August 13–19, 2008, Number 196
Dobry den (Good day),
Well, I am finally back from my field study and I have a completely different outlook on how the world sees young American tourists. I can’t say that I wasn’t embarrassed by the behavior of my fellow students and all I could do is try and represent us like we should have been. The countries we visited were beautiful. We started in Chesky Kumlov, a medieval city in the south of the Czech Republic. The city underwent a large period of depression during the World Wars which in the end was its saving grace. Due to its lack of importance it was never bombed, it was never inhabited by foreign powers and remained untouched from its original state. And it was beautiful. Because of its uniquely untouched heritage they celebrate every year with the reissuance festival.
The town is completely surrounded by a bend in the river that acts as a moat with the exception of one side and it has castle walls built up all around it. These people take the festival seriously; they are dressed to the nines with complete period garb on, playing the part perfectly. Everywhere you look there is a vendor or an act, or some musicians. Once we got our costumes on it felt as though we were really back hundreds of years. The best came when we found the medieval games. Archery was the chosen favorite and at this point every guy had tried to show us his manly side. One of them mentioned that he would pay for me if only I would give it a try. Of course I agreed which is about the point where I showed them all up completely! I hit the target every time, something none of them had accomplished, and what was best was that I came the closest to the bull’s eye. I still haven’t mentioned to them that this is definitely not even close to my first encounter with a bow, and that my dad would be proud to know he had taught me well. The night carried on and we were the loud American group of students to all of the tourists since many insisted that they use alcohol to encourage them to don their outfits for the evening. I felt the worst part of the group’s behavior was how they treated the professor that was taking the trip with us. He was filled with unending bounds of facts about every aspect of the cultures that we were visiting and for the most part he was treated as a nuisances by all but a few of us. The rest of us took the time to listen and comprehend what the history he was telling us had actually shaped the modern world. Thank goodness the fools who passed out on the streets were rewarded greatly extremely early then next morning as we traveled on a hot bus on an uneven road to Vienna, Austria at 7 am.
Due to the sheer amount of people in Austria for the Euro Cup there were no hostels in sight for us to take. Instead we had to only spend the day in Austria then travel a short distance to Bratislava. From there we would travel to Budapest where we would spend a day and a half only to return to Vienna for the after noon on the last day. It was completely worth the return too! Vienna can only be described as an imperial city. Everything about it is grand, enormous and seemingly royal. Considering the number of rulers from the Holy Roman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire who donned there thrown in the castle with in the city, it is understandable. The architecture is all things if not stunning and grand. And I must say that there shopping is nothing less extravagant. They boosted the top of every label in the world along side an H&M. We were in and out of the stores all day, while taking adequate time to survey the magnitudes of architecture around us and ending the day at a café. The cafes are one of a kind in Vienna. You order one cup of coffee and maybe a dessert from the confectioners shops that were always within the store and you could sit for hours and no one would bother you. It is wonderful, it was disappointing to leave Vienna but the thought that we would return quickly was encouraging.
Fortunately for the trip planning we used Bratislava only as a place to stay. Bratislava is not a city that boasts the beauty and pride of its country but was a city more chosen out of convenience. There are many cities that embody all that is Slovakian and I would have to contest that I find it hard to believe that Bratislava does that the best. Not just based on the newly constructed “Old Castle” or from the obvious Communist stamp that is left on the town ruining many influential land marks. I really have nothing else to mention on the town except for we were left waiting on the bus for over an hour for 2 students at the hotel. Which was just another example of the rude and disrespectful behavior that took place on the trip.
Wonderfully Budapest is everything you expect it to be and more, actually much much more than you expect. The city comes together beautifully over the river that divides them with the castle looming over all. On the first night we traveled up the castle side to find dinner provided for us at a beautiful restaurant: Hungarian goulash with soup and wine. The wine was that of Turks blood as it was called reminiscing of the old feud and rivalry between the two countries. And of course over the dinner the games were playing on a screen near the corner. Dinner was wonderful until a fight literally broke out over at one of the other tables. Sadly enough neither participant took a moment to take in his surroundings and subsequently embarrassed all of us with there shouting, cussing and carrying on. I was mortified to say the least. The argument was only added to by the amounts of alcohol provided. After dinner we continued our walk to the castle where we finally got what should have come long before. The professor, who can only be described as kind, relayed the fact that the behavior of some of the members of our group was exactly why many Americans were thoroughly looked down upon in other cultures. That our outlandish ways and common disrespect for others cultures was a clear reason for the feelings others had. As much as it hurt to see how our behavior had affected the societies and cultures around us I was happy to see it finally mentioned. Not that those involved took any form of responsibility for their actions.
After we split from the group we ventured to the Castle and then to a local bar overlooking the water to finish watching Spain take over Italy in the end, then headed to bed in order to be ready for the class trip to the spa the next day. Now I don’t have to tell you the spa was by far my favorite thing: hours of just laying around in pools of ranging temperatures with a massage to end it. It was perfect. My main goal along with that of Holly and Steffie’s was to avoid the group and there mentality for the rest of the trip and that pretty much happened for the rest of the weekend. We spent the day shopping and checking out the city and we avoided them equally as well the next day in Vienna. Choosing not to be part of there antics.
Over all I obviously had mixed feelings about the trip. My fellow students of course embarrassed me, but I now know that I will visit everyone of these cities, with maybe the exception of Bratislava, again and I will be able to enjoy them at the fullest extent. To say I was embarrassed was an understatement; I could justifiably see our countries reputation being marred as we traveled. If anyone came to the US and behaved as they did they would never be meet with open arms but that of prejudice and that is exactly what we brought on ourselves. Hopefully next week looks up for my fellow man, since it is our last.
- Laurilee
- Michigan Technological University
- 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295
- 906-487-1885