2/28/09 Tour of Prague, night life

At 9:30am we got a guided tour of Prague's historical center including Wenceslas Square, the Old Town Square, the Charles Bridge, and the Lesser Town and Franz Kafka's house. Our group learned that the Czech Republic has the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the entire world (Ireland is 2nd) with 160 liters per person per year.

From Prague Trip

In the Old Town Square there was an interesting statue of Jon Hus, who tried to reform the catholic church and was burned at the stake. Apparently, I am related to him in some distant way. There is also an incredibly beautiful and intricate clock on the wall in the square. There were just so many beautiful sights and vistas in Prague it was almost overwhelming

From Prague Trip

From Prague Trip

At night we headed out to Karlovy Lazne, the club with a reputation, where apparently some SU students in the past had gotten rufied. This club was the best I have ever been to. It was 5 floors, each with a different dance floor and style of music. There was a rave/techno floor, a pop-music floor, an 80s disco floor, and a chill-out lounge up top. The 80s floor had the best dancing area, but some of the music sucked. We danced on the various floors until almost 5am and then took a taxi cab back to the hotel. While we were on the dance floor a fight broke out between two drunk guys but they were quickly dragged out by multiple huge bouncers. There were a ton of people at this club, and over the course of the night I danced and talked with different people, including some girl who was also visiting from England.

From Prague Trip

2/27/09 Lectures in Prague, out at night

At 9am our first morning presentation was “entrepreneurship in the czech republic” by Martin Lukes Ph.D. from University of Economics in Prague. He highlighted important culture differences between the United States and the Czech Republic in regards to the way people conduct work. Czech people tend to underestimate their capabilities, which contrasts the usual American's boasting and self-confidence.

Next we got a presentation from Villiam Gracz the Managing Partner of the consulting company “Brain Logistics”. It started out fairly boring, but once he got into issues dealing with company efficiency and the current financial crisis I got much more interested. He gave some really good insights into human nature and how companies that are failing should not be bailed out of their mistakes.

At night we went out to a club by the Charles Bridge called Lavka. It had 3 different levels and a good atmosphere although it was annoying that people are still allowed to smoke inside clubs in Prague. The beer was really cheap at 35kr (~$1.2) a pint. I also took absinthe shots with Francie and Alex. Even though we weren't certain it was the infamous hallucinogenic variety of absinthe, it was still the strongest shot I have ever taken and it was not easy to go down. After about 20 mins I definitely felt the effects of it. At some point I attempted to perform the dance routine I learned at the hip-hop dance class.

From Prague Trip

2/26/09 Flight to Prague

After arriving in Prague around 4:30pm we headed to the Hotel Masarykova and then off to our welcome dinner at the “Lucky Rabbit” restaurant. The food was very delicious but the portions were too small and I was still craving more tasty food at the end. My Prague group and I stayed up late working on the corrections Dr. Dvorsky sent to us for our paper and our PowerPoint Presentation.

2/25/09 class, haircut, workout

Class in the morning and then got a haircut at Topper's afterwards. I enjoyed how they wash your hair thoroughly before doing the haircut. Then I did my workout at the gym and headed back to the flat to work some more on the Prague project and get packed for Prague.

2/24/09 class, hw

Not a lot going on today, had class in the morning and then more work on the Prague Project at night.

2/23/09 Arsenal

Today we went to the Arsenal stadium on a guided tour. Seeing the modern locker rooms was interesting and walking through the tunnel onto the field like the football(soccer) players would was cool. But other than that the the Arsenal tour was boring as we have have been on so many stadium tours already for the “Business of Sports Series”.

2/22/09 goin to Church

Got up at a bit after 9am and started getting ready to head to club Church. Had a good time there although I don't remember a whole lot of it, apparently Andrew was dragged out by bouncers for no apparent reason (something with his camera mb?). Grabbed some Subway on the way back and then passed out. It was rough waking up at 9:30pm with a hangover, but it was an experience for sure.

From London - February

2/21/09 bought new jeans

Today I went shopping with Nate and JJ to Selfridge's for some new raw denim jeans. I first went to the nudies jeans section but they didn't have them in the right size for me. Next I went to the UniQlo store within the store, and found a pair of Japanese raw denim jeans on sale for 29.99 pounds instead of 45 pounds. They fit well but were a little hard to get on, which is normal with new jeans. I bought them and I am going to wear them on a daily basis.

2/20/09 British Tea and O'Neil's

After British History and Culture class and the MOB class makeup session we went to the British Museum down the street to participate in “British Tea”. I got the Earl Gray Tea Afternoon Blend which I liked somewhat even though I am not really a tea drinker. We were served lots of different foods which were all delicious. I really enjoyed the British Tea Experience.

O'neil's was a decent venue and had 3 floors with the top floor having a live band, which is where we hung out most of the night. The band that night did covers of many popular songs and was fairly good. I had a fun time dancing but later into the night the floor started getting really packed and it was annoyingly crowded.

2/19/09 Lord's Cricket

Went to the Lord's Cricket stadium for a guided tour today, which was meh. I found it interesting that cricket has a very complex set of rules, and apparently their matches can last up to 5 days.

2/18/09 hip-hop dance class

At night I went to a beginner's hip-hop dance class at the YMCA and had a great time. There were a lot of people in this class and we learned a basic routine that could be used for many different hip-hop songs. Even though I am a decent dancer, I have no formal experience and so the class was challenging at first to keep up. However, after a little bit I caught on and had a lot of fun. By the time the class was over I was really sweaty. I want to go back again soon but can't because I am going to be in Prague and then Sweden over the next 2 weeks.

2/17/09 Warhorse

Today we went to see the play "Warhorse" at the National Theatre which was a story about World War I from the perspective of a horse named Joey, who ends up on both the English and German sides at different points in the story. For the play large life-size mechanical horses were created and operated by three actors on stage, which was really neat. Although I found the accent and actions of the main character to be annoying at times, the play was still incredibly well done and made a real emotional connection.

2/16/09 Random London Pics

These were taken at various times, just needed a place to put them.

The footbridge goes over the Thames river and the Ferris wheel thing is the London Eye.

From London - February

From London - February

From London - February

From London - February

From London - February

2/14/09 - 2/16/09 lazy weekend

Got sick and had lots of congestion and sinus pressure so I just took it easy this weekend and did some reading and being lazy.