Look what I stumbled upon

My parents' wedding announcement

How funny is that?

Back to my roots

I've been having some sports writing withdrawals. I couldn't help myself, so I wrote a Badger Herald guest column, printed in today's paper.

Poland: The perfect balance

Two 9-hour overnight train rides, a day in the heart of World War II and a day and a night in Krakow, Poland combined for yet another unforgettable weekend for me during this semester-long adventure in Europe. Historically overwhelming, then some fun.

Friday night, about 20 of us from the CEA program – along with Radka and Marta, our CEA supervisors, who are awesome – boarded a 9:15 train from Prague to Krakow, which was interesting. Each room fit six people and no more. You could sit six on the ground level pre-sleep, which transformed into six “beds,” three on top of each other on each side of the “cabin.” The comfort level was minimal, but we got enough sleep to be able to function the next day.

The train arrived in Krakow at about 6:30 a.m., a pleasant time for a bunch of college-aged kids to be risen from their less-than-ideal slumbers. We got on a bus, which took us to our hotel. Of course, it was too early to check in, so we all left our bags in the storage room and re-boarded the bus, headed for Auschwitz.

Auschwitz is difficult to put into words. Somewhere between 1.1 and 1.5 million people were killed there, tough numbers to fathom, although being there somewhat helps with the reality of it all. Standing in a gas chamber is also a bit of a life-altering phenomenon. Really makes you appreciate the privilege to wear Oakleys and a polo whenever you feel like it. It also makes you wonder how such a horrific scene could actually happen in the 20^th century, let alone last for four-plus years.

Our tour of the concentration camp lasted about four hours, four hours of a lot of silence, head shaking and some tears. Again, very difficult to put into words, but I’m certainly glad I went. Everyone should go, not only to turn history lessons into reality, but to help prevent such future catastrophes. Even after being there – at the biggest concentration camp in the world – it still boggles my mind. How? Why? Really?

You picture Auschwitz as cold, dark and dreary, partly because Poland is freezing in the winter, but also because all the pictures you see are in black and white. Being there on a cloudless, 70-degree day makes it kind of surreal, but standing on the train tracks where so many innocent Jews from all over Europe, who had no idea why they were there unloaded trains only 65 years ago adds a sense of reality to the experience, despite the weather.

After our tour, we got back on the bus for another 90-minute drive back to the hotel in Krakow. We all needed some physical and mental relaxation after the morning’s activities. Max and I shared a room, which was nice (good work, CEA).We had a sauna in our room, the only sauna in the entire hotel (don’t ask me why it was in our room), which we took full advantage of that afternoon (and Sunday morning). Max and I went into town (which is very underrated, if rated at all) with some girls out to a late lunch/early dinner. We walked around for a while, came back before going out with nearly the whole group that night to a club downtown. Also very underrated nightlife in Krakow.

Although Poland is part of the European Union, it, like the Czech Republic, is not yet on the euro. The Poles’ currency is the zloty, and the exchange rate is about three zloty to one dollar. It ended being even cheaper than Prague, which shocked me. I guess the further east you go, the cheaper things get. I only spent about 120 zloty, or $40 the entire weekend, since the trains, hotel, tours and Sunday’s dinner was paid for by CEA (originally with our money, but still, it’s a nice mid-semester gesture).

Another cool thing I noticed was the true versatility of the English language. As Americans, we expect people to be able to speak and understand English (so nice of us) because it is supposed to be the world’s universal language. But actually seeing Radka (a native Czech speaker) speak to the Polish hotel receptionist in English was cool. Both speak English as their second language, but were using it because neither spoke each other’s native tongue. Does that make me a dork because I think that’s cool?

Sunday we had a formal tour of Krakow. Castles, cathedrals, churches. They were all interesting, but to be honest with you, I’m pretty castle-cathedral-churched-out at this point. But Krakow is still an awesome city, with a river splitting it down the middle with grassy banks you can (and we did) lay on. Sunday night we boarded a 10:45 train back to Prague, six to a room. Got back at 7:00 this morning. Another weekend, another country. It isn’t getting old, either.

