Monday, August 14, 2006
Czeching in...
My first weekend in Czech Republic is over, and I sure hope this will set the trend for my internship, because it was excellent.
Friday
I arrived smoothly in Prague airport at 11.15, five minutes ahead of schedule. My bag was the first one on the luggage belt, so very soon I was in the arrivals hall, where Jiri (from AIESEC CZU Prague) and Judit (my new Hungarian colleague) were ready to pick me up.
The rest of the day was planned in order to arrange everything needed for a good start here.
This meant:
Saturday
Getting up at 6.00 was a bit difficult after such a heavy day, but there was a very good reason to make this effort. A trip to a festival was on the agenda for the day. At 7.00 we met in Jiriho Podebrad to drive to Humpolec, which is a small city about 90 km east of Prague.
We got the opportunity to visit the brewery of Bernard, a Czech beer. During the tour I learned that Bernard is the Czech partner company of one of Belgium’s most famous breweries. AIESECers were translating for us because the tour was in Czech. As I didn’t understand the name from the first time I had to go to our guide and ask him to tell me the name: “Jak se jmenuje ten pivovar v Belgii?". The answer was Duvel-Moortgat.
Next were some musical performances. One band was playing Irish songs and a second band was performing polka music. We made an attempt to dance some polka. There was also a tree sawing competition. Then we had a sausage with pickles (okurky) for lunch.
After that we went to meet the Czech Board of Presidents. This is a meeting of all local committee presidents with the member committee, the national team. After their meeting they of course needed some relaxation, so we went to a restaurant and later on back to the festival.
The rest of the evening was filled with concerts. The most notable artists were Vlasta Horvath (Czech winner of Superstar) and Support Lesbiens, a very nice band with a bizarre name. The night ended with fireworks.
Sunday
After a good night of sleep in the dormitory we helped some unfortunate beer tasters to find out what they did the night before. (I won’t mention names here...)
We went back to Prague by car after a nice breakfast from the local supermarket.
In the evening, Jiri hosted a tour of the historic center, so we could get to know all bloody stories from the history of the city. If I learned one thing here, it would be: Don’t mess with Czechs!
Friday
I arrived smoothly in Prague airport at 11.15, five minutes ahead of schedule. My bag was the first one on the luggage belt, so very soon I was in the arrivals hall, where Jiri (from AIESEC CZU Prague) and Judit (my new Hungarian colleague) were ready to pick me up.
The rest of the day was planned in order to arrange everything needed for a good start here.
This meant:
- Meeting the landlord to get the keys to my apartment
- Getting a public transport card
- Opening a bank account
- Buying a Czech SIM card for my mobile
- Visiting the company for the first time
- Eating a first traditional meal: Knedliky
- First shopping in the supermarket
- Exploring the city with Lukas, another member of AIESEC CZU
Saturday
Getting up at 6.00 was a bit difficult after such a heavy day, but there was a very good reason to make this effort. A trip to a festival was on the agenda for the day. At 7.00 we met in Jiriho Podebrad to drive to Humpolec, which is a small city about 90 km east of Prague.
We got the opportunity to visit the brewery of Bernard, a Czech beer. During the tour I learned that Bernard is the Czech partner company of one of Belgium’s most famous breweries. AIESECers were translating for us because the tour was in Czech. As I didn’t understand the name from the first time I had to go to our guide and ask him to tell me the name: “Jak se jmenuje ten pivovar v Belgii?". The answer was Duvel-Moortgat.
Next were some musical performances. One band was playing Irish songs and a second band was performing polka music. We made an attempt to dance some polka. There was also a tree sawing competition. Then we had a sausage with pickles (okurky) for lunch.
After that we went to meet the Czech Board of Presidents. This is a meeting of all local committee presidents with the member committee, the national team. After their meeting they of course needed some relaxation, so we went to a restaurant and later on back to the festival.
The rest of the evening was filled with concerts. The most notable artists were Vlasta Horvath (Czech winner of Superstar) and Support Lesbiens, a very nice band with a bizarre name. The night ended with fireworks.
Sunday
After a good night of sleep in the dormitory we helped some unfortunate beer tasters to find out what they did the night before. (I won’t mention names here...)
We went back to Prague by car after a nice breakfast from the local supermarket.
In the evening, Jiri hosted a tour of the historic center, so we could get to know all bloody stories from the history of the city. If I learned one thing here, it would be: Don’t mess with Czechs!
