I'm on a Boat

Selfie on a boat below the Charles Bridge

Well I was on a boat! My academic program ECES (an American program that runs its classes through Charles University) took us all on a boat ride around Prague on Wednesday to meet other students and get to see the city. This past week was orientation week so we got to do a lot of fun activities to meet more students and learn more about the program and our classes. There are about 125 students in the ECES program and there are multiple different programs within ECES. For example, Cody and I went through the program Panrimo; they set up our housing and schooling and provided us with Prague guides. Our guides, Sam and Iva, have helped us learn how to ride the metro and trams and get around the city and they will also bring us on excursions later on. There are only 8 students in Panrimo, and 4 of us are taking our classes with ECES.

So far I am very happy with ECES. They are organized and have provided us with a lot of information like maps and places to eat and ways to meet other students. This week was orientation week. We started off by going to a traditional Czech restaurant on Monday. On Tuesday we had a welcome meeting and then we went on a scavenger hunt around the city. We were put into groups with other ECES students and a Czech student guide. It was a great way to explore the city and learn about the local spots. On Wednesday we went on the boat ride and I got to meet even more students. It was beautiful to see the city from the boat, although it was freezing on the top deck!! Yesterday we all started our intensive Czech language course that goes for 5 hours straight every day.... They really could not have named the course better. It is difficult for me to understand/speak Czech because they make a lot of sounds and pronunciations that Americans do not and its altogether confusing. Hopefully as the course progresses I will start to understand more.

 Here are more pictures from my boat ride!

This row of buildings reminds me of Rainbow Row in Charleston, SC

New Friends and the Charles Bridge... Doesn't get much better :)

Also I love my apartment! The outside is elegant and has some traditional Czech features, but yet it is very modern on the inside. It is in a great location near old town, but not in the touristy area. We are also located right in front of a park that over looks the entire city and is great to run in. In addition we are less than a two minute walk from this awesome mall that has a grocery store, movie theater, gym, bowling alley, stores, and a fantastic food court. The food court offers many different types of cuisine. They have everything from Italian, French crepes, Chinese, Greek, Czech, salads and more. Needless to say I will not go hungry!! The malls here have a really cool set up, I'm thinking America should definitely start making malls like this.

As a side note my luggage arrived with only one wheel missing!! Now my journey can really begin.

Here is a quick tour of my apartment- not sure how the video will turn out, but hopefully it works.