It was nice to go on a trip with our group (CEA is broken up into three groups since there are so many kids; each group goes to Krakow a different week – we were the middle group, sandwiched between the two). We all bonded well and had a great time together. I wish we had done a trip like that earlier in the semester. I finally feel like I know everyone in our group now, which wasn’t the case prior to this weekend. We told Radka that, so they can change it for next semester. At least we have four weeks left.

Jordan comes to Prague tomorrow. He and I are going to Milan, Italy Friday for Saturday night’s Inter v. Lazio Serie A match. Don’t have tickets yet; just gonna wing it. I thrive on just wingin’ it.

'Never a dull moment'

The abroad stories never end. Most are good. Some are bad. Last night we had one of the latter.

We went to this club called Radost with a bunch of people from our building. Normal night, everyone was having a good time. Until I turn around and half of Tyler’s face is covered in blood. I didn’t see it, but apparently he mouthed off to some guy, who then smashed a glass on his face.

So Tyler has a pretty deep gash above his left eye, blood everywhere. One of the bouncers calls an ambulance and I go with him to the “emergency room.”

Culturally, Prague is great. Health care, however must not be one of their top priorities. The guy in the ambulance asked for cash from Tyler. No way was that happening. We get to the “emergency room,” Tyler still bleeding pretty well and a guy goes in ahead of him. If the extent of this guy’s injury was a hangnail on his pinkie finger, I’d be surprised. He looked fine. They deal with him for 20 minutes or so, Tyler still bleeding. Tyler then wants water. The “supervisor” walks me across the courtyard to a vending machine with Pepsi and 7up. No water in the emergency room. I know; it’s a lot to ask. Finally they take Tyler in. After 20 more minutes, I knock on the door, the “nurse” swings the door open and the lock cuts my hand. Actually, I just wanted to fit in blood-wise. Anyway, I look at the “nurse’s” computer, and she’s playing video games. Some place. The “doctor” gives Tyler three of four stitches, finally, and we get the hell out of there after about two hours of mayhem. Back to Templova by 5:30 a.m. No big deal, except Tyler looks like Frankenstein’s brother today.

Off to Poland in a few hours. I’m not gonna lie, it’s tough not to be home this weekend. Celtics playoffs, Red Sox-Yankees, Bruins wait for Round 2, NFL Draft. And I’ll be in a concentration camp for it. Who would have thought?

Thank you, Mother Nature

For raining out the Red Sox game yesterday. Today's 12:35 EST start time was five minutes after the beginning of my Eastern and Central European Integration into the EU and NATO class. I've been watching Wakefield flutter knuckleballs for over two hours now, while kids present powerpoints and my professor lectures about internal security affairs.

Don't worry, there's no final in this class, just a paper. Mine obviously won't be related to today's class.

More from Munich

Germans definitely know how to party

Had you been on around Yawkey Way just after Keith Foulke’s underhand flip to Doug Menkiewicz in 2004, your opinion of Boston would be a bit skewed – positively if you like to party; negatively if you’re more of the museum type. Granted, FC Bayern Munich hadn’t just won the Champions League, but being in Munich for Frühlingsfest was the equivalent of being in Madison for the Mifflin Street block party in May. Arguably the most fun weekend of the semester thus far. At least party-wise

But to be perfectly fair to the city of Munich, I thought it was an awesome city regardless of Frühlingsfest. Friday morning at 7 a.m., six of us (none of my roommates included; all five from downstairs) took the bus from Prague to Munich. We got there just after 1 p.m., immediately checked into our hostel (which was probably the nicest I’ve stayed in thus far) and were on our way. Our room had a Camp Cedary feel to it, with twelve wooden bunk beds and wooden floors. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much. We met a bunch of those kids’ friends from home (north shore Chicago), so our group filled 11 of the 12 beds; No. 12 ended up being a normal American, which was a nice luxury. So we dropped our stuff off and headed to the beer halls that we had heard so much about. Honestly, what did you expect?

They didn’t disappoint. These beer halls sit hundreds of people, teenagers to grandparents, all drinking liters of beer at a time out of huge steins, eating sausages, pretzels and sauerkraut (all amazing, pre- and post-beer, by the way). That started at about 3:30 and ended around 8. Then came head-to-pillow contact, which was supposed to be a quick pre-evening nap. Woke up at 2 a.m. with eight missed calls from Becky and Sam. I’m usually not a deep sleeper.

