i suck at keeping up with this.

And now for the update I really did write today!

Sorry to keep you in suspense about my adventures for so long haha! It's surprising how "little time" I feel like I have here. When I last left you I was off to Berlin. Sadly, Berlin did not see me. Mallory & I set off towards the bus station, in the direction we were told to go by the lady who sold us the bus tickets, but she lied to us. We ended up going to a whole other far side of town, and by the time we figured out where we really were supposed to be, got back on the tram to go there, made a mad dash for the bus, we got there to find no yellow bus in sight. And miraculously we had made it just on time. Some guy waiting for his bus said sometimes they run late, so we waited until a yellow bus showed up 20 minutes later, but it wasn't ours and the driver said that bus had already come through.. which meant it left early. Well we decided since we had a return ticket we'd just catch a train to Prague, then Dresden and finally Berlin. We got to the train station with an hour or so until the next scheduled train to Prague, and the lady there wouldn't sell us tickets! She just kept saying "no, no." We then decided since it was going to cost more money to get to Berlin than we would have actually spent the whole weekend there, that it just wasn't worth it. Needless to say we were pretty bummed. We just really wanted to see the Brandenburg Gate, which is the symbol of Germany, (among other awesome things in Berlin of course!) but that didn't happen unfortunately. A few kids had stayed around for the weekend so we all hung out, did some grilling, all that good stuff. Our Friday grill out also included a 5 hour marathon of The Office. That was wonderful. That Saturday four of us took a train to Brno, which is the 2nd biggest city in the CR, and spent the afternoon there. We saw a cathedral and walked around the palace, and played frisbee on the royal grounds.. that was pretty cool.

I spent this past weekend in Olomouc as well. Much like last weekend, with a lot of grilling and hanging out lol. Thursday went to a festival and saw a band from Prague that's apparently pretty big in the CR, and they were pretty good! Friday night we went dancing which was fun. Saturday I went to the Olomouc zoo, which was pretty cool. They had a pen of goats that you could go into, so I went in a held a baby goat - probably my favorite part of the zoo haha! It was just so darn cute! They had a lot of cool animals, but unfortunately we went during sleeping time so most of the animals were a little less than energetic. But it was still pretty cool. I don't know if I've ever mentioned how everyone brings their dogs everywhere here, but if I didn't now is a perfect time. People take their dogs everywhere, into stores, McDonalds, the trains, and the zoo! Quite interesting huh?

Our group is no longer the only group of Americans in Olomouc. Last week a ton of kids from Georgia came. There's about 30 of them from Valdosta State who live at the other set of dorms across town by the University, and another group that's kind of from a lot of places, about 30 of them as well. We kind of feel like our territory is being invaded lol, we really liked being the only Americans.. and we've met a few of them, and they're kind of the stereotypical Americans in Europe.. and I don't think our group was like that, we adjusted really well. Oh well right?

We're all starting to freak out a little because Wednesday we have our Czech language final... this language is so hard! So lots and lots of studying will be done today and tomorrow to get ready for that, and then Monday is our last day of classes. Tuesday we'll be leaving for Southern Bohemia and we'll be there for 4 days, come back and then we have the last weekend and week free before heading back to the states. A good friend of mine just arrived in Italy for a month study abroad there, so I'm trying to get there for a few days that last week.. we'll see if $$ allows that to happen! :)

"Everything happened in Poland.."

For you, my dear blog readings, I apologize this update is so long overdue.. but here's the last weekend in April for ya - Slovakia & Poland!

On our bus drive to Slovakia we stopped at a castle and hiked up the "mountain" to it. I don't remember what castle it was, but it was really old, and cool. Our bus drive continued to Levoca, Slovakia where we stayed the night. We ate at a small restaurant near our hotel and they had mashed potatoes! They were delicious, and I had been craving them the week before when I was sick. The next morning we went into the church in the town, which is home to the tallest alter in the world, 60 feet tall! We walked around the square just a little bit before beginning our journey to Krakow, Poland. We got stuck in a big traffic jam, which was annoying, but we made it entertaining enough. One of the guys started telling us great things about Poland which was really entertaining.. like Earnest Hemingway wrote a novel about the evergreen trees of Poland there, Tu Pac is actually living there, and lots of other random stuff like that. He came up with "American history is a myth, everything happened in Poland" which then became a great joke.

