Within a Mile of Home

“The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.”

- Robert Frost

After a whirlwind three and a half months, all of a sudden I’m sitting in my apartment in Prague with just six days before my flight to London and then San Francisco takes me away from the most exciting, exhausting and exhilarating experience of my life. And as I prepare to come back to my homeland, I’m examining the things that I truly missed, that we should all cherish about our families, our structure, and how we treat each other – but also the excesses of the U.S. that I’m bound to realize I never needed at all.

My family and friends first and foremost, the people that make living in America so great, are something we can all relate to missing. Despite my tight knit family here of 40 students, with regards especially to my 12-15 closest friends, disbanding, I can’t wait to see my nuclear family and best friends for the holidays – and share stories and catch up.

Secondly are all the small things, some material and some trivial, that I’m going to thoroughly enjoy upon my return. For example, free water at restaurants, playing basketball, and clothes dryers are three things that I’ve been waiting to get reacquainted with for quite awhile. Seriously on the clothes dryers though, you have to hang up soaking clothes here and they turn into cardboard and never fully get unwrinkled. Annoying as hell.

Next, are the excesses of America that while I kind of look forward to, I know I’ll realize the lack of necessity after awhile. For example, the ability to drive again, while nice along mountain roads, will be a pain in the ass once I’m in midday traffic in Chico trying to get somewhere.

There’s also just transitioning back to American prices on everything. While I definitely don’t need to consume as much beer as I do here, I’m going to be a bitchy person when I have to spend 4 dollars on a Coors Light some Saturday night.

So it is with a happy vibe about me that I return to America, but I’ll miss deeply the times and the people I’ve met here in Prague, and in places like Munich, Budapest, Berlin, and Dublin.

Thanks for reading this semester, everyone.

 

Loathing Linguistic Lackings

People say that these days, Americans and British people are two nations “separated by a common language.” This is, of course, because of the more proper, “King’s English” used by many British folk and the ever lazier, slang-ridden American English that keeps driving us further and further away from our now conquered colonial imperialists. But all of that difference between “breakfast” and “breakfust” and “favorite” or “favourite” isn’t worth a plate of bangers and mash next to trying to converse with someone, namely someone you’re trying to attract, in a language like Czech.

For example, this gnarly roadie G3 can definitely NOT understand a word I say. And vice versa.

Once you get past the formalities and the basic friendly sayings you know, it can be tough, and you long for the ability to be whymsical and impressive with your diction. Especially as a writer, and someone who tries to be a wordsmith, this inability in my life makes me realize how much for granted we take how easy communication is, even within our own country.

This leads me to further understand the anxiety and frustration with the ever-growing influx of Spanish speakers in our country. However, just as I’ve had to adjust to this pseudo-Russian language, we have to adjust to the times we’re in. America is the land of immigrants, and has a history of one people over-running – this time thankfully just in numbers – the local incumbents.

Especially in California, where in several places Caucasian Americans are now the minority, learning a little Spanish to avoid the occasional general mishap – at any place of business – would be quite wise. Of course, along the same lines, those hired by companies who aren’t that adept at English need to do some training and quick, because it is the consensus language of our country.

My point is, overall, that being frustrated and learning to adapt here has made me see both sides of the fence of linguistics in America with a bit more compassion, and I think every language – especially English and Spanish – should be celebrated and treated with great interest and respect.

Poor Perceptions

A few weeks ago, I was lost in a rather desolate part of Prague, looking for a joint called the “Cross Club” – a place full of moving machinery and great live techno/reggae/house music. I randomly ran into a couple of French students, Julien and Caroline, who were also looking for the place. Hey, I might’ve been lost and freezing at 1 a.m., but at least I’d made the first French friends of my life.

Julien (who’s English is quite good) and I got to talking, about what it’s like to be from Paris, why he’s studying in Prague, and the like, and I began wondering – as I always do – what he thought perceptions of Americans where in Paris and everywhere else he’d been in France. He didn’t seem to have much to say at first, except a nod to the good tourism money that Americans  help bring in, but then he admitted that what the French, and other foreigners, see in the mass media can paint us as overwhelmingly ignorant and naive.

