Na shledanou v Praze.

112 days later and here we are...

I returned to the states on Wednesday the 16th. I have been back for a few days and am just now writing this post. Why? Putting it off like I have many other times. This time I am probably putting it off so I can ignore the fact that it is all over. I am learning to accept the fact that I am not in Prague and that I will not be returning there in the foreseeable future. Don't get me wrong- I am happy to be home. That is probably the one question I have heard the most the last few days. "Are you happy to be home? I bet you aren't." I am happy! It is just hard. I think it is always hard to leave a place that has become your home. It was hard to leave Edmonds the first time I was going down to Monmouth. It was hard to leave Monmouth after my first full year of school. But with both of those departures, I knew I wasn't leaving forever and I knew I would be back in a matter of months. This time it was different. I can't tell you that I am going back. I can tell you that I want to, that I think I will, that I plan on returning. But I cannot tell you for certain and I cannot tell you when that will happen if it does. So that makes this departure harder. But I am happy to be home, to be with my family, to see my old friends, and to be in my own home.

My time in Prague and the rest of Europe was truly amazing. There is not one word I could use to describe it. I was truly blessed with this incredible opportunity and I thank everyone that had a part in making this experience possible. If any of you are considering studying abroad, DO IT! Follow your dreams and go. You will not be sorry. Two of my other good friends from WOU were also abroad this semester and we all had different but great experiences. And, although I can't speak for them, I will say I don't think one of us will ever regret our decision to go. So to any of my young cousins out there, keep your grades up and start begging your parents now to let you have this experience. When else in your life will you truly get the opportunity to travel around carefree? Studying abroad will forever be a time in my life that I will look back on with big smiles.

So to sum up my past semester I have made an "ABC's and 123's" style list. It was a fun way for me to think of some of the great (and some less than great) parts of my last few months. If you have further curiosities on any part, let me know and I bet I can tell you some great stories!

So here goes...
A- Absinth
B- Burčak
C- Chapeau Rouge
D- Drinking
E- Eurofood stands
F- Fried cheese sandwiches
G- Gulaš
H- Hostels
I- Insect infestations
J- John Lennon Wall
K- Karlovy Lazne
L- Legalized peeing in the streets
M- Moravia and Mikulov
N- Night tram
O- Overnight train rides
P- Potato pancakes
Q- Quirky techno music
R- Random meetings with people at hostels and bars
S- Singing Czech Christmas carols
T- Traveling
U- U Sudu
V- Visitors and Visiting
W- WizzAir
X- eXperience of a lifetime
Y- Yellow Student Agency buses
Z- Zany good times...

0- Regrets
1- Amazing semester
2- Cameras
3- Great visits to Chapeau
4- Roommates
5- Story club
6- Christmas markets visited
7- Caves in U Sudu
8- Countries seen
9- Trips away from Prague

Other fun facts...
5106 or 14GB of pictures and videos, 112 amazing days, 13 cities slept in, 24 cities seen



I went through all 5,000+ pictures and tried to make a cool slideshow. I failed. Apparently I am not as tech savvy as I thought. I might have even lost all my pictures in the process... We are still working on the data recovery. If I ever figure out a way to make this slideshow happen, I will post it. If not I will just post pictures in a seperate entry.

But otherwise I will say na shledanou to the blogging world! I gave it my best effort and I hope you all enjoyed it.