NYU Study Abroad Guide: Prague

Ed note: Because study abroad application deadlines for Fall ‘10 are fast approaching, every posting day from February 1 to February 12, we’ll be featuring a different NYU Study Abroad site to help you decide where you want to be constantly drunk for the coming semester. Check them all out here.

Spending an entire semester in Prague was an experience, to the say the least. It was my first time in Europe, and I couldn’t have picked a better city to introduce myself to the cultural oddities of Europeans. For example, deodorant is like nonexistent. One of the first things I realized about the city (besides the fact that it was gorgeous) was that it was very quiet. You had the obligatory city noises, but the noise never seem to rise above a murmur. Also, people there talk a lot about Communism, and I got to witness the country celebrate the 20th anniversary of the “fall of Communism.” A joyous occasion. From stuffing my face with goulash to sitting on a bench in Old Town Square smoking a joint, Prague offers us students a decidedly Central European experience. (Tell a Czech that their country is in Eastern Europe and they’ll likely punch you). It was in this city that, for the first time ever, I felt incredibly awkward being Asian. Some other students that recently studied in Prague and I share our experiences below.

Classes/Professors
Types of Classes Offered:
• Languages (Czech, German, Polish & Russian)
• Anthropology
• Art History
• Business
• Communication Studies
• Comparative Literature
• Drama
• Dramatic Literature
• Economics
• Environmental Studies
• European Studies
• Film & Television
• Hebrew & Judaic Studies
• History
• Journalism & Mass Communication
• Law and Society
• Music
• Photography
• Politics

So yeah, a ton of classes. Most of them are geared towards studying Central and Eastern Europe. There’s a pretty good film program that’s offered. Those kids take classes in a totally different area of Prague at FAMU, the Tisch of Central Europe. The classes weren’t too difficult. All the professors seem to understand that the study abroad program was like one big vacation for us. Avoid the hardass teachers if you don’t want to work too hard (Dinah Spritzer), and definitely take Modern Dissent with Jan “Silver Fox” Urban. Take a Czech language class too. At least, learn that pivo = beer.

• “I highly recommend taking Modern Dissent with Jan Urban. He is a great teacher and has lived a lot of what he teaches, i.e. the psychological impacts of living under totalitarian regimes and how to effectively stand up against such regimes. One word of caution is that the subject matter is grim and sometimes disturbing. I also took History of Nationalism, which is an okay class. It was less of a history of Nationalism though and more of a Czech history class. In the Czech Cinema class I took the films we watched were all really cool and inspiring, but the teacher, Jan Bernard, didn’t speak English well and it was hard to follow when he lectured. I also recommend taking Czech. It can seem like an intimidating language, but it is great to learn it in Prague where you can practice it on the streets.”
• “Classes in Prague were great, all of my professors were very well known in their respective fields, whether they were justices on the Czech Supreme Court or editors of top Czech newspapers. I would definitely recommend Modern Dissent with Jan Urban.”
• “I recommend taking a Czech language class for a semester, it really helps you get around and converse with locals and other study abroad students. (ILONA SARSONOVA IS SO HOT.) My other classes all centered around Central Europe (obviously), and though that’s not my major area of study at NYU it was still interesting to learn different aspects and perspectives of life in CE, during and after Communism (Law and Human Rights, Modern Dissent, International Relations Seminar). My Politics class I found most tedious, but only because I’m not interested in International Relations and still don’t know why I signed up for it.”
• “Overall, I enjoyed my classes, but I especially liked my Czech I class taught by Prof. Sarsanova. She was always enthusiastic and helpful in giving us new insight into Czech culture!

Student Activities

Lots of fun activities to go on. You can go tour a beer factory, do a little hiking, visit tiny towns in Bohemia and Moravia, etc. The trip that stood out was Hlinsko. I got a chance to stay with a Czech family for one night and it was baller. NYU requires that we pay a 500 kc deposit for every trip we sign up for. It was returned when we went on the trips, but having to cough up all that money at the beginning of the semester seriously depleted my funds.

