Copenhagen

I go home in 8 days. That is so surreal.



Last weekend we went to Copenhagen, Denmark. That city is very, very awesome. And very, very expensive.

We went to this crazy outdoor amusement park called Tivoli and rode all the rides and ate churros and froze our butts off and drank this stuff called "Glog" (but the "o" has a slash through it...) and it's like mulled wine, very delicious.

A few of us checked out the Danish Design Center, which I found really cool. They had some crazy stuff, like a pair of shoes for a father and daughter to wear at the same time. They were like two pairs of slippers sewn together. One was large and faced one way (for Dad) and the other pair was tiny and sewn on top of the toe facing the opposite way (for Daughter). It reminded me of when fathers and daughters would dance together at weddings and bar-mitzvahs and the daughter would stand on his toes. Cute.

There was also a sitar that was made to be played like a guitar, strap and all. I want one.


One of the highlights was the Absolut Icebar. There are apparently only four or five in the world. But basically, they give you a big space parka and gloves and the whole place is made of ice. The bar, the chairs, the tables, the glasses. You stay there for about 45 minutes before it becomes way too uncomfortable. But it was a weird, fun experience. We expected it to be ultra hip, but there was a lot of families there. And no one (except us) danced. They sort of sat around shivering, sipping their delicious beverages. We knew how to get the party started, though. Including an amazing conga line which the bartender attached himself to, before getting us free drinks. (I think he gets lonely easily. He didn't want us to leave.)


But perhaps hands down the best part about Copenhagen was the bike trip we took. A few of us rented bicycles (it's a really bike-friendly city) and rode around for about 6 hours. It was freezing, but it was an awesome way to see the city. And so much fun. I was very sore the next day. And also I caught the flu. But it was worth it.


All in all, one of the better weekend excursions I've had, I think. Really. An awesome city.

What I Do When I'm Bored

This is what I do when I'm bored. I make theoretical posters for a production that I may theoretically be doing next semester. An original piece about space. Called "Hello From The Children Of Planet Earth."


Enjoy.



This one's my favorite, I think:





This one ain't bad either:



This one is my least favorite. The little spacemen are weird and too large, but you can't see them if they're any smaller. And without them it looks too ominous and imposing and isn't really what I'm going for anyway. But, I like the composition.

I am a horrible blogger

I'm really slacking on this thing, aren't I?

Well, you're in luck. I just so happen to be writing a paper, and the paper is so incredibly boring to write that I felt the need to procrastinate in any way possible. Top of my list? Prague blog.

So, first of all, I don't think I'll be posting Budapest pictures. There are too many and it's a really big pain to upload them. Especially since the internet here has been so spotty. So, I'll go through a few and just describe them to you. You can find me when I'm back in the states, and I'd be happy to give you a very long, very boring slideshow of my travels.


One thing we did in Budapest was go to a basilica. It was a very beautiful domed building. Inside there was really pretty stained glass everywhere and pews. Also, there was a relic of some guys HAND! Yeah, you put a coin in a slot, and a case lights up and there's this dude's hand in it! So imagine a picture of that thing. It's kind of gross and cool.

Also, as I've mentioned in other posts, we went caving. Caving was awesome. Imagine a Hungarian Spider-Man. With long hair and not a scientist. That was our tour guide. And we got coveralls and helmets with lights on them and literally crawled through dirt and holes in rocks 25 meters below the Earth's surface. It took like 3 hours. At one point we turned off our helmet lights and just sat on the ground and listened and it was the darkest, quietest place I've ever experienced. So, imagine a hole in a cave that's so narrow I not only need to slide under it on my belly, but I need to turn my head to the side to get it through. And imagine a picture of me doing just that. And I'm covered in dust and dirt. Cool.

