Blog: Reposted

August 25, 2007
I arrive at around 4:00-5:00 PM. My roommate’s a nice guy, Dillon, and it turns out that we have the triple to ourselves. The other roommate is a girl that accidentally listed herself as a male, so she gets moved. Next door to our room is a guy that I meet on the taxi ride to the apartment, Alex. Everyone in the program meets at 8:30 for a mandatory dinner. Dillon and I end up sitting at a table with four other girls. The pizza turns out to be decent and the Stellas are only $2.50. The girls decide to go out for the night and on the walk back from the restaurant, Dillon is asked to join. Alex shows up on the way back and knows one of the girls.
While Dillon gets ready, he asks me what music I listen to and it turns out he’s pretty indie. Before Dillon and Alex go out for the night, I expect them to ask me if I wanted to join, but I wasn’t. Since the Internet’s down, we get access to an Internet café. I walk there and speak to Jon and Jonah for about ten minutes until the place closes at 11:00. Now I’m stuck in my room watching Angel, fun times…. Hopefully tomorrow turns out better.

August 26, 2007
Day 2 of the grueling journey in the beautiful Eastern European city.
We wake up today at 10:00 to get orientated. They gave us breakfast and lunch in between the orientation lectures. Everyone stood around as we munch on the food and drinks set out for us. People also used this time to talk with their new groups and friends. Now I really don’t want to come off sounding like a whiny bitch, but what the hell. Both the breakfast and lunch breaks are real awkward for me as I linger around. While everyone seems to have found their niche of friends, I’m still rolling around myself.
However, solidarity seems like it has reach others. I spot a fellow member of the “Lonely Hearts Club” who doesn’t try to play off his situation like I do; he simply sits by himself at one of the staircases. When a sympathizer approaches him and asks “Sitting by yourself, eh?,” Lonely Hearts wasn’t going to have any this sympathizing business and the conversation ends in haste. After what feels like hours waiting for the breakfast break to end, we continue back into the lecture hall for more boring speeches. When the lunch break creeps around, I’m glad to know that there are other members of our Lonely Hearts Club. Fortunately for Lonely Hearts, he finds someone to talk to. As I walk by a flight of stairs, his natural habitat, chomping on my sandwich, I see him chumming it up with a girl. This only makes the Lonely Hearts Club oh so more exclusive.
As I look around, I find what I think is another associate. He’s also drifting around like I am. When we return to the lecture hall again, he randomly sits next to two girls and in a matter of minutes is acquainted with them.
When 9:00 PM reaches, I still haven’t had dinner. Both the apathy for satiating my hunger and the awkwardness of stepping outside and having dinner by myself deter me from taking any course of action. Yet again, the girls downstairs call upon dinner to have dinner with them and hang out for the night. He steps out quietly without saying a word. The same goes for Alex. The slight optimism from last night disappears and I slip back into doing random things to occupy my boredom.
This is all made worse by the lack of Internet. I would’ve posted this earlier along with pictures, but the Internet is supposed to be up next Wednesday. I understand this is all a bit deep, but I don’t have much to do with my time and I always tell myself to write more.

August 27, 2007
Today is the first day of “classes.” They’re not my actual classes, just a class that I have to go everyday of this week of orientation to learn some Czech. It’s all a waste and it makes me feel like I’m in High School being forced to learn a language against my will. I hope I can just end up skipping it all, but the professor will probably notice since there are only 14 students in my section.
Before the professor starts, I sit down next to a girl and I overhear her talking about how NYU forced her to come to Prague before actually transferring. I interject and inform her that I’m in the same situation. She asks where I came from and I respond with Binghamton. A wall of embarrassment topples over me when she says she transferred from Yale. I guess I should’ve asked, but it’s real weird that first, she would transfer from Yale to NYU and then, the fact that she didn’t immediately get into NYU from there.
The rest of the day is occupied by running errands. As I walk the streets of Prague, a slight suspicion of mine snails to certainty (Man do I adore alliteration). I realize that Prague’s streets are filled with attractive women. I thought that this kind of world only exists in the mythical parts of the Village where all females are actually models. I guess there must be something in the water that keeps these women slim and beautiful.
It’s only 4:30 now and half of the building is supposed to meet for a dinner later. Hopefully that turns out fun.
During our dinner, I have a traditional Czech dish that has thinly sliced beef, a stew-type sauce, and steamed bread that’s similar to Chinese style steamed bread. I also try out the Kelt and Staropramen Dark. They are both amazing dark brews. It is a decent restaurant and the bill for me is about $10.00, which is actually expensive for Prague.
After the dinner, Allyse asks me if I’m going to hang out with everyone tonight. I gladly accept and join a journey to a “beer garden” that one of their friends is already at. Strangely, the RA, Mikhal, goes along with us and he turns out to be a cool guy. I’m probably asked to go out because everyone at the dinner is going and it’d be pretty weird if I had to go back to the apartment by myself. We eventually get lost after about ten minutes of walking and end up at a pub that the RA suggests. He also tells my classmates look for weed at the college campuses in Prague when he’s asked.
Our table encompasses about fifteen from the building, though the table is naturally split up socially and conversationally. I end up with about six-seven people as a “group” at the table. We easily finish four pitchers of sangria and a round of beer/7-Up/lemon. Although I didn’t pay my correct share since I have more sangria than the others, I end up paying only $5.00 for six-seven drinks. For a cheap man like me, I still find that be a fine deal.
During the two or three hours that we spend there, I still think I’m on the lower part of the social totem pole. Two of the girls sitting next to me are Politics majors and when I ask them about the coming election, they aren’t very responsive. I know, it’s probably wrong to go out on the hunt for a debate this early, but the hunger is strong.
Allyse turns out to be real kind and the kind of personality that I enjoy around. She reminds me a bit of the outspoken Karen Walker from Will and Grace, though she obviously isn’t as snobbish and clueless. She clearly is the “leader” of the conversations and is extremely expressive with her sarcasm, impressions, and facial expressions. For the most part, the night involves her telling random stories so I didn’t really find anywhere to move into any conversations. Mikhal turns out be a bit flirty with Allyse at the pub over the pineapple digging in the sangria pitchers, but it’s all harmless. On the walk back, she mentions him to me. She tells me not to speak loudly because he’s around. I think that we’re at the back of the pack, so I ask where he is. Out of nowhere, he walks up next to me from behind and asks who I’m talking about. I say no one and Allyse kids about the embarrassment and awkwardness of it.
In the end, I’m quite glad that I’m invited to join people for a night out. However, I know that I haven’t assimilated in well and still have work to do before I become part of a “group” or really have friends. I just hope I get to hang out tomorrow night too.

August 28, 2007
While I was planning to go out tonight, things didn’t turn out. Dillon ended up trying to sleep at 10:30 and Alex hung out in his room with some girl and then later left. The next morning I see the girls that hang out with Dillon downstairs. I overhear them talking about how they’re disappointed that Dillon “ditched” them last night. I’m not sure if they think he went somewhere else or slept early. Hopefully something happens tomorrow that I can join.

August 29, 2007
On the metro today, another realization hit me. I’m surrounded by white people!
I guess I should’ve knew this when we were told during orientation that the Czech is a homogenous place with over 99% of its people being Czech. I have yet to see a person of African descent and spotty an Asian or Hispanic person is rare. I’m not sure where I’m getting with this, but just wanted to share an observation that I had about this place.
I received an e-mail today that my huge double is now going to be a triple, like it was supposed to be. I guess I hope he’s a cool guy and I meet some people through him.
Turns out that Dillon and the others signed up to go the opera tonight. You can also sign up for tours of the town or whatever, but I have the whole semester ahead of me, so I’ll probably end up figuring what I want to see by myself. So, I guess I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see if I can get into hanging out with them.

August 30, 2007
As I slowly learn more and more about this city, today I realize how tough a language barrier is. For lunch, I go to a sandwich shop that’s recommended and situated near NYU. After being in contact with so many Americans, I’d expect the workers to be able to speak English. How dumb of me to expect that these Czechs would be influenced by Americanization. When I ask for an Italian sandwich, or “Italka,” I end up with a double shot of espresso. I end up getting the sandwich and I can’t complain when it turns out to be less than $6.00 and the sandwich is filled with large chunks of fresh mozzarella, or as I say, “moot-za-rell.”
I then continue my usual routine after class and take the metro back to Jiriho z Podebrad, the stop near my apartment. I go to the Internet café for two hours and on my way back stop the local supermarket. It has most products that an American would expect, though I have a hard time reading the labels. The Czech class has helped me differentiate between the deli meats, but I still can’t tell what cheeses I’m buying. After I gather my sandwich resources for my dinners in the next few days, I have a hard time obtaining a bag from the cashier. I mime picking up a bag and she slowly understands.
I drop off the food in the huge kitchen we have and gather my dirty laundry. The building still doesn’t have laundry machines so I have to take the tokens that the University has given me and go to the Laundromat five city blocks away. After lugging a hamper-full of clothes for the marathon of a distance, I enter to see no one behind the front counter. I hear machines working and walk into the room. I’m quickly stopped by a woman that says I have to sit down and wait fifteen minutes before the machines are free. She then offers me tea and coffee when I sit down, which I graciously and frugally refuse, but she says it’s part of the “deal.” I accept and slowly work on a cup of Pop-Eye strong coffee; that’s how they make it here. When it’s my turn to wash my clothes, the machines look large, full bodied, but the space inside is only a third of the size you’d expect. These Europeans aren’t as greedy as us and prefer small loads. I’m only given four tokens from the University, which is should be enough for two loads of washing and drying. However, with these miniature machines, I now only have enough for one load. I plan to split it between everything and three pairs of jeans (Man law: Don’t separate colors and whites). Suddenly, the woman pounces onto me and takes the role of a mother. She says that I need detergent and that I’ll pay for it later. When she comes back with the detergent, she jumps in the washers, starts picking into my clothes, and forces me to separate my whites and colors. After poking fun at my pink socks (they’re only slight pink…), she then makes sure that I do things the “right way” and put my whites for hot and colors for warm. I personally only use cold or warm so my clothes don’t shrink; they better not this time. She even double-checks my separating after the water starts filling into the machines and finds a dark shirt in my whites. I guess this coffee and mothering business is part of the Czech hospitality of laundry compared to the American “do-it-yourself” attitude. As I sit here and wait for my laundry, it’s awkward that across the coffee table there’s a small newspaper with a topless woman on it. It’s not even a glossy magazine, though, the nakedness should be hidden instead; this is an actual ink-on-your-fingers newspaper. I guess they need a poor man’s version of Playboy here.
So after being here for almost a week, a bit of an epiphany has reached me. While I’ve spread the idea that my roommate at Binghamton, Pavlo, was crazy, I do now see things a lot clearer after the proverbial cliché, “walking a mile in one’s shoes.” At the beginning of the first semester at Binghamton, he started with a “fresh slate,” while I already knew Bolanos and Scott. I then knew Aaron through CNF. Unfortunately, Pavlo wasn’t as fortunate. This left him me, his roommate, the floor, and his classes as ways to find friends.
I definitely wasn’t open to him. Aaron once in his drunken stupor invited him to Tim’s room to have a beer, but that’s as far as he went with hanging out with the group. On my part, I never really tried to hang out with him or anything.
As for the floor, he went to see Borat with them when it was organized by the floor and RA. The floor’s group was pretty nice, though I couldn’t imagine Pavlo hanging out with them.
Through whatever his classes were, he ended up with some friends that way. They worked and studied all the time together, which was nice since it gave me the room a lot. I guess they were only in his first semester classes though since he didn’t have any he didn’t speak to anyone on the phone or go out of the room in the second semester.
I literally ignored him and acted as if I didn’t have a roommate throughout the year; I spoke only a few words to him each month. I feel that I should’ve done something about his situation. Maybe I should’ve invited him to some meals or to hang out sometime. While some may find this idea ridiculous, I just regret not being as sympathetic towards him as I could have.
So without the Internet, I’ve been left playing Windows games a lot.
I still don’t know how to play Freecell, though I probably should learn. The same goes for Spider Solitaire.
Minesweeper is a pretty decent game though it leaves a lot of room for guessing. You can get as far as you want, but you’ll have to make a gamble somewhere. Usually, it’ll be a 50/50 between two boxes of where the bomb can be. It sometimes gets late into the game so you can use your intuition to figure where the bomb is.
Pinball gets boring after a while. The game isn’t fun if you can loop the left flicker and the ramp it goes up. I still don’t have that move down packed though.
Solitaire is either too hard or too easy. With 1 card draw, you win should be winning even if you make loads of mistakes. With 3 card draw, it’s near impossible to win. If you really want to play, you have to re-deal when the opening cards aren’t good and open the hiding cards. If you play despite the bad opening cards, most of the time, all your work will be for naught.
Hearts is an interesting game that I still have to get the hang of. If you don’t know how to play, 4 people are deal the deck. When you start, you pass 3 cards. Then, person with the 2 of clubs plays it first. It then goes around and people must play clubs. The person who plays the highest club takes the pile of 4. To win, you want the lowest points. You get points by taking a pile with hearts or the Queen of spades. Each heart is worth 1 point and the Queen is worth 13. My strategy has been to always pass the Ace or King of Spades since it’s usually how the Queen of Spades is taken. Then, you want to get rid of Hearts.
My strategy is to try to play the suite that I have the least of. For example, if I run out of Diamonds, if a diamond goes to me, I can play anything from my hand. This is how you want to get rid of your hearts or even the Queen of spades.
There something called “Shooting the Moon,” which involves one player taking in all the hearts and Queen of Spades. You’d expect that person to gain all 26 points (13 hearts + 13 pts for Queen), but instead, you gain 0 points and your three opponents gain 26 points each. This is truly devastating, but so hard to pull off that I ignore that it exists. Then again, if you get good enough at the game and count cards, it can be pulled off.

August 31, 2007
It’s the last day of the “mandatory,” no attendance, not graded Czech class. We’re supposed to take it for a week during our “orientation” or more like before class starts vacation. Everyone comes back at around 3:00, which probably meant that no one was planning to go to class next morning. My predictions are right when I show up and only a third of the class is there. I should’ve been smarter and stopped coming like a few people in the class had already done.
So the new roommate, Gianfranco, just moved in. He’s a cool guy and from his conversations with his friends before he goes to dinner, he’s been living it up and partying it everyday in Prague so far. When Gianfranco leaves with his friends for dinner, he asks me what I’m doing for the night. I say, “Nothing much” and he invites me to hang out with him when he returns from dinner. He says he’s planning on coming back with “a bottle” before we head out. So now I’m waiting for him to come back, which should be soon. Dillon just walked by back from the supermarket with bottles of Pilsner Urquell, which I still have to try. It’s as universal as Bud is bad in America, but Bud doesn’t get a 68 rating, which is a pretty high rating.
At around 10:00, Gianfranco comes back with two of his friends. Before they leave, they confirm that I’m coming along, but the awkward question is asked, “You drink, right?” I awkwardly confirm that I do. We take the long walk, seven city blocks, to another one of the NYU apartment builds and meet up in a guy’s triple and two girls. I can’t imagine how, but it turns out that the two girls live next door to me, on the same floor. On Facebook, if you look at the picture from the stairs of two doors, the right door is mine, which connects to Alex’s room, a bathroom, and my triple. These two girls live in the next door and I recognized their names because names on posted next to the doors. It’s odd that I don’t recollect seeing them before or meeting them after a whole week. One of them has a broken foot, which works with the stories that I’ve overheard about a girl breaking her foot and having go to the hospital when people were out. I still don’t know how she did that.
Everyone sits around and drinks vodka and wine. They talk about their music tastes their split between Matchbox 20 and Third Eye Blind. They definitely listen to more respective music than that, but to put those two bands on top is… You find a word to describe that. Gianfranco, one of his friends (I really have to try to remember names), Emily, and I leave at 12:00 to take a cab to the biggest club in Prague. Gianfranco is drunk and keeps singing some song from his favorite band, Matchbox 20. He also decides to have some fun with my name, how fresh, and out of nowhere, “D-train buttsex go” comes out of him. For the rest of the night, I’m referred to as “Buttsex.” The cab is only $2.50 for me and the entrance fee into the club is $6.00. By now, my buzz from the five mix drinks and shots of vodka is gone.
I should’ve brought my camera to better describe this place. It’s hard to think of metaphor since this place is FIVE times larger than a regular club. It has five floors and each has a DJ, an area for a bar, and a huge room for the clubbing business. The left and right wings have space for seats and in the middle of the room is a pit for the more “intense” dancers. We first go to a hip-hop floor, which has good beats going and two live Czech rappers. I guess Gianfranco also realizes that the Czech rapping is annoying and we go looking for the house music. We find it and it sounds like what you’d expect, ambient leads with the megaton heavy and fast-tempo “umph-umph-umph” backbeat. We meet some other NYU students there and people slowly drift around for a while and separate. I end up dancing my legs off for an hour and a half.
During this, I notice a totally ridiculously hot girl. Then again, to only mention that she’s hot would leave out a majority of the ladies there. I see her dance around and see her around when I go to take my cool down in the area out of the dance floor. For some reason, she’s by herself, which is pretty weird. Then again, I’m by myself since I can’t find Gianfranco and other NYUers. She dances by herself and then sits by herself at a table in the bar area. Some older guy, probably later 20s or 30s is visibly drunk and tries to speak to her, but she legitimately gets up, gives him a “talk to the hand,” and walks away. I get pretty close to making a move, but I’m not drunk enough and again, I mention the language barrier. It’d be pretty awkward if she doesn’t speak English. When I return to the dance area, she’s also there, again standing around by herself. At one point, I think she notices that I’ve been gawking all night. Creepy….
At around 3:00, I start looking for Gianfranco and the others. It’s futile to look for them in such a large, dark place that’s filled with thousands people. I end up taking the awkward cab ride back by myself for $8.50.
When I get back, Dillon is already sleeping and Gianfranco isn’t there.

September 1, 2007
At 11:00 AM, I wake up to Gianfranco returning. I actually wake up at 1:30 and Gianfranco asks what last night. I say that I looked for people and left at 3:30. He compliments that I stayed that late and he says that stayed until 4:00 and also couldn’t find anyone. He also had to take a cab back by himself, but in his drunkenness, asked to go to his previous apartment building. He didn’t realize his mistake until the cab left and had to call a friend to stay there for the night. He says he felt like an idiot.
There’s basically nothing to do so I go the Internet café the entire afternoon and into the night. When I get back before 7:00 I see the RA and he asks me if I’m going bowling. It turns out that NYU is paying for everyone’s bowling and we just have to pay for food. Basically everyone from the floor gathers in the lobby and Gianfranco decides not to go. I’m glad that this is another opportunity to meet more people.
It’s a long train ride to a huge mall where the bowling alley is. The mall turns out to be a bit different than American malls and contains much more upscale clothing and fashion. Instead of joining Dillon’s group, I end up with four other people in my building, Andrew, Toni, Brenae, and Jess. They’re not really a group, but Andrew and Toni are close friends and Brenae and Jess are close friends too so I tag along with them. People from the other buildings also join us so our seven-eight lanes get crowded real fast. There’s also a bar with $1.00 beers so us snobby Americans crowd the bar and fiend for our mother’s milk.
I get 110 in the first game, which apparently in this context, it’s pretty high and I end up receiving compliments for my skillz. After four beers and three games, the people I bowl with and Christina decide that they want to leave. At first, I think that they’re going back to the dorm at 10:00ish, so I think about joining Dillon’s group for the night. However, it turns out that they actually did want to go out and I join the five of them.
We take the train back to our stop and look for stuff to do around there. Toni knows this place called the Peach Pit. Do not ask why anyone would want make a Beverly Hills: 90210 themed pub. The place is covered with pictures of the Beverly Hills cast like Shanen Doherty and Jennie Garth. I have Kelt, which I’m beginning to love and we end up seeing some other NYU students. They’re planning to go to the club that I went to last night and my group decides that they want to do that too. I’ve danced enough for years to come, but I see no harm in joining.
We meet up with a girl from the building, Jade, and decide to look for a pub around the dorms instead of going all the way out to town. For some reason, people don’t find any of the pubs appealing so we decide to go back to the dorm and rethink our plans. We get back at around 12:40 and decide to meet at the upstairs kitchen (look on Facebook, it’s nice) when everyone’s ready to head back out. I make myself a sandwich and wait with Brenae and Jess for a while. When no one comes up, we realize that the night basically died on us. After a bit of channel surfing, they decide to go to bed, which leaves me bored at 1:30. When I get back to the room, Dillon is surprisingly asleep, which means that his peoples didn’t end up doing anything for the night.
I still probably would’ve preferred hanging out with Dillon and the others. It also helps that I learned people’s names through bowling; I looked at the scoreboard screen, I’m just cheats. They’re much more my kind of people and also probably more open to become actually friends with me, whereas I don’t really see hanging out much with Brenae, Jess, Andrew, or Toni. While the last two days and been much cooler since I’ve gone out, I really hope that it keeps up and that I end up making solid friends.

September 3, 2007
It’s the first day of classes for me. I only have classes from Mon-Thurs and start at 10:30 all three days. Tuesday’s the worst with 10:30-11:50 and 1:30-6:00. On Economics meets only once a week for two and a half hours.
I had Europe-US Relations today and I’m not sure how it’s going to be. The professor kept blabbering about brought in Noah’s Ark, the Bible, old civilization, and other random stuff. At least he said there was too much random stuff in what he said and that it’d change.
PS: I love this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMT5odb90-o
I spend loads of time at the Internet café and end up getting back at around 5:30. Gianfranco mentions that there is a faculty and student dinner. We decide to go together and meet at NYU to be led to the restaurant. Gianfranco ends up talking with some people and I end up sitting with Dillon, Alex, and the girls.
The food is way too good to be free, or paid by our NYU tuitions, but drinks are on us. People complain that the beer is “highway robbery” at $2.00 for 16 fluid ounces (US beer is 12 ounces) of Budvar (an extra bitter pilsner). Sitting with them turns out to be real fun and I get to tell the urine smelling story with Aaron’s roommate. Everyone has name tags so that we can speak to the professors and I’m glad that I don’t need them since I have everyone’s name down now. We end up going to Château afterwards. We start off in the basement and I sit with Christina, Jessica, Andrew, Antonia, and Brenae (the group I hung out with at bowling), while the others go to get weed. I don’t know much, but they end up with two dime bags, a “two for one” deal, for under $4. I mention how much cheaper it must be to hold smoking weed as a habit instead of drinking. This is after spending money on two beers at the restaurant, a Staropramen, and a Stella. Then again, that’s less than $7.00 while I’m out. There’s this weird looking guy that starts speaking to Antonia for a long time and dances around when then bar starts playing hip-hop. He looks like this, except Middle Eastern: http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/1/17/250px-The_Wire_Bubbles.jpg
That’s Bubbles, a heroin addict, from The Wire. We play a fun game of guess his age and we have it over 35 and into his 40s. We count the fact that smoking and drugs could definitely age him a lot. While the other half of the group is smoking weed in the next room, he walks over to them and starts bothering them. Allyse later tells me that he thought that she was the head of the table when she was really just telling a story.
Christina starts puffing away at her cigs and I butch up to buy my own pack, instead of mooching. The woman at the bar asked if I wanted Reds and I didn’t want to bitch out with Lights, so I stood with those. Good deal at only $3.50. It’s especially cool to read up about: “Marlboro Reds have a much stronger flavor and taste than other cigarettes in the Marlboro family, and other cigarettes. They fill your lungs with a stout, sharp air and delivers a much more potent amount of nicotine to your blood stream. Makes a great after dinner snack.”
When 11:00ish comes, half the group leaves. Brenae, Allyse, Dillon, Charlotte, Jenn and I are still around. When I asked for dark beer in the basement, they tell me to go upstairs. I’m upstairs when part of the group departs and when I ask for dark beer, they tell me it’s on the other side of the bar or something. I stick with the lighter pilsner. Allyse points out that I’m smoking Reds, I respond, “Yeah bitch, yippee ki yay, I’m a cowboy baby (as I pulsate my hand forwards and backwards from my mouth to replicate the effect in the Kid Rock song).” Alright, part of that doesn’t happen. I also pull off the novice move of not only putting out the bar’s candle when I’m trying to light my Red, but I also get wax on it and it’s no longer operable. A third of the cigarette is left to the sacrifice to the Ultimate Warrior.
We leave before 12:00 to make sure that we catch the metro subway otherwise we have to take a cab. It turns out to be a very fun night, but facilitated by the NYU dinner. Why can’t all first days of classes have a night out like this? I again hope that things continue to turn out well and there’s more hanging out and tales to tell. The next day I wake up to find out that I had four Reds in that few hours. I should watch myself.

September 4, 2007
I have a stacked day of classes today. It all starts at 10:30 for my EU class. The guy’s smart and from the introduction, it seems like a super cool class. It basically goes through everything about the EU from the formation up to issues about it today. I think I’m going to love learning about the creation and growth of the EU, which has a lot of similarities with the United States.
I have Transition and Economics, which deals with the changing economic and political stances of the region. It goes through the transition from socialism to a market economy, so it goes through the area’s history and current issues and policies. I think I’ll also enjoy this class. He lets us an hour early to send him an e-mail, so he knows what he expect and want from the class. I told him that I’d prefer dealing with political/economic issues like minimum wage, poverty, etc.
While I get out early, my usual Tuesday involves that class at 1:30-2:50 and then my other Economics class from 3:00-5:50, which only meets once a week. Still, that’s a real tough stretch of time.
When I get to my Economic Principles class, it’s in a room that’s smaller than my Binghamton dorm. It’s a basic economics class, but only has five students; one more is registered, but doesn’t show up. The guy is really boring and I drift off at times. No one in the class is an economics major, so it’s pretty simple and only deals with macro, the good stuff. I’m interested in macro, but he drones on too much. I at least pay attention when he brings up interesting issues like Milton Friedman, the McDonald’s index, and the Eurobanana.
I go the Internet café after class and stay until 7:30ish. I make a sandwich when I get back. I’ve been eating sandwiches exclusively for the past week. The basic bread, Dijon mustard, chicken, and whatever cheese since I can’t read the Czech. I tried to get pasta, but when I asked for tomato sauce at the store, they only have ketchup. When I make my sandwich, the few people there seem to be more inventive than me. I’m all cool with cooking and better food, but I’m too lazy to do it only by myself.
They’ve installed the Internet and I see it on my computer, but no one knows what the deal is with the passwords and stuff, so hopefully they fix that by tomorrow. I keep bringing my laptop to class, but it doesn’t work. They tell me that I have to get a program like the people that NYU have, but I can’t find it. I end up following their instruction where I look up my Physical Wireless IP and submit a form online to them with it. I guess they input my IP and the WiFi reaches me, but the form says that it’s supposed to take within three days. I can’t take class without a laptop and Internet. This is unacceptable.
It’s the same ol’ same ol’ without the Internet at 10:00 here. At least I have Season 1 of Deadwood on occupy myself. If you haven’t watched it, do it!
At around 10:30ish, Gianfranco walks in with friends and asks if it’s cool if people hang out in the room and drink. That’s definitely cool with me. Max, Mary Kate, Orion, Max, and Andrew (another one) show up to hang out. We play a random drinking game that uses the cards from Guess Who. They all have beers or mix drinks (limited cups), so I’m stuck with drinks from the straight vodka bottle. They comment on how I’m able to do this, I have Binghamton University for helping my tolerance. After literally 5 straight drinks from the bottle, I realize that I can’t go much longer and get a scissor and a bottle to make my own cup. People mention how I’m a tricky one. During this, I get my favorite job going, DJing through the laptop. Everything from Timbaland to Scissor Sisters to Rolling Stones is played. As girls do what they do, they have a nail painting party and Mary Kate asks if I want my fingers painted. I sit and consider if I will regret it, but Gianfranco says that I shouldn’t, so I don’t. Turns out that people are going to the “drink” cruise tomorrow, which is $20 (extremely steep for Prague) for a cruise, open bar for an hour, and entry to a club and I confirm that I’m going. People leave past 12:00ish because some still have to walk back to their building and the rest of the people in the building stay for another half an hour or so. I have a cig out the window when everyone leaves while Gianfranco tries to go to sleep. Dillon and Alex are still gone, so they probably went out with the girls, though I’m glad I still got to roll tonight. It’s 12:50 now and I’m going downstairs/outside for another cig before I sleep for my 10:30 tomorrow.

September 5, 2007
After my 10:30, I have my same routine of going to the Internet café. I see an e-mail that has the passwords for the Internet. When I get back, I have my usual sandwich, but I notice that my stuff has been raided. I’m missing a few pieces of cheese and chicken. I don’t know who’d raid that stuff, but I shrug it off. I continue watching Deadwood and take a nap until 6ish.
When night reaches around, Gianfranco leaves for the cruise. I overhear that he’s missing the open bar and he’s going to pre-game, but doesn’t say anything to me even though I thought I was invited yesterday. Dillon goes to Alex’s room to smoke some weed, so if I’m doing anything tonight is still up in the air.
It turns out that the girls are split on going out and such. Some of them go out, while a few are hanging out in Alex’s room next door. Dillon comes back into the room and I asking him about the night, the first time I’ve done it. He says that people might be going out and he’ll keep me updated about it. It takes a while before they decide to go out and we meet outside past 11:00. It’s only Alex, Dillon, Jarra, Christina, and me. The rest are either staying in or went somewhere else already. We end up going to a pub called B-52 near the other NYU apartment. The club has a parachute in it and silhouettes of fighter planes all the walls. It’s fun to see more weirdly themed pubs.
There’s no Pilsner Urquell so we’re stuck with the Gambrinus, which isn’t as good and known as more of a budget beer, though it’s still considered mid-tier if we’re comparing American brews. Dillon and I have two beers, only $1.50 each, while the others stick to only one. Jarra gets a text from Liz and considers going to “Mecca.” Apparently it’s something like a club, but Dillon and Alex aren’t up for it. Instead, we end up looking for a seasonal Czech specialty, verchek(sp?), which is young wine that’s sweet like fruit juice apparently. Alex leads us and we wander around for a bit before we go back. Part of it might be because it’s cold and I’m unable to influence them to go somewhere else. The night ends pretty quickly before 1:00.
Dillon goes to sleep before I do so I continue watching some Black Snake Moan, which is really good. The lights are off and everything when I hear and see Gianfranco and a girl’s silhouette outside the door. They walk in and start tossing around in his bed and I hear kissing noises. Let me remind you, I’m in the room, literally 8 feet from his bed. I’m visibly on the computer since the lights are off and my computer screen is the only thing lighting the entire room. I have my headphones on so I don’t have to be tortured by all the sounds, but a lot still leaks through. I’m motionless continuing to watch my movie and I do not move a muscle or turn my head. At one point, the kissing noises stop and I hear the girl panting a lot. I don’t know what’s happening. Just when I think it’s about to end when she walks out of the room for the bathroom, she returns for more lip service.
Gianfranco has a cough and I overhear her saying that she’ll kill him if she gets what he has. This continues for almost 50 min. until she leaves, Gianfranco goes to bed, and then I do the same. Don’t worry, Dillon didn’t hear any of this, he’s a super heavy sleeper. He also has the loudest snore I’ve heard in my life, which Gianfranco and mystery girl joke about during their make-out session. I also have a suspicion that it’s a girl from next door.

September 6, 2007
I go to my 10:30 and it’s cool learning about Europe post WWII. He goes through 25 years in one lecture and I learn a lot that I didn’t know about before. My class after is an hour and a half away, so I stay in NYU building’s computer room instead of traveling 20 min. back and forth to the apartment. I see Gianfranco in the computer room and he asks if he woke me up last night. I tell him that I was awake and sitting right there for the entire thing. He says that he was real drunk and sorry. He asks about another girl that came in the room for her underwear, but stops talking about it when he notices that she’s in the computer lab too.
I later overhear him talking to friends about how his professor told him that he smelled like alcohol. He said he brushed and showered forever, but that still happened. One of the girls he’s talking to says that she still “smells like Mecca.” I don’t know what that means…
My Transition and Economics class turns out to be interesting since he just keeps going through the failures and flaws with communism. He goes through post WWII and he said he’ll continue into the 60s next time when the people realized how shitty communism it was. Economics isn’t a funny subject, but I chuckled here and there about how dumb some of the things were.
For example, since WWII, the Soviet bloc was trained to keep producing steel. Since communism doesn’t enforce trade, the countries don’t get any new technologies or find anywhere else that can products certain goods better. To do something about this dumb system, the bloc got together and tried to exchange goods, guess what? Everyone had too much steel! Their currencies also didn’t exchange, so they had to return to medieval style with goods for goods. The problem is that they don’t know how much goods are worth. A Bazooka is worth 5 cents because the market decides this through the amount it costs for production, labor, distribution, and demand for it. Communism doesn’t have any of this. So countries have to randomly agree on something like 1 million shirts equals 1000 cars. Because of the lack of trade through information, the bloc has to make their own computers. Bulgaria of all countries is put in charge of this and accomplishes nothing after a decade. Communism wins.
I sit around and do nothing until 7:30ish when Dillon asks if I’m doing for dinner. I say I’m not really doing anything and he says that people are going to dinner at “The Brothers,” a Czech restaurant a block away. Dillon, Charlotte, Jade, Camilla, Jarra, Allyse, Jenn and I head there soon after Dillon asks me. The place disappoints me because of the lack of dark beer and I end up having two Budvar of the “original Budweiser.” The menu is in Czech, so everyone tries to get around with what they’ve learned from experience and class. I randomly choose something on the “Specialty” part of the menu and I only understand the words “parsley” and “brambory” (potato) in the description.
When the food finally comes, I actually get good stuff, chicken with a cream sauce, mashed potatoes with bacon bits, and creamed spinach. The chicken is too salty, but I cancel it bites of the two sides. The chunky mashed potatoes are amazing. I have of Charlotte’s chicken kebab wrapped in bacon. I usually don’t like bacon, but it’s real delicious bacon. It turns out to be a bit on the expensive side for the Czech, but real cheap by American standards with an $85.00 check for 8 people including rounds of drinks all over.
We get back at 9:40 because the food took so long to arrive. Everyone plans on going out to a club called Roxy. The girls take forever to get ready so we end up leaving at almost 11:00. Brenae, Jessica, Antonia, Andrew, Christina, and Alex also come. Fortunately for some of the others, they’re smart enough to buy beer and wine from the supermarket and leave it in the suite’s fridge and pre-gamed. I’m sober when we get to Roxy after a metro and walk. Alex and Jarra say something to us and shadily separate to the small liquor store down the street (Alliteration bonus!). It’s a smallish dance club and not very busy, but a lot of other NYU students also show up. A long haired Asian asks if I went to Binghamton. I tell him that I did and he says that he was in my Experimental Cinema class. His name is Travis and says that he’s seen me around and knows my face; I don’t recognize him. He’s also a transferring sophomore with the same deal as I. I guess NYU has it out for us long haired skinny Asians.
Not many people are dancing so Allyse motions for me to dance from the dance floor and I join for a bit, but return to re-up on beer and get a bit drunk first; I’m still on my first. The beer that they have on tap is Krusovice. It has a pungent head and thick head and is a good pilsner. I down a beer real fast and join in with Jessica, Brenae, and Andrew for a tequila shot. Jessica mentions that I have a good tolerance even though I’m only three drinks in. My next drink is a bottle Krusovice cerny (dark), which on the lighter side for a dark and has a lot of the characteristics of it’s light version. The beers are only $1.50, though the tap is 1.25 beers, while the bottle is a standard one beer.
Thankfully, people are taking smoking breaks from dancing and some stay the table since dancing is not their thing. Jarra and Alex suddenly show after being gone for a while. I’m think they went to get weed. Jarra can’t work her camera and for some reason asks me to try to fix it. I gather all my abilities, but can’t figure why her camera is stuck on the menu and there are like six modes on the wheel. I give up and return to the dance floor after finally getting some drank in me. The DJ isn’t as good as the one from Karlovy and puts in too many cool downs. I still dance my socks off and my shoulders are a bit sore the next day, but I don’t know if it’s the dancing or the push-ups I did. Alex asks for a cigarette, which turns out to be my last. He feels bad about taking it, but I let him have it since I’ll be getting another pack. He tells me that I’m welcome to smoke up some time in his room. I accept.
I forget what time we leave, but we decide to when Allyse gets a bit sick. I didn’t know that she drank that much, but I guess she did and she also took a few puffs of the Mary Jane. Instead of taking a cab, we decide to take the walk back since the metro stops at 12:00. It’s supposed to be a long walk, but we’re a bit drunk so it shouldn’t be too bad. I do a bit of public urination in a way too obvious place. It’s a good thing the cops don’t drive by and everyone doesn’t know where I was when I run to catch up to them. We stop at a McDonald’s midway for food and bathroom. I have a Kit-Kat McFlurry, which is so good, especially since I haven’t had one for years.
The walk turns out to be really long and I have to keep helping Allyse since her heels keep falling off in the cobblestone streets. When we get back, I remark that the walk so never be taken again, but people call walking “exercise” and disagree. Let me tell you, walk is not exercise. Power walking might be, but even Angel from the show agrees that you might as well run then. It’s like 4:20 when I get to my computer.

September 7, 2007
I wake up to at 12:00 from noise and such. I go back to sleep until 2:00ish when some guy walks into my room and takes my chair! Turns out that he’s a construction guy and he’s putting pads under the chairs because the wood on wood makes really load squeaking noises. I’m still a bit tired, but go through it. I make myself a sandwich and toast it with a frying pan. I look around and the laundry machines still aren’t installed and ready and I have to do laundry. I try to find the RAs or building manager to get tokens for the place, but I can’t find anyone. I guess I’ll pay for it. When I get there, it turns out to be $10.00 for four tokens and detergent. I leave my jeans back, so I don’t even have that much for American standards. Then again, I’ve spoken about the small machines here.
Speaking about the European conservation style, I forgot to mention that there are two flushing buttons here for the toilet instead of a lever like in America. There’s a smaller button and bigger one depending on which flush you want. You figure out the rest.
It’s almost 8:00 now and I still haven’t had dinner. Basically everyone has signed up for trips and went today. Dillon, Alex, and Jarra are around and hopefully we hang out or something. It’s Gianfranco’s birthday today and he mentioned doing something earlier, so maybe that’ll work out.
I overhear Gianfranco talking about his plans over the phone. He asks Alex and Dillon about their plans and they plan on going to the other apartment community to join Jarra and her friends. I don’t know, it’s awkward to know their plans and they try to invite myself. They leave with haste by 10:00. It’s 11:00ish now and I’m pretty sure that there aren’t really people in the building.

