This isn't a travel-related entry, so unless you're interested in the minutiae of my life, feel free to skip it.

This week is my first week of classes. I'm taking Kafka and his Contexts, Post-War Eastern European Poetry, American Literature in a European Perspective, and Modern Dissent in Central Europe: The Art of Defeat. I like all of my professors. 

Jan Urban, the professor for Modern Dissent, was actually this big dissident who had a hand in the Velvet Revolution (the nonviolent overthrow of the Communist government in late 1989). He's a very intense, charismatic man.

I hear classes abroad are easier, because professors understand that in addition to class, students are trying to cope with living in a foreign country, as well as being tourists. I think judging from the syllabi my courses don't seem to be too bad. I do have a five-page paper to write every week for poetry, but I get the feeling from my professor that it's pretty relaxed, and more about having a dialogue with him than having academic busywork. 

I am glad to be taking a class on Kafka in his home city of Prague. Freshman year of college, I had this professor who was born in Petersburg, Russia. We read Crime and Punishment. It was an amazing experience for this man to not only be familiar with all the subtleties of Russian literature, but to explain to us the actual layout of the city and how it plays into the story. I had previously read this novel in high school, where I got only a fraction of understanding of it. It wasn't that our teacher was entirely inept, but the Brooklyn-raised public high school instructor was ill-equipped to teach Dostoevsky. That same teacher had us read Kafka's Metamorphosis. I expect to get more out of this Kafka class than I ever could have in high school.

I haven't gotten into the meat of my courses yet, but I am looking forward to working. All of this idleness is killing me.

In other news, I'm trying to get into some extra-curricular things. I hopped on the student run online newspaper here, The Prague Wanderer. I'm really interested in an editorial position, just to get some experience putting together a publication. I don't at the moment plan on contributing. 

I also spoke with and sent an email to a guy at Umělec Magazine, a sort of modern Central European visual culture magazine. I'm kind of looking for the same thing there, but since it's an actual company and not a school-run group, I'm hoping for some more interesting work, even gofer odd jobs. I explained that I'll basically work long hours for free, so I'm hopeful that he'll find a use for me.

A few days ago, I went with a local professor on a tour of Prague Castle, in the Hradčany district. It was beautiful. I'd never been inside of a castle before (and technically, we still didn't go inside the actual castle). There was an amazing complex, with all sorts of huge, elaborate, old buildings, courtyards, a very large, impressive cathedral, and one of the prettiest vistas I have ever seen. 

The St. Vitus Cathedral, however, is in front of this sort of arched hallway, and so it's not possible to get far back enough to get a picture of the entire thing.

Although that looks pretty close, doesn't it? I'm so awesome.

Here's a brief history lesson for you, too. During the 15th and then again in the 17th century, it became fashionable to, when people pissed you off, throw them out the window (especially politicians). This is called defenestration. The defenestration of two Catholic officials was actually the inciting incident of the Thirteen Years' War. Defenestration was a punishment, not necessarily a death sentence. As often as not, the defenestratee survived. Here are some of the windows commonly used to throw people out of.

I took so many pictures at prague castle, my batteries actually died before the tour was over. I plan on going back again at least once, at which point I'll take more pictures and post again.

It's Thursday. I've been in Prague now since last saturday morning. I'd never been on such a long flight, not nearly, but I think I handled jet lag pretty well. It's tiresome to talk too much about moving in. My dorm here is absolutely beautiful, and the neighborhood is nice.

Things in Prague are cheaper than in the U.S.. The current exchange rate at the writing of this entry is 21.56 Czech Koruny (crowns) to the dollar. A decent meal can be gotten for as little as 80Kč.

We watched the CNN feed of Obama's inauguration on a computer. Every time I hear him speak it makes me want to go out and try to make the world a better place. Afterwards, we ate and went to a bar called Cross Club. It was everything I'd hoped for in an Eastern European bar. It had several floors, a very industrial theme, a drum & bass room, an angry Czech metal room, a stage for bands to perform on, and elevated catwalks near the ceiling with tables and chairs to sit in. and several bars. The drinks were also reasonably priced.

Yesterday, I went to the gym that our school subsidizes membership for. Like cross club, it also was what I expected to find in Eastern Europe. It is out of the way enough to begin with. It's down an alley and past a video store. On the ground floor there is the front desk where you sign in and the locker rooms. Down a long flight of stairs is the actual exercise room. There are some treadmills, stationary bikes and ellipticals, and some free weights, and then there are some machines I've never seen. Half of these look like your ordinary medieval torture devices, but the other half I am unable to describe in words, and would probably give you nightmares if I did. Im not sure how they work, but in lieu of weights as resistance, there is some sort of hydraulic system.

I'm still settling into life here. It takes a while for me to warm up to places, and so I'm still not entirely comfortable here. I wander a lot and try to see as many things as I can. I'm not used to being out walking around all day every day, so I'm pretty exhausted. Most people here seem to like going out every night, too, something I have neither the desire nor the energy nor the money to do. It's understandable, though, seeing as how besides a two-and-a-half hour czech lesson every day we are free from responsibility. I think things will settle down some once classes start

Hello! This is Adam, and you're reading my travel blog while I'm studying abroad in Prague this spring. I'll try to update as best I can, but I get pretty lazy sometimes, just to warn you.