End of Travels

PACKING AND TRAVELING:

I packed:

3 jeans

2 yoga leggings

2 yoga capris

4 tshirts

6 nicer shirts

1 nike ¼ zip jacket

1 hoodie

4 tank tops

3 running shorts

4 cardigans

1 winter coat

2 outdoor jackets

socks

underwear

tights

1 swim suit

shoes: tennis shoes, boots, 2 pairs of toms, vans, flip flops

I wish I had left the 2 outdoor jackets at home. I wish I had brought more going out clothes. A lot of what I packed were pretty basic shirts, which were nice for layering, but sometimes I didn’t feel dressy enough for going out.

MAIN ADVICE:

My one piece of advice for traveling is: Whenever you travel or go to a new city on your own without a guide always do some sort of walking or bus tour. It allows you to get a feel for the town and is usually a great experience.

SOCIAL LIFE:

It was hard for us to meet people from the Czech Republic because we were gone so often and we didn’t live with any of them and had no classes with them. I only met a few during the first week when we took this hike with a group of them.

I feel like I never had free time in Olomouc. We were always traveling, but I loved going to the park and to Holy Hill at the edge of town. There were also some really cool festivals/fair type things that went on in the town center and those were always fun.

I also really liked that there was a free concert in the park for all the students. It was full of all Czech students and traditional music. We did get a chance to interact with some Czechs there and it was fun.

I would tell future students studying in Olomouc to take full advantage of all the free festivals and concerts. Definitely attend a traditional Czech Easter celebration. I didn’t have the chance to do that, but the pictures looked amazing.

SCHOOL WORK:

Palacky was different because we had classes just with each other. We did not integrate with other Czech students or international students. The relationships with the professors were a lot different too. For example, one of our professors told us to pick a pub to have our last lecture. A few of our other professors were a bit stern and boring, but for the most part they were easy to talk to and wanted us to ask questions. Our UNK professor handled all of the grading. She communicated with all of our professors to get the appropriate grades. School was very easy. I hardly remember studying. I studied for my finals, but I think that was it. All of the lectures were so interesting that I retained a lot of the information easily. The only thing that hindered our learning experience was the fact that it was a tad bit unorganized. We never had a set schedule for classes. They were all random lectures at random times.

MONEY & COMMUNICATIONS:

I would recommend $5,000, just to be safe and allow plenty of money for traveling. I didn’t have any foreign currency when I came over. I just went straight to an ATM. I used a debit card and then sometimes a credit card.

$0 on books, <$5 on school supplies I bought two notebooks and a pen

$10 a day (averaged out to be) food, but more on away trips

Depends on what you do for entertainment

Relatively cheap bus/tram/metro day passes are cheap $2 or less for local transportation

Depends on where you travel

$30 toiletries

$30/40 on laundry

COMMUNICATION:

I talked to my parents over wifi. All of my family has iphones, so while on wifi we could use imessage. I would also use a phone app called whats up and viber. As long as I had wifi it was easy to communicate with anyone.

You’ll more than likely buy clothes over here. Bring old tshirts you can toss or clothes you know you can part with. It will make packing for home much easier.

MUST-DO-ACTIVITIES

Any chance you have to go up in a tower or to higher ground, basically anything to see the whole city you’re visiting, do it. The views are worth the climb, everytime.

Budapest is a must. Go stay at a party hostel and they’ll help you from there.

Go to Holy Hill in Olomouc. Your bus pass should get you there. It’s only a short 20-minute bus ride out there.

Take a stroll through the Olomouc park. Grab and beer and just relax.

Any chance you have to go to Prague, take it. It’s an amazing city with plenty to do.

Go to every school event possible.

Go to Black Stuff. Take tram 2 past café 87 stop and get off on the left side. Try the Leffe.

Crepes are always a good idea. There’s a stand right across the street from café 87.

Don’t forget to have days to yourself where you explore Olomouc. Sometimes, those are the best days.