Hey Friends and Family. Sorry that over the past couple of months the blog here has sort of fell by the wayside. You have to understand that, between Scotland, Vienna, Copenhagen, finals, studio, and generally living my life here in Prague, things have been a bit busy. So instead of attempting to sum up all those trips in a post I wanted to sort of capstone this whole experience with some wisdom/silliness/thoughts from my time in Europe. I’m winding down here with just 11 days left so this seemed like an appropriate time :) 

10 Things I’ve learned on Study Abroad (in no particular order)

1. The first week is going to suck.

I got this piece of information from the lovely Kate F. as I was laying in bed contemplating my life choices and how much it would cost to fly back to the states on my first night in Prague. As you may remember from my first blog post, I was not thrilled with my living situation in the Masarykova dormitory at CTU. I didn’t like that there was mysterious sticky spot on my carpets, that the “kitchen” consisted of one hot plate and a mini fridge, or the fact that I had never seen the color of mold our shower was sporting. However, I quickly realized that even with all its pitfalls, the place you live is just a space. It’s the people and the things you put in your space that make it your home. Culture shock is a real thing but luckily it wears off as your friendships grow and you discover more and more about the city and how you fit in there

2. Its alright to do a tourist thing or two.

When I first arrived in Europe, I was 10000000% prepared to try and fit in as much as possible as to not be recognized as a *gasp* tourist. I tried dressing in all black/grey and I avoided souvenir shops like they spread the black plague. What I’ve come to accept though is that, I’m a stranger in a strange land, no matter what I do I’m here to experience and learn and doing that is easier when I just act and dress like me. So, yes, I’m an american who wears birkenstocks while taking 3 million photos of the astronomical clock, but that’s ok! 

3. The Lennon wall is awesome. 

Giant, collaborative, free, creative artworks fueled by peace, love, and the Beatles are just incomparable. 

4. Things back home aren’t boring!!!!!!!!! 

I’ve heard from a lot of people back home when I talk to them about study abroad that things back home are “ just the same” or “ boring, as usual”. NO! stop thinking that! right now! There's innumerous things I could count about being back in the states, or back at my house that I am wishing and waiting patiently to do again. For example: raiding the target dollar section for summer picnic items, taking my dog of a walk, and taking road trips with my friends to some random town or park! It's easy to say “ Oh my life is boring, there's no adventure here.” Well this may just be my opinion, but I’m doing the whole European adventure thing, and I say that YOU’RE WHERE THE ADVENTURE IS. Not In Paris, not in London or Rome. Those places are amazing and you should see them if you can, but you’re what makes your life adventurous and fun. So... go do it! take a road trip! buy those concert tickets! or just go try a new walking trail! You make your life awesome, not money, not your location, not anything. 

[sorry if that sounded really pretentious, I’m a tad bit biased, but also passionate;) ] 

5. Eat a !@^% Tredelnik 

Ok so plenty of Czech people will argue with me about the silly “chimney cakes” also called Trdlo about whether they’re good or not. My thoughts? I think they’re a pastry. Eat the pastry if you want a sugar rush, they’re not about authenticity. [also they happen to be very good so.... whoops]

6. Say yes to things! 

So before I came to Prague, I had never used air bnb, I had never just bought a plane ticket on a Tuesday and then flown on that same Friday, and I had never just said “yes!” in response to “hey do you want to go to ____ next weekend?”. I think before I came here I would have stressed over whether I wanted to go, how I was going to get a place to stay, how lazy did I feel.... etc. I would have agonized over going on a weekend trip because of both anxiety and simple fear. But being here has really made me understand that it's not reckless or dangerous to just do something or go somewhere to see a new thing. So say yes to things, even if you’re afraid to do it (as long as it isn’t legitimately dangerous haha) a little spontaneity never killed anybody!  

7. Life is the messy bits

and yes that’s a quote from Letters to Juliet. I watched that movie a few weeks before my trip to Italy, and I couldn’t agree more. Study Abroad has been one gigantic mess of crazy adventures of stories and I wouldn’t have it any other way. From the frankly horrific experience of being (almost) puked on in a tram, to the french man who was chatting our group up at the eiffel tower, the crazy and not so excellent parts of my trip are what make life what it is. So, if you ever want your ear chewed off about crazy random happen-stances in Europe, I’m your woman.

8. I want to eat vegetables. 

Let’s just say that the limited kitchen space and lack of culinary variety in the Czech Republic has made me really crave some good old asparagus. Here is a photo of asparagus so you can drool along with me....

9. It’s the little things

I shared this sentiment with my Dad, the army veteran, one night on a skype call and he agreed in his typical *head nod* “it is” fashion. I had brought this up because I found that there was an american specialty store just down the road that sold....Grape soda. You may be thinking, why does grape soda matter that much? Well as a kid I had a virtual addiction to the stuff and I was starting to think I would go 5 months with no grape soda in my life. I discovered that I was mistaken and gladly purchased the only can of grape soda they possessed, took it home, savored it and proudly displayed it on my shelf for the last 4 months (reasons for the dust). I just never felt that a can of grape soda would do that much for my mood, but it's the little things...

10. 4 months will never be long enough.

I’ve now been here since February, and I know that even though I’m ready to come back home, 4 months isn’t long enough. There's hundreds of amazing places in Prague and in Europe that I’ll never get to see and there's even more people I won’t get to meet. I’m not trying to be a downer, I’m just saying that in any place, you’ll never understand fully the depth of the culture, and the extent of the amazing things there are to do. All we can do is try!  

ok, so hopefully you read all the way to the end...  if you did, comment the word “asparagus” on my post to confuse everyone else.

Cheers!

Chicken with Asparagus and Mushrooms. An Easy Dinner, that is Healthy and So Delicious!

Your chicken doesn’t have to be boring! Adding these Balsamic Mushrooms and Asparagus, will definetly amp up the flavor! If you feel like this when someone says chicken, it’s time to change it up! Let’s face it, chicken is pretty boring meat. There isn’t a lot of flavor to it. If it’s not cooked or seasoned properly, it can be bland. It’s not the protein that can go without a good flavor bump.…