FINAL blog

This blog is a summary of everything schoolwork, social life, packing and traveling, money, and the must-do's. This is for those wondering if they could, should, or want to do a study abroad in the Czech.  I hope you enjoy my take on things over here and find this useful :) 

PACKING AND TRAVELING:

Packing for this trip was seriously one of the most challenging things ever!! I packed and unpacked about 50x before I left and that was a huge mistake! PACK ONCE right before you leave! The one thing I wish I would have brought that I failed to is my big hoodie and left a bunch of the others home! I also wish I would have left at home the cosmetics and preparatory items (lotions, perfumes, hair supplies) I used most of it once or twice that’s it! The only thing I feel like for linens that I “needed” was a towel I brought two of them one for my hair and one for my body could have got away with just one.  Im super glad I brought pictures, and keep sack things like that! And also extra head phones, chargers for my phone (broke 3 of them). I wish I would have left at home  CLOTHES I didn’t need near as much clothes as I brought, I DID wear all the clothes I brought but I did not need them by any means.  My travel tips are simple, have a buddy,  it makes the trips better and time more efficient to have someone to talk to.  I preferred taking the bus long distances because it got to places faster it seemed like for me  and use Student Agency when taking mini trips or as often as possible.  I do recommend using  the train when going to like Olomouc to Prague or in between places as such.  I recommend the salt mines they were so beautiful, a true beauty. Budapest was amazing so much to do and the night life was fabulous!

SOCIAL LIFE:

I did not go out and party so meeting new people was kind of hard, but we did get the chance to meet a few check students. Martin and Jan set up a meeting with ISHA (Czech students) and they told us about them and talked to us a little about Czech life. I spent a large amount of my free time getting lost in Olomouc or wandering around seeing what I can find. What better way to spend your time then discovering something new!!!  Is there anything you regret not doing more of in your free time?traveling to other places, and getting lost there.  I really think that some of the best events were ones that wer not intended to ”impress us”. During orientation we went on this trip to the caves, no one was impressed and didn’t care to be there.  But one of the better events they told us about was the may day celebration, and  the garden party.  Embrass the time over here!! Take all the chances you  can explore Olomouc! Get involved with events, the things that were least likely for me to like I loved the most!!

SCHOOL WORK:

My academic experiences did not changea  whole lot in any way! I am close with my professors back in the states and I was here as well!  2) Grading. I feel the grading here is pretty standard for college classes! If you do the work there is no issues you slack off and try to sneak by you will not and you will fail!  3) Study habits. I SERVERELY INCREASED my study habits  I do not learn history very well so I studied and did a large amount of research while over here! 4) Library. I never went to the library for anything.  The think the language barrier that I felt with some of the presenters in our lectures were difficult to overcome.  Most spoke pretty good English but I feel like there were a few that were hard to understand! I also believe that the professors that sat down and preached to us on what ever their topic was, was a hinderance. I felt like they were not interested in the topic and it was boring!

MONEY & COMMUNICATIONS:

I recommend having around $3000 so about $250 a week, it worked well for me to had this much, it was not hard to come up with this amount and it was comfortable enough of an amount that I never worried about not having enough!! And half the time I didn’t use all of that money on food or whatever so I spent it on shopping and going to do things.  I did not exchange any money before the program I figured I could just pull from the ATM when I got here and that worked out well for me.  Once I got accepted in to the program I went and set up a travelers account at my bank! I ONLY used that debit card while I was over seas and each week I would pull money out so I got charged once a week the over seas charges!! I never used a credit or check while I was over here. I accessed all my money through  ATMs.

                On books I bought two copys of the required book a kindle version and a hard back! And im glad I did I lost the book for about 4 weeks  :( so im glad I had the back up, which is why I had the back up. School supplies I spent about $20 I bought a few good pens and pencils and a 3 subject notebook, a folder for papers and some note cards and I was golden! FOOD!! I spent about $100 on food when I ate out often in a week but if I went to globus  (shopping center like Sam’s club) I would only use about $50 a week! I didn’t use any money on entertainment really. Travling I spent on the whole trip about $700 on traveling! A few planes trains and bus’ not horrible but I didn’t do a large amount of traveling!!  Toiletries were not expensive for me over here at all, they are very comparible to American prices for that area of supplies! I hated washing my clothes by hand! ( my roommate and I did that for the first half of the trip), the second half I decided I was WASHING in a washer! And I spent about $7 to wash and dry my clothes every time but this includes laundry detergent! So about every two weeks  $15 for my two loads! I communicated back home through facebook, facetime, and skype, and imessage! Free for all of them! And as long as the internet was working I was able to do as such!

                A few last things: I recommend an umbrella not needed but came in handy rained a large amount for us and I would severly limit the summer clothes to bring over I only wore short two times over here the whole time! Expect the unexpected! Nothing makes since for a while and enjoy that, all the new experience I got because I understood nothing and nothing was “going right” were truly the best times!

MUST DO’s

1-      Get lost in every place you go.

2-      Take the off the beaten paths they usualy can lead to places that are hidden and have great views.

3-       May day celebrations: they were a blast! So much to do so much to see

4-      Hang out with Czech’s they know where all the fun stuff is and when to go to places.they know there area let them help!

5-      I kow this is cheesy: but take one morning when you don’t have anything the next day, and just watch the sun come up and just realize where you are and take it all in :) real eye opener!

6-      HAVE FUN!!!