Choosing Prague

As NYU students, we are fortunate to have a big study abroad program. I believe NYU prides itself as a global program that offers classes from Shanghai to Buenos Aires. When I thought of studying abroad, I wasnt sure where and when I should go. I've always wanted to study abroad but the time never seemed to be right. But finally, as a junior I was pressed for time and decided that there really wasn't a perfect time for anything and decided to just go. While browsing on the NYU website I took interest in Florence, Madrid, Paris, and Prague. I then tried to weigh the pros and cons of each city and finally on a whim, decided to apply to Prague. Why Prague? Well, I figured I'd go to some place completely foreign and different. I honestly knew nothing about the Czech Republic which made me want to learn and see this area. Even when I told my mom, my mom asked if it was Czechoslovakia not the Czech Republic. My parents, of course pressed me to reconsider and go to someplace more "normal." A normal place being Paris or Florence. But finally my parents agree and bought my roundtrip ticket to Prague. Honestly, I was not looking forward to the 11 hour trip. I bought a Prague guidebook and to be frank, I was not really impressed. I'm not really into the architecture/castle thing. I'd say I'm more into the beach, warm weather, and good food thing instead. If I could, I'd have chosen to go to Australia or Hawaii- NYU should get on that. But anyways, browsing through guidebooks I was particularly excited to see the Charles Bridge and remnants of Communism. Of course the guidebooks dont talk much about that. I was definitely drawn to Prague because of its history with communism. I wanted to see how a post-communist country looked like. Also wanted to see how a post-communist society lived like and how the Czech culture differed from western countries. Today, to wonder how communism has influenced the Czech culture and society, I begin to think about the rigid-ness of the Czech culture. I'm not sure if the description of rigid is the proper word, but it's the "mind-your-own-business" sort of attitude that I'm trying to delineate. It's not a bad thing, but I definitely believe that the communist rule had something to do with it. Dont get me wrong, Czech people are very nice and their culture is rich and colorful. All I'm saying is what I've personally observed for the past four months. All in all, I am glad that I opted to study here and learn about the Czech culture.