Happy Birthday to me...

So, since I last wrote on this blog I have turned 23. Madness. To all those interested, I feel no different, and not at all daunted by the fact that I am now only 2 years from the big 25 (Stef, 17 days and counting, oh that’s made me feel instantly better). The week leading up to my birthday weekend we made great strides in becoming more part of the university. As well as getting our student cards, we were introduced to Martina, a fellow Drawing Atelier (Studio) student. She was very kind as to show us around the studios and to show us where our tutor’s office is. Josef Danek, our tutor, is at the moment in Leeds, how ironic, I know, however he will be returning in a week. We also, after much chasing around after a certain Erasmus coordinator, Marketa, managed to get our travel cards. It has come as much of a relief for me, as up until this point I was becoming tired of getting tram tickets, and was travelling as what they call here, a black rider. I know it all sounds very dramatic. But it was annoying to worry all the time about getting caught.

So it was a week of organising and planning. Oh, we went to a party on the Wednesday evening at our Czech friend Lena’s flat. It was her boyfriend Filip’s birthday. It was an interesting experience because Kirstie and I were the only un-Czech people there. It was fine at first but then when more people arrived and there was less reason to struggle with English and talk to Kirstie and I, we did feel a little awkward. These events do make me more and more determined to learn Czech, because I really want to become friends with these people. They are very into the art scene of Brno and they just seem interesting.

The days leading up to Ellen’s arrival seemed to drag on for ages. The Saturday when she was due, was so difficult to fill, I was just too excited. Then it dawned on me, that Ellen doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to making flights. So my excitement was quickly replaced by dread. But Ellen did not disappoint, and with an early arrival Ellen was in the Czech Republic!!! It was so great to see her, for the obvious reason that it was, well, Ellen, but also because I was so desperate to see a familiar face. And also, with the last few weeks spent exclusively with Kirstie, I think Kirstie and I both were pleased to have someone else to talk to.

The first Evening Ellen was here, Kirstie and I took her to a traditional Czech hospoda (pub) for some Czech grub. I think Ellen liked the cuisine, to be honest I don’t think anyone could dislike Czech food; it is just wholesome and plentiful. We needed the energy because the following day we were on the early bus to PRAHA. It was so nice to see all my Prague friends again. My Austrian friend Daniel was kind enough to put us up for the two nights we were there. Therefore more money to sepnd, eating, drinking and café-ing around Prague. And I don’t think Ellen and I could say that we didn’t take full advantage of the extra cash. We had such a fun packed few days, that it really felt like we had spent more like a week there.

At the stroke of midnight, the moment I turned 23, there was a ring at Daniel’s doorbell and I was greeted by two singing Germans (Johannes and Feli), a mountain of home made muffins (chocolate, apple and cinnamon) and a burning candle. It was the nicest surprise. I was so touched that they had thought to do such a nice thing! That morning I opened all my cards, thank you very much mum and dad for the kind donation to the birthday party fund, and ate as many muffins as my stomach to take.

That evening, I had a little party at a friend’s flat. Lots of people I didn’t expect to see were there. It was such a nice evening of chatting and drinking. All in all I had a lovely birthday, and I think the cream on the cake was that Ellen was here to spend it with me.

Talking of cakes, I had another birthday get together in Prague. This was a lot more low key with only Honza and Lena as our guests. But Kirstie and I spent all day preparing for it. Kirstie made a cake. It had the most amazing ingredients, and we both thought that it was going to be the best cake ever! But sadly the oven did not work its magic, and the cake didn’t rise as much as I think it should. The cake was pretty heavy, but still delicious. Must take a smaller slice next time. So that evening really concluded my birthday celebrations. It was so nice to sit and chat to Honza and Lena, both of whom are very much involved in the Czech art scene. Honza being a art lecturer and Lena just being one of those great people who is always creating something.

P.S Unbelievable Ellen and I almost missed her bus to the airport. The girl is seriously jinxed!

Erasmus anyone?

So I promised you all that I would tell you about the new people we have met in Brno, mainly the other Erasmus students. Our first encounter with them was during our language course. Sadly Kirstie sat next to the most miserable of them all, a chemistry student from Moscow, so we didn’t have a very good opinion of them initially. Throughout that first week we went to class, chatted briefly with some of them, and then went home. I know, not much effort on our part. But the first weekend we had a welcome dinner and then the following day, a full agenda of meals and outings, so we had no choice but to socialise.

