As I was getting prepared for my semester abroad, I definitely felt the constraints of time closing in. My anxieties the weeks prior were masked with excitement, but now that I am here the excitement outweighs my worries. This is my first trip overseas, and an experience I was unsure I would be able to have during my time at the University of Denver. My personal medical history with cancer scared my family about my decision to leave the United States by myself, but it also is allowing me to not be scared of interning at a Children’s Hospice, Dum Pro Julie, in the Czech Republic. 

Emails were coming in everyday reminding me that there were only a handful of more days before I start classes at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic.  My personal prep had included a week full of different doctors appointments, meetings to discuss my internship in Brno and registration for classes, while squeezing in any moments with family and friends I could get. Between spending my summer in Denver and visiting my hometown of El Paso, Texas, I think I was able to tell everyone important to me about the adventure I was about to partake in, and recieved the affirmations I needed from others to be confident about this program.

Other students from the U.S reached out in group chats, which has been a godsend for planning and feeling more secure around my general anxiety.  Some of the girls have been extremely helpful with packing and travel reservations. As previously mentioned, this is my first time crossing the ocean. I was never taught how to pack for a trip like this, nor given a list that provided a general idea. I was confused and beginning to panic but messaging others was truly all I needed to do for some clarity. Except I did still forgot to bring a EU plug adapter, luckily everyone was so kind and willing to lend a charge until I went to buy my own in the City Center. When I was struggling with buying my train ticket from Vienna to Brno, I found out one of the girls in the group was landing around the same time as me. She told me she also was feeling anxious about traveling alone, so I’m thankful that for the last leg of our journey to Brno we had each other. Upon my arrival in Vienna, I was unlucky and experienced some nausea, which had my new travel buddy a little worried, but she helped me out so much. Everyone I have met so far has been sweet, social and overall excited to be here so it’s already becoming comforting to be here. 

It is intersting to be learning a languge I didn’t think I would have ever have much interaction with, especially while planning to be an intern for an orgnaization that only speaks Czech. I started with a daily Duolingo lesson in Czech prior to coming, and I will be taking a Colorful Czech course while attending MUNI. We are required to take a survival Czech class during our orientation week, which feels necessary because the stores and restraunts I’ve gone into so far definently have raised an eyebrow when they hear the American accent only speaking English. Hopefully over the next four months I’ll catch on to the language or at least remember important phrases. Maybe I’ll even pick up on some Polish, as my roommate is from northern Poland.