Finding my new home

I can’t fly to Madison in June without having delays, so I’m not sure why I thought things would be any different flying through London 24 hours after it got the biggest snowstorm it’s seen in 18 years, but I did. Little did I know I would have gotten to the UK faster doing the elementary back stroke across the Atlantic. Michael Phelps certainly could have – pre-bong rip, that is.

Tuesday it was snowing in Boston and London and my departure was delayed until 9:30. If only it ended there. Henry, my roommate, and I boarded the plane at 10:00, we sat on the runway until 1, then switched planes because our original one had some sort of technical difficulty. We took off at 1:55 a.m. The good news? I got to watch “A Righteous Kill” – a movie that’s been sitting at the bottom of my Netflix queue for weeks – in its entirety pre-takeoff.

We landed at Heathrow Airport at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, went through security – which is even more strict than in the states, by the way – and met Chris and Sarah at the gate before finally making it to Prague – which I now realize was well worth the wait.

I still haven’t unpacked all my stuff because this is really the first time I’ve had a chance to sit down. We immediately went out to dinner last night with Tyler, Dougie, Brady and Max. We went to some authentic place near our apartment, drank Pilsner beer and ordered Czech food from English menus (we switched them for the ones we couldn’t read). I had roasted duck and dumplings for about $13. Affordable and really good.

Our apartment is the nicest of anyone’s in the program, according to them. We have three bathrooms, three bedrooms and a kitchen for the six of us. I room with Max, who’s from San Diego and goes to Arizona. Doug rooms with Tyler and Henry with Brady. No complaints so far, except that our Internet is spotty, so I wonder when I’ll be able to post this…

Last night we went to this club called Mecca. Apparently it’s the place to go on Wednesday nights. We took cabs because the metro closes at midnight and we didn’t leave until just after 12. The top floor of Mecca is mostly Czechs with blasting techno music and dancing girls on mini stages in mini-er skirts. Downstairs was Little USA, as they played “YMCA,” “Respect,” and “Mambo No. 5.” I ran into Josh Dembling and Eric Cohen there. Haven’t seen that kid since we were 15. Dembling is the same clown he was when we were 10. Beers are about a dollar at the club – as is the case with most pubs and restaurants around town. Tough deal for a bunch of college kids…

Today we had orientation for school. It’s small, but it should be good. I don’t have class Mondays or Fridays, so traveling will be super easy...

Prague is beautiful and awesome. The architecture and buildings are amazing and the views from the Charles Bridge are incredible. The streets are all cobblestone and most things seem within walking distance, including school, which we walked to today. The people from CEA are really nice. It should be an unbelievable semester. Staying in Madison, covering Bo Ryan and the struggling Badgers (which is what I wanted to do seven months ago) just wouldn’t compare. Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was a great decision to come here. (Thanks, Mom).

P.S. I’ll try and put some pictures up for the next post, but I haven’t unpacked my camera yet.