• “The school trips were great. I ended up going to three overnight and one day trip, but my favorite was the trip to Hlinsko, a small Czech town. The small group of us that went got to have our own Czech families to stay with for the night, and they were super nice.”
• “There were a lot of student activities, more in the beginning than the end of the semester though. I wasn’t able to attend a lot of the events I wanted because they usually conflicted with my class time. The ones I participated in were all fun, and the trips I went on were amazing. Definitely take advantage of the trips, they are virtually free and NYU organizes everything for you.”
• “The trips I did with NYU were really great. Karlovy Vary, the spa town was fun, especially going to the Becherovka distillery.”
• “NYU in Prague as well as the separate dorms all offered cultural events throughout the semester for cheap prices (or free), like concerts, operas, plays, hockey games, and more. There were also weekend trips around the Czech Republic that were fun and a great way to meet people in your program. But towards the end of the semester after I’d established a friendship network, we started doing our own things instead.”

Housing

There are four dorms to choose from. I stayed in Jaurisova, the smallest and farthest away from campus. It worked out pretty well. I stayed in a suite with six other guys and we all shared a kitchen. There was a park right next to us, so plenty opportunities for picnics and other activities. You want big rooms and really nice kitchens? Choose Osadni. Lots of socializing and closer to campus? Choose Machova. Slezka, I never visited. If I remember correctly, one of the rooms at Slezka had everything of value in it stolen the last week we were there.

• “Housing was fine. They’re pretty well furnished. I basically only slept and sometimes ate and occasionally wrote papers there. I lived in Machova, which was closest to the NYU in Prague campus which I really liked, and also in the heart of the “gay quarter” of Prague, which I really found useful.”
• “I lived at the Machova dorm. It was in a very convenient location, with a metro stop and tram stops nearby. Although it is one of the larger dorms and could get noisy some nights, it wasn’t too bad. My least favorite part of the dorm was the fact that thirteen girls shared one kitchen and seven girls shared one shower. The kitchen was perpetually gross (unwashed dishes in a tower in the sink, trash piled up in the corner of the room), and there was always someone in the shower. (Oh, and the RAs were really nice!!)”
• “There are many good/cheap restaurants nearby, it is in walking distance to the Slezka dorm, and it’s right near the tram and the metro so it’s easy to get to a lot of places quickly. The dorm itself is an older building and the Internet often stops working. I shared a kitchen with 13 people, and that was a bit of a nightmare. It was constantly messy and dirty and I didn’t feel like cooking in it. A cleaning service came three times a week to clean the kitchen and bathroom but it barely did any good. I wished that I had picked Osadni because there four people shared one kitchen, which seems more doable.”
• “My dorm in Prague (Slezska) was nicer than my dorm in Gramercy. The rooms were huge, had really nice bathrooms, etc. The unfortunate thing was that we had communal kitchens which would get dirty very often.”

Nightlife

Beer is cheaper than water and no one cares if you smoke pot.

• “Nightlife is great. Everything is cheap in Prague. The Wellness people who came to talk to us about mental health during orientation week cautioned us that Prague is a place where you can get caught up in excesses of drugs, sex, and alcohol. I scoffed at the time, but they were completely right.”
• “Prague has loads of clubs and bars where the drinks are cheap by U.S. standards and you can dance the night away. Some clubs and bars that I recommend are Sherlock’s, Al Capone’s, Friends, Termix, and Popo on Italska street. But caution, unless you are extremely tolerant to alcohol stay away from absinthe!!”
• “There were a lot of fun places to go for cheap prices. And the Czechs know how to hold their drink!”

Food

A lot of it involves meat, potatoes, and a lot of bread. It’s tough to be a vegetarian/vegan in Prague. I think the concept of vegetarianism is foreign to a lot of Czechs. The exchange rate is in our favor, so lots of cheap food. I ended up eating a lot of McDonald’s and KFC, but seriously, goulash is BOMB.