He told me that it seems like a lot of Americans probably wouldn’t even know where Paris is, and if it existed, he said, which got me to thinking just how much our jingoistic and often false-picture-painting mass news services like FOX News, CNN and MSNBC give an unfair impression of self-involved Americans to the rest of the world, and there’s not much we can do about it.

In this age of globalization, in my opinion, it goes beyond the duty of the press – even our god-awful mass press – to deliver the truth and breaking news, but to paint an accurate picture of Americans. Now, this is as difficult in America as an any nation, because of our massive land space, and endless demographics. But the outspoken religious right and the like that we see on FOX News can’t help but implant an image of Americans in the minds of Europeans, Asians, and everyone else.

Point is, most people I’ve met over here have an open mind to every person and every nationality, but our own news conglomerates (and even those like the BBC) can do us a huge favor and work on finding accurate Americans to talk to and host shows. Like I said, it is the age of globalization, and we’re in a period of image recovery. We have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.

Apathy and Academia

If you’ve ever had a light class schedule, and even no job to speak of, then you know the breezy optimism that comes with the beginning of the semester. With so little to clutter your time, you can focus in on those extra hours and do superbly well in each class you have. Or so you think.

All of a sudden, it’s finals time, and the only thing you’ve worked on during the semester are your liver-damaging and Guitar Hero-wielding skills — both of which you’re quite adept at by now, I must say. And by you I mean me, of course.

This semester studying abroad in Prague, I have four classes on only two days a week, and guess what’s happened to me? I’ve done not nearly as many readings as I would in a tough schedule while balancing jobs and the like — too little to do, too much freedom, creates apathy and academic laziness, at least for most of us.

Despite the fact that I’ve done well in my classes – it’s a gift, and the classes are quite easy – I’ve officially learned that having a somewhat tight schedule is much more conducive to productivity. For example, my sophomore year in college, while living at the dorms at California State University, Stanislaus, I had the busiest semester possible. I was taking a full load (14-15 units), working part time at the bookstore, coaching a baseball team, doing play-by-play basketball and baseball broadcasts, and running a radio show from 7-9 a.m. on Wednesdays. Not to mention, I had a semblance of a social life.

Hanging out at whiskey distilleries may not be the best option for increasing your productivity.

But being constantly active and under deadline helped me produce (thus far, at the time) my best semester GPA in college, and kept me extremely happy. I think light schedules fit certain people in the world, but for the most part we as humans, and especially as late-teens and early twenty-somethings, need a challenge.

And I think this can easily be done by filling up that class schedule to a reasonable amount, maybe having a part time job (which will provide some dough for weekend excursions and whiskey bottles) and pushing yourself with some extracurriculars. For me, it’s been hiking, intramural sports and tutoring elementary school for C.A.V.E. If none of those type things fit your fancy, there are myriad other opportunities in Chico — one of the most active, busy places I know.

I know filling up your schedule with three major classes and a weight lifting course is appealing, but giving yourself a little more to do might result in you doing a little more. And maybe a lot more.

Five Things to Love About Chico

Sometimes, when you’re paying in Euros, having to deal with myriad languages and accents, and missing a train stop (an expensive mistake) you get a little homesick.

Now, I’m not really the homesick type, and I would hope my semester in Prague would never end, but every now and then I have those pangs and I think about the people and the things I miss so much, from my hometown of Oakdale to Chico, my home of coming on three years. As you might’ve summised, I’ve created a list of five things to not take for granted in Chico while you’re there, and to miss when you’re gone. Some serious, some superficial, and in no particular order.

1 – Hiking and Biking

I’m not just talking about an intense morning at Upper Bark. The ability to walk and bike to almost everywhere necessary in town, especially on a warm, sunny day, is so clutch and not even common throughout all of California, much less the rest of the world.

Doing a rigorous 35 mile hike to Holy Mountain in October.

2 – Familiar Faces

When I missed a train stop en route from Edinburgh, Scotland, to Birmingham, England last week, I had to pay an exorbitant amount of money for a new ticket and had no friendly faces along the way with me in transit. Just walking across campus or likely around downtown on any given day give a reminder of how chock full of good friends and good people Chico is… as long as you stay away from the train tracks and the end of Warner Street (where yours truly lived last year.)

