I am so grateful to have had this experience abroad. It has made me appreciate the diversity of the world, as well as appreciate a lot of things about home that I had always taken for granted. I now fully appreciate free bathrooms, free water and refills, my car, etc. I especially missed the Midwestern friendliness. I think almost everyone who came on this trip experienced someone being rude to them. One girl was yelled at for speaking English; someone made fun of the way I talked, etc. Now most people aren’t that rude here, they’re actually very nice. However, there just is not that culture of being friendly to strangers in the Czech Republic. However, I have found that it varies from country to country, just as it does from state to state. For example, the Czech Republic is not that friendly, but the people in Ireland were extremely friendly and welcoming.

                Things can vary so much travelling from country to country. You can travel a few hours to another country and experience something totally different than the last country. There are many different languages, currencies, cultures, foods, etc. On one hand, that is really good. You can experience a lot of different cultures without having to travel too far. I love that I have been able to go on weekend trips to somewhere totally different. On the other hand, you travel a few hours in one direction and the language and/or currency that you are used to using is now totally useless.  In the United States, you can travel for weeks all over the country and use the same language and currency, no matter how far you go (within reason).

I also learned how independent I can be. I had never really travelled alone before. Now I am able to plan and book my own trips. I flew all the way to Prague from Omaha on my own, and I travelled to Greece for a few days by myself. Travelling alone had always seemed scary to me, but now I know that I can handle it. I definitely missed my family and friends, and would have loved it if they were here with me, but I think travelling alone in another country is an experience I needed to have. I proved to myself that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself and figuring out things as I go along. I have always been someone who likes having a plan and sticking to it, but I have had to learn to roll with the punches. Not everything goes to plan, and not everything can be planned for ahead of time. I have had to learn to be flexible and take some chances. I have met many new people and made new friends. I am happy that I was able to do this before I graduate from UNK and move on to the next chapter of my life. I feel like travelling abroad is an experience everyone should have in their life, and I was lucky enough to be able to have that experience before even leaving college.

Venice, Italy

Big Ben in London

Cliffs of Moher in Ireland

Standing in the Mediterranean Sea on the island of Crete in Greece

This week we went on a trip through Bohemia. Bohemia is the western half of the Czech Republic, while Moravia is the eastern half. We visited three towns during this trip: Litomysl, Kutna Hora, and Cesky Krumlov. Our first stop on this trip was Litomysl. Litomysl was a very quaint little town. It has historically been a place centered around education, which is still true today. Because of this they have many schools, including a small university, which is surprising considering the small size of the town. The university only has one faculty, which is restoration. The town itself has been undergoing restoration. The town is working to preserve its history, but it is also a rather modern town. It has a good mix of old and new. We were able to visit the Renaissance castle of the town, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as a beautiful church.

                 Our second stop was Kutna Hora. On our way into town, we stopped at the Kutna Hora ossuary, or bone church. It was a small church, not one of the more beautiful or impressive ones we have seen by any means, but what made it interesting is that the bottom section of the church is decorated with human bones. We also visited the Church of St. Barbara, and the silver mines. The silver mines were an interesting experience. They warned us not to go if we were claustrophobic, but I think we all underestimated just how tight of a fit it would be. I really enjoyed it; it felt more like a real mining experience. However, I could have done without some of the giant spiders that we saw. In the middle of the mine we stopped and turned off all our lamps, and were able to experience total darkness. You could not see your hand in front of your face, and no matter how long you are down there, your eyes will never adjust. There is simply no light at all.

                Our final stop was Cesky Krumlov. We had heard from multiple people that this town was one of the most beautiful places in the Czech Republic. The town is like something you would expect to see in a fairytale. It is so peaceful and quaint. However, it is a rather obvious tourist trap, so things were a little more expensive than we have been used to.  We were able to visit the castle, the theater, and the gardens. We were also able to go on a raft ride down the Vltava River. It took us longer than expected, and we were wet and cold by the end, but it was one of my favorite things about the trip. I have always loved rafting and hiking, so whenever we get the chance to do those things here it brightens my day.

                I was really glad that we had the chance to see more of the country that has been our home for the last three months. The Czech Republic is not really the first place most would think of when thinking about travelling, but it has a lot of great places to visit and things to offer. I think that seeing more of the Czech Republic was a great way to end our trip, and I hope to come back here someday.

The bone church in Kutna Hora.

St. Barbara's church in Kutan Hora/

Cesky Krumlov

The gardens in Cesky Krumlov

This week I am going to talk about two of the personal excursions that I have gone on. The two places that I have visited that were not through UNK (besides Dublin during Spring Break) were Budapest, Hungary and London, England. These two trips were about as different as they could possibly have been.

