guess who's back, back again

I'm in America.
Where I don't have to ask for "still," "neperliva," or "no gas" water.
Where public bathrooms are definitely free.
Where tap water is free.
Where bread is free in restaurants.
Where you tip more than 10%.
Where you can talk on the metro. Loudly, even.
Where coffee comes big and black.
Where the sun doesn't set at 4 pm.
Where cooking directions come in English.
Where Web sites default to English.
Hell, where everything is in English.

The time between coming back from Vietnam and flying to the Czech Republic was so short that I honestly feel like I haven't properly been in the States since May, and now I have about a week and a half at home before I drive down to campus Jan. 3. I feel like I've seen and experienced more in this year than I have the entire rest of my lifetime and part of me is ready to just collapse in one giant wheeeeew! while the other part of me is still itching to plan that next trip, that next weekend away. Now that I've spent a semester in Europe, I have an entirely new list of places that I want to see (Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich for Oktoberfest, Madrid, Barcelona, Croatia, Serbia, Greece, Istanbul, etc.), and it scares me to know that I don't have any big trips planned in the near future (...so far). It scares me even more to not know when I'll be in Prague again.

I honestly don't know if study abroad cured my wanderlust or made it worse. I am tired and I know that no matter how far I go some things I will never be able to escape from, but there is something freeing in the backpacking, hostel-hopping lifestyle--even if it means slumming it--and in knowing that you can just up and go any minute.

THE FINAL LIST OF WHERE I WENT:
12.09 - 13.09: Northern Bohemia, Czech Republic
18.09 - 21.09: Vienna, Austria
26.09 - 27.09: Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
02.10 - 05.10: London, England
09.10 - 12.10: Krakow, Poland and Auschwitz
23.10 - 24.10: Bari, Italy
24.10 - 27.10: Rome, Italy and the Vatican
27.10 - 31.10: Florence, Italy and Pisa
31.10 - 03.11: Venice, Italy
07.11: Terezin, Czech Republic
13.11 - 17.11: Paris, France
23.11: Kutna Hora, Czech Republic
04.12 - 06.12: Budapest, Hungary

london calling

I JUST BOOKED TICKETS TO LONDON!

They were $220 total, including tax and fees. I'm going to go so broke this semester, but damn it, I will see the world.

On another note, I know this city is very ethnically homogenous, but I seriously feel like the only Chinese girl in all of Prague. Not only can I count the number of Asian people I've seen on one hand (which is so weird coming from a summer in Vietnam/Asia), but I'm pretty sure all of them are Vietnamese (apparently, there's a huge population here), which I suppose is weirdly appropriate.

As for today, Czech class was a total joke. Probably around 6 of the 20 people actually showed up to the "mandatory" class, and I really only did because I forgot to turn my alarm clock off last night (and because I had to meet this academic advising lady, since last night left me enrolled in only 2 classes -- which means I wasn't even a full-time student anymore -- after I completely failed at drunkenly trying to drop/add classes and coordinate schedules with my roommate at 4 am). I'm pretty sure every person doing NYU in Prague was at Mecca last night, which has no cover Wednesday nights and has a free Sex on the Beach for ladies until midnight. It was a cute club that's overall what you'd expect when you think of European clubs: flashing lights, smoky dancefloors, techno music, guys in tight shirts and gelled hair, girls in flashy outfits, and people awkwardly bopping around on the dance floor. And I finally tried absinthe for the first time!

what happens at the resort stays at the resort

“They scream, they sing, they fall down, they take their clothes off, they cross-dress, they vomit,” Malia’s mayor, Konstantinos Lagoudakis, said in an interview. “It is only the British people — not the Germans or the French.”

- "Some Britons Too Unruly for Resorts in Europe" (NYTimes)

I wonder what do they think about American college students.