Tomorrow, I will bid farewell to the land that has been my home these three and a half months and return to the good old U.S of A. This may not be my last blog post, as I am spending the weekend in Dublin with Andrew Alberg and experiencing what I can only assume will be the Irish version of Fear in Loathing in Las Vegas. But before I start reminiscing about the 1960s through a haze of hallucinogens and raw ether, I thought that I should first reminisce about my time in the Czech Republic, specifically the things I’ll miss about Prague, as well as the things I won’t miss.
Things I’ll miss:
Cheap, cheap beer.
The buildings that were constructed when the Pilgrims were surviving their first New England winter.
The high school I go to once a week to talk with Czech students.
The guy who’s always singing in Old Town Square
The phenomenal public transportation system.
Bramborak and Smazeny syr. Also goulash with potato dumplings.
The view at night from the Charles Bridge.
Ondrej, my Modern Poetry professor. I’ve had some great professors at GW, but not one has ever taken the class out to a bar.
All of the people I’ve met here. Well, most of them.
Things I won’t miss:
Not speaking the same language as 99% of the population. Basically a given.
The fact that literally everything is a la carte at most restaraurants. You actually have to pay extra for ketchup here.
The lack of good Mexican food and cheeseburgers.
The insanely expensive price for certain commodities, like contact lense solution.
In the end, though, I think we’re all happy to be going back. I hear a lot of people talking about how much they’re going to miss Prague, but in the next breath they discuss what they’re going to get for dinner their first night at home (sushi is a popular option). It’s true that a few people might come back for an extended period of time to work, live, maybe even get married and raise a family. But for most of us, it’s time to take our experiences back to the U.S. and enjoy the all-night diners, gas-guzzling SUVs and 4th of July fireworks we love so much.
