Everyday Life In My Destination

Share your morning routine and daily commute. What do you see? What do you eat? How long do you commute? Are there any places you stop on your way? Describe what your world looks like from the moment you wake up and guide future CMCers along your daily commute to class or
internship.
     The commute. What sounds like a fable to most Claremont College students has become oh so real during my time in Prague. Essentially, my day begins at 7:45am – 8:00am, times unfathomable to me back at CMC. My commute is roughly 25 minutes, and it involves me walking to a metro station (which I still instinctively call the subway), riding it for four stops, then walking to my morning classes at Studio FAMU (Filmová a televizní fakulta Akademie múzických umění v Praze//The Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague).
The one and only
     I know, it is terrible, but I usually do not eat breakfast in the morning, as I only leave myself just enough time in the mornings to get to school on time; I suppose I just prefer my sleep over my nutrition. After heading out of the apartment I walk about 0.6km-- I don’t go by the metric system now, this is just what Google Maps is telling me I do-- or 0.4mi to get to the Anděl (Czech for Angel) Metro station.
The tragically underused in the morning dining room table
     I walk down this huge escalator—stay on the right if you’re just going to stand there and ride it down, go to the left if you plan on walking down— to the metro platform and wait for the metro heading in the direction of the Černý Most (Black Bridge) stop. I take the metro from the Anděl, to Karlovo náměstí  (Charles Square), Národní třída (Avenue of the Nation), Můstek (Little Bridge), and finally get off at Náměstí Republiky (Republic Square).



Views from Anděl

and

View inside of metro car
A view from the bottom of the extremely long escalator (it's tough not to get random people in photos)
     After disembarking I walk up a huge escalator (I am not too proud to admit that I often break a sweat coming up) and commence my 0.6km walk to Studio FAMU. The station spits me out right in the middle of Náměstí Republiky, so I walk past the Palladium shopping mall, and a variety of stores and cafés. I take a right into a smaller street and there it is: Studio FAMU.

 
Signs at the Náměstí Republiky station, little (overpriced) shops in the square, and the Palladium


     Heading back to my apartment requires me doing the same process in reverse, except that I take the metro in the direction of Zličín. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays I have elective courses at FAMU Main, which is far nearer to where I live. They are later in the evening (6:10pm and 8:00pm), so, usually, I have already been home for a while when it is time for me to leave for class, and I just take that 18-minute walk to clear my mind. The air has been nippy at times but it does me well.

"Wait, when do you eat???" Good question. I often went to the cafe at the first floor of Studio FAMU but I am personally not a fan of what they have there [but all pretty cheap, a coffee for 35Kč (Czech Koruna/Crowns, $1.53 USD) and a small sandwich for 45Kč ($1.97 USD), stop by Puzzle Salad for Chicken Bacon Caesar Salad for 129Kč ($5.66 USD). If I'm ever unsatisfied I just get a season strawberry (!!!) pie from McDonald's for only 29 Kč ($1.27 USD). I am grateful that I am living in one of the cheapest European capitals, for this would be half as fun if I was paying twice as much for everything.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life of A Study Abroad Student

Image
Homesickness is a natural part of any off-campus experience. Have you started to feel a little homesick? What do you miss about home? What have you done or currently do to help alleviate feelings of homesickness or FOMO? Describe your experience with dealing with homesickness and ways to manage while participating in an off-campus program.      I do not think I have had any explicit fits of homesickness, but rather reactionary moments that made me realize what I was fortunate enough to have had at home and do not have here. More than anything, I miss the familiarity of being at home: knowing where everything I could want and need are, knowing my way home from nearly wherever I am at, having a place that I consider to be my home. This desire for familiarity was what made me welcome Prague with open arms after Spring Break, since it was the first time in a week that I would be surrounded by a place that I felt I had at least some bearing in. Figured it wouldn't be the ...
Read more

Origins of My Host Culture

Image
List some interesting historical facts about your host destination that you have learned since your arrival. How does the history of your destination impact daily life today? Do you have the opportunity to witness any historical monuments or sites associated with these facts? Why might it be beneficial to learn about your destination’s past before arriving? What may be the part of Czech history that is most relevant to my experience here is its communist past. Czechoslovakia was communist for 40 years, beginning with a coup d'état by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in 1948 and ending in the bloodless Velvet Revolution in 1989. This period of time is marked notably by the Prague Spring on August 20, 1968, when Soviet powers invaded Czechoslovakia after one of their major political party leaders, Alexander Dubček, made a number of liberal reforms (i.e. lifting a censorship on media) ( Wikipedia ). Refusing to accept the presence of these invaders as a new normal, Charles ...
Read more

Reflections

Image
What does change mean for you? How have you changed over the course of your semester off-campus? How do you feel different? What new values have you developed?  What old values are you now starting to reject?   Generally, it is difficult for me to define change because I see myself and things around me as constantly changing. In this respect I think the focus is more towards monumental change that is most readily noticeable and available for recall; changing dietary habits or a new clothing style, for example. Spring in Prague! People in pedal boats along the Vltava River.      There is a trope about students that study abroad. That they come back changed . The trope is characterized by an air of superiority, entirely buying into their own essence of being transformed (but would that make it genuine instead?), and constantly mentioning their exploits in a different country--which, ultimately, don’t differ too much from who they are back on campus. Bu...
Read more