Besides the language barrier and freezing cold, I’m settled into Prague and feel like I am no longer a tourist. When I was finally able to direct a lost English-speaking couple through Old Town Square the other day, I knew that I was no longer just on a quick visit to the city, but living here as a local. We’ve blown through the American must-stop-at bars and pubs by now (although I am typing this for just such an establishment) and are going completely local.

Adjusting to the city and living abroad has been no problem. Before coming to Prague, my biggest worry was getting around the city and feeling lost just going from school to my flat, but the transportation system in Prague is so outstanding that you can never get lost. Trams run along nearly every road in both directions and come every view minutes, while the metro has three main lines that cross the city, hitting the major spots and run until midnight. All are really safe to travel alone, but like I wrote the other day, watching for pickpockets is a full time job. Maybe we are more paranoid because we are tourists, but the New Balances and North Face stand out like a pink elephant to awaiting thieves.

My favorite experiences so far have not been in seeing all the beautiful historic sights of Prague and the Czech Republic, but the little conversations I have had with some great native Praguers. The other night my roommates and I met up with a Charles University students for drinks that had studied in the states for a semester in high school and had kept in contact with families there. We discussed Prague and our daily lives, our schooling, and what we had planned for the weekend, and then, of course, the conversation turned quickly to politics and the U.S. involvement in world affairs. The people we spoke with, 18 and 19 year-old students, were more informed on U.S. government and our history that my roommates and I combined (this including history and politics majors). Both girls had such strongly formed opinions about the Czech and U.S. governments and their leaders, knowledge and depth far beyond any student I have known in the states. This is not to say that we are not adequate in our schooling or care for world matters, don’t get me wrong, but these students had clearly been studying government and keeping an eye on international matters since they were in grade school, and they both genuinely cared about what the U.S. was doing around the world. One was a photographer and the other a chemistry major, but both spoke like CNN political analysts.

This last week we just completed the Intensive Czech course section in which we were in class from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Talk about draining. The language isn’t too rough and class is usually more entertaining listening to everyone struggle with Czech, a language full of words with no vowels and every pronunciation mark you can image. Since we didn’t have much homework to do besides a quiz every other day, our afternoons were spent finishing up getting to know the city, which quickly led into dinner and then heading out for the night. We are all so eager to take every moment of this trip that there were a few days in there that I left for class in the morning and return home after hitting up a pub or two and seeing the city at night (and so the reason I have been slow in my writing). Today, however, we start regular classes, so I will be in school everyday with a computer and internet.

In my classes in the U.S., I always felt that the professors expected the students to learn the information they present the first time, but they never really demanded it. So much time in my lectures at home is spent reviewing and going backwards before we go forwards. Here, however, the professors demand that information is retained right away and they everything mentioned, whether in passing or not, is considered important information. It isn’t uncommon to hear, “I mentioned that the other day,” when a question is asked that no student thought was fully, or even partially covered. If we learn one verb on page 87 that means to learn the entire page of verbs. Fortunately, the classes have not been too difficult and the professors understand our transition from the states.

I have an Alternative Czech Culture course that I am heading to now, so have fun and enjoy.