The other notable thing we did in Budapest was the thermal baths. Basically, there's a lot of thermal gas under Budapest. So they dug a bunch of pools out of the ground, and they're all heated naturally by these gases. And people pay to go. And there's three outdoor pools, one's really warm, one's pretty warm, and one's about 80 degrees Farenheit. And then you can go inside, where there are saunas and other pools with medicinal water. And one is like 40 degrees celsius which is really hot, and one's like 13 degrees celcius, which is really cold, and there are others in between. So we just went from bath to bath, getting a kick out of going from really hot to really cold. Seeing who could stay in a really hot/cold bath for longer. All good fun. I only have photos of the exterior of the baths, and some of the outdoor baths. Cameras in a place where people are wearing only bathing suits seems really creepy. But it was awesome.

Also I took pictures of food. I had really good food in Budapest. Fried bread and garlic soup and goulash and duck with honey sauce. Also, because of all the turkish food there, we had lots of doner kebabs and baklava almost every night. Mmmm.

Also our hostel was called Aventura, and if you ever go to Budapest, stay there. It was great, the people at the desk were super nice and super helpful, and the rooms are themed. That's right. Themed. Ours was "The Space Room." It was painted midnight blue and there were posters of planets and a little projector projected stars on the ceiling when the lights were out. It was great. I love space!

So that's Budapest.


Since then, we've had Fall break. We traveled to Milan (for a day), Madrid and Amsterdam. Although we heard that Milan had nothing much to offer, we had a great time there. There's a beautiful duoma and there was an outdoor science exhibit all about space! I'm telling you, I love space! Space is the coolest!

Also, Milan is the resting place of Da Vinci's Last Supper. Although, when we went to see it, the dossent laughed in our face. Apparently, you need reservations about a month in advance. They let 25 people in to see it for 15 minutes at a time. Lame.

Madrid was gorgeous and we were up to our ears in tapas every night and the hostel we stayed at was like a commune, with lovely people from Sweden and Australia and Alaska and England. It was the only hostel I've been to so far where we didn't mind actually hanging out in the hostel. In fact, they had a movie library, and on a rainy day we watched Back to the Future. It was great.

Also, this is the place where I witnessed the Phillies win the World Series. I never felt more homesick. (That's not true, but it sounds like it should be).

Amsterdam was kinda gross. But still fun. I'll have to write more about that later, cause it definitely deserves its own post.




Ok. That's enough of an update, no?



I feel ridiculous writing this paper. It's an interesting assignment, but you'll see how I made it riduculous in a second.

It's for Media and Society. We've been looking at how representations of things in the media are actually interpreted by the viewer, and therefore a message has more to do with the audience's perceptions, personal histories, culture, and biases than the media's goals. It's a good, interesting class.

So the assignment is to take some event or something and find photographic representation of it in a US newspaper and also in a Czech newspaper, and compare the photos from cultural perspectives. You know, analyze what they mean in each culture and what they say about both the subject and the culture itself.

So while most people in the class are comparing photos of big, serious, important things like 9/11, the Iraq War, or the U.S. 2008 Presidential Election, I'm writing about the respective photographic representations of Britney Spears' abysmal performance at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards.

So, I'm looking at pictures of an out of shape, barely clothed, struggling pop star and trying to put an academic spin on the media's love of tearing her apart.

Also, I don't speak Czech. So navigating the MF DNES website (the Czech Republic's most prominent daily) is really difficult.


But whatever, man. I'm getting it done.


I miss New York and Philly. I'll be home soon.

I promise to update this blog for real soon. It has been a very, very busy couple weeks.

We had "Fall Break" and I traveled to Berlin with my family, and to Milan, Madrid, and Amsterdam with friends. Very eye-opening, and I'm happy I'm studying here in Prague.

The election was very exciting here, but hearing all my friends in New York talk about how they were all dancing in the streets made me miss home more than ever. It's amazing to think I'll be coming home to President Barack Obama and a completely different self-image as an American citizen.

Also, the trams here have seat-warmers! At 8:30 AM on a cold, winter morning, getting up for old people just got another strike against it... (It's still my favorite Czech custom, though. Don't worry. I'm sure I'll bring it back to New York with me.)

Also, last night I saw the band Why? play at this weird indie club that was at a university campus across the river. Anathallo opened for them. The place was filled with Czech hipsters, and I wondered, "Where have these people been for the past three months??" The show was great. I miss going to shows. Both bands were great. I find that they both have a really good sense of the arc of a song; the actual composition of the music (the combination between the instruments and the vocals) has emotionality and texture, and it's really fun to watch them play.

