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The past few days Chris and I have been working on our Internship presentation, which took a little longer than expected as we had some minor technical difficulties along the way. We finally got everything working, including audio and video synched. The days have gone by a little faster since we have been so busy with the presentation, but we managed to get some shopping in and dinner with Andreas.
I have to admit, I am looking forward to getting back home, but I feel a little sadness being that we will be leaving tomorrow. Our flight is really early! Chris and I still have to pack—I believe Aaron & Jen already finished.
If anyone happens to read this before we leave, please keep us all in your prayers as we are traveling tomorrow. Chris, Aaron, and Jen are traveling together from Zurich, and I will be traveling by myself from there. We all have the same flight from Prague to Zurich in the morning, which will be nice. ... (more)
Trip to Salzburg & Austria
Chris, Aaron, Jen, and I took and interesting trip to Salzburg, Austria last weekend. We took a train from Prague around 5pm the day we left and arrived in Salzburg about 7 hours later. Whew…long train ride! Poor Chris woke up that morning feeling very sick. Needless to say, he was miserable on the train. I felt so bad for him. When we arrived at the train station in Salzburg, we went to find our hotel. Chris and Aaron asked a taxi driver outside where the hotel was located; we found out it was literally right around the corner from the train station! Hallelujah! We didn’t have to go far to get some much needed rest! The hotel was wonderful; it had comfortable beds, air-conditioning, internet (although not free), mini-bar, and TV. It was very comfortable. Great choice, Chris!!
The next morning, Chris wasn’t doing so well, so he stayed at the hotel while Aaron, Jen and I ventured to the city center of ... (more)
Wednesday, July 25, 2007: Again, it has been a while since the last post. Last time, I wrote, I mentioned translating some of Andreas’s work. The next day (Tues), the girls went with Andrea’s to Dresden to see the Jazz orchestra again. This a good thing, because this allowed Jenn to see Dresden and the Jazz orchestra…both of which she missed. Hannah also had a chance to go back which gave her another chance to visit her favorite country…Germany. The girls took a bus with the actual orchestra…they said they were uncomfortable and the border police stopped the whole bus to check the two Americans passports. Chris and I lounged and went around the city…recovering from a mentally and physically challenging weekend. The next day we regrouped and we met with Andreas to get another solid agenda for the next few days. ... (more)
Tuesday, July 17, 2007: It has been a while since I last posted a blog…Since the last time I had written, we had went to Dresden and had a wonderful weekend. Our train was to leave out of Holesevice (our neighborhood) at 10:34; it was delayed 45 minutes. Once we placed ourselves on the train it began it get uncomfortable because of the heat…It seems as if Europe knows nothing of AC. A heat wave had come over the area. We met a family who was from Maryland and had been traveling Europe for the next few weeks, they gave us some good recommendations of what to see in Dresden. Our train followed the Elbe River the entire trip. It was amazing to see the difference between the Czech Republic and Germany just as you cross the border. Once you entered Germany, houses and lawns were well kept, and the homes didn’t look like bomb shelters. Simply an amazing view the entire train ride. ... (more)
Havent blogged lately, partley because I have been working on a video. I have completed it and posted it on the website. Here is a link. Check it out.
July 14, 2007
On Friday, July 13, we took a train ride from Prague to Dresden, Germany. The train ride was not bad at all; it was approximately a 2 hour trip with beautiful scenery out the window! Just looking out the window, Germany was so beautiful with greenery everywhere, gardens, and quaint houses.
First mission when we arrived in Dresden was to find our way to the hotel. We talked with a very nice lady working for the tram/bus line who helped us find our route to the hotel. We arrived at the hotel, found our rooms and rested for a couple hours before we were to venture out into the city.
After resting, we went to the center of Dresden to get dinner and see the beautiful scenery. Chris, Aaron, and I found a Biergarten, where we got Hahnchen (1/2 chicken, kartoffeln (potatoes), and Wasser(water…well, Mineralwasser( carbonated mineral water...I didn’t mean to order carbonated…it was not good at all. ... (more)
On behalf of the team, I apologize we haven’t been blogging as of late. The team has been very busy since we started working and hasn’t had much free time to reflect on the events of the past several days.
Wed (11th) was probably our busiest day yet. We continued to work on the promotional video. We got footage from many different locations around the city. We also were able to complete to the script after a dozen (or so it seemed) edits to include all of the product features that needed to be highlighted. That evening there was a lot of work on the agenda but we decided to take a much needed break for food. Our luck with food and price has been getting much better lately however every one of us is Italianed out. No more pizza or pasta! I had passed by an Indian restaurant several times throughout or travels around the Muzeum but never ventured inside. That night we did. It was a great meal and even better company. ... (more)
July 10, 2007
Today we woke up and got ready, ate some breakfast, and then left to get some lunch at Chris, Jen, Aaron’s favorite place; however, we when arrived, the place was packed full of people. So, we decided to go on to Andreas’ house and get something to eat with him before we went to work. He suggested a typical Czech food restaurant (I forget the name of it). I ordered chicken with pineapple and potatoes, along with a pink lemonade (although it was more like Strawberry Fanta!), and a Pivo (beer). It was a pretty good meal. After lunch, we walked back to Andreas’ house/office to work on the advertisement for his business. Chris, Aaron and I worked on the script, and Jen worked on the website logo. We got a little work done, then ate some dinner (Chinese place). I thought it was ok—Chris and I got sweet and sour chicken with white rice. It was pretty tasty. ... (more)
Tuesday, July 10, 2007: The past couple of days have been a real revelation. First great turn of events….Chris, Jen, and I went to the airport to pick up Hannah. They lost her bags as well. We took the bus back to the apartment…it is amazing how much money you can save when you know how to move around the town. When we initially arrived in Prague the fare cost us around $35 to get to our apartment. This time it cost us about $15. When we arrived back at the apartment we slept for a little while because everyone was exhausted. At 3:30 we were going to meet at a church where another pastor had referred us to talk to a man by the name of John Mullen, at Prague Christian Fellowship. It is also non-coincidental that this is also the same church that my pastor back home had recommended. Through a twist of events we didn’t make any business contacts through this pastor but rather through someone we met at the church. ... (more)
The passed two days have been very exciting despite the team’s physical ailments. Jen is continuing to struggle with her allergies, Hannah is still recovering from a two week illness, and I’ve come down with a horrible sore throat which has taken a turn for the worst. We’re all hoping Aaron remains healthy until the rest of us recover to full strength.
