Questionnaire Post

Packing and Traveling:

Specifically, what kind of linens did you need to bring? I didn’t bring any linens and I’m glad I didn’t. The school provides you with sheets, a comforter, and a nice pillow and really that’s all you need. You also can turn them into the front desk and get fresh ones whenever, so it was perfect.

What are you glad you packed from home? I had a travel journal that I got from a friend that was really nice to be able to put mementos in. I also brought some American candy that was really awesome to have when I was craving it. Other than that, I didn’t really bring much more than the essentials.

What do you wish you had left at home? I brought my hair straightener, which was stupid because it doesn’t work here because the converters and adapters don’t work with straighteners. Don’t even bother bringing it, ladies. Just plan on buying a cheap one while you’re here. I also brought two pairs of boots, which was pretty unnecessary because the weather was so beautiful and I could’ve made it fine with just one pair.

Do you have any travel tips to pass on? Travel light. Spontaneity is best. My friend Jess and I went on a trip to Slovakia where we just bought train tickets to a random town that morning and it was one of the best weekends of my life. Try something new everywhere you go. Also, buy the Lonely Planet book of whatever country you decide to study abroad in. It has awesome tips, and helps you feel a little more prepared. The train is an awesome/cheap way to travel.

What places would you advise future students to see, and why? If you love hiking, go to Slovakia. It has beautiful mountains, and getting around was so easy. Also, try to go to more small towns in the Czech. That’s something I regret not doing more of. That’s where you get to see the real culture of the Czech people. Also, make sure to visit other countries in your free weekends. It’s usually relatively cheap, and how often will you get the opportunity to do hop countries in a single weekend?

Social Life:

How did you meet students from your host country? All of the Czech people that I ever met were when we went out at night. The Czechs are usually very reserved people, so you definitely have to take the first step in initiating the conversation. The few friends that I made was when they were all sitting at a table together and I took the first step and just sat down at their table and starting talking to them! Looking back that was pretty daring, but I met some really nice people and I’m glad I did it! Other than that, we didn’t get to meet a whole bunch of Czechs because, like I said before, they are very reserved and we didn’t have any living in our building.

How did you like to spend your free time and why? I loved just walking around Olomouc. We would constantly find new restaurants or stores that we loved, and it was a lot of fun.

Is there anything you regret not doing more of in your free time? I wish I wouldn’t have spent so much time in the dorms. Don’t get me wrong, we always had a lot of fun, but I wish I had spent even more time getting around Olomouc and the smaller towns nearby.

What opportunities for social, recreational and cultural events that the host university or program offered did you like best? Every Wednesday night a specific country hosts a party at a place called Belmundo and those were a lot of fun. It was great because they were very student oriented and you got to experience a tiny taste of the culture of the host country.

What piece of advice would you give to future students regarding their non-academic life while overseas? Make sure to try new things! And don’t be afraid to put yourself out there and meet new people. Don’t waste your time doing things that you can do in America, because you never know if you’ll get the chance to come back to Europe. Also, don’t spend so much time on social networking sites in your free time, wondering what everyone is doing back home. Live in the moment!

School work:

How did your academic experience at Palacky differ from your US experiences concerning:

1)   Relations with professors/classroom instruction: The professors are so nice and so good at what they do here, but I don’t feel like they got to know me very well compared to what it’s like in Kearney. Classroom instruction is a lot more relaxed at Palacky I would say.

2)   Grading: We haven’t really had any grades so far except for our finals. So that is a lot different. We also very rarely had homework here, and if we did it took about 10-15 minutes (except for writing the blogs), so that is a lot different than in the U.S.

3)   Study Habits: Once again, didn’t really have homework or much to study for so it was very relaxed. Had a few quizzes in our class with our American professor, so that was similar to the United States, but we didn’t have any for our other classes.

4)   Library: I never even went to the library here.

Money and Communications:

How much money in US currency would you recommend students have at their disposal for their whole time overseas? I had around $20 in my suitcase that I forgot about, but you don’t need any US dollars because you’ll never use it. I always just withdrew Czech crowns from an ATM.

