Finally

So, we are going to do some makeup work first, here to catch up out of my diary.

The past "two" days have been primarily used for my travel. I flew to chicago then to london then to prague. Nothing has really set in yet, which continually makes me think I'm just in denial that I'm going to be away from everything I know and love for a while or I'm just really good at dealing with new situations. I think it's more the first one though. I was just more anxious than anything else, just to get over here, and that everything would just work out. I've figured to just trust it now, every time I start to worry about something, I just stop myself and say, 'hey its got to work out' and it usually does. Maybe its just someone looking over me just to make sure I don't screw things up too bad. Anyways, I slept basically the entire way from London in awkward positions, still not really hungry enough to eat all the candy that I had brought along. (thanks mom, grandma, and megan). They did feed me twice on the plane. But as I arrived in London, and started stumbling around looking for my next gate, I realized I was in a place where I had no one. Everyone around me was speaking different languages whether it be Chinese, French, Dutch, Spanish. I seriously just remember standing, waiting for the bus to take me to the next terminal, thinking, wow, what the heck... who will I talk to? It was a weird feeling, but I definitely enjoyed it. I enjoyed being in a place where literally everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, from here on out was going to be a completely new experience for me, of course thats what I say now, we will see when I get in a city where nobody knows my name... Cheers.
Fascinating crowd I was traveling to Prague with though. I couldn't help, as I was sitting on the plane to London, notice how rowdy the group was on the plane. They were hooping and hollering and everyone seemed to be flying with at least 6 other people if not many more. The stewardess' didn't seem very happy about it, so I asked them what was the deal. And she said something about how Prague is a big place for 'stags' on the weekends. I can only imagine stags means single groups of guys. Like when you go to a dance 'stag'. The entire flight was the same way, although I still couldn't keep my eyes open. THough at one time this big brute of a man in the row next to mine started raising his voice and pointing at a gentleman in front of me. THis intrigued me, only to find out they were friends, of course, as the large man flashed a gnarly toothed smile that was sporting a few holes, British style.
After landing, it took about forty minutes to get my oversized baggage, go through customs, and find my way to the exit. Luckily, Veronika was there waiting for me. We exchanged pleasantries as we walked towards the taxi/bus station, chatting about the flight, and how I was an hour later than what I had said. Thank goodness she was there to help me, cause this taxi driver came up and was speaking Czech to her, of course not one word I understood. Basically she told him that my bags were too big for his taxi and we were going to take the bus. Now, this meant we had an adventure. First we took the bus several stops to the underground. There we rode that for several blocks to get to the ground level again, walk about quarter mile with all the bags and wait for the #9 bus. The entire time Veronika filled me in on everything. Talking with her is very easy and she is very good at speaking English. She makes fun of the way I speak Czech, cause I'm no good. She told me about school and the school I will be attending, and the food, the people and oh! the beer. There is not one thing I'm not excited for. I mean I'm even excited to try and spot potential pickpocketers. (which of course to sidestep i have to wear this dumb carrier on my neck. although it is safe). but we get dropped off at a place that sounds like melniza. this is my dorm for the next four months. This place looks like a hole in the wall and it is. The bottom floor has steel gates covering the windows, the lady at the front doesnt speak a lick of English. But she tells Veronika that I'm, of course, on the top(4th)floor, which is actually the 5th floor, cause apparently the ground floor doesnt count. So, we hike my bags, cumbersome as ever now, up the last stairwell, stopping for rest breaks and to talk about the beer we are going to drink to make this all feel better. We reach my door, 401, and step inside. It actually is spacious and has plenty of cabinet space. Sure the beds are basically made of straw, the shower could fit 12 people in it and we only have a hot plate to cook with, but it was good enough for me to call home. I wasnt looking for anything luxurious, and let me tell you, I definitely didnt get it. Hopefully i wont be spending much time in my room. We dropped off my things and headed to the nearest pub, which was full, so we went to the 2nd nearest. it was called studaka, which meant a student restaurant. Veronika bought me two Czech beers and some pork svezuzu, which was actually quite good, onions and all. 3 of Veronika's friends joined us. Her friends were very sociable and interesting people. We talked for several hours about each other's culture , things we've done, places we've been, places we want to go and beer, of course. Its funny how much ive talked about beer in only a matter of hours since being here. I'm not even that much of a beer drinker, i have a feeling that is going to change real soon. It was a great 1st night. We decided I was tired enough, so we came back. We sat in Veronika's room, drank some sweet tea, and talked about books and art until it was actually too late. I went to bed. But I did give Nika the gift, full of cherry mashes, steak soup recipes, a tornado shot glass and reception sticks. She seemed to enjoy it. But it was the least I could've done, without her today, I probably wouldn't be in my bed writing this. I'm excited for everything and not at all homesick yet. I have a really good feeling about this!