Surviving in, Adjusting to, and Falling in Love With Prague

posted 25th March 2011    Written by: Katie    CATEGORY: Katharine, Life Lesson, Season 4, Travel, Travel/Adventure

Dobrý den!

(that means ‘hello’ in Czech)

Well, I finally made it.  I moved to Prague and survived my first week living as an expat.  The city is gorgeous and the architecture is absolutely stunning.  Now I know why everyone says Prague is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

I have to be honest though, I can’t believe I’m here.  I can’t believe I had the guts to move to another country, determined to reclaim my life.

Adjusting to life in Prague is hard.  Nearly everything – street signs, posters, menus, and labels – are in Czech.

Grocery shopping is by far the hardest thing to do here. Every label (with the exception of the big name brands like Heinz ketchup, Coca-cola, and Lays) is in Czech, and when you don’t speak the language, or have even the slightest clue what any of the words translate into, it makes buying food rather challenging.  Two of my classmates bought what they thought was milk (it turned out to be a runny form of yogurt), so needless to say, I won’t be eating any cereal while I’m here.  Knowing my luck, I’d end up pouring cottage cheese on it.

It’s been a very overwhelming experience so far, but it still seems so unreal.  I mean, I’m doing all of these things like walking the cobblestone streets in Wenceslas Square, and struggling with the language barrier, and paying for toilet paper in public restrooms, yet it still doesn’t feel real.

My biggest fear was moving to another country. Now that I’m here, I look back on everything and it doesn’t seem so scary.  That’s the thing about life-changing decisions; they’re terrifying to make and follow through on, but once you do it, you look back and realize that it wasn’t so scary.  Life changing decisions force you to gain the kind of confidence you need to do anything you want with your life.

I know, it’s only been a week, and yes, I’m experiencing the beginning of my life as an Expat with 24 other classmates which does make the transition a lot easier, but you know what?  Moving out of the country and diving right into this TEFL certification program was one of the best decisions I could have made for myself.

I wanted adventures, creativity, and passion, and holy hell am I getting it – the adventures of grocery shopping and navigating the Center; the creativity it takes to write and execute effective lesson plans for the students; the passion (and fire) that’s building inside of me as I work to make a difference in peoples lives and live my own life with the kind of freedom that I’ve always dreamed about.

If this is what it’s like to teach and live in a foreign country, then I don’t ever want to return to the States.

Well, at least not for a while…

{photo credit: me}

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Comments (9)

9 Responses to “Surviving in, Adjusting to, and Falling in Love With Prague”

  • Big L Says:
    March 25th, 2011 at 9:48 am

    So brave! So exciting! So admirable! I LOVE that you're writing from another continent, just love it. Keep up the positivity and openness to the whole thing – you're gonna do great!!!! :)

  • Cait Says:
    March 26th, 2011 at 5:22 pm

    I'm one of the few people I know who doesn't have the travel bug, and even the thought of studying for a semester abroad in college scared me a lot. So I give you SO MUCH credit for moving over there and diving right into a new job. I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying yourself and embracing the challenges.

  • Courtney Says:
    March 27th, 2011 at 12:16 am

    Awesome post KT!! It does seem so surreal being here! I am overwhelmed and trying to come to terms with it all myself! It's exhausting, but amazing that we are here!

  • Kate Says:
    March 27th, 2011 at 4:51 am

    Thanks, Big L! Loving life in Prague so far and I cannot wait to explore more of Europe!!!

  • Kate Says:
    March 27th, 2011 at 4:53 am

    I never caught the travel bug, prior to my move to Prague. Now that I'm here, living in Central Europe, I cannot wait to travel all around this continent and see some beautiful places!!!

  • Kate Says:
    March 27th, 2011 at 4:55 am

    We really are lucky to have this opportunity to live/teach in Prague and travel the world. I'm so glad that I get to share this experience with you, and hopefully more fun (and road trips to other countries!) this Spring/Summer! :)

  • Jamie Says:
    March 31st, 2011 at 6:09 pm

    Hi Katie – liked your post! I have been looking into teaching English abroad but there are so many programs out there that it is hard to see which are legitimate. How did you decide on your program? What is it called? Thanks!

  • Kate Says:
    March 31st, 2011 at 10:46 pm

    Hi Jamie. I found my program through Google. I originally wanted to study in France or Italy, but those programs are way too expensive for the amount of work one would have to do to get certified.

    My program is called TEFL WorldWide Prague. Prague is one of the cheapest cities to live in Europe. My school is great – the instructors are both British and make teaching look so easy, but they are very demanding when it comes to evaluating your teaching hours.

    If you are seriously considering getting certified (which, if you want to teach English for any length of time, I highly suggest you do) just be careful of some of the schools that are out there. There's a TEFL Blacklist blog that I had stumbled upon while I was doing my research – it lists a bunch of schools all over the world that are ripoffs (my school had been on that list for a while, but then was taken off).

    Let me know if you have any other questions – best of luck in your research and I hope you consider teaching abroad. The experience will change your life!

  • erinmakesitwork Says:
    April 4th, 2011 at 4:58 pm

    Hats off to you and this endless amount of courage. I am so proud of you!

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