the Czech's Chinese burrito

This morning started off with a new route to campus! As non-exciting as this may sound, we got stuck in traffic [instead of walking] and ended up getting to the tram station (10 minutes from campus) at 9:28. Because we had 2 minutes to spare, Dillon and I chose to take our time. I guess that shows the difference between Boulder and Cornell; whereas Dillon was relaxed and walked calmly with me- accepting our late arrival time- Robert booked it. We turned around for 10 seconds, and within 10 more seconds, he was out of sight on a straight away. He might have beaten Usain Bolt in the Olympics, had he not had (what looked to be) an extremely heavy backpack on (despite nothing really needed inside of it because its still practically orientation). After agreeing that the rush wasn't worth it, I arrived 7 minutes late to class, pretended to apologize, then got corrected for being so off. The rest of class was horrific. Right before our first break, as we were discussing numbers, I was asked my phone number. I think I was the only student who was thinking in 3 separate languages, and was prepared to answer in all of them. Lucky for me none of them were Czech, and none of them sounded like an Eastern European language either. That made everything even easier.
During our break, I learned how hard the soon-to-be quiz would be, and actually looked over the material. After practically finishing the test, I went back and filled in my name and the date. Today was "10-09-08" in Europe... and this ticking time bomb seemed to explode just as I turned in my exam. Turns out that I lost like 15% for not knowing what the question was, and probably only another 10% for getting so much wrong. Luckily we get tons of instruction, and my next quiz will be even easier. Oh wait, tons of instruction consists of reading the page once through to make sure we don't totally butcher the way we say something, then move onto the next page (without the American educational system's patented 'discussion' or 'instruction' method that inform the students what exactly they have just read).
After our lovely quiz, I walked to get food with some guys from the program. We went for Chinese food. It was pretty decent, and very cheap- especially given its location. 100 korun (17 to the dollar) for a huge- and filling- lemon chicken with rice and a beer. Not bad for 6 bucks, but not worth it again I think. They did have magical spring rolls. These spring rolls are the size of burritos from Chipotle, and deflate a little once they cool off and some air sprouts free.
Lunch was followed with a tour of Prague castle. I finally took pictures, in part because this was the first opportunity and in part because it was the first time worthwhile, but need to have Dillon photoshop the lighting for me. Turns out that every minute that passed, the weather got worse and worse, until it was finally raining. I'm glad I packed an umbrella, even though no one else was smart enough to think of that.
As exciting as 80s music videos have been all week, we decided to get a real taste of 80s music by going to a local club (an hour of commuting to return home nonetheless). Much to our disappoint, the downstairs 80s floor was totally empty (I forgot to check back later into the night). The regular floor was packed with crazy Europeans and drunken Americans, all of whom were trying to maintain balance in a sea of tumbling bodies known as a techno club. I didn't sweat as much as I do during hot yoga, but it was definitely more than from any other activity. Having gotten lost on the trams once before (turns out last time I went straight to this club pretty much), I decided to check the schedules before returning. This gave us ample knowledge of when we wanted to leave. The one problem with this is when you don't give yourself ample time to get to the tram stop. Since trams come every half hour, we had to wait 20 minutes for the next arrival. The drunken freestyle that followed was to out of hand for the Czechs. What started as Dillon singing on the corner waiting for the tram to arrive spun into 4 of us screaming in a tram with Czechs undergoing complete chaos in their lack of quiet. Finally, an undercover tram agent checked to make sure we had passes, hoping to kick us off (and fine us 100USD). Although we didn't calm down, he didn't get any money either. The night ended with what looked like confused Israelis standing in the back of the tram. They asked us in English if we knew where they were, and it turns out they were making my exact same mistake from a few nights ago! They were in fact Israeli, and were going the complete opposite direction for only a few stops before realizing what was going on. I'm glad I could save someone from making my own mistakes, but I was more glad to get into my tiny, cushionless, uncomfortable bed.