Pre-arrival June 6, 2009

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Pre-arrival June 6, 2009

Hi, my name is Tory, and I am a student studying abroad in Prague. I am originally from Houston, Texas, the city of oil dreams and Enron schemes. Grew up there my whole life. But now I find myself in Prague, “the heart of Europe.” I will be here for five weeks, exploring, meeting new people, studying of course, and playing music. I plan on keeping a daily blog of my experience here with other media, pictures, video when I can.

A lot of people when they go to a foreign country make several goals about what they went to get out of the experience, aside from the list of places to visit. For example, my friend Sam’s goal is to meet a Korean girl with a British accent. Don’t ask me why, this is the same guy who went out clubbing the same day after he got off the international 15 hour flight.

Anyways, one of my goals is to really absorb the music here, to go to concerts, to actually listen to the street musicians, and to at least once play my guitar and sing in the streets for money like the locals. I WANTED to do it on Charles Bridge, the 650 year-old pedestrian bridge that is one of the most famous bridges in Europe, BUT I learned today that you have to have a license to play here, just like the prostitutes here. On that topic, just in case you didn’t know, prostitution is legal here. Several years ago I spent a couple of days in the Czech Republic, and I remember when we crossed the border from Austria into Czech Republic the prostitutes that LINED THE FREEWAY. The FREEWAY!

My first task once I get to Prague is to buy or rent? a guitar. I plan on composing a lot here, and what would be more amazing than sitting on a ledge of a beautiful building, strumming my guitar and softly singing, as perplexed and amused locals gaze on? I write this on the plane on my way to Paris, where I will connect to Prague. The kid behind me is kicking my chair and screaming loudly. I think he may be German. Yes, German. F.Y.I. German kids can scream just as loud as Americans. As sleep doesn’t seem a possibility, I think I will watch one of the hundreds of movie’s Air France provides. Hey, “American Beauty.” Awesome.

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