On the outskirts of Krakow we stopped to tour the salt mines. From what our guides were saying, I was expecting more of a "cave" with small spaces and stuff.. but it wasn't really like that. It was really "touristy" you could say, and nothing that made you feel claustrophobic or anything. It was interesting, but not as cool as I thought it was going to be. There was a cavern there that 2 men spent 67 years creating, and it was just beautiful! People even get married down there. Crazy! The next day we saw some government buildings.. I'm not really sure what they were, because by the time we had waited an hour to go in I had lost interest. It just kind of like another old building with old stuff. We also saw a cathedral where a lot of Polish royalty are buried. For lunch we ate at Pizza Hut! It was sooo good, and they actually had free refills on pop! (No where in Europe has that!) I spent most of the afternoon with a friend down at the riverfront, talking and people watching, which was really nice and relaxing.

Sunday we went to Auschwitz. It was such an experience.. although I did get really upset at some people on our group who spent most of the time joking around and talking about stupid things.. I feel like if you don't want to have the experience there, that's your own decision, but you don't need to be rude and ruin it for other people. It was difficult being there of course, thinking of the horrific things that happened there. I will admit though that it was not as moving of an experience as the one I had when I went to the Mauthowsen (not spelled right!) concentration camp in Austria when I was in high school. Auschwitz felt more.. touristy.. there were way more people there and the museum was not as personal as the tour we took in high school.. where there weren't many people around, and you could feel what happened there. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I got to go and it was an experience, it was just very different. It's a hard thing to do, but if you ever have the opportunity I encourage it!

Well, that's about it for Poland I guess! I'm leaving now for Berlin with one of the girls here, so you'll get an e-mail about that next week! Hope you're all doing well, and Happy May Day!

another week in the CR

Well another week has passed me by here in the Czech Republic, or the CR as we like to call it. Mostly just because it's easier to say. Unlike the language, which is sooo difficult! I butcher it like none other... but other people in my class seem to have the same problem so at least we're all in it together.

This week has been a difficult one for me, and the first time since being here that I truly just wanted to be at home. As some of you know, we had to put down Rusty this week. We found out he had cancer while I was in Paris with mom, and the vet said it had spread quicker than she had ever seen cancer spread. That was really hard for me, not just because of the whole idea of losing a pet, but the fact that I couldn't be there to be with him or even to say goodbye. A couple of my friends took me out to dinner and a movie the night they put him down so that I wouldn't be alone, and so I had a little bit of a distraction and wouldn't just be sitting there thinking about it. Of course, I did think about it, but at least I wasn't just sitting around by myself, and of that I am greatful.

In the sadness of losing Rusty, I did receive some news that helped to raise my spirits. My sister-in-law told me she is pregnant! I am very excited to be an aunt again! This good news couldn't have come at a better time. Hopefully this time I will be able to be there when the baby is born - when Hayden was born I was in Italy and didn't find out until I got home!

This weekend was fairly relaxed, which was nice after having such an emotional week. Yesterday I didn't do much at all, and today I just read a lot. I walked to a little pond I had gone running past the other day, which was nice. I started reading "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis this morning and I only have 1 chapter left, which I will finish before I go to bed. It's a great book, if you haven't read it, you should.

This week I only have 3 days of classes, then on Thursday we are leaving to go to Poland, where we will be through the weekend. I'm not sure what all we're seeing, but we are going to Auschwitz, which I'm looking forward to.

Budapest, Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam, Normandy - WOW!

Wow it has been a crazy 2 weeks of traveling! I'll try to keep it short & simple, as a regular e-mail would be quite long!

OK, so April 1st my group that I'm here with left for Budapest, Hungary. We were there for only 2 days, and it was pretty, but I don't think it's a favorite city of mine. Most of our touring was a walking tour around the city. We did however eat at this amazing little place that was known for it's desserts, and they were fabulous! We also went to a spa, which Budapest is famous for I guess, and that was nice and relaxing!

After Budapest was Vienna, where we also stayed for about 2 days. We went to the Treasury Museum, which was kinda boring, the Natural History Museum, and an older art museum. In the art museum we saw a piece of the wall that surrounded Babylon in 400 (I believe) B.C. during the time of King Nebuchadnezzar's reign. It was so cool, quite possibly the coolest thing I've seen on my trip yet! As our Vienna trip ended, our week of spring break began.