Saturday we were on a mission. The rest of them had to be because they had a 1 p.m. bus home Sunday. I was smart and booked the 11:40 p.m. one by myself so I had more than one day in the city. Great decision. I randomly ran into some Madison folk who were taking Lenny’s Bike Tour around town. My group wanted to do Mike’s Bike Tour, which cost 24 euro. Lenny’s was free, pre-tips (needless to say Mike and Lenny don’t get along. No joke.) Saved me about 16 euro. Another great decision, considering we did the same exact tour as Mike and Co.

Munich is cool because downtown has so much Word War II history, but within biking (or walking, really) distance, there’s huge, fields, streams and gorgeous scenery. The tour took us trough all of it, the coolest part being the river surfers. Our guide told us that in WWII, they built a mad-made wave-maker (for lack of the real term) in the river to please the soldiers from California. It’s still there, and the Germans love it.

After the tour, it was time for Frühlingsfest. The Fest is basically a carnival for adults. It’s a regular carnival with rides, games and food, with a huge tent where the real fun happens. Under the tent was a live German band, decked out in traditional German attire, singing everything from German drinking songs to “Beat it” by Michael Jackson. With steins in hand, everyone (hundreds, many also in proper attire) is singing, dancing on the tables and cheersing liter after liter. Best bar in the world.

I met Becky and her roommates in the tent, on purpose and ran into Russell Thaw in the carnival, post-tent. Didn’t even know he was in Munich at the time. Small world, in the most literal sense.

Needless to say, there wasn’t much to the night after the tent, except for one carnival teacup-ish ride (thank god I didn’t puke). Didn’t see midnight on back-to-back nights. Can’t tell you the last time that happened.

Sunday was my own personal day. The Prague boys were leaving at 1, Becky left at 9:30 and Sam’s phone wasn’t working. Didn’t see her the whole time, unfortunately. So I decided to be productive. I went to the Olympic Park, where the 1972 Olympics were held, the BMW Museum and the Munich Zoo all by myself. Each was cool in its own way, the zoo being my favorite. I couldn’t tell you the last time I was at a zoo, but this zoo had everything: zebras, elephants, tigers, lions, sharks, penguins, polar bears, gorillas, baboons, wolves, flamingos, you name it, it was there. I was honestly fascinated by the primates (of all variety). They’re so human-like. You’d think we were closely related or something.

The zoo also had a pretty sweet aquarium with all sorts of fish and aquatic animals (I guess that's why they call it an aquarium). I was standing behind a German family, staring into a tank when I heard a 7-year-old girl say something along the lines of: "Cheiststein zeichenbach deutchzeich Nemo!" Sure enough, there was an orange and white fish that looked just like Nemo. I laughed out loud and had to walk away.

After the zoo, I was beat. I streamed the Red Sox game on my computer (thank you Martin, and thank you again in advance for tonight), then took the 11:40 bus back to Prague. Got here at 5 a.m. and went straight back to bed.

Another weekend, another country (although technically I’d already driven through it) added to my list, which is getting rather long. Off to Krakow and Auschwitz (Poland) Friday night on a trip with CEA, our program. Should be a bit of a different atmosphere.

Appropriate time for reflection, thanks

I’ve been meaning to write this for a while, but now seems to be as fitting a time as ever.

Five weeks from today I’ll be boarding a plane back to Boston, meaning I’ve been living in the Czech Republic, traveling Europe for exactly 11 weeks now. I feel like I’ve accomplished so much in such a short amount of time, both mentally and physically. But obviously, I couldn’t have done it alone.

At this time in my semester-long adventure overseas, I feel obliged to give thanks to those that made this all possible, most notably my family – you know who you are. I’ve received endless support from all of you, both monetarily and morally throughout what has been the most exciting 11-week span of my life (not to mention my entire life, but especially during this trip abroad). For that, I can’t thank you enough. You’ve inspired me to not only keep up with this almost-daily blog, but to pursue endeavors I never could have dreamed of experiencing a mere few months ago.