September 8, 2007
I wake up to watch some more Deadwood, which I’m almost the first season of. I need to go food shopping so I head to the supermarket, Albert. When I get there, it turns out to be a renovating, even though I was there only a few days ago. I know that there’s another Albert near us so I go back to look at a map. It actually turns out that this one is only 3 blocks away instead of 5 like the one I first tried and frequent.
When I get there, it’s a hell lot nicer than the one I went to before. I notice that with my sandwich eating and such that I haven’t been eating vegetables. I pick up two bags of salad mix and shredded cheese. I find what looks to be yogurt dressing that’s put on gyros. For some reason, it’s made by Hellman’s. I look on Hellman’s site, but they don’t have the product. I change it from .com to .cz and find the correct site. The word “Středozemní” means Mediterranean after a Google search. Hope it turns out to be good, then again, these are the people that make the greatest food created by man, Mayonnaise.
I go to the deli to grab some meats and cheese. Instead of asking for what you want and how much of it, they have a machine that cuts the stuff, throws it into a vacuumed sealed bag, it’s laid out in display, and you buy what you want. This system makes sense to me. I end up buying what looks a bit weird, but I see remnants spices and stuff that could make it buffalo chicken; I hope that is. For cheeses, I get the usual stuff and Gouda. After looking up Gouda, it turns out that “edam” is a type of cheese. All this time I thought that it was a Czech word. Anyway, Edam is basically their American cheese. It’s sold both packaged and deli packaged and comes in different kinds of slices and fat contents. I also pick up a loaf of bread.
After getting food, my final leg is for another necessity, beer. I see that a 10 pack of bottled Staropramen Lezak .5L is only $6.50.
http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/staropramen-le%C5%BE%C3%A1k-(premium-lager)-12%C2%B0/3784/
It’s a good beer, but I prefer to go for darks and go for .5L bottles of stuff that I haven’t tried. I get a Kozel Dark, Branik, Krusovice Dark (which I actually did have at Roxy), and Staropramen Nealko.
http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/kozel-cerny-(dark)-10%B0/390/
http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/branik-12%B0-svetl%E9/15603/
http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/krusovice-cerne/4789/
http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/staropramen-nealko/52130/
Notice the last beer with the word “Nealko.” Only after looking up the beers do I find out that it’s a low/non alcoholic beer! The tax even changes on the receipt. Tax is 5% and 19% for alcohol. The Nealko is only charged 5%. I’ll drink it anyway…
Dillon goes for his race at 8:00ish. When I go to make myself a sandwich, I see Antonia in the kitchen and she doesn’t know what she’s doing for the night, but I tell her that I’ll be around if anything comes up. Dillon comes back from his race at 10:30ish. Antonia and Christina come up around 11:00ish and it turns out that they’re going to look for the sangria place that Mikhal the RA suggested last week. Dillon says that he wants to rest for a bit and might come out later or something.
Andrew joins up with us for the four of us head to pub. We split a pitcher of sangria, which can’t have more than 5-6 glasses just wine. I ask for a Hoegaarden afterwards because I’ve never tried it.
http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/hoegaarden/399/
It comes in a big looking glass like the one in the picture and a slice of lime. It has a light head and has a bit of fruitiness in the scent. It’s sweet and light and ends with a mix of fruit flavors. The lime that I later add turns out great and doesn’t over power the beer and makes it fresher.
I see the people next to us get something wrapped in a tortilla and I ask for one. It’s mostly tortilla with salsa and cheese in the middle. When I finish, a slice of ham comes out of nowhere. It’s alright and cheap, so I’m satisfied. The other three end up with two more pitchers of sangria, while I just get a bottle of Pilsner Urquell.
http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/pilsner-urquell/717/
Christina and Andrew are very hungry so we leave at 1:30 to look around. Nothing is open at this time so the only hope is pubs and bars. We give up on the way back and decide to stay in. I get my Branik, while Christina goes for her bottle of wine. We hang out on the terrace that isn’t supposed to be opened and have a few cigarettes. Christina empties a bag of fries into a pan and bakes it with cheese on top. We all ravage her cheese fries with Hellman’s yogurt dressing.
I later find that she split the bottle four ways and I also have a glass of wine after my .5L of beer. I remember going into the TV room to check what’s on and I guess the others just leave. I accidentally fall asleep and see on my clock that it’s 5:00. Dillon is still up when I get back, so he did actually go out for the night.

September 9, 2007
I get woken a bit early by the other two. I stay in and try to sleep until 1:30, but give up. I have nothing to do for the day so I go to Albert again to look for stuff. I realize that I don’t really need anything other than beer. I pick up a six pack of canned Pilsner and go for four bottles of Staropramen Dark. I can’t really carry anymore than that.
http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/staropramen-&268;ern%FD-(dark)/4791/
It’s Sunday, a school night, but that usually never stops anyone. For some strange reason, some people decide to stay in. Gianfranco stays in to watch Friends and I’m pretty sure this actually ends his streak of going out every night since we’ve been here.
Dillon isn’t in the room, so I check the kitchen to see if people are around and maybe I can join in for doing something since everyone was there for dinner. It turns out that people are watching the US Open match and I have nothing better to do so I join in. Dillon, Charlotte, Brenae, Jess, and Mikhal are there, so I assume Alex and the other girls actually did go out for the night.

September 10, 2007
I start class and pretty much have a useless laptop since I’ve found out that there’s no WiFi in the area. It’s going to be a real hard semester. When I get back, I take a real long nap. And don’t wake me up, or I’ll whip you with a strap. Yep, you knew that was coming. Gianfranco asks if I had dinner yet and I say I hadn’t. I tell him that restaurant I went to before was real good, hoping that maybe I’d join in with whatever plans he had or make some plans. He later leaves by himself to figure his own plans out. People even come in the room looking for him.
I do my usual and make myself a sandwich and salad, though the meat that I was expecting to be buffalo chicken turned out to be something like salami. It’s really greasy, but it’s alright. Gianfranco has to keep up his cred so he goes out for the night. Allyse, Jarra, Charlotte, and Liz come in the room to watch Flight of the Conchords with Dillon. I’ve seen the season already, but I have nothing better to do so I sneak onto the other side of the room to watch it through Dillon’s computer. We end up going through all four last episodes.
When we’re done, it’s around 1:00ish. Dillon and I are in the room with the lights on when Gianfranco walks back with one of his friends from home. She bothers him with taking a rest in the bed with him, but he’s annoyed and kicks her off. She stays on his computer instead. Then some other girl comes in and I think she joins in bed, but I don’t remember her leaving, so I don’t know how it all went down. I’m just happy it didn’t turn out like the last time.

September 11, 2007
It’s Tuesday and I have a super long day of basically four classes; it’s actually three, but one is a double and meets once a week. The EU class is still interesting, but he keeps asking us questions like, “What was the state of the EU in the 70s?” Either no one did the readings and we should’ve known, or he just expects us to be much less ignorant about European history. Seeing as how basically no one participated the entire class, I guess he wants a lot more from us that he just don’ t know.
I go to Paneria to grab a big pita shaped foccacia with lettuce, basil, tomato, and fresh mozzarella. I’m going to keep going there because it takes credit card and my mom’s obvs paying for the credit card. Good thing food’s crazy cheap here since it cost $2.50. I’d expecting something like that in the city to go for at least $5.00. I have an hour and a half between classes, so I decide to stay and browse around the computer.
On my way to class, I see Christina who’s also in my Transition and Economics. We head up to the class, but only a few people in the twenty person class are there. We have no idea where to go and one of the girls gets a tip through text messaging that it’s at a Dean’s office. We get there and we’re only 20 minutes late.
My Macro Economics class is next and this time it has even less people. One her is sick and another is missing or dropped. We also have a new student, but it’s still only an awkward four people in a cramped little room. It really makes dozing off and doing other stuff on the computer tough.
Throughout the day, I realize that I’m being taught loads of European history. Other than my Macro, all three of my classes are overlapping, which is really interesting. For example, my EU class spoke about how Yugoslavia was really ahead in the 80s economically compared to Eastern and Central Europe, but the civil war messed things up in the 90s. Then, in my Transition to Economics, my professor actually goes in depth about how and why they were economically ahead, but said “for other reasons that I won’t get into,” didn’t follow it up in the 90s. I mean, he could’ve said that there was a civil war.
I get back around 6:00 and Gianfranco gets back around 6:30. He again asks me if I’ve eaten I say I haven’t. And it confuses me since it’s obvs that he’s going out for dinner and such, but he still asks me and doesn’t invite me. He then goes to take a nap for almost 2 hours. Mary Kate walks in and asks if he’s sleeping. She then returns again to finally wake him up talking about making reservations for their peoples at a restaurant at 10:00 since Gianfranco just woke up. He later leaves at like 9:30 for dinner and such.
I get my dinner soon after and surprisingly; people are still in the kitchen. It turns out that Jarra, Alex, and Christina want to go out for the night, so I tell them that I’ll def be in. Allyse also mentions that her birthday is this Friday and there’s supposed to be karaoke or something. Hopefully I’ll be a part of that.
By 10:30ish, Liz knocks on Alex’s door and ends up hanging out with him and Jarra in the room. I guess the plans for hanging out aren’t happening. When 11:30ish comes around, Christina comes up to confirm that the plans aren’t happening. When he opens the door, it turns out that Liz was giving a haircut to Alex. I man up and walk over to converse and such. Alex says that he has a bottle of wine and that people should chill. Allyse, Jarra, and Liz go to sleep. I give Alex one of my Staropramen Darks while I work on a Kozel Dark. Only Christina, Alex and I end up hanging out in his hair filled room.
Dillon only hangs out for part of it and stays in our room for a lot of it. I guess he has work or something. After the wine and beer, I go for a can of Pilsner, while Alex smokes it up. He uses a contraption called a grinder that I’ve never heard of. It’s metal and circular. He screws it open and he puts weed in it and then turns it around so the weed is grinded and opens it at the bottom to collect it. We all squish in a closet that he has in his single. It’s an alright squeeze for four people and it has a window it in.
At 1:00ish, Gianfranco walks in with Mary Kate. It’s her birthday and he sees Alex’s buzzer so he tells us to buzz “MK” into the back of his head. He’s drunk, but we do it anyway. He then heads out to Karlovy, the mega club. Three of us want to go to the Peach Pit at 1:30, but we find out that it closes at 2:00. We end the night.
Throughout the day when I have free time, I go through one listen of the Tegan and Sara album, The Con. It might be a bit to chickety, but it’s a fine example of the indie pop that I actually enjoy and consider listenable.
I’ve gone through Graduation a bit. It’s not near Late Registration and College Dropout, but still has a lot of strong tracks. It’s worth listening to.
By the way, I also have a new addition to the “favorite songs of all time” list.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=z09Or_AW-Ow
On another issue, Wiki says that “Sunny” is sampled in Mark Ronson’s “Ooh Wee.” I think I have a pretty good ear, but I don’t hear it. Someone want to help me?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Mb5N5kot0iQ
It’s already random, but I’m on Fourth Season of Angel and it’s so good. If you’re going to watch, which should happen before you watch any other TV shows you watch, start with the First Season. I’d say it’s the best one.
NYU also sent an email about “making friends” and all that such.
http://www.nyuwellnessexchange.com/makingfriends.html
Use my email, dg1310@nyu.edu
It’s completely worth watching. It now has me paranoid when I walk around with headphones and cross my arms when I’m standing. Fuck you NYU!

September 12, 2007
During class, my professor has to keep taking calls. He later explains that he’s organizing a conference for something that will have former Presidents, Madeline Albright, and European leaders and representatives. He got the job after he was Intelligence head for the Czech Republic and the President asked if he wanted to fill the spot of conference organizer. He has quite a history, but he’s not a great speaker and I didn’t get out of his lecture on the Cold War.
At 12:00 after my class, I decide to go into town to Tesco (their Wal-Mart) for headphones. My Sony one’s are amazing, but are ripped and I’ll stick to only using them for the laptop. The free one’s from Siren ended up breaking after a month of heavy use. At Tesco, I get a random pair of Phillips for $10.00. The store is sort of set up like Sears. There’s a floor for everything; one for food, cosmetics, clothes, electronics, and bed bath stuff.
I decide to go to the food section because it’s larger and has more stuff than Albert. I wish I could buy more, but I can’t lug the stuff around all the way to the metro and then get back. At the beer section, the selection isn’t much more different, but they have Hoegaarden, which I love. It’s only .33L (1 beer) instead of the usual .5L (1.25 beer) and costs double, but I realize that it’s not a big deal since it still turns out to be $1.25. I grab two bottles. Here’s the beer area.
http://praguewanderer.com/cgi-bin/get_img?NrImage=1&NrArticle=170
I also pick up a jar of good Maille brand Dijon mustard. It also looks interesting sine it has a tomato and garlic on the front and has a reddish color to it.
When I get back, I sit around and do stuff until 4:30 when Gianfranco and Dillon go to class so I can nap. I nap all the way until 7:00 and take a shower. I should do my reading, but I procrastinate. Dillon plays and follows soccer, so he scalps tickets for the game tonight, Ireland vs. the Czech Republic.
He leaves at around 7:15 to try to hang out with other Irish soccer fans. Soon after, Alex and Allyse tell me that their planning on going to burchak in 45 minutes. I haven’t had dinner, but there’s supposed to be food there. Again, people are slow and the large group of 11 is formed and we leave before 9:00.
It’s only a few blocks away and we squeeze into two tables. I order a plate of fried cheese (Czech staple) and French fries for dinner. The fried cheese might sound weird, but it’s basically a gloried mozzarella stick with a healthy slice of cheese instead of a stick and better breading. Our table of five goes through four pitchers of burchak. It’s a “young wine” and has a lot of the characteristics of apple cider. It comes in a dirty greenish color, tastes very sweet like apple and only has a hint of alcohol wine taste in the end. For orientation, the Dean gave a speech that when she first came here, she didn’t know much about it and had 10 glasses of it. Apparently she almost died that week from alcohol poisoning. The story is real questionable since no one should be drinking 10 glasses of anything if they’re not trying to get drunk; no matter how “thirsty” she supposedly was.
I only get slightly buzzed from my four glasses when we head back at 11:00ish. When I get back, Gianfranco is in the room with friends drinking and watching Talladega Nights. I go upstairs to the kitchen to hang out with my Pilsner. We sit around, talk, and hang out until people finally want to go to sleep.
It’s only like 12:30 when I get back to the room and even Gianfranco goes to sleep then. Dillon still isn’t back.

September 13, 2007
After my 10:30 class, I go to the computer lab to sit around until my 1:30. Jenn’s there and says Hi. She asks me if I’m going to the dinner tonight and out afterwards for Allyse’s birthday. I confirm that I’m going. Charlotte asks for my number, but I only have the number from the cell phones NYU has given us. Because the phones didn’t work for the first week or so, they let us “borrow” cell phones with a certain amount of minutes on them. They’re going to collect them soon unless you want to buy the phone from NYU. Jenn tells me to go to Vodaphone to get a SIM card with minutes on it because I brought my phone from home.
After my 1:30, I go there and also pick up some detergent. The machines are finally working and I had to buy tokens for $1.00 each from the RA. When I get back, I’m surprised that the four washing machines are all free. They’re pretty small and I don’t want to squeeze, so I end up using three machines. When the wash starts, after the clothes get wet, and they take up less space, I realize that I only needed two machines. I wait an hour for it to finish and then go to dry them. For some reason, there’s a whole process that comes with the machine. There’s a big plastic thing that pulls out that you’re supposed to empty the water, like a dehumidifier. Then the lint collect, which makes sense and then the instructions show that you’re supposed to run a big metal contraption from the machine through the water.
After doing all that work, I accidentally put my token for the washing machine, which is right below the slot for the dryer. I can’t get it back, so I guess the next person will have a free wash. This time I squeeze and throw everything in a single dryer. I return upstairs to nap for an hour since that’s how long the cycle is.
When I go to collect the laundry, it’s still moist and wet, but I’ll deal. I still throw everything in the drawer and hope that it’ll dry itself somehow. I take a shower and when I get out, Jenn says that people are supposed to be heading out in 45 minutes, 7:30.
Again, people take forever and we end up leaving much later than that. There’s a whopping fifteen of us for the dinner reservations and we take the metro there. We get off at Mustek, which I’ve never been to. It’s basically the busy part of Prague. The pictures that I posted are more for the laid back touristy stuff. This place actually looks like a city and has shops and restaurants everywhere. Since it’s a major stop, we actually get checked for our metro passes. The metro basically uses the honor system here. You can buy a ticket for each time, which costs $1.00 or buy a monthly pass. Other than Mustek, I’ve never seen people get checked, so I’m pretty sure you can risk the scary $10.00-$20.00 fine and not get a pass.
The restaurant is pretty nice and I start it off with a Hoegaarden. I then have a Stella since it takes so long for the food to come. Most people order personal pizzas, but I don’t think I can finish one so choose something that looks interesting on the Specialty part of the menu. It turns out to be really good. It’s baked pasta with chicken and cheese, but has a curry base. Man so I sure love curry. I also get a wine during the meal. You have to switch around with that since you can’t have that many beers with a meal. People have problems with small bills and such and I end up only paying $10.00 when I own a few dollars more.
Our karaoke reservations are at 11:00 so we decide to run back to our dorms to pre-game a bit. I have a .5L Staropramen Dark. When we all leave for the walk there, I bring along a can of Pilsner. When we walk out of the dorm, we see Mikhal and Allyse invites him to come and gives him the address. He doesn’t end up coming. We get quite lost, but people that actually know how to get there run ahead and find their own way there. It takes a good 10-20 minutes.
When we get there, we have a whole room to ourselves. It’s immediately kicked off by Allyse doing “Don’t Stop,” which intimidates people because no one else during the night matched her voice. Five of us start off with a shot, which has Jager and Bailey’s, B-52. Aaron should know the name of it.
There’s a lot of singing and stuff and I have a beer and glass of wine. I’m not sophisticated at all and down the wine, while Alex takes his time with it. At some point, I’m drunk enough to grab the scanner and pick Tom Jones’ “She’s a Lady.” I sing it along with Andrew. Then some song comes on and I sing it along with Allyse and others, but I can’t remember what it was. Andrew and I gang up again when “By The Way” comes on.
Towards the end of it, I suspect someone threw sleeping powder my drink. I start getting real tired. I almost start falling asleep on the couch, but we end up leaving. It’s like $10.00 for the karaoke and I end up paying $10.00 for my drinks, which is a bit extra. So it ends up being $30.00 for the night, but I had a fun time and this isn’t going to happen much. We get back, it’s only like 2:30, but I’m way drunk.


September 14, 2007
I get up at 12:00, which is pretty early. At 1:30ish, Dillon, Allyse, Jenn, Charlotte, Liz, and I go for “birthday brunch.” Pretty much everyone else is on a trip to somewhere. It’s as far as the karaoke, so it’s a long walk that takes at least 15 minutes. On the walk there, the girls talk about their vomiting habits. Apparently there are “screaming votimers” and “apologetic votimers” and such. They exchange some real nasty stories about it. I know no one will ever let go the time at Bolanos’, but I don’t really have stories like their’s and I wouldn’t find it something fun to talk about. I don’t know…
The restaurant is called “Lounge” or something and it’s really nice. The menu is vegetarian, but it’s the good kind. I have a really good ice coffee and the table shares some make from scratch hummus. I order a curry dish, but it doesn’t turn out that great. The rice isn’t that hot, the curry is watery, the vegetables are boring, and cilantro is sprinkled all over. Everyone else’s food looks really good though. I guess I should’ve got the $5.00 lunch special, toasted sandwich with melted goat cheese and spinach, that Jenn and Liz got. Along with people on trips, Dillon and Charlotte are going to the Joanna Newsom tonight. I spoke to Dillon about the concert the first week or so, but I guess he just didn’t ask me.
The girls mention that they should have a “girls night out” tonight, but Allyse notices that I’m there. She asks me if it’s fine that I’m there when they’re trying to pick up guys. I awkwardly answer that it’s fine. When we leave, I end up paying $15.00 because of my expensive vegetarian curry dish. Because of the walk and all the talking at the restaurant, we get back at 4:00ish. At 7:30ish, I go to Albert to pick up some granola, beer, cigs, and Pepsi Twist Light. What a great combination of products. I also try to get some money from the ATM, but my PIN number doesn’t work.
When I get back, Charlotte is with Dillon and says that she tried to call me. I give her my new number and they get ready to leave for the show. I make a sandwich, while Antonia cooks a pasta dinner. She mentions, “That’s all you’re eating?” I shrug.
I get back to the room to figure my ATM card problems. I try to call, but they the phone if I call the US 1-800 number. The Czech Citibank has nothing to do with the US version. I try calling the call collect number that is supposed to used when you’re international, but it keeps saying that “circuits are busy.” I send them a online message to change my PIN number to 3414. I remember that I brought a sheet that has my PIN on it and it’s not actually 3414. That was my old PIN number before all those problems with fraud and such. I guess I forgot my new one since I haven’t used the ATM in over two weeks. I withdrew $100 when I got here and also exchanged for $200 of Czech money from dollars and I use the credit for buying food and stuff.
It’s almost 10:00 and I’m not really sure where the girls are. Hopefully they show up to do something tonight.
Now it’s time to talk about some hip-hop. First, this is a great song.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CLklnMWl63k
Next, listen to The Offering by Killah Priest. He’s one of the lesser known Wu-Tang members, but the album is amazing. He likes using religion a lot, but that’s fine with me because his poetic writing is unbelievable. It’s easily the best hip-hop album this year and really shows that East Coast hip hop is not dead. It doesn’t have the big name producers, but the production is still strong. Here’s a track from it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=S4niRyjJfzQ
Killah Priest also has one of my favorite Wu-Tang associated songs, B.I.B.L.E. It’s on GZA’s Liquid Swords, which is the best Wu-Tang solo album, but it has nothing to do with GZA and only has Killah Priest.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BekP1avBpjE
At around 10:30, there’s a faint smell of weed. I step outside my door to see the Allyse and Jarra’s suite area door closed, but I hear the girls inside. I return to my room and leave my doors open and my music on. In case they walk out, they should hear the music or I should hear them. I wait past 11:00ish and the suite door open and I see lights in their room are off. I guess they took the elevator, which is directly in the suite area. It’s pretty boring. I guess I do regret not walking in on them and checking on the night. Apparently tomorrow is club night, so hopefully I end up going to that.
I also just realized that I don’t think Gianfranco slept in the room last night and I haven’t seen him all day. I don’t know where‘s been then.
Dillon and Charlotte get back and go on his computer. They browse around on Facebook and look for breasts of people they know on Facebook and talk about it. It’s a bit weird and Charlotte mentions that I’m still awake at 4:00. They seem close so maybe that’s why Dillon didn’t ask if I wanted to go to Joanna Newsom. The girls also walk in and don’t mention that I wasn’t out or anything. Meh….

September 15, 2007
I get up around 1:30 and shmooze around. I take a shower and when I get back to the room, I notice a calendar on Gianfranco’s desk. It says that he’s in Vienna for this weekend and he’ll be in Spain next week for four days or so. I guess that explains his disappearance.
I go up the kitchen to make lunch, but I notice that a lot of my stuff is missing. People opened by bag of salad, ate basically the entire thing, used almost an entire bottle of dressing, grabbed some bread, and a few slices of cheese. I see a plate next to the sink with salad in it. Now I was in my room all day with the door open and the suite door open. The kitchen is only one flight up and no question I would hear anyone come up the stairs or be in the kitchen if they took the elevator. And with a decent amount of people gone on trips, I think the only people that were upstairs were the girls when they returned last night. Unless people did this work before I woke up today, which is quite possible. And the girls have had stuff stolen and talk about how bad it is… I don’t know… Hopefully I’ll get to the bottom of this.
I spent literally the entire day on YouTube. I learn about cricket, watch some poker, some sprinting, and loads of other stuff. When 7:00ish rolls around, Jarra walks and tells Dillon that people are going to dinner at 8:00ish. Dillon asks what’s happening tonight and she says Karlovy, the megaclub. I mention that I’ve been there with Gianfranco. When Jarra leaves, she says “She ya then,” sort of like aiming it at Dillon and she doesn’t really make the conversation all inclusive. Then again, maybe I’m just paranoid.
Jenn for some reason walks in and I think she might’ve been looking for Dillon. I mention the refrigerator robbery and she says that they only had cereal when they got back last night. She then asks if I’m going to dinner too and I confirm that I am. It’s nice that I have that in there.
We again leave later than scheduled. The Mexican restaurant is close walk. It’s a smaller group with Allyse, Liz, Jenn, Jarra, Dillon, and me. They’ve been there before and suggest the wings. I get healthy portion of them. It’s nicely marinated so that there isn’t that much flavor. It comes with a really sweet salsa/chutney sauce. I wish that they could’ve given more. My contributions to the conversation involve Wishbone, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and my experience of Karlovy, which they still keep calling “Five story club.” The conversations about the night before are a bit awkward since I was the only one not there. The beer is only $1.00 so everything for me only comes out to be $9.00.
We start talking about one of the girls from the building. She was the one gossiping with her friend that I overheard. I remember her talking to her friend about how some people make her feel invisible. Then someone tells a story about being in the kitchen and overhearing her on the phone. She said that people here were really nice, except that they didn’t get along with people in the building and didn’t know them. I remember not knowing that she was in the building the first time I saw her. She’s tall and was way too well dressed that I thought she was like 30 for a second. They play off how she feels, while I sort of understand how she feels.
On the way out, I go for a cig, but Liz reminds me that she bummed one off of me. I accept her offer of a cig, but she says that it’ll be much lighter than what I have; and I have Marlboro Lights. They really do turn out to be very light cigarettes. They burn weak, smoke weak, and have a really soft filter. We get back by 10:00 to get ready to depart.
We spend almost two hours. I get high from the weed that Alex offers, but it’s gone by the time I leave. I pre-game 3-4 beers and feel way too full. We catch the last metro since it ends at 12:00. It’s a large group of over ten people. We walk to Karlovy and have to wait on a line. Dillon seems antsy and says that he’s going to run. I agree with him since I have to public urinate like no other. Instead, he runs back to the dorm, which is like a 40 min. walk. We vow to each other that we still stick together since it’s so big that we’ll get split up. We run all over and some how find people and lose people at the same time. I’m drunk enough so I dance loads and there are no breaks this time. I have two beers there, which I doesn’t really quench my ridiculous thirst. It only makes me feel thirstier later. The girls end up leaving early at like 2:00ish, but half the group stays. I try dancing with a few girls, but it’s to no avail.
I don’t remember what time I come back to the dorm, but I drink a huge glass water and pass out on my bed without changing or anything.

September 16, 2007
Dillon wakes up early and leaves for something. I awkwardly struggle with trying to wake up and finally do at 2:00ish. I go up to make a sandwich and the kitchen is pretty messy. I work on my sandwich back in the room while updating the blog. Allyse walks in and says that the tall and well-dressed girl, Julia, had friends over last night and made the mess in the kitchen. She says her and the girls are now cleaning up the mess. I’m pretty sure the cleaning people do that, but whatever.
I go upstairs to see what people are up to and people are sitting around a table talking about the mess that was made. The awkward part is that Julia’s friend is in the kitchen cleaning dishes and stuff, but people are shouting on about how horrible the people that made the mess are. The mess includes loads dishes that aren’t cleaned in the sink, broken glass, tortilla chips lying around, and red wine stains on the floor and TV room couch. I ask about Dillon last night and apparently he ran to Chateau to take a wee, but also sat there and had some beers by himself. Then he met some English beers and drank some with them. People also mention that Alex, Dillon, and Jarra went to the forest to find shrooms. That explains why Dillon left early in the morning.
When Dillon gets back at 5:00ish, I ask about it and he says they got some, but aren’t sure if they’re actually shrooms. I YouTube a whole lot even though I should be doing some reading and alcohol/food shopping.
I’m the legend, Johnny Rocco. You must watch:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mvCdlhmiYtk&mode=user&search=
By the way, new pictures of the ballin’ Prague on Facebook.

September 17, 2007
I sit around after class until Dillon and Gianfranco go to class at 4:00ish. I go to take a nap at 5:00 and set my alarm for 6:00. At 5:57, Gianfranco walks in singing a song and blasts it on his laptop. He then goes to the bathroom and I get up. When he gets back, he sees me and asks if I was sleeping. This is the second time this has happened and he feels really bad and keeps apologizing. I don’t really care because both times, I was just about to wake up anyway. He says he’s going to have to start touching the covers on my bed to make sure that I’m not there and that it’s going to be weird.
I try to do my reading, but realize it’s just a waste. I get a bit out of my economics reading, but stop after I’m done skimming. I do some for my EU class, but it’s really dry and dense, so I give that up too. At 8:10, I still haven’t eaten dinner and I’m about to go make something. Liz walks in and says that people are going to dinner and then hanging out for a bit afterwards for her day before birthday. Apparently tomorrow is supposed to the crazier night. It doesn’t work like that, but that’ll come later.
We leave at 8:40 for The Brothers, a restaurant one block away from the dorm. We have a big table of 15 people and three are new players in the game, Alex, Ashley, and Stephanie. I think they’re from the building and are invited through Liz. I start off with a beer and switch to wine since it’s less filling and only costs $.50 a glass. For the meal, I order the chicken skewers that Charlotte got last time. Alex is allergic to cheese and tries to get that through to Czech speaking waitress.
Again, the food takes forever to come. The large table naturally splits in half to form two individual groups of conversation. It’s usual fun, but at one point Liz makes an announcement. Sitting at the head of the table and being the birthday girl, conversations stop and people listen. She announces that I was a ripping up the floor at Karlovy. It’s a compliment, but I still get embarrassed.
When the food comes, I try to pull the chicken off the skewers and drop two out of the five pieces on the floor. I still get enough food though. The bacon is somehow infused into the chicken chunks and it comes with a creamy sauce that I use with the fries. When everyone gets their food, Alex doesn’t have anything. When she ordered, she had to order out of a Czech book to make sure that she didn’t get cheese, since she’s allergic to it.
The waitress brings her fried cheese. When she was ordering, the waitress threw in the words smelly and broccoli in there, but she still got it. Turns out that Dillon took her dish since it was fried smelly cheese with broccoli in it. He ordered fried cheese so he didn’t know. After the mess, the waitress brings her broccoli… with melted cheese. She finally gives up and loads up on fries.
Stephanie, who’s sitting next to me, introduces herself along with Alex and Ashley. It turns out that Stephanie’s from Great Neck North and we start talking about all the fine Great Neck landmarks that we all love.
We keep stalling the check coming because people keep ordering drinks. When the check comes, we notice that something’s wrong since we didn’t drink 56 glasses of wine. The waitress explains that each glass counts as two wines, so it’s more like a $1.00 each instead of $.50. Because of this, we end up a bit short and I end up paying $12.00 for my meal, beer, and three wines (or six if you count in Czech). Alex and I notice that we don’t have our metro passes since we’re leaving for Chateau immediately.
Alex and I run back and I grab a beer for the road. We meet everyone at the metro stop, while I have my classy beer bottle wrapped in a plastic bag. Stephanie encourages me to think of more places that we can relate to. We mentions Bagel Hut, which I don’t really know at first, since we know it as “4:00 Bagel.” Instead of being ballers like us, she goes for lunch. We jump around from Ginos, to D&D, and so on.
After the metro and walk to Chateau, we immediately head for taking birthday shots. I agreed to buy Liz a shot earlier in the night, so she takes me up on it. She orders that the five of us get something that I’ve never heard. It turns out to be really good. It’s sweet and tastes like Christmas, or gingerbread. It’s $3.50 each, so that’s not bad, though if shots only were cheap like beer and wine here….
We slowly lose Stephanie, Alex, and Ashley. Alex (male), Brenae, and Christina decide to walk home first. I have beer and decide that I’m good for the night. The place closes down at 3:00, so we hang outside for a bit. Dillon meets some guys and one of them offers to smoke out the girls. That doesn’t really happen and it’s a waste that he just rolled one, so I ask for a hit and he agrees. When he turns around, I take three deep puffs. I’m so evil.
Allyse, Dillon, Jenn, Liz, and some guy that Liz met start walking back. Allyse and I agree that we have to make a McDonald’s stop like last time. I’m really out of it and try to tell a joke that I got from Laguna Beach. “What’s before Part B?” “Partay!!”
I mess up the joke real bad and I start jumbling my words with “Plan B” and stuff. I guess Allyse is out of it two, but we end up laughing like hyenas and making a fool of ourselves, also while stumbling allover. When we finally reach McDonald’s, I vote for McFlurries, but people want food so I get Cola and a cheeseburger.
We get back before 4:00, grab a bite in the kitchen, and call it a night.

September 18, 2007
It’s my long day today and I class it up from 10:30 to 6:00. I’m out of cigarettes, so I run to Albert for beer and Cola too. When I get back, I try to sleep for an hour, but only rest a bit. I get up at 7:30 for a shower and run upstairs to get some food. Allyse and Jenn say that they’re out for the night, as in tired.
It’s 9:00ish and Charlotte walks in looking for Dillon and I tell her that he went to get beer with Alex or something. I ask her what’s happening for Liz’s birthday and she says people are still probably going to go out. At 9:30, I join people to hang out in Allyse, Jarra, Mary Kate, and Orion’s quad room. I have two beers and we leave at 10:40. A lot of people come along that I don’t really know, though Liz, Dillon, Antonia, Christina, and Alex are the known players. We get off at a stop and start walking towards our destination. Charlotte tries to lead the way, but it turns out that we’re going to the biggest pub in Prague and I always walk by it going to Tesco, so I lead the way.
We get there and it really is a big place. I have a beer and people start departing to smoke it up and then come back. I randomly join along. Before I leave, Liz has more people coming and I give them instructions on the phone. For some reason, people decide to walk 10 minutes to the bridge for this, when it really isn’t necessary. The group of people that I don’t really know well has their own joint. Alex and Jarra buy weed together and are going to smoke themselves, which leaves me in an awkward situation. It turns out that Jarra left her bag at the pub to make sure that she was going back, except her weed is there too.
Alex, Bahia, Jarra, and I decide to walk back ourselves. While walking back, there’s a weird looking guy playing R.E.M. with a guitar. He looks like a bum, but he really does it well. We also walk by a nice sight of the neon lights of Karlovy.
Alex has to take a piss and does the usual public urination, but he does it just when a group of 20-30 young tourists walk by. Apparently one of them says, “Put ya wanker away (British accent). When we get back, there are like 6 new people at the table. When the others get back from the bridge, they get their own table because the new people take up our big table. Dillon then announces that the pretzels that people grabbed are $.75 each. I get another beer and hang around. Dillon, Charlotte, and Christina decide to leave at 12:00ish. I stay because people are planning to go to a club.
When the check comes, we end up a bit short and I pay a $1.00 extra from my two $1.50 beers. A handful of people, Jake, Bahia, Liz, Alex, and I start walking towards the tram stop to get to the club. On the way there, we see a little store and we stop to stock up. I grab a can of beer. It’s a decent 15 minute walk to the tram stop and I’m not drunk at this point. For some reason, people never had lighters on them and I’ve become the lighter man. Bahia calls me an angel for having a lighter and I pull the reference in, “Who am I, David Borenanssazan.” He’s the actor that plays Angel in Angel… but I mess up his last name since it’s hard to pronounce Boreanaz. She actually understand the crazy reference and it’s always fun when that happens.
By the way, Bahia is Liz’s roommate and friend from NYU. She decided to take a semester off and she’s traveling Europe and stuff. She was supposed to come to Prague later, but came for Liz’s birthday and doesn’t know how long she’s staying here.
We get on the tram and take it a few stops to the middle of nowhere. By then, people start leaving like flies and only Alex, Bahia, Jake, Liz, and I are around. I think Liz and Bahia know Jake back from NYU proper. When we get there, I see Gianfranco’s friend Emily and ask where everyone is. We find Gianfranco and I tell him that we have to do shots since I need some in me. He kindly buys the shot for me and we have a shot of Becherovka with Max. Max and Gianfranco come up to sit down in our area, which has a really low ceiling. There’s a weird guy sitting across from us at our table and Max tries to convince him to sit at another free seat. It’s so awkward. Alex mentions that he’s buying some weed and I try to get in on it, but people aren’t really eager so it doesn’t work out.
For some reason, hickey game is brought back up. The night before, it started with Liz getting one from Andrew and another from Allyse. Liz in return gave Allyse a hickey. The game starts up and Jake double hickies from both sides by Liz and Bahia. I also end up getting the same deal.
We go the dance floor and Gianfranco buys me a whiskey shot. We hang around for a bit when we decide to leave. It’s a long way back and we take the tram. However, it doesn’t drop us off that close and we still have to walk like half an hour. Again, there’s a McDonald’s stop. I don’t get anything.
When we get back, we squeeze in the elevator at 4:15ish. Bahia and one of her friends plan to go into Alex’s room to smoke it up. For some reason, I get off at Liz’s floor and open what I think is my door. The lights are off and I see a different bed set up. It turns out to be Christina and Antonia’s room and Liz gives me a condescending “Are you drunk?!” It’s so humiliating and I run upstairs three flights until I finally get to my room and pass out.

September 19, 2007
I wake up and feel a bit shitty. My throat is all dry and I gulp down loads of water. The class is taught by two professors that switch off on days and stuff. This one is a much better speaker and gives a very interesting lecture about the post-Cold War world. He goes through the changing attitudes after events, like the Iraq War, The Balkans, Kosovo, and Rwanda. I’m able to stay awake for it all and learn quite a bit.
On the walk back, I look for the store that sells Djarum cloves because Jake was smoking them last night and told me where to find them. They don’t turn out to be cheap like the Marlboro Reds, which are $3.50. The Djarums are $6.00 and I have to pay with my cash. Otherwise, I would buy the Reds at the supermarket along with booze on my mom’s credit card. It’s all cheap and I don’t spend much, so I don’t really feel guilty. When I get back home, I find out that I went to 17 cigarettes last night. I guess I shared a bunch, but I have to watch out.
I sit around until both Dillon and Gianfranco are out for class until I take my nap. I sleep from 4:30ish to 7:00. Gianfranco starts packing since he’s leaving tonight for Spain and will be gone until Sunday. When I get dinner at almost 9:00, people are upstairs too. Apparently some people are going out to a club tonight, but the girls aren’t. When I return back to the room, Andrew asks me if anything’s happening and I tell maybe.
When 10:30ish rolls around, Dillon, Jenn, Toni, and Charlotte are upstairs in the kitchen. Liz and whoevers went out, though I haven’t seen them tonight so couldn’t join in. While in the kitchen, people decide that we should find out where the beer garden is and that should be the plan for tomorrow.
While I probably would’ve liked to go out, a lot of people stay in so I don’t really feel left out much. At 12:30, Dillon gets a call from a friend of his about meeting up and hanging out for the night. He tells him that other people in the building went to a club and others are probably not up to hang out. I guess I would go if he asked me, but he just silently walks out. I don’t know, I’ve been pretty nice and friendly with him, but whatever.

September 20, 2007
After class, I do some laundry and take a nap. At 8:00ish, Allyse says that people are going to pre-game before going to the beer garden. I grab some dinner and grab a beer and hang at 9:00ish. We take extra long for some reason, so I have time for another beer. We gather to leave at 10:00ish and it’s a pretty large group of us.
We walk to the beer garden, which is less than 10 minutes away, but we’re told that it’s closed even though the door says 12:00. Instead, we decide to go to the sangria place, which isn’t far away. On the way, the group separates when we see a place called Amigos. We decide to go in and it’s a Mexican themed restaurant with bar.
I start off with a White Russian and part of the table splits chips and guacamole. A lot of people get margaritas and they turn out to be really watery. My White Russian comes in a shot glass and has whipped cream on top. It’s a real weird take on the drink, but I’ll take it.
The next drink is almost the entire table taking a tequila shot. At one point, too many are ordered and I’m about to take two, but people are coerced into drinking it. I take out my camera to take pictures because people earlier mentioned how no one’s taking the responsibility. My camera’s small and easy to use, so I guess I’ll bring it around from now.
I try taking a picture of the entire table without getting up by extending my arm and awkwardly pointing it at the end of the table. I keep getting tilted shots. I guess someone asks what all the flashes are and I overhear Jarra responding. Her response is a condescending, “Darwin’s taking pictures.” I think I’ve seen it before, but Jarra seems to have problems with me.
Other instances I remember are when a lot of people were going to the bridge to smoke, but we didn’t actually end up doing it. When I get up to follow people, Jarra assumes that I’m to smoke with her and Alex’s weed and I hear her say, “Why does he have to come along?” Another time is when we’re pre-gaming, Dillon says to keep the beer bottles because there’s a deposit on them. He jokingly says that the deposit is for 11 more beers. Jarra has a “wait a second…” moment and I sarcastically joke about it and she tells me, “Don’t make fun of me.” And she said it in a more serious manner than expected. She’s also never one to stop by the room and say Hi to me or Dillon for something coming up. Instead, she’s usually across the hall smoking it up with Alex. I don’t know what I’ve done to her, but whatever if she wants to be like that.
After my shot, I order a Krusovice Cerny, which has become one of my favorite beers here and the bottle is way pimp. I guess the place is about to close and people get a bit antsy, so we leave at 12:00ish. I only end up paying $7.00 for everything. We see a sign on the wall that says next weekend, everything is 50% off and the food is cheap already, so we pick up a card for making reservations. I also mention how it’s my birthday next week. Some people plan to go somewhere else because it’s still early, but the rest of the people want to head back. Eventually, everyone else ends up going back together. I thought that people were going to hang out in the dorm or something, but Alex, Charlotte, Dillon, and I end up going out looking for a convenience store. Apparently Alex is craving Kit-Kat. Before we leave, we see Jarra saying that she needs to pack because she’s going on the trip with the girls. Liz, Bahia, and Ellen are planning to drive all the way to Crotia for the weekend, which is an eleven hour drive. They’ve reserved a rental car.
We can’t find anything open because it’s 1:00 on a Thursday. We end up walking 10 minutes or so to McDonald’s. I’m real hungry at this point and get a cheeseburger, fries, and a shake. They don’t give ketchup for free here, so I had to pay $.50 for two packets, a rip off. When ordering the shake, I ask for the one on the “dollar menu,” but it confuses the woman since it’s actually the “20 crown” menu here.
We walk back and 2:00ish, so people go upstairs to watch some TV. I think Alex goes to his room to sleep because he has a trip the next morning. Some others are going too. At 3:00ish, people back to their rooms. When Dillon and I are in the room, Liz and Bahia walk in to confirm that Bahia can sleep in our room since Gianfranco’s gone and has a bed free and Liz only has a single. Dillon and Bahia go to sleep while I stay on the computer. Soon after, Liz runs in the room and wakes Bahia up. She tells her that the drive is eleven hours and that they can’t do that. I go to sleep soon after.

