Krounas, Forints, and Zlotys oh my!

I've been in Prague for two months now and I'm halfway done with my study abroad trip :( Makes me sad to think about. There have been a lot of little and big things that I've had to adjust to in my time here; some things I like and don't like. I'll start off with some of the biggest adjustments I've had to make:

1. Not smiling: In the Czech Republic, smiling is seen as a form of attraction. I've made the mistake plenty of times smiling at strangers passing by and men especially give me a raised-eyebrow look and I quickly hurry away. I am so used to smiling and giving a little nod, wave, or hello at someone passing by so that has probably been one of my biggest adjustments. Czech people don't seem friendly in general and at first I thought they all seemed mean. I've learned that most of the Czech people in the generations older than me have lived through communism. During communist times people learned to keep to themselves and trust no one. They were also banned from ANY form of English- no English music, books, speaking, radio, nothing, so many of them don't know English and are shy to talk or interact. Now that I know this, I've started liking the Czechs more.

I saw this guy wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates jacket outside the mall by my house! What are the chances. I tried asking him if he was from Pittsburgh but he said no and didn't know who the pirates were- so much for that... Still cool to see some Pittsburgh pride!!

2. Quiet metros and trams: The Czechs are all very quiet people- they probably learned this during communism too. The metros and trams are pretty much always silent which seemed like a shocker to me. Anytime Americans get on the tram and are yelling all the Czech people roll their eyes and shake their heads, I can always pick out the Americans myself now.

3. Must Love Dogs: There are sooo many dogs in the Czech Republic and most of the time they don't have leashes. The dogs here are well trained and follow right along with their owner at all times. I'm always so impressed that all the dogs walk past each other and don't bark or whine. If you want to train a dog, learn from the Czechs.

4. Conversions ALL the time: This is where the title of my blog post comes in. The Czech Republic uses korunas for currency which is about 24 crowns per $1. Hungary uses the Forint, 270 forints = $1. Poland uses the zloty, and 3 zlotys = $1. Austria and many other countries use the euro which is about 1 euro per $1.1. On top of that I mostly only use korunas so I have to convert korunas to dollars to the other currency or figure out the exchange rate with korunas and other currency. As you can see it gets prettyyy confusing. I feel like every time I learn the new currency conversion I go back to the old one and have to re-learn it all again. It's been fun trying to figure it all out and see all of the different types of money there are. I almost forget what U.S. dollars look like!

The same goes for languages, as soon as I get the hang of one we switch back to another! I love being able to travel and see all the different cultures, languages, currencies, and pretty much everything. One of the coolest parts about being in Europe.

5. Go green or go home: Europeans are extremely environmentally conscious. Grocery stores make you pay for plastic grocery bags so most people have reusable bags including myself. Ziploc bags and many other plastic products are really expensive. It also seems like a lot of toilet paper and paper towels are recycled. Tap water is almost never free and some people said this is so it is not wasted.

6. Paying for the bathroom: Probably one of the most irritating things about Europe. Not all bathrooms make you do this, but some places do. When you gotta go you gotta go. Also in a few bathrooms there are ladies that set up a table and steal all the toilet paper so you have to ask them for toilet paper and then they rip it and fold it nicely for you. You don't have to pay them money, but most people give them tips... very strange...

7. There is so much to see: Prague is an amazing city and I am falling in love with it. Every day I find something new. It helps that I get to explore the city during most of my classes. My professors have shown me things such as:

Turning Franz Kafka's head- weighs the same as 20 cars

Baroque style church 10 minutes away from my apartment

 Very famous Baby Jesus. He has hundreds of outfits and is changed every week and holiday.

Also for those of you wondering... I am actually studying while abroad! I am taking social psych soft skills which is a very fun class, we get to do a lot of activities. Photography- probably couldn't have taken a photography class in a better place- I get to take pictures and get credit for it! My photography professor is a professional photographer and takes pictures of Prague (say that 10 times fast) and he has some great advice for pictures. American and Czech Literature- not my favorite class, but still interesting and we go on field trips pretty much every class. Lastly, my 4th class is art and architecture. There truly is no better place to take art and architecture other than Prague. My professor is extremely knowledgeable and funny. Pretty much every class he gives us a small background and then takes us around the city to different sites. We mostly learn by looking at all the different buildings and artwork. I've learned so much information in this class and it has been really cool being able to apply all that we have learned everywhere we go. It has been one of my favorite classes I've ever taken. This week was midterm week so I had a lot of papers to write, it was well worth it though because now I get to relax in Italy for 8 days :) Leaving for Venice tomorrow! 

Here are a couple of my photography hw assignments I've had to do!