On a brighter note, God has provided us work. We are working for a Christian entrepreneur, Andreas, who has recently launched an international online business. Yesterday we were able to sample his product, an online presentation system, to get a better feel for its capabilities and identify the programs potential markets. After we discovering more about the product and Andreas’s vision for the company, the gun shot sounded and the race began. We had been anticipating such a moment for the past few weeks, so we were excited for the opportunity, not only to promote the product, but endorse the greater purpose of the ... (more)
Saturday, July 07, 2007: Today we semi-woke up…in what would be more considered a zombie like trance. We headed off to the train station at Kutna Hora. After arriving an hour later we were now on foot. Not knowing exactly how the day was going to unfold we began walking toward the center of town approximately 2 kilometers away. On the way we stopped at the Sedlec Bone Church. This must be one of the man made seven wonders of Eastern Europe. A few hundred years ago a pastor/priest of this church went to Jerusalem and brought back soil to consecrate the cemetery. Around the same time Europe was struck with the Bubonic Plague. It seemed like everyone wanted their remains to be buried at the “Holy Cemetery.” In all there were 40,000 bodies left stacked inside the church because they obviously ran out of room. A creative monk decided to decorate the church with the human remains. ... (more)
July 7, 2007
Left for Prague
Well, my flight from Norfolk to Philadelphia was actually quite interesting; I met a gentleman who was just hired as a pilot for USAirways, and he talked to me the entire flight so it flew by. Then, I arrived in Philadelphia, which was a little confusing airport, but I found my gate and left around 7pm for Zurich. The flight was horrible; I was stuck in the middle of two people, my seat did not recline, and the front pocket was broken so it hung down to around my knees. Needless to say anything more, I was very uncomfortable and did not get any sleep. I finally arrived in Zurich around 8:40am CEST, and rushed to find my gate to Prague. I went through the security and then got my boarding pass! Yay, I was almost there! I rode on Czech Airlines to Prague; this was interesting because the flight attendants knew I was American just by looking at me—they weren’t too friendly. ... (more)
Happy 4th of July! As we worked at the small café (with free wi-fi), it was about 2pm before I realized that the holiday was upon us. I think our minds are slowly becoming de-Americanized with each passing day. It’s safe to say that we are all much more comfortable in our surroundings. Traversing the city, communicating with locals, and the Prague atmosphere almost seems second nature. It was a bit alarming to be unaware of our Nation’s birthday so late in the day when I would have had plans to celebrate much sooner back home. It just goes to show how accustom to the Czech practices we have become in the past couple weeks. We were looking forward to celebrating but have several leads to follow up on.
We are having our ad published in the Prague Post today. It’s the same article that was put in the classifieds last week. Unfortunately we haven’t had any inquires yet, but hopefully we’ll get a better response in the next few days. ... (more)
I haven't really blogged about our Poland trip. Mostly because I was still a little shaken about our trip to Auschwitz. As Americans we are very separated from World War II. We read about it in the history books and even heard stories from our grandparents, but we do not live the history. We have no concept of suffering, we have no concept of living in fear in our own homes. As I was ridding on the train to Poland looking out the window and was thinking of a time, not too long ago, when the countryside was covered by German soldiers. How hard it must have been just to survive. Taking that 8 hour train ride, I was very aware of how uncomfortable I was, yet I was ridding in luxury compared to the Jews during WWII. The train ride for them could be up to 17 days with no food, no water, and no room to sit. The Germans used their basic human needs against them . As humans we need to rest. ... (more)
Friday, July 06, 2007: Today and yesterday have both been national holidays that we did not know about. This put us back just a bit. Nothing is open. Every time that I have asked what the holiday is all about…they don’t know? How could someone have a holiday where nobody goes to school or work and not know what the holiday is for? Come to find out, it was explained to me that it was a holiday devoted to a couple of English men who came here hundreds of years ago and set up the Czech nation. They gave them social, economic, and religious norms and regulations. This pretty much helped form the country into a solid nation with an infrastructure. I had contacted a local church and asked the pastor about any needs that the four of us could help with. He didn’t have any needs but he gave me a number to a man at an interdenominational church that may. When I spoke with him, he asked if we could meet him at 3 o’clock on ... (more)