Our trip to Budapest was a mix of highs and lows. First of all, we got to the hostel we had booked and it was…interesting. It was a very relaxed atmosphere, but a little too relaxed for some of us when it came to cleanliness. I do not consider myself to be extremely high maintenance, but I could not sleep in that hostel. About half of us decided we could not handle a whole weekend there, so we went to find a new hostel around 11 pm that night. Luckily we were able to find a pretty nice hotel that was not too expensive. We had a clean bathroom and clean beds, so we were happy. On our way walking around Budapest we noticed quite a few homeless people sleeping on the streets. By far the most I have seen since I got to Europe. The city itself was large, loud, and pretty dirty. After spending most of our time in quiet, clean, safe Olomouc, it was a bit of an adjustment.

The next morning started off on a bad note. A group of us were going to a walking tour, and we stopped at a bakery to get breakfast. While we were in there, a homeless man stole money right out of one of the girls’ hand and ran away with it. It was about $70 when you convert it over to American currency. Luckily, a man who was also in the bakery with us chased him down and made him give back the money. After giving it back and apologizing, the homeless man actually then asked for more money! Needless to say, he did not get any after that stunt. After that snafu, we were able to find the walking tour, and got to see the more pretty and touristy areas of Budapest. We saw the chain bridge, the Matthias Church, the Fisherman’s Bastion, and more. That night we had dinner on a boat that sailed along the Danube River with live music. The second day we visited the Budapest baths, which were basically warm pools, as they were part of the hot springs. We spent the whole day just relaxing.

The Danube River in Budapest

The Matthias Church in Budapest

The Fisherman's Bastion in Budapest

At the baths in Budapest

 London was a very nice city. It was very clean and there was a lot going on. I felt very safe there. However, London was very expensive. We were only there for about two and a half days, and I do not want to think about the amount of money that I spent there. It was a very busy trip. We had multiple things planned and booked, so we were on a bit of a tight schedule at times. We got into London at 2:30 in the morning on Saturday and had to get up to head home at 2:30 in the morning on Monday. It the 72 hours that we were there, we fit in a hop-on hop-off tour around the city (on a double-decker bus of course), took a boat ride down the Thames, rode the London Eye, saw Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theater, went on the Making of Harry Potter tour at the Warner Brothers Studio, and even fit in some souvenir shopping. It was an absolutely awesome weekend, but I was exhausted by the end of it.

Big Ben in London

The London Eye

The Harry Potter Tour

To compare the two, Budapest was a very relaxed and chill city. The trip was spent mostly just doing whatever we felt like doing at the time, and there was not a lot of rushing around. On the other end of the spectrum, London was much nicer and more expensive, but we were constantly on the move from one thing to another, so the trip itself, while amazing, was not a relaxing one. Of course the differences between the two trips had a lot to do with our planning, but I also feel like it reflected the general atmosphere of each city. 

For Spring Break, a few of us went to Dublin, Ireland. Let me start off by saying that Ireland was amazing. It has been my favorite place so far. It was beautiful and green, and the people were extremely friendly. Also, everyone there knew English, which made everything so much easier. We were in Ireland for 5 days, and, amazingly, it did not rain once while we were there, which was unexpected. We were almost disappointed, because we had expected some Irish rain. However, the weather was beautiful, so we were not too disappointed.

                The people all seemed to be very laid back and friendly. Everyone was just up for having a good time. One night we had dinner at a pub, and there was some live music. The music they were playing was traditional Irish music, so two older couples got up and started doing some traditional Irish dances. It was honestly one of the greatest things I think I have ever seen. I hope I am still able to do complicated dances like that when I am their age.

                Our first night in Dublin, we went to a folklore show at the Brazen Head, which is the oldest pub in Dublin. Hearing all the folklore, superstitions, and stories of Ireland made the trip seem almost more magical. I had not realized how deep the superstitions ran in Ireland, even today. They say they do not believe in faeries anymore, but they man telling us the stories mentioned that people today still will not mess with areas of land known as “faerie forts”. Many people will not even step foot in them. In another example he gave us, the Irish government had to spend a lot of money to redirect a road they were building that would have gone through a fairy tree, due to the number of people who protested it.

                We also visited the Guinness Factory while in Dublin. I am not much of a beer drinker, so I feel the experience was somewhat lost on me, but my Dad and fiancé both love Guinness, so I felt I had to go for them (and get them souvenir glasses). We also went to a dinner show that had live Irish music and Irish dancers. I cannot say I was really impressed with the dancers, but the music and the food were both great. I had some of the best soup of my life that night. I have now learned a couple Irish songs that I can somewhat clap along to, so I consider that an accomplishment.