September 21, 2007
I wake up before 1:00. Later, Charlotte comes in the room. She says that Bahia, Ellen, and Liz still tried to get the car and figure something out. When I was on Facebook earlier, it said that Jarra changed her status to “Jarra is going to Croatia” at 7:00ish in the morning. It turns out that she woke up and then found out that they weren’t going. Charlotte also mentions that Jarra wants to go to fondue tonight, which I’ll hopefully be a part of. Then again, Jarra might be pissed that I’m around.
I go to the supermarket. I pick up two bottles of beer because I’m running low. To show the true alcoholism, I go for Zlatopramen. I’ve never tried it and it’s a light beer, so why go for it? It’s 5% instead of 3.8% in my usual Krusovice Dark. I grab some “good food” with cold cuts, cheese, and frozen pizza. I noticed in pre-gaming that beer was real filling and slow, so I grab a .5L of vodka. It’s pretty at cheap, $4.00.
Dillon gets back around nightish and confirms with Andrew that he’s going on a trip to a nearby town. Dillon spoke last night about how awkward it would be if he only went with Andrew. I guess Dillon changes him because he says that Jenn and Jarra want to go too. He then leaves for dinner. I guess no fondue for me.
I go to make some dinner at 8:45ish. I see Jess up there and ask what she’s up to for the night. She says that she’s sick and to ask Brenae, who’s also in the kitchen. He says that she’s going out with everyone.
I return to the room and eat my sandwich. At 9:15ish, I see Dillon return, he gathers some stuff, and leaves. I’m not sure if that means he’s out for the night or something. At 9:30ish, Brenae comes in and asks if I’m going out for the night. I say that I will, but I tell her that I saw Dillon leave and don’t know what the deal is. She says she’s going to look for people. Hopefully she ends up finding people.
At 9:50, I go upstairs to see if Brenae is in her room and I see Bahia and Liz up there. I guess they just came back from whatever they were up to today, so I say, “So you guys just came back?” Then confusion comes because they think that I still think they went to Croatia. So words get jumbled all over and it’s a bit awkward. I tell them that I’m looking around for people. Liz says that people went out already… So I guess they’re not doing anything tonight either. I go back to the room disappointed and Brenae shows up. She says that she’s looked around the whole building and no one is around.
I’m more disappointed than usual because I’ve hung throughout the week. Dillon walking in the room, not saying anything, and leaving still keeps up that I haven’t really progressed with him. He’s still short with our conversations, so I don’t know what to do if he’s going to be like this. Charlotte and Jenn are pretty nice, so I don’t know what to say about them. Antonia and Christina aren’t in the tight group like me and I’ve hung out with them before with Andrew when no one else was around. They went out too.
By the way, I don’t know if it’s bad to binge on food, drink, and smoke cigarettes during this night.

September 22, 2007
The night before, people get back at 3:00ish and I go upstairs to see what’s up. Jen’s up there and I ask about the trip that people are going to. She tells me about it, I ask if I can tag along, and she says that’s cool. I go to sleep at 3:30 and wake up at 8:30 to get ready to leave.
It’s a group of Dillon, Jen, Jarra, Andrew, and I. We planned to leave at 9:00 to take the metro to the bus station, but leave 10 minutes late, as usual. We get to the station and see the 10:00 bus leave and have to wait an hour for the next one. We go into the mall to grab a bite.
We get onto the bus and it’s only $3.50 for an hour long bus ride. The bus is really weird and has a bus attendant. There’s also a first class with leather seats. They give out free headphones for the televised entertainment, newspapers, magazines, and drinks can be purchased. I sleep for the entire ride because I slept so little.
We miss the stop that’s closest to the Pilsner Urquell beer factory, the main attraction. Instead, we have to walk 20 minutes there. On the way, we take pictures of the city and find this really weird public exhibit. It shows really beautiful pictures, but there also is a comment on the bottom trying to inform and shock people about the state of our world. It’s an interesting juxtaposition. As a skeptic and informed individual, I take pictures of the comments that I raise an eyebrow to.
When we get to the factory, we buy tickets for the tour, which is again, $3.50. We have an hour to blow, so we get some beers and sit down. Everyone has two beers, but we have to rush and I chug mine to finish it. By the way, I miscalculated and the beers here at more like one and a half beers.
From the beginning of the tour, I want to go the bathroom and miss my opportunity. The tour is an hour and a half and it’s so excruciating because the tour is in parts that don’t have bathrooms. At the last leg of the tour, we got into these underground cellars where they used to make beer. They serve us fresher beer than the bottled stuff, but I can’t take the last 15 minutes of the tour and separate. I run around the caverns and find a dark closed off place to take one of the greatest urines in human history. I then run to catch up the group.
The tour ends at 3:30 and walk to get some food and catch the bus. Dillon suspects that I urinated in the caverns and I give him an obvs. The rest are shocked by it. We walk by a steak house and see that it’s pretty cheap for the burgers and stuff, so we go there. We order another beer and four of us get burgers; Dillon is a vegetarian.
The waitress returns and tells us that they only have two buns. Andrew is fine with getting something else. Jen is fine with getting only the burger, but for some reason, the waitress says they can’t do that. As the man, Jarra expects me to get something different, but Jen steps up. She’s willing to fold and I really want my burger, so what the hell. I guess I should’ve been chivalrous.
The burger turns out to be really good and we leave to catch the 6:00 bus. Again, I take a nap on the bus. The trip turns out to be alright, except I didn’t fully appreciate the entire tour because of how bad I had to pee.
We get back to the dorm before 8:00. I sit around and Allyse and others are back from their trip before us. She walks in the room and says that people are going to the supermarket to pick up booze. I’m stocked up to the shits with booze, but I go along and grab twist off cap bottle of white wine.
It’s 9:00ish now and people are planning to go out. This time I definitely should be in this time.
I pre-game a loads and drink a lot of my vodka. Allyse mentions that on her trip, some of the people that we don’t really know and don’t hang out with us are there. She tells then about me apparently for some reason sets up an image about me. I don’t know why…
There are fireworks out for some festival that’s blocks away from us. They’ve had bands blasting for the past two days. I go out to the balcony to watch it, despite the fact that they’ve told us not the climb out the window for it in the email. The email also says that they’ve seen booze bottles and cans in the garbage and everywhere and it’s against NYU policy. They can go fuck themselves.
Liz and Alex jump in too after the fireworks are done and enjoy it because the balcony so high up. I go into Allyse and Jarra’s room to hang out and pre-game and have two beers there. I DJ it up a bit with Liz. After a long while, we walk over to Radost, which is a 15 minutes walk away. Charlotte is already there because her parents around for a week and she left to meet us up there. Turns out that the cover charge for males is $12.50!!!!! And for females… Free…
Andrew, Alex, and Dillon are not willing to touch that, while Allyse assures me that the other 8 girls will pay to help out. They other guys will not hold and I turn out to be the only one going there, while the other three guys to the Peach Pit, the Beverly Hills themed pub. I go in and have to awkwardly collect $1.00 from the girls, but Allyse helps out, which is nice. The place isn’t that packed… I wonder why… Liz and Jarra don’t end up paying though, so it’s still $6.50 just for entrance fee…
I only get a beer there because I’ve pre-gamed so much and we go to the dance floor for a bit, which I again rip up! Then again, it’s a bit weird that it’s me and 8 other girls. After that, people want to leave and we depart after 1:30ish to walk to the Peach Pit to meet up with the other dudes. On the walk there, the girls make fun of Andrew and how he’s been trying to integrate himself into the group. They question his moves and advances. This really hits a spot with me because I’ve sort of been trying to do the same, but not nearly as aggressive. They really seem to hate him though and Liz says that she’s going to bitch him out at some time…
When we get there, Alex is really out of it because so he smoked so much and drank there. Jarra and Liz leave with him immediately. I don’t get a drink because I feel that I’ve had enough. We stay there for over two hours.
Hightlights? There’s a fat tourist, who’s dressed in tourist clothing, that’s hanging around and Czech people there have fun with him and dance around with him for almost the entire night. We have fun making fun of him, while he’s less than ten feet away; I’m the only one that gets picture of him.
Allyse is sitting next to Dillon and whenever he turns to his side to have conversation, she jokingly pretends to sniff, bite, and lick near him. Jen and I are across from them so we have a lot of fun from it and it’s weird that he’s oblivious to it all.
I eventually get a beer after I feel that my drunk is falling down. All of us walk back at 2:45 and I’m in the back because I’m smoking a cig with Allyse and Jen. I quickly realize that their gossiping about something and run to the rest of the people so it’s not awkward.
When we get back to the dorm, everyone decides to walk up the flights of stairs, except Allyse and I take the smart way, elevator. She mentions how she’s in a shitty position where a guy likes a girl that’s not her (Dillon and Charlotte). She’s been making some moves at Dillon, but he’s still close to Charlotte and the moves she’s made aren’t really too obvious. She’s also mentioned before that she has a crush on Dillon, but didn’t want anyone to say or know.
By the way, she’s way drunk on the elevator ride, so I tell her to kill “him.” She shrugs. I tell her to kill “her,” but she says no way and that Charlotte is one her best friends. I go up to make some food and her, Jen, and Brenae are there too. My food is fast and I finish fast and say Goodnight to sleep. Her motives are not that surprising, but I’m glad that I went out today and hopefully I keep up the connection with peoples.

September 23, 2007
I wake up at 1:30ish and Gianfranco later gets back from his trip. I make myself a salad and bake a pizza. Charlotte’s parents step in with her and Dillon and I get introduced to them. I keep myself up with Weeds and watch two episodes. They’re alright.
I then move onto a new show that just came out, Gossip Girls. It’s created by the guy that did The O.C. The show turns out to be real good and I can’t wait for the next episode. It isn’t as preppy and pretentious as its predecessor and has a much better setting, New York City. The soundtrack is unbelievable with Peter, Bjorn, and John, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Amy Winehouse, Cold War Kids, Albert Hammond Jr. (of the Strokes, song is a must listen), Timbaland, Akon, and Air. It’s weird that I would exactly choose so many of the same songs and that the music coordinator is a 40 year old woman.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2JfUHHAA_WM&mode=related&search=
I do some work and watch some Deadwood. I have a presentation coming up where I have to describe the differences between the US and EU Supreme Courts, so it’s pretty interesting. When I go up to dinner, Jess and Charlotte are talking about a trip to Budapest or something. I think people are planning to go this weekend, but Charlotte needs to stay until Saturday when her parents leave and people were planning to leave earlier than that.
I don’t know, everyone has already done loads of NYU trips and have their own trips planned going around Europe and stuff. It’s a bit awkward that all I’ve been to is the beer factory this weekend…
It’s a Sunday, so I don’t think anyone goes out. I don’t know why Sunday is dead, but other nights are game. Anyway, I came along this on YouTube. It’s really good and am I the only one that finds her painfully beautiful?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=589Mvlz6LWE&mode=related&search=
This is really cool too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzqumbhfxRo

September 25, 2007
Another long day of classes and I spend time in class working on my presentation coming up on Thursday. I’m doing a compare and contrast table on Word for the Supreme Court of the United States and the European Court of Justice. I might be dumb, but it’s so hard to work out adding cells and stuff.
After my really boring Economics class, I see Allyse on the stairs down. She asks if I’m going to Budapest. I’ve overheard some people talking about it, but that’s about it. She says that she and Charlotte are getting tickets for Friday and I told her to count me in. It’s cool that I’m actually going to go on a trip that’s for more than a day. And I just looked it up; it’s a 6 hour drive there. I think we’re taking a train or bus there. I guess I’m having my birthday at Budapest too.
It’s around 8:00ish here and Christian, a kid I don’t really know from downstairs, walks in for some laundry tokens. I stocked up on them, so I let him buy some of mine. He came up with Liz, who’s across the hall speaking to Alex. I think they’re planning on going out tonight, so I hope I get to join in on those plans.
By the way, I have a new pet show, How I Met Your Mother. It might be a bit too much like a regular sitcom for some, but I feel a Judd Apatow style in it, along with the fact that one of the main characters is a Apatow staple.

September 26, 2007
I didn’t end up getting to do anything last night, though I don’t know where the girls were the whole night and the guys stayed in.
I get back to the dorm by 1:00ish after class and Charlotte comes in to say Hi to Dillon, who sort of just woke up. Luckily for him, he doesn’t have class until 5:00. Alex also walks in and hangs around too. Charlotte goes to get her adapter for Alex to borrow and Alex mentions that people should do stuff tonight. Dillon says that he has work and doesn’t think he will, even though he says that he hasn’t drank beer since Saturday, which apparently is a big deal out here.
I interject and say that I’ll be free and Alex seems sort of cool with that. So hopefully people will be around for that. Charlotte comes back in later to give Dillon money for the trip tickets. It’s a bit awkward since Allyse invited me, but I don’t think the two know and I just sit there with my mouth shut.
WARNING! I’ve found a Marilyn Manson song that I really like!
http://www.mansonusa.com/php-bin/news/fullnews.php?id=452
If you only want to hear the song, you’ll have to skip the beginning of the video. The song has an indie feel to it, so it’s at least somewhat acceptable for most. However, it does have Manson’s creepy voice, which sort of fits the upbeat spooky melodrama of the song.
The video’s really good and it better be when Evan Rachel Wood was paid the highest paid actress ever for a music video. Then again, it’s worth the money if you’re going out with Marilyn Manson and have to simulate (or actually do it for the camera) having sex with him for the video. It gets a bit graphic and erotic...
I don’t end up taking my usual today. That usual nap is more than “usual” for most since I do it almost every single day. I’m on the borderline of nap tired, so I’ll just man through it. At 6:00ish, JT comes up (his name is Jonathan Travis and he graduated a year before us at GNS, but still… How cool is that? JT!) to speak to Alex. I don’t really know what it is, but I think JT got weed for Alex and Jarra or something.
They end up coming into my room, so they can climb out of the window onto the balcony (Facebook pics if you want to see where that is) and smoke out there, instead of Alex’s “smoking closet.” It’s a smaller than one’s arms spread out, but it has a window and I would suspect it’s made for a weed smoker.
After that, they depart on their separate ways, though I think they’re planning to do something tonight. I guess their buds now, though it was awkward having them climb in and out of the window with me sitting in front of them.
I hear Allyse upstairs in the kitchen, so I run up to ask about the trip and tickets and I also have to drop off some plates in the dishwasher. It turns out that whoever is on the trip, which I still don’t know about, is coming back Monday afternoon and Allyse and Jen have class. I also have class and this one actually takes attendance, but I don’t really care about missing it if it’s for a trip. This means I have to buy my own ticket, since tickets were purchased already. Now I have to figure out where to buy them. Then again, Allyse and Jen are going to see if they can figure some other trip instead for the weekend, but aren’t sure yet and that’d be an awkward trip if I went with only them.
At 8:00ish, I go upstairs to make myself some salad and pasta. Allyse has just finished her essay and she says she has nothing to do so she’s definitely going out. It was a bit awkward when people were talking about going to Mecca, but thankfully, Allyse tells me that I should go out too and I agree.
I get back to the room to wait around until pre-game time and then outage. Liz walks by to take the elevator (in front of our door). On the wait, she tells Dillon that Bratislava is going to fun times. I mention how I still get the ticket. I don’t think they hear me because they don’t acknowledge me, Dillon’s music is on, but it’s still realll awkward.
It’s 10:00ish and I don’t really see the plans to go out moving along. Whatever, it’ll probably take another hour. I ball up to ask Dillon about the ticket times and stuff since I have to go to get a ticket tomorrow. He says he’s out in the dark about it and tells me to ask Alex, though he says he might be too high. Alex tells me the times, so now I have to ask Allyse how to get the ticket office. I’m also now working on my 2/3s of a bottle of wine that I’ve poured myself. Come to think of it, that might be a bit too much for me at 11%. Whatevs….

September 27, 2007
So I keep working on my glass of wine and Jarra and Alex walk in out of it playing over Dillon’s soccer ball and fighting over it. At the end of it, Jarra says, “Alright, see ya guys.” I think that I’m being ditched or something, but Jarra and Alex walk into her empty quad and I have to awkwardly ask what’s up with the night. They say that they don’t know where they others are. I have to return to my room and wait around, while Dillon’s staying in for the night.
I eventually hear Allyse and step into the room to hang out. Allyse asks for the bottle of wine that I offered earlier. She only has a glass or so because I literally worked that bottle like a tit and finish the entire bottle. She’s listening to her fav, Gwen Stefani, and asks if I like her. I say that I do, then again, she’s not on my top of pop stars, JT, Beyonce, and Aguilera have that honor. She’s going with the girls to Gwen’s concert here in a few weeks and she says that I might still be able to get tickets. They have front area general area tickets that cost $65. It’s cheap compared to a venue like MSG, but still, there’s no way I’m going to pay for that.
At some point, Allyse and I decide to go out for a cigarette, but realize that Alex, Jarra, and Liz left the room and we’re not sure where they are. Allyse calls people, but no one picks up. When we step out, the door guard is there too and it’s a bit awkward standing near him outside. When we’re done, we go back inside to look for them in JT’s room. On the way up the stairs, I mention that the wine just hit me. Allyse compliments me on my ability to hold my own. That’s how a ballah does, nigga.
We find him, Liz, and his roommate in there. Allyse gets a call and Jarra and Alex are smoking upstairs, what a surprise… So we while we wait for them, JT offers my favorite, Becherovka. People have to take chasers, bitches, ain’t no shit here.
I take a shot and Allyse mentions how she could use a few hits of weed. She offers to pay him, but it isn’t much and JT’s cool with it. He pulls out a small clear bong and actually offers it to me too. I don’t get anything on the first hit, but get a good second hit.
While we’re waiting still waiting, I’m itching for some more Becherovka and right then, JT offers me more. This happens twice and I end up with at least 3-4 shots. I don’t know how he read my mind so many times, but I feel a bit bad that he’s getting me so much. I’ll probably get him back some time.
Smoking weed gets brought up and Liz says that her friend Ellen that was here is a huge smoker. We start talking shit and Liz says that she’s basically a female pimp. Apparently she goes around on MySpace looking for skeezy, poor girls and attempts to pimp them out to make money for herself. I mention how that’s pretty shway, but Liz reprimands me about how shady that business is. I get JT to agree with me that there’s a double standard, and that if a guy did that, he’d be a mad pimpin.’
Some how, Gossip Girl gets brought up between Liz and I and she says that she wants to watch it, but the version she downloaded doesn’t work. We also mention that Blake Lively, who’s in the show, is also in Sisterhood of Traveling Pants. I just can’t wait for the next episode.
We finally get out at 11:40ish to catch one of the last metros to get to Mecca, which I’ve never been to. On the walk there, I pick some criminal cred by creepily fall back from the group to take a public wiz. We pass by Cross Club on the way there.
We get there and it’s nice that there’s no cover charge or anything. The place is way poppin’ and has so many people from NYU. It’s a bit weird seeing all the people in my classes out and being themselves.
It’s the usual loads of dancing with club music blasting. Drinking (alcohol and shots) and dancing makes a man real thirsty. I run downstairs to the bathroom to see if I can get a sip of water. I’m pretty sure places out here charge for water at the bar. The sink turns out to be one of those one button things and hot/warm water and I have to fight through that being cupped into my hand and drinking it. On the way back up, this is what happens:

Hey, why is there an Asian kid that looks like me walking towards me?
Woah, he’s putting his hand out too?
Holy shit, he’s going to walk into me.
Oh no, I just walked into a mirror. What the fuck, this was the way out!
Alright, I’m going to feel around this mirror and get past it.
Shit, I just walked into the mirror again.
This mirror definitely ends to the left, I’m going to feel around.
Fuck, this is an entire wall that’s a mirror.
Oh man, this is so embarrassing, I’m turning around, putting my head down and walking away.

It turns out that that I’m supposed to make a left instead of walking forward… Into a mirror… Multiple times…
I get back up and look around for people since splitting up is problems. I find Alex and he asks me if I want to go back and it’s before 1:00ish. We go looking for people and find Jarra and Allyse. Jarra wants to stay, so us three walk out to leave. Suddenly, I see Gianfranco walking down the street and I say Hi. He wants me to stay at Mecca, but I try to make sure that I’m getting back with him.
So Allyse and Alex leave while I go back into Mecca. Gianfranco again buys me a shot (now it’s 3) and it’s a flaming B-52. It’s a shot of three different liquors, layered on top of each other and the shot is then lit. For some reason, they give the shot with a straw with the shot, which only makes it taste harder, but it’s still sweet and taste good. While waiting for the shot, I notice that the bartenders are real quick and competent. Still, I know that I’d be really good at that job. They only make me notice that there’s rough competition out there.
After a bit of dancing, Jarra, Liz, and I walk out with some other NYU people. People are heading to Cross Club, which I’m 99% sure is the opposite way from where we’re walking. Then again, these people have been to Cross Club a lot more times that me and actually live in the area. Liz is on the same page as me and wants to separate from the crowd, but we decide against it. It turns out that we get to Cross Club fine and apparently we walked in a weird way to Mecca and I got confused from the turns that we took. Then again, I was really drunk and even took a public pee.
When we get to Cross Club, Liz and I take a tequila shot. I only pay $2.50, but Liz says she’s got me since she bums cigs all the time. Liz goes through the salt and lime business, but I’m a man and don’t need that shit. For some reason, the shot tastes rough for me and I actually need the lime. It’s disappointing for me.
We go downstairs and Liz introduces me to people including an Asian with a short buzz cut. I met him at Karlovy, so I say that I know him and call in Eddy. It turns out that his name is Kenny. I then tell him that he’s in my Economics class and he says that he’s not and that it’s probably some other Asian. Wow, that’s really embarrassing.
We end up going back upstairs when the other people decide to leave. We sit around some random guy and he tries to speak to us, but he only knows Czech. He ends up staying across from us and that’s a bit weird. Jarra mentions that I was supposed to go back with Gianfranco and I don’t know where he is now. I left without him since I couldn’t find him. She says that I should call him, but I don’t have his number. She says that I should have her number and I try to get it. I’m drunk and it takes me 5 minutes to try to get her number since they have 15+ digit numbers here. At one point, I’m so sure that I have her number and call it so she has mine, but I get a message. I guess I either didn’t have service or the number is wrong. I eventually return her phone with no avail. She’s real drunk at this point and tells me that the things she’s said to and about me are just jokes…
Yeah, that’s a bit awkward. Gianfranco ends up walking in at some point and it’s a rousing moment since we met, decided to stick together, got lost, and still ended up at good ol’ Cross Club.
We all decide to leave at 3:30ish and people call cabs. Standing around is Ian, who Liz has been working all night. I spoke to him and I try to figure out where he lives in the NYU communities. It turns out to be really confusing and I eventually figure that he’s in some other program here in Prague. He asks me if I should go back to our dorm (with Liz obvs) and I tell him that he should and tell him about the Brit that came back a week ago. He then gets paranoid and is curious how many guys she brings back, but I don’t know about that and tell him to come back with us and make sure that it’s good with Liz.
When the cab gets there, Jarra, Gianfranco, Melissa (lives floor below me), and I jump in the cab. Ian and Liz take their own cab back or something. I end up paying a bit extra for the cab at $2.50, but hell, the entire night cost $5.00…
When we take the elevator up, Melissa says that her roommate might need the room and isn’t sure that she can go back. Drunk Gianfranco assures her that he’ll sleep on a random couch and that she can his bed. I go to sleep, but immediately, Gianfranco and Melissa have a make out sessions. At least I’m not sitting there for an awkward moment like this, but still…
So that’s last night, when I wake up, I’m so thirsty and down loads of water. I have a presentation in class and it turns out alright. After my other class, at 3:00, I go to look for “Student Agency” to get a ticket to Bratislava. After getting lost and all the business, it turns out that they’re sold out.
When I get back, the Internet is to shits. Everyone is facing this problem where the Internet only basically goes to Facebook, NYU Home, and some other stuff. For the rest of the sites, it shows a search engine site that’s real skeevy. People can’t figure what the problem is and I emailed the head person of NYU Prague or whatever about it.
I take a nap and then take a shower. When I get out, it seems like Dillon and Allyse are planning to go out to dinner. I don’t seem to be part of the plans, but I have to squeeze myself into it. I also mention how the tickets were sold out and Allyse says that her and Jen got tickets from some other place and are coming back Sunday.
Now I have to wake up early tomorrow, even though there’s no class, and get a ticket because people are leaving at 3:00. We walk all the way to this restaurant that Allyse saw while at the gym. I have a pretty good chicken dish and a side of great mashed potatoes. Good conversation flows through the dinner and walk.
We get back before 10:00 and Alex, Jarra, Liz, and Charlotte are watching Waking Life. If you haven’t seen, it’s quite an adventure. It’s shot on film, but drawn on like a cartoon, so it’s a very surreal feeling to it. The movie has basically no plot and all about this guy dreaming and walking around finding random people rant on about philosophy.
I guess people are staying in tonight and I see Christina and introduce her to the idea of the trip, but I don’t think she wants to go. She seems pretty willing to do something, so I might go downstairs to see what she’s up to and if we can gather people. I’m currently writing this while they’re watching it across the hall. Maybe I should join them.
By the way, I was listening to one of my favorite albums ever by The Like. It’s a band that I found through my early music years when I was obsessed with Phantom Planet.
http://www.myspace.com/thelike
Check out the second and third song, they’re so good. Hopefully if any of you like it, I’ll send the album.
I go downstairs to Christina’s room at 10:00ish and she’s having mint mojitos with Jade and Antonia. Antonia says she owes me a drink, so makes me one. It’s alright, since alcohol is never a bad thing. We figure that we probably should go somewhere and we leave at 11:30ish to find a place that Christina has gone too. Brenae, Christina, Antonia, and I start the walk after trying to get some directions from Dillon. Both him and Alex are staying in for the night. Christina mentions that Jenn was willing to do something, but we can’t find anyway else.
We eventually get lost and end up going to the Peach Pit, Beverly Hills 90210 pub. At least I brought a bottle of Krusovice to help with the walk. I get a Hoegaarden and when the three of us get back from the bar, some 30 year old guy joined our table with Antonia. He’s a pretty nice guy, speaks alright English, and actually knowledgeable when we start about stuff like films. I also realize during the night that I should be holding back on my gossiping because I’ve been spreading the story about Liz bringing back a guy last night, Gianfranco’s make out session, and we all end up talking about the Dillon, Allyse, and Charlotte drama.
We leave before 3:00 and I go to sleep for my day ahead.

September 28, 2007
I have to wake up at 10:00ish because I have to go by myself to get a bus ticket for Bratislava. Everyone already has booked a hostel and bus, except me. I take the metro, find the place, and get a ticket, which all takes about an hour. They only have one for leaving at 2:00, though everyone else is leaving at 3:00. The ticket is like $30 or so for a four hour bus ride. The plan is that I just sit around at the station and wait an hour and a half for them before we drop by the hostel.
When I get back, Alex helps me book a hostel. The one that they’re at is full for tonight, so I have to book one that’s on the same block. For Saturday and Sunday night, I’m at their hostel. It’s $20 a night.
So I guess I won’t be updating the blog for a while until Monday when I get back.
I leave at 1:00ish to catch my bus. When I get to the stop, I’m quite early, but the bus ends up never coming. I wait over an hour and a half until 3:00 when I notice Allyse and Jen waiting for their bus on the platform next to mine. I tell them that I’ll try to get onto their bus with my ticket. Even though the bus isn’t full, the guy won’t allow it. The guy behind me was also waiting for my bus, but was able to exchange his ticket for this bus. It’s a bit too late for me to do that since almost everyone is boarded on. He tells me that they’re sending another bus though.
I go the ticket window and the woman tells me that the bus will be at Platform 26 in 20 minutes. I don’t see anyone at the platform, so go back to my previous area to wait around. By then, it’s almost 3:30 and I see the rest, Dillon, Alex, Liz, and Jarra. They ask about my bus and I tell them the deal. I go to the ticket window again and try to get onto their bus, but it’s full. She tells me that the new bus is there now. I tell the rest this and try to get onto the bus the woman was talking about, but she was wrong.
I go back infuriated. I end up standing in front of the window, while she’s on her break and knows that I’m trying to catch a bus that I should’ve been on almost two hours ago. When I finally speak to her, she now tells the truth that she really has no idea what I should do. I guess telling me to run around like an idiot and trying to get rid of me is the correct solution.
I keep the angry tone with her and she tells me to go the other ticket window. It turns out that the other ticket window people are a lot more competent. I exchange my ticket for a 4:30 bus, even though it costs me $5 extra. Whatever, as long as I’m on a bus now.
While I’m waiting, I try to call Alex and tell him my deal and when I’m arriving, but his phone doesn’t seem to be working. I finally get onto the bus at 4:30 and now I’m on my way after two and a half hours of bullshit.
I take a nap on the way there and listen to some music. By the way, the new Beirut album, Flying Club Cup, is unbelievable. At 7:30, the bus slows down to a stop and I wake up. I’m not sure what it is until some guy walks on the bus and starts checking some form of identification. He breezes by pretty quickly, but when it comes to me, I tell him I don’t have my passport. He gets off the bus and I’m so glad that I’m on free ground… Wait…
An older and angrier officer then jumps on to make sure that I don’t have my passport. He orders me out of the bus and tells the bus driver to leave. He tells me that I can’t go to Slovakia. The worst part about this is that I have literally everything packed perfectly and even saw my passport, but had a mental lapse and put it away instead of packing it. I guess I just forget that the EU isn’t as far progressed that I think it is with borders and such. Then again, part of Europe is going to integrate and there won’t be any physical borders. Too bad that hasn’t happened.
I end standing in 40-50 degree windy weather, while not dressed for it. I stand there while the officer does his job of stamping passports and checking them. This goes on for almost half an hour. That might not seem like a long time, but when you’re out in the cold, stranded in the middle of nowhere, and in situation like this… It’s a hell long time. The guy’s back is turned to me the whole time while he’s in his booth. I expect it to be really annoying to get back to Prague and it seems easier to just cross the border and find some way of transportation to Bratislava from the border. Then again, that would involve running away from the Slovak police, which I seriously consider, but realize is actually a poor idea.
I try calling Alex about this, but again, his phone or number is no good. It gets past 8:00 and the officers finally take action with me. They bring me into their offices and ask me for my ID. I give them my Permit and NYU Prague ID. They then start grilling me with all these questions.

Where are you from?
Where’s your passport?
Why are you in Prague?
What are you doing here?
Are you a student?
Do you live in the US?
Will you be returning to the US?
Where is this NYU Prague?
Are you Japanese?
And so on and forth.

After their scrutinizing interrogation, they keep on talking in what I guess is Slovakian. At one point, my hopes go up because I think that they might be discussing letting me loose or something. After a while, it turns out that they’re actually just confused about what to do with me. I guess no one runs into this problem of getting deported back and I’m just an enigma. Eventually, the Czech police come to pick me up. While waiting, the Slovak offers me a cigarette, which I could use, but decide against.
Like all Czech drivers, the policeman is an extremely aggressive driver and reminds me a lot of Taurus version of Hasan. For some reason, he veers off the paved roads and takes this sneaky dirt path in the rain and dark that’s completely surrounded by tall grass and trees. I’m shits scared for my life and this point that he’s just going to stop the car during this and do something. I contemplate jumping out of the car, but then I would still be in the middle of nowhere. My heart hops when he almost slows down to a stop, but he’s only trying to avoid a whole in the road (Line could actually be used in verse).
We eventually get to the Czech border and a bus is waiting there from being inspected. It turns out that it’s going to Prague, so the officer tells me to hop and it costs $13. At the beginning of the three hour ride back, I get a call from Liz. I guess there’s something wrong with Alex’s phone and that he actually got my missed calls, got my number that way, and then told Liz to call me. I tell her the situation and she says that I’m joking. I tell her that I’m not. She’s pretty shocked and I tell her that everyone can laugh at me now. She interprets this as it’s time to laugh because it’s a joke, which confuses her, but I again confirm that I’m an idiot and I’m on my way back to Prague.
I realize that Charlotte is leaving tomorrow to Bratislava and that I can go with her. I already have a ticket for the way back from Bratislava, so wasting a weekend for only for the cost of buying ticket to Bratislava wouldn’t make sense. I call Liz back to get Charlotte’s number to find out when she’s leaving Prague so I know which ticket to buy.
I forget that she’s probably with her parents when I call and she doesn’t pick up. She eventually calls me towards the end of the bus ride. Again, another person shocked by my situation and tells me she’s leaving at 6:30 AM tomorrow. When I get to the bus station, all the ticket windows are closed since it’s almost 12:00. I manage to catch the last metro back to the dorm and find her. She’s planning to leave the dorm at 5:30, which works out fine since there’s a 6:00 and 6:30 that I can buy.
I try getting a ticket online, but the 6:00 can’t be bought online and the 6:30 says that my credit card can’t be verified. I keep trying until it says that the 6:30 is sold out. Man, I better be able to take a bus ride tomorrow.
This is seriously one hell of a day. And no, I’m bringing my passport tomorrow.

September 29, 2007
I wake up to shower and get ready to meet Charlotte at 5:30 downstairs. We take the metro to the bus station and I end up actually getting a ticket on the same bus as Charlotte there. I sit at my assigned seat and I planned on taking a nap, but decide against it when Ocean’s Twelve comes on. I haven’t seen it and I’m a bit curious.
It turns out to be pretty bad, except it pulls a really cool move. If you don’t know, Julia Roberts plays George Clooney’s love interest. The group needs to rob a Faberge Egg and is getting desperate. They employ Tess Ocean, played by Julia Roberts, to pretend to be Julia Roberts (in the Ocean’s Twelve world) so they can form a distraction. She randomly meets Bruce Willis and he eventually suspects that she really isn’t Julia Roberts.
When I movie ends, I then take my nap for a little bit until Mr. and Mrs. Smith comes on, which I’ve already seen twice. It’s actually an underrated movie. The bus arrives at Bratislava before 11:00. I exchange a lot of Czech money for Slovak money, though I end up exchanging too much by the end things.
We take the tram to the hostel, but check-in isn’t till 1:00, so we have to wait. All of them end up in a large private suite, which is almost hotel quality, while I have to sleep in a smallish room with 5 beds laid out near each other.
We watch some TV and Allyse mentions how she has a date soon with a 27 year old French guy she met last night. When 1:00 comes around, Charlotte and I check in and drop your stuff in our rooms. Allyse goes on her date, Liz, Jarra, and Jen go shopping, and Alex, Dillon, Charlotte, and I decide to walk around and sight see. We walk around and go all the way to the large castle that can be seen from a distance. We then decide to walk to the cool looking bridge and try to go up the tower.
It costs $5.00 and the view is really great from there. Pictures are up for all of this. This all takes a few hours until we decide to take a break and grab a bite, though I’m the only one that doesn’t eat and I have three beers instead. People’s phones are out of money, so Charlotte uses my phone to text Allyse to make sure the date is going fine. Turns out it is. While we’re sitting outside at the restaurant, we randomly see all the girls together walking to shop at the mall.
She tells us about the date how he’s a cool guy and a real ballah since he pays for her $20 lunch, the three girls’ lunch, and dressed in loads of Prada. They go off on their way, while us four continue looking around the city. By 6:00, we decide to go to Tesco and get some drinking done. I look for the cheapest bottle of wine at $2.25.
We watch some TV and then wait for the girls to get ready after they came back from shopping. This all takes a while, so I finish my entire bottle of wine by then. I’m pretty drunk and feel really stuffed by the amount of liquid I’ve just had. We walk around looking for restaurants, but we’re in the touristy area and either find expensive restaurants or one’s that are not serving food since it’s around 9:00ish.
We walk by the Italian restaurant that they went to last night and decide to go there. The walk is pretty annoying and I get bored so for some reason, I smoke quite a few cigarettes, which is probably a bad idea.
I’m too stuffed for beer and plan to not order any, but when everyone gets either beer or wine, I fold to the pressure. I order a personal pie since it’s pretty cheap, though I know it’s a lot of food. I end up giving away a quarter of my pizza and I give most of my beer to Dillon. I guess the almost two liters of alcohol that I drank in the past few hours was too much volume.
After dinner, we separate to our same groups again since the girls want to go to the flashy club that Christoph (Allye’s fella) will be at. The four of us decide to drop by the dorm first before we make our next move. People are real slow and we end up watching some random porn that’s on the TV.
At some point, we leave to look for the 70s-80s place that had a flyer at the hostel. We eventually find it after a real long walk and getting lost. The cover is $4 and the place is real small. It’s only tables, a bar, and an aisle leading to the bar. Some people just decide to clog up random areas to dance around. We find a table, but it’s right under the speaker. The music turns out to be alright with highlights from Queen and Tom Ze. I end up only having one beer for the night while Dillon downs one after another.
Alex borrowed by lighter for weed earlier, so I don’t have a lighter for my cigarettes. He ends up snatching a lighter from the table next to ours. I still need a lighter, so I put my eye on another lighter that’s at the same table. Luckily for Alex, he was able to snatch it when people weren’t at the table, but now they are. I switch seats with Charlotte so I can get closer to the table. The heat’s too tight and I decide to make my move when we’re leaving. I make sure that we’re leaving when I ask the girl next to us if I can use the lighter. I’m pretty sure it’s not her’s and I use it and immediately walk right outside since we’re next to the exit.
I’m happy that I pulled off an Ocean’s Twelve move, but it turns out that both stolen lighters have almost nothing left in them. Great… Charlotte doesn’t think stealing the lighter was very cool and Dillon is disappointed since the girls that he spoke to from that table were nice. I don’t care, I’m a sly thief and that’s all that matters.
We wander around looking for somewhere to go, but we can’t find anything. I try calling Allyse and Liz to see what’s up, but they don’t pick up. It’s around 2:00ish, but we do pass a gyro place and I pick one up. So good.
We get back to hang around and watch some TV. When we pass the lobby, some guy tells me to come with him. He says that he’s in my room; I guess he randomly saw me around when I dropped off stuff at the room. He says his friend might be “having business” in the room, but he needs me to open up the first door for him so he can listen to the door. I go up with him, he puts his head to the door, and says that his friend is still at it.
I go downstairs into the large room to hang out. At 3:00ish, Jen and Jarra come back and tell us that Allyse went back with Christoph and they don’t know what’s up with Liz. I hang around until 4:00ish and go upstairs to sleep. When I walk into the first door, I see a 30-40 year old woman walk out of the communal bathroom and into my room. I assume the guy’s woman, so I hesitate. The guy that I saw earlier comes out of the room and tells me that it’s alright to come in the room and sleep.
The “stuff” is happening at a bed next to mine, which is literally 3 feet away. I try my best to avoid eye contact, so I’m really not quite sure what they were doing. First of all, he’s in his 20s, so he’s too young for her. Maybe she could’ve been a prostitute. From what I do see, there’s humping and stuff, but I don’t think they’re having sex since his friend is having a conversation with him during all of this.
I realize that it’s going to be tough to sleep, so I get up and next to my bed is a locker. I put my valuables in there and go to get my earplugs. It’s awkward because I’m looming over the two lovebirds while I’m doing this.