This friendly street musician from Prague isn't exactly a familiar face.

3 – Mexican Food

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, even going to the East Coast of the U.S. can make you yearn for a giant 4 dollar burrito from some clutch Taco Truck like Tacos de Paisa over near Ray’s Liquor. That or some Aca Taco Nachos in the wee hours on a Saturday. Crucial part of life that’s only available in certain parts of the world.

4 – Saints and Strummers

Every town, especially every hippy-ish California college town, is proud of its local music scene. But man, do we have reason to be. From powerfully unique venues like the Senator, to Cafe Coda, to Monstro’s and Laxson, to the ultra-eclectic local collection of bands: Armed For Apocalypse, Hail the Sun, and the recently disbanded Rock Creek Jug Band, for example, pack a powerful punch of variety that can fit every gig and every atmosphere.

Me playing at a hole-in-the-wall Prague music shop.

5 – Springtime

It can be easy to forget in the depths of winter, wherever you are, just how beautiful the true couple weeks to month of spring we get in Chico. The full sun of the summertime minus the exhaustingly hot and muggy conditions make for a Disney-esque period in March and/or April that I can’t wait to see again soon.

Flyin’ Free

 

Look to your left, and then to your right, odds are, one of those people are a terrorist.

Airports suck. Anyone who’s ever been stranded in a black hole international port like Denver or Atlanta knows that between taking off your shoes at security, to the occasional random search and body violation, traveling via air can make you lose your mind as an American. And last Thursday, as me and two of my friends embarked on a trip to Ireland, we made a mistake that could’ve made us miss our flight and more in the U.S.

Not realizing we had to do an upfront check in to the RyanAir desk – we had checked in online and printed off boarding passes – we went straight through the passport check and almost through security too before figuring out we needed a stamp on our boarding pass. Not that bad a judgment call, just confusion, but one that could’ve cost us dearly at a paranoid American airport being watched by some incompetent Department of Homeland Security hacks.

All that happened was a quick word through the same Passport desk we’d already gone through, and with only some mild argumentation we got through, checked in properly, and got a second stamp on our Passports before we headed off to our gate. Now, perhaps things are a bit too lax in certain parts of Europe, as they rightly know (in some places, like Prague) that they’re not as much of an international terrorism target, but either way, I had to thank god I wasn’t dealing with an American airport.

Just thinking of the one time I left a little pocket knife in my bag, the panic I felt when they pulled it out made me realize how much better things could be for our travel. The paranoia and wrongly-placed attention to detail that we use in our security – like random searching obviously innocent targets like Grandmas, to flawed X-Ray systems and relatively untrained employees is not necessary.

If we’re going to search people thoroughly, let’s do it to everyone. If we have to get to the airport a couple more hours early, so be it. At least there will be more equality, continuity and guaranteed safety. Secondly, it is obvious that the manpower is not equal to the skill and experience needed to adequately identify dangerous material as opposed to a harmless tube of Crest.

And finally, in my opinion, more than airport security itself more thorough screening processes for passengers, especially those coming in from European and other areas where they’ll be initially checked by non-American sources is vital. The most recent attack attempt, from the Nigerian underwear bomber, is due to faulty passenger screening – the guy’s Visa application had been rejected multiple times and somehow he wound up on a flight that would enter American soil.

Some simple common sense and our flyin’ could be a lot easier. But hey, at least we can buy beer and cheeseburgers before we get on the plane itself. Cheers.

Small Town Kids

Where I grow up, it was much easier to find horse stables than department stores, and taking the metro to work was out of the questions. Yes, my little hometown of Newman, Calif. – around 6,000 population when I lived there – was where I had my happy, quiet upbringing in a typical rural subarb.

Because of that, as much as I liked visiting cities like San Francisco, when I became a young adult I’d easily get overwhelmed or lost at its pace or trying to find my way somewhere. What I didn’t know at the time, and what I’ve learned in Prague, is that “country” kids just need a little