How much money did you have in foreign currency when you left for the program, and was it enough? I got about $200 worth of Czech crowns from my hometown bank before I went, and it was a great amount to have before I got to Olomouc and used an ATM. I recommend ordering some of the currency from your bank before you leave so you don’t have to worry about finding an ATM right when you get there, though. That way you have it on hand in case of emergency and it makes those first couple days in the Czech easier.

How did you manage your money (credit cards, traveler’s checks, bank accounts, etc)? I had a debit card that I used for ATM withdrawals and then a credit card in case of emergencies. I always used cash though because my bank charged me extra every time I used my card, and I withdrew as much as I could each time at the ATM because of the ATM charges.

How much money did you spend on books, school supplies, food, entertainment, local transportation, travel, toiletries, airfare, and laundry? For books I only spent about $12 because I only needed one book and I found it on Amazon for really cheap. For school supplies I spent about $2 for a notebook when I got here, other than that I just brought a couple pencils, pens, and a highlighter from home. For food I spent quiiiiite a bit, but how often do you get to eat authentic gelato and amazing gyros? I honestly don’t have an exact number because I did an extremely poor job of keeping track of my receipts. I bought a lot of ramen, apples, and spaghetti, so that saved quite a bit of money. Again, I don’t know how much I spent on entertainment, but make sure to have a lot of money saved up so that you don’t have to say no to amazing opportunities and fun things to do. I brought a lot of toiletries from home so I only spent about $20 here for toilet paper, a new bottle of shampoo, and body wash. It depends on the person. For local transportation I would say I spent about $30. Our tram pass was paid for by the school, but it closes at 11 PM so if you ever stayed out later than that, you had to pay for a taxi. They are relatively cheap and we always split the cost between the group so I didn’t have to spend much on local transportation. For airfare I spent about $900, and it cost about $1,000 for the round trip to the Czech republic. Laundry is actually kind of expensive here. If you go to the nice laundromat next to the dorms (which actually has a dryer, unlike the college’s) then you have to pay $7.50 per load.

How did you communicate with the US/What would you recommend to future students? I messaged friends and family through Facebook, and then had a FaceTime account for my friends with iPhones and a Skype account for those that did not. Very easy, and free! I did not buy an international phone here or a SIM card for my iPhone so I could text here, and it worked out fine!  A lot of the places we go have wifi so I usually always had a source of communication through my smart phone. I don’t think it’s necessary at all to buy a new phone here/SIM card

Other comments/tips: Don’t pack very many clothes, and the clothes you do pack should be stuff that you could easily part with. You’ll buy a lot of things here, and you’ll need as much room in your suitcase as possible to get it all back home. Make sure to bring a rain-resistant winter coat! And for the ladies, make sure your purse has a zipper on it to keep safe from pick-pocketers. I never had any experience with pick-pocketers, but it was nice knowing that my stuff wasn’t easily accessible, just in case. Buy your power adapters beforehand (they’re crazy cheap on Amazon) and I never once used my power converter so don’t even bother buying one. Make sure your backpack is big enough to fit quite a few days worth of clothes in, because it would be really annoying to have to tote along a rolling suitcase for all of our class trips. Bring clothes for all kinds of weather. Although we got lucky and had really warm weather most of the time, past groups have had to deal with a lot of snow!

Must-Do Activities:

v Try your best to be in the Czech Republic the day after Easter, which is when they have all of the Easter celebrations. We went to a small town in the Czech on Easter Monday and it was such an awesome experience getting to see authentic Czech culture.

v Make sure to go to a country party at Belmundo at LEAST once!

v Get gelato or a cake at Café Opera in the main square in Olomouc. Amazing. The strawberry gelato is to die for.

v Make sure to get to know our “group leaders” Jan and Martin. They are awesome and have so much advice on things to do and places to go.

v Go into the St. Michael’s Cathedral near the history building in Olomouc. Absolutely stunning, and even after seeing several famous basilica’s and giant cathedrals this one is still my absolute favorite.

v There is an awesome gyro place right beside the McDonalds in the Main Square. Definitely recommend.