September 30, 2007
I get up at 1:00ish and go on the computer in the lobby and stuff. I keep trying to figure if the rest are up in their room, but their main door is closed and I have a hard time trying to listen in. Eventually, I hear people and I knock on the door. People tell me Happy Birthday, which is pretty nice.
Six of us go for lunch, while Jarra and Alex stay back for some reason. We walk to a restaurant that’s not far from us. The menu is interesting and has pictures for its specials. I get the chicken and “dumplings,” which are fried pieces of dough.
No one feels like drinking, except Dillon who has two beers. Liz and Allyse tell some stories about their night and their guys, some Greek guy and Christoph. I think you guys can assume what they did last night since they didn’t come back to the hostel. I don’t have to spell it out.
My food turns out to be mediocre, while the others seem to have good stuff. When Allyse and Jen get back, they have to leave for their bus since they want to make Monday’s class. I have a class that takes attendance, but I don’t really care about missing just one.
The rest of us plan on getting dinner at 7:00ish, we watch some MTV, which is the only thing in English on. For some reason, the BBC World News keeps showing the same stuff over and over. Alex goes to return some bottles for money (He got $2.50) and to buy some stuff. Everyone other than Jarra and I take a nap. I’m surprised they don’t wake up from the TV.
We watch loads of music videos and I show off my pop culture cred by knowing the David Guetta song, singing along with Ayo Technology, enjoying Relax (Take It Easy), and immediately recognizing the Beyonce/Shakira song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beGjncfEPt8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Na4x2Uwflmg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be6jlCuMvVQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtIHBRsy1lI

Jarra’s a bit confused why I know this stuff. While people are waking up and adjusting themselves, My Super Sweet 16 is on. It has a great part where the girl wants E-40 to play at her party. He asks, “Do you have some gouda? You know what I mean, bread.” I’m confused for a little bit until I realize that he’s talking about money and he ends up agreeing to perform at her party.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBRN2YLYzRU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-kVYrbYfJA

The six of us walk to get dinner and we eventually choose a Chinese restaurant as a last resort. It turns out to be fine and the beer is $1.50. During dinner, people don’t seem very willing to do something tonight since the bus tomorrow is at 8:00 AM. People say they’ll see when we get back to the hostel. People end up not wanting to go out and we sit around in front of the TV for a few hours until people pass out at 1:00ish.
It’s cool that I get the whole room for myself now since the two guys left in the morning.

October 2, 2007
It’s a usual long Tuesday and for the first time, I literally couldn’t keep myself awake during Transition and Economics. I guess the weekend did actually take a bit out of me. This leaves me worried for Macroeconomics, which is three hours long.
My professor looks out the window when the class starts and says that it’s such a nice day that we should have class outside. This means sitting outside at a restaurant. This sounds like a great idea since now I can get drunk… During class!
We walk all over and we’re only to find a place that looks a bit fancy. We look at the menu and it turns out that beer is $4.50, which is around 3 times the regular price. It’s a class of 8 of us. The four guys, including me and my professor, only have a beer. The girls have some kind of latte or something. Class ends like 30 minutes early, but it still was a missed opportunity.
I get back by 6:00 to take a nap until 7ish. I sit around until 8:00 to make my dinner. I have a salad while I’m waiting for my water to boil for my pasta. Jess then offers bread from the inside of a bread bowl she’s making. She then has extra chili and I throw that into my pasta. I feel so fat right now.
Andrew says that he wants to go out during dinner, but when I ask him about it, he isn’t really the head of plans usually and has no idea who wants to go out. He also informs me that the next two lectures for our class are cancelled since my professor is organizing a European political conference. No class tomorrow will be nice.
When I ask everyone in the kitchen, people are pretty much hesitant. When I get back the room, through Alex and Jarra’s conversation, I think they’re going out, but I don’t really know anything, so hopefully that turns out well.
First off, this is hilarious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WkixNU983I&feature=dir
It’s around 10:00ish and I decide to start pre-gaming. I’m too stuffed for beer, so I decide to take vodka straight. I’m usually good about taking stuff straight, but the amount I have is pretty rough and I’m too lazy to get an actual chaser. Water doesn’t count. I get about a third of a bottle in me before people seem to start gathering around in Alex’s room at 10:40. I awkwardly get myself into the room and go grab a beer of mine, while it’s clear that a few people smoked up before leaving.
Jess and Brenae come down into the room and we meet Christina on the way down. It’s a group of 9 of us as we head onto the metro. We see JT there waiting for the metro too and I think he’s supposed to be meeting people at Chateau. We go to a sort of deserted place that we’ve never been to. Apparently Jen knows people that are there already.
From my part drunkenness, part curiosity, and part needing to pee real bad, I ask a few questions about our destination because it looks like we’re nowhere. Charlotte tells me not to get antsy because it’s annoying, and I assure her I won’t. Then Jarra tells me, “If you’re going to complain, then don’t come.” What a bitch! I again have to say that I’ll be cool. The walk doesn’t turn out that bad though we did have to walk through a fence, cross multiple train tracks, and walk up a steep hill.
There’s no cover charge at the place and it turns out to be a really huge warehouse. I mean, it’s really big and it could a decent amount of people for a concert. I see that a band is dismantling their stuff and there’s just dancy music playing. The place is pretty empty, partially because it’s so huge.
Since I exchanged for too much Slovak money, I let the others borrow some because they correctly only took out how much they needed. So Alex gets me a beer for the amount he owes me. The morning of our ride back from Bratislava, people wanted breakfast, so they borrowed like $7.00 from me. It’s always awkward asking for borrowed money back.
I take the beer real slow because the vodka is slowly hitting me. After standing around for a while, Jess and Brenae decide that the place is dead and leave. Charlotte gives them directions back through the tram system since the metro has stopped by now.
I notice the two girls that Jen knows to lead us to this warehouse. I walk over to say Hi and introduce myself to Sarah. Shortly after, a Slovak guy walks over to talk to us.
It’s a bit weird and he’s drunk, but he’s pretty nice. He asks us the usual questions about why Americans are here in Prague and stuff. When she goes to throw something in the garbage, he tells me, “I have a crush on your friend.” The man has good taste since she’s quite a looker.
We can’t seem to get rid of the guy until his friends drag him away. People then decide that it’s time to leave. On the way, someone asks if we can take some posters that are sitting around. I grab two of them and they’re really cool. I’ll maybe post pictures of them.
Dillon is a cross country runner, so he wants to walk back, which will take like an hour. People aren’t really up for it and we walk to the tram stop. Once we get there, I sit down for a cigarette. Just after I start, the tram comes and I can’t part with my clove so I put it out with my hand. That is such a bad idea and I burn my finger and it hurts the next day, but at least I throw the rest of the cigarette in my pocket and finish it later. Sarah and her friend are from a different community. We all take the tram back and they separate on their own way.
We walk past the usual McDonald’s where we used to stop for food and bathroom. For some reason, it isn’t open and we keep walking. Christina really needs the bathroom, so she and Alex walk backwards to another McDonald’s.
Jen has been hungry throughout the night, so she wants to go to Radost to get food. Jen jokes that she’s going on a date with Dillon to get food. I also want food and don’t know which choice is more awkward. Going with Jen and Dillon or walking with angry Jarra and Charlotte.
I decide to go get food. Radost is a nice restaurant/club, but their kitchen isn’t open at this time. We find McDonald’s and KFC, which we expect to be open, but they also aren’t. We see a lot of people in front of Pizza Roma and head there. We walk by a lot of Americans, which is surprising.
I get a really sloppy gyro. The gyro here isn’t really gyro, but chicken that’s also on the huge stick and shaved off. I chomp it down real fast and we head back. I sleep by 4:00ish since class is cancelled.

October 3, 2007
I wake up at 1:00 and have a very unproductive day. People don’t seem to be around for dinner in the kitchen and leave when I just start mine. I go upstairs to watch some TV and get to see Vanessa Williams destroy some Ukrainian woman.
At 10:00ish, I think Gianfranco gets some weed from Alex and smokes. Soon after, Alex, Jarra, and Dillon meet around Alex’s room to get ready to go out for the night. It seems exclusive, though I still would like to go out for the night. I don’t know if should’ve tried to get myself in. They head out, while I catch myself up with the newest How I Met Your Mother. Again, watch the show.
I also watch the new episode of The Office, which is alright. On the other hand, Mad Men is a great show about an advertising master working for cigarettes and such during the 1960s. I love the old school style and you should definitely check it out.
They come back early at 12:30ish and end up hanging out in Alex’s room. Gianfranco wakes up from watching a movie in the lounge and goes to sleep. I follow shortly after.

October 4, 2007
During my EU class, the lecture is about integration and regulation of the EU. From a lot of the things that the EU regulates, I’m surprised that people are blazing past them and not finding them somewhat questionable. My professor does mention that there will be two days to debate the issue, so hopefully that’ll be cool.
I make dinner at 8:00. Gianfranco is up in the kitchen talking to his brother on Skype. He tells me to try some of his pasta. It’s real good and has pork in it. I overhear that he made the entire pound bag of pasta. I don’t know why he had to cook the entire bag because that just leaves a hell lot of leftovers.
At 9:30ish, Gianfranco and some of his friends come in the room to hang out. Shortly after, Brenae and Jess some down to see what’s happening with the night. People were hanging out in Alex’s room earlier, so we check if Jarra and Allyse’s room is where people went. Turns out that everyone is there and people aren’t too sure where they’re going for the night yet.
Charlotte asks me to close the door, I guess because there’s drinking. When I go for the door, Jarra tells me, “We’ll get you when you’re heading out.” I was planning to hang out in the room with people, but I’ve just received the bitchiest comment in my life.
I return back to the room to pre-game with my vodka. After a bit, I butch up to return to the room and also go to grab a beer. When I’m in the lounge kitchen, Allyse walks in with her older brother, Brendan. Her family is visiting. I return to the room and chill for a bit. Eventually, people plan on going to Karlovy, Five story club, and Gianfranco’s group is going too.
People need to get ready and stuff, so Brendan and I go back to my room to chill with Gianfranco and bunch. We play a drinking game that’s real random. You bid a certain amount of drinks and choose a suit. Then, cards a flipped and suits are counted. When a suit has six cards of the same suit revealed, the people that chose that suit win. The losers drink the amount that they bid and the winners dish out what they bid onto others and are free from drinking. Two games of this are played and I don’t know how much I drink from it.
Leaving and taking the metro to the club is a blurry, but when I leave, I notice that I’ve finish half a bottle of vodka straight by myself and the beer. I definitely push my limit. For some reason, Brenae and Jess don’t end up coming out with us and I hope it’s not because they aren’t told that we’re leaving. Jen and Charlotte don’t come and I’m not sure why. Jarra feels tired, but eventually still comes. Alex and Dillon don’t come because of the cover charge and they don’t really like the scene.
On the walk from the metro to the club, I mention to Allyse Jarra’s problem with me. She says that she never knew it existed. She might’ve said that she’ll speak to Jarra and I think I told her not to. Again, it’s blurry.
It’s the usual $6 cover fee and I actually get Liz to pay for me and relinquish her debt. It’s good that it isn’t awkward and such. Instead of going to the dance floor immediately, we go to the “chill” floor, which is just seats and such. The alcohol starts hitting me and I start feeling a real sick and woozy.
We then go to the dance floor, which is playing older stuff. Throughout the night, there’s James Brown, Bee Gees, 80s stuff, and etc. It turns out to be real fun, especially since it keeps me going and gets me off my sickness. It makes sense since it’s hard to imagine vomiting while you’re on the dance floor. Then again, that’d be reeeaal weird.
People are drinking beer and stuff and Gianfranco offers to get something for me, but that’s a real bad idea and I don’t get anything. I notice that dancing is extremely influenced by the song playing. On the songs that I don’t really know or care for, the sweaty exhaustion and wooziness comes and I cool down on the sidelines by the bar. When coming down to the dance floor, I started a cigarette, but it’s only half way done so I pocket it. I don’t realize that it’s there until I go for a cool down and I’m standing there smoking a crooked, weird looking cigarette. Allyse comments on the skeevy cigarette that I’ve got.
While I’m smoking my cigarette, I don’t remember who, but they mention that it won’t help, as in making me feel less sick. It’s true and the nicotine high doesn’t really mix well. Before I even finish, I get rid of it and return to dancing.
Here are some things that happen at Karlovy. I pull out my disco moves when Bee Gees comes on. Some random girl dances a bit with me and her friend gets a picture of it. I don’t know why and it’s really random. It’s so hot and I’m sweating like a pig. For some reason, Liz runs her hand in my hair, which is absolutely disgusting since she definitely gets sweat all over it. I think she actually does it twice… Brendan doesn’t really go on the dance floor much, but we exchange a lot of random high fives. Going onto the dance floor is a foot long metal incline that’s a steep 30 degrees or so, which is wet from drinks. When walking onto the dance floor, I slip and take a real bad embarrassing fall. For the rest of the night, I keep trying to avoid it, but I still slip, but not fall, a few times.
After a while of this, we all decide to depart. Toni and Jarra decide to walk back, which is like half an hour. The rest of us don’t want to do that. Gianfranco’s friend, Tai, is with Allyse, Liz, Brendan and I decide that going to “Golden Tree,” which is a block away. Brendan needs to pee, so I tell him that I’ve got him since “I’m the master of public urination.” People have a kick out of this. We walk by a church and I say that it’s no good. Brendan somehow hears otherwise and loudly tells me that he’s not peeing on a church.
People try to reprimand me and I tell them that I didn’t suggest it since the church is lit up. After saying this a few times, I sneak the fact that it’s a church in there, “No, I didn’t suggest peeing there. It’s lit….. And it’s a church.” Man, those fuckin’ Catholics.
When we try to enter, it’s a $3 cover for guys. Allyse doesn’t have money on her and goes looking for an ATM. She needs to cover for Brendan too since he just got here today and only has dollars on him. It’s funny that I know this because he keeps flashing his wad of cash.
Allyse returns and can’t find an ATM. Brendan returns from going inside for a bathroom. He alerts us that there’s a stripper in there. At this point, we just decide to return back through cab. It’s fix of us and we try to squeeze into the cab, but the driver won’t let us. Therefore, we have to split into three and two.
Allyse, Brendan, and I take a cab, while Tai and Liz take their own. Tai doesn’t live in Slezka, our community, but he’s going back with Liz and I noticed them dancing together earlier in the night…
On the ride back, Brendan mentions how he feels with the cab driver on not letting five people since he’s an NYPD officer. Allyse snaps that he still hasn’t passed everything for it. I think we also mention how the guy probably doesn’t speak English. When we get back, we get ripped off for by paying $15. I pay the whole thing to cover Allyse and Brendan. I remember taking a cab back by myself and it only cost $8. Then again, I don’t know if they charge more for more people, but that doesn’t make much sense.
When we walk out, we see Jarra, Toni, Liz, and Tai. I thought that we had the first cab, but I guess not. Jarra and Toni took a cab instead of walking. Apparently, Jarra was physically assaulted by the cab driver. It’s still confusing what the problem was, but they didn’t have small bills and were little off on the final bill. The driver walked out of the cab and pushed Jarra and went to get her in the face. She then got away from him.
We’re all shocked by this story and Brendan and I think that something should be done. Toni has a receipt, which is the best thing. I never get a receipt from my cab rides. This receipt is also written on, so I’m pretty sure it has the company they took and the guy that drove. Brendan has another approach and says he’s willing to put up his NYPD stuff on the line to punch out this guy. He keeps telling us to get the driver to come to us and he’ll deal with it.
Nothing ends up happening with the cab driver abuse and Allyse, Brendan, and I have cigarette outside while everyone else returns inside. The three of us go upstairs for a late night snack and Brendan checks the Yankee game and he’s pissed that they’re losing. After I’m done with my grilled cheese, I return to the room and sleep by 4:00ish.

October 5, 2007
I wake up at 2:00ish. Dillon’s up because he was already asleep when I returned last night. Gianfranco’s gone because I think he went to Florence. I notice that my knee and arm hurt, but aren’t bruised. It’s from the bad fall I took last night. I grab some lunch and Jarra enters Alex’s room to chill and smoke. Dillon walks over and speaks to them. They’re planning to do something tonight or something and mention of other people arises. I think Dillon mentions how he’d be cool with “us three” hanging out. Hopefully other people are around so I can end up doing something tonight.
At 5:00ish, Liz comes around to look for Alex. He’s not there, so she comes in my room. She asks Dillon where Alex is and he doesn’t know. She mentions how she was worried about me last night and that I had the puke face going. I tell her that I was fine, but I really didn’t feel good when we were sitting down at the chill area. The dance floor is a new medicine.
She sits on Dillon’s bed and talks about how she’s sick, got a prescription, and needs to go a pharmacy. She asks Dillon about dinner and the night and stuff. She says that she’s hungry and asks Dillon if he wants to get food. He doesn’t. She then goes to look for a pharmacy and Dillon says he’ll go too. Yep, I still have to work on integrating in.
One of the funniest things I’ve seen in my life. Some of you might’ve seen it already:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoJ_CdJC3GE
At 8:30ish, I go up to make some dinner. During dinner, I speak to Brenae, Jess, Toni, and Andrew. They want to do something tonight, but haven’t planned anything or found anything. I tell them that I’ll be downstairs. Allyse gets back from being with the fam at 10:00ish. She goes into Alex’s room where Dillon and Jarra are chillin’. At 11:00ish, they get ready to leave and go back to Alex’s room to smoke up first. It’s awkward that they’re floating around.
I go upstairs to Brenae and Jess’ to see what’s going on with the night. Door closed and lights out. I walk down three flights to Andrew’s room. Door closed and lights out. Down one more flight to Toni’s room. Door closed and lights out. I’m not really sure what happened. I’ve been in the room since dinner and I thought we were cool and stuff. Jarra, Alex, and Dillon leave before 11:30 to wherever. Yeah… It’s another Friday. Looking back at the blog, my Fridays have been pretty consistent.
The first Saturday here in Prague, people were on a trip, Gianfranco went out for his birthday, and the Alex, Jarra, and Dillon trio hung out. Night by myself in empty building.
The next Friday, Dillon and Charlotte go to the Joanna Newsom that I would’ve wanted to go to. The girls mention how they’ll have a “girls night out,” but mention that I’ll be around. I expect to do something that night, but they actually do end up having a “girls night out.” Night by myself in empty building.
The next Friday, people quickly head out and I don’t know about it. Brenae also planned to go out, but we eventually figure that everyone went out and we didn’t know about it. Night by myself in empty building.
And there’s tonight. Night by myself in empty building.
I’m real bored, so I finish a third of a bottle of vodka. I also blow some time by doing Magic draft online, a set just came out. I start fiending for some food. I heat up my left over pizza and pasta. I then step out on the balcony for a cigarette. By then, Jarra and Alex get back before 2:00. I then start feeling hungry again and make myself a sandwich. I then again, go for a cigarette. This time, Dillon gets back at 2:30ish while I head out to the front door. I get back to watch some Mad Men. I sleep by 3:00, real tired.
By the way, I want to rant Gossip Girl. The show is about a bunch of high school kids that go to a preppy private school in the city. Dan is sort of your plain regular guy that isn’t in the rich people clique, but has always had a crush on the “It Girl,” Serena. She’s rich and used to be on the top of the social pyramid. Dan randomly bumps into her and they go on a date. It’s all adorable and stuff as Serena tries to be down to earth with him and there’s the awkward social tension. The future of the relationship is optimistic.
Now Blair used to be Serena’s best friend. Blair has been dating Nate her entire life and it’s that going out for life and marrying later kind of thing. Blair finds out that Serena and Nate got drunk one night and randomly had sex. Now, Blair is no longer friends with Serena and Serena has been kicked out of the social bubble. Blair’s still pissed at Serena and wants pay back so she goes to tell Serena’s new friend, Dan.
Here, I’m expecting that Dan won’t care, but lo and behold, The CW has to come up with irrational drama. Dan is unexplainably pissed off that Serena didn’t tell him about this random time she had sex with a guy that Dan doesn’t really know. They try to discuss the issue, but apparently this message has just hit Dan and he’s suddenly realizing the social differences between him and “bourgeoisie” crowd. Then again, Serena has been removed from that echelon and apparently Dan’s conservative world can’t allow…. SEX.
Now fuckin’ look at Blake Lively, who plays Serena and is also in one of my favs, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/granitz/6103/Events/6103/BlakeLive_Kevin_14028223_400.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Lively,%20Blake
And tell me there’s no something mentally wrong with DAN! End of my silly rant.

October 6, 2007
I wake up at 2:00 and go to the supermarket to fill up on cigarettes, vodka, and food. I watch the third episode of Gossip Girl, which redeems some of the problems that I had with the previous episode. When I’m up in the kitchen, I see Brenae. I’m not sure if I should’ve asked about last night, but I don’t say anything because it’s pretty awkward asking about getting ditched.
By nightish, I overhear from people that they’re going to Cross Club. Hopefully I’m in that too.
Man, I would love to see this live. The actual instruments, especially the horns, make it spectacular.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RF7E23FLiW4
I only saw him perform one full song at Siren. It was one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen. This is just as good.
http://www.blogotheque.net/article.php3?id_article=3503
This is just as impressive. The two are still battling it out with me for album of the year.
http://www.blogotheque.net/article.php3?id_article=3455
McCain tries to dance around the issue, but I’m pretty sure he’s just a bigot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCv-ONLH1Js&feature=dir
This is the theme song for Mad Men, which I think can be the next great television show like The Wire and Deadwood. There’s something about the drums that I can’t stop listening to it.
http://hypem.com/search/A%20Beautiful%20Mine/1/
I don’t really have an in into the night until I randomly go upstairs at 10:00ish. Allyse and Brendan are there. I go back to the room to pre-game and Liz walks in and asks Dillon if he’s going to Cross Club. It’s awkward that I’m completely ignored since I’m in the room.
Eventually, I walk outside for a cigarette and a public urination until people come out. Dillon and Alex take the lead and take the metro before us. It’s only Brendan, Allyse, Jen, Charlotte, and I. I guess Jarra not coming out gets rid of some tension.
The girls are pissed that Dillon and Alex go ahead of us and take the metro before us. The two assume that they were taking the last metro and that we’d just be screwed or something. We eventually get there because they didn’t take the last metro. When we get off the metro, Allyse remembers that she owes me $10 for the cab and pays me. It turns out there is a $4.50 cover charge for certain areas at Cross Club, so we avoid those areas. The place is a fuckin’ labyrinth. We get drinks at the bar. I get a shot and a beer. Brendan keeps telling me to work at this random girl that literally sitting right next to us. She offers me a piece of gum, but that’s about it. She’s quiet and she’s probably Czech. For some reason, she’s wearing a visor and is holding a teddy bear…
I see this girl that standing by herself. People are sitting down and talking and stuff, and I randomly walk away to speak to this girl. Her name is Jade and she has a sandwich on her for some reason, but she doesn’t speak English. It’s the first random try to talk to a girl here in Prague. The conversation ends quickly and I walk back to the table with no game from the hunt. People ask me about it, but I tell them that she didn’t speak English.
Suddenly, the night becomes “Darwin, you have to hook up or have sex with a girl tonight.” Uh, yeah, just awkward. We see a couple of girls and Brendan becomes my wingman as we walk towards them standing near the bar. I speak to the two girls and they’re American. The shorter blonde one is from Kansas City and the taller brunette one goes to New Paltz, she’s like a towering 5’8 compared to me. I chat with mostly with Joanna, the brunette. Brendan keeps whispering shit to me and tells me to buy her a beer and I do. It’s only $1, so what the fuck. It’s weird that he’s floating around and keeps tapping me to ask whatever random questions.
I keep finding out random shit about her like her major, about her tattoo, and what the shit. I then buy her and her friend another round of beers. They decide to go to the dance area, which needs pay. The problem is that I have to go through the labyrinth and find the place where you get a stamp and get to go to wherever. I run around and pay for it because Brendan insists that I follow the bitches. I do it and eventually find them.
When I find them and tell them that I had to get a stamp. They’re speaking to this random Czech guy that’s a tattoo artist and her friend wants a tattoo. It’s not good that I don’t remember her name. I had it for a while since I’ve been trying hard to remember names, but I forgot. I dance around a bit with her until the two girls head to the bathroom. I wait for almost ten minutes until I find the group again. This time, Dillon is with them, but Alex is nowhere to be found. Brendan tells me to look for them again and I do so.
I go through the maze and find the area again and see them. I tell Joanna that I’m about to leave and ask for her number. She tells me that her number is messed up, so I give her mine. She actually takes it and calls me, so I have her number. I tell her that I’ll call her sometime. It’s like 3:00 now.
I return back to the table with the group and Brendan starts telling me to scream out random comments. For some reason, people find the comments hilarious. I laugh too because it’s so random. Brendan keeps it up and keeps getting me shouting random things like, “TITS!”
We eventually leave and Jake is with us. He lives in another community, but he’s still coming back to our dorm and I tell him that he can sleep in Gianfranco’s bed since he’s gone for the weekend.
The tram eventually comes and it’s a quite a long ride. We eventually get off at an area where it still takes at least 20 minutes to walk back. On the way, Brendan gets a sausage and bun for himself, Allyse, and me. It is literally ten times better than a New York hot dog. After I’m done with 2/3s of it, I see Charlotte waiting for us ahead holding her arms by her waist like Superman. It looks ridiculous so I replicate her. During that, I drop my sausage and I’m left with only the bun. I’m such a fuckin’ idiot and get some deserving ridicule.
The walking separates people and Brendan, Jen, and I become a group. Brendan keeps talking about the lessons that I learned tonight about the girls. I try to play it off because it’s just random conversation and stuff, but he makes it a big deal. I shrug and awkwardly try shrug off his insistence, but he keeps asking.
Eventually, we get back and I go my room. Brendan and Dillon randomly take the elevator downstairs. Allyse comes in with Jake asks where they are. She explains the situation that she wants to hook up with Jake (which is really awkward since he’s right there), Brendan wants to hook up with Jen, and Dillon wants to hook up with Charlotte. I guess it’s a bit weird that I’m the odd man out.
Eventually, everyone comes in the room and chills. Charlotte says that she’s coming to make some tea and if people want some. Jake asks for some green tea. Charlotte says that it’s black, but that she might able to steal from green.
Allyse heavily reprimands her for it because of all the stealing that’s been going on. I also accept some black tea. When Dillon and Charlotte come back with tea, Allyse, Jake, Brendan, and Jen are off to their shit… You know how it’s done.
Brendan eventually comes back and goes to sleep on Gianfranco’s bed. It’s like 6:00 at this point and Dillon hasn’t returned to the room by the time I sleep.

October 7, 2007
I wake up a bit early at 1:00ish. I watch Pushing Daisies after Jonah told me all about it. He was right and the show is phenomenal. It’s hard to put a finger on the mix between fairy tale, crime drama, and dark humor.
At 8:00, I go to make some dinner. When I get back down, I give Joanna a call at 9:20. She doesn’t pick up. Maybe I’ll try again later in the week. I don’t think people are really going out, so it’s just watching some more Mad Men.
At 11:00, Liz walks into the hall and Dillon goes to speak to her. They plan on going to Karlovy and Dillon leaves. I would’ve liked to go, but you know…

October 8, 2007
I pull off a dumb move and think that I have class today. Turns out that there isn’t class and I just forgot. It’s a boring day, so I watch Paris, je t’aime. It’s an amazing film that is a collection of eighteen short stories dealing with love. I’m bored so I put up two posters and the coasters that I’ve collected here on my wall. It looks pretty cool.
Brendan comes in with his dad looking around for people. He asks me if people are doing stuff tonight and I tell him that I’m up for it. At 8:00, Charlotte and Liz come in to talk to Dillon about traveling plans.
Fall break is in a few weeks and they need everyone around to plan things. It’s awkward when Charlotte asks, “Well how many of us is it?” Even though I went to Bratislava, I guess I’m not counted in… Come to think of it, that would be a real shitty week since everyone probably has plans to go somewhere or something.
When night reaches around, Brendan never comes around and people don’t go out for the night. People do end up hanging out across the hall in Alex’s room though, while I watch To Catch a Predator on YouTube.

October 9, 2007
At night, Dillon, Jarra, and Alex plan something and go out early with maybe more people. Gianfranco goes to hang out next door in the quad with peoples.
I sort of thought that maybe Allyse and Brendan would be back and maybe something would happen there, but Gianfranco and peeps are hanging out in that room, so I guess they’re with parents or hanging out with the group by now.
I get make myself a Snipp (obvs with vodka), which is like cranberry soda, except it’s actually black currant and have a couple cigarettes with it outside on the balcony. It’s pretty chill. I’m probably going to go to sleep soon since it’s real boring.

October 10, 2007
I have class and nap like hell for a large part of the day. I keep up with some of the shows that I’m watching this season. You probably have picked up on this, but here’s the list:
Chuck- It’s pretty good. It’s sci-fi action thriller. You know, Jake 2.0 style. And this time there’s at least hot hot dog girl.
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0934814/Ss/0934814/NUP_109731_0032.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Strzechowski,%20Yvonne
How I Met Your Mother- I don’t think I can rave enough about this show. It’s becoming one of my favorite comedies and I absolutely love Neil Patrick Harris.
Weeds- I keep up with the show, but I’m not sure why. Nothing much really happens, but it’s somewhat watchable.
Mad Men- Again, no question the best show on television right now. A must see.
Pushing Daisies- Fresh, exciting, another must see.
Gossip Girl- Probably too dramatic and chickety for anyone reading this, but still suggested.
Reaper- It’s alright, though the drama really has to pick up. Otherwise, the show isn’t really moving anywhere. Then again, I’ll keep watching for Missy.
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0955322/Ss/0955322/024.jpg?path=pgallery&path_key=Peregrym,%20Missy
Today there’s a free bowling thing at 7:45. I thought that people might be going, but Dillon is still out and people don’t seem to be gathering for it. Gianfranco and bunch go though. Hopefully something still happens tonight though.
Dillon gets back at 9:00ish. Alex comes in the room and speaks to Dillon and says that he wants to go out tonight. Soon after, Liz comes in to talk to Dillon. She says that people are hanging out downstairs and drinking it up. I guess people are actually going out tonight and I would like to join people, but I guess I’m not involved in the conversation…
At 10:30ish, Dillon gets up to what looks like leaving. I butch up and ask him about the night and he says he’s just going down to Charlotte’s. So I step into Alex’s room and ask him. He says that the girls are still doing stuff and it’s on them. He tells me to check on them in Allyse and Jarra’s quad. I say fine, but when I walk over, I hear Jarra’s voice behind the closed door. With the past that I’ve had with her, I avoid knocking on the door and asking stuff. I go back to Alex’s and just tell him that the door was closed. He says they must be somewhere else, which isn’t true, but sure.
At 11:00ish, Gianfranco’s large group comes in the room to hang out. There’s drinking and loud music, the whole deal. I stay on the computer still not sure whether people left already or something. Lauren, who is Gianfranco’s friend and in one of my classes, walks over and asks what I’m doing for the night. I say that I might be going out with the group. She then slips in if I’m updating my blog. I answer that I’m not. She tells says, “Yeah, I’ve found it.” This is literally one of the most awkward moments of my life. I say that I’m going to ask Alex what’s up about the night and rush out of the room.
Seriously, I don’t know how she could have found it. If you Google my name, you have to go through multiple pages to find it. I’ve removed by name from the blog, but for some reason, Google still shows when my blog did have my name attached to it. Seriously, stalker much with this chick?
Alex says that he’s not sure about stuff and to check in Allyse and Jarra’s room. I go in and the girls are there, but they’re not sure what’s happening and I awkwardly drift back into my room. After a while, Gianfranco seems ready to leave and asks if I want to go to Mecca. He tells me that when people come in the room that I should hang out and come along. It’s very cool of him.
I go back to Allyse’s room to see what they’re up to. Brendan is back to the US already and Allyse tells me to speak to him on AIM. Eventually, the group decides to go to Mecca and I join them and rush to the last metro. It’s Jarra, Alex, Jen, Allyse, Liz, and I. When we walk downstairs past Charlotte’s room, Allyse gives a “bow chicka wow wow” signaling Charlotte and Dillon staying in for the night. Some of Gianfranco’s friends have their own crew that does the same. For some reason, Gianfranco and some others are held up in the dorm, so I guess they’re not catching the metro.
We get there and walk into Mecca. I end up coat checking because it’s so hot. I wait around a bit and then go downstairs to see everyone there instead. They’re playing 80s instead of the house, club, dance whatever you all it music that’s upstairs. After a bit, people head upstairs. There’s shit loads of dancing and people get lost here and there.
I eventually find the group standing in the bar area instead of the dance floor. Some how it comes up that people are taking shots and I end up buying Jarra one. I have no idea why though.
After the shot, there’s again a lot of dancing. If there’s anything that I’ve gotten from Prague is that I dance now. Never in a hundred years would I expect that. We then sit down to have a smoke. For some reason, an Alaskan guy introduces himself to me and we chat a bit. I don’t know why he tries to talk to me, but he does bum a cigarette off of me.
Liz seems like she wants to leave and she tells me that Jarra and Alex had already left. Then, Steve from the dorm comes in and she goes to talk to him. Allyse is speaking to Jake from last week and Jen is dancing with Gianfranco. I’m not sure what to do, so I go to the bathroom for a drink. When I get back, I look around and can’t find anyone. I call Allyse and she apologizes for them leaving already.
I call a cab because it’s cheaper than simply picking one off of the street. It costs $9. The night ends up costing like $19, so hopefully I keep away from that in the future.


October 11, 2007
For my EU class, an economist that works as an advisor to the Czech government is the classes’ substitute today. He speaks English very well and he’s really interactive. He’s one of the best professors I’ve had.
Through listening to Skeptics Guide, I find these two videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEDaCIDvj6I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5hCczfGYv0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceblogs%2Ecom%2Fneurotopia%2F2007%2F10%2Fmartial%5Fidiocy%2Ephp
They’re hilarious.
Gianfranco and friends go to smoke up in Alex’s room and leave shortly after to a nearby bar at 10:00ish. I guess it’s the Peach Pit because I don’t know what else is near us. I’m still not sure about the plans with the group. At 10:30ish, Alex and Jarra seem like they’re about to leave and I ask them about if people are leaving yet, but Jarra gives a sassy, “No, I don’t think so yet.”
It’s 11:00 and Alex returns to his room to go in and close it back up. I don’t know what the deal is. People aren’t in Allyse and Jarra’s room, so I’m not sure what the deal is. If I get ditched, I think there are a bunch of people hanging out in the kitchen and maybe I’ll be able to hang out with them maybe.
At 11:10, Gianfranco comes back and asks what I’m doing for the night. I tell him that I might be going out with the group, but I don’t know where they are. He says something about being ditched or something. I ask him what he’s up to and he’s only staying in and watching a movie on his laptop.
At 11:30ish, I go out on the balcony to have a cigarette. When I’m almost done, I see downstairs across Marketa’s husband. Marketa is the head of the building and she has a young girl and husband living with here below my room. I heard a story that once, people were smoking weed right and saw Marketa’s husband eye to eye.
We’re not allowed onto the balconies because it’s “dangerous,” but people still crawl out onto it. Soon after, the building was sent an email that people have been seen out on the balcony and that all the bottles in the glass recycle are wine and liquor bottles and there’s obviously no drinking in the building.
At 11:40, I do a run around the building to see if anyone is around. The building is pretty much empty… This is also after the fact that I spoke to Jarra and Alex. This another depressing night for our hero.
It’s real boring, so I start binging on a sandwich and some snack cereal. Gianfranco is back in the room watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which I do not find funny, at all. During this, I’m watching the new episode of 30 Rock. Jokes are slipped in all over, but it’s been a while since I’ve stopped a show to laugh. Liz Lemon, played by Tina Fey, it’s an older woman that just broke up with a guy. She found a wedding dress on sale, so she decided to buy for the future.
When everyone that works with her sees her in the dress in her room, they have a laugh. She says that she’s not embarrassed about wearing a dressed that’s white. One of her co-workers, who is black, asks if she’s going to wear the dress all day. Liz Lemmon shoots back, “Yeah, I maybe I am, Chocolate Rain!” It’s probably wrong to laugh so hard at this, but I can’t stop myself.
The boss of NBC, played by Alec Baldwin, has tried to make more money, but computer generating Jerry Seinfeld and having him promote everything, including a show where 20 Milfs and put on an island with 50 8th grade boys with Jerry as a host. Jerry is pised, but Alec says that it’s all legal and he can’t do anything unless he decides to buy NBC. He thinks this is ridiculous since $4 million, but suddenly realizes that Jerry does have the money and Jerry gives him the face that he does. It’s awkward and Alec now realizes that he has to fix this.
She then runs into Jerry Seinfeld (actually Jerry in real life) and he asks about breaking up with her boyfriend. She says that a woman picked up and she pretended that she was taking a survey. She’s distressed and crying, but sounds like Jerry, you know, “Jumbo shrimp, jumbo, and small shrimp. Hey! What’s the deal with that!!). He mentions how she’s speaking like him, but she replies that’s just how she speaks when she cries, but Jerry is still offended. This is amazing stuff.
At 2:00ish, while I’m watching The Office, Alex and Jarra come back. So I guess they were up to their own shit and that’s why I wasn’t in, or maybe they came back by themselves from the group, one’s worse than the other. Jarra walks in and asks what’s up. This is really weird. She suddenly realizes that Gianfranco is sleeping and if she should get the lights. I get the lights and ask her what’s the deal. She says she just wanted to say Goodnight. That’s pretty weird. I don’t know…

October 12, 2007
If you guys don’t already know, John Mayer is a hilarious motherfucker.
http://www.bestweekever.tv/2007/08/03/bwe-exclusive-john-mayers-chocolate-rain-remix/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZyqAeMYppo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9A3iKQ9sWw&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLsBk6V6rao&mode=related&search=
One of the funniest shows on television I’ve ever watched. Too bad it was only one episode.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xrgeg_john-mayer-has-a-tv-show-vh1_fun
Him on G4. Hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUTJOG-vnR8
He’s also one hell of a guitarist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ti8NAskKBI&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh4n1bZi4d8&mode=related&search=
If he stuck to comedy and guitar playing, no question, he would be one of my favorite people.
One of my favorite music videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BIm8jcfWog
I go up for dinner at 8:00ish and Jess is there making food. She ends up making a lot of stuffed cabbage. She makes too much, so she ends up giving a lot of it away to anyone that wants. Obviously I have some and it’s great.
Eventually, pretty much everyone ends up in the kitchen and it’s fun hanging around and telling stories and stuff. Eventually, people decide to head back down to get ready and pre-game for the night. I grab my bottle of wine and drink like a shark in water.
We hang in Allyse, Jarra, Mary Kate, and Orian’s room because Dillon and Charlotte in the room doing “stuff.” I give a call to Joanna, but it turns out that she’s sleeping early tonight and I tell her to give me a call if she’s doing anything tomorrow.
We play a savagely huge game of Kings that involves at least 12 people. By then, I’ve finished my bottle of wine, which is equivalent to five drinks. I then run into the room to “suit up” and grab my handle of vodka. We then play another drinking game. I pick hearts and lose, so I finish in one hit the three shots left in my bottle.
We play another game and I drink some more wine. After this, things get hazy, but I take another handful of shots. I get antsy and I end up jumping out onto the balcony for a cigarette. I’m reprimanded for it and people say that it’s dangerous or some garbage.
Charlotte ends up going to a gay bar with Alex and Dillon stays in for some reason. The huge group of us heads out onto one of the last metros and I remember running up a lot of escalators.
By the time we get there, the alcohol has gotten past the food in me and I start feeling sick. Soon after we get in, I immediately head to the bathroom and lock myself into a toilet room. After that, I can’t recall much. I throw up a couple of times, while I’m trying to shove my fist down my throat trying to keep it going. People keep knocking on the door and I think that at any moment they might get someone to unlock it.
After a while, I gather myself and decide that it’s time to leave and I don’t even try to look for anyone. Suddenly, I look at my cell phone and see that it’s 5:00! HOLY SHIT! Since we took the last metro, we got there at 12:00ish. What the HELL happened to me!?
I stumble around and jump on a random metro. Thankfully, it brings me somewhere near the dorm and I end up walking the rest. I try to go into McDonald’s, but it’s closed by now. The walk is almost half an hour long. For some reason, I have a cigarette in my pocket, but it’s messed up and split, so I take off the filter. I guess I’m too drunk to realize how harsh that is.
When I return to the dorm, I go upstairs to make some food and realize that I’m still real drunk. While I’m eating my food, I go to the TV and watch some women’s basketball. I get to bed by 6:00.