The appropriateness of this appreciation comes just two days after the tragic loss of longtime family friend Mitch Schecter, my 5^th grade soccer coach, father of fellow Framingham Badgers, Adam and Erica. My condolences go out to the entire Schecter family, especially Adam, who’s become one of my closest friends over the past few years.

Times like these make us remember what’s truly important in life, family of course being No. 1 atop a list of many.

Mine is certainly no exception.

2 European hygeine notes

While walking to get my haircut this afternoon, I was reminded of this, for obvious reasons:

1) Shaving is definitely not as customary here as it is in the States; it's not just a fairy tale. On the hike in Cinque Terre, I saw a French woman with easily more armpit hair than me. And I'm not exactly lacking in that department, either.

2) Deodorant should have been my No. 15 for things I miss about home. We'll call it "optional" here; and that's putting it mildly. The lovely aroma of B.O. often fills the air on your average metro ride or trip to Tesco (their version of Wal-Mart). I can't tell if they know they stink and just don't care (or they like it?), or they're completely oblivious to their own stench. I hope it's No. 2, but that's pretty sad in its own right.

(Just got back from Munich this morning. Post coming soon.)

On the road again

I contemplated staying in Prague this weekend since I've only done that once since February, but ultimately I decided that would be the wrong decision. This weekend is Spring Fest in Munich, which is supposedly the little brother to Oktoberfest held in, well, October.

The theme of this semester is "no regrets" and I don't want to be sitting in Framingham or Watertown (NESN studios) or Madison or Columbus, Ohio, for that matter, thinking, "Man, I wish I went to Munich for Spring Fest." That's why I'm hopping on a bus at 7 a.m. tomorrow and coming back around 5 a.m. Monday morning. I'm staying with a bunch of kids from my program and a bunch of their friends from various other Euro cities. It's also Becky's birthday, so she and some of her roommates from Florence will be there and Sam is coming from Dublin.

Jordan and Drew just got back from Munich and said it was their favorite European city they've visited thus far, Paris included. Bound to be a good time.

No regrets.

Top 14 things I miss about the States

Not that I want end my journey anytime soon, but still, there are some things I miss about the other side of the pond.

In no particular order:

1) My own room. Sharing a small room with two other kids gets old pretty quickly. Not that I don't like Max and Tyler, but the phrase "alone time" hasn't existed for me in 10 weeks.

2) A dishwasher. Hand-washing dishes, silverware, pots and pans isn't exactly causing me to break a sweat, but it is a bit of a hassle.

3) A dryer. They simply don't exist in this entire continent.

4) ESPN. Well, English TV in general. I do enjoy CNN International, but a station change would be nice every once in a while. I can't wait to post up on my couch and listen to Kornheiser and Wilbon call each other knuckleheads. I even kind of miss Tony Reali.

5) Chex Mix. Ham-flavored potato chips just don't get the job done. I couldn't even finish a whole small bag. I don't think that's ever happened to me before.

6) Buffalo chicken. From Andrea's will be my first lunch when I get home.

7) Using my cell phone without rationing minutes. Walks to and from school are so much more boring. Thank god for podcasts.

8) Texting the shit out of people. 165-minute classes are that much more brutal. Thank the same god for wireless Internet.

9) Free water. Screw paying for bottled water at restaurants. All I want is tap water. Is that too much to ask for?

10) Eastern time. I woke up today for class and the Red Sox game wasn't over yet. It started at 4 a.m. and ended after 8. I couldn't even watch the NCAA Championship game. It started at 3.

11) Talking sports. No one gives a damn about American sports out here. Except Tyler.

12) A non-twin bed. Actually, I don't even have that at home.

13) Good deli meats. I'm getting sick of salami and sausage.

14) Driving. No freedom with public transportation.

I don't mean to sound spoiled, but I am living in the Czech Republic, for crying out loud!

Amsterdam adventures

'I amsterdam'

It’s virtually impossible to compare international cities to non-man-made wonders. For instance, the difference between the French Alps and Florence is just as immeasurable as the difference between Barcelona and Cinque Terre. It’s essentially comparing apples to grapefruit, if you will.