On Sunday I left for Paris and met up with a friend of mine who was one of my RA's the semester I spent at Berry College. It was so great to see her and spend time with her family, and she took me on a brief tour of Paris. We also had the best cup of coffee there was. And it really was, waaaay better than Starbucks haha. Monday I met up with my mom who flew in for the week! We saw Notre Dame & the Pantheon that day. Tuesday was our big day! We went to the Eiffel Tower (not all the way to the top - I was a little too freaked to go that high!), the Arc de Triomph, the Moulin Rouge, Sacre-Coeur, a cemetery where we saw the graves of Oscar Wilde, Chopin, & Jim Morrison, had some supper and went back to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night! On Wednesday we went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa (whose eyes really do follow you wherever you go!) but it was quite crowded and all the signs were in French, which honestly made it difficult for me to enjoy it. I learned I don't really have much of an appreciation for really old art by artists I've never heard of whose pictures are all of half naked people and all look the same. We went by the resturant Johnny Depp owns (!!) and also saw the Opera House, which as you may know is the place Phantom of the Opera, a favorite, is based on, so that was really cool! Now, if you go to Paris, there's 2 things you must try: crepes (with nutella is best!) and croissants. mmm!!

Thursday we got up super early and got a train to Amsterdam. I honestly must say I liked Amsterdam way better than Paris. The city was so quaint and the buildings were just so neat. And everyone, young and old, rides bikes! Plus all the canals just make it so beautiful! In Amsterdam we went to the Van Gogh museum which I LOVED! Although they didn't have Starry Night there, my favorite, the rest of his paintings there were just so beautiful, I think he's one of my favorite painters. We also went to the Anne Frank house, which was really cool. It's so sad to learn about all the horrific things that happened to those people and millions of others, but it was really neat to be able to be there. Friday we took a train to Harlem and went to the Corrie ten Boom museum which was also really neat, and went into a church whose organ was played by Mozart and Handel.

And on to Normandy we went! We went to the American National Cemetery there, I really loved that. It was so peaceful and beautiful, I wish we could have had more time there! And the museum they had there was very interesting. We went onto Omaha beach too, where the American's landed in the Normandy Invasion. Very cool.

Mom left really early on Sunday, so I spent the day alone since my flight to Prague wasn't until 8pm. And now here I am back at school, another week of classes ahead. I discovered a little dessert cafe here the other that has crepe like things with blueberries.. oh so fabulous!

Snowboarding in the Alps!

Time for another update on the Adventures of Emily in Europe! This weekend we had a long weekend because of Easter, and what would be more fun than a ski trip to Austria? Nothing, really. Well, snowboarding for me.. I've always wanted to try it and figured the Alps would be a pretty awesome place to go. We left Friday by train.. 3 trains and many hours later, we arrived in Schladming, Austria. I must say it is probably the cutest, quaintest little town I've ever been in. It's also where Arnold Schwarzenegger goes skiing, fyi. After such a long day we were of course hungry, and proceeded to supper. The hotel served a 5 course meal, much fancier than I'm used to for sure, but it was good. The soup was some of the best I've ever had in my life! In fact, it was better by far than any part of the meals. The first night we had a vegetable bouillon, then potato leak, and the last night a mediterranian vegetable. mmmmm!! Also that evening, I had the opportunity to watch a little bit of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in German. Now many would say, what's the point of watching a movie in a language you can't understand, but when you know the movie as well as I do, I knew what they were saying anyway.. so that was kinda cool.

Saturday we hit the ski shop to rent our gear, and I signed up for a beginners snowboarding lesson. Given that I've never snowboarded before and really know nothing about it, I figured it'd be a good idea. So my friend Josh said he'd help me get to the right place for my lesson and I could hang out there and play around on the easy slopes and he could get on with skiing, since he's good and knows what he's doing. Well, we went up the wrong mountain.. instead, we came to the top of a 1,800 some foot mountain full of intermediate and above level slopes with a beginner slope here and there. And I had to get back down to the bottom. Now, never having been on a snowboard, I was a bit intimidated.. and I fell.. a lot. One such fall, my best one, involved a bit of a role and what I at first thought was a broken arm, as I could not move it. Fortunately though, I was able to get back up and the pain subsided for awhile. After 3-3.5 hours, we made it to the bottom! I was so relieved! I made it back to where I needed to be not too late for my lesson and learned how it was done. By that time it was already 3:30, and having the morning I had had, I was ready to call it a day when we got to the bottom.

