First Impressions

     Well, I'm here! After 22 hours, 4 airports, 3 airplanes, and 3 countries, I'm in my apartment in Prague. It still doesn't really make sense that this is actually what's happening. After saying my goodbyes spread over the past week, and my family yesterday morning, I knew I was leaving. How could I not? I had three bags packed with stuff, and that was only after taking things out that I really wanted to bring. I guess I'll just have to wait for a package. Not that a second long-sleeve shirt or black blazer are really necessary right now. It's hotter here than in Minneapolis. The taxi temperature read 38 degrees. Obviously, I'm going to have to get used to a new scale. 38 here does not mean the same thing as 38 at home.
     I have yet to really do anything here, considering I'm exhausted from the trip and about to faint from hunger because my stomach won't tolerate hardly anything when I'm flying. So far, I've met one other student who arrived about the same time I did, so we got shown our rooms at the same time, and received a welcome packet from the school. Official stuff starts Sunday afternoon with an orientation walk around the city, but I'm so glad I got here today. By Sunday jet lag will have worn off entirely, and I'll be an actual functioning human being again.
     Here are my first impressions of Prague, derived entirely from the 45 minute cab ride from the airport to the hotel/apartment building. First of all, it's a real city. This may seem silly and obvious, but when I'm visiting someplace, it's sometimes hard for me to remember that this isn't just a tourist destination, people live here, people have jobs here (hopefully I will soon), people go to school here. There was road construction to rival Minnesota, people were waiting for buses and doing other normal, everyday things. Secondly, it's still PRAGUE. All this normal, everyday activity is going on in the midst of one of the greatest, most beautiful cities in Europe, if not the world.  This hit me as the taxi drove over the river and Prague Castle was right there, just hanging out. It was perfect. The sky was a brilliant blue, and the castle stood out, just like on a postcard. I'm so excited to see how these two aspects of the city come together in my life. Finally, the history of this city is so evident. My guidebooks talk about how there are various architectural styles represented, but there's really nothing but driving through the city that will convince you're truly in an historical place. There are art deco buildings, obviously Soviet era buildings, bright modern glass constructions, very old cathedrals, and churches/chapels even older than that.
     When Abbie and I were here two and a half years ago, I labeled Prague unorthodox in my arbitrary, but thoughtful one word descriptions of cities. I don't know yet if I was right, or way off the mark. It'll be interesting go back to that post and read what I wrote then, now that I'm back. What would be even better would be to forget that I was ever here before, form new opinions, and then at the end of the month (which is the only definite time frame I can commit to right now) look back at the me from 2011 writing about Prague.
     I don't know if you can tell, but I'm extremely excited to be here.