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.

2/13/09 Dr. Simon Taylor and the credit crisis

Our guest speaker in class today was Dr. Simon Taylor from Cambridge, who gave a very relevant presentation about the current financial crisis. He compared the causes and scale of this financial crisis to past ones in the 1970s and late 1980s as well as potential actions to be taken to solve the crisis. I found the presentation to be very interesting and accurate, but unfortunately there wasn't enough time to get through all of his material.

2/12/09 Fuller's Brewery Tour

Today we went to tour the Fuller Smith & Turner PLC Brewing Facilities. This was the fourth brewery tour I have been on, but it was different from the others in that we were allowed to tour their actual working brewing facilities instead of replicas. At the end of the tour I tried the London Pride and honey beers, both of which were good.

2/11/09 Damascus

Today we attended the play "Damascus", which involved a book salesman falling in love with the school administrator he was trying to sell English books to. I particularly liked the way the play showed the clash of cultures between the east and west, and how many of the pre-conceived notions that westerners have about the Middle East are not what they seem, and that the region has a very diverse and complicated existence.

2/10/09 class and Be Near Me play

Today we attended the play "Be Near Me", which was about a priest living in Scotland who fights with his inner demons and ends up in a sexual situation with a teenage boy. The play really put into perspective how life can't be divided into squarely black and white, good vs evil, and that everything is actually just different shades of grey.

2/9/09 natural history museum

Today JJ, Nate, and I went to the Natural History Museum. There was so much to look at that we couldn't cover it all in 2 hours. There were several exhibits that I liked a lot, including the formation of the Earth and its changes over time, a simulator of a Japanese earthquake, how the human body works.

From London - February

Of course the coolest exhibits were in the dinosaur section. The museum had real fossilized skeletons of humongous dinosaurs, and also life-sized mechanical moving replicas of velociraptors and a t-rex, which were really awesome.

From London - February

From London - February

2/8/09 lazy sunday

Not much going on today, just tried to update this blog some and catch up on other work.

2/7/09 laundry, pub crawl

In the afternoon JJ, Nate and I found a local laundromat and did the excessive amounts of laundry that had been accumulating since before the Geneva trip. At night we went on a pub crawl which was 12P to visit 6 bars total and get 4 free drinks. The free drink amount left a lot to be desired compared to the Amsterdam pub crawl, but there were some cheap specials on drinks at the individual bars. The pub crawl guides were cool and we talked to them a lot. In some of the bars/clubs it was nearly impossible to move around the venue since they were so packed. It was hard to dance with a bunch of people packed together like sardines. Overall, it was kind of disappointing.

2/6/09 brick lane and pakistan restaurant, duke later

For our British History and Culture class we took a trip to Brick Lane, the mainly Pakistani area of London, and ate at a traditional Pakistani restaurant. The food was really spicy, but very delicious. I especially liked the curry chicken and the mango juice drink they had.

Headed out to the Duke of York at night since they were throwing a party for one of their bartenders. We got there kind of late so it was fairly uneventful.

2/5/09 Rugby Stadium in Twickenham

We had a tour scheduled for 12:45 at the Rugby Stadium in Twickenham, and ended up getting there like 1/2 hour late because our train on the District Line was suspended and we were stuck there waiting forever. Furthermore, Davis never gave us a time estimate, and the direction she provided were not very good, and we had to stop and ask for directions several times. If it is going to take over 2 hours to get to where we are taking a tour, then all the SU students should just meet with Davis somewhere so we can all travel together and not have to worry about it.

The stadium is hosting the England v. Italy game of the Six Nations on Saturday. Walking into the stadium was an impressive sight, as it is huge and seats over 80,000 people. The tour was good, as our guide let us know what was important and didn't ramble on forever like some of the past tours we have taken.

From London - February

My review of the Geneva Trip 1/28-2/4

My thoughts about Geneva, Switzerland:
Good:
- The city has a beautiful lake and the building architecture is nice.
- Swiss specialty chocolate is really tasty.

Bad:
- Everything is really expensive.
- There is almost nothing to do as Geneva is mainly a business city.

Other:
- It isn't necessary to know French, but it helps if you do.

What I did / Where I went:
Century Hotel
A very nice hotel with great accommodations and friendly staff.

Patek Phillipe Museum
Lots of ornate and old watches, very boring tour.

Red Cross Museum
The guided tour was dreadfully boring.

United Nations Building
The speakers were hit or miss, but the building itself was pretty neat to see.

Bergdorf, Switzerland
Had a nice castle and old architecture, not much else.

Rondo Doge
Was neat to see how food was made, liked getting free food at the end of the tour.

Carlos from Goldman Sachs
A great speaker and I found his perspective on studying abroad and the investment banking business very interesting and useful.

What more I should have done:
Gone to the alps to attempt snowboarding, skiing, or sledding.

2/4/09 back from Geneva finally, tour of National Theatre

Up at 4:30am to get on the bus at 5:15am for our flight at 7:45 am. Slept a bit on the bus and plane and tube when I could. We got back around 10:00am and then had to be at the National Theater at noon for a tour. They showed us backstage, where the actors were practicing, and where they make props for the shows. I really didn't find it interesting and just wanted to sleep in the worst way. Got back to the flat and then passed out for about 2 hours.

2/3/09 you ain't goin nowhere

We find out we aren't leaving today and the earliest reservation we could get is for a 7:45am flight tomorrow morning, meaning we have to leave by bus at 5:15am. Oh well, at least we are getting back to London. Bored once again, I surfed the internet for a while and read some hilarious Tuckermax stuff, then updated my blog some more. We all got another nice dinner at the hotel, which should be paid for by British Airways.

2/2/09 stranded in Geneva, London airport closed down from snow

So we find out at breakfast that London is completely shutdown from "The worst snowstorm in 18 years", which gave them a grand total of about 6 inches of snow. Heathrow Airport, the tube, busses, schools, etc are all shut down in London because apparently Brits have no idea how to deal with a little snow. So we are stuck in Geneva for at least another day. To make matters worse there was also a fire in the Geneva airport which put all of their computer systems offline. I feel kind of bad for Davis getting the super runaround from all these different places and no answers for how we are getting back to London.

It seems like almost nothing went right on this whole trip, so this probably shouldn't have surprised me, but I was still pissed that I was stuck in boring Geneva for at least one more day. JJ, Nate, and I went and got some premium Swiss chocolate, which was very delicious. I also got a postcard and my free little souvenir spoon. Just hung around on the internet in the hotel for the rest of the time and updated this blog.

2/1/09 free day in Geneva, bored to tears

Woken up at 5am by Andrew after he got back from watching the Super Bowl, apparently it was a good game and the Steelers won. After breakfast I wandered around Geneva with Dean, JJ, and Nate and we saw some interesting architecture. The city looked nice with a fresh cover of snow, and we walked around a park taking pictures. Other than that just stayed in the hotel and tried to catch up on some work. Geneva is really boring and expensive.

From Geneva Trip

From Geneva Trip