I want to start a band.

A Video!

The quality of this video is no good. In the future, if I post a video, it will be better quality. I promise.

Still, I think you'll enjoy this:

On "How are you?"

In the Czech Republic, much like the United States, people often greet each other with a friendly "How are you." In the United States, we do this by saying "How are you?" In the Czech Republic, we do this by saying "Jak se máš?" "Jak se máš" is pronounced like so: "Yahk seh mahsh."

In the United States, it is customary to answer such a question with things like "I'm well" or "Great" or "Just fine" or "A-Okay" even if the responder is sad, tired, ill, in constant pain, or consumed with grief. In other words, despite how one feels, in the United States, one will tell everyone they are fine.

In the Czech Republic, it is customary to answer such a question with things like "Still surviving" or "So-so" or "Ehhhh" or "Ugh, who knows" even if the responder is feeling perfectly okay. In other words, despite how one feels, in the Czech Republic, one will tell everyone that life is pretty crap.

There is no judgment in this blog post. I think it's a very interesting difference in the two cultures. I also think it says a lot about two cultures. I think it probably has to do with history. In America, always showing your best side, standing up in the face of adversity, and being an optimistic underdog is basically part of the culture. It is something that is considered "good."

In the Czech Republic, however, there is a history of self-effacement. Of rolling over and taking orders in order to literally survive. This had to happen multiple times in the past 100 years here. When the Nazis rolled into power it happened. When the Communists rolled into power, it happened again.

Imagine this: You are the Czech Republic. Your allies are France and Great Britain. It is before World War II. Hitler is crazy and power hungry and everyone in Europe wants to avoid a world war somehow. France and Great Britain meet Hitler in Munich. They say, "Okay Hitler, we'll give you this part of Czechoslovakia and de facto control over the rest if you promise not to invade anywhere else." Hitler agrees (even though he'll later break his promise.)

So now, you've been sold out by your former allies. You can either face Hitler's massive army alone, or you can agree to the annexations.

Does that suck or what?

A lot of Czechs joined the Communist Party because they were the only ones who were fighting the Nazis. They weren't better than the Nazis, as proved later.

Jan Urban, the aforementioned Modern Dissent teacher, talks about how in times of crises, when nations are pushed to the brink, they shift toward totalitarian solutions. These totalitarian - basically extremist - government parties offer a shortcut. A solution. One leader to destroy a common enemy. And people will believe it.

And then, obviously, it fails and people suffer and the whole nation gets egg on its face.



Get this: It is basically considered indecent to ask Czechs what they did before 1989. There is a whole generation here who basically pretends they were born at the age of 35.



This entry really got out of hand. It started somewhere sort of basic and interesting, and ended with what looks to me like a sort of pat, simple answer to a very complex cultural, political, and ideological occurence that we're (and by "we're" I don't mean "Czechs." I mean "everyone in the world") are still feeling today.


So. Sorry for the civics lesson. I don't pretend to understand the complex history of Europe or the (in some cases) more complex history of the Czech Republic (even though I now realize that I actually am pretending to do just that...)


I hope it was a little bit interesting though.



I'll end with a fun fact from from my notes:

Ok, so the German Empire kicked France's ass in the Franco-Prussian war. Bizmarck used an economist to basically calculate how much reparations the defeated France could possibly pay and not be totally and utterly destroyed. Then he made France pay that. It was a way of winning, but not humiliating the enemy. Bizmarck would always have to contend with France's desire to avenge their loss in the war, but this was a smart way to not completely humiliate the defeated enemy. Right?

Ok, so fast forward. WWI has been going on for a while, and we reach a deal: The Treaty of Versaille which effectively ends the war. Now it's Germany who's on the losing end. They've finally been defeated, and in this treaty they lose some territory. Also, they are forced to pay something like 132 BILLION golden marks. That's like 500 billion U.S. dollars circa 2005. This is the opposite of what Bizmarck did.

