kafka on the bus

as if it is not enough to jump through hoops to get a czech visa, i have to register it with the immigration police too.  i got up before dawn today to go to prague 3, wait in the cold for it to open, and find out that this is the wrong place.  trams, buses, and metro rides later, i finally found the right office for usa citizens, and there was no line and the clerk spoke english (two things that i was told are absolutely impossible at the immigration police).  when i walked home, it struck me as very funny to be walking up a hill under falling snow, toward a looming and mysterious castle, after a day of treacherous bureaucracy.

this is it

the czech consulate kept its word and i got my schengen visa precisely a week before my departure.  i trained myself not to think about it, so even now it seems unreal that on friday i will be relocating to prague (yes, i've been getting a lot of blank stares) for the next five months.