[2] ACADEMIC LIFE

Oh how the life of a student can be absolutely monotonous. Semester-in and semester-out it seems like it will never end. Until this semester I have been learning what I can from class but every semester is just another semester in the classroom, until now! My European class life has been quite the change from UNK. There are four aspects to my academics: (1) The introduction into Czech culture and language, (2) Eastern European studies, (3)  field studies, and (4) and a blogging portion.

(1) My first day in the Introduction to Czech language and culture class I was shocked at the differences in the language. Certain consonants make completely different sounds, and symbols above the letters create even more sounds! I would love to explain all of the grammar in this post, but frankly it would take way too long. Although it is a lot to take in I have been enjoying the class. Being in the Czech has required me to adapt not only my behaviors, but also the way I look at everything, mainly because I cannot read anything in Czech! This class is giving me the tools to at least read in Czech. Although I may not understand the words at least I can say them and ask what it means in Czech. As of now I can say some basic phrases in Czech such as: “what is your name?”, “how do you say this in Czech?”, “may I have another, please”, ect.. Fortunately English is spoken in some areas of the community and some areas have a translation in English on the sign, but it can still be a challenge to get around!

(2) The Eastern European studies have been fascinating. In previous history classes I have learned about World War 2, but I have never heard it from the European standpoint. It provides a much more detailed account of what happened in the Czech and how the Czech has been divided because of the war. Unfortunately there is so much information that at times it is easy to get lost (as I mentioned in my previous blog), but I absorb what I can. Thankfully I have been so interested that learning is not as difficult as I would have thought. Being in Europe and taking a class about Europe increases how much learning I am able to do.

(3) The field studies class is a glorified field trip class. I will be traveling all over Europe learning about the history of the each place, and how the culture is so dynamic all over Europe. I will go into further detail on my trips in later blogs.

(4) Lastly, the blogging portion. Every week I will be giving a weekly update on my experiences in Europe. There are several topics I will be going over such as the daily life, the language, cultural comparisons, social life, field trips, and much more. This has been a portion of what I experience on a day-to-day basis in class, but I have so much more to discuss and I cannot wait to share!