Ø  I know there is so much more that I can’t think of right now! I’ll add more as I think of them!

Field Trips 3 & 4

%_._>// ERror

Terezin and Auschwitz

Note: All of my blogs are now completely out of order because we’ve been so busy. I haven’t really had time to sit down and write about everything except for the things that are necessary for my blogging class. This blog is due today so I have to get it done, but I hope to go back and write about my spring break trip and other things I’ve been up to recently! The order of posts will be confusing but bear with me!

As a part of our study abroad program to the Czech, we have gotten the privilege of going on school field trips to different concentration camps in the hope of being able to fully grasp the concept of the Holocaust. We have had several lectures about the Holocaust, and everywhere we go we learn about how World War II has affected that area. The aftermath of the war has touched every aspect of European culture and lifestyle. We’ve seen it everywhere, and I think it will be a very long time before it’s affects have faded to where they aren’t even completely obvious at first glance. I have learned so much from these field trips, and I think that it’s awesome that we’re able to learn about something in the classroom and then get the opportunity to experience it for ourselves. I’ve learned so much this way, and am so grateful for this program and our field trips.

Terezín

Our first concentration camp that we went to was Terezín, which is located near Prague in the Czech Republic. The Nazis transformed what was formerly a military fortress into a center of torture and slave labor in the early 1940’s during World War II. Though it wasn’t an actual extermination camp, thousands died due to the extremely horrible living conditions in the camp. Malnutrition, hard labor, disease, sadistic punishments, and overpopulation resulted in the deaths of many innocent victims. Terezín was mostly used as a holding place for the Jews and other “undesirables” where the Nazis could get labor out of them before sending them off to death camps such as Auschwitz. We got to have a tour throughout the camp, and it was so hard to imagine how people living in an advanced society could inflict such pain on others with no remorse. We went into small cement rooms where hundreds of Jews were packed into standing rooms where sitting was not an option. Without toilets, beds, or any other basic living essentials, these Jews suffered in ways we can’t even imagine.

The entry into Terezin meaning "Work makes you free"

Terezín was also used as a propaganda tool by the Nazis to trick the Red Cross into believing that the camp was suitable for human life. Knowing months in advance that the Red Cross was visiting, the Nazis transformed the camp and created a video of the prisoners enjoying themselves in a vibrant, diverse community.  We watched portions of the video that the Nazis had made, and it was so disturbing to see that they had made the prisoners to play soccer, knit, and hang out with their friends as if everything was perfect. I can’t imagine having to force a smile in front of the camera, acting like I’m happy when really I’m suffering greatly. The Nazis even went as far as to construct a fake barber shop and washroom to trick the Red Cross, which was never even seen by the prisoners.  It truly is amazing what the human race is capable of, and how far they will go to cover up their crimes.

Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau

On the fifth of May, we headed to the extermination camp, Auschwitz, near Krakow, Poland. This was the field trip that I was most anxious and nervous about. I think it is so incredibly important that everyone at least attempt to fully understand what the Holocaust is all about, and to try to comprehend what the victims felt and went through. I think that from the very beginning everyone’s defense mechanisms kicked in. The heinous crimes that were committed there and the terror that was experienced by the prisoners are just too much for the human brain to fathom. I tried to let my guard down while walking through the camp and force myself to be completely open to what the victims must have felt. I don’t think it’s fair to the ones that were murdered for us as visitors to just walk through the camp and try to be emotionless. I think to get the full effect of what occurred at Auschwitz, everyone needs to be okay with showing their emotions and putting themselves in the shoes of the victim.

