I know... I'm a bit behind.
Day 6 & 7 - Monday & Tuesday
Last Monday we started the first session of summer school. I am enrolled in two courses: Cross-Cultural Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (9:00-10:50) taught by a teacher from California Western (in San Diego) and International Property Rights (11:00-12:50) taught by a teacher from my school. Negotiation focuses on practical skills (of negotiation obviously) and involves a lot of group work. Property gives a comparative twist to property rights (which have interestingly caused a majority of all of the disputes between individuals throughout time). Both classes seem like they are going to be very interesting and enjoyable!
Day 8 - Wednesday
Wednesday our property class ventured to the Museum of Communism for lecture. Because my professor has done research on this topic and has taught this program in Prague for multiple years, he knows a lot about the effects of communism on the country that is now the Czech Republic. The museum displays a very cynical view to communism which was apparent in the posters, artwork, and statutes throughout the . I've posted the pictures from the museum on facebook.
After class, Bethany, Schawnne, and I decided to take the tram to Tesco (a Czech department store that sells groceries, clothing, toiletries, electronics, etc...-- the equivalent to a Target in the states). We needed a few more groceries and Bethany and Schawnne wanted to do a little clothing shopping since they brought less clothes that I did and are running out of clothes (for once overpacking paid off for me!).
On our way to the Tesco, we decided to take the tram (since we're getting pretty tired of walking all the time, although we're getting some great exercise) and had our first "negative" experience here. After boarding the tram, Bethany and I took two open seats and Schawnne stood holding the railing next to us. After chatting to each other for a few minutes, an older man standing nearby starting yelling at us, asking if we were "deaf" (which was actually more like calling us deaf and proceeded to throw around the f-word multiple times). He then began to delve into America's politics and his distain for President Obama. Ironically, his yelling was louder and more disruptive than any noise we could have previously made. After insulting us, our President, and our country, he said, "Well I hope you have a nice time in Prague," which basically meant ZERO to us at that point. We've been much more aware of our noise levels on trams since this incident (although I'm pretty certain we were not loud before this incident either).
For dinner, we decided to make some dinner in our apartment. It's the first time we've had dinner at home. Schawnne cooked up a nice dinner of pasta (with spaghetti sauce), salad (with a lemon as dressing) and bread. Not quite like in the states but it was pretty good!
Day 9 - Thursday
Today we performed single negotiations in class, which was a bit nerve-racking at first but proved as great negotiation practice.
After school, we decided to test out the laundry situation over here. We heard of a laundry shop near our apartment and decided to check it out. After waiting for 20 minutes outside the laundry place (that was supposed to be opened at 10:00 a.m.), a young women came walking up the street to the front door and informed us that the laundry lady comes in "sometimes at 10:00 a.m., sometimes 3:00 p.m., and sometimes not at all." Apparently, people are able to come into work whenever they want to over here. Luckily, however, she decided to come in at 3:00 p.m. so we could get our laundry done.
My next post will be about our adventures from Rome. I'll try to get it up within the next couple of days.
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