                We also went on three day trips while in Ireland. We visited the Giant’s Causeway, the Cliffs of Moher, and the Blarney Castle. The Giant’s Causeway and the Cliffs of Moher were breathtaking. The same day we went to Giant’s Causeway, our tour bus stopped at the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge on the coast. It was so clear that day that we could actually see Scotland in the distance. I had not realized that Scotland was that close. When we went to the Cliffs of Moher, it was nice enough that we were able to take a boat ride out to the Cliffs to see them from the bottom. It was so cool, and I am so glad we got the chance to do that. Of course when we went to Blarney Castle we kissed the Blarney stone, which is supposed to give you the gift of eloquence, so that you can talk yourself out of any situation.  Personally, however, I have not noticed much of an improvement in my speaking skills.

                I would love to go back to Ireland again in the future. I felt so at peace there, everything was so green, and I loved seeing the sheep all along the roads. My family is part Irish, so it was great to see the country that some of my ancestors lived in.  The people were just so friendly; I always felt completely welcome. Dublin was also probably one of the cities that I felt safest in on this trip. It also helped that Irish accents are my favorite. Our tour guides were great and very funny, and I learned a lot about Ireland during each tour. I would definitely recommend Ireland as a place to visit.

The Brazen Head: the oldest pub in Dublin

The Guinness Storehouse

The Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge

Giant's Causeway

The Cliffs of Moher

The Cliffs of Moher

The Cliffs of Moher

Kissing the Blarney Stone

Vienna was a city that I really did not know much about going into this field trip. I did not know what to expect. I was underwhelmed when we first arrived, as the part of the city where our hostel was looked like almost any other city. It was not until we walked down to the Museum Quarter that I saw the beauty and history that Vienna has.  On Wednesday we got to go to the Austrian Imperial Treasury. There were jewels, robes, holy items, and many more things that covered over 1,000 years of Austrian history.  Most of the things there are from the Habsburg family, who occupied the throne of the Holy Roman Empire from 1438 to 1740. It was amazing to see so much of a country’s history in one place, and it did not hurt that they had some of the most beautiful jewels I have ever seen.

                After the treasury we went to the Museum Quarter. The museums are housed in absolutely beautiful buildings. We were able to choose from three museums: The History of Art, the History of Nature, and a modern art museum. Being the science geek that I am, I of course went to the History of Nature. The museum had many displays, including plants, parasites, large animals, dinosaurs and fossils, rocks, a planetarium, and early human history. The dinosaurs were my favorite. It never ceases to astound me how big they all are. It makes me very glad that they do not live here anymore, or I would be afraid to go outside. After we were finished in the museum we got to lay in the grassy area by the museums and enjoy the beautiful weather.

                After Vienna we took a 7 hour bus ride through the Alps to Venice. The Alps were even better than I expected. I have always loved the mountains, and being able to experience the famous Alps was great. Venice was also amazing. It is the first city we have visited that fully lived up to the expectations I had built up in my head. It looked almost exactly as I had imagined it. The winding streets and alleys are extremely easy to get lost in, but that is half the fun of wandering Venice (providing you can actually get back to your hostel at the end of the day). I do not know what people did before Google maps, because it was a life saver for me in Venice. Thank God for international data plans. Venice is very much a tourist city. In fact, very few local people actually live in the part of Venice that has the waterways. Because of this, around 11 o’clock at night, the city becomes like a ghost town, and you can wander the alleys without seeing hardly anyone. We also visited some museums in Venice, and they were nice, but they just did not live up to the actual experience of walking around Venice and experiencing the city and its waterways. We, of course, took a gondola ride and found some great Italian food, so I can say that our trip to Venice can be considered a success.

The Museum Quarter in Vienna

Statue of Maria Theresa in the Museum Quarter in Venice

Next to the leg of a dinosaur in the History of Nature Museum in Vienna

The Alps

Canal in Venice

Decorated bridge in Venice

Canal in Venice

In Venice

This last Saturday we went to Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps in Poland. It is very difficult to put the experience into words. It is one thing to hear the stories and see pictures of the camps, but it is another thing entirely to actually be there. Needless to say, it was very intense, and very depressing. The weather while we were there was cold and rainy, which enhanced the sad mood very well. We actually saw the places where so many people were killed during the Holocaust (1,100,000 people to be exact). We stood in the gas chamber of Crematorium I, saw the Death Wall where many people were executed, and were able to see the site of the hanging of Polish prisoners who resisted. We also saw rooms full of things that the Nazis had taken from the people that they murdered, including hair, glasses, shoes, clothes, suitcases, brushes, and other things. Seeing the hair was a tipping point for some people, and a few started to cry.

