Daily Life

           It is crazy to me to think that I left Kearney one month ago, and that I have already been in Olomouc for three weeks. Even though it has only been three weeks though, it seems like more time than that has passed. In fact, I know I have on more than one occasion referenced returning to Olomouc as "going back home." It really has become somewhere that I can call home, and I'm grateful that life here has not taken too long to become accustomed to. Besides going on a few field trips, living here has been pretty normal, and I think that made it easier to adjust to being abroad. As far as what that routine is, here is a quick rundown:

           We do not have classes until 3 P.M. every day, unless it is Friday, and then they are at 10:30. But during the rest of the week, I sleep in a little and just take a lazy morning.

           After I finally get up and am ready to go for the day, I either eat lunch in my room, or I take a tram into town and eat at a restaurant there. One place that we’ve found and that we all love is Istanbul Kebabs. They have really cheap kebabs on Mondays because of a student discount, and they are delicious! These kebabs might not be what you think of when you think of a kebab. They have meat, lettuce, fries, and sauce all mixed up in a box or on a piece of bread.

           Besides lunch though, I sometimes just go into town to walk around and explore the town center. I found some cool souvenirs already, and I cannot wait to find some more. The most recent souvenirs that I found are Easter eggs, both real and wooden, that are a big part of Easter for the people here in the Czech Republic.

Real Eggs

Wooden Eggs

           After wandering, I head to the university for class. Most days, we have a lecture over some part of the Czech culture and history, a Czech language class, and a class by one of our two Czech professors, Jan and Martin, who have been presenting about the Holocaust and other related topics. Class is normally done by 7, so after that we are free for the night.

           I generally head back to the dorms after class and eat supper there, because it is a lot easier and cheaper to buy stuff at the grocery store and make it then go out and eat every day.

           Almost every night, some of us from UNK get together as a group and do something. Some nights, we go to a pub with some of our roommates who are studying here from all of the world. Other nights, we go to one of the cultural parties that the different countries put on. Occasionally though, we just have a lazy night in and all hang out in someone’s room and eat popcorn. No matter what we do though, we are generally up kind of late, but it is fun no matter what just bonding as a group while being able to experience all of these new things together.

           As you can tell, although my routine here may be a little different, life in Olomouc does not vary too much from what it is like back in Kearney. The hours I keep are definitely different than I’m used to, but it just makes it easier to talk with everyone back home if I’m up late, since there is a seven hour time difference between us. It has been a lot of fun, and very interesting also, to try to adjust to living in a new place, and I would not change the experience for anything!