Well, I've had less time to write then I thought. I arrived on Sunday morning. Unfortunaly after very long uncomfortable flights, I spent a lot of time sleeping. Classes began on Monday. We started with an intro and breiff overview of what the course entails. I'll write more on that later. Then we had a breif tour of the city. After which, we where given maps and a list of things to find in the city, then compeatly abandon by our guide! It was not to bad tought, we could not find all the things on the list, but we did not get lost either. With a map and a little patience, Prague is a pretty easy city to nagigate. Especaily by Metro. The metro line is quite new and very efficient. You can get from one side of the city to the other very quickly. it can be crowded during rush hour, but not so bad that you can't find a spot. And Czech people are pretty polite. They always move for their elders, and they are pretty quiet too. Its easy to find American or British tourists on the Metro or trams. Their the loud people. So just a tip, if your coming to Prague, they like it quiet, and save the yelling for in the home or if you do something very wrong. I've not been yelled at (yet). Also, they are big soccer fans. Actualy, thats the loudest I've heard them, when a team scores a goal.
The Czech Republic lives up to its beer reputation also. Its quite good and everyone drinks a lot. So far, the best I've had is nonfiltered. I find it pretty hard to say in Czech, and even harder to remember. O, yea Czech spelling is nothing like it sounds, so don't even bother. You can spell words phoneticaly, as they sound to you, or you can learn how to spell them correctly. Untill I learn Czech pronunciation, I'll stick to phoneticaly. Even then its fairly hard. Fortunatly, there is a great deal of English, and a lot of signes are easy to decipher. So even if you don't know any Czech, you can usualy find what your looking for. But here is another tip for the traveler, you get better service if you at least try to speak in Czech, at least hello, yes, no, and so on. Especialy hello, its considered polite to say hello as you enter a store or just about anywhere. And if a door is close, close it behind you. If open, leave open. Thats also considered polite. There are not many elevators here either. And the ones I've been on a very slow. But plenty of stairs. Good for keeping in shape! The Czech also love their escilators. They are everywhere. And some of them are very fast! The one at my metro stop goes down something like a hundred feet, and it drops almost faster then you could fall! But stick to the right hand side, both up and down. People sometimes walk/run up and down them. If ever in doubt about where to stand or how to get onto something or when to cross the street, just watch a local. I've learned to stay off the left side of escelators, and that walk/no walk sighns are more for decoration then actual law. Just go with the locals, and you'll be fine.
Same for finding someplace to eat. Try and stay out of the tourist areas, Charles Bridge and the castle. The places around there are generaly much more expensive. Try and find somehwere with locals, and a little more out of the way. The food is just as good, and cheeper. Especialy the beer. Its almost twice as much in the tourist areas, and its the same beer. So look around, and you can save a bit of money. Plus its more fun to get out of the tourist areas and see what authentic Prague is like. I'll right more on finding good food later, after I've had a bit more experience myself.
As always, keep checking back for updates! Cheers!!!
Jake
