Dicks Ahoy/Self-Loathing Tourist

          It might be because there are ten girls in the room, and just two guys. It might be because we're learning Czech for four hours a day, five days a week. Or maybe it's because everybody seems to be taking this class so damn seriously. But whatever the reason, somehow I became the class clown.

          It was definitely new for me- I don't think I'm really cut out for the role, either. I tend to be more of a quiet/focused/just-get-shit-done type of guy. In college, I haven't been the best at any subject, but I've always tried to be. Here, not so much. And it's strange how quickly things can turn. I could feel myself becoming a different person, and I embraced it. I stopped paying attention. I laughed everything off. Soon enough, I found I was one of the worst students in my class.

         Everything seemed out of my control, too. I figured out what was expected of me, so I subconsciously played to that. Not to mention, I had fun doing it. A typical incident: One morning, I was told to read a dialogue aloud with a partner. We start reading, and I'm mumbling my way through it. Then, my partner gets to the last sentence, which is something like, “Diks ahoj.” In Czech, the “j” sounds similar to our “y,” so when he said it aloud, it came out as, “Dicks ahoy!” I thought it was the funniest thing ever. If there's a better way to end a conversation, I haven't heard it. Yes, I have the maturity level of a twelve year old.  I began to laugh uncontrollably. I tried to muffle it, but that only made it worse. I got teary-eyed from laughing so hard. And the best part was, the rest of the class was completely silent. It may as well have been a funeral. This made it even funnier to me. Nobody's saying anything. I'm cracking up and shaking and trying not to look anybody in the eyes. I think my classmates just assumed I was mentally ill. After about thirty seconds, the teacher said, “All right,” and attempted to move the class along. I quieted down, but I didn't stop giggling for about five minutes.

          Granted, we've only been in class for a couple of days, and just as quickly as things change, they can change back. We had a quiz earlier this week, so I actually took some time to study. Within twenty minutes I was caught up. I ended up doing fine on the quiz. I'll still be happy when this class is over, though. There aren't many things I would want to do for four hours a day.

          On the touristy side of things, we visited Prague Castle. I'm not big on going to places like this. I don't care about history or architecture very much. I also don't like going to the same spots as everyone else and taking the same pictures as everyone else and saying, “Wow! This is amazing!” just like everyone else. It feels like I'm living in a script. The pictures are nice for the memories, I guess, but it doesn't even seem like its my memory when so many thousands of people have been ushered through exactly like I was. God, I'm such a buzzkill.

          Anyway, the castle was massive. There were so many buildings there that it felt like a small town more than anything else. It made it difficult to get perspective on the whole thing, because we were just walking down streets, surrounded by these buildings. I will say one highlight was the cathedral (pictures are in the previous post). It was giant and pretty. Can't ask for much more than that. And back outside, there was a spot on some stone steps that offered a panoramic view of all of Prague. I took in the city alongside French and Japanese and Russians tourists, and I thought it was kind of nice, in spite of myself.