Making sandwiches, a trip to Vienna, and the stages of culture shock

This last week, I felt very... foreign. Just a little bit lost. I had passed the happy stage of moving, where everything’s new and fun to explore, to where it was irritating that things weren’t as easy as they were in the last place I lived. For example, making peanut butter sandwiches had become difficult,...

Enjoying the springtime in Wrocław

I had no concrete plan in going to Wrocław, other than I wanted to go to Poland because I’m part Polish. And I lucked out— a lovely spring weekend, flowers blooming, and timing that always worked. The forests on rolling hills I saw on the train ride reminded my of the places where fairy tales...

The zen of a good sandwich

I bought this sandwich at a tiny store tucked in the shadows of the White Tower and the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit near the Adalbertinum bus stop in Hradec Králové. And it was once of the best sammiches I’ve had in a long time. The cultural and languages differences in the Czech Republic were...

(Just like) starting over

I moved to the Czech Republic last Thursday to finish my grad degree, and I discovered that my dorm only comes equipped with a hot plate. A hot plate? Also, my previous tenants left behind three wine glasses and one fork. Between my student teaching, learning what "gluten" is in Czech, and buying some actual pots...