PSATs and Prague

So I haven't updated in a while, but I just got back from Prague, so I have a little bit to write about. Prague is a beautiful city, but I think there are more tourists there on a given day than czechs.

I went to Prague to take the PSATs (I know, I know, why?). I left at like 8 on Tuesday morning, and got there at like 1. I got to wander around a little bit on Tuesday, and saw Charles Bridge, and went around the old city (stareměsto). The metro there from the train station was the first time I had really seen an american (other than the other girl in my district, and my english teacher) in 6 weeks.

The old city has so many tourists. Every store and restaurant has signs in english, german, usually also czech and sometimes italian or spanish. Everyone speaks english. Everyone. There are tour groups everywhere, from all over the world. The common guidebooks you see say Prague, Prag, and Praga. Charles Bridge is also incredibly crowded. That whole area is one of the main destinations for tourists.

After that, I met Jen, another girl from the US who goes to school in Prague. We went to Vasiclav square, and got lunch, and talked. That is like the shopping centre of Prague. The one thing we did find though that I have missed is a place where you can get coffee to go. It's completely unheard of here, and I like just walking around, drinking coffee. Jen and I tried to find the Jewish Quarter, but by the time we found some of the synagogues, we had to go, so hopefully next time I'll be able to see more of it. Apparently there was a terrorist threat against the Jewish Quarter, so there are lots of police there.

The PSAT went well, I hope. I took it at the International School of Prague, but on the way there I ran into a group of students from Riverside school and christian international school of prague (the two other, smaller, international schools in Prague), and so I went there with them, and took it in the same room. We had to take the bus back into Prague (ISP is on the very outskirts), and we had to wait, so I got to talk to them for a little bit. Most of them have lived in Prague for a couple of years (the longest I think was 12), but none of them really know much czech. I probably know the same amount or more than they do, and I've only been here for 6 weeks. They were nice though.

After the PSAT, I went back to the old city, and got a bagel for lunch (Jen and I passed it the day before, and it looked really good), and then I headed back to the train station so I could catch a train back to Opava to be back in time for dancing. Wel, as it turned out we didn't have dancing last night for some reason. As soon as I found this out, I stood up to get off the train (There was one a couple of hours later, and I wanted to see more of Prague), but right as I got to the door, the train started moving! So I had to sit back down. I guess I'll have to wait to see the rest of Prague. The other interesting thing that happened on this train ride was that, from what I gathered from someone's broken english, there was a bomb threat on the track near Prague, so we had to stop in Kolin (like 30 minutes away), and wait. It turned out to be a false alarm, but it's a story to tell about my first time in Prague.

Prague is a pretty amazing city, but I'm glad that I wasn't placed there. It would have been cool to go to school in the city, but most people there are having a lot of problems. Most of the host families apparently only hosted to learn the students respective languages, everyone speaks english, and so people are having a hard time learning czech, and a lot of people are having problems with school for various reasons. With so many tourists also, and just being such an international/big/tourist destination city, Prague doesn't have the same czech being as smaller towns do, or even bigger towns (like Brno, the 2nd biggest city), in other parts of the county. I like my town, and I think I am getting a total czech experience now, which is what this exchange is about, learning the culture and the language. For me, right now, Prague is a place to visit, and who knows, maybe later I'll want to move there (it has been added to my list of possible cities to live in; a semi long list).