October 13, 2007
I wake up at 2:00ish and Gianfranco is shocked that I’m still alive. I tell him about getting back at 6:00 and he’s just amazed. I go upstairs to make some food and tell the same to Jess, Brenae, and Allyse. Everyone is pretty much surprised at what happened.
I try to do some work, but I eventually take a nap at 7:00. At 8:00ish, go to make some dinner and it’s really weird that the kitchen is dark like it’s midnight. It usually has loads of people cooking and eating, but I guess everyone went out for dinner or something.
At 10:30ish, Gianfranco goes next door to start his “Handcuffs and Fifths” party. It involves being handcuff to someone, preferably someone of the opposite sex, and you can’t be separated until 3/4s of a liter of liquor is finished between the two. Gianfranco tells me to join by finding a girl to handcuff with, but I decide that I’ll just hang out after they’re done with that.
Andrew comes in and says that people are hanging next door, so I guess I join with the invitation. Andrew and I end up being handcuffed being the only guy/guy combo. There are like 5 other teams. I hold back and don’t drink too much because I still feel a bit woozy from the night before. Andrew ends up picking a good amount of slack.
Gianfranco and Mary Kate end up drinking over a liter and get shit faced. I seriously don’t know how Mary Kate can out drink the guys that badly. Before 12:00, a group of us leave to go to a club nearby, Radost. I question going because the entrance fee is $12.50, but the guys are too drunk to do anything about it. Jarra is looming around the room during the night and it sucks that all these people are in the room and she can’t really use it.
People stumble around on the walk there and it takes forever to get there. When we get in, we realize that not everyone is there. People were scattered on the way there. After waiting for a few minutes, Gianfranco, Andrew, and I end up leaving. Nice way of spending $12.50 for 10 minutes of standing around.
When we get back, Gianfranco runs into the girls’ quad, I guess looking for Orian or Mary Kate. Turns out that only Allyse is there reading in her bed. For some reason, Gianfranco decides to unscrew a light bulb and breaks it on the ground. He then rants off some ridiculous story and starts singing.
Andrew then walks in and asks for a Goodnight kiss from Allyse. He then starts throwing himself onto her bed. For a moment, I was about pull him off, but she’s very insistent and gets him off. This gives Gianfranco an idea and he tries the same with no avail. He then decides that he doesn’t want to sleep in his room and stays on Mary Kate’s bed singing. I don’t know why Allyse allows this.
I go upstairs to grab some food and see Brenae and Jess in their room. They ask about the night and I tell them all about the craziness. They find it hilarious and are curious to see what Gianfranco is still doing in the room. We go there and he shouts out some really random stuff.
We return back upstairs and hang out for a bit over some food. They ask what I’m doing for fall break next week and I say that I’m staying. It turns out that Brenae might be staying in Prague too, so hopefully there’s going to be a group around that week to hang out with.
I try to return back into the room, but it looks like Charlotte is in Dillon’s bed, so I go back upstairs to watch some TV. By 4:00ish, I get back into the room and just go to sleep.

October 14, 2007
When I wake up, I realize that both Dillon and Gianfranco had people sleeping over. Charlotte wakes up in Dillon’s bed and for some reason, Orian wakes up in Gianfranco’s bed. I spend most of the day studying for Macro.
Some of the best hip-hop production by the one and only RZA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qZilB3o6lw
I’ve seen the Ron Paul speeches already, so they’re not anything special. However, seeing the interviews of actual Iraqis is very shocking.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=EzIPSGhooP4

October 17, 2007
Another SNL gem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu04-fY_pzc&mode=user&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdE5UbCC1qQ&mode=user&search=
Another SNL gem.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_93EfHR7Ut8
And more of “Enchantingly Gorgeous Cover Song Girl”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6GqWpuefc8
Greatest shouting match ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHB2I83_N_k&mode=related&search=

Here are the shows I’m trying to keep up with. It’s real tough realizing that a show is 6 episodes in and trying catch up with it while keeping updated with multiple shows coming out everyday.
Weeds
Pushing
Mad Men
Reaper
How I Met
Heroes
Dexter
Gossip Girl
30 Rock
Chuck
The Office
Californication
Smallville
Curb
Before 10:00, Christina goes in Alex’s room to hang out with Jarra and Dillon. It’s a bit weird since Christina isn’t really that with them.
At 10:30ish, Dillon goes out with people that come from another dorm. No one else goes out. Past 11:00, Gianfranco decides to go out with some people from downstairs. I would ask to join or something, but two midterms tomorrow keeps me away from that idea. Also, you guys might’ve noticed that I haven’t been updating the blog. It’s midterm week so nothing’s really been happening and I don’t really have the time to blow to update either.

October 18, 2007
I have two midterms today and they go alright, though I don’t think I did exceptionally well on either. After that, I go to Albert to buy some food. I try to expand my horizons and pick up some ground beef and onions to make burgers.
People keep making fun of me because all I’ve eaten for the past few months is literally, bread, sliced chicken, cheese, salad, pasta, and tomato sauce. I literally haven’t changed anything from this diet.
Now I’m glad that I have a week off and hopefully there’ll be some people not traveling so the week isn’t really boring.
Van Damme dancing. The sad thing is, I think I’ve seen this movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdA4pUAJjrk&mode=related&search=
This is also a good time to go on my rant about Girl Talk since I just listened to Night Ripper today. For those of you who don’t know, Girl Talk is a DJ that takes clips from songs and carefully knits them together to form a song. He’ll maybe start a song with a couple clips going and then he’ll just add and remove on and on from there. The music selection he uses is pretty interesting with everything from Elton John to Missy Elliot.
And seriously, I’ve never had music make me think as much as this. I guess I’ve listened to so much that I have an attachment to how he chooses his songs and how he places them. I’ve had this debate with Jeremiah. While he doesn’t really catch the references, he says that it’s still worth listening to.
While I do agree with that, someone who does that is completely missing out. It’s like listening to Steve Vai and not knowing about scales and modes he’s using, don’t worry I don’t know either. It’s like watching SNL and being Scott Wolfe and knowing who “McAdams and Gosling” are when Lazy Sunday comes on. It’s like only knowing the basic rules of Texas Hold’em and not seeing the art of professional play. It’s like watching X-Play and not understanding a reference to “Your base belong to us.” I think you can get the point.
Here’s what went through my head when I listened to Ask Me About.
Wait, one, two, three? That’s from DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing. Holy shit, I love Dave Banner’s Play. I have a remix of it and the song’s hilarious. Okay, this one’s obvious, Nine Inch Nails. It’s weird to have Dave Banner over it though. Alright, another obvious one with Gwen Stefani. Wait, this is someone saying “Imma hustla, imma imma hustla homie” and it isn’t Sandman from the Re-Up Gang spitting it. I know that phrase from We Got It for Cheap Vol. 2. I’m going to have to look this up.
Then the next song brings a genius mix of Amerie’s 1 Thing and M.I.A.’s Galang. I had to replay that part over and over to make sure that I was hearing that combination right. And then the end of the song has Area Codes by Ludracris, which is an inside joke here since Allyse keeps screaming that her area code is mentioned twice in the song.
And now you see what kind of experience it is to know the songs that are used? I’m definitely going to look up the songs that I don’t know and listen to them. I couldn’t imagine being a DJ with a wide knowledge of music and knowing most of these music references. It must be ridiculously fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBwYqtTkflw
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Ripper
At 8:00ish, I go upstairs to make dinner. For some reason, the kitchen isn’t filled up with people and I’m the only one making dinner, while Jess is doing work. The burger turns out alright, but it’s really dries since I get the pan too hot and almost burn the burger and lose all the juice.
Camilla and her friend from Norway drop by, but they go out to dinner and plan to go out when they get back. At 10:00ish, I notice that everyone is hanging out at Allyse’s room, but I don’t really know what to do so I guess I’m stuck in the room pre-gaming by myself. Past 10:30, Brenae steps in to ask if I’ve seen Camilla. I haven’t. The plan is to go out when they get back. Hopefully, it’s a fun night today because I’m drunk already.
By 11:00ish, Camilla and her friend get back from dinner, but they’re too trashed to go out and stay in. I go into Allyse’s room to find out that people are leaving soon, so I go outside to have a cigarette and wait. I’m not sure where we’re going, but if it’s a club, it’s a bad idea to bring a sweater or something because it gets so hot. It’s a decent size group of us with Dillon, Christina, Allyse, Jen, Liz, Brenae, Charlotte, and I.
However, it’s a nippy 40 or so degrees outside, which I can fight through. It turns out to be the worst situation to make that decision. It’s actually a walk to the place we’re going and it’s farther than the walks we’ve taken before to places. People mention how I’m only dressed in a short sleeve while they’re bundled up. I say that I’m not cold, but get caught for having my fists clinched from the cold.
Not even half way there, it starts raining. Walking quickly, 40 degree weather, and soaking wet. That is not a good combination, but I’m real drunk so it’s not as bad. It really would’ve sucked if I didn’t drink for the walk.
When we get there, it’s called the Blind Eye and it’s a cool little place. It has a bar, a small dance floor, and a skeevy looking room with seats for the whole big group of us. After I get my beer and go to the room where everyone is, there are two 40-50 year old guys sitting there too. It turns out that they’re Americans that have been staying in Prague and playing music and teaching English.
One of the guy’s is seriously Scott in 30 years. The guy has crazy frizzy hair, a really long stoner beard/mess, a shirt with red paint stains all over it, and a tie dye hoodie. He and his friends turn out to be cool guys talking about their kids and America and all that. It’s a good thing they aren’t the weird hitting on 20 year old girls type.
The stoner dude rolls a spliff and passes it around the room. I take major hits and after a bit, I feel a bit woozy from the drinking hitting me. Turns out I feel like this for the rest of the night. I randomly keep running out of the room onto the dance floor for songs that I like so I can keep myself from feeling shitty. The highlights include Bloc Party, Peter, Bjorn and John, and Shiny Toy Guns.
The stoner guy eventually leaves and we hang around and stuff. Liz and I keep playing with this big dog that’s literally just sitting in the corner of the room. It’s weird, but dogs are all over the place here. Brenae, Charlotte, and Jen leave because Jen keeps falling asleep. The rest of us end up staying.
At one point, a New Zealander comes in the room and hangs out for a bit. Dillon follows sports so he tells him that he has an All Blacks shirt on, which is the famous New Zealand rugby team. For some reason, there’s a debate about it and the guy gets really angry at Dillon. Dillon is just playful and tries to apologize, but the guy holds his grudge for the rest of the night.
Allyse tells us about how Gianfranco can’t look at her anymore. After his ridiculousness last Saturday (you can go back and read it), he was told by somewhat about what he did and he’s just embarrassed. She also added that when I was gone, he read the book she was reading to her for a full twenty minutes. I’m still not sure why she let that happen, but she said it was very amusing.
At some point Allyse, Liz, and I are on the dance floor. They ask what I’m doing for the break and I tell them that I’m not doing anything. They say that Christina just bought her ticket to Istanbul yesterday and that I should try to get a ticket to. They keep apologizing because they thought I was going on a trip with Gianfranco. They also want to make sure that I didn’t think I was being left out since I’m one of the only people staying for the break. While I did know what was going on, I deny my knowledge because it’d be awkward to confirm their suspicion. For some reason, people seem to be nicer when they’re drunk.
Allyse and Liz randomly leave, which leaves me, Dillon, and Christina. I walk around and have another beer, though I don’t think I need it. Christina and Dillon are talking to some guy. Christina stays with this guy for a while, while Dillon tries to help some random people around with their maps. He then gets a call from Liz and they’re lost looking for the dorm. We eventually leave to go find them, while the guy Christina talked to comes along. I don’t even finish my beer because I’ve had like 4 and I still feel real drunk.
We find the two and start on our walk back. There’s a bit of chitter chatter between us about Christina and the guy walking behind us. Someone suggests trying to get rid of him, but Christina broke up with her boyfriend or something, so we don’t do anything. Not sure what happen with the two, but I make some food when I’m back and look for plane tickets.
For some reason, a few of the major flight searches don’t allow for departing flights from Prague. I have no idea why. I eventually get a ticket leaving Sunday noon, though they’re supposed to be leaving in the morning. The flight costs $550, which seems pretty expensive, but it’s literally days before the flight and that’s how much Christina had to pay. I think I go to sleep at like 4:30.

October 19, 2007
I wake up and go to a nearby Chinese restaurant at 2:00 for take out. It’s loads of Kung Pao chicken for $6.50. The food isn’t very impressive and I realize that I shouldn’t have gotten it. Since I’m leaving in two days, I should be finishing all the food that I’ve stocked up on so it doesn’t go to waste.
I sit around for pretty much the entire day. At night, I watch Happiness directed by Todd Solondz. He literally is my new man. I’ve seen Palindromes before this and both make it up there for being my favorite films. He has a unique style to his films that make you feel like you’re watching something “different.” I get the same sort of feeling with Wes Anderson. Maybe someone can relate. He focuses mainly on dark and awkward situations. While some of them are funny, a lot of them are just straight up creeps, like a father telling his young son that he raped two of his friends.
When night rolls around, Dillon and Charlotte are hanging around in the room talking and stuff. She mentions that the girls went to see a movie and that she won’t be going out tonight. When they finally get back, I go to Allyse’s room to ask about the hostel that they’re at. Liz tells me and I book it for the four nights we’ll be there for $17 a night.
Charlotte is in and out and mentions how she might be going with Christina and the new guy to hang out, but she ends up not going. The girls spend the night gossiping away. Would’ve preferred to do something tonight, but what’re you going to do. I don’t know if this counts as the Friday night curse. This all been shitty, real shitty (shit faced shitty), and this night. That’s pretty weird.
I basically waste the night away doing nothing on the computer and watching a bunch of YouTube video. I don’t know why, but it’s real skeevs that I’m addicted to Vlogs by attractive women.
Oh yeah, I just realized that I have to take a trip to Tesco to get a bag for the trip. My backpack is too small and I’m not lugging a suitcase.

October 20, 2007
I start off the day watching some Californication. It turns out to be a pretty good show, though it’s a bit weird that scraggly David Duchovy is fucking so many bitches. I then take the trip to Tesco to purchase a duffel bag. I probably should’ve brought one.
At 6:00ish, the girls leave for their Gwen Stefani concert. I don’t think anyone’s really around, so I guess it’s a dead night.
At 11:30ish, Dillon asks if I want to go to Akropolis because the girls are leaving from the concert. I agree to go and we head out eventually with Jen, Liz, Charlotte, Dillon and I. I have a sweater this time because it’s cold and even with the sweater, it’s still real cold. I ask Dillon if it was this cold when we went to the Blind Eye. He says that it was probably colder then and it was also raining. I seriously must’ve been really wasted because I’m cold on this walk now.
The place turns out to be pretty cool and everyone gets a beer, while big Dillon finishes three for the night. We only stay there for an hour or so because the girls are tired. Nothing much really happens because the girls real like their yapping. On the walk back, the girls talk about trips and stuff for the rest of the year. I sort of walk ahead of them so I avoid whatever awkwardness. We get back and at 1:30ish and I’m probably going to sleep soon. Also, it turns out that my duffel bag might be too big to carry on and people suggest that I just shove stuff into my backpack. I slim things down a bit and it turns out that I can.
Apparently there are free computers there, but I can’t assure that I’ll be updating the blog, so I’ll speak to you guys sometime.

October 21-26, 2007
I'm writing this all at once, so it won't be as comprehensive as usual.
The flight turns out pretty well and on the second flight that's almost two hours long, I keep asking for wine and the flight attendant keeps giving me a nasty look for it. I get a buzz going by the time I'm off of the plane. Immediately I feel like a retard because I knew about the 20 dollar Visa charge, but don't have any money for it. I have to borrow from Dillon who's competent and got American dollars in Prague. At the airport, people start taking out money from the ATM. I didn't think about the ATM, so I realize that I don't remember my ATM PIN NUMBER! Before you start thinking I’m an idiot, I should give some decent excuses. For those who don’t know, I had problems with my bank account and stuff and had to make a new one by the end of the summer. So right before I came to Prague, I had a new PIN number and even brought the sheet of paper that has it. Then, a few weeks in here, I notice that we walk by a Citibank that’s 5-10 minutes away from us. I’m too lazy to walk that far for just an ATM, so I decide to take out loads of money. It’s been lasting me for a while, so I haven’t used my PIN for around or over a month.
I have Czech Crowns on me, expecting to get that, but they don't take it at the airport. So now I just don't have any money, how great. I have to borrow money for the metro to the city away from the airport. We then decide to take the few mile walk. I don’t see any exchanges that take Crowns, but it turns out later that people say that I could’ve.
I literally feel like a know-nothing loser because everyone thinks I’m an idiot and I have absolutely no money for me. It sucks that the hostel doesn’t take credit card, but they let me pay later. When we go to dinner, I try to use the credit card so I can pick up cash from everyone else paying for it, but the credit card doesn’t work. I email mom to try to deal with it and I end up walking around randomly by myself at 1:00 AM trying random PIN numbers at an ATM with no avail.
The next day, we go sight seeing, which you can see from the pictures that I posted. I have to keep borrowing money for the places we go to. Dillon and Charlotte are cool with it, but I have to borrow from Allyse and she gets pissed off. The next few days turn out to be some of the worst ever. Although it sucks balls to be ditched from hanging out, being on a cool trip with friends, but not enjoying it and being thrown down to the bottom of bottoms because of your incompetence really is worse.
I eventually email Brenae, who’s the only one back in the dorm to get the RAs to open my room to get my PIN. I eventually get my PIN three days into the trip. The credit card is also unlocked, but I don’t get much out of it because people are going for cheaper dinners and dinner is really the only time I can use it.
We see a whole lot of stuff and you can see that through the pictures. I do have comments though:
For some reason, there aren’t really any women around. A majority of the people around are males and the women that are around are middle age or older. It’s really weird that there aren’t any babes around.
For some reason, cats roam the streets. We’re not sure if they’re street cats or owned cats that just run around, but not seeing a cat on a block an anomaly.
People there don’t really drink, so beer is real expensive at basically New York prices.
Istanbul is very “Turkish.” It means that it’s not very diverse with cultures and races. This leads to a few things. First, I can’t go a day without being asked if I’m Japanese at least three times. There are a lot of Japanese tourists, so I guess that’s why. But still, people are quite curious about me.
The biggest thing is how they treat the girls. Everytime we walk by a restaurant, shop, or the bazaar (which is basically everything in Istanbul), there are comments. They get construction workers whistles. They get called “The Spice Girls” or “Charlie’s Angels.” Every single man passing by the street turns their head and gawks. It’s because there just aren’t many attractive white females around. Even with all the tourists, which there are so many of, I don’t see many. The girls reminisce about how they prefer Prague for just “ignoring us.”
Despite this issue, the people are genuinely friendly. Randomly walking in the bazaar, I speak this 40-50 year old man who actually goes as far as inviting me to dinner. People all the time ask where I’m from, which I answer America, but they’re obviously asking if I’m Japanese or Chinese or Korean. We even have a heated discussion about politics after talking a bit with a waiter about Turkey’s issues. If you haven’t been following the news, the PKK (a Kurdish militant group that presides in the Iraq-Turkey border) has recently had conflicts with Turkey and has killed tens of their soldiers and captured 8. Watching BBC World News there, the conflict is constantly talked about. Therefore, it’s a huge issue in Turkey and it’s what all the Turkish newspapers are about. It’s interesting to constantly hear from first person that people are against the conflict with Iraq and the PKK, but Turkey is still in there.
Dillon and Charlotte leave a day before us on Thursday. We basically run out of things to do on our last day there, Friday, but we randomly find a place with actually well priced beer. It’s like $2.75 for a .50 (1.5 beers). We actually do this starting at 3:30 in the afternoon and get pretty drunk since people haven’t really eaten. When we leave, there’s more of the drunken openness that I keep seeing. Liz apologizes for constantly bashing on me, but that it’s always a joke. Christina and I have a bit of a one to one about how I feel like complete shit for the money issue. I don’t even want to recall how embarrassing it all is for me and how crappy I feel while hanging out with the group for it. She says that I should’ve expressed myself and that people are just trying to shot some street smarts into me by being rough. I guess that’s a bit of an explanation.
One of the highlights of the trip is the dealings of JT and Steve. They live in the dorm and came to Istanbul during our trip because they were tripping around other places. The night that they arrive, they don’t really have anyone to hang out with, so they keep texting Liz about this cool guy they meet and how they’re going to a club. We don’t actually end up seeing them.
The next day, we randomly see them at Starbuck’s (I so wish they had one in Prague). They talk about how crazy their night was because their tab came to $3,000, but Steve pays $500 and the guy they meet pays the rest. Allyse has Dillon’s guide book and opens it up to some page. Literally, the book says this:
Watch out for this scam.
They’re looking for single white males. Check, they’re two single white males.
You will meet a well-spoken, nice Turkish guy. Check, they do.
He will tell you about a really cool club to go to. Check.
When we sit at a table, women will randomly come to your table to hang out. Check.
Instead of sitting at the usual area, you will be a back secret looking room. Check, when Allyse reads this part, JT matter of factly confirms that they did. Not like “holy shit, we got scammed…”
When the check comes, the drinks will be an absurd amount and you will be expected to pay. Check, they say that the drinks are like $80 each.
Literally, this is their entire night written in a book, word for word. I can’t imagine something more funny, but also so sad. JT mentions how the guy is really loaded and that he said he had the check, so he would pay them back for the hundreds of dollars they threw down. Steve then whispers to JT, “Yeah, he’s not getting us back.”
Jen and Christina leave on an early flight, while Allyse, Liz, and I have a 5:40. There’s a bit of delay and stuff, so we get back to the dorm past 10:30. Dillon’s back and I pay him the money I owe him. Alex comes in the room to speak about the night. I’m attentive to him talking about it and he even uses “You guys.” I later ask Dillon about the night and he says that he has a lot of work to do, so he has to finish it, as if he isn’t sure he’s going out. At 11:30ish, people just leave. I even thought of the Friday Night curse on the flight back because Liz and Allyse say that they’re way too tired to go out tonight. I’m always up for anything, so I hoped that I would be able to get in somewhere if people were hanging out.
Dillon and Alex get back by 1:30, so they aren’t out too much. However, Dillon does tell Alex, “Have fun tonight.” Alex then leaves 10 minutes later, so I guess he’s hanging out more. Fright Night curse still lives on.

October 27, 2007
Today is my day to pick up on shows, so I start downloading like crazy. If you haven’t seen the list, I have an Excel file of about 12 shows and which episode I’m up. I then Torrent the new episode every week and constantly have to keep updating the spreadsheet.
In the afternoon, I go to grab some more food and shampoo and shaving cream because I forgot that you can’t allow gels and liquids over 100 mL (small small amount) onto planes. They found them in the scanner and threw them out. The best part is the amount of Becherovka (special Czech gingerbread flavored liquor) that I saw in the garbage when they were throwing out my stuff. Literally, litres and litres of that stuff was just sitting there. People mentioned how it probably is worth it to chug down a decent amount of the stuff so it doesn’t go to waste. Then again, I’m not sure how well drinking large amounts of liquor in front of customs will go.
At 6:30, Dillon comes in with his friend Glen who’s visiting from America. Dillon remembers that he has to grab his laundry from downstairs and I mention how my laundry got stuck earlier. Even after putting the token in, I can’t start the wash and the laundry is locked in. Yes, they have weird laundry machines here.
Dillon says that putting in another token should start up the machine. I follow him downstairs to do so. On the elevator ride back up, he seems a lot friendlier than he usually is. He strikes up conversation about my day. He asks about if I heard that Oink was shut down. He later goes out to grab dinner with his friend.
By the way, this is the Istanbul photo album.
http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k128/dar482/
At 10:30ish, people start gathering in the room to hang out. We leave to go to Cross Club by 11:30. We meet some other NYU people there and I get a couple new names. We leave by 2:00 because some people are tired and Dillon and Glen are visiting Dresden tomorrow morning.
The six of us decide to transfer and get closer to the dorm before walking, but Dillon and Glen decide to run the rest of the way. For the rest of us, people start telling funny stories about their dorms on the way back. I try to sneak in two stories, but get cut off. I don’t know, but it’s real awkward, especially after people mentioned in Istanbul that I’m never one to tell stories and that I should.
When we get back, we find out that there’s daylight savings here and Alex decides to go back out since it’s not even 3:00 yet.

October 28, 2007
The next morning, I see that Jonah’s online. He’s been partying it up and is still up at 6:00-7:00AM. He actually tells me that NYU Prague Study Abroad online newspaper, praguewanderer.com, has my removed blog on there. WHAT THE FUCK! Who the fuck reads that shit and thinks it’s a good idea to put it up on a site for everyone to look for and read.
The scary part is that one of the editors is in the building, but I don’t know if she really takes care of that. Seriously, I don’t know how they fucking found that shit. You can go try yourself looking for it. Googling my name still takes flipping through a few pages to find it. Hopefully people don’t find it and decide to Google search and Cache through it.

October 29, 2007
I have to go to Vodafone today to recharge my SIM card because of the stupid Turkish phones. When trying to fix my PIN number problem, I tried calling Citibank with their international collect number. In America, it’s free 1800, but for international, they give a number that’s collect. The public phones there don’t work with it, so that sucks. Instead, I have to use my cell phone, which still uses my minutes. Since I’m away, it charges me extra per minute.
From the call, I actually find out that I can’t retrieve my PIN number and only can change it and have it mailed, which is completely useless. The call actually gets cut off after the call drains my SIM of the $12 it has left on it.
Actually one of my favorite Foo Fighters songs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKhnmUdmz74
In the morning, Gianfranco’s brother comes. At night, two girls arrive that are visiting too. When night comes around, loads of people come in the room and it becomes a huge party. The others are hanging out in Alex’s room and Dillon and Glen are planning to go to the Blind Eye.
I end up just sitting there while everyone is playing Kings and hoping that I get in on the plans for the night. When the game ends, it’s past 11:00 and I ask Gianfranco about where they’re going for the night. Turns out they’re going to the place with the 3 litre buckets of beer. He then passes me a bottle of vodka and I’ve only had 1.5 beers at this point, so I chug a large number of shots from it.
People take a bit to head out and I’m a bit drunk so I decide to drink some of my own vodka. When we’re about to leave, Gianfranco hands me a cup with loads of vodka and Cola. I say that I probably shouldn’t take it, but I end up chugging it for some reason. When we get outside, I feel woozy from the alcohol hitting me.
The walk there does me good and chills me out. However, it makes me feel a bit too good and I agree to do the Hoegarrden challenge, which involves two teams of three racing each other in finishing the 3 litre beer. We’re supposed to race 5 teams, but they only have two glasses of that size and I’m part of one of the first teams.
We end up losing even though I’m pretty sure that I do a good share of drinking. Soon after, the alcohol hits me bad and I run to the bathroom to chill out. I end up staying there for a bit and vomit a little bit. I think that part of it is because I’m tired and that is a horrible combination with getting real drunk. I then return back to the group, which has gotten considerably bigger with a few acquaintances. While I would love to hang out and socialize, I end up being way too wasted to do that. I’m very disappointed. I really shouldn’t have drunk from my bottle of vodka, taken the cup of mix drink with questionable amounts vodka, and partaken in the beer race. If I didn’t do these things, the night probably would’ve been real nice. Fuck me.
When I get back to the table, I end up paying $10 for my share. I can’t imagine how it could possibly cost that much, but I’m drunk, so I dish it out without question. We soon head back and I have a hard time walking only need a shoulder to lean on. However, Jared ends up giving me a piggy back ride for a large part of the way back. It’s real crazy. When I get back, I just pass out.

October 30, 2007
When I get up, Gianfranco, his brother, and the two girls are up. I tell Gianfranco about Jared carrying me, though I call him Christian, his roommate. I did it last night too. Gianfranco corrects me and it’s hella embarrassing. I get ready for class and head down through the elevator.
When I’m at the main door, I make sure that I have everything with me. I realize that I don’t have my keys. I go upstairs and spend 10 minutes searching the little corner of my area. I fucking can’t find them. Gianfranco tells me that I probably will be able to get into the dorm through the front guard if I knock since.
The day can’t get any worse. I literally have everything on me except my keys. Everything from my wallet, cell phone, cigarettes, the beer coasters that I stole, and the lighter that had in my pocket when I was sleeping. I remember clearing out my pockets when I went to sleep and putting it all on the table.
During my morning class, which is usually interesting and note heavy, I keep thinking about my keys and what I should do. I’m also a bit hung over and super tired.
For my hour and half break in between classes, I would’ve gone back to the dorm and rest a bit, but I don’t have my keys, so I have to stay in the computer room. I really have no idea how I’m going to sit through four and a half hours of class, straight.
Being pissed about wasting last night wasted isn’t enough. I can’t stop thinking about the millions of tons of bricks on my shoulders about my keys. I so hope that when I get back, I can find them, because otherwise, I’d have to try to ask for new keys from the building manager.
I don’t think it’s been done here yet because they have to change the locks for all the dorms, since they’re accessible by all the keys from everyone in NYU so they can get into any dorm. I think it costs $30, which I really don’t want to pay, but I can’t decide what’s worse, paying the money or the embarrassment of losing my keys.
Seriously, I have literally everything, but not my keys. I even think I remember having my keys when I was walking towards the dorm. This day can’t fucking get any worse. This sucks balls.
During my classes, I try to keep my mind off of it and I cool down a bit. When I get back between 6-7:00, I feel real hung over and take my chance to nap while everyone is gone, which doesn’t happen much. Dillon has a new friend over and Gianfranco still has three people staying here. When I get up, I feel a lot better and decide to take a walk to the restaurant to see if they found my keys.
On the elevator ride down, I see one of the RAs and ask about the replacing keys situation. She says that the building manager has spare keys around and to look for her. When I get to restaurant, they didn’t find any keys, so on the way back, I grab some Chinese take out.
I then try calling the building managers room in the building and knock on her door, but she isn’t around. Hanna tells me that I can keep up having the door guard open the door for me until I find the building manager tomorrow.
While I’m eating, Gianfranco’s crew returns from seeing a hockey game and go out for dinner and the night. I sit around for an hour or so while Dillon and his friend chill in the room. Liz comes in to talk about the night and says that Lucerna isn’t good tonight because it apparently has Wu-Tang related stuff.
I say that I have no problem with that and Liz mentions that I can go by myself and get carried back by Jared and that I should never drink for the rest of my life. I guess my mess causes opposition.
Again, people are taking forever and it bothers the dudes a bit because they want to go out and nothing’s progressing. Eventually, we head out to Chateau at 11:30. When we get there and grab our beers, only the girls are able to find a table to sit down at. I end up standing with Dillon and his two friends, but they’re talking about inside stories and I end up awkwardly standing there sipping by beer for a while. I stay on one beer for the night because I still feel a bit hung over.
We eventually find a table for all of us to sit down at. It’s fun exchanging stories and stuff. Christina asks me to pick up a beer and cigarettes for her and when I’m there, some guy hands me three roses. I try to graciously refuse them, but the man insists while he seems to be joking with his friends. For some reason, the woman sitting at the bar lifts up my shirt. I really have no idea what they’re thinking since they’re speaking Czech. I predict that it might be that he thought I’m a girl and that’s why the chick lifted up my shirt. When I get back to the table, people ask about the roses, I tell them what I think happened, and it’s all real funny, weird, and awkward.
Liz arrives back to the table from hanging around elsewhere and she feels really shitty because her and Jarra were bought absinthe shots, but Liz ends up taking both because Jarra doesn’t want hers. Liz sits down to chill out because she feels really shitty.
We eventually start taking the 30-40 minute walk back to the dorm. We stop by at a McDonald’s for people to wee. We also stop by one of the many food stands on the main street that we take back. It’s a small shack like a newsstand in New York, but serves food and stuff.
It even serves beer and alcohol, which really shows a difference in cultures. It also staples of Czech “fast food” like sausages, French fries, hot dogs, and my favorite, fried cheese. If you haven’t heard of about it yet, it’s so good. It’s a patty size mozzarella stick that’s put in a bun with mayo.
When get back by around 3:30ish and I go to sleep in the room. Or I should probably call it a hostel with all the people staying over.

October 31, 2007
I get up at 9:45 for my class and I’m in good spirits for some reason. When I get back from class and take a 2 and a half hour nap until 4:00. I slouch around until I have to go to the NYU Center for an appointment with my Academic Advisor, in New York. She said she made arrangements for me to call New York, but people didn’t know what I was talking about.
When I do end up calling, I missed by appointment, even those it’s only like 10-15 minutes. When I get back to the dorm, I open up my television show spreadsheet to download all the episodes.
By the way, I’ve only gotten one of my midterm grades back. My Macro class only has 7 people and the spread between the grades is significant. I got a 73, which is smack dab in the middle of the grades. Two people got 90s, two got 70s, and three got 60s. The professor said that the 70s are Bs, so it’s a decent curve. I’m not very happy or disappointed and hope I get a good grade on my final paper on minimum wage.
When I go up to make dinner, people are having a political debate, which I would love to bite into, but I’m busy making burger and fries. In the room, Gianfranco’s peoples are pre-gaming early at 9:00ish because the girls have a 6:30 flight to leave tomorrow.
I hang around and Gianfranco asks if I’m going to Radost, where literally everyone is going. I ask Dillon and he says that he’s not sure what’s happening, but that he and the fellas are not going there. Radost is having a Halloween thing, but I think it still has its regular ridiculous charge, $12.50 if you’re not wearing a costume. I’m basically the only person not wearing a costume other than Dillon and the guys.
I hang out in Alex’s room for a bit and hang out. Roman, a kid that doesn’t hang out with us, is there too. He talks about the places he goes and he says the shady restaurant/pub right next to us is great because it has $1 beers. I tell him about Radost’s cover charge and his jaw literally drops to the ground. I think he’s planning to go to the Blind Eye with Jarra, Alex, Christina, Charlotte, Dillon and the guys. I plan on going too, but go downstairs where everyone is to check things out.
I go downstairs and literally everyone is there. The room has like 20+ people in it all ready to go to Radost. Allyse is dressed up classic 40s style and asks where my costume is. I tell her that I don’t have one and she randomly thinks that I should be Bruce Lee because of my hair.
I don’t wear wife beaters, so she grabs hers, which fits me. I’m pretty that’s a bad thing. I throw on sweat pants and voila. We take the walk to Radost and I take off my glasses when we walk in to make the costume look better in case they’re strict about the costume issue.
They’re really not because some people don’t really look that dressed up inside. Basically everyone in NYU is there and it’s a nice atmosphere. While people don’t make me feel weird, at some points, I do because I’m only wearing a wife beater. Unfortunately, I’m basically the only person wearing so little, including the girls there, which is pretty weird.
I pre-gamed a whole bunch, so I only need one beer there for the entire night. I jump around from going to the dance floor and walking around. Eventually, I really get into the dance floor by 2:00ish and by then, almost everyone has left. The floor fits almost 100 people, but there are steps onto a stage that fits around 20. At the back of the stage is the DJ, but people dance on the stage in front of him. Brenae, Jess, Andrew, and I take the spotlight and boogie down a show for everyone. We also notice that Gianfranco is making out with the mysterious girl in our building, Julia. She actually looks a lot like Robin from How I Met Your Mother, not bad.
When 3:30ish rolls around, Brenae and I decide to leave while Jess and Andrew stay.

November 1, 2007
I get back my Transition and Economics midterm back today and I get 100. Granted, it’s nothing special. I think there are others that get 100s too and personally from my work, I don’t think I deserve it. However, the class is really just a jumble of loads of facts and information I guess as long as you show that you can throw some of it down with consistency, that’s all the professor is looking for.
When I get back from class, I nap until I leave for the Magic store in Prague that has a weekly draft, what a nerd. The players there actually turn out to be a lot more competent than I expect. I end up winning twice and losing because of my hugest flaw of playing too fast. In the end, we divvy up the rares based on placement and I only get like $8 worth out of the $15 I pay for the draft. The payout is real shitty so that first place barely makes a profit.
The whole thing takes longer than I expect and I end up getting back at 10:20, which isn’t too bad. I expect people to be around, but holy shit, the whole building is cleared. People always go out later than 10:20, maybe even 11:45 sometimes. Maybe they went to dinner first and then immediately went out from there. Even Gianfranco and bunch are gone. Out of all the days, it’s got to be today that people decide to go out early and I’m up shits creek. I see Christina schmoozing around looking for Alex across the hall. It’s so awkward that has to wait for the elevator right outside my door and doesn’t even say Hi.
Damn, another really sucky night in Praha.
I never expected to say this, but I love Steven Seagal. I love this type of fight scene.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMu2xNBpyQc
And this is just funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_0kKACp11Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAJqO1ELOoM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxIWs_bNwws

November 2, 2007
When I go to sleep, Gianfranco comes back at 4:00 and passes out in his bed. Then, the girl that brought him back comes in. Instead of leaving him to sleep, she stays near him and keeps whispering, “You’re such a douche bag.” I find it hard to hold in giggling at a girl telling him this while he’s sound asleep and snoring.
After a while of this, she eventually leaves when everyone else comes back. I vaguely recall Dillon and the guys being loud when they get back and it must’ve been real late.
The next morning, Gianfranco says that he’s still drunk at 12:30PM. He’s all loud and belligerent with his brother. So it seems like people had a good night…
Anyway, onto a list of my favorite albums this year, not in any order.

Back to Black- Amy Winehouse
Armchair Apocrypha- Andrew Bird (It sucks that I didn’t find out about him earlier. Barroque pop has become pretty much my favorite genre and this album is a clear example of why.)
The Flying Club Cup- Beirut
Ash Wednesday- Elvis Perkins
The Reminder- Feist
The Offering- Killah Priest
Imagine Our Love- Lavender Diamond
Kala- M.I.A.
Friend and Foe- Menomena
The Magic Position- Patrick Wolf
Good Girl Gone Bad- Rihanna
Beauty & Crime- Suzanne Vega
The Con- Tegan and Sara
Shock Value- Timbaland

Man, that’s quite a few albums.
Marco and Gianfranco end up napping during the night until people come in to wake them up for the night. At 10:30, Charlotte comes in to chill. She talks about people going out for the night and stuff. I head to the fridge for my beer, but I’m pretty sure that Dillon and the guys took it because they’ve been using the fridge for beer.
When I get back, I have to make myself a mix drink with my vodka instead. Dillon mentions how they walked back from Cross Club, which is crazy. The walk has to be over an hour long. Charlotte mentions how some of the girls are ready and they’re planning to go to some bar.
There’s a divergence because Dillon and the guys are planning to go the Blind Eye. They mention how they all might meet up at some time during the night. It’s 11:00 now and Dillon and the guys are chilling with a girl they know that’s also visiting on the other side of the room. This night better not turn out like yesterday. That would suck so much.
Turns out that it does turn out that way. Dillon and three others go out before 12:00. I don’t really care since it’s a tight group of four of them and it would’ve been awkward since they just talk about shit they did before.
I guess I could’ve been more forward and asked Gianfranco he briskly left, but I sort of was depending on everyone else. Then again, maybe I could’ve gone downstairs and seen what the girls were doing before they left. I don’t know…
At 12:30, I go upstairs because I hear some people there. It’s only Brenae and Jess in their room. I tell them that I guess they’re staying in for the night too. Actually, they went to dinner and saw a movie. I’m a bit tired and buzzed from pre-gaming, though there wasn’t actually any “game,” and they ask if I’m drunk because of I’m always drunk. Well, at least when I’m out and stuff. I dismiss it and say that I’ve only had a little to drink. I’m probably going to sleep soon, I’m bored.

