jopesta.com | impressions and reflections » prague

Goodbye Prague

Jo — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 22:36:27 +0000

Tonight is my last night in Prague for what may be a long while. Sad to be leaving this beautiful city behind, but also excited for what I am about to see in France. And excited to be on the path towards home. We spent the day wandering Václavské Náměstí, Andel, and generally absorbing the city’s atmosphere. I successfully purchased a toque and mitts in my battle against cool fall weather, and a book because apparently I felt my backpack was too light.

Thank you, Elena, for being such a great friend and hostess during my time here. I will miss you!

Thank you, Prague, for welcoming me with open arms.

Prague Castle

Jo — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:44:03 +0000

I know I’ve already spent a solid month in Prague, but I’m spending another week here with the intention of being a proper tourist. So far I have been successful. Today I walked through Hradčany including the Prague Castle, many surrounding gardens, Strahov Monastery and Malá Strana. It was nice to spend the day solo with my camera, able to make my own selfish decisions.

Na Zdravi!

Jo — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 23:24:46 +0000

I am constantly surprised at how quickly time passes. I have now completed my Intensive Czech Language & Culture course which means today it was time to say goodbye and prepare for the next adventure. Our certificate ceremony was pleasant and casual. After wishing each other “Na Zdraví” with a glass of Champagne we each received a certificate from our teacher. It was done only within our class which made it social and overall a great way to say goodbye. I have exchanged contact information, and hope that I will see some of these amazing people again someday soon.

Petr was our teacher for the last 2 weeks, and underneath his name card sit our certificates ready to be presented.

Counting down

Jo — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:41:24 +0000

The past couple of days haven’t been that great. Homesickness, visits to the doctor to check on my month long cough, plans that aren’t working out and a general moodyness have caused this. I think I’m just getting a bit tired of this current routine. I think I also need some time alone to rest with my own thoughts. I’m looking forward to the end of this week.

This photo is from our visit to Laterna Magika. We had the opportunity to walk through the backstage area, and these feathers are part of one of the many costume hats. Tomorrow I am seeing the actual show at what is a super discounted but still expensive price. I hope it is enjoyable.

Three weeks down

Jo — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:42:36 +0000

Another week down of my Czech lessons, and I’m starting to feel like I’m speaking worse. I feel more aware of all my mistakes than I was 3 weeks ago. But I know that in reality my vocabulary and grammar have improved. At the same time, my English grammar and vocabulary is steadily decreasing….

Today its raining, and I’m very happy that I bought myself a (cheap) umbrella last week. It’s much easier to carry around ‘just in case’ than a rain jacket. The rain, however, means that it’s especially difficult to get the motivation to go out.

I’ve been playing with photos of people, using Nicole and Elena as my objects. It’s been really fun. The one below is from our class visit to the Kafka museum. I wish I had known more about Kafka before I had gone, but now I’m intrigued and think I will try read some of his writings when I return home.