Talk about personal growth, haha! I was pretty proud of myself for making it all the way down that big mountain, knowing absolutely nothing about what I was doing. By the end of the day my legs were on fire and my whole body ached, but it was soooo much fun! I definitely want to go again. My instructer was impressed with what I had done and said I was a really fast learner, so that was encouraging as well.

Unfortunately, Saturday night I must have eaten something that didn't quite agree with me, because I got sick.. and even more unfortunately I didn't get to go snowboarding the second day, due to the fact I spent most of the morning throwing up.. which was not fun. But I was feeling better by Sunday afternoon, and was able to walk around the town. And Monday we headed back to Olomouc, and classes began again today. And that's it!

week 2 is here

Well I have made it through my first full week and weekend in the Czech Republic! This past weekend we went to Prague, which is such a beautiful city! We had a 3 hour train ride before our arrival then headed over to our hostel to get all settled in. As this was my first time in a hostel I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but we stayed in rooms for about 6 or 7 people, and down the hall was bathrooms and a shower room for all the rooms on the floor. If you want an idea of our room, picture Annie, because that's pretty much what it looked like haha.

We walked around the city Friday afternoon and got to see the Astronomical Clock, the Old Town Square, a bunch of really cool looking buildings that I have no idea what they were, Charles Bridge, and the Lennon Wall. The view at the bridge was really pretty, you could see the castle and the whole surrounding area, and later we went in a tower there which had the most beautiful view of the city I saw while we were there. As a Beatles fan, I also really liked the Lennon Wall. During the communist reign here, which only ended 15-20 years ago, people graffitied the wall in honor of Lennon because his music gave them hope. Pretty cool. Later that evening while walking through the Old Square there was an orchestra playing the Beatles music, and that was just awesome, because who would have thought you'd ever hear that from an orchestra? Beautiful.

Saturday we went to the Prague Castle and Cathedral, which I must say was actually not that impressive. The castle just looked like a big building, not like what one usually pictures when you think of a castle. But the cathedral was gorgeous! I got kicked out of one of them though, because I followed a couple people from my group thinking we were going to another room I hadn't seen yet, and when I realized we were heading outside I turned around and the man said "no, no" and shut the door in my face. How rude! I later learned that the view from a tower in that cathedral was gorgeous, so unfortunately I missed out on that. After our group split we wandered around and guess what we found? Starbucks! It was huge, they had a bunch of rooms and then a whole downstairs area to enjoy coffee! It was great. We then wandered around to do some shopping, but unfortunately were unable to locate the 2 shops we had seen before. That night a few of us went looking for a jazz club we had seen, and although we didn't find it we found another one, so it was ok!

Sunday we went to the place I was most excited about - the Jewish Quarters and Old Jewish cemetary. One of the synagog's had the names of all the Jewish people from Czech who were victims of the holocost painted on its walls, that was really neat. Then we went to the cemetary. I believe it's about a square block and there are some 20,000 people buried there, because the Jews were only allowed to be in a certain part of town. Being there reminded me of going to the concentration camp in Austria when I was in high school. It's so hard to imagine the millions of people who were victims simply because they were Jews. It's just heartbreaking. We're going to Auswitz concentration camp in Poland in April, and I'm looking forward to that. After the Jewish Quarters we had a little free time then our 3 hour train back to Olomouc, which I slept most of the way as I did not get much sleep over the weekend.

This week we started our regular lectures, today was about the influence of the Czech media.. it was alright, but I hope they will get a little more interesting. Oh, and Happy St. Patrick's day to you all! St. Patrick's day was actually on Saturday here, because apparently the pope has power to change the holiday, which he did.. which is weird. But I wore green today anyway. And also took a 4 and a half hour nap. And had some falafle for dinner. What a great day, huh?

Oh, in reference to my last e-mail about the old ladies with crazy colored hair - I know what it's all about. During the communist reign, which hasn't been over too terribly long, women were not allowed to dye their hair at all, so now that they are able to they kinda go a little dye happy. But there's the 411 on that.

OK, Peace, love, and the luck of the Irish!!

Hello from Czech!

Hello Hello!