November 3, 2007
I spent most of the day going on and off of Heat. It’s 10:00 by the time I end, I absolutely love it. It’s definitely a classic and has an all-star cast with DeNiro, Kilmer, and Pacino.
At 9:30, Gianfranco heads out with his brother, but asks if Lucerna has a coat check. I tell him that I don’t remember that night, since it was my messiest night here. A bunch of people hang out in Alex’s room. Hopefully I’ll be going out with the peeps tonight.
At 10:00ish, people begin gathering around to leave. Dillon’s friend is leaving at 4:00, so he plans to stay in, but also needs to go to an ATM for a bit of money. When Charlotte walks out of the room and Alex is standing at the door for the elevator, I ask them where they’re going. They say the Seven Wolves. Nothing is said after that, so I try to slip in a super awkward “Would it be cool if I come,” but I get cut off that they quickly leave when the elevator is up.
I get some reassurance when Dillon says that he’ll be coming back since he’s going to the ATM with his friend. I ask him if he’s heading out afterwards, and he says he’s not sure. So not only did I clearly get snubbed, but Dillon’s friend and maybe Dillon will be staying in the room for the night. As much as it sucks to have the stay in the dorm nights, it somewhat helps that the room (and the building for that matter) is cleared so I can go on the balcony for a smoke, and whatever.
Now I can’t even have that. I don’t know, maybe other people will be around.
Before 11:00, I hear people upstairs, so I go to grab some soda and see what’s up. It turns out that Andrew is hanging out in Brenae and Jess’ room. I walk in to say Hi and ask them what they’re doing for the night. They say they’re going to a club called N11. I go downstairs to grab some vodka with my soda and confirm that I’m going out with them when asked. Camilla comes up and she’s going too.
Unfortunately, people take long and we leave at 12:30 and have to take the tram system. On the way to the tram, I’m real drunk, but we end up spending a long time at the club that I only get two beers there. We get there and it’s a $2.50 fee for Andrew and I, which isn’t too bad. The place isn’t too big and the dance floor isn’t that bouncin,’ but it’s still a nice place. I grab a beer, but it’s only a .33L instead of the standard .5L. We also meet Toni and her two friends visiting. Jade and Manny also show up.
The entire night is spent dropping it down on the dance floor. I don’t think I’d ever say this, but clubbing it out is definitely something I’m going to miss about Prague.
At 3:30ish, we decide to head back. I decide to steal a glass and a shot glass because what’s cooler than that? Camilla, Andrew, and Jess are real drunk, so they start trying to walk back, but go the wrong way, while Brenae and I decide to take the tram.
I try to chase after them, but they ignore me and when I’m running, I break my shot glass because I place it inside the beer glass. For some reason, the tram picks people up, but sits there for 10-20 minutes.
When Brenae and I get back, the three of them are already back. We hang out in the kitchen while Andrew makes cheese fries with dill dressing. When Jade and Manny get back, he makes another batch and disappears just as quickly as the first.
We hang out for a while and Manny talks about drinking a gallon of milk shouldn’t be that hard. I mean, it is doable for some people. Andrew is skeptical and hands him a litre of skim. He downs it in less than 30 seconds. Some people are just good at drinking liquids.
Everyone puts him up to do the real gallon with whole milk the next day. While we’re hanging out, we see the girls come up to the kitchen for a bit before going down. It sucks that I got so badly rejected by the group, but it was really fun hanging out with that I don’t usually roll with. Hopefully it happens some other time. I go to sleep at 5:00.

November 5, 2007
The day before, I don’t really do anything other than watch Supernatural. I watch the five episodes of this season, the third season, so far. Camilla suggested that I watch it a few nights ago and it’s good. Now I’m still up around 15 shows to keep up on my spreadsheet.
The class I’m currently in is boring, so it’s a good thing that I bring my laptop. I spend most of the class reading my blog from the beginning and reminiscing a bit.
While the semester is winding down, there are a few things that I realize. The first is that I really have to do some sightseeing in Prague. While everyone did that the first week and took tours and stuff, I didn’t. So now I have to look online and find out what sights there are in Prague for me to see before I leave.
This also involves the small pubs in Prague that have their own special beer. I unfortunately haven’t gotten to that essential part of Prague. I don’t know why the others don’t seem that interested in it either. After looking around on beer sites online, I’ve found two places.
One of them is a pub that’s real close.
http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp?PlaceID=1653
However, I’m not sure that I want to go myself and it’s not really a night place to go since it closes at 11:30. I guess I might have to go by myself at some point.
The other place is a beer shop, which is sort of a tourist trap since the beers are under $2. That’s a big difference compared to the $.50 beers at the supermarket. Anyway, it’s not far from NYU, so I’ll probably go after class on Wednesday.
http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp?PlaceID=1782
After hearing about Josh and CNF visiting Binghamton, I don’t want to sound girly, but I do really miss the ol’ NY. Bingo was such a great year and the summer only topped that. I remember a week where I literally wasn’t home except for sleep. I woke up at 8:00 for work, got off at 5:00 to play b-ball, went somewhere for dinner, we did something for the night, and got back at night to sleep. Rise and repeat. Those were fun times.
I guess it’ll be too cold for b-ball when I get back, but we surely can squeeze in a BBQ somewhere in there. We actually haven’t had a real one since High School. And then there was the time we all argued in Walbaum’s. And then a BBQ never came around for this summer. Actually, Josh had some really good steak at his house with Sam Adams. That was a good night.

November 6, 2007
The night before, Gianfranco mentions to JT that he’s gained like 20 lbs. here. That’s pretty crazy, but I guess I understand since I gained almost 10 lbs at Bing. It’s a good thing that I lost it over the summer and I haven’t changed here in Prague. I guess it’s because I’ve been cooking for myself and I haven’t really been eating unhealthy things. I’ve been eating shit tons, but I’m usually too lazy to cook meat, which is probably how I gained at Bing.
Then again, Gianfranco goes out for dinner a lot and the food here is real horrible for you. It’s all fried and filled with grease and fat. And I’ve only eaten out a hand full of times here. I don’t know, I still really want to go the microbrew restaurant. I looked up their site and they have vanilla, banana, and coffee flavored beer. They even have beer champagne. Also, if you want to simply try some of their beers, you can get a $.50 third of a beer sample instead of a full glass.
I guess I could try slipping it into conversation next time I’m out. It definitely seems like something up Dillon’s avenue, but it’d be awkward to only ask him and to see what happens.
Now that the end of the semester is arriving, I need to start doing some work. While I think I only have finals for two of my classes, I’m somewhat optimistic that all my four classes require papers. While they’re more time consuming than studying for a test, I enjoy writing on issues that I’m interested in.
For my Macro, I’m set on writing about the minimum wage. I still have to figure out how I’m going to make that more specific since you can write books on just the minimum wage. I might do its history in the US and then bring in its deleterious effects.
For my Transitional Economies class, I’m not sure what I want to do. So far, my best idea is doing Estonia, or part of the “Baltic Tiger.” The leader of the country had only read Milton Friedman’s book during the country’s transition from communism and it stands out as an economically strong country despite what it had to go through. And you guys should know how much I love free market economics and my man Friedman.
My EU and US paper is interesting. I’m supposed to pretend that I’m an official and write a letter to a government official. Obviously, it’s easiest to write it to a US official, but I still have to tie in how the issue affects the EU. I’m thinking foreign policy (like the Balkans in the 90s, Afghanistan, and Iraq), but that stuff is pretty convoluted, especially the mess in the Balkans. The other two I have in mind are the “War” on drugs, immigration and agricultural subsides, all of which plague the EU and US.
My EU class paper is a bit loose. The class is specifically on the formation of the EU, its structure, and issues it faces. I think he mentioned today that we can bring in the US, so it’s almost like the same situation as my EU and US relations class. I don’t think I want to risk writing on the same subject though. That would be sweet though.

November 7, 2007
After class, I head across the bridge to the beer shop. It has a really small display, but has mostly beers that I’ve never seen before. I randomly grab six and it only comes out to $6.50. I then go next door to Bohemia Bagel. I keep hearing about the place, but the one near NYU instead of this one. I decide to grab lunch there and I sort of understand what all the rave is about. It has American looking bagels and other non-Czech foods that Americans probably miss. There’s couscous, cream bagels (even with lox), etc.
When I get back, I download some more shows and then have a beer and nachos. I then nap for a bit until Gianfranco comes back. He leaves for his soccer game and the others go out to dinner. Alex is a health nut, so he never go outs for dinner.
Gianfranco comes back super drunk at 10:00ish and even falls trying to put on some shorts. He has to take a shower because it’s pouring at a kind 41 degrees. That’s literally freezing if you’re outside and wet at a soccer game. At one point, it was even hailing.
When Alex sets out of his door, Gianfranco is loud and asks where he’s going. He says he’s going to some bar and I hear people gather at the stairs to depart. Gianfranco then goes to the study lounge to smoke with pot dealer JT.
I guess it’s another night for me to watch some my shows…
Anyway, I’ve tried this beer by the way when I went to the beer factory.
http://ratebeer.com/beer/pilsner-urquell-kvasnicov%FD-(unfiltered)/44956/
And of the six beers I bought, I look forward to this to most.
http://ratebeer.com/Beer/herold-cerny-lez%E1k-(bohemian-black-lager)-13%B0/10941/

November 8, 2007
For my EU class, we have a guest speaker that is working for an organization trying to push democracy around the world. She keeps mentioning questionable things that seem illegal in the country. Like funding freedom fighters in Burma and giving illegal amounts of medicine to Cubans and supporting an illegal black market for it.
And again, this is done through the support of NGOs, or non-government organizations. This means, there’s no actual country clearly interacting with another. It’s a bunch of non-elected people who think they have a moral high ground who support certain ideas in countries where they should have no say. The worst part is that they’re usually funded by a country’s government, although these people running around the world aren’t actually elected and could care less about where the money comes from.
I also pump my fist when she mentions the socialized healthcare system of Cuba. She says it’s not great as people abroad think (Michael Moore), despite the mirage that Cuba forms. It may be “socialized,” but isn’t equal at all. That even includes people that simply don’t even get care in the country side. Not only this, for those who want to get care, they obviously are forced to go to the black market without the help of the government. And as an undemocratic country, the black market is illegal. The government is trusted to give care, but when it doesn’t, you can’t do anything. Free markets one, socialism nil.
I also think this woman’s fighting a losing battle. Everything she’s mentioning is like scooping a bucket in an ocean. The organizations are supporting ideas of democracy and things, but ignoring the economic aspects. When the Central and Eastern European countries transitioned from socialism, they didn’t focus on human rights and other freedoms. They correctly directed their attention onto moving towards free markets with the least harm to their economies. A famous economist, de Soto (forgot first name), says that the most important issue is to support property rights to ensure growth of an economy, price liberalization, and personal economic responsibility. Without these rights, free markets cannot function. No free markets, no nothing.
It’s funny that she thinks NGOs, what she supports, may be better at supplying welfare to people than the government itself. I’m not saying either is better, but it’s questionable to make this assumption.
When asked how much her budget is, she says 40 million CZK, Crowns. A student says that’s $2 million, but my professor corrects him that it’s $2.2 million because of the rapidly falling dollar.
Everyday I walk by the exchange place, it keeps falling. I also notice that the tourist areas have much worse exchanges. I’ve seen 17.25 Crowns for a dollar. When I get off the metro, near Charles Bridge (a tourist attraction), it’s 18.12. A block away, it’s 18.50ish. I guess hunting for exchange rates actually works.
For those who don’t see how this matters, imagine my $1000 MacBook now costing $1200. $200 gets some decent upgrades.
When I’m making my dinner, I overhear that Jess and Brenae need to wake up tomorrow to leave for Paris. Allyse and Jen are going somewhere too tomorrow. Gianfranco goes out with JT at 10:00ish. Dillon’s been gone from the room for a while. I look around the building and I think everyone’s pretty much gone. Then again, I downloaded three recent episodes of Howard Stern on Sirius. They’re five hours each and I’ve been listening to all day. I guess I’m going to be catching up on that then.
At 11:20, Dillon comes in with his younger sister. She’s probably around my age.
Charlotte and Jen walk in and ask if there’s something happening for the night. People aren’t really around, so people wait for Alex to get back. When he does, he says he doesn’t feel like going out and would random hang out in the room. Charlotte comes back in the room and basically nothing’s happening because people aren’t in “full force.”
Dillon asks what the situation is for tomorrow. Charlotte says Allyse and Jen are going to be gone. Jarra’s busy. Alex says he’s in and “that’s about it.” It’s a pretty rough blow with me sitting five feet away from her hearing all this. Meh, hopefully I still get in tomorrow though.
Dillon leaves with Molly to drop her off at the hotel with their parents.

November 9, 2007
In the afternoon, Gianfranco has three friends over visiting, Kevin, Derek, and Jesse. At night, they plan on going to dinner and I’m invited, so I go along. We go to Brothers, the Czech restaurant a block away. I get grilled chicken with garlic/cheese over it. Along with fries and two beers, it’s $10.
People are unsure about what’s happening with the night. We pregame in the room until we head to some expensive club with an open bar. When we head out, I randomly see Roman, a kid that’s in the building but I don’t really see much or hang out with. He has a friend with him that’s visiting.
They’re invited to come with us and they do. After a messy trip looking for the place, we find it and pay the ridiculous $17.50 cover charge. However, it’s an actual open bar and I get my share of whiskey and Cokes for the rest of the night. And this is all after pre-gaming a shits load. It’s a big club and there are hundreds of people moving their bodies to the megamix.
Because it’s open bar and they give us little plastic cups, people are very liberal with their drinks and it’s poured all over the place. The floor is so slippery and I fall at least three times. At one point, it’s before 3:30ish and Roman and I decide we should go back. Roman goes to look for his friend Drew. During this, we find some random guy named Honza. I’m super drunk, but he’s a cool guy and I invite him to hang out with us tomorrow and he gets my number.
We start walking back, which takes almost an hour. On the walk back, we stop by at the stand to pick up a huge sausage/hot dog thing with cooked onions and mustards. Yes, it’s so delicious. Unfortunately, I’m too drunk to realize that I get ripped off. I only realize the next day that I paid like $5.50 for it when it should be like $1.00 something.

November 10, 2007
I wake up to Gianfranco and the guys being loud. For some reason, Kevin got cut somewhere and there’s blood all over the bed. They then go to brunch. I go back to sleep and Derek does the same.
At 2:00, Roman calls me. I planned with him last night that we’d go to the mini-brew restaurant. We walk over there, but can’t find it. It seems that it has been replaced, which doesn’t make sense, but we give up anyway. When I get back later, I actually find out that we found the address 15 for the street that intersects with it. So we were actually a block away, but we found number 15 for the wrong street.
Roman tells me that he plans on doing some sightseeing with Drew and I don’t really have anything to do, so I follow along. We take the 30 minute walk to Old Town, which is where Prague looks “old” with the streets and the buildings. Even though the inside the buildings are actually modernized restaurants, gifts shops, and other tourist traps.
We go to Bohemia Bagel, the one that I didn’t go to. It’s a really cool place and has really American food. It has stuff that you’d basically find at a diner. Roman and I get eggs, sausage, and potatoes. Drew gets blueberry pancakes.
When we leave, we see a huge crowd of people outside. It’s a rally because we recently got an e-mail from NYU that there will be a neo-Nazi rally today. We go outside to join the rally and realize that it’s for the anti-Nazis.
The crowd has hundreds of people and we stop at a large area. We stay there for a few hours. It gets a bit wild at some points. Throughout it, we hear three explosions, which we initially think are gun shots. Some guy gets a bottle broken over his head. Only a few skinheads show up and people keep on shouting at them, while the police hold people back.
Over a hundred riot police are around making sure that the crowd doesn’t move around. They even bring five police on horses and dogs to calm the people. Eventually, the crowd dissipates and the police start to outnumber the crowd. Roman, Drew, and I leave. I get back before 6:00.
At night, people start pre-gaming for going out to Karlovy, biggest club in Central Europe. We play a bunch of drinking games, but the RA comes in and tells us that we’re really loud. She’s the more uptight RA, but she just tells to quiet down and move it out.
When people are getting ready to leave, I see Alex getting ready to leave too. I ask him about his night and he says he going out with only Jarra, Dillon, and Charlotte to some place. I’m a bit torn, but I end up deciding to go out with Gianfranco and others.
We leave by 11:30 and we have a big group of almost ten people. Instead of taking the metro, we go to a non-stop Herna. People look down upon Hernas because it’s a pub where regular Czech people go to because it’s super cheap and there’s gambling. While some of them are shady, most are harmless, but still hold a stigma.
Stuff’s really cheap there and I get two Becherovkas on the rocks, which is only $3.50. At any other place, a single shot is around $3.50 and beer can be $1.50-$2.00 instead of $1.00 at the Herna.
The metro ends at 12:00 and I try to get people to leave, but it doesn’t happen. We leave to take the tram instead. I steal a bandana sized cloth that’s for the table. It’s got a really cool design on it.
We walk a few blocks to the tram and it’s super cold for me because everyone else has a coat or sweater. I don’t want to deal with coat check, so I fight the cold. On the tram, we meet an American that’s visiting Prague by himself. He’s in his 20s. I tell him that Karlovy is a must see in Prague. When we get off, he decides that he wants to check the place out.
People walk at different speeds, so we separate like crazy and I don’t see the guy anymore, even though he does get off the tram. People are really hungry, so four of us separate from the group to get a fried cheese sandwich at a stand. Some toothless homeless guy comes over and jumps around us. He’s all dirty and hilarious and we get pictures with him.
On the walk to the club, Derek and I talk for a bit. He asks me about transferring and everything. It gets brought up about the night life at NYU and stuff. He says that people go out to bars and clubs all the time and that he’ll need to hook me up with a fake. Watch out New York, Spring ’08 is gonna have it happening.
Before entering the club, there’s a line outside. Derek and I introduce ourselves to two Irish ladies. They have a gang of girls that came to Prague for one of their birthdays. They turn out to be pretty cool and they say that they’re also going to the floor that’s playing Oldies.
When I get up to the second floor, I grab a beer at $2.00. The bartender is a bit annoying because he takes $1.00 of my change and gestures to get it as tip. I see him do the same with other people.
We dance for the entire fucking night and it beats the shit out of me. Christina and Toni randomly show up. I’m introduced to Toni’s brother Demetri, I guess he’s visting. The Irish girls aren’t partying it up on the dance floor and are just standing around near the door. I try to get them to come on the dance floor, but they decide to stay in their area.
Gianfranco and Derek eventually decide that we should leave when it’s past 4:00. We can’t find Jesse and Kevin though and give up on that. We see Dan and Nicole outside and pick up a random cab when they agree that we can illegally squeeze 5 of us in for $5 each. They say it’s a good deal, but I know that it isn’t.
Gianfranco and Derek don’t have money, so I have to lend them $10, which I still have to get back.
When we arrive in the dorm, Dan comes in the room to smoke up with us. I get super high, but I’m also hit with being tired. I lie down and can’t stop myself from laughing. I drink over half a litre of water, but my mouth keeps feeling so dry.
Then, they Skype Gianfranco’s brother, Marco. He’s having a party on his end and we’re able to get two chicks to flash their boobs. I pass out and sleep after that.

November 12, 2007
I get my US and EU Relations paper back today. I get an A, but the comments don’t make it seem like I get that grade. The comments are really hard to read, but the professor mentions twice that the paper is too one sided. I don’t know, I’m very opinionated and if not showing the other side is part of it, too bad.
Also, I recently saw one of the most awkward and disturbing moments on television. It was on Smallville and Lana had just got Clark Kent’s abilities. Here it is:

After this happening, she starts coming onto Clark. Then the camera turns away and people notice earthquakes all over. Chloe, their friend, goes over to the house and asks what the earthquakes were. Lana’s like, “Uh.. Yeah.. That was us.”
YES! They JUST suggested that Lana and Clark did ____ and that caused the earthquakes… When Chloe is told this, she says, “Well this is awkward.” She then makes it more awkward by asking Lana about ____ because she thought her and Clark couldn’t do _____. They still haven’t explained that Lana just got superpowers and Clark is embarrassed that Lana is telling these things to Chloe.
Man…

I just finished the last episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. You have to see it.

November 13, 2007
The night before, loads of people come in the room to smoke out our window. It’s almost ten people. I really would like to join then and get a few hits, but I sit there idly while they all are high and rowdy.
During class, my professor tries to make a reference to David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. He asks if the class knows about it and people just stare at him with a blank face. I think only another person and I know who he is and what the show is. My professor is completely surprised. I still have to try watching that show again since I stopped after two episodes. Damn is that show weird.
My professor keeps mentioning the issues with how it’s illegal to deny the Holocaust or have a swastika. I’m literally sitting there livid for the entire class because is completely despicable to have such legislation. Although the professor mentions our opinions on it, but people don’t really say anything, so it gets dropped.
This is really different compared to the negative attitude that people had towards the neo-Nazis rally. My EU and US Relations professor even slightly slipped in how he supported harm towards them. It’s just lovely how people are completely clueless to the definition of the basic human rights of freedom of speech and ideas. Now I probably want to do my final paper on this.
During night, Gianfranco and Derek speak about going out. After much debate and confusion, they decide that they should go to meet the “girls from Richmond” so that they get there first and “have a better chance later in the week.” It seems to be a “brotha” thing for them, but Gianfranco does mention that tomorrow is “a big night” when all the NYU people go out.
I check on the blog and look up Wednesdays. It turns out that the few times I’ve been to the Mecca and Cross Club connection were on Wednesdays and everyone really was there. I really hope that I’m part of that.
By the way, there’s just something I love about this old style jazzy sound.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfJrwLJJp3A

November 14, 2007
I start doing my Estonia paper today because I should be handing in the draft soon. I run by two pages before I decide to poop out and make some dinner.
During the night, Gianfranco confirms that I’m going out tonight and I am. At 10:00ish, we go downstairs to pre-game with loads of people. We play a few drinking games and have loads of time to catch the metro before 12:00. However, people are slow and unable to leave in time and we have to get a cab instead. There again are lots of NYU people there. I bring a Coke bottle with vodka and Coke inside. When I get frisked, the bouncer finds it and I have to down it in front of him. I’m real drunk, but the dance floor keeps me from getting woozy drunk.
The night’s a bit blurry, but Gianfranco is hanging out with a girl and Derick and others are outside ready to grab a cab for four. I don’t want to take a cab back by myself, so I get lost looking for the tram. When I finally do take it, I walk back. I obviously get the classic Prague hot dog on the way. It all takes me almost two hours to get back. I sleep by 4:00ish for my 10:30 class.

November 15, 2007
Immediately after my 1:30 class, I sign up for classes. I sign up for the basic politics classes, Political Theory, Power and Politics, and International Politics. They’re prerequisites for a lot of classes. It’s annoying that my fourth class is World Cultures: Chinese and Japanese. Who the fuck wants to take a class on non-Western cultures. Fuck that, but it’s part of NYUs requirements.
I would’ve taken one on modern Israel, which seems a lot more interesting, but I can’t find the professor on RateMyProfessor, while the Chinese and Japanese is supposed to be real easy.
At night, I’m sitting around, expecting to go out with Gianfranco and others. However, him, Derick, and their friend decide that they should go to a strip club. When they’re ready to leave, Gianfranco asks me if I want to go. I contemplate going out with others for the night, but I finally decide, what the fuck, why not.
We leave the dorm at 9:30! That’s crazy compared to how we usually leave at 11:00-12:00. Gianfranco has Becherovka, so I down loads of it as my pre-game.
We take the metro to the “Time Square” of Prague. We find some lady and she leads us to Darling Cabaret. It’s supposed to be one of the best strip clubs in Prague and it was suggested by ballah drug dealer, JT. The lady gives us a tour of the area before we end up paying in the front. The entrance is $10. And no, there are no pictures. There’s a sign at the entrance that shows pictures of no guns, knives, and…. cameras.
The place is literally straight out of a movie. It’s a legit strip club with the most beautiful women I’ve seen in my life. Immediately, when we sit down, Derick orders Pilsner, which is a brand beer. It’s like ordering Johnny Walker instead of a random brand of Scotch. Instead of asking for the cheapest beer, I just confirm that I’m having “a beer” and I still get a Pilsner.
The beer comes out to $20 each when they usually have cans for $5. We sit around for a few strip shows and I’m told to search for someone to get a table dance from. I look around and it’s a rigorous process. I find “blue girl,” which everyone likes, but she doesn’t dance. Instead, we get a girl that’s top tier there.
Three more guys join us so the table dance is $50 between us. I skeeve out and only drop $5. She puts a mat on the table and has a glass of ice. There’s naked dancing on the table and she gives lap dances all around. Gianfranco gets vagina juice on his tie and gets slapped by boobs. Max gets his nipples twisted. It goes on for like 7 minutes.
Two guys then go to look for a liquor store for vodka. At the beginning of the night, there’s a plan to get Derick laid from one of the girls because it’s around his birthday and it’s on Gianfranco. During the night, girls keep propositioning us for “going upstairs” or a table dance or lesbian table dance. We have to keep refusing and tell them maybe later.
Eventually, Gianfranco goes to ask the girl that we got a table dance from for Derick. He awkwardly comes back and says that there are girls that are dancers and girls that will “go upstairs” with you. While there are a handful of more attractive women (and one that we point out is probably 18), Gianfranco and Derick finally decide on a girl and Derick goes upstairs with her.
Max and I then go out to grab a drink. We find a pub. I don’t really want to get anything since I’ve already dropped so much money. I then see the sign that it’s $2.00 for a beer, which is alright, so I order one. Max pays and I try to get him back. He says it costs $4.00 from the change he got. I go to ask the lady and she says the sign is only for breakfast or dinner special, or whatever bullshit.
Completely horrible advertisement since it’s right next to the bar with the price and doesn’t say anything else. She does show me the menu though and it confirms the beer is $4.00. The money is already paid, so I can’t really do anything and sit back down and wait for my beer.
When we get back to the strip club, Derick is back and we watch a few more strip dances.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P4l-DvnY00&feature=related
This is actually the table we sat at.
Also, this guy is famous for advertising Darling Cabaret.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Mn_XHVd2E4&feature=related
In between these, there are some weird shows like one with people sized puppets dancing and you know it’s really just one person inside controlling them. We expect something cool to happen, but it ends up with a guy taking off the costume. A disappointment.
Eventually, we figure that we should leave and finally do when we see a 300+ lb woman dancing around in front of us. We immediately jet. It’s such a turn off since there obviously any women there other than the strippers. A huge turn of events.
While it did cost $40, I’m not to disappointed. It’s definitely an experience and when compared to all the concerts I’ve paid for, it was surely money well spent.
We then try to figure what to do next since it’s only 12:30. Since things are up in the air, I give Liz a call. She doesn’t pick up. I then call Allyse, who doesn’t pick up. And then Charlotte, who actually says she’s on her way to Berlin. Awkward. It’s also awkward that I haven’t really hung out or spoken to the others for two weeks. I guess everyone went to Berlin.
We find out that Gianfranco’s crew and the girls visiting are at Radost. That’s the place with the crazy $12.50 cover. I say I don’t want to go, but Gianfranco says that it’s cheaper. When we walk there, he’s right. I guess they change prices sometimes. It’s $5 for guys and free for girls.
We go inside and I meet a few of the people visiting. While I don’t want to spend anymore money, I end up getting a drink because it’s mentioned that I’m drinkless when small talking with one of the girls visiting from Madrid.
When we hit the dance floor, one of the girls is super drunk and falls on the ground and everything. It’s really a sight. I didn’t know she was with us, but from next day’s conversation, apparently she’s also one of the people visiting.
I’m obviously a vigorous dancer and dance with one of the girls. It gets awkward responses from the other girls because they all have a circle or tight group that they’re standing in. JT actually mentions the next day that it’s such a high school move that they’re acting like that. That’s why he picked up a Czech chick so he doesn’t have to deal with it.
Again, my hard dancing gets the sour face “what the fuck” looks from one of the girls downstairs. Yeah, fuck that bitch.
Gianfranco eventually disappears for a while, so Derick and I think that he left. We eventually decide that we should leave. I think it’s probably at 4:00ish. Randomly, we see Gianfranco and he says that he really needs a pen to give his number to girl. He keeps looking around and I see her pass by. Gianfranco later asks a few times to confirm that she was hot and she really was. Looked a bit like Marie Digby. Don’t know who that is, look it up!
A bunch of us walk back and there’s plans to smoke when we get back. However, the idea dies when we return to our room. They decide to watch South Park. I go upstairs to the kitchen to Skype with Aaron and it goes on for over an hour until my battery dies on me. It’s fun catching up and I go to sleep at almost 6:00.
Yep, quite a night.

November 16, 2007
While I wanted to take it cheap for the rest of the weekend, Gianfranco decides to go to Kamikaze instead of Karlovy. Mary Kate and all the girls are going to Karlovy, which is better because of the $6 cover. Kamikaze is open bar, but it’s $17.50. We don’t really pre-game and get really drunk there by constantly ordering drinks.
Again, lots of NYU people are there and Derick spends the entire night with NYU Prague both shelf girl Britney. She actually looks a lot like Serena from Gossip Girl. The next day it leaves everyone a bit surprised. Apparently he also makes out with a couple lesbians or something.
Gianfranco’s hanging with a girl. The three of us guys eventually leave when it’s 4:00ish. The next day, he’s told that the girl cried when we left. Apparently he told her that he’d take her back and didn’t even know her name when we take the cab back. When I get back, I Skype for a while with Jonah, CNF, and Stefan for a bit before going to sleep. Again, It’s 5:00ish by then.

November 17, 2007
I get woken up the next day at 1:00ish because people are planning to get lunch at Radost. Fancy restaurant during the day, dance club at night. I’m really tired because I’ve been going hard for the past few days and I’m not getting much sleep. I’m asked if I want go get brunch with everyone. I’m tired and don’t want to spend the money, but I go anyway. We get there and we have two full tables because of all of the girls visting. I order an omelet with cream cheese and onions with home fries.
My god, I wish diners in the US were this good. The dish and a beer all costs $8.00. The portions are absolutely humungous and people can’t finish their dishes, but keep trying to stuff themselves. I feel sick for the rest of the day because of it.
When I get back, I chill out for a bit before trying to sleep for 2-3 hours because I’d be dead for the night otherwise. At 10:30, we decide to go to Lucerna for the night, but to head to the Herna first to pre-game. Before we leave, Brenae IMs me about the night and I go up to speak to her and Jess.
I get their numbers, so they know when we’re leaving the Herna. We hang out at the Herna and I get to watch a Steven Seagal movie on mute while I’m sipping my Becherovka. I then also get a beer to help wash it down. Again, it’s great that the Herna’s cheap. The beer and shot add up to $3.00.
Another benefit is that people actually bring bottles of vodka. Everyone keeps taking shots of it and the bartender doesn’t stop us. At 12:00ish, we call cabs to get to Lucerna. It’s cheaper when you call a cab instead of hailing one. The place is close so it’s only $10 split between four people.
The entrance fee is $4.50 and $.50 for coat check. It’s completely 80s night, which is a really huge change from the usual dance mix. Despite getting a beer, I’m sober for pretty much the entire night.
At 4:00ish, we decide to leave. Max is way too drunk. We try to take cabs back, but he insists on walking and Gianfranco runs after him to make sure he gets back. I’m fine with walking, but people don’t seem up for it.
I’m also hungry, so I suggest getting McDonalds. Derick, Andrew, and Sarah are up for it so we walk there. After getting some food, Derick and I find a cab for $5. We get back and Gianfranco’s super drunk. He throws loads of stuff around and keeps asking for a hamburger, but Derick is hiding his two Double Quarter Pounders. He even steals a little box of cheese in foil. The box says “Jarra” on it.
Derick rolls a blunt and six of us split it. People later pass out.

November 18, 2007
I’m again super tired and actually sleep until 3:30. I know that I should keep up on my essays because I want to make sure I get the drafts down. I don’t really have any work, so it’s just common sense to try to hand in a draft so that I know if I’m on the track of getting an A.
Such a great impressionist.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jctZDefXXWk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XfQeDjjZR4

November 19, 2007
Great video. Mountain Dew, baby!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-1D_MJzsNU
Awkward moments in life….
Whenever I’m waiting for the metro, I sometimes see people from the building nearby and I try not to walk over because it’s always just small talk and the conversation always awkwardly ends. Case and point, it happens to me on the metro. During the middle of the metro, Stephanie from the building gives me a tap and I turn around. I didn’t notice she was on the metro, so I guess she must’ve been shuffled around.
Her: How was your weekend.
Me: Crazy
Me: How was your’s?
Her: I went to Budapest.
Me: Oh Budapest, that’s cool.

Then awkward silence comes. Then both people turn away and wait to get off the metro. This has actually happened like 4-5 times already.
I think people go out for the night because Jarra’s friend is visiting and stuff. I’m not sure.

November 20, 2007
It’s a long day because I somehow catch something and my throat feels like shit for the rest of the day. By the end of the day, I feel a bit better.
During the night, I see people around talking about going to Chateau. At 10:30, Dillon, Jarra, and her friend head down. I mean, if it were only them three, I guess I don’t really care because I guess Jarra still despises me. Then again, I’m pretty sure some of the other girls are going along too. Then again, maybe it’s better than I stay in with condition and hope I’m part of “Mecca night” tomorrow.

November 21, 2007
I wake up feeling like shit. Basically any white person would go back to sleep, but I fight it go to class. Seriously, the class has no final test and there are no notes to take and I don’t even enjoy the class, but I still go. He even said that a few absences are fine. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me.
While I usually would be ravenous by the time I get back, I just pass out and sleep. I sleep for almost four hours until I force myself up because I have to summarize a reading and do a presentation on it.
When I get up, I feel as if my cold is gone. Unfortunately, I start deteriorating and get progressively worse. I eventually force myself to do my work. I then make some dinner and pass out to sleep at 9:00.
I plan to wake up after a few hours to chill, but I feel super shitty and try to sleep for the rest of the night until 9:00 the next morning.

November 22, 2007
When I wake up, I really contemplate for half an hour whether I should go to my first class. I could get four hours of sleep, but I force myself up, again. I take a shower and hope that it’ll make me feel better, but it doesn’t.
I actually feel hungry during my first class, which is a good thing. After I grab a bite and wait an hour and a half for my next class, I start feeling a lot better. I see Max who’s my partner for the presentation. He asks if I went out last night, I say that I didn’t, but I confirm that I’ll be going out tonight.
It’s great that I’m feeling better because tonight is Thanksgiving dinner. NYU is throwing down loads of money and renting out part of a hotel to host a dinner for us. It has to be expensive because it costs $30 for guests of NYU students. Since it starts at 7:00, I’ll definitely try to nap when I get back at 3:00 from class and be good for the night after dinner.
Arctic Monkeys cover Amy Winehouse!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtBFMrtzFeg&feature=related
Panic! At the Disco cover Nelly Furtado. I like it, but I don’t know if anyone else will.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaYdzP6TYmo&feature=related
The Automatic (haven’t heard of them) cover Kanye West. I love Gold Digger, but this is sublime.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL2fq8hS0eE&feature=related
Corinne Bailey Rae covers Justin Timberlake. While I know I’m apparently the only one that likes Sexyback, this is an old school chill jazz version. Makes me feel like you’re in a smoky jazz club and someone with a beret is about to read some poetry with bongos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC-hE4ZOoPk&feature=related
When I get back, I nap until 6:00ish to get ready to leave. At 6:20, I go upstairs to see if Brenae and Jess are around so I can try to out to the place with them. I see Brenae and we go with Camilla and Jade. We get to the area and it really is a ballin and bustling area. The hotel is super nice, so as I expected, NYU definitely dropped down way too much dough on this shit.
By the way, make fun of Moby all you like, but I consider Play to be an absolute classic album.
I would much rather keep the monies in my pocket. The food actually turns out to be bad. It’s an all very professional buffet. The food looks like it’s done well, but when it comes down to tasting it, it’s a huge disappointment for Thanksgiving. Then again, this is Thanksgiving in Praha.
I sit at a table with Brenae, Jess, Camilla, Jade, and Toni. We all get super stuffed and I steal a bottle opener because I really do need one. We stay there for a two hours and the girls don’t really seem like they want to go out. When the other crew (Dillon, Jarra, Charlotte, Jenn, and Allyse) walk by, I ask if they’re going out. They say that they might be.
We all leave to get back to the dorm, except Jess goes to see a movie with other NYUers. When I get back, I go on my downloading spree of the 10+ shows that I’m watching. Soon after, everyone else gets back. I notice that Gianfranco isn’t around and he also wasn’t at the dinner.
Allyse walks in and sees an empty bottle of Vodka on Gianfranco’s desk. She thinks that it might be her’s and that Gianfranco stole. It’s a common brand, so she isn’t sure, but still wants to ask him about it. Gianfranco is reckless when drunk. So now hopefully I’ll be part of going out with them. While I’m waiting I grab a beer and take a few shots.
I find out from Jess that she’s going to the Blind Eye with some people. We decide to leave with Toni at 11:00ish. We tell Allyse and Jarra that we’re going and they say that they might come.
We go out and meet a few NYUers and head there. It’s a bit confusing and I still don’t know how to get there. Christina ends up meeting us there. At the Blind Eye, there are a lot of NYUers. I grab a beer and eventually Allyse, Jarra, Jen, Dillon, and Charlotte arrive.
We chill out for a while and people slowly leave. I’m pretty drunk after getting two more .5Ls. There’s some dance floor action, but some of music is annoying and sounds like Tetris. Then again, there’s some good music like M.I.A. and The Rapture.
Eventually, it’s 4:00ish and almost everyone is gone except Dillon, Charlotte, Jarra, Jen, and I. Everyone’s got their own shit going and it’s a bit awkward for me so I go outside to chill out for a bit. I meet an Icelandic guy in his 30s.
He comes in and he’s pretty drunk. He tries to speak to Jarra, but has to keep secretly has me for her name. We speak a bit about films and politics and he eventually leaves. He’s an alright guy. We stay forever there chilling out and leave at 5:00ish. We’re able to stay because the rest go to Blind Eye a lot and are cool with the owner and bartender.
After the 10 minute walk back, I watch 20 minutes of Chuck, but end up sleeping before I can finish it.

November 23, 2007
I wake up at 2:30 the next day. Instead of doing my work, I spend the entire day catching up and watching my shows. At night, others seem to be doing stuff and Gianfranco left, so I expect it to be a dead night. At 12:00, Gianfranco comes up and asks if I want to go out. He says that everyone is downstairs in the Duke girls’ quad. People are going to a club called “Mish Mash.”
When I get down, there are almost 20 people in the room. There are a lot of people visiting the girls. One of them actually is from Great Neck and graduated a year ahead of us, Scott Rednor. I drink a lot of vodka. At 1:00ish, Max calls for five cabs to get us there.
We all jump in the cabs and it’s only like $2 for each of us. There are problems with change, so I end up not paying for the cab. It turns out the place is spelled “Misch Masch.” The entrance costs $5 and coat check is $.50. I get a beer for $2. The rest of the night, I do a skeevy by grabbing mostly full beers that are laying around. I’m such a cheap asshole.
There’s the usual d-floor action with periods of just hanging out near the bar. We eventually leave and it’s a good thing that I found people ready to leave. It would’ve really sucked if everyone left and then I had to figure a way back by myself.
The cab back is only a few bucks. When we get back, people still plan to hang out. Gianfranco speaks to Dan and says that he only wants to smoke in Dan’s room because we have 10+ other people around and that’s spreading weed too thin.
When Gianfranco takes the elevator down, I ask if I can get him back and get in on the weed. He doesn’t hear me while I’m walking towards the elevator and try to tell him again while the elevator door is closing. Unfortunately, I try to stop the elevator door and my hand actually gets stuck. It’s so awkward trying to pull it out for a few seconds and then the door closes. I go upstairs and make a grilled cheese.
I eventually decide to man up and get myself downstairs and see what people are up to. I enter the room and they’re watching MXC on the computer. People mention how they’re hungry and that they want pasta. I volunteer to make some. It’s like for 10 people and I’m thrown a pound of pasta while I’m getting onto the elevator. It takes about 20 minutes to make it and I throw down a jar of my tomato sauce. I get down and hang out with everyone while the pasta is consumed.
I get a good hit out of a bowl and I leave when the other guys do. It’s again around 6:00 when I go to sleep.