• “I loved Czech food. I think I gained about eight pounds from all the beer and fried foods. Finding good non-Czech foods was tougher, though.”
• “Basically the Czech diet consists of cheese, meat, and potatoes. When you eat out at restaurants vegetables often equal coleslaw. One restaurant recommendation for vegetarians is Country Life, but bear in mind that it is hard to observe dietary restrictions/preferences unless you do most of your own cooking.”
• “You won’t find a lot of ethnic food options (or, rather, authentic ethnic food options) in Prague, but I liked Czech food. You’ll find a lot of potatoes and bread dumplings and beef dishes. I saved even more money by buying groceries and cooking, using dorm kitchens, so I could have more money to… study.”
• “Food in Prague is cheap. As a vegetarian in a place where sausages abounded, it was hard to find a lot of options on some menus, but most places would have something else available.”

Sex and Dating

Czechs are hard to talk to. They’re a very reserved people. Get one to talk to you, however, and you’ll find that many of them are funny, charming, and rather intelligent. Of course, if the language barrier is too difficult to break, people have been known to hook up with RA’s, fellow students, foreign students, tourists, or men in stag parties.

• “Aside from our RAs and staff, who were really friendly and great, I didn’t meet a lot of Czechs. They tend to be reserved and cautious about strangers, even in bars and clubs, and won’t approach you or be open to be approached. But I did meet other foreign students and residents, who were friendlier.”
• “Non-existent for me…. but there was always a supply of free condoms in Machova?”

Travel

Prague’s central location makes it really easy to travel. Hop on the train to Munich for Oktoberfest, or on a bus to Budapest. Prices are relatively cheap, and lots of budget airlines to choose from.

• “Prague, being in Central Europe, is a great place to be in for easy and cheap travel to other European destinations. Be careful about spending too many weekends in other cities, though. I found myself regretting a little not staying as much and traveling too much to other places, thus missing out on a lot of goings-on in Prague.”
• “Studying abroad in Prague makes it easy to travel to many other countries because of its Central European location. I definitely recommend taking advantage of the NYU trips since they are free and usually awesome. I highly recommend the Brno Music Trip and the Hlinsko Social Justice Trip. In the latter I went with seven other students to a small village in the middle of the Czech Republic. We spent the day and stayed the night with students around our age, comparing lives etc.”
• “Outside of the Czech Republic, I went to Hungary and Ireland. The lack of Friday classes on the part of NYU makes traveling easier to plan ”
• “Prague was a great location for travel; I was able to get to Morocco and Bulgaria very cheaply because of this. Train travel was also convenient, with Budapest, Bratislava, & Berlin just hours away.”

Culture Shock

Like I said earlier, I felt incredibly awkward being Asian in Prague. Sure, there’s a sizable Vietnamese community, but you hardly see any of them outside of the potravinys (stores). I got used to it after a while and learned to ignore the stares. Be careful not to speak English too loud. Prague’s notorious for pickpockets and English-speakers are often easy targets.

• “It was awkward in cases where communication with the locals was difficult, but other than that, I didn’t really experience this.”
• “When I went to Prague I expected to have culture shock right away, but for me it took a whole month before I started feeling it. By October I started to feel a little homesick because I realized how different the people and the way of life was from what I was used too.”
• “Czechs don’t quite seem to know what to do with Asians, but generally speaking, they keep to themselves, so you’ll find yourself being ignored more than anything, which was fine with me. I had a bigger problem coming back to the US with reverse culture shock.”

Why You Should Go

It’s in Central Europe. It’s a former Communist satellite. The good food. All that history too.

• “It’s a great experience, it’s cheap, it’s beautiful, it’s fun, Central Europe has got a totally different feel to it than Western Europe.”
• “I recommend going to Prague because it’s a gorgeous city and also smaller and more relaxed from New York. The people are friendly for the most part and there are a lot of opportunities for writers, art and architecture students, musicians, and photographers to study and create.”
• “It’s so much fun and Prague is great! I wish I had gone earlier in my NYU career so that I could have done more study abroads!”

Why You Shouldn’t Go

If you dislike places that are different.

• “If you get homesick easily in general?”
• “If you have any dietary restrictions or are a vegan/vegetarian I would say to keep in mind that it’s often frustrating to find food that you can eat. If you are looking for a city abroad that is more like New York I would say to go to either London or Paris.”
• “If you expect it to be just like America (in which case I don’t know why you’d want to study abroad in the first place).”