The wall of death where thousands were shot and killed

We first went through Auschwitz I, and everyone was quiet throughout the entire tour. We walked through some barracks and were able to see some of the remainders of what the Soviets found after liberating the camp. I felt sick to my stomach from the very beginning of the tour, but no words can fully express what I felt when I walked into a room where thousands of pounds of human hair were located that the Nazis had shaved off of their victims after they had gassed them. It was the sickest and saddest thing I’ve ever seen, and it was hard not to hyperventilate when I saw a pile of small girls’ braids that were used by the Nazi’s to make cloth in order to make money. Even now writing about this experience makes me feel sick. You can’t see something like that and walk away from it unchanged. Another room in the building that really got to me was the room that was full of pots and pans. Most people walked by this exhibition quickly, but when I stood there and stared at the dishes, I couldn’t help but picture the women who had hurriedly rummaged through their kitchens trying to pick out what supplies they would need in order to selflessly feed their families. At the time that they were packing, they had simply believed that they were just being relocated by the Nazis. Never in their wildest dreams would they have known what was in store for them; that their pots and pans would never be of use not only because the Nazis immediately stole them, but because of the incredible lack of food and starvation that they would soon face.

         After we went through Auschwitz I some more, and saw pictures of the prisoners, pictures of the victims of the medical experiments, and piles of other belongings that the Jews had, we headed to Auschwitz II – Birkenau. Birkenau is about thirty times larger than Auschwitz I and was literally created to be a killing factory. Our tour guide took us through this part of the camp somewhat quickly, and I wish I would have had more time to reflect and walk through the camp alone. As a group, we walked down the road that thousands of women, children, and others that were ‘unfit’ to work walked down on the way to their death. We stood in the gas chamber where millions of people took their last breaths and where you could see claw marks in the concrete where they had attempted to climb up the wall to save themselves. We went through a brick barrack and a wooden barrack that the prisoners were forced to live in, and got to see the remains of the crematoriums that the Nazis had tried to destroy to get rid of evidence. I apologize for not giving too much description on these parts, but really it is so hard to explain. There is so much emotion that can’t really be put into words, and the only word I can think of to describe how I felt is empty. Sick and completely empty.

The railway that led the victims into Birkenau in cattle cars

Though I can’t say that I would ever want to go back to Auschwitz again, it’s just something that I truly believe everyone should experience. The quote on the memorial located in Birkenau said it perfectly: “Forever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity…” It is so important that everyone learns about the Holocaust and experiences where it was located so it can serve as a reminder of the heinous crimes that the Nazis committed and to prevent history from repeating itself. 

Vienna and Venice

On April 10^th, we all loaded onto a bus and headed to Vienna, Austria for our second field trip. We all had to pack about 2 weeks worth of clothes into our book bags because after we spent two days in Vienna, we were headed to Venice for a couple of days and then had ten days to spend on Spring Break however we chose. When we first got to Vienna, it immediately started down pouring and hailing. We walked quite a few blocks, and by the time we got to our destination we were all completely soaked from head to toe. It’s a good thing I never take the time to fix my hair since I’ve been over here!  I loved the rain, and my friend Jess and I had a good laugh attempting to run on the muddy cobblestone while keeping up with our group sprinting ahead. We had to change our plans due to the weather, and our leader Jan (pronounced Yon) took us to the Imperial Treasury. This treasury contains incredible riches from the Habsburg Empire from the past one thousand years. In the multiple rooms, we got to see amazing artifacts such as the Scepter of Austria and the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire. We saw robes from past rulers and incredible medieval jewelry.  There were rooms and rooms full of beautiful relics, and it is unfathomable what the worth of just one of those rooms is. I learned a lot about the Habsburg family just from listening to our leader Jan, who seems to have an endless amount of knowledge on every single subject.

After our visit to the treasury, we headed to a restaurant where I ordered traditional Austrian goulash. Similar to the Czech, Austria’s definition of goulash is much different than ours. This dish contained amazingly tender roast beef with a fried egg on top, along with potato dumplings and two sweet pickles all covered in dark gravy. It was so good, but the portion was a little too small for me. Ever since I have left the United States, I swear my appetite has tripled. What once could have sufficed as a small meal in America is now a second mid-morning snack to me. I’m definitely following my Grandpa Cook’s orders and gaining weight! In Vienna I also had my first bite of a cookie in the past month. It was the first chocolate chip cookie I’ve even seen since being in Europe, and my roommate Molly was generous enough to share hers. It’s funny to see what foods you miss when they’re no longer easily available to you. I could write an entire blog post on the food I miss from America.