November 24, 2007
The next day, I wake up at 4:00. I don’t know why I’m so tired, but it’s been a while since I’ve slept this late. I planned on going to the supermarket and ATM, but I decide to do it tomorrow because I wake up so late.
I try to spend the day finishing my essay, but get interrupted left and right. I watch the Bas Rutten Street Fighting video, which is one of the funniest YouTube videos. I also listen to a bunch of soundboard prank phone calls. I download Gossip Girl for Gianfranco and send it to him through AIM because he’s watching it in the room with Ed and Andrew.
When Gianfranco and others get back from dinner, they want to use Mary Kate’s computer to watch Gossip Girl, but Allyse is there and Gianfranco is avoiding her. They have to do a project together and Gianfranco has been holding it off. I’m sent in to get the laptop and I tell Allyse that it’s for Gianfranco because I can’t just take it without saying anything.
Soon after, Allyse storms in and tells Gianfranco that I don’t have to be his bitch and that they have to get down on the work soon. When it hits 11:00, Ed and Andrew leave. Brenae IMs me from upstairs about the night and I don’t know what’s happening.
At 12:00ish, Max comes and it seems like stuff’s going down. I grab one of my obscure beers from the beer shop. It’s the darkest beer I’ve seen and even is carbonated enough that it looks a lot like Coke. It’s probably the best dark beer that I’ve had here.
Max, Gianfranco, and I do a bit of pregaming in the room. The plan is Lucerna. I tell Brenae and meet her upstairs so that we can go downstairs to where everyone is pregaming. It’s again a huge group of people. I take some shots of vodka and people again thank me for the pasta from last night.
Before 1:00, Max calls four cabs and we get there. We don’t have change, so Gianfranco just tells me to get him a beer inside. We go inside, $4.50 cover. It’s actually a bit more because of the shitty dollar.
It’s $.50 for coat check. People are slow and everything, so I gather the people visiting and get them downstairs to the d-floor and bar. Scott buys me a shot and a beer. Good man.
Again, as the skeeve that I am. I find a beer that’s 3/4s full and take that and give my beer from Scott to Gianfranco. This is a whole new level of cheap. We hit the d-floor and it’s the usual crazy dancing all over. It’s hot as shit, so I have to keep taking breathers to the bathroom and back to the d-floor. On the way there, I find a partially finished Smirnoff Ice. Score!
I get back on the stage of the dance floor. The stage is in front of the majority of the people and people dance on it. The stage is only 3 feet high or so, and there’s some idiot that is standing facing away from the stage, but right up next against it. He looks like he’s security at some concert. I’m moving around and stuff and accidentally tap his head with my Smirnoff bottle.
He’s visibly angry and I try to apologize. He simply grabs my bottle, pours it on the ground next to him, drops the bottle, and stands around. He eventually leaves the area. What a fucking idiot. Why would he standing there, up against the stage, but facing away. I’m surprised he didn’t get kicked in the head.
We eventually decide to leave and we take a cab back. I pay $3ish. Gianfranco, a girl visiting, Brenae, and I are the first to get back from Lucerna. Brenae and I go upstairs to make the pasta. I make sure that I keep my word when I say that stuff’s going to be repeated.
I go downstairs to the room to drop my stuff off and Gianfranco is in the room while the girl just went to the bathroom. He tells me to please leave. I was just dropping stuff off, so it’s not an issue. When it’s finally made, people aren’t in the girls’ quad. They’re upstairs in Dan, Jared, and Christian’s room. Brenae helps me take down the huge bowl of pasta and bowls and stuff. People are surprised that I made pasta again, but there are less people this time.
I get in on the weed action. I probably deserve after two nights of being the chef. I get pretty darn high and can’t tell if I want to eat or not, but I do anyway. Menomena is then put on and I jump onto cloud nine. It’s a weird experience.
However, I do notice awkwardness because people’s doing their own shit and some of the girls left and not everyone’s around, so I go upstairs to sleep. I don’t actually know what time I sleep because I turned off my phone earlier in the day. The battery has been dying quicker and quicker on me. I’d be fine with charging it, but I only have on converter and that’s for the laptop. It’s inconvenient to find times that I can charge my cell. Again, what is the majority of my life? The computer. More than sleeping and eating added up.

November 25, 2007
I wake up late and stock up on food for the week. I also walk to the Citibank ATM because it doesn’t charge a service fee. I’ve actually been spending a lot of money here. Then again, that’s how you got to roll if you want to a baller.
For some reason, it takes me over an hour even though the supermarket is only 3 blocks away. By then, it’s 5:30 and I’ve blown most of my day. Then again, I did wake up really late.
I’m supposed to be working on my essays, but I set it back and watch the On Demand Howard Stern TV that I downloaded.

November 26, 2007
I get the plans for my final paper for my EU and US Relations class today. It’s due in next week’s class. We’re supposed to write a policy paper. It’s supposed to directed at a policymaker and should involve the US and EU.
When I get back, I scrounge around for what I should write about. I finally decide to do Iran. I still have to decide how it should be directed. I think I’ll do it as a Congressman directing a message about dealing with Iran to a European country.
By the way, go on Facebook! Pictures are updated all the time!
At 11:00, I hear Allyse across the hall saying that people are ready to leave. She comes in the room and looks around; I expect that she’s looking for Dillon. Jarra is behind her and asks who she’s looking for. She says Gianfranco. I then expect is has to do something with school work. Jarra then asks if he’s coming and Allyse says that he wants to.
I then sneak in there with a “Where you guys going?,” but Allyse awkwardly slips away from the door without answering. I guess it might be too awkward to push myself further than this.
Gianfranco is later in the hall outside of Alex room. Charlotte is with Alex and asks Gianfranco if he’s going. He says that there’s something else happening and that he might later in the night, but wants to do it some time eventually. It turns out that Monday is karaoke night at Blind Eye and people have been there before.
I have no idea when the group became closer to Gianfranco than me. I try to butch up to ask Charlotte and Alex, but just then, they have their jackets and everything are about to leave. I have to do an awkward turn away from the door and not make it seem like I was going out. Dillon even walks in the room and doesn’t say anything before leaving.
Last few weeks to have fun in Prague… And…. Yep… It’s almost like a 180 from the peaks that I’ve had here. I really just don’t know what made things start deteriorating between the group. I mean, I went to the Turkey trip for almost a week, and then things just seem to fall off. Gianfranco picked up the slack with hanging out, but it still leaves for situations like these.

November 27, 2007
So on from last night. With everyone gone, I decide to stop my work and have some of my own fun. I make a mix drink and have a cigarette. I then blast some music. Make a party mix. Do a few pushups. Drink some more vodka straight. Grab a beer. Chain smoke a few cigarettes. Listen to some more blasting music. Look outside because it snowed earlier in the day.
Before 2:00, Gianfranco is back. I ask about the night and he says people stayed in because Nicole had her 21st tonight at 12:00, though he sort of confirms that something should be happening tomorrow night. He asks if I have any food because he’s hungry.
We go upstairs and I make a sandwich for myself and him. When we head downstairs, I tell him about the Allyse situation. He says that he’ll definitely want to go next week.
We talked about television shows earlier and I say that I have Gossip Girl that I downloaded for him, even though he’s seen all of them. We watch half of an episode until he says that he needs to go to sleep because he’s tired. It’s a good point since it’s almost 3:00 and I really should go to sleep.
After my first class in the morning, I’m again in the computer lab sitting around for next class. The girls sit around my area. Then Gianfranco sits at the computer adjacent to me and we speak a bit. Then Gianfranco asks Allyse about how karaoke was. She tells him about how fun it was, etc. It’s real nice and awkward sitting right in front of them.
For the Macroeconomics class, it’s the week before finals and we hand in our final papers and also give a short presentation on it. My paper is about beating the shit out of the minimum wage and shitty it is.
Obviously, there’s someone that’s willing to use status quo bias and doesn’t actually understand the economics of the minimum wage. I sort of get the idea that she feels removing the minimum wage would be “unfair.” My professor swoops and beats the fuck out of that pussy.
He basically explains that the free market always wins. There may be short term benefits, but time is the best answer to everything. Throughout human civilization, human created barriers to the free market have slowly been eliminated. This includes, subsidies, communism, trade (though trade agreements like NAFTA, WTO, etc. aren’t completely free trade), etc.
Another presentation is about how expensive war is and how it in the long term, creates deficit and ends up hurting an economy. I mean, it’s common sense. You’re taking money from people and creating things that… Destroy things and don’t do anything. You take a thousand dollars from my tax dollars. Make a bomb. Kill a few people. Now continue doing that. You’re literally throwing money into a metal shell and burning it.
The best presentation is about how Hitler dealt with Germany after WWII. He basically artificially shot up their economy. He employed people by forcing people to do manual labor instead of using machines. Could you imagine forcing people to use rickshaws to employ people and not allowing them to drive cars? That’s drastic, but that’s what you’re basically do, denying technology. He then drew connections with Mussolini and FDR’s programs in their respective countries. The New Deal basically employed people to do nothing and do busy work. Milton Friedman explained it correctly. The government is obviously fucking up and doing something wrong when you have poor people, people that want jobs, people that want products, and factories are empty. Hitler did the exact same thing to appease the people and make a fake presence of a strong economy.
Another girl mentions if it’s controversial that Hitler and FDR have similar economic reforms. I don’t interject about and rant on. However, the guy that did the presentation mentions that Reagan looked down upon FDR’s big government New Deal and called it socialist. And that’s the truth. FDR is one of the worst Presidents in American history. Don’t let the fact that we got of WWII and the Great Depression alive blind you. That’s with the help of the strong American economy and ingenuity, not that polio ass motherfucker.
Since it’s not a real class with notes and everything, the class ends early. My professor is really cool and suggested earlier that we go and get a beer. It then turns into dinner because people are hungry. However, our class is in the touristy area of Prague and nothing is really feasible. After half the class drifts and is gone, the professor decides that we should do it after the final next week.
When I leave to go home, it comes to me that there exactly is a place to go, the biggest pub in Prague. It’s literally three blocks from NYU. And it’s not really a tourist trap since the beer is reasonable/cheap at $1.50. Expensive clubs have it at $2.00. The place also serves Czech food, but I don’t know how that is. Still, it’s a cool place to go. I really should’ve mentioned it. I’m really surprised that people don’t really know about it. I was only there once for Liz’s birthday.
When I get back from class, I take a nap and then download my shows because the Internet is supposed to go out at 10:00 to 12:00 for them to fix it. When I go up to make dinner, people are there and the room is only lit with laptops. I expect that they’re doing something, but it turns out that the electricity upstairs is out.
I was going to cook dinner, but I have sticking with a sandwich.
I’m now working on my paper on the transition of Estonia from communism. It’s not due for a while, but I just got back my review of my two pages and it wasn’t that great. I guess I should be working on my Iran policy paper that’s due next week.
I don’t really want to do that because I want to confirm things with my professor on how I’m writing it. I also can’t do it because I need sources, which are online. And the Internet, it’s 11:00. It’s actually a good thing there’s no Internet since it gets me to do my work.
Gianfranco gets back to the room at 11:30ish, but heads back out. Everyone else doesn’t seem to be doing stuff. Maybe tomorrow’s Mecca night will turn out.

November 28, 2007
I actually buckle down today and do some work. I get a good hour or so nap into the day too.
By dinner time, I finish my paper on the transition of Estonia and I send in my draft to the professor to check before the due date. Bolanos is surprisingly online and we talk about television shows. It’s great that he’s picking up on the shows like How I Met Your Mother. Learn from the brother. Go watch some good TV shows. IM me if you want know what the watch.
Liz during the night walks in when no one is in the room. She’s looking for Dillon, but he’s not here. She sits down at his computer and does some stuff for a bit and leaves. No real talk and just a Hello and Bye. The peoples can fuck themselves if they don’t want to hang out with me and stuff.
After dinner, I watch some of Battlestar Galactica: Razor. It’s the prelude to season 4. It’s not actually an episode, but is an hour and a half long. I guess that counts as a movie. One of the best shows in the past few years watch.
When Charlotte’s hanging out with Dillon in the room, she mentions how Dillon has to find something to do. She says that Dillon should start a blog or something. I guess that’s good since that means I don’t think they have found out about the blog. I mean, if they did, why would she mention “blog” when I’m sitting right there.
At 10:00ish, Gianfranco gets up from a nap and asks if I want to go to another dorm to pregame with people. On the walk there, we talk a bit about politics. We get to the dorm and pregame with Courtney, Emily, Josh, and Brian.
We play a few drinking games after I straight chug some vodka without a chaser. I realized I’m actually pretty good at that. Slowly, more and more people pour into the room and we take shots of Sambuca. Yum.
We eventually leave and I’m part of rushing people because it’s free to catch the metro instead of catching a cab. On the way to the metro, we stop at a random little store and we all buy large cans of beer to continue pregaming.
While we’re still heading there, I speak to Courtney about how people are going on vacation this weekend. We confirm that we’ll be hanging out this weekend, but I don’t know how that’s happening. When we get there, she asks me to check her coat for her. Instead of getting two tickets, put it all in one so we have to make sure that we get our coats together.
I get a beer, which is pretty expensive at like $2.50. It’s the usual fun of dance music and loads of dancing. It’s Andrew’s birthday today, so Jess, Brenae, and Camilla are there too. It’s surprising that there aren’t too many NYUers there. I buy Andrew a shot of vodka. I look at the menu to see how much it costs, but when I pay, the guy says it’s special or something. I end only having to pay $3.00ish for two shots.
At 2:00ish, Courtney decides to leave and I’m a bit tired so I want to see if others want to leave. I get my jacket and Andrew tells me to stay, so I check it again. It’s a good night because I have a good drunk going for the night. At one point, I’m really tired and we decide to sit down and just chill out. I’m really thirsty and start taking random drinks from around and drinking them. Jess gets really pissed at me and keeps telling me how bad of an idea it is. I just shrug that off. I start feeling really tired and want to go back, but Camilla says that she’ll be going to our first class tomorrow, so I can miss it. It’s not a big deal to miss because there’s no final and attendance isn’t really taken
I see that our table has a really cool metal ashtray, so I pocket it. We take a cab back and it costs like $3.00. When we get back, I make some grilled cheeses and Andrew makes cheese fries. Yum.
I go to sleep at 5:00ish and don’t have to wake up until 12:00. It’s great to get the sleep.

November 29, 2007
When I wake up the next day, there are problems with the kitchen. It feels great to wake up at 12:00 instead of 9:00ish for my morning class. Fuck missing it, it’s just one class. It’s weird, but everything upstairs ran out of electricity a few days ago. I at least get to make my lunch, but eventually we lose all electricity up there and have to use a shitty kitchen downstairs. Alex is there and we talk a bit. He talks about Amsterdam, which is where Hasan wants to go. He obviously liked it because he’s a huge weed man, but he said that weed is more expensive at $16 a gram instead of $11 a gram in Prague. And again, he mentions how things are on the Euro. The Czech crown is such a great currency. Go Prague!
Class is super boring, but I get by with by playing many games of solitaire. I then go to the computer lab to print out some sources for my paper. I emailed the professor and he wants me to include the EU into my paper. I was planning to only write about how the US should solve its situation with Iran, but now I have to figure out how the US and the EU are going to deal with it together.
When I’m on the elevator doing my laundry, I see Christian and he asks if I’m going to Radost tonight. Maybe Gianfranco will be going and I’ll go to that then. At night, Gianfranco asks if I want to go to a bar, B-52. I’ve been there before and it’s like a 5-10 minute walk. I’ve been there before and it’s an alright place.
When we get there, we meet up with five or so more people that are from the dorm near the bar. Gianfranco is pretty high and gets a bit paranoid when he sees that his professor walks in. His professor walks in and says Hi to him. He then orders us a round of beers. While we’re working on that, he orders us a shot of Becherovka.
He then orders another round of a Czech liquor that’s supposed to tastes like plums. The girls and some people don’t want theirs, so I take my shot and three more. I find out the next day that it’s like 50%, so it’s more like taking 5 shots instead of just 4.
He then orders another shot and this time of absinthe. The professor works in the ministry for environmental policy, so I speak him about politics. He seems mainstream and doesn’t seem to agree with my more radical libertarian views. At one point, he seems pretty drunk while he’s talking and eventually leaves. He gives me his card though, so that we can speak some other time. Not sure if I’m going to do that.
Then again, I signed up for a Ron Paul meet up that’s on Monday. It’s only a few Ron Paul supporters here in Prague meeting at a pub. I looked up the place and it’s actually supposed to be pretty cool. They have 200 different bottled beers and it’s supposed to be a place to go. I guess I’ll go just because it’s the last few weeks and I should try to see as many places as possible.
After the professor leaves, the shots hit me in the face hard. I don’t remember a lot of it, but I do remember stumbling around. Again, that’s the equivalent of eight shots and a beer in less than half an hour. Thankfully, I don’t throw up, but I’m on the edge of doing so.
I sit outside to chill out and see if I can get better, but it doesn’t work that well. I even call Liz to ask what’s happening for the night, but she just hangs up on me. Eventually, Gianfranco decides to throw me in a cab. While I’m crossing the road, I fall straight on my back and hit my head on the road. It’s fucking scary because there are cars whizzing by. It’s good there aren’t trams, because those don’t stop and will kill people.
I jump in the cab and when we get back, Gianfranco tells me to give him my wallet to pay for it. I go upstairs and see Alex and Dillon. They head out and I literally get back at 12:30ish because we went to B-52 early. I just pass out.

November 30, 2007
I force myself to wake up and I see that it’s almost 1:00. I check to make sure that I have my stuff. I look in my wallet and see that I only have $5. I definitely went out with $20-30 and didn’t pay for any drinks. Gianfranco had a flight to Amsterdam in the morning, so I can’t ask him about it until he gets back. It’s going to be awkward. It’s good that I get so much sleep. Definitely last night was compounded by the fact that I was tired. For some reason, being tired adds to drunkenness. I don’t feel hung over, which is good.
I go upstairs and grab my frozen pizza to make it downstairs. I see Jess and Brenae down there making breakfast. They went to Blind Eye yesterday. I tell them what happened to me last night. It becomes a serious conversation about how bad getting shit faced like that is. Again, I’m super disappointed in my self. I basically fucked myself over from having a fun night with loads of people out.
We come to a conclusion that I should wait a decent amount of time after taking shots to realize how drunk I am. It’s a bit awkward because they seem a bit concerned. While my pizza is in the oven, I go to pick up my laundry from the dryer downstairs because I put it in last night and never took it out.
When I go back to the kitchen, my pizza is a bit burnt. Julia is there though. The mysterious girl in our building that I’ve never actually hung out with. Actually, I don’t think with anyone in the building and I’ve only seen her out once on Halloween. Since I’ve never really interacted with her, I ask how her night was. She says she went to some new place that opened up.
I tell her about my silly night. She makes a weird reference when I mention that the shots were just sitting on the table and someone had to take them. She says something like there are starving children in Africa and you can’t waste. There’s some more random talk and I eventually leave. Another weird thing, she looks just like Robin from How I Met Your Mother.
http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/070305/friends/robin_l.jpg
And she’s also known for dressing too nice. I remember the first few days here, I thought she was a professor or something. She dresses like an adult, it’s weird.
I’m supposed to do work today, but I just slack off. I have some fun with Skyping Alex and CNF. CNF watches the 2 girls and 1 cup video and hearing his reaction over Skype is hilarious. I also call the store to confirm about tomorrow’s Pro Tour Qualifier. Yep, I’m a nerd, but wish me luck for trying to win a flight to Kuala Lumpur.
During the night, I spend 3-4 hours on Skype with Aaron and Bolanos. Bolanos is in Aaron’s room. We basically have an online hangout/party and I get a bit drunk. For those who think it’s dumb, think again. It’s super fun. Dillon goes out and on point and I look upstairs for Jess and Brenae, but it doesn’t seem like they’re doing anything. So basically I spend the whole night with that and finally get to sleep at 2:30.

December 1, 2007
I wake up at 8:30. I’m pretty tired and when I get there past 9:00, the place isn’t open. It opens at 9:30 and registration is done at 10:00. The site said 9:30, but I guess that was the opening time. While the size is usually 100 people from what I’ve heard, the tournament is only 40! That’s a huge difference of getting through the toughest qualifiers in the world, New York where there can be almost 200.
It’s 6 rounds of play and then there’s a Top 8. In the last round, I unfortunately get paired so that I can’t intentionally draw with my opponent and lock into the Top 8. Instead, I have to play the final round against a Czech player who has had mild professional success. The match is tight, but I end up losing. Fortunately, a guy that I speak to there reminds me that I still can make it.
I get my hopes up, but I turn out 9th on tiebreakers. It’s like being 1 game away from making the MLB playoffs. A real heartbreaker. And no prize because of the small size. At least there’s one next week and I’m hoping to do well in. And I also made a couple bucks in profit by selling $10 worth of cards.
While in New York, I’d usually get back at 10:00-11:00, here it’s short and I’m back by 6:30. Dillon immediately asks where I was all day. I just say I went walking around and doing some sight seeing since it’s the last 2 weeks here. I mean, I really should be doing that.
He then goes with Alex and Liz somewhere. Probably dinner or something. I then get an IM from someone I don’t know and the person says that it’s Courtney. Now I know two Courtneys, so I’m a bit confused about what to do. Then again, I don’t know either of them that well that it’s an issue. She says that people had loads of fun last night and went to Five Story Club.
I say that I just stayed in and had an online Skype party getting drunk with friends. I look on Facebook and search for the screen name and figure out which Courtney it actually is. It’s the one that has a boyfriend. We also went to Mecca a few nights ago and I told her that we’ll defs hang out since people will be gone.
She says that apparently the people in her dorm were out until 8 AM, such ballers, so they might not want to go out. This leaves having to get connections on what’s happening tonight. I don’t say anything since who wants to say, “Yeah, I don’t really have a connection with anyone now, so…. I don’t know what’s happening for the night…”
She then says that she’s getting dinner and I say I’ll stay online, so hopefully something will be figured out.
After I make a dinner and eat, Aaron with Eric Fidel Skype with me. It’s fun, but it ends after a bit because of Aaron’s shitty connection. That’s at 11:00ish. Courtney is still away on AIM, so I give her a call, but she doesn’t pick up. I call Jess and she says she’s not going out and only hanging out with people at another dorm. I look around the dorm and people aren’t really around.
At 12:30ish, Courtney is finally online. She said she went to hookah with some people and people aren’t doing anything. At 1:00ish, I Skype with CNF and decide to go to a nearby pub to have a few beers and see what happens.
I go to the Peach Pit, which I’ve been to a few times. It’s like five blocks away. When I get in, I grab a Hoegaarden. I go to an area that is basically empty expect for two people sitting behind me. I sip on my beer while having a cigarette. I quickly finish it and then order a Kelt. It’s an Irish stout and along with Hoegaarden are two of my favorite beers here.
Since I had dinner a while ago, I get a bit hungry and look at the menu for something to chomp on. I order nachos and chili. I don’t know what to expect. While the tortilla chips are pretty good, the chili sauce isn’t like salsa. It has the consistency and sweetness of duck sauce, but it’s spicy.
In the middle of my beer, waking up at 8:30 finally hits me. I’m not really drunk since it’s three drinks, go bigger beers in Prague. However, I guess the empty stomach and tiredness finally is getting to me. I slow down on my beer, but I finally finish past 2:00 and just leave. The two beers and chips are like $6, which isn’t too bad. Light beer is cheaper, but I got specialty beers.
On my walk back, I randomly see Jess and Brenae ahead of me. I sneak behind them and finally give them a “Boo.” They get really freaked out and push me aside. They ask me where I was and I say that I was really bored and went to the pub by myself. I’m called an alcoholic, but I defend myself that I was bored and wouldn’t have done anything anyway.
I go up to make some fries and speak to Spamps and his friend on Skype. After a bit, they leave to have a Lan Party with drank. Sounds fun.

December 2, 2007
I wake up at 2:00ish. It’s a day to buckle down since my policy paper on how the EU and US is to deal with Iran is due tomorrow. I also have to study for my Macroecon final on Tuesday. It shouldn’t be way too hard, but I only have a B last midterm on Tuesday.
I plan to cover them both today, but I slack off a bit and for some reason, I write slower than usual, so the paper takes me the whole day. I also have to do grocery shopping, which I wanted to do today, but I don’t find time. I also have to go at 6:00 tomorrow to the Ron Paul meet up that I signed up for.
For being the second to last weekend here, it wasn’t that great. Then again, Thursday was my fault for getting so shitfaced that I didn’t get to do anything. Friday was actually one of my better nights here since I hung out with Aaron and Bolanos over Skype and got drunk. Saturday pretty much sucked. I thought was going to do something, but nothing ended up happening and I just went to the pub by myself for an hour.
Come to think of it, last week was really fun and there are loads of pics on Facebook of it. Hopefully this last weekend will be fun, but next week is finals week and I’m thankfully not part of that. My only final is this Tuesday and I just have to write another paper for next week.

December 3, 2007
The night before, I’m tired, so I plan on sleeping at 12:00. However, Charlotte decides to hang out in the room, so I can’t really turn off the lights and go to sleep. Other than being tired, I guess I wouldn’t care too much, but I have shit to do including my final on Tuesday. I still have to study for it since I slacked earlier this week. I do also need sleep for the final since I’m a mess without it.
My EU and US Relations class is basically a joke since we have to deal with Israel. However, I didn’t really do research for it, so I just sit there and don’t say much.
When I get back, I plan on taking a nap before going to the Ron Paul meet up, but Dillon doesn’t go to class for the day. I take naps when Gianfranco and Dillon are gone during the middle of the day.
When I leave at for the 6:00 meet up, I say Later to Dillon and he says me where I’m going. I say that I’m going to Pivovarsky Klub for a Ron Paul meet up. I know he’s into politics and he says that he thought that he should go to that place and that I should have fun with my libertarian friends.
I get there a bit early and I order a beer and sit there for a while because I don’t see anyone. I finally look around at 5 past 6:00 and see someone with “R.P.” on his table. I go over and introduce myself. He’s the one that organized the thing, Sinclair. He’s an American that’s been in Prague for 16 years. He’s a writer and is worried about the route of American politics is going with Ron Paul not winning this time around and isn’t sure who’s going to continue the legacy in later elections.
He knows what he’s talking about and we talk for a bit until some guy randomly comes and he seems lost. We know he’s part of the meet up since he joined the group, but he doesn’t seem a bit interested at Ron Paul. I have a really boring hour or so because his English isn’t too great and he talks around random things at a really slow pace. During this, I have dinner. I order goulash. It’s basically a thick brown gravy with chunks of beef and soft bread that’s flavored with pieces of bacon. It’s delicious.
After I’m done with my dark beer from tap, I order on their 200 beers that they have in bottles. I see one is a Porter, so I get that. There are so many choices and they’re all Czech.
http://www.ratebeer.com/beer/pardubick%C3%BD-porter-(boom)-19%C2%B0/8129/9509/
It turns out to be a super dark beer. Probably the darkest beer I’ve ever had. It’s a bitter and thick. I also notice on the bottle that it’s 8% alcohol. At 8:20ish, I’m ready to leave and pay the bill, which comes up to $12 or so, which isn’t bad. However, a young guy comes and he actually knows about Ron Paul and we speak a bit. I eventually leave at 8:40 and hope that something’s happening tonight.
At 10:00ish, Gianfranco says that he’s going to B-52 and we meet a few people there. He’s back today, but I don’t ask him about the money he took from my wallet. I guess he probably took extra because he needed to drop me off and then take a cab back to meet up people. I also didn’t really spend money that weekend, so it’s not a big deal. I’m tired and I have a final tomorrow, so I take it slow and only have a beer. At one point, Courtney and Emily decide that I should get a faux hawk. Like a mohawk, but not all the way. It takes a while, but we eventually leave for karaoke at Blind Eye. It’s a pretty long walk in the cold and takes 20-30 min.
We actually take a stop back at the dorm to grab some liquor and I get a shot and say Hi to Alex and Jarra. He says everyone else is there. When we get there, we see loads of people there. Liz is friendly and we immediately sign up for doing Crazy in Love.
There’s some dancing to the songs and the girls seem real friendly. Brenae, Jess, and Andrew show up. I sign up with Brenae and Andrew for a song. It’s Brenae’s birthday on Wednesday and I tell her that there’s a surprise for her. It’s not really a present, but I guess getting the haircut is a surprise. I mean, unless people really object, I don’t really care.
It takes a super long time and I speak to the owner/DJ and he doesn’t know the artist for Crazy in Love. It’s supposed to be written on the sheet of paper we handed in with the singers’ names and song name. I then write that it’s by Beyonce and we finally do the song.
I screw up the rap verse because I sing on the top of my lungs and lose breath control. I also don’t know the verse too well and it hurts the flow. Brenae and I also do It’s Not Ununsual by Tom Jones.
Unfortunately, Andrew and I don’t get to do By the Way since the DJ chooses who goes and he doesn’t get to us. It’s cool that the place has so many NYU people. I also have a rough time running around like a maniac trying to bum cigarettes. I ran out and gave my last two to Emily and Courtney. At 3:30ish, Jess, Brenae, Andrew, and I leave. The other people pretty much still there. Andrew says that people are going to Radost brunch tomorrow. I agree that I’m going since it’s the best food that I’ve had here.
When I get back, Gianfranco comes back soon after with a girl. She’s in the NYU program. He asks me to leave the room for a while. I don’t really care and I go upstairs to hang out and make some food. Brenae asks who it is and goes through all the girls since Gianfranco was playing everyone tonight.
After eating my food, I check and sort of hear noises, so I walk into the lounge area, which is near the girls’ rooms. I lay out on the couch, but someone took the cushion and it’s rough sitting basically on the springs. Allyse soon walks in and says that she walked in on Gianfranco. I ask why she walked in the room in the first place and she says she was just checking to make sure people got back fine. Apparently she had to walk back by herself.
I don’t want to fall asleep on the shitty couch. I keep checking on the room and eventually see Dillon coming up the stairs. I tell him about Gianfranco and he checks the room and goes to sleep at Charlotte’s.
I keep checking the room until I hear sleeping noises. I go in the room and can’t tell if it’s just Gianfranco under the covers. I go to sleep at 4:30ish.

December 4, 2007
I wake up and spend around 20 minutes waiting around for Andrew and people to go to Radost. When I go upstairs, Brenae says that it’s not happening so I just make pasta. I study for a while and watch some TV as I wait for my 3:00 Macro final. I don’t care that I miss my 10:30 class and 1:30 class. They both don’t have finals, so stuff is basically done. Then again, I still have to write my essay for one of the classes and I have to confirm what I’m writing about and when it’s due.
When I get on the metro to go to class, Christina and Allyse are on the metro too. Allyse mentions the girl that came back with Gianfranco last night. She says that’s how he rolls that he’ll take anyone after working on everyone. Since again, he was dancing and trying to work all the girls.
My final turns out to be two questions from the midterm and three new questions. The two old ones are still hard and I don’t know if I answered them correctly. He mentioned after the midterm that those are problem questions, but I don’t think we ever got the completely correct answers.
Two of them seem like they’re the same question and are really confusing about exchange rates and stuff.
One of them I’m pretty sure I did well on. My EU class has gone through how the EU is economically and fiscally integrated and stuff. While it’s in the notes, I don’t think that the others really know it too well.
When I leave, I get my final paper back on the minimum wage and it’s a 98. Hopefully I get an A on the final and get an A for the year even though I had a B on the midterm.
Unfortunately, tonight seems like a dead night. People don’t seem to want to do stuff even though it’s one of the last nights here. At least tomorrow is a big deal, Mecca night!

December 5, 2007
It’s great that I’m skipping class today. Then again, I wake up at almost 3:00 for some reason. I’m not sure why I’m so tired. I spend the day doing nothing and watching shows. Go download Howard on Demand, that shit is so good.
I spend part of the revising my essay because I sent a draft. Unfortunately, the professor knows the subject well and has a decent amount of comments. I spend time adding a page or so. I then realize that I’m tired and try to take a nap for an hour. When Gianfranco gets back, he notices that I’ve been sleeping that much. I’m not sick. I don’t know; it’s weird.
At 10:00ish, Courtney and Josh come over to pre-game. I make myself a Diet Pepsi Twist and vodka. I love the fridge because it’s so cold that there’s some ice in the Pepsi bottle. We then go to the girls’ quad where everyone is to pre-game and stuff.
Lauren and Courtney suggest that I should cut my hair today. They’re ready to do it, but Gianfranco stops us. He puts Alex’s hair cutter on my table and says to think about it. People don’t seem very decisive about giving me a faux hawk so it doesn’t end up happening. Allyse is around the room and such, but she ends up hanging out with Alex, Christina, Jarra, Dillon, etc instead of staying the room.
They leave before the rest of us, which his like almost 20 people hanging in the room. There’s a game of Kings, but I don’t play. When hanging around, Stephanie, who went to Great Neck North and now lives elsewhere on the Island, confirms that we’re going to Gino’s when we’re back home. I tell her to make 4AM Bagel instead. Fuck Gino’s…
I try to get people to leave before 12:00 to catch the metro, but people are slow and we end up taking cabs only 15 minutes or so after we could’ve caught the metro. For the pre-game and the bottle of Coke and vodka that bring along to Mecca, I finish over a quarter of a liter of vodka.
I’m a bit off on paying the cab and pay $1.50. Since we’re the first cab there, I end up waiting outside to finish my Coke and vodka and have a few cigarettes. I don’t actually remember why I walked in, but I did. I don’t actually see Gianfranco for a while later into the night. I coat check and say Hi to other people there; Brenae, Jess, Christina, Allyse, and Alex and others.
I get sweaty and thirsty from the crazy dancing going on and grab and expensive beer for $2. It’s great that Mecca doesn’t have a cover, but it still charges club prices for drinks. For some reason, I end up really tired again and try looking for people to get back. I see Antonia and Christina and they say they’re leaving through tram. It takes like an hour to get back, but at least it’s free and there’s always McDonald’s stop on the way back.
I lose them and end up going outside to see them walking away from Mecca. I catch up to them and they say that Toni has to get her stuff from a nearby dorm. I tell them I still have to grab my sweater from coat check. I get it and see Christina waiting outside and we wait until Toni comes back. Christina calls a cab when Toni gets back.
I then find out from Toni that I don’t actually have class tomorrow. While there’s no final, I wanted to go to confirm that I’m writing about Holocaust denial legislation in the EU and also about SCOTUS free speech decisions.
I talk to Toni about it and she seems to have the “conventional” view on the issue. She doesn’t completely defend the legislation, but she says she “understands” it. I guess a lot of people just don’t “understand” how absolutely totalitarian it is to jail someone for simply writing a book denying the Holocaust. That kind of human rights is what one would expect from China. Shame, shame, shame on you EU.
When the cab comes, we see Melissa who is from our dorm and jumps in our cab. The cab costs about $8, but Melissa tips up to $10. I don’t have change, so I pay $2.50. Then again, that’s fair, but tipping is different here. You’re not supposed to tip like 15 percent in America. Just a little bit is fine. And for cab, tip isn’t necessary. It’s good that it’s a cheap night and it costs only about $7.
I’m tired and hungry when I get back and make a meal with a toasted chicken and cheese sandwich with Dijon and fries. I sit around and watch some great Howard on Demand. Dillon gets back later at 4:00ish and I mention he got back late. He seems a bit drunk and says there was controversy when getting back, but he says he’ll tell me about it tomorrow and goes to I guess Charlotte’s. Gianfranco gets back before 5:00. He’s drunk, which is rough since I guess he bought loads of drinks there.
He asks who I’m speaking to on AIM. I’m speaking to Miah, but I spoke to other Courtney earlier on it. She asked about the night since she has a final the next day and stayed in. I said it was the night was alright, but hoping that tomorrow is better. I don’t know, the pre-game and club were alright, but not a crazy night.

December 6, 2007
I seriously wake up with the worst nightmare of my life. I never remember my dreams, but not this time. I’m somewhat awake, which is part of remembering it. This is the story:
I’m part of Lil’ Wayne’s possie with a few other big black guys. We go bowling downstairs, but that doesn’t happen. We then go into another room where there are a lot of sick people. Someone has a breathing machine, another has an IV on him, and there are some other people. We then go outside and they sit in the car. Some Mexican gangsters then threaten us by flashing a gun and drive away. I get super freaked out and explain that I won’t go in the car since it’s an obvious place to get shot instead of inside of the public bowling alley.
They say that they understand my feelings, but I eventually get in. We then start driving and we see the gangsters again, but there’s a cop car near us. Unfortunately, they seem occupied with the sick people that I saw earlier and they’re in the car. We then get into a bit of a car chase with the gangsters behind us. It’s not a “real” car chase since it’s there’s a lot of traffic in the residential area. We eventually have to stop at a light and both Wayne and I lay down to hide ourselves in the backseat. I’m on the right side and then see a gun put up against the window and I see blood shoot out from then blasting Wayne in the head. I don’t look and hope that I don’t get shot myself, but feel that I will since I’m witness. I then see the gun point downwards at me and I get shot in the chest. I feel that I can survive since it’s only one shot. I then get shot two more times and see my life flash past my eyes. I then realize that I’m probably dead and suddenly wake up from my half sleeping state and feel my chest and I somewhat feel three holes in it. It’s one of the scariest moments of my life!
I then go back to sleep for a while until 1:00ish. I then make some food and watch some Howard Stern. When Gianfranco and Dillon leave for class, I take a nap at 5:30. Again, I’m tired again. It’s super weird. I suddenly realize that I’m not being woken up from them coming back from class. I then realize that there’s a “farewell” dinner tonight at 6:30 and the dinner is at 7:00. I’m not even able to take a shower from sweating from the club and sleeping. I change, spray some shit to cover up my smelly self, and run upstairs hoping that Brenae and Jess haven’t left since I don’t know how to get there.
Fortunately, Brenae is there and we go with Camilla. We get there and it’s where the “new” NYU is. Since NYU Prague is growing like a tumor, they added more to it. It’s almost up to 200 people now and growing. It’s fuckin’ way too nice of a place and I feel like I’m in a James Bond movie ready to make thousand dollar bets at the tables and spy some shit.
I get some food and sit down with Dan from downstairs. The Duke girls sit down in the area and it’s a bit awkward since I’m not too close with the peeps. The food is absolutely ridiculous. Gravy chicken, cream sauce salmon, delicious rice, sweet tomato sauce ravioli, and spiced chunky mashed potatoes. The food is way too good and it’s unfortunate it’s coming out my NYU tuition.
I eventually awkwardly hang around while I see the “girls” in an area. I drink loads of Coke and coffee. I also have a crème brulee, which is so amazing. I’ve also haven’t had “real” coffee here in a while, which is real nice. Not to be disgusting, but I eat so much food that there are two nasty trips to the bathroom. I then see Gianfranco and others and hang around with them. It again is a bit awkward, but it’s sort of bearable. We talk about what’s happening for the night and people seem to want to go to Radost. I see Dillon, Liz, and Christina hanging around and walk over to them. I ask if they’re going to Radost and Liz gives a “What the fuck” look and says “Is anyone even going there?” Turns out that they’re going to Blind Eye and other NYU people seem to be doing the same.
We eventually leave. A lot of the people go to a dorm nearby and go there while Gianfranco and I go to ours. I take shower and we get ready to pre-game at the other dorm. There’s a rift between people that want to go to the club (Radost) or a cool pub (Blind Eye). The “girls” are going to Blind Eye, so I tell Dillon and Liz, who are in the room, that we might see them there.
Gianfranco and I walk to the nearby dorm, which is the 10 minute walk, and I have a third of a .5 liter of vodka on me. We talk about how underrated and great the Timbaland album is.
We get there and pre-game with almost ten people in the room. During this, I feel super tired and it’s not that rowdy as it usually. We play a cool game of “Never have I ever,” but it’s super hard for me to think of things to say. You can’t say, “never have I ever been camping,” which is super bitch.
Josh, Gianfranco, and I decide to go to Blind Eye and then figure things from there, while the rest plan on going to club at Radost. I’m too tired to club. I know that sounds out of place for me, but clubbing is a hard game.
I get a text from Brenae and call her back. She’s still at the dorm and we plan to go with her since Blind Eye passes our dorm. Gianfranco and I wait, while the rest going to Blind Eye go ahead. We get a bit lost going there, but as a true master, I lead the way and find our way there. I also tell the story of my super weird/scary nightmare and how much of a chick I am (Love Gossip Girl, Love Actually, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, etc).
When we get there, hell lot of the NYU people are there. I grab a beer for $1.50, which is good for a pub. I hang around and stuff. I say Hi and speak to the “girls.” Unfortunately, the only one that seems to like me, Allyse, is not there. We plan on walking to Radost at 1:00ish, but that doesn’t happen. Almost an hour later, Gianfranco tells me to call a cab to go to Radost, since people from Blind Eye already went there and there are loads of people there already. He doesn’t end up getting the cab and the company calls me half an hour later, but I miss it. Hopefully they don’t blacklist my number.
We dance floor for a bit and Liz has her arms on Jen’s shoulders as they’re walking out of the d-floor. I’m a bit drunk by now and have fun and try to make it a mambo line by also putting my hands on Liz’s shoulders. Liz turns around and gives me a nasty, “DON’T TOUCH ME!” It’s awkward and ruins the night a bit for me. It’s not a big deal, but I just have lots of social anxiety.
I then grab a shot of liquor. I also have a conversation with random NYU people that I don’t really know. The story is, Corona is a shitty beer that is played up way TOO much and if you want to drink decent Mexican beer, drink Negra Modelo.
I find out that there’s dark beer on tap and get one of those, but people are leaving, so I chug that shit real hard. Good thing the night is only about $7 again for the night. I leave with Christina, Toni, Liz, and Jen. Gianfranco stays to work on a lady.
When I get back, I immediately go to make a sandwich. I then realize that Jess and Brenae are still up and knock on their door. They seem almost ready to sleep, but I chill out in their room, which is super cool.
We talk about of a lot stuff including how I was part of my dorm’s “group” for a while until that suddenly dropped. Then say that’s not personal to me and they’re just “cliquey.” Seriously, that just means that they don’t find me “friendly” anymore and have removed me from the clique. The personal and clique thing doesn’t make a difference. They also mention how it’s just girls and the other guys have certain situations. Dillon is basically going out with Charlotte and Alex is like best friends with Jarra. Even then, I don’t think that works since the rest of the girls are still actual friends with Dillon and Alex.
Then, Andrew and Randy (from another dorm) randomly show up in the room. It’s super cool to have more people hang out in the room and chill out. It’s probably the best part of the night actually. It’s mentioned how Jess is going to cook since Brenae’s birthday was a few days ago. Jess is a crazy cook and apparently there’s going to be potato pancakes, chicken, stuffing, and stuffed cabbage.
I offer to help because I would feel guilty eating that stuff otherwise. Then again, Jess is planning to cook for anyone that is willing to eat, but I would enjoy helping, hanging out, and cooking. I eventually realize that I’ve been in the room for a while and I should let the girls sleep, so I leave. Gianfranco walks in after a while and mentions Jess’ dinner. I tell him about it and he gets excited.
I think that Dillon is in his bed, but see him walk out of the elevator. Turns out that Charlotte is in his bed when gets in. Gianfranco and I mention that’s confusing. By the way, spend 30 min writing this shit! Sleep! 5:30!