The welcome dinner was a bit of a nightmare… thankfully we sat with nice people and managed to actually talk for more than just a minute. But the restaurant was completely unprepared for the arrival of 70 hungry students, and we waited 3 HOURS for our meal. After the first pangs of hunger passed it wasn’t so bad waiting, it was just irritating. Especially when people started to leave, and we were almost the last seated. But whilst we waited we met a German girl, Daniela, who is also studying fine art. She seems very nice, chatty and a good contact to have in moments of confusion. We were then introduced to the two other English Erasmus students, Henry and Sam from Bolton. Both have great northern accents, something of a problem they were telling me, when trying to be understood by our fellow Europeans. For most of the evening we chatted to Martin, from BRNO, an actual Czech student. He seemed very friendly at first, but then started slagging off England a little too much. It was a bit of a joke for Kirstie and I because he was basing his whole opinion on our fair land from a semester he spent in Coventry. I mean, come on! I think most people would slag off England if Coventry was their only point of reference. Anyway, he refused to take what we had to say about Coventry into account. He seems quite keen to be our friend; Kirstie and I have already declined one offer to go for a drink.



Following that evening and the next day, going around the vineyards of southern Moravia, we have concluded that it is not going to be that easy to befriend the other Erasmus students. For one, they alllll live in the Dormitories, the equivalent to Halls of residence in the UK, except with one hob shared among 40 students and probably fewer toilets and showers. They are pretty bleak. They are also very far away from the centre of town. I love our little flat, but when it comes to meeting people you really can’t beat the dormitories. They are also dirrrt cheap, only about 60 quid a month. But enough about the benefits of dormitories, been there, done that, and when most of the rooms are shared I am glad not to be there. But I haven’t given up on our Erasmus lot. I feel there are some good’ens amongst them, and I intend to seek them out.

P.S Of the Moravian Wine that we sampled… Czech wine seems pretty bad. Really nothing to write home about, so that is all I will say on the matter.

Hello from Brno

So I have been in Brno now for just over a week. I have moved into my lovely little flat and I have finally, officially become a student of the Brno Technical University. I have a card to prove it. On my arrival on Sunday I was kindly met by Kirstie, it was so nice to see a friendly face in a foreign land. From there we made the long accent to what is now called home. Our little flat is on, I reckon, the highest point in Brno. It is surrounded by woods and parks, and has a very family friendly atmosphere. A far cry from charming Hyde Park (Leeds). We are surrounded by parks and woods, all of which are beautifully maintained. Also in our vicinity is a prize winning swimming pool with a view of the town, and only a short walk away (dad you’ll be happy to hear this) a fully functioning Planetarium. All very exciting as you can imagine.

So my first night in Brno we were invited to an 8pm meeting on the university campus. However after we had finally got home (Sunday public transport is never what it should be) and had dinner it was 7.30 and we had to find and get to this place we had never been to before. Sadly, owing to the bad service and our lack of energy and enthusiasm, mostly on may part, it was 8.30 and we were standing in the middle of a road (somewhere on the edge of Brno) defeated.

The following day we didn’t know where we had to be or what we needed to be doing. This meeting we missed, we discovered later was quite key. But all was not lost, in the light of the day we managed to find the previous evenings meeting spot and we went along, dictionary in hand, to see if we could discover any clues to where we should be. It took a while. After speaking the worst Czech to a few unsuspecting receptionists we managed to find a lady, with a phone, and some idea who we were. We were given finally a time and a place. The time was wrong but thankfully the place was correct. PARK language school. We were enrolled onto a week of language classes. After everyone was asked a few questions in Czech to discover briefly what level we were, Kirstie and myself found ourselves in group D, the advanced class.

The class was populated by Russians, Lithuanians, Polish and us. A little daunting at first. But it turned out fine. Although our eastern European students learnt very quickly, they didn’t have any kind of basic Czech, so for a few days Kirstie and I were the brains of the outfit. However our new found genius has still not been as helpful as we would have hoped outside of the class room. But we have enrolled on further lessons, and I really feel that with continued learning it will become easier and easier.

So what of the other erasmus students...