Prague!

Well, we've made it. Brisbane to Hong Kong (9 hours, relatively good service but too little food!), Hong Kong to Zurich (12 hours, two meals, 6.5 hours sleep and they cranked the cooling to the point where Jordan asked for a second blanket), Zurich to Prague (1 hour of flying over the beautiful mountains!) and a few hours in airports in between and we're HERE.

Upon arrival we were excited to discover that Prague is currently at a toasty 27 degrees during the day :D Admittedly, in a city without air conditioning this does make it a little uncomfortable at times, but since neither of us have been to Europe in the Summer it is very exciting. There are actually tourists out and about!

There is so much to say about Prague that I'll have to resort to the much-loved sub-headings.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
What a warm, beautiful day! We caught the train to the city, arriving at a station outside one of Prague's parks. There seem to be plenty of trees and greenery in the city, which is brilliant. Or maybe it's just because we've never seen a European city with leaves.
We hauled our luggage (two 24kg suitcases and five pieces of 7-10kg hand luggage) onto trains and trams to arrive, at long last, at our apartment block. The apartments we're living in are brand spankers, and very nice. Our apartment is definitely on the teensy side (with most everything in the one room and a bed that pulls out of the wall), but we're making the most of it...and jokes like, 'I'm just going to the kitchen. Der you go!' (the latter being one of Simeon's oh-so-cute phrases).
Unfortunately, the further out from the city we travelled, the more ghetto the city appears. We're not at all that far out (10 minutes by tram) from the city centre, but even out here there is graffiti, unkempt sidewalks and dog poo squished into the cobblestone. Typical Europe, I guess.....and I have to keep reminding myself that Prague has an unpleasant history and its infrastructure and facilities have suffered as a result. Again, this could just be a shock to me as most European cities we saw were coated in a pretty, snowy sheen.

AN EXCURSION
From the airport to our apartment we found just one English speaking native...a guy working at the international airport. Of course, we have tried speaking Czech (I managed to greet said guy-at-airport and ask if he spoke English, but when he said 'yes' I couldn't be sure if he understood me or just heard terrible Czech and had mercy...why, oh why didn't the Germans force their language on the people?! Or at least vowels?!). So getting out and about is tricky. However, without essentials like bed sheets and cups, a trip to IKEA was in order. We purchased our ticket from a machine (no human contact- brilliant!) and sat on the train for about 25 minutes before arriving at the end of the line. The trek between this train station and IKEA takes about 15 minutes in the hot sun. The water here tastes funny, so having avoided drinking it, we were very thirsty by the time we reached IKEA. We went into a Macdonalds and played charades, ordering a large coke to pay for on our credit card (we had no Czech Koruna at this point) and were rewarded for our pitiful linguistics with the manager coming over, swiping his card, and giving the poor Aussie idiots a free large coke. Nice! And not one word was passed between us. Except for our crap attempt at thankyou (dye-kooooo-yu). So, we completed our mission to IKEA, lugging a trademark blue bag home on the train and down the streets, with the straps cutting into our hands and the sun beating down. Although we don't understand anyone here, and no one understands us, the sympathetic looks from strangers were easy to read.

PLAYING HOUSE
We unpacked, had showers and git ready for bed. Our efforts to get into the Czech time zone have been mildly successful (we're about 8 hours behind Brisbane), though we were absolutely exhausted by 6.30pm. Jordan fell asleep on the bed while I made dinner. Somewhere in the cooking (or should I say, pasta-boiling) process I decided it would be a good idea to lay down while I waited for the pre-historic electric stove to heat up (boy, do I miss gas!). About 40 minutes later I awoke to discover our pasta had tripled its size from a serious case of fluid retention. Whoops. We also have no strainer. Mmm, waterlogged spaghetti. So dinner was relatively unexciting, but we were both too tired to care and crawled into bed at around 7.30pm Czech time. The internet man was supposed to come last night, but if he did neither of us heard him ring the doorbell...
I awoke at 4.45am. Read parts of Czech phrase book. Studied map to double-check location of school. Missed home and grew anxious about school, speaking Czech and living in Prague. Stewed on these issues for a while. Slapped myself, deciding my anxiety was not helpful. Watched the clock tick over to 5.30am...and woke up at 6.30am with a stuffy nose and scratchy throat. Too excited about exploring for me to care!