So, while reflecting on my way back from Amsterdam Monday morning, it’s unfair to say it was my favorite European destination thus far, but it was my favorite city.

I decided that I appreciate natural beauty more than man-made structures. That’s why I loved the Alps and the cliffs of Cinque Terre so much (although I was awestruck by Rome, but that’s a whole different ballgame). Amsterdam, I decided was so cool because it was a combination of the two. It had the hustle and bustle of a city, intertwined with gorgeous canals throughout the downtown streets. It truly was the best of both man-made and natural worlds and had a homey feel to it. It felt more like an American city than the others I’ve visited here, except with a bit more, um, liberal policies.

Max, Dana, Sarah and I crammed so much into our 70 hours in the Netherlands. We rode around the city on bikes for a day, saw where Ann Frank hid from the Nazis (I didn’t go in because it was a 2-plus hour line and the weather was too nice not to enjoy), saw the Heineken factory, went to the Van Gogh (pronounced with a Hebrew-esque “ch,” not like “go”) Museum, saw the "I amsterdam" sign, went to the greenest parks I’ve seen in ages, ate incredible food, saw the notorious red light district – which lived up to its reputation, went to a comedy show called “Boom Chicago” run by Americans living in the Netherlands, went to another only-legal-in-Amsterdam show the night before – which was, um interesting… the list goes on.

Amsterdam is an incredibly biker-friendly city. And by “biker-friendly” I mean that the streets are flooded with the Dutch on their bikes; they’re everything but friendly. They’ll ring their little bike bells at you and won’t hesitate to run into you at decent speeds – which almost happened to Max a half-dozen times – then curse at you in Dutch.

The coolest thing we did all weekend was go to the city carnival. We went on a crazy ride called the Booster Maxxx, which was a combination of the Tower of Terror and an upside-down roller coaster. We sat suspended from probably 100 feet with a crazy view of the whole city, then went spiraling, circling toward the ground over and over for about three minutes. The swings, as you can see, were also nearly 100 feet off the ground, which gave us a 360-degree view of Amsterdam and its North Atlantic coast.

Our three days flew by and now I’m back in Prague, working on my project for my Central and Eastern European Integration into the EU and NATO class. Yeah, it’s a mouthful. Good thing I’m going to Munich for Spring Fest on Friday.

(More pictures coming soon.)

Finally, my people post

Weeks ago, my Uncle Eric – a self-admitted “Czech Me Out” regular visitor – sent me a Facebook message (yeah, I’m still getting used to the whole family on Facebook thing) saying:

“Here's a challenge should you choose to accept it: I'd like to understand more about the people. Not your US friends, but the locals you meet. How are they like you & me? How are they different? What do they think about the US, about their countries, about the future? I think it would add lots of richness to your overall blog to mix up levity with some occasional serious insights. This assignment will force you to meet more locals "on the streets" - that's what I want to hear about next - and I want to see some great portraiture...”

Had you been reading my blog up until that point (March 13), it would have seemed like all I did was hang out with fellow Americans. Let me clear that up: That’s not the case. Although I have done all of my traveling with at least a couple other American buddies and stayed with others Statesters, I have had some really enlightening experiences with people from all over the world over the past 9-plus weeks. At this point, I’d like to share them with you.

One of the coolest things – if not the coolest – happened the night before spring break. Max and I went to one of our favorite underground bars called Tulip, just to get a beer or two. We ended up running into some kids we knew from our Anglo American University classes: one from Czech Republic, one from France and one from Pakistan. Pitt was playing Xavier in the Sweet 16, so naturally, I asked the bartender to change the TV to ESPN America to quench my March Madness thirst. So there we were: a kid from San Diego and a kid from Boston (almost two different countries by themselves) drinking beer in Prague, watching college basketball with kids from Czech Republic, France and Pakistan, talking about politics, the economy, school and sports. That’s why I came abroad.

I have kids in my classes from Czech Republic, France, Italy, Spain, China, Vietnam and Norway, to name a few (those that come to mind). I especially like my entrepreneurship class, as I’m able to see different business ideas from college kids spanning literally three continents. Again, that’s why I came abroad.

