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Austin Waeghe
Professor Speckman
EN 219
10 November, 2019
First Experience in Europe

Planning a Study Abroad Trip

There are five things to consider when finding a study abroad experience.

1. Find the ideal location

2. Find the classes offered in the program

3. Find the length of the program

4. Find the cost of the program plus additional expenses

5. Find additional resources to help plan the trip

Planning a study abroad experience can be very stressful. Last summer, I studied abroad in

Prague, Czech Republic, and I had to consider all five steps while making my decision. I chose

Eastern Europe because it is located in a central location and it is also very cheap there. I could

stay within my budget while seeing nearby countries at a low-cost. Next, I found a class called

Operations Management that was approved by Dean Templeton who counted it as an elective. It

was an easy process, but everyone knows that study abroad is not about the classes. It is about

experiencing a new culture while navigating through an unfamiliar environment. I found a month

long program which was the perfect amount of time in my opinion. It allowed me to have an

amazing experience, but also play summer baseball when I got back. Lastly, the next two steps

can be interchangeable. I spoke with others who studied abroad, and they gave ideas on what to

see and I based my budget from others experiences. Unfortunately, study abroad can get very

expensive so it is difficult to do everything. By planning a trip before can certainty give an idea

of what can be accomplished.

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For example, here is a portion of an Excel spreadsheet with the events and cost of studying

abroad.

11-Jun-19

Food $ 30.00

Train Ride to Vienna, Austria $ 25.00

Schonbronn Palace Tour $ 60.00

By planning the trip beforehand, it can ensure the best possible experience. Now, it is important

to see what I accomplished in Europe and what I learned being in a different country.

First Time in Prague, Czech Republic

First day in Prague was definitively a new scene for me. Luckily, the airport was easy to navigate

since there were English titles on almost everything. The airport was somewhat new with tourist

information all around. There were stations to exchange money, to get a sim card, and to get

Prague souvenirs. After I got out of the airport, I had to call an uber to my hotel at Hotel

Theatrino. It cost 300 crowns which converted to 15 US dollars. After twenty minutes, I started

seeing what Prague looks like it and compared it to the pictures- it was almost identical. The

roofs were reddish/orange, the buildings were short, extremely crowded, and tiny narrow ways in

between the buildings to walk.

My first stop after the hotel was Old Town. It is the main square of Prague and has buildings all

around it including Tyn Church, hotels, and the famous astronomical clock. I was with my

girlfriend in Prague and we decided to get lunch in Old Town. During lunch, there was a large

group of people who started gathering outside of the astronomical clock. We were unsure why,
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but at 1:00 pm, we found out. There was a 3D show and puppets popped out of the clock every

thirty minutes playing a song that lasted one minute. It was interesting to see the how people

from all around the world gathered to see a clock show for only one minute that is posted on

YouTube. Everyone brought their phone out and waited to video tape the show. I also videotaped

the show.

Later that day, we went to a Sex Machines Museum. I was unsure if I wanted to put this in my

story, but it is part of my trip so it had to be added. It was one of the highest ranked things to do

in Prague and it was heaving with people. It was definitely an eye opener, but I will not describe

the machines that were played in the museum besides that some of the machines looked like

work out equipment. It is a place that I never need to go again, but it was part of the experience

to learn some of the culture in a different country. Sex was seen as something more casual in

Europe compared to what it means in the United States.

Also, the first day in Prague was really when I started to see the price differences. In Old Town,

everything was very expensive because restaurants and stores know tourist will pay a lot of

money to be in the middle of town. After I found this out, I started to go to restaurants a half mile

out of old town and the prices were cut in half. The more local you go, the cheaper and better the

food is. US money in Prague can go a long way.

First Time in Vienna, Austria

Vienna, Austria had beautiful buildings and everything seemed like it was out of a magazine.