December 7, 2007
By the way, this video was shot at Radost. The outside is Prague, but there’s a NY yellow cab for some reason. The club also isn’t behind a convenience store. Otherwise, it’s a big deal here that we know all the parts of Radost where Rihanna is at.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xsRWpK4pf90
I’m super lazy and don’t get any work done for the day. At 6:00ish, I go upstairs to see if I can help with the feast that Jess is going to cook for dinner. I take a while peeling potatoes until I go back down.
At 8:00ish, Brenae IMs me from upstairs that dinner is done and to tell Gianfranco. When we get up there, it’s a crowded kitchen because people from other dorms come for the dinner too. We sit at a huge table of over ten people. There’s chicken with cheese and mushrooms, real stuffing with meat, stuffed cabbage, and mashed potatoes. I gorged myself yesterday and I do the same again. It’s painful.
After eating, people still hang in the kitchen. Stories are told and stuff and Gianfranco and Alex exchange stories about when they went to Amsterdam. We take a long time up there and I decide it’s time to start pre-gaming at 10:30. People are planning to go to 80s night at Lucerna.
I make a Coke and vodka and go downstairs to pre-game. We actually go to Andrew’s room, which I’ve never been in. He has a friend that’s visiting there, but that’s just it. After chugging a bit of vodka, I go upstairs to get more people to pre-game.
I get Brenae, Jess, and Camilla to come down. Liz, Jarra, and Alex are also downstairs for the pre-game. We play a few drinking games and Andrew accidentally kicks my glass and breaks it. The pre-game is fun and we eventually leave to walk there at 12:10. It’s a large group with the two Andrews, Andrew’s friend, Jess, Brenae, Camilla, Jarra, Liz, Alex, Gianfranco, Toni, and me. On the way there, we stop at a store to grab some beer. Along with sharing my vodka with a few people, the .5 liter of vodka that I had fresh from the day is almost gone. Along with the beer for the walk, I’m pretty drunk by the time we get to the club.
Camilla checks my coat while I go to the bathroom, so we have to make sure that we leave together. I eventually lead people to the dance floor, but get tired and thirsty. I grab a beer and to chill out. I randomly see two people that work there eating duck. The guy tells me it’s 10 kilos. It’s so weird to see people chomping on a huge roasted duck at a club.
I hang out in the chill areas overlooking the huge dance floor for a while. It’s a weird sight seeing the dance floor filled with people. I actually feel like I am in a movie. I’m super tired so I sit down and chill out for a bit. I randomly see a few people smoking weed, they offer, I take a few large puffs, and walk away. They tell me their names, but they’re confusing and Czech, so I don’t remember them.
I’m not sure if I get high since I’m drunk. I get a boost of energy and hit the d-floor where everyone is at. We eventually decide to leave. I don’t exactly remember when. It’s good that we gather everyone and make sure that we all get back together.
Some people stop by the stand to grab food, but it’s cheaper for me to cook when I get back, so I do that. I get held back because it’s windy and I have a hard time lighting my cigarette. It takes me forever and I try to catch up with people. I run and suddenly can’t find anyone and run real far ahead, but still don’t see them.
I get a call from Brenae and they’re somehow really far behind me and I missed them. When we get back, I cook a whole bunch of fries, but I’m told that people are hanging out in Alex’s room and smoking. I have to drop down the oven and run downstairs to catch them smoking a blunt. Gianfranco, Alex, Jarra, Brenae, Camilla, Jess and I are all able to squeeze into the tiny closet for the blunt.
I get a few hits, but I came in late and there are a lot of people to pass it around with. I then get the fries and come back down. I’m pretty much the only person that eats it and Alex lets me take some hits of keef. I get very high, but I’m way too tired and just pass out on Alex’s bed. I’m awake, but I just lay there with my eyes closed. Everyone is singing and dancing during this. They also watch weird videos that are supposed to freak you out when high. It turns out to be a really fun night.
We eventually leave and go to sleep by 6:00ish.

December 8, 2007
I’m supposed to go to another Pro Tour Qualifier today, but I decided against it when I went to sleep. I get a call at 12:00 from Brenae asking me if I want to go to Radost. I get ready in two seconds and head up to meet Brenae, Jess, and Camilla. Gianfranco doesn’t go with us because he plans to meet other people there. We walk there and I order a ridiculous omelet. It’s literally egg “lasagna.” It’s eggplant, marinara sauce, and cheese wrapped with egg. And again, it has the best home fries I’ve ever had.
The table for the four of us is next to a lot of other people in the program. Gianfranco joins them a while after we sit down. I also have an ice coffee. It all comes out to $10. The supermarket is on the way back, so I stop there. I think I have enough food for the rest of the week, but I still have to buy more vodka and soda for the crazy pre-gaming.
Again, I’m lazy and don’t do any work for the day. I really have to buckle down because I have to do a decent amount of research for my 8 page paper on Holocaust denial legislation and comparing to Supreme Court free speech decisions.
For dinner, it’s great that I don’t have to cook and I just heat up the leftovers from Radost. The egg “lasagna” and home fries, yum.
Gianfranco speaks to people about the night and gets annoyed by how people are split on what’s happening for the night. He’s correct in suggesting that clubs are really basically the same. As he says it, you drink, you throw your arms in the air, and dance. What’s the difference with other places?
At 10:30ish, I start pre-gaming. People from other dorms start coming and people continue to shift from going downstairs to pre-game or staying in our room. By the end of the night, I finish 2/3s of my bottle of vodka. It sucks that I finish so much because I just bought a fresh bottle today and won’t have enough tomorrow unless I mooch.
The pre-game is pretty fun, but I’m again tired and lie down having loads of cigarettes all over the place. People get a bit worried because instead of Chinaman red face, my face turns a bit purple and looks weird. We have loads of people pre-gaming and have to call about five cabs because there are almost 20 people hanging.
Christina pre-games with us, but goes to the Blind Eye with the girls. I ask Dillon and Alex if they’re going out, but they seem unsure. I think Alex ends up going to Blind Eye.
I’m drunk by the time we cab to Five story club, so I don’t know how much I pay for the cab, but I probably skimp. We wait on line for a bit until we finally get in after a $6 cover. It’s great that I don’t have to coat check; then again, it’s actually free.
We then all go up to the 80s dance floor and dance for a while. I get hit again by drunkenness and being tired. I go upstairs to the lounge area and hang around having cigarettes. I end up falling asleep and suddenly realize that I’ve been gone for almost an hour. I lose my drunkenness and head down looking for people. I find people back down on the 80s floor, but then we all go down to the hip hop floor. I don’t know why people don’t go to it more. It’s got stuff like Sexyback and Beyonce/Shakira, etc.
There’s an annoying that start bothering the girls. He keeps trying to get in on it, but the girls keep turning him away, but he’s so persistent. I’ve done it before, but I start trying to box him out of the dance floor. It’s partially because it’s nice and partially because it’s fun to do. He taps me a few times, but I ignore him.
When then go upstairs to hang around the coat check area. Tamar tells me about what the guy said to her about me. Apparently he asked, “Why does the little Asian man get to dance with you ladies and I don’t?” Yeah, pretty funny.
Funny story about Tamar, she went to the 50 Cent concert and got to hang out with the 50 Cent crew including Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. Apparently her and her friend got to smoke their weed, drink with them in the hotel room, go to the after party, etc. The guys the next day that went to the concert were pissed off because they think she should’ve blew them or something.
We eventually that it’s time to leave by 4:00ish. I call two cabs for us. Toni decides that she wants gyro and I agree to take the 40-50 minute walk with her back to the dorm while the other three girls take a cab back.
Toni and I get to the gyro place, which is only a quarter of the way back to the dorm. While we’re waiting on line, we randomly see Brenae, Jess, and Camilla catch up to us. The cab company calls me, but I wasn’t planning to take the cab and the girls were supposed to take it, so I don’t know what to say.
We then walk to the McDonalds at the “Time Square” of Prague. On the way there, I experience one of the funniest moments of my life. Some 50-60 year old guy walks past us with an “egg music shaker” and says to us, “I like to move it, move it.”
I then respond with singing the beat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBnkJQWe0JQ
It’s so cool that he literally made a “club” in the middle of nowhere. I say that, “I’m so turned on.” Obviously, the girls make fun of it and joke about it sexually, when I really mean that was just the coolest thing ever.
We get to McDonalds and I order three cheeseburgers and a Coke. Toni is really tired and literally falls asleep in the middle of McDonalds. Some guy randomly knocks down a big cardboard poster from the ceiling. I grab it and put it near our table because I plan on taking it, but I see an employee walking to get it, so I kick it away from the table. It sucks since Gianfranco has already stolen an entire McDonald’s breakfast menu with the pictures, prices, etc.
We leave and it’s freezing on the way back. When I get back to the room, I see that my pillow and comforter are gone. I’m super confused and run upstairs. I then hear Gianfranco and a girl upstairs in the TV area. It’s a public area that’s right above the kitchen. I go back to the room and see that Aaron’s online, so I Skype him and we speak for a bit. The connection isn’t very good and I speak to Bolanos on AIM.
I hang around until 6:30 and finally go back into the room when I realize that Gianfranco is sleeping in the room and the girl left. My comforter is back, but I still don’t have a pillow and have to sleep on a sweater.

December 9, 2007
Since I slept so late, I wake up at 4:00. I then realize that I’m missing my pack of cigarettes, so I have to buy more. While I feel like I’m too lazy to do it, I know that I’ll regret it because otherwise, I’ll be itching to bum cigarettes when I drunk tonight. I also notice that the huge glass I stole is gone. While Andrew broke my glass, that night, I got another one with the same design, but it’s the large one that’s .5L instead of .33. I can’t find it, so I run downstairs where we pre-gamed to look for it and I can’t find it. Hopefully the Andrews will find it when they clean up the room.
Damn, it sucks that I’m missing that and my cigs. I sit around doing nothing until 6:00 when I decide that I really have to pick up some stuff at the store. I grab two bottles of vodka and two packs of cigarettes. Then again, the cigarettes might run out. I also grab Coke because I’ve been drinking that stuff like crazy with the pre-games.
People seem busy doing work and stuff, so nothing happens for the night. The next four nights here BETTER be killer.

December 10, 2007
I wake up a bit later for class because it’s interview day. He has to interview all the people in our class about our grades for the final paper and our final grades. I show up, but he takes way too long. I leave at 10:30 and it’s usually a 10:30 class. The class ends up 11:50, but I end up waiting until forever and leave NYU at 12:40. Damn that took way too long.
After lunch, I pass out for two hours. I try to wake up to write my essay, but I’m too lazy. I end up getting up at almost 6:00 and do pretty all the research I need. I then break for dinner and throw my laundry in the wash. On my way to the laundry room, Jared also jumps onto the elevator and confirms that I’m going to Blind Eye tonight. It’s good because I haven’t spoken to anyone about the night yet and it’s good to hear that everyone should be going out. After dinner, I drop three sentences before I feel too pumped for the night to work. I stall around and eventually find out that people are lazy and it’s taking forever to head out. I could get almost 2 hours of work done before 12:00 (the planned time to leave), but I’m again too lazy.
I’m really going to have to work super hard tomorrow to drop down 8 pages all tomorrow and have it handed it in by Wednesday. At least I don’t have finals for the rest of the week like a lot of the people. It’s rough that it’s holding people back from going out for our last week here. Damn, I still have to find my glass that I think I left at the Andrews’ room. It was a super nice glass and I don’t know when the next time I can yank one is.
Now I’m stuck doing nothing for an hour or so. I guess I’m drinking a beer, which is nice. A few people come into the room to pre-game. I Skype with Spamps a bit, but the video is down. I run downstairs to see if Andrew is coming and I also find out that I can’t find my glass there. It sucks that someone must’ve stolen it.
I go upstairs and find Brenae and Jess. Eventually leave past 12:00. I can’t get in touch with Courtney online, so I guess the people in her dorm and her won’t be coming. For the walk, I make myself a vodka and Coke. By now, I’ve had a beer and half a bottle of vodka.
When we get there, it’s great to see many people. I get a beer, which takes me forever to finish because I’m super drunk. I actually don’t end up drinking anything else for the rest of the night because of it.
I sign up for a few songs and sing some that other people do. I remember doing Shakira, Cher, Beyonce, and The Cardigans. I sing Lovefool with Jackson. I recently met him and he’s a super cool guy and really has a great voice.
I smoke like crazy and basically smoke a pack by the end of the night. It’s good that I steal the cigarettes from the tables. I guess I smoke so much because I’m drunk and don’t really have anything to do. I don’t associate with a lot of the song and don’t exactly have anyone to speak to occupy myself.
Christina is nice though and mentions how she’ll really miss my crazy dancing. You know this man is notorious. Some random woman does a great job on a song and the owner, Noah, announces that someone should buy her a beer. For some reason, I’m forced to do it. I guess it’s because I’m drunk that I do it. Fuck it that I spent money on that shit.
I also find out that I missed dinner that night because I napping. I guess it’s good that I didn’t spend the money, but it is the last few nights here and I would’ve been nice to have dinner with people.
At one point, basically everyone is gone and the karaoke is done. There’s an awkward situation where Jess is having a close talk to Andrew because it’s his last night here. It sucks that he’s leaving early and will be missing the last few nights.
Then, Christina and Toni are talking to Noah, the owner, and it seems a bit playful, so I don’t want to intrude. I’m stuck between those two awkward situations and drift between them. By then, Gianfranco and Brenae have left.
I’m again drunk and tell Noah that I’ll give him great reviews on all the sites I can find and make sure that the next semester’s people will be going there. I know that he doesn’t like me much for some reason, but whatever. It still really is a cool place to go.
When I leave, I can’t find my sweater. It turns out that the bartender moved them. I get really freaked out because I put an ashtray and beer glass in the pockets and I’m paranoid that the guy might’ve just decided to steal my sweater because of that.
Thankfully, I find my sweater, but without the stuff in it and quickly leave. Christina decides to stay and walk by herself for some reason and I walk with Toni. We’re both very drunk and have to walk with locked arms to prevent falling. We talk a bit about my paper on Holocaust denial laws. When I get back, I cook some pasta and watch some TV.
I cook too much and stuff myself because I’m drunk and pass out by 6:00. Yeesh, I’m really going to have to work hard as hell tomorrow.

December 11, 2007
I wake up at 2:00, which is late even though I have 8 pages to drop today. I work pretty hard with minimal slack breaks. You know, when you suddenly start watching your shows or start YouTube surfing and it suddenly drains a few hours of your life.
By the end of the night, I only have 1 page to write and I can finish that tomorrow before I have to go to NYU and hand it in in person. A lot of people seem busy from work and don’t want to go out. Even Gianfranco doesn’t go out because of a final the next day.
At 11:20, I go downstairs to Andrew’s room pre-game. The other Andrew left already, so he now has a quad room for himself. Tamar is there and then Alex and Jarra show up. Then Sonia, Randy, and other Alex show up. We pre-game there for almost an hour before we leave. I finish half a bottle of vodka again.
By the time we head out, Alex and Jarra end up staying in, so it’s only 6 of us going. It’s weird that it’s one of our last nights here and almost no one is going out. I’m pretty much the only one that’s really drunk, so I’m the show for the evening.
The Blind Eye is pretty dead, but they play some really great music. Spoon, Bloc Party, Refused (obscure!), M.I.A. I know what you’re thinking, that’s some real indie shit right there.
The d-floor is dead, but I’m bored, so I keep going up there when it’s a good song. There’s a cute Australian red dress girl there and we talk on the d-floor a bit. I tell her about the “I like to move it, move it” story when the song goes on. Doesn’t go further than that.
I tell a lot of the hilarious stories from Prague and people get a kick out of it. I don’t actually drink anything at Blind Eye, which is good. We leave at 4:00ish. Randy lives in the far dorm, so he decides to stay in Andrew’s room. The others live in a dorm 10 minutes from us, so they go back. I hang out in Andrew’s room for a while and there’s some gossip. I don’t really know of what though.
I then go upstairs to make pasta and I sleep at 5:00.

December 12, 2007
I wake up, spend a few hours, working on my essay, and go to NYU to hand it in. On Facebook, I notice that there’s a cartoon picture of the Muppets that’s tagged with the “crew” here, the girls, Alex, and Dillon. Bratislava is mentioned in the comments, which we all went to. However, I’m the only one that went, but isn’t tagged in the picture.
I guess I felt I was part of the “group” a few months ago, but I guess relations have changed. I don’t know, I’m just blabbering about the social situation.
I want to take a nap during the day because tonight’s going to be crazy, but Dillon has his music playing and stays in the room the whole day doing work. Allyse walks in and asks if Dillon is going to the dinner. He says he might, but won’t be partying. She asks me and I joke that I won’t be going.
It’s obviously a joke. I’ve been pulling quite a bit on people here. I guess I’m not notorious yet for never refusing to go out. I also tell the funny story about the time I didn’t hang out with Hasan because of drama and he was able to figure it out because of my perfect track record for the 7+ years we’ve known each other.
Anyway, NYU tonight is paying for us to go to the best restaurant I’ve been here. It’s also a really great club. It’s so great that Rihanna shot her video for Please Don’t Stop the Music at the club. It’s also apparently one of the best clubs in the world.
http://prague.tv/prague/nightlife/clubs/radost
Man, it’s going to be a mighty shit show tonight. I also have to bring a bottle of vodka because we’re eating and drinking and then clubbing.
I want to leave at 8:30 to make the dinner, but that doesn’t happen. I also expect it to be a big thing where everyone leaves together, but that’s also not the case. Gianfranco is planning to take E tonight and he goes to another dorm to meet up with people.
The “group” hangs out across the hall in Alex’s room. I would be cool with leaving with them, but they just go on their way. I see Jess and Brenae around and I think I’m supposed to be going with them and whoever. Hopefully that turns out alright and I don’t get left to go there myself.
I eventually decide that I should be going and actually head out by myself. However, I hear Jess around the stairs and I end up going with her, Brenae, Manny, Camilla, and Jade. For the night, I bring over half a bottle of vodka in a water bottle. We leave at 9:00ish.
When we get there, I’m worried that security might find it. The guy doesn’t give a good frisk, but taps my bottle a bit. Thankfully, he doesn’t say anything. I’m surprised that we go downstairs to the club/bar area instead of the upstairs restaurant area.
It’s so weird that NYU is paying for us to go to a club where we’re getting drunk and stuff. Unfortunately, the food doesn’t turn out how I expected it to be, but it’s still ridiculous.
They have fried, breaded chicken on sticks and people have to nibble on chips and vegetables and dip. People didn’t eat expecting dinner, but the food eventually comes. They bring more meat on sticks and then quesadillas come. I stuff myself like crazy and get really pissed when they bring out the hummus and I’m too full and drunk to eat much of it.
I’m actually so drunk that I blank out and keep telling people to eat the great “guacamole,” when it’s really hummus. Jeez.
It’s cool walking around and saying Hi to loads of people. During this, I keep taking shots of my vodka. I tell myself that it’s too much for me at the beginning of the night, but I eventually finish it even though it takes me a whole. Most of it is drifting around, speaking to some people, and hitting the d-floor. At one point there’s a “Go Darwin Go” moment where the dance floor opens up for an exclusive Darwin d-floor show. When I see Liz, I think she says “Darwin in Prague.” I mean, I’m not 100% sure about it, but I guess if she found it that it might be part of the reason why I’ve been moved away from the group. I don’t know, maybe I’m paranoid though.
After I’m done, we’re all surprised by Ed doing a complete, actual break dance. All with the on the ground spinning and 6-stepping. I don’t know, I’m super surprised and impressed, but people don’t seem to feel that way. Eventually, it’s 12:15 and I feel like passing out and sleeping. I expect people to be out because I hear that there’s a 5 AM after party.
I tell people that I’m leaving to take a nap and then come back after a bit. I’m so tired that I decide to close my eyes and start walking straight. However, there’s a huge contraption in the middle of the road and completely fall. My knee gets ripped up, I get a mark on my chin, and cuts on my hands.
It’s a good thing that I’m so drunk that I don’t feel it too bad. I go into the room and Dillon is there working. I take my comforter and sleep in the study room. I’m drunk, so I decide that I can go later than I planned and sleep until 3:00. I then see Brenae and Jess and they say that people left to go somewhere else like Mecca or Blind Eye.
I oppose their suggestions and decide to still go. I make it there at a bit past 3:30. I go inside and the place is literally empty. It sucks balls and I walk back and make some food. I’m bored as shit and decide to go on Facebook and find Jackson’s number to call him. He doesn’t pick up, but I do end up getting a text from him saying that he missed the call and doesn’t know called him.
I end up talking to Miah. Some harsh comments are passed between us. It’s pretty dumb and hopefully there are no hard feelings. I stay around until almost 6:00 and he says people went to Blind Eye.
He goes to sleep, but I end up staying up to almost 7:00 watching Trigger Happy TV. I’m not that tired because of my ridiculous nap earlier.

December 13, 2007
I get woken up at 1:00ish, which isn’t much sleep for me. There’s a joke that Dillon and Gianfranco think I get hangovers when I really don’t. I just feel tired when I wake up and I guess that’s what they see. However, it’s hard for me to actually get hangovers and usually don’t feel shitty the next day.
I sit around doing nothing and then try to take a nap at 4:00ish. Soon after, Gianfranco comes back and says that it’s troubling how much I sleep. As if it’s a medical issue or something. I don’t really understand what he’s saying because I usually just don’t get enough sleep and really need to supplement with naps.
When night rolls around, people seem to have plans for their “last dinner” and I don’t seem to be in them. Gianfranco heads out at 8:30ish. The “group” drifts around the room and stuff and they’re planning to leave soon for dinner. It’s awkward that I’m just sitting there while people keep saying “We’re about to leave, etc.”
Earlier in the day, Brenae, Jess, Toni, Camilla, and such talk about getting a dinner going, but I don’t know if I’m part of that. I should probably go upstairs and check, but it might be too late.
Turns out they’re gone so I’m basically left in the building by myself. I don’t really have food left, so I walk over to a nearby Chinese restaurant and get some lemon chicken. I work on it while watching Hannah and Her Sisters. I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s some amazing Woody Allen.
Then again, people are going to Blind Eye tonight, so hopefully that turns out well. It gets late and I expect that the “group” is coming back because Alex and Jarra stayed in and they planned to come back and go out.
At 11:15, I realize that Alex isn’t in his room and I’m not sure what’s happening. He must’ve left to meet up with them when I was out getting dinner.
The building is basically empty, so I decide to call Brenae and it turns out that they’re not going to Blind Eye. She doesn’t say where they are and it’s an awkward call. Max, Gianfranco’s friend from home, is hanging around the dorm with people and comes in the room looking for G. Max is cool, but he says he’s not going out for the night and we say Goodbye and that we’ll see each other at NYU.
I’m bored as shit, so I decide that 11:30 is the cut off that I’m leaving by myself. And I do end up leaving by myself, but obviously armed. I bring along a bottle of Coke and vodka. The walk there is harsh since it’s in the 30s.
When I get there, literally no one is there from NYU. Well, actually, Jackson is there. The one I called last night because I wanted to do something. We hang out for a while one on one and it’s really cool. I didn’t know him that well, but it’s still really cool.
After a while, the “group” comes in. During the night, I buy two beers. The girls go in the large room to hang out while Dillon, Jackson, and I stand around and speak. Allyse and Liz end up leaving because they’re tired.
I sit down with Toni and Jen while a gay birthday boy speaks to us. There’s something about people telling their life stories that I love. It turns out that he’s graduated from school and decided to leave the US and lives in Prague now. Some how, he has loads of money and travels all over the world. However, he still thinks that Prague is the best city to visit and live.
The other places he likes are Brazil and South Africa. Jackson ends up leaving to hang out with people from his dorm. At 3:00, people decide that it’s time to go because Jen has to take a cab at 4:00AM.
Anyway, moments of awkwardness that I even feel on the last night here:
When Jackson is gone, I had to drift around by myself because I didn’t want to push myself into the “group.”
On the walk back to the dorm, it’s five of us. It naturally splits into 2-2-1. That means two groups of two speaking and me standing in the middle walking. It’s not even a situation with just two people. They actually do a switch in the middle of the walk and I’m still the lone man out.
I go to sleep and everyone seems to be taking the bus that NYU hired at 6:45. Gianfranco comes back shortly later and he went to another place. It sucks that he and other lots of people didn’t show up at Blind Eye. It’s the last night and people really should’ve showed up.

December 14, 2007
I wake up from my alarm at 6:00ish, but snooze a bit. Gianfranco makes sure that I’m up and I’m invigorated because it’s the last time to see everyone and it’s time to leave. I microwave my leftovers from last night. I also take a few shots of my vodka because it’s going to waste. I also drink a hell lot of my Coke because that’s also going to waste. I bring all my stuff down and the bus is late, so we wait for a while.
On the bus, people socialize for the last time, but I’m in the back and rest and listen to Howard. I get off at the wrong terminal and Gianfranco and I walk together to the other one. I check in and Gianfranco and some other people wait in a waiting area for Czech airlines while I’m taking Swiss. Gianfranco say our Goodbyes and I make sure that we’ll see each other at NYU.
I don’t say Goodbye to anyone else because they’re not around. It sort of sucks, but I’m not sure who else I’d be seeing at NYU anyway. Toni and I are on the same flight to Zurich, so we stick together.
I feel super shitty from eating, the caffeine, and alcohol. The hour or so flight does me well as I sleep. When we get to Zurich, Toni has to fly to Chicago, so we say Goodbye and I’ll probably see her with Andrew in April when they visit NYU. I’m hungry and look over to the little food stand. It seems expensive, so I don’t buy anything. They’re on the Swiss Franc, which I assume is fixed to the Euro, so 9.50 sounds super expensive for just a sandwich.
I mean, I could be wrong, but airports are so notorious for gouging people. I’ve now been to Zurich twice and there’s something about this airport. I’ve taken pictures here and there, but it is absolutely beautiful. It really makes me think who designed it and funded it. It’s now 12:00ish. Hopefully I get lots of food on the flight and I take a good sleep so that I’ll be ballin for the while that I’m back that night.

December 23, 2007
Hasan is still at Turning Stone and he says he got comped a room so he’ll be staying past returning tomorrow. The plan for the night is to do pot brownies at CNFs in Brooks, but the plan changes around a lot.
Bolanos, Evan, Aaron, and I eventually meet at Scott’s at 8:30ish. TA randomly shows up. I try to get the final plan down, but Aaron and Scott seem borderline retarded. I try to explain to them that there are too many people and we’re pointlessly waiting for Josh to return from dinner at 9:00. TA says he’ll drive, which fixes problems.
However, he realizes that he can’t drive to Brooks since he thought we were going to CNF’s in GN. The plan is then to squeeze me into the car and fit 6 since TA wouldn’t be coming. Josh refuses that plan and Bolanos gets left out because he’s the only one not doing brownies.
We then get a call that TA will be driving with Bolanos, but he shows up at the Northern Starbucks with David Simon too. CNF is being grumpy and took a nap and says he doesn’t want more than 5 people, which is all of us in Josh’s car. That would exclude TA and Bolanos, but I’m confident that he would let them in if they showed up. Randomly bring David Simon messes up the plans and Josh’s car leaves without TA’s car. Again, leaving out Bolanos. It really sucks, but I plan that we’ll still probably see him when we get back.
Josh and Aaron take a huge amount of time picking up only oil, brownie mix, and cheese cloth. Aaron and I pick up some Mac D’s while Scott grabs an Olde English for me. The rest are silly and don’t want to get cheap drunk. $3.50 motherfucker!
I work on it for a few hours while the rest monkey around with the brownies. Aaron and I go to McDonald’s. I grab enough food to last me the entire night. It’s all about rationing. While it’s taking them forever, they smoke out a few times in the bathroom. By the time the brownies are done, I’m drunk and the brownie doesn’t do me any good.
When we leave, I eat my other and it still doesn’t hit me. Maybe it’s because I drank, but Evan also later says that it does no good. Josh and Scott disagree. Still, the end of the story is that the $10 wasn’t worth it. While the night is fun and all, it’s disappointing that it was so confusing with TA and stuff and Bolanos got ditched.

December 28
Bolanos, Erdem, Aaron, and I go to Umberto’s early for dinner. We get back and D&D parking lot by 8:30ish, though Bolanos is planning to go to Arthur’s. The others go to Salvatore’s, which is super out in the Island. Unfortunately, Hasan isn’t really invited, but he goes to Spamps’ to roll with the others. Bolanos, Aaron and I go to Arthur’s.
We get there past 9:00. There’s Josh, Evan, ben Simon, and Jonah. There are also some people that I don’t know, though they’re ridiculously good at Guitar Hero.
I start off with a Coors, then move onto a Sam Adams, when I find out there’s a lot in the fridge. People bring a bottle of So Co and we start taking shots of it. Bolanos and I are the only real men and go shot for shot. I think we take three. He might’ve taken more.
Aaron rolls a spliff and we smoke it with Evan. I also play a game of beer pong with Bolanos and we lose super bad. We also take a shot of Captain Morgan Tattoo, which is pretty easy.
Both Bolanos and I are pretty drunk, except he drove his car. Aaron drives Bolanos, Scott, and I to Wendy’s. We then go to Aaaron’s and I eat three dollar cheeseburgers. I don’t remember much else from being so drunk, high, and tired.

January 4, 2008
I’ve been getting only 5 hours of sleep recently because of work and hanging. I get back to take a nap and get a call from Bolanos at 7:00 that Tim called. He said that people are going over to Scott’s and that Tim doesn’t have my new number. Bolanos is also going to see a movie until 12:00.
It turns out that I don’t have his number so I’m unable to speak to him. By 9:30ish, Aaron says that he’s going to Scott’s. I call Scott about it and he does the usual shtick. He speaks very silently and awkwardly and I have to continue asking, “What!?”
It turns out that Tim and some other people are there already and finally he ends his audible fidgeting by saying, “I’ll call you in a few.” I don’t really understand what that means other than, “I have to decide if I can let you in my house or something like that.”
He eventually calls me back that finally says that I can come. I speak to Jenn earlier and Scott says that she called him, so I guess she might be showing up. Scott tells me to call Aaron to get a ride, but I should’ve told him Scott to call. I call Aaron and he obviously doesn’t pick up.
When I finally call again, he obviously picks up and says, “Yeah, I don’t think Scott is having people over.” As in, “Dude, stop calling, you’re not hanging out in an open house with “friends” tonight.” This is especially annoying because I haven’t spoken to Tim in forever and he actually did get invited to Scott’s earlier in the year and I wasn’t. I just ended up not seeing Tim at all during the summer.
Aaron then tells me he just pulled up to Scott’s, which is convenient or whatever you call it because he picks up now. I can’t get a ride from him so I have to awkwardly drift and figure how I’m going to hang with people tonight, but Aaron just hangs up.
I speak to Hasan and he doesn’t seem quite willing to do stuff. He then says that he’s picking me up, but “Last Resort GN: dont call anyone else.” I mean, Scott is being quite paranoid about us boring people being over. Other than New Years, we clearly threaten his house by playing dangerous games such as RISK! And SUPER SMASH BROS!
Man, that shit is crazy!! Anyway, enough with the rant, it’s Scott’s house and he gets to decide how many people he wants over. However, he should really correctly deal with the situation instead of dancing around issues and leaving people in the dark and guessing.
Then again, no one else has really called me, so I don’t know what others are up to. However, if they do call, and I hope they do, I’ll make sure that they confront Scott and get a real answer from him.

January 25, 2008
So it’s a Friday night and I’m hoping that something will happen. I haven’t really buzzed up with any of the Prague people yet, so it’s left for the Great Neck crew. Unusually, CNF seems ready to party and wants people to come over. Sounds good to me. Jonah is busy and Evan never seems to be free. Bolanos and Hasan are still around, so I give them a call. It’s 9:00 and I can tell that I’ve woken Hasan. He says that he’ll call Bolanos and get things rolling to go there. I speak to Josh and he’s good with going. Half an hour later, I call Bolanos to see how the plans are progressing. He says that he hasn’t received a call. What the hell?
I keep trying to call Hasan and he continues to not pick up. Bolanos doesn’t want to go into Brooklyn by himself. I also question going to CNF’s if it’s just Josh and I because it’s a bit of a trip. It takes 40-50 minutes because of the wait for the subway and walking in windy 30 degree weather is always annoying.
Josh and I eventually decide that we’re not going, so what a great Friday night...
At 11:30, I get an IM from whom other than Hasan. He says that he just woke up from his nap. Thanks a lot…
However, we do decide that we have nothing to do tomorrow, Saturday, and plan that we should do something during the day. We eventually decide to go to the Natural History Museum because it’s “free.” We get CNF along with us.

January 26, 2008
While Hasan said that he’d wake up at 12:00, which is early, and get things going because he has to get into the city, he surprisingly doesn’t… I have to wake up at 1:00 and call him and figure things out. He seems like he wants to flake out, but I eventually get him to come along. The trains are messed up and I accidentally take an express, pass the museum, and then have to back track on the subway. This cuts me back 10-20 minutes and by the time we meet up, it’s like 4:00.
At admissions, it’s “suggested” admission, which means he pay what you like. As cheap as I am, I fell to social norms and didn’t think it was appropriate to pay with change. I paid a dollar.
While some may not like museums, Natural History is one of the better ones you can go to. We eventually decide to depart past 5:00. Instead of taking the subway at the museum, Hasan wants to get bagels are Zabar’s. Fine, we walk towards there and Hasan suggests that we get liquor at the store we just passed.
CNF feels a bit uncomfortable with using his ID at a place he doesn’t know. I don’t really have a problem with taking a bit of a walk to the ones that we’ve tried and tested. Hasan gets really angry and threatens to leave for the night. CNF and Hasan eventually go the store and it all works out fine with Hasan getting a $16 bottle of Smirnoff, which I split the costs for.
Hasan then ignores the original plan of going to Zabar’s and we take the nearest subway and he wants to go to a Ukrainian restaurant. However, he walked us towards Zabar’s and now we were taking the 123 subway line, which doesn’t lead to this restaurant. We could’ve caught it at the museum though…
So he tells us that we should get off at one point, take a shuttle across some blocks, jump back on a subway, go to the restaurant, and then we have to go back on the subway to make it to my dorm.
I drew the line and said that’s just unacceptable. I live literally IN Chinatown and we could get anything there. I also mention that I wasn’t going to eat anyway. I try to get CNF on my side, but he’s apathetic to the time consuming plan. Hasan gets furious at me for telling him that the plan is unreasonable. I guess they must’ve been giving out free pussy at this restaurant too.
While on the subway, he decides that we should go to CNF’s instead of my place, since it’s better for drinking with the bodega there and stuff. However, it’s easier for him to go home now and grabs his car and then drive to CNF’s instead of taking the late train back.
He then mentions that he had “plans” and he just realized. It just looked like poor acting to me. He THEN says that he also needs to get a copy of Super Smash for N64. Don’t ask me why…
He then departs us to go home with no reassurance that he’ll be coming to CNF’s. It’s only 6:00-7:00, so I go to CNF’s since I have nothing better to do with my day. I immediately pick up a 40 of Old E. Michael and Stefan are there.
We watch some TV, play some Wii, and hang around, which is a good time. We finally reach Hasan past 8:00. Why it took him hours to reach his computer, we have no idea. Then, he decides to take a nap and that we should call him a bit later. Why is this man taking a nap this late at night? We call him back and he says, “I’ll see you a bunch during the year, don’t worry about it, I need to sleep, bye.”
So lets recap. He didn’t do anything the night before because it was sleeping. He then didn’t wake up at 12:00 like he said he would and tried to back out on plans. He then messed up plans with going to which restaurant. He then tried to force us to go really out of the way for this one place. He then “realized” that he had plans. He then mentions he needs to get Smash Bros. He then seems like he really has nothing to do other than sleep and might come. And yet he ends up not coming and just sleeps in. What a man.
This goes by for a few hours until we decide it’s time for more drinking. This time, CNF also gets a 40 with me. At 11:00, we find out from Josh that he needs to “speak” to Evan, so he doesn’t seem like coming. I don’t want to get back super late, so I decide that I should depart because getting back late using the subway is weird.
I did drink quite a bit on an empty stomach and didn’t drink water, so that turns out to be a bad idea. I wake up in the middle of the night and keep having to drink water. I also have a hard time falling asleep with a splitting headache. I guess hangover does hit sometimes even for our heroes (me).
Anyway, an unsuccessful weekend and I hope that weekends in the city turn out to be like what one should expect.