Week 8: Feeling Cultured
Monday, October 16th
In between classes, I got soup at the cafe in the Main Building and it was really good. Do I dare say that soup is my favorite food?
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| Soup |
After class, I went to the gym I found the previous week. It's in a hotel about a five minute walk from the dorms and I was able to buy a pass for 10 90-minute sessions. I can't really explain it, but I wanted to do dumbbell curls.
They had one through ten pound dumbbells, which I thought was strange. They also felt heavier than usual and I thought it must have been because I hadn't done any weighted workouts in a while.
It took me 75 minutes and a transition to the cable machine, where I wondered why the highest option was only 35 pounds, when I realized everything had been in kilograms and my American was showing.
Tuesday, October 17th
I woke up bright and early with a day of sightseeing ahead. On the agenda: changing of the guards, the TV Tower, and social activism!
The Prague Castle changing of the guards takes place everyday at noon. I got there a little early and am glad I did because there was a huge crowd, which surprised me, but I had a front row seat. I understand that it's a symbolic tradition, but sometimes symbolism doesn't have to take 15 minutes. I enjoyed the music and am glad I went -- I can cross it off the bucket list.
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| Cool picture I took on the way to the changing of the guard |
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The crowd -- there were about the same amount of people behind me as there are on the other side of the gate
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I then headed to the TV Tower, an objectively ugly tower with an observation deck and babies climbing up it. I, like many others, believed it was ugly, but after getting up close I sort of enjoy its ugliness. The babies are sculptures by David Cerny, the provocative Czech artist, and I don't think anyone really knows the reasoning behind them, but I like them. I played some sudoku in a swingy chair before leaving -- I was going to get my money's worth.
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TV Tower
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Afterwards, I went to náměstí Jana Palacha (the square in front of the Main Building and Rudolfinum) to show my support for Hour of Truth's October strike, "an initiative across universities in the Czech Republic, which advocates for decent conditions for university teaching of the humanities and social sciences, which will be comparable to the conditions for university teaching of other sciences or to the conditions of secondary school teachers." You can learn more about the initiative and strike here.
While the strike did not affect ECES programming, I wanted to stop by because Charles University Faculty of Arts professors and students were striking. I've also learned a lot about important protests within the Czech Republic's history and it felt right to witness one happening in the present day. The square the strike was taking place on is named after Jan Palach, a Czech student who burned himself alive as a form of protest.
I watched the strike for a few minutes from the steps of the Main Building and then walked through the building to use the bathroom. It felt like a ghost town, which showed how many of the students were out participating in the strike.
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| Banners hung in the windows of the Main Building said, "Stavka," which means strike in English |
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| Signs in the building |
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| View of the strike from the steps of the Main Building |
I spent some time doing homework in the library and then met up with Sadie and Aislinn to visit some antique/thrift/vintage shops and get cronuts.
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| Coffee cronut |
Wednesday, October 18th
In the afternoon, I ran down the Prague Castle Gardens and then walked back up. There was a stray peacock I stood and watched for a while.
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| Cool picture I took while running down the trail |
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| Stray peacock |
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| Stray peacock from another angle |
Thursday, October 19th
Our art history field trip was to one of the National Gallery Prague locations. I was surprised to run into works by some well known artists, notably Picasso, Gaugin, and Seurat. I didn't really have expectations before visiting the gallery, but I think I was subconsciously expecting it to be lesser-know, mostly Czech artists.
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| Picasso self-portrait |
After class, I headed back to the dorm for lunch and to prepare for my evening of events. I signed up for the ECES-organized tour of the Prague Peace Trail and would be going straight from the tour to a concert at the Rudolfinum.
It was just Katelyn and I on the tour and it was led by Ondřej, an ECES professor who is one of the creators of the trail. The trail highlights significant locations related to peace and non-violent resistance within Prague's history. We visited the first five stops on the trail and it was a great experience. I really appreciated being able to learn about the trail from Ondřej and liked that it was just Katelyn and I because we were able to have more in-depth conversations. It felt like a relevant time to be learning about peace and non-violent resistance because of the current conflict between Hamas and the Israeli government.
It started to rain during the tour, so we stopped into a bar. We were able to discuss the political and social climates in America and the Czech Republic and it was interesting to compare the two countries. It was also interesting to hear about the Czech Republic's media coverage of and reaction to current events and how it compares to America. I'll definitely be completing the rest of the trail on my own!
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| Stop #1: Přemysl Pitter's Milíčův Dům |
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| Interesting depiction of The Good Soldier Svejk |
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| During the Peace Trail |
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| I love the colors of this house |
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| Tea break |
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| View from Riegrovy sady |
After our tour, Katelyn and I headed to the Rudolfinum for a Collegium 1704 concert. They would be playing one of Chopin's piano concertos and were accompanied by the winner of this year's International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments. The pianist was amazing; he's only 21 and that made me feel bad about myself for a second -- but I never really liked Chopin anyway, so take that Eric Guo.
We had student tickets, which are usually seats with obstructed views and mine was no exception. Luckily, there was an empty seat next to the woman next to me and she moved over so I could move over and then I was able to see just fine!
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| My original view |
I was definitely tired during the performance, but I persevered. I'm glad I grew up playing piano and in band class at school because I feel like I have a deeper appreciation for live music and classical musicians. It's amazing how fast the pianist's fingers were moving. I can't even comprehend being able to do that. It makes me miss band class, which is something I never thought possible. I would like to join a community band one day and I'm relying on my mom to hold me accountable. Also, if someone has a bari sax for sale, please hit me up.
Friday, October 20th
Today was the makeup day for any courses we missed due to St. Wenceslas Day. For me, it was my art history course.
Our field trip was to the same National Gallery Prague location as the day before, but to a different wing. I love wandering around art museums because you run into paintings you would never imagine being there. For instance, we came across the only Van Gogh painting in the entire Czech Republic.
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| I <3 Van Gogh |
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| Bridges |
That evening we had an API-organized Laterna Magika show, which is difficult to explain, but I think Wikipedia's description as a "multimedia performance" is one of the best ways to describe it. The show we would be seeing was Poe, based on the life and stories/poems of Edgar Allen Poe. I love Edgar Allen Poe (especially The Cask of Amontillado), so I was excited.
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| At the theatre |
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| Ready for the show! |
There was ballet and robotics and blacklights and singing and a high-fashion runway show of sorts and so many other things like singing and video and ballet and monologues. I absolutely loved it. I had a basic understanding of Poe's stories and an open mind, but there were still some things that confused me. There were points throughout the show where I was afraid I was interpreting it wrong, but then I remembered that "art is in the eye of the beholder" and decided that my, and only my, interpretation was correct. I laughed, (and I hate to admit) I cried.