First Days

So I've been in Prague for almost a week now so I just thought I'd try to do a quick update so that people knew what was going on. Unfortunately, I haven't taken a whole lot of pictures yet but I do have a few that I'll put on with this post. I arrived to Prague early so that Maude and I could fly in together so for the first 2 days I was staying at the Holiday Inn where I would later meet my group. My second day here I went out to explore a bit and managed to figure out how to work the metro, though I think I was almost caught by the metro police with and expired metro pass. When I went out to explore I went to Old Town Square. It's a very touristy but famous area in Prauge and it is where Maude's school buildings are located as well.


This is one side of the square and as you can see its quite large and everything is very old. I'm not really sure the history of everything here, but not pictured there is a very famous clock that I will have to get a picture of later and post.
After the rest of my group arrived we were given our living assignments and moved into our apartments or dorms. Until this point I was nervous about where I would be living but after getting into the apartment I discovered it is very nice and big as well. I have 3 roommates, 2 US students and one Czech student and we live in a 3 bedroom apartment. So one of my roommates (Brandon) and I both have our own rooms, and Vojte and Max share the third room. We also have a nice living room and kitchen.
Other than non-stop orientation activities and city tours, the most interesting thing I have done was experience the inauguration while here. Of course I missed being in DC at Georgetown so I actually could have been standing there with the other 3 million people, but my experience was interesting and unique as well. All of my roommates, Maude, and one of her roommates found a bar owned by a man originally from Chicago that was going to be playing the inauguration on television. So we went out to this bar and made it just in time to get a great place to stand and watch what was happening, though we weren't early enough to sit there were many people who couldn't even get into the bar. So we stood there drinking some good Czech beer while watching President Obama be sworn in and give his speech to cheers and applause of all of the American and Czech people there.

I forgot my camera but luckily I had my iPhone with me and snapped a few pictures of the crowd and the giant American flag in the background. It may not have been the same as standing on the mall is Washington but I was a very unique experience to witness this inauguration from the Czech Republic. The rest of that night was fun as well, we left the American bar and thanks to our Czech roommate found a cool bar that was far underground (like many of the places here) called U Sudu and met up with a bunch of other American students there.
Since then I have just been learning about the city and adjusting to the differences as I continue orientation and get ready to start two weeks of intensive Czech lessons. Look for another post soon as I get some good pictures and video of the city. Also, if the post was boring or you want to hear about something specific let me know...