Some of the attractions I saw in Vienna were;

1. Schönbrunn Palace
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2. The Hofburg

3. Vienna State Opera

4. St. Stephen’s Cathedral

5. Rahaus

6. Palmenhaus Schönbrunn

7. Stephansplatz

8. Volksgardten

9. Naschmarkt

10. Danube Tower

All of these attractions were amazing to see, but the one attraction that stood out to me was the

Naschmarkt. It was about a mile long and it was in the middle of the road so traffic was flowing

on both sides of the market. There were meat markets, restaurants, and other shops that were all

very appealing to me. It is where all the locals shop for their food and it was so much different

compared to the United States. I am used to shopping at Walmart, Target, or Costco, and people

who live in Vienna shop at this market in the middle of the street. On every menu, there was

wiener schnitzel. Unfortunately, I did not try it, but I wish I had. It was a huge piece of pork that

was fried and every worker on at the Naschmarkt said, “We have the best wiener schnitzel and

we got voted the best.” I heard that line from more than five restaurants.

My second favorite attraction was the St. Stephen’s Cathedral. It was located in the

Stephansplatz. It was in the main part of town and the detail of the cathedral was unbelievable. it

had four towers with colorful roof. The tallest tower was the south tower and it was 448 ft in

height. It was the one of the highest points in the city.

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It was a beautiful city, but it was my least favorite city from the places I went to on my Europe

study abroad trip.

First Week of Class

I studied at Prague College and it was a small school located in ten minutes from my apartment.

However, the small class size made a comfortable environment. There was only myself and three

others in the class. My professor was from Texas and he loved that my girlfriend Kayla and I

were from the United States. On the first day of class, he took us to a beer garden. It was right

across the street from the school and there was a bunch of people sitting on the hill which looked

over all of Prague. It was a beautiful scene and the professor bought us beer and pickled sausage.

Pickled sausage was on every pub menu in Prague, but it was disgusting. It was literally just a

thick cold hot dog with peppers. I had bite of it, and had to force it down so my professor would

not feel bad. Throughout the first week, my professor tried to get to know us and introduced the

class to us. The class was called Operation Management and focused on the Six Sigma and Just-

In-Time technique. It was an interesting class, but our professor was a lot more interesting than

the class. He had lived in Prague for thirteen years and would tell us the best places to see and

eat in Prague or around the world. He was a frequent traveler and appreciated the beauty in

everything. His name was Larry and showed us there is a lot more to see in the world than the

United States. Throughout the week, I would attend class 1:00pm-5:00pm then go explore

Prague, eat dinner, then go to the bar with my study abroad group.

The first few days of class is when I started to get to know my study abroad group. There were

five of us, including Kayla and me. There was a girl named Kate who went to school at Northern
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Kentucky. She decided to study abroad because her school paid for half of it with her scholarship

package. She was easy going and always wanted to see new things. The other two people were

named James and Mike. They were both from Connecticut and they were best friends. They

decided to study abroad for the same reasons as me. They wanted to experience a new culture

and see how it was different from the United States.

In addition to meeting my study abroad group, I also met some other people living in the same

apartment complex. There was two people from France named Gautier and Claire who came out

with us often. They were both college students, but they were required to get an internship in a

different country for the summer. They were both extremely nice and I appreciated every

moment I had with them. As a group plus the two friends from France, we would go to the bar

across the street and just talk for hours. We would learn the school system in France and how it

was somewhat similar to the United States. We would learn how much the French students knew

about the American government. They were frightened by Donald Trump and believed that the

United States is a very scary country. Once Claire got comfortable with us, she started asking

more questions on where I was from.

Claire: “You are from Chicago you said?”

Me: “Yeah, a suburb of Chicago, but only 40 minutes away.”

Claire: “You are not scared being in Chicago? We hear about shootings that happen there every

day and how it is such a dangerous place. People from France are scared of the shootings and

Donald Trump.”
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I was a little caught off guard when she said this, but she was not wrong. There were a lot of

shootings that happened in the south side of Chicago, but I explained to them that along as you

are in the right areas, it is safe. Gautier and Claire both had a goal to visit the United States when

Donald Trump was not president. It was interesting to hear how much they knew about the US

even though they never have been there. I told them all the best places to visit in the US and they

want to visit New York and Chicago the most.