Today, Max and I played basketball against a couple of 20-year-old Israeli kids. Naturally, we smoked them, but still a cool experience, almost as cool as playing pickup soccer under the lights against non-English speaking Czechs.

One kid in a couple of my classes from Prague studied abroad in Oklahoma when he was 16. That one made me shutter.

As mentioned before, Max and I sat down on consecutive nights in Rome with couples older than our parents and talked about “the world” (the only way I can concisely summarize it) for hours.

Last night in Amsterdam, I was watching the Masters with a group of Brits and Australians, talking about Tiger Woods with them, then listening to them argue about cricket, a sport I really need to begin to understand.

Some of the stereotypes about certain nationalities are true. The French, as a whole, are snobby and genuinely dislike non-French speaking people (except the kid from AAU). Czechs are more reserved. Italians and Spaniards are loud and talk at mach-three. The Brits and Irish are louder, when drinking. Americans are the loudest. All the time.

I’ve talked about rugby with Flano’s Irish mates and about the English Premier League with the kids from China and Vietnam, who are here for their entire undergraduate degrees.

What I’ve realized is, my generation could be the generation of hope. We’re genuinely interested in each other’s cultures and what we have to say – non-Americans more so than Americans, as they are typically more aware of global issues than we are; the “U.S Bubble” stigma tends to be more true than not, unless you – which I’m trying to do – truly make the effort. (Sorry for the run-on sentence. Reread if necessary.)

Another thing I’ve realized is that English is essentially a symbol of freedom and Democracy. The Czech Republic has only been part of the non-Communist free world for 20 years. I came here wanting to speak enough Czech to get by, but the Czechs I’ve come across have been proud to speak English; they’d rather speak English to me than have me speak Czech to them, a vast difference to the longtime free Frenchmen. Sure, the older Czech generations are less-educated, outgoing and far more reserved, but wouldn’t you be, if you grew up behind the Iron Curtain? Hard to imagine life without choices, isn’t it?

This semester is teaching me not only not to take what we, Americans have (which is virtually everything) for granted, but that being aware of what’s going on in the world is not only interesting and important, but pretty cool, too. I not only watch CNN International every day here, but I care more about what’s going on at home than I did when I actually resided in the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave, because honestly, the kids from Norway, China and Italy care more about Obama than most of your average American teenagers, which is downright embarrassing.

In terms of politics, one word can really sum things up regarding the global feeling of the Obama Era: Optimism. Kids and adults alike are excited that Obama is in charge of the most powerful nation in the world. Honestly, it’s hard to disagree, especially what just happened with those Somalian pirates. He was the guy with no foreign policy experience, right?

I have just over six weeks left and so much more to learn, see and do in my incredible semester abroad. And to think, I almost stayed in Madison to cover Bo Ryan’s Badgers. I would have gone to Boise, Idaho on spring break for god’s sake!

Bizarre Czech Easter traditions

Just got back from Amsterdam and school is closed, so I had to come visit my girls of Top Secret Cafe (we have a special, anonymous relationship). They celebrate Easter on Monday in Europe, so the term "Easter Sunday" apparently doesn't apply. The girls here were explaining the Czech Easter traditions to me. Women stay at home and men walk around the neighborhoods with bundles of sticks with ribbons on them (they kind of look like long firecrackers) and spank the women with them. I guess they go from house to house on an all-day spanking spree. The girls here said they came to work today to avoid it, but I just saw some guy (I think/hope they were friends) come in and spank her (jokingly) behind the bar. So their plan backfired.

This tradition seems to have become a joke, but who knows how serious some people take it. I mean, this was Commie-land when I was born. And I not that old.

(Amsterdam and people blogs coming soon.)

1 quick difference

As you know (or should know), inches -- like pounds, feet and ounces -- don't exist in Europe; Europeans use the metrics system (as should we, but we're assholes). Therefore, 8 1/2 x 11" paper doesn't exist. Paper is measured in centimeters, therefore, all my papers from class stick out of the top of my folders I brought from the States. Hey, I thought it was interesting. Tell me you thought of that before you (or I) came to Europe.

Cinque Terre tribute

Finished in Florence

Remembering Rome

Bright spots from Barcelona