the fact that I sat next to Bernie, (an American and native Los Angelean) German-speaking acquaintance who made 12 hours of my flight full of comforting banter. All in all, I am looking forward to meeting more German travelers, although I hope they refrain from generalizing Americans as horribly as Julien and his posse did (they told our group that they were under the impression that many Americans believe Hitler is still alive).

Tonight I got a little taste of "home" when I had dinner with Lisa and some friends from her Copenhagen study abroad program. It was so nice to see one of my oldest and best friends from UW at a time when my whole world is shifting as rapidly as Prague's escalators. We ate at a deliciously spicy thai restaurant (my 2nd of the trip) called Lemon Leaf right near their hostel in Praha 2 and I was able to have two vegetarian meals in one day since our professors took us out to an up-and-coming vegetarian restaurant (think Chaco Canyon) that was equally fabulous earlier. We caught up on our travels, though hers were obviously much more detailed since she has had a 3 month head start on my program. We made plans for me to either visit her in Copenhagen for a weekend or for us to meet in Amsterdam.

It is getting late and my mind is fuzzy. I'll report more on the actual sights of Prague (which are absolutely stunning) as well as the school we are attending ASAP. Until then, na shledanou or goodbye.

Packing, Insomnia, and Early Morning Flights

In the past, I have never successfully chronicled my journeys, but I am hoping this trip will be different and that this blog will be frequently updated. I am inspired by fellow bloggers and travelers who have both found time to experience great adventures and still share their experiences.

Anyway, my clock is rapidly approaching 3 am and I have finally finished packing for the longest trip of my life so far, college excluded. At 7:21am I commence my studies abroad in Prague with nearly 18 hours of plane travel (layovers included), plenty of coffee (taken black and with raw sugar), and no expectations (other than what rick steves has dutifully promised me in his guide books). I would love to say that I have a game plan for the next three months, but for once my meticulously made plans will have to go on an indefinite hiatus. While my schooling and a few weekend trips are already taken care of, I will have about one month during which I hope to see as many cities in Europe as possible while still extracting all that they have to offer me. I know that I will definitely spend time in Berlin, Budapest, London, and Prague, of course. Other cities on my wishlist include Barcelona, Dublin, Vienna, Rab, Copenhagen, Istanbul, and Amsterdam. Just as I have had to remove about half of the clothing from my luggage, I am fairly certain that my list of travel will have to be trimmed a bit. I am open to any suggestions or recommendations that will help me choose.

Family and friends, please keep in touch with me! I will need the comforts of home from time to time to keep me sane. Read my blog and keep me posted on the happenings of your lives. If you want to reach me, my skype name is chelsea.mara.harmell. My email is cmh18@u.washington.edu. My int'l phone number is forthcoming, but you can still leave messages on my old number. My address in Prague will be my school address:

UW Study Abroad Program
“TUTOR” – U půjčovny 2
110 00 Praha 1
Czech Republic

I love and miss you all already.