http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Teddi/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Teddi en-us Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:34:33 +0000 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:34:33 +0000 Let me start off by saying IrsquoM DONE WITH MY EXAMS I finished up by 1015 this morning so I had the whole rest of the day to spend a little more time saying goodbye to Prague. My first exam of the day was with Professor Vor269ek. I think that was a good decision on my part to start off with him because it really settled my nerves. He spent the first four minutes or so asking me http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-438587.html Today was wonderful. After going to breakfast and turning in my papers I came back to my room and took a nice nap for about two hours. After that I did a bit of work downloading and organizing my pictures from this summer which took entirely too long then headed over for lunch. While at lunch some of us decided to play volleyball in the afternoon but we had to wait a few hours to get the co http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-438586.html Today was composed entirely of writing papers. I had thought they were due on Friday morning but as it turns out theyrsquore due tomorrow at eight in the morning. The first two papers were easy enough to write sociology and international studieshistory but the economics paper for Bou269kova was a wee bit hellish. I managed to finish that up around two this morning. Actually since it http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-438585.html Today was kind of eventfulhellip It was also the last day of our study tour so itrsquos back to Prague for the next few days then Irsquom going home. Irsquom still not sure what I think about that. But back to today We started the day off by going to another cooperative farm and having a look around. The first unit we went to was the dairy unit. I canrsquot really comment on its http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Central-Bohemian-Region/Kutna-Hora/blog-438581.html I think today I may have been closer to my ldquobreakingrdquo point than I have in quite a while. Itrsquos unfortunate that Irsquom getting fed up with and frustrated by so many little things now but I guess thatrsquos a sign that itrsquos about time for me to go home. I suppose a bit of explanation would be helpful. To start off with there is a hideously irritating song that one http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Olomouc-Region/blog-438577.html Today was our 16 mile hike. It was split up into three sections the first one was about eight miles but Irsquom not sure how long each of the other two were. The first section was by far the worst and by worst I mean most physically demanding. Really it was only maybe the first two miles that made me want to die. I can't remember exactly what Michal told us but I think the increase in e http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Moravian-Silesian-Region/blog-438573.html I apologize for not writing much recently things have been getting a little busy getting ready for the study tour. Today marked the first of six days of wandering around the Czech Republic. We actually got to leave Bohemia and head into Moravia Today we went to a network of caves and then spent the afternoon in Brno. The cave system was amazing. Irsquove been to a few caves and caverns ba http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/South-Moravian-Region/Brno/blog-438566.html I canrsquot remember the exact order of what all happened in Rome but Irsquoll try to keep everything in as accurate a chronology as I can. Sometimes things run together for me. We left on Thursday for Rome. Our flight left at 1230 so we took the bus down to Dejvicka and from there we needed to take another bus Number 119 to Ruzyne. Luckily we ran into Marco as we were leaving so he s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-438518.html I feel like I might die. Not really die but oh my goodness Irsquom not a happy camper. I went out last night with a decentsized group of peoplehellipbut it was a pain. We couldnrsquot get everyone together to leave so a group of us left with the intention of meeting the others there. The plan was to go to a club called Mish Mash first then head over to Mecca later on. Well we didn http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-438515.html Today we had our Czech Language exam. It wasnrsquot too bad but I guess I wonrsquot find out how I did for a while. Itrsquos nice to have at least one exam down. We also had a lecture on CzechSlovak relations which I found very interesting but the weekend caught up with me and I couldnrsquot stay awake. I was somewhat upset about that because I really did want to hear what our lectu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-438512.html This past weekend was used for international trips. A group of eight of us from OSU and Kansas went to Vienna. It was pretty interesting. Five of us took a bus to get there which left at quarter after midnight and got us there at 515 in the morning. We left the dormitory at ten to get to the bus station. The way there was pretty uneventful but I ran into issues once we got there. I didnr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-438506.html We went to Karlovy Vary today. Karlovy Vary also known as Carlsbad is a spa town and has various springs whose waters are reputed to have healing powers. Itrsquos a gorgeous town really mostly nestled in a little valley. Therersquos a pretty large Russian population there I think Vlasta said over half of the property is owned by Russians so everything was written in Czech and Russia http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Karlovy-Vary-Region/Karlovy-Vary/blog-438502.html We had our homestays this weekend. Heather and I stayed with Vaclav. We were originally supposed to stay with one of the girls I honestly could not figure out who she was though but she got sick. So we could have gone with either Vaclav or Martin and Nick would have gone with the other. We flipped a coin and ended up with Vaclav. It was interesting to go with him because we ended up going http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Central-Bohemian-Region/Nymburk/blog-418052.html Itrsquos been a while since Irsquove updated so I suppose I should start out by talking about the opera that I apparently forgot to write about. Last Tuesday a fairsized group of us went to an opera in the city. I canrsquot remember the name of the theatre we went to Irsquom not sure I ever knew it to be honest but tickets were only about 40 crowns. For a price like that the seat http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-416885.html I am currently distraught. This has nothing to do with Prague school or really anything that should logically have any bearing on my life. But one of my favorite Penguins defensemen just signed with LA. I might have cried a little bit. Also it really sucks to be on another continent when major things are happening in the NHL because I get this information at about two in the morning. Yeste http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-414719.html Today we went to Czech Paradise. I canrsquot remember the Czech name for it but it was absolutely gorgeous. Well first we went to Mlada Boleslav to the Skoda car plant. So I suppose I should probably put this entry in some form of chronological order. Mlada Boleslav is a small city of about 50000 I think and the car factory is the major industry there. Irsquom pretty sure Vlasta told http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-414704.html Today some of us went on a trip to Konopiscaronte which is a chateau a little ways outside of Prague that was a favorite property of Franz Ferdinand. It was an optional excursion so it was probably only half of the students here at the summer school who went. We had to ride an actual train to get there which was pretty cool. Itrsquos interesting to see just how much public transport is u http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-414459.html I had a chance to use some of the Czech wersquove been learning last night. I was sitting in the lobby of the dormitory working on last nightrsquos blog entry and checking my email when a man walked toward my table and started asking me something in Czech. I kind of froze but after a few seconds I resorted to ldquoPromi328te promi328te. Nemluvim 269eskyrdquo He gave me a b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-412531.html Back to classes today. We had Czech language first thing in the morning. Like I said earlier I really like this language. To the point that Irsquom thinking about seeing if there are Czech classes I can take at OSU. It seems like some people are really having trouble with it and donrsquot like it at all but so far I havenrsquot found it that difficult. Then again wersquore only lea http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-412243.html I was in South Bohemia for nearly all of today. We left at 730 this morning for the brewery at 268esk Bud283jovice about 200 miles to the south. Last night some of the group went to The Pub so they were a bit late getting to the bus. They were also pretty soundly harassed by the Czech students who were just as chipper as ever. A few miles outside of Prague by my estimate but keep i http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Czech-Republic/Prague/blog-412238.html