Another interesting point they brought up was college athletics. They did not agree with college

athletics and how some kids receive scholarship for playing sports. They thought that was stupid

and believed students should only be rewarded if they were smart or can contribute to a college

in that sense. I did not agree with their viewpoint considering some football athletes raise

millions of dollars for their school. I tried to explain the viewpoint, but they never understood

especially because they thought American football was boring. Gautier and Claire definitely had

their stubbornness, but they were fun to talk to.

First Time in Budapest, Hungary

Budapest, Hungary definitely surprised me. When I arrived at the airport, it was extremely small

and outdated. I got in my cab with my girlfriend and we were going to our hostel in downtown

Budapest. Looking out the window, Budapest seemed dirty and somewhat sketchy, but I was

wrong. I woke up the next morning and saw the Parliament Building. It was massive and the

detail the building had was extremely sharp. Also, there were thousands of tourist which made

me feel more comfortable. Budapest was a huge city and all of the attractions were miles from

each other, but I enjoyed the walk because the city was so pretty. Budapest is separated in two by

the Danube River with attractions on both sides.

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While in Budapest, Gautier and his friends happened to be there at the same time. Kayla and I

met up with him at the bar on a Saturday night. He had five friends who were with him and they

were all from France as well. His friend, who lived in Budapest for the summer, took us out to

the best places. First, he took us to a ruin bar. It had four bars on each side, and the ceiling was

open. It was raining at the time and it was weird being inside, but getting rained on partially. The

second place we went was a night club that had five different rooms. It was dark and each room

had a different genres of music such as EDM, rap, or country. I could not believe that I was in

Budapest at a nightclub with a group of friends from France. It was surreal.

Second Week of Class

The second week of class was similar to the first one. The professor continued teaching us about

supply chain and he took my class to a pub at the end of the week. Basically, we went to a

restaurant called, “The Pub” and each table had beer taps. On the screen, it tracked how much

beer each table drank. There was a table to the right of us and they were celebrating a birthday.

They were from London and drank the most beer. It was a different culture in Prague. Everyone

wanted to drink a lot of beer and our professor drank with us. It was fun experiencing the laid

back feel that Prague had to offer.

First time in Rome, Italy

Rome, Italy was one of my favorite places. I stayed at a villa 45 minutes outside of the city.

Kayla had a family friend in a small town and they hosted us the whole weekend. It was so

peaceful in a quiet area and looking out at the green landscape.

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During that weekend, I saw the Colosseum, Rome Ruins, Castle Saint Angelo, and the Trevi

Fountain. The Colosseum was by far the coolest attraction I saw in all of Europe. The ancient

building was the size of three football fields and walls surrounding the middle where gladiators

used to fight. The colosseum was crazy to think about people fighting to the death and the animal

cages under the main stage. It was a must see and gave me a different perspective compared to

seeing cities in the United States.

Third Week of Class

The third week of class was similar to the beginning, but it hit me really hard that the trip was

coming to an end. Kayla and I decided to hang with the group a lot and continued going out to

the bars with them. We went to Old Town for our grand finale to a night club that was five

stories high. It was similar to the bar in Budapest.

At the end of the week, I graduated from Prague College. The president held a small ceremony

telling us how much they appreciated students from other countries. It was a really great

experience and I hope to come back to Prague soon.

First Time in Dubrovnik, Croatia

My last part of Europe was the trip to Croatia. The first trip spot in Croatia was Dubrovnik. It

had an Old Town that had fortress walls covering the whole town. It definitely had an old town

feel, but it was so crowded. There were small alley ways to walk through, but it was good to see

the history of the town.

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The second place I went to was Split, Croatia. It had a bunch of nearby Islands. I got to see the

Blue Cave that gave off a blue florescent light inside of a cave. Also, I went to Vis Island and

that was where the second Mama Mia was filmed. Surprisingly, they filmed Mama Mia in

Croatia and not Greece. It was extremely peaceful and quiet. I understood why they filmed

Mama Mia there. Croatia is a beautiful country.

Ending of Europe Trip

My trip was coming to an end. I had one last night in Prague and ironically, my last meal was at

an American BBQ place. Prague was a great experience. It really taught me how to navigate in

an unfamiliar environment and see the cultural differences. It gave me a drive of motivation with

my life back at home and how I went to get a solid job in order to travel to new places. I loved

studying abroad and I hope I can go back soon.