After lunch, we headed to the St. Stephen’s cathedral. This gigantic cathedral has a beautiful multi-colored mosaic roof and an incredible baroque-style interior. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the church, and I wish I’d done some research beforehand so I could have appreciated it more. After we visited the church, we were allowed to do whatever we wanted so we split up into groups and walked around Vienna a little more. To be honest, I wasn’t incredibly impressed with Vienna the first day. It was dirty and cold and didn’t seem to have as much beautiful architecture as what we were used to in Prague. I was definitely ready for day two in Vienna, hoping to get to see more of what the city has to offer.

St. Stephen's Cathedral

The next day, the entire group walked to the main square and had a choice between four different museums. I chose to go to the Kunsthistorisches museum or the Museum of Fine Arts. This gigantic building made it feel like you were walking through a time machine. It started with Egyptian art, clothing, and tombs (I saw a mummified cat!), and then went through Greek historical items, and then onto Roman artifacts. This museum also had items from the Habsburg Empire, and it just further demonstrated the unfathomable wealth of the Habsburg family.  In the upper part of the museum was a beautiful gallery displaying several centuries of different styles of famous art. It was also really neat because scattered throughout this part of the museum were art students that were recreating some of the famous works. Their talent was amazing, and I took the time to sit and watch some of them work for a while. The museum had so much to see, and it was all so detailed and beautiful. Even the ceilings were incredible, and I think that the rooms could’ve been completely empty and just had the ceilings to display and I still would’ve been amazed by this museum. The entire experience was overall very overwhelming because of the insane amount of visual stimuli and small details. I wish I would’ve had an audio guide to get more information out of it, but I truly enjoyed the experience.

Admiring the ginormous art in the Kunsthistorisches museum

After the museum, the group caught some sun by lying in the front lawn of the museum. It was a beautiful day and it’s the little things like that that make me so happy that I chose to study abroad. I’ve never been happier. Jan then lead the group to a really adorable open-air food market that had everything from dried fruit to fresh octopus. It was here that I tried my first authentic Austrian wiener schnitzel and I paid way too much for it. All along I thought that a wiener schnitzel was a fancy hot dog or sausage, but it’s actually pretty much just an overrated breaded beef patty. Although I wasn’t incredibly impressed, I can now say I’ve had the real thing! After that, my friend Jess and I got the best dessert I’ve had since coming to Europe. It was a flaky pastry filled with vanilla pudding and five or six different kinds of fresh fruit on top. Amazing. I really could write an entire blog post on food. Food is what I’ve spent a large portion of my money on here rather than mementos like I should be. Guess I’ll have a nice round face and a couple extra pounds as a souvenir instead!

First authentic (overpriced and overrated) Austrian wiener schnitzel

The group then headed to the palace of the past Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, Elizabeth (or Sisi) of Austria. This was where I probably learned the most throughout this entire fieldtrip. We each received an audio guide, which allowed us to take our time throughout the exhibits and learn facts about the empress that was assassinated by a needle file. Elizabeth had a very interesting story, and experienced a difficult life. Apparently because of her shyness and withdrawal from the public eye, she wasn’t extremely popular while she was alive. Elizabeth then became a symbol of beauty and grace after she was killed, and was portrayed in a much different light that didn’t realistically match to who she actually was. She became an icon represented in literature and the arts, and even has a large number of chapels named after her. We went through the palace that had rooms marked off where you could see how their home was once decorated. They had extremely beautiful furniture and stunning paintings, and I truly enjoyed this part of the field trip.

After that, we broke off into smaller groups again and were allowed to do what we wanted. We spent some time in a beautiful park, and then headed to a market that was full of handmade jewelry, food stands, and Easter goods. At this market I got my Austrian children’s book from a very nice older woman that didn’t speak a word of English. A kind Austrian couple translated for me, and I bought my favorite book so far. We ended the day by just hanging out in our hostel, and I was the most exhausted at the end of this day that I have been since coming to Europe.