                When we went to Birkenau we were able to see the living conditions in the women’s camp. There were 6,000 women in the camp, with 1,000 in each block. The blocks were not equipped to hold 1,000 women, and so there was serious overcrowding. They also did not even build bathrooms for the women until about a year after the camp was opened, and even then they only built 5 bathrooms/washrooms for 6,000 women to share. The examples our tour guide gave us as a result of these living conditions were extremely disturbing. It makes me very thankful for the living conditions that I have.

                The Jews that were brought to Auschwitz had been told that they were being taken to Poland to work, and so many were hopeful of a new and better life. They had no idea the horrors they would encounter when they arrived. This makes the story all the sadder. The suitcases that we saw all had names written on them, so that the owners would be able to find them again after they had settled in. We also had learned earlier in the trip that the Jews believed that if their bodies were moved from their graves after they died, they would not go to heaven. This makes the Nazis even more cruel, as they cremated the bodies, therefore ensuring that they Jews would not go to heaven, as far as their beliefs went.

                It is difficult to let yourself believe that mankind could possibly be responsible for something so horrible. As much as the trip was very saddening, I am glad I was able to have the experience. It really puts other things into perspective. My own problems seem so insignificant after visiting the concentration camps. A quote they had in the camp was “Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it”. Hopefully the presence of museums and concentration camps with ensure that the Holocaust is never forgotten, and I pray that mankind will never again be responsible for such a tragedy.

Auschwitz

The sign when you enter Auschwitz: "Work sets you free".

The suitcases taken from the people brought into Auschwitz.

Shoes taken from people brought into Auschwitz.

The gas chamber.

The crematorium.

The Death Wall used for executions.

Birkenau/the railway prisoners were brought in on.

Now that we have been here for a month, I have gathered quite a few examples of cultural differences between the United States and the Czech Republic. The first difference I noticed was in restaurants. First of all, water here is not free. You cannot just order a glass of tap water with your meal. They do not even serve tap water. If you want water, you have to get a glass bottle of water. More often than not, the water is carbonated, which is not that pleasant for those of us who have lived our whole lives drinking still water. Like I said, the water is not free; most of the time it is actually cheaper to order a beer than water. I am not sure why they do not serve tap water, as the water here is perfectly safe to drink. Most of us carry water bottles around with us that we just fill up at sinks.

Also, the waiters/waitresses here are not nearly as quick or attentive as the ones back in the U.S. The only times we see our servers is when they bring us a menu, take our order, and bring us our food. Once you get your food, they never stop by to see if you need anything else. If you do want something else, you have to flag them down. You also have to ask for your check. They will not simply bring it to you when you are done eating, because they do not want you to feel like they are rushing you out. Everything is much more leisurely paced. They do not expect you to leave immediately after eating; you can just sit around and chat afterwards. This took a bit of adjustment, since in the United States we are used to being served quickly, and then getting our bill and leaving quickly.

                Another difference is just in the general attitude/atmosphere of the country. I never really noticed it much before we came here, but Americans are very loud, optimistic people. The Czech people however, are not. They are self-described pessimists, and are not interested in idle chatter. When we see acquaintances, we often ask them how they are doing, even though we do not really care. This is not the case here. They do not ask you how you are doing unless they actually want to know the answer. When Czechs do answer, the common answer is that everything is awful, even if they are actually having a pretty decent day. Their movies do not have the happy endings that we are used to in America. They are much more realistic. As a result, they think the happy endings to some of our movies are hilarious.

                They also speak much more quietly than I am used to. It makes it difficult to hear/understand them at times. I never realized how loud Americans were, but now when we are out in public, I see people giving us looks because we are being loud, even though by our standards we are speaking at a normal level. The Czech people also have much bigger personal bubbles. When talking to someone they do not know, they stand rather far away from each other. We did not realize this until recently, so we have problem freaked some native Czechs out with our close proximity to them when we talk. Eye contact is also not much of a thing here, as well as smiling. People do not smile at you often.  When I go to the grocery store, the cashiers do not even look at me. I was a checker at a grocery store in the U.S., and we are required to be friendly and talk to every customer. That is definitely not the case here. They are just there to scan your groceries. They also do not have bags for groceries here. You have to bring your own. I often have to stuff my backpack with my groceries and hope nothing gets too squished.

                These are just a few of the cultural differences I have noticed here. There are probably many more that I am so used to at this point that I cannot even call them to mind as differences. It makes me both appreciate how things are in America, and also notice some things we do that are rather unnecessary, and probably make other countries look at us weirdly for. Overall it has been an interesting experience finding the differences between the two cultures.

Above a beautiful Czech town, with a smile that most Czech people will not show often :)

A street in Prague. People do A LOT of walking here. It's definitely helped us keep off the weight from all the food we have been eating!

Some artwork in Olomouc. It's a little darker, which is typical of the mood of the Czech people and culture.