So anyway, in 1923, the German economy is in the tank. This is one of the most prominent examples of hyperinflation. The money was actually worth less than the paper it would be printed on. I mean, people would instead pay for things with coal money. If you went to a coffee shop, you'd pay in advance. Know why? Because the cost of the coffee could triple right there while you were sipping it! I mean, in December of 1923 the exchange rate was 4,200,000,000,000 Marks to 1 US dollar! The rate of inflation was so high that prices were doubling every two days!

That's craziness.


So here's the best part:

It is now October of 2008. World War I ended in 1919. About 90 years ago. The last part of the German reparations ordered in the Treaty of Versaille will be paid from Germany to the United States in - wait for it - year 2010! Yeah, in many ways it's just silly symbolics and a sense of pride. But still. It's kind of funny. The first world war is not yet over.


The world is funny. Enjoy your day.

Northern Bohemia

Bohemia is a place. A lot of people know this. But not everyone, I don't think. Maybe that's because of the hit Broadway musical Rent (which just closed, RIP). In the hit Broadway musical Rent, they often refer to Bohemia as an ideology. A haven for artists and lovers and other people with abnormal lifestyles. Those young artists and lovers and other people with abnormal lifestyles are Bohemians. Bohemians are chic.

According to the dictionary widget on my trusty MacBook Pro, the definition of a "bohemian" (the one that means "one who has informal and unconventional social habits") comes from the French word for "gypsy," since gypsies were thought to come from Bohemia. Or something. I didn't research this too thoroughly. I don't know these things for a fact.

Either way, Bohemia is a region of the Czech Republic. I know this for a fact. I know this because I was there over the weekend. We took a day trip. It is a really boring, really pretty place. Maybe those two things are incongruous. I wasn't bored there. But if I was there for longer than how long I was there for, it would have been boring. A day is the perfect amount of time to spend in Northern Bohemia.

There are caves there. The Bozkovské Dolomite Caves. I am not going to post a lot of pictures of the caves in this post, because we went caving in Budapest, and I think it's important for you to see the comparison. So instead, I will devote a post to comparing the two caving experiences. It will make you smile, I promise. Cave pictures are always funny.

The Bozkovské Dolomite Caves were really pretty, but super touristy. Lots of stairs and railings and lights and lighting effects. The best part, though, was the tour guide. He was a little, old man who didn't speak English, so he carried a tape player from which an Australian woman's voice told us everything we needed to know. He had certain parts memorized though. I know this because he'd point with his flashlight on places that the Australian woman was describing RIGHT when she was describing them. Sometimes, he would punctuate something she would say. She would say "This cave is called 'The Surprise Cave.'" Then the little, old man would say "Surprise." He made everyone smile.


This is what he looked like:



Doesn't he look little and old and great? This picture may be better:





Those are all the cave pictures you get.

What's that?

Oh, okay. Here you go. Here's just a few:







Phew, enough of that. We're done with caves for now.



After caves, we went on a four-hour hike through the woods and mountains of the area. It was pretty spectacular. Words don't really justice. Hell, these pictures don't even do it justice. But here are a bunch, anyway. Enjoy.

That's Amanda and Becky. They are good people who are in the Microcosm.

Are the leaves changing in the states, yet? Cause they are here. The weather is weird.






This is Lenka, my R.A. She is awesome. She taught us how to say a dirty phrase in Czech ( "Dito prdele!"), which is sort of the equivalent of "Kiss my ass." Then she got embarrassed cause we were saying it a bit too loudly on the ride home.






What is Dave looking at?






Oh. Awesome mountains!

There was a bunch of original art carved into the rocks in this area. Poetry, too.






They looked like this.






This looks like the entrance to Pan's Labyrinth. I wouldn't be surprised.






Lenka took this photo. It describes our relationship pretty well, I think.





Lenka took this one, as well. Some guys from the Microcosm. As you can see, my beard is growing in quite well. I recently trimmed it, so now it looks a little bit more like I grew it on purpose, rather than grew it because I lacked any means with which to shave.

That's all for now. Be well!