EXPLORING
Jordan was ready to roll at 8am, so we headed out in appropriate clothing (unlike the jeans, jumpers and closed in shoes we arrived in) and wandered the streets. Fortunately, our landlordy-lady-gal dropped by before we left to let us know that the internet guy would be arriving at 2pm! SWEET! Up until this point I had felt very disconnected, especially being unable to get a message to our parents that we had arrived safely.
Our first stop was my school! It's only a 15-20 minute walk from our apartment, and an even shorter tram trip (which will be great in the colder months). Public transport here is great, by the way. The school is small, as I knew, and a little unkempt, but I arrived two weeks before the new students are due to, so cleaning of residences and administration was underway. Bizarrely, Jordan and I were reassured by the fact that things were a little untidy, preferring to believe they spend school fees on equipment and tutors instead of the premises. I sure hope we're right!
Nikola, the school's administrator, is a phlegmatic type all over. However, he was very helpful, filling out the forms for our 3 month student (even for Jordan! Score!) metro passes for us, complete with a cover page saying, 'Can we please have two 3 month student passes' in Czech. Yes, we were laughed/smiled at for this by one Czech lady, but again, I think it was sympathy. Then Nikola mumbled something and left us on our own...after waiting for 15 minutes for him to return we walked to his office (where he was seated at his desk, working) to ask if there was anything else he needed, to which he said, 'No, that's everything' (thanks for letting us know...haha). Funny Czechs.

LINING UP
From what Jordan has read on expat blogs, Prague is notorious for its lines. We joined one such line at the Mustek metro station. It was about 25 people long, most of whom were tourists and expats wanting 90 day travel passes. We waited patiently for about 20 minutes until I started to feel very ill (possibly from the smell of a nearby cheese shop, possibly from food poisoning, possibly from the heat, possibly from exhaustion) and had to sit down/squat by a wall. At this point the ticket-man shut his window for a half hour lunch. Yep, just like that. So Jordan, who had progressed by this time to just 3 people from the front of the line (feel like RACQ?) watched this guy eat and smoke for 30 minutes until he reopened for business. It's common practice for Prague businesses to close for lunch, but at this point the line was about 30 people long...ridiculous! So Jordan braved the heat/smell/line for another 30 minutes whilst I grew close to vomiting on a small, uncomfortable window ledge. By the time Jordan made it to the counter (after a total 1 hour line up) I was struggling. We quickly filled out the forms, whacked down our money and ran to the closest toilet in tears (I hate feeling sick), Jordan in tow. Got to the toilet door, remembered that other European custom of paying to use the loo, ran out, got money from Jordan and ran into the toilet. Closed toilet door, realised the toilet paper resided with the lady at the door who took my money and gibber-gabbered to me in Czech (felt too sick to even feign appreciation for her taking my toilet money, let alone remember the phrase for 'I don't speak Czech' - which no one seems to understand us saying anyway). The long and short of it is that since this moment Jordan has nursed a delicate Ellie on the trains and trams, back to our apartment where I fell asleep on the couch for 3.5 hours, holding my stomach.

AND NOW
The internet man came at 3.30pm (see previous note stating arrival at 2pm) and connected us - what a relief!!! He was really sweet, apparently. As our rooms are all one, he told Jordan not to turn the lights on so they wouldn't wake me up...I'm not sure how they communicated that, speaking different languages, but it made me even more appreciative knowing he'd gone to the effort of playing charades with us rather than dismissing us. As excited as I was about the net being connected, I felt too gross to use it, so Jordan played my scribe for a bit. Then he did our washing, went to the supermarket, made me a vegemite roll and cut up an apple for me and then cooked us dinner. Nicely boiled spaghetti, hurrah! As we speak I'm feeling much better and he's asleep next to me, pooped from flights, the heat, the line and looking after me. I'm trying to stay awake as long as possible so that I don't get a visit from the 5am-nasty-thoughts-fairy.

NEXT
Jordan had a job lined up before he came here (they said, 'Call us when you're in Prague'), which they have now decided to make a Czech-speaking role. We're both pretty bummed about that, and it doesn't sit will with Jordan's anxious mind. Still, we now have internet, so Jordan will spend tomorrow looking into jobs, and he has an interview with a recruitment agency on Friday, of which I'm sure some good will come.
The weather over the next few days is set to dip to 17 degrees before shooting back up to 28, and I never thought I'd say this, but I'll be glad for the cool change. I love the Summer, but being sick and hot in this heat (our couches are vinyl and I had to peel myself off of them several times in my sleep this afternoon) is not great.
School starts on the 15th, which is exciting. I can't wait to make friends...especially English speaking ones! But until then, I will spend my time thinking up short-film ideas, researching and writing, to give myself a head start.
We are both really keen to venture out to the International Church on Sunday and hope to make some friends there in the near future.
We also have our friend (and Adelaide neighbour!) Brett coming to visit at some point before I start school - WOHOOO! And Rikki is here in 5 weeks. It'll be cosy, but great to see familiar faces and explore the city together!
I am not at all looking forward to my flights to and from Australia in 4 weeks, but it's that 'recency effect', eh Mum? I feel sick thinking about it but it's probably because we only arrived yesterday. Still, I can't wait for the wedding :D :D And Nanna's given me some pretty lethal sleeping tablets to make the trip more pleasant/non-existent. Brilliant.

YOU
Well, I find blogs a little bit boring because it's a one-sided conversation, so please feel free to comment and lemme know how you're going!!!! We miss everyone heaps, particularly after having only the briefest of brief interludes with the family in Qld before coming here. Skype us (ejwhittaker) if you can, otherwise we'll see you on facebook! Will try post photos asap :D