TWENTY-ONE & PRAGUE-BOUND

yes, that's right. i am officially twenty-one, which means i am getting even closer to blogging about prague while i'm actually IN prague!

anyhow. so over the past few weeks, i found out a very important fact: people actually read my blog (or at least pretend they do). at any rate, i will try not to let you down with my posts and pictures. hopefully i can break some laws or get into a bar fight to keep my avid fans on the edge of their seats... time will tell!

well, business first.
addresses.
if you want to write me while i'm gone, i will not only love you forever, but you are guaranteed to get a response - actually, you'll probably get a postcard from me anyways if i have your address, but the quality of my writing will be greatly enhanced if you write me a letter, send me a picture, whatever. if you have some free time (or want a reason to procrastinate.. or want to write me a poem)... here's my address.

Anna Cudova, UPCES Program Manager
c/o Rhee-Soo Lee
CERGE-EI
Politickych veznu 7
110 00 Prague 1
Czech Republic
Europe

to make this entry more interactive (!!!), leave me your address if you want a postcard! and even if you don't write, please keep in touch through email, facebook, skype, etc etc.

i have been in seoul for the past month and to be honest, i haven't done much. i turned 21 (dvacet jedna, in czech), ate a lot, went to the gym, watched tv, and occasionally did a little reading/internship searching. all in all, a good break. now it's starting to sink in that i'm really going to prague... i'm still nervous about housing and whatnot (especially after finding out that i am literally the last person in my program to arrive in prague)... but i'm going to stay positive. or at least try. there are plenty of things that i never thought would happen, like enjoying PE class as a junior in high school (i was actually a real pro at poisonball), or making really great friends after a summer in montana... so we'll see. i've looked through some of the housing sites and the flats look great. too good to be true, actually.

some of the "sample flats"

after a little more reading/researching, there is one very curious/odd thing. some of the flats have two bedrooms but SEVEN BEDS. and then i realized a double bed counts as two beds, and sometimes a couch that pulls out into a bed also counts as a bed. hmm. well i probably won't be too picky about my living situation because i'm still too nervous about making friends. UGH. it's like i'm in middle school all over again.

for those of you who are really curious, on february 2, i will be flying from:
seoul - munich, depart 1:15pm
munich - prague, arrive 8:45pm

don't be fooled, it's still 14+ hours of flying. the time difference is 8 hours, i think.

finally, sad story time. to celebrate my birthday, i went out to a fantastic seafood/sushi buffet with my grandma and my aunt. it was filled with wonderful food and great conversation, despite my limited korean vocabulary. well as we were leaving the restaurant, i tripped and almost fell and now i'm limping around the house because i rolled my ankle. the doctor took x-rays and explained stuff about ankle bones but the gist is that i'm fine but will probably be in pain for a few days. well. good thing lunch was worth it, and good thing i have four days left.

a little info about housing..

hello friends!


it seems like most people are at their study abroad destination or on their way there in the near future (at least in italy, france, denmark, south africa, etc). meanwhile, i am still bumming around at home, waiting 20 more days. well time at home has certainly been fruitful (read: lots of tv, food, sleep) but as february 2 approaches, there is one thing that worries me a bit: housing. most of my friends are aware that i am nervous about living with strangers in a foreign country, and the UPCES housing system is pretty unique in that we are going to live in flats in prague, signing a short-term lease with roommates once we get there. this means that as of right now, i have no idea who i'll be living with or where i'll be spending the next four months. today we got an email from our study abroad director explaining how exactly the housing process will work:


The first three days (3-5 Feb) are devoted to giving you information and helping you find a flat. You’re required to attend the Orientation sessions but there will be ample time to look at flats. Be prepared:  the first week is the most challenging because everything is so new and different. The UPCES staff is here to help in every way possible so don’t worry.  Make an effort to meet the other students immediately and you’ll find the process will go quite smoothly. 


this is what i got from the above blurb:
MAKE FRIENDS OR PERISH! HURRY! MAKE FRIENDS! PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE! NOW! DO IT! QUICK! OR YOU WILL END UP ALONE IN A BIG EMPTY FLAT PAYING 1000 DOLLARS (roughly 7127392173120 KORUNA) A MONTH! 


sounds like fun. we're spending the first few days at a hotel until we can find a flat and the UPCES staff is organizing a little meet-and-greet gathering on feb 1 and 2 at 4pm in the hotel lobby. well, i don't arrive until 8:30pm on february 2, and orientation starts on the 3rd. ah. well i should come up with good stories and/or reasons why i'll make an excellent apartment-roommate in the next twenty days before i leave.

from one continent to the next!

happy new year!

i have made it to continent 2 (out of 3): from north america to asia. i actually hand-wrote a blog entry when i was at la guardia because i got to the airport three hours early and i was done by 6:50am (though my flight wasn't until 9:30 to dc) but now i don't know where it is... well from dc i had a lovely 14-hour flight to tokyo filled with sleep deprivation, hunger, and total nausea during the last hour of the flight.. and then i had another two hours from tokyo to seoul, but i finally made it home after 11 months of american life at 11:15pm on december 31, 2009. the beginning of 2010 has been uneventful - mostly eating, sleeping, and watching tv. actually, that's all i plan on doing for the next month before leaving. i still have gel pens and index cards to make czech flash cards so maybe i'll get on that soon. more realistically, i'll spend the next month watching a lot of kpop and looking for internships. more of the former than the latter. if you are curious at all about the latest in kpop, be sure to ask me. if you can believe it, there is a song about marshmallows. when i saw it on tv yesterday, there was a girl singing about marshmallows (which we don't even have in korea, btw) and there was a dancing marshmallow on the stage. oh, it's good to be home.

if you're curious, youtube "marshmallow" by IU...

i don't actually have a lot to update for the blog since i'm not doing much (haha). oh i did get my plane ticket for prague and i am leaving on february 2 - flying from seoul to munich, then munich to prague! soon, i will be posting pictures of this city rather than kpop songs about food. can't wait!

prague: less than a month to go!