Adjusting to life in Olomouc, Czech Republic

I have officially been in Europe for 3 weeks. It has been a hard adjustment. While I was in Prague, everything was fine, but at soon as I got to Olomouc and tried to relax, I got a cold that ended up lasting for a week and a half. Finally, by the time that our group went back to Prague, my cold had gone away and I am now healthy again.

Shelby and I at the window to our room in Olomouc!

Some of the things that make the change worthwhile are:

-The street food. It’s something that I cannot find back home in Nebraska, but it is so good and very inexpensive! My favorite so far is the crepe stand. They offer sweet crepes, like what I am used to seeing on a menu such as chocolate, chocolate-coconut, chocolate-strawberry. The unique thing about these crepes is that they also have savory ones such as cheese, cheese-spinach, and cheese-ham.

-The dogs. It seems that almost every person here owns a dog, big or small. Seeing the dogs around town makes me miss my own dog, but as much as I love my dog, I know that he will never be as well-trained as these dogs here. Often, I see them walking with their owners without a leash and the dogs don’t ever veer from the direction and path that their owners take. One interesting case is a house that has three large dogs along the main street we walk on to take us back to our dorms. These dogs are trained to see you down the block and start barking incessantly, but as soon as you pass the house, they stop completely as you are no longer seen as a threat.

-The public transportation. In Olomouc they have a bus and tram line system, which helps us to live here without a car. The first time that I had one of their officers (who by the way are dressed in plain clothes) ask for my tram pass I tried to offer her my seat because I figured she might want to sit. Eventually I figured out that she wanted to see my pass, not to take my seat.

-The colorful buildings. While most places in the United States are painted with basic builder colors, in Olomouc, buildings have their own flare. Different sections are painted either different shades of the same color, or a completely new color. There is even a street where all the light poles are painted a pretty lavender instead of the plain metal that is on every other street. The result gives me something nice to look at and it’s the little touches like this that can make something special.

However, there's always something to be missed when you leave home. Some of those things for me are:

-Having access to certain things online. That’s right, a lot of sites that are commonly used in the US are not available in Europe. Sites like Pandora, Spotify, Netflix, and Hulu. Of course, I have found a way to watch my shows being the Netflix junkie that I am, so I posted this complaint for the sake of Pandora because I haven’t found a remedy.

-Lack of internet access. Having the internet here is kind of like having the holy grail. Don’t get me wrong, there is internet access, but you have to know how to look for it. Wifi is not something that is as widespread here as it is in the US. In order to get it, I often have to go to a public place like the union, an academic building, or a café that has free wifi. While we were in Prague this past weekend, our hostel did not have good wifi so we ended up in the same gelato place three days in a row. This was partially because you could buy a ‘shovel’ of gelato instead of a ‘scoop’ and it was delicious, but it was also because they had free wifi. We would all get our ice cream, then sit down, and for the next five minutes it was silent as we were all checking our messages, snapchat, instagram, and facebook. It was actually a very comical phenomenon.

-Diet Coke. Coca-cola is one of the most widespread brand names across the globe. However, Diet Coke, is not. The only similar product that I can find is Coca-cola Light. This is a sad imitation of my favorite soda. It tastes a little more like Coke Zero that it does Diet Coke. One thing I know for sure is that I will be asking my mom to meet me at the airport with a large gas station Diet Coke when I land back in the states.
-English. When signing up for this trip, I knew that there would be a language barrier and that because of it, some things would be difficult, if not impossible. The entire trip is a learning process and I am very grateful for the opportunity, but I cannot say that hearing people chatting in English is not a joyful noise to me.

-Smoke-free restaurants. Usually I can handle the smoke from cigarettes, but if I am around it too long, it makes my throat and eyes hurt. One thing I'll look forward to with coming home is going to a restaurant and having clean air.