i arrived in prague on saturday evening and took a taxi to the mikoláš aleš dormitory. the woman in charge that night was very cheerful but speaks zero english and a few words in russian, so we spoke our languages at the same time until we hit a common word. my room has two beds, one yet unoccupied, and two large windows with good views. the first night was a little bewildering and strange and lonely, but it is important to be calm and cheerful in these situations. on sunday i got up early with the dogwalkers, bought "potraviny" ("groceries" in czech, "poisons" in russian) and went around exploring my surroundings without a map (best way to learn). i went through a park, and the city crept up from below the hill so suddenly that i almost started crying, because it is so magically beautiful. i wanted to find my school for monday, and was briefly disoriented before i looked down and noticed that i am literally standing on the letters "VŠUP."
the first night is always so odd and inexplicable. I crave that feeling.
ReplyDeletewhat's even odder is how soon it will sink into normal routine.
"VŠUP." is this your school?
ReplyDeleteGod it sounds like you could write a book about this! I couldn't imagine.
"potraviny" ("groceries" in czech, "poisons" in russian) ---- Keep these coming!
yes, it stands for "vysoká škola umělecko-průmyslová," but no one wants to say that, so it is formally abbreviated to "VŠUP," and informally to "um-prům."
ReplyDeleteok i will try to find more funny language things!