Venice

The next morning we got up early to head to Venice, Italy. Our drive was about six hours and I spent a large portion of it sleeping on the floor of the bus. That is, until I woke up at one point and saw a huge cluster of ants right in front of my face and found some crawling up my sleeves. Yikes. Other than that, the bus ride was great because of the beautiful view. We got to drive through the Alps, and I loved seeing the little villages throughout the mountains and on the riverbanks. We also drove through a lot of tunnels through the mountains, and I thought that was pretty cool.

When we first got to Venice, we didn’t get the best first impression of Italy. Jan got yelled at by an Italian cop for parking in the wrong place to unload our bags, and with the time it took the policeman to go out of his way to be rude to Jan, we could’ve unloaded the bus and been on our way without any trouble. It was pretty entertaining to watch and Jan handled it very well. We then dropped our bags off at our hostel and Jan took us through a Jewish ghetto. It didn’t quite have the same effect on me as the one in Prague did, but it was still very interesting. We then wandered some more through Venice and found out how incredibly easy it was to get completely lost. There are no cars in Venice so everything is just footpaths. I’m so glad some people in our group are good at navigating because coming abroad has further confirmed my belief that I was born without a trace of an internal compass. I’ve definitely been struggling and it gets pretty embarrassing. 

My favorite picture of my favorite city

We then broke off into small groups and found an amazing pasta place. It was homemade and owned by an Italian family. Best pasta of my entire life. And of course, being in Italy, we followed it up with a huge cone of Italian gelato. Probably couldn’t have been happier. We then continued to get lost and pretty much just spent the rest of our day wandering and getting more and more lost. Venice was by far the best place to be lost in though because it was so beautiful and I got to see some really awesome things. It has been my favorite city I’ve ever been to, so far. I love the water and the colorful houses. I took a lot of pictures, but obviously none of them can quite beat seeing it in person. Later that night we ordered Italian pizza and got yelled at by the owner of the hostel and got threatened to get kicked out the next morning. That ended the day on an interesting note!

The next day we gathered as a group again and went through Doge’s Palace. This Venetian gothic-style palace was absolutely beautiful on the inside. The ceilings were covered in ornate golden decor framing beautiful paintings of past rulers, people of historical importance, and famous Biblical and Greek mythology characters. We went through institutional and governmental chambers that served the Venetian government for centuries. These rooms also contained medieval weapons and famous Biblical relics including the Holy Lance or Spear of Destiny that is believed to be the spear used to pierce Jesus’ side when he was on the cross. (It’s been proved that it’s not the actual spear, but still very cool.) 

Doge's Palace

After that, we got a lunch break and ordered gigantic pieces of deep dish Italian pizza. It was really good, but I have to admit it didn’t stand a chance up against my mom’s homemade hamburger pizza. Then, of course, we had to get another round of Italian gelato and tiramisu. We then got very lost again, and finally found our way back just in time to meet back up with the group to go through the St. Mark’s Basilica. This was such a cool experience because it was Palm Sunday and I got to spend it in a very famous European church. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take any pictures, but we each received a blessed palm. We went through the church pretty quickly because there were so many people trying to go through it, and then broke off into smaller groups again. A group of twelve of us then decided that it wouldn’t be a legitimate trip to Venice without an authentic gondola ride! We split into groups of six and it was such a cool experience. Our gondolier was so fun and sang us his favorite songs in Italian. It was great being able to see the stunning city of Venice from the perspective of the water.

First gondola ride

I wish I was better at explaining in words just how happy I have been since coming here. It’s really incredible how little things like just wandering around and noticing the little things can make me so grateful for the life I’m living. There have been so many times throughout each day that I’ve been here where I catch myself smiling for no reason. Doing what you’ve always dreamed of doing is the best feeling I’ve ever experienced. Haven’t even left Europe yet and I already can’t wait to come back.

            A blog post will be up soon about my crazy experience for spring break, but for right now I’m headed to park on this beautiful day. Thanks so much for reading!