Final Foreign Thoughts

Prague, Vienna, Lyon—written on the TGV first class back to Aix

The last few days in Amsterdam were rainy. All but one pair of socks were soaked and my one pair of pants were getting nasty. I visited a few more small attractions, such as Rembrandt’s house, and then headed off to the airport. It felt good leaving the city. I loved it, but I had been there too long and I was still dealing with the end of IAU. I figured out ways to fight off the feeling of homesickness and such—mostly by spending time planning my trip to the next city. I also began to start writing all the things I’d been thinking in my little notebook: travel tips & ideas, life-lessons, etc.

I arrived in Prague late, without any Krounas. After checking into the hostel, I went to an ATM and withdrew some Krounas—2000 in fact. It was awesome having a 2000 bill in my hands, but it was only worth like 120 dollars. Having currency that is no good anywhere else is very freeing. I had about 120 dollars to spend and if I didn’t spend it, I wouldn’t be able to. That was nice because I didn’t worry about costs too much. I went to a lot of churches and museums in Prague. I also met up with my bro Michael. We met my first morning in Prague at the Old Town Square next to the old astronomical clock. Of course, it was pouring rain, so all my clothes that had dried out were drenched again. Apparently, I had a formidable odor. We got some goulash and beers and got charged way too much. We wanted the goulash soup, but got some other kind that wasn’t actually all that good. Michael was a bit mad, but it was great to see him. I decided to spend the night at his apartment in Chelakovice, about 30 minutes by train outside of Prague. We stopped by the hostel to get some clothes and toiletries and headed to the train station. Michael had to study a bit, so I got to slow down, rest, and plan a bit of my trip to Vienna. I saw his pictures from his trip to Budapest and Croatia and we shared stories and caught up.

I also got to meet his new buddies from school. We got a great, huge dinner at a nice little restaurant near his apartment, topped off with a couple of dollar pints of pretty good beer. We met more friends at a little bar/restaurant in another part of town. Really, these were the only two restaurants in the entire town. Later, we hung out at Michael’s apartment, swapped music, watched some great youtube videos, etc. It was a great time and I feel very close to Michael. We are also becoming more and more similar. Same wallet, same sense of humor, same love for kebab, we even went straight for the same pair of pants on opposite ends of the rack when we stopped at Zara in Prague. Weird stuff was happening. I really enjoyed my time out there. The next day, I sight-saw in Prague after catching the early train into town. St. Charles Bridge, the castle complex, St. Nicholas and Tyn Churches, Old Town Square, an exhibit of prints of Dali works and some sculptures, and the Kafka museum all in just about 4-5 hours. I was exhausted by the end of the day. I finished looking up tips for Vienna and went to bed by 10:30 after checking out Charles Bridge and the Old Town Square once more at night all lit up. It’s really one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen. The architecture is amazing. I was up early to get the bus to Vienna. The ride was beautiful, with lots of hills, woods, and fields of some yellow flower.

The first day in Vienna, we just relaxed. I needed that slow-down time after my last day in Prague. We watched “How I Met Your Mother” for a while and just took it slow. I was staying with Irina from IAU and her sister Diana in Diana’s apartment/dorm in Vienna near Prater Park. We went out that night because a couple of Diana’s friends were leaving the next day. It was interesting meeting them all. One was from Chile, two from Lithuania, one from Belgium, and Diana’s roommate from Australia. Very international. We spent much of the next day watching that show again. It’s really addicting. I also narrowed down the sights I wanted to see and I walked around downtown a bit, getting oriented. The next day, I went to the Leopold Museum. It had exhibit of Egon Schiele (a favorite of mine—see “male nude reclining”), Klimt and his followers, art between the wars, and Albert Egger-Lienz or someone like that. I also went to the modern art museum, which was cool but I didn’t get much of the art. I am not a huge fan of modern art, but I wanted to give it a chance and see it in person. The third floor, with works by John Cage and Yoko Ono was cool. The 1st was not so much. It was the kind of art where people tack skinned lamb carcasses on a canvas and then rub the body parts all over their bodies. Not my thing. Anyway, I enjoyed the museums. There was a Monet, Rothko, and Kandinsky exhibit at another museum, but I was see-ed out and I didn’t want to spend any more euros.