Well I've made it safely to the Czech Republic! Our first plane from Omaha left Sunday morning, followed by a 6 hour layover in Memphis, TN. My dear parents picked me up at the airport since I had such a long layover, and we enjoyed the Olive Garden as well as Graceland. What a layover, huh? Our 8ish hour plane to Amsterdam would have been much better had I been able to sleep... but that doesn't really happen for me on planes unfortunately. We then had a short layover in Amsterdam, a plane to Prague, and finally a bus ride to Olomouc (pronounced a-la-moats). When we arrived we got our room assignments, unpacked, and after 2 days of traveling and barely any sleep, I went to bed!

The school here is much different than universities in the states. Our dorms, which are by the cafeteria, are across town from the classrooms, so we have to take the tram to class. The dorms are nice, a bit small, but nothing to complain about.. except the blood stains on the wall by my bed. Ew. We share a suite with 4 other rooms, and there's 2 bathrooms and a tiny kitchen. My roomate and I have met 2 of our suitemates, 1 Czech student and 1 exchange student from England who's been here for 4 years... both guys... which is weird, but they both seemed friendly. (It's ok mom, we never see them, don't worry!) There is also a girl across the hall, but we just saw her once.

Yesterday we had an orientation to Palacky (pronounced Palasky) University where we have a Czech language class and then a lecture (pretty much about their country, from politics to music, art, history, etc.) each day. I then took a nap, being quite exhausted, and later had my frist trip to a Czech supermarket, which was pretty much like Walmart. Got a few essentials -Nutella & bread and banana's. (Brit & Anna, I knew you would appreciate that!) We survived it pretty well, although there were a few times we had to watch people to learn how some things were done. We also walked through the local mall, which is much nicer than the one in Kearney. There's a cinema there, I'm sure we'll see a movie or two at some point. Then later we wandered about the city in search of a resturant and found a nice Italian place in the square.

Today we had our first Czech lesson, and let me tell you, this language has got some weird pronunciations! Hopefully we won't butcher it too badly while we learn it. Later we'll be touring the city a bit, getting familiar. Also, something I noticed just today but thought was interesting.. I've seen 3 old ladies today who had dyed their hair. Now normally, one would think, oh, some natural color right? Wrong! 1 had light blue and the other 2 light pink. And they were like 80! Weird.

OK, well I guess that's all for now, just wanted to say hello and tell you about my first few days in the Czech Republic! I have my mailing address here but it's up in my room where I am not, so I'll get it to you next time! Let me know what's going on with you, although I don't know how long it'll be before I respond I'd love to hear from you!

i am so blessed!

Life has been so crazy lately... but recently I've been taking a step back to really look at some things, and I just wanted to share something I've rediscovered.

Since Levi's accident, one of the things I've really learned is how important relationships are. Whether it be with God, family, friends, or a "special someone," they are what get me through everything. I've learned a lot about making the most of my close relationships, but also that it's ok to let go of those that are just going to bring you down. I've began to understand how important it is to be able to truly trust and open up to people, and that it's ok if that group of people isn't your whole group of friends.

I feel so incredibly blessed by the people that God has put in my life. I'm much closer to my family now than I have ever been, including my family out here - I feel like I have 2 sets of parents, 2 brothers, and I'm going to have a 3rd sister pretty soon! I've got my best friend who's been through it all with me for over 17 years and counting. And I've got my group of close friends who I know I can trust and who I know will be there for me when I need them. They have brought me through the times where the pain feels like it can't ever end, to sharing the laughs and joys of life with me. I feel so blessed to have you in my life. You are amazing, and I love you.

something fun to do.

Alright, I've discovered a new thing to do that is super funny. The other night we watched "When a Stranger Calls." Not too spectacular of a movie, but it has its make-you-scream moments. The movie ended and we got back to the menu, and this time the word 'language' grabbed me. I thought, "hey, let's watch a "scary" part in another language.. how funny would that be?" We picked French, since it was the only language besides English to choose from (which I thought was kinda weird.. but oh well). Then we cut to one of the scenes with the girl talking to the creepy guy on the phone. It pretty much sounds like he's trying to seduce her. It's freaking hilarious. I think I'm gonna do this more often, just for kicks and giggles... but not just with scary movies, no, I'll try it with all of 'em. So you should definitely try that.

You should also try banana pecan pancakes. A-mazing.