So, as far as sightseeing goes in Lyon, I checked out the Gallo-Roman amphitheaters and the Gallo-Roman Museum, which was built underground so that the only visible parts were two huge bay windows that blend into the hillside next to the large theater. I learned a lot about the Roman occupation/rule of Gaul and particularly that in Lyon, which was founded as the capital of one of the three provinces of Gaul and where one emperor was born. I walked around town, toured the Fourviere hill, the Presqu-ile, saw another student protest and a band of drummers, and saw yet another Roman amphitheater. I contemplated the Rhone and Saone rivers and eventually made it to the Place Bellecour to watch Olympique Lyon beat Paris Saint-Germain in overtime to clinch the Coupe de France. The city had set up a huge screen in the place and tons of Lyonnais had gathered to watch the game. Quite exciting. I walked up the huge hill to the hostel and fell asleep.

On the TGV back to Aix, I cannot believe this trip is over. It’s tough to believe that I’m at the end, but now I know where I want to go next in Europe, what to do, how to pace myself, and how to do it right. I will miss Europe but the closer I get to going home, the more attractive it seems. I will miss traveling, but it’s nice to have something permanent and to have a goal. I have major plans for this summer, all written in my notebook (it’s not a journal OR a diary!). I enjoy writing this blog (that’s why entries are so long!) so I think I’ll start another one with a different theme. I am going to try my hand at writing short-stories this summer, so I may be posting some of those, too. It’s been a great trip, and I really cannot believe it’s over. I have been reflecting a lot on transitoriness, the future, the work-world, and life in general. Psychology, economics, Buddhist teachings, philosophy, ethics, and art. Part of feeling so small in such a large world. I’ve had amazing revelations, even just last night, about myself and about acting in the world. I would really like to say that this has been a life-changing experience, but I have met too many people who enjoyed their abroad studies, but returned to the day to day over the years and may not even remember what they did or saw. Of course, none of regretted doing it and it may change them just a little, which has enormous consequences over time. Or, they don’t realize how much it might have changed their lives. In any case, it was absolutely worth it, regardless of how permanent the experiences are. At the very least, even if your ideas about the world change, this experience for a while affects the way you interact with it and view it. Obviously, I like writing—that I’ve learned.

I don’t know how to end this, so I’ll stop.




Return- Detroit Airport

I woke up at 8:15 this morning and it was sunny. Currently, the sun just set and it is 8:40 pm. Of course, I have been traveling for about 20 hours now. That’s a lot of day. I’m in the plane going to Nashville, tired of being in a plane or airport. (I watched I’m Not There, No Country for Old Men, Bee Movie, and a couple episodes of How I Met your Mother. I wanted to watch American Gangster or There Will Be Blood, but ran out of time.) But, I wanted to write down a few of the things I noticed while I was there. In general, the best way I can think of describing things is “lack of grandeur.”

Examples:
We generally don’t dress very well. I mean, we have for the most part cheap clothes, often old and plain looking. Of course, I was in an airport so most people just want to be comfortable while they travel and don’t care as much about appearances. The clothing is very bland.
Second, there were tons of food courts in the airport. Most of them were fast food—it was crazy seeing Taco Bell, Starbucks, and such again. I had to get a burrito. Of course, I’m trying to illustrate this whole lack of grandeur thing. (Grandeur is really stronger of a word than I intend.) Anyway, the idea is that all these restaurants serve really awful food that somehow appeals to us. Not trying to be snobby—I really enjoyed my Taco Bell burrito. It’s just simple food that you generally don’t find elsewhere. Also, the food is wrapped in paper and put in a plastic bag. Lots of waste. Compared to French fast food--I’m talking about Paul, Jacob’s, boulangeries, etc.—this stuff is awful. Of course, the French of McDonald’s and Quick and stuff, but they aren’t nearly as popular in my experience as places like Paul or Bannette. There is something missing in the quality department.
Related to both, people in the US are much bigger. But I think that’s also a cultural thing. On another related note, there were lots of little conveyor belts to transport people across long hallways, escalators, etc.
Finally, I watched CNN while I waited for my flight to take off. I couldn’t. It was practically run by the government. Journalists were sneaking personal opinions in supposedly objective stories and the segment of time I watched was for the most part devoted to telling the stories of wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan. It seemed like they even inserted lines to make the US look better. For example, one soldier was talking about what they did on daily, routine patrols. He said that they walked around and recruited people for the Iraqi force and asked people if they knew where insurgents were. The reporter cut in at this point and added that they also distributed food and water to Iraqis. It just seemed kind of suspicious.


These are the little things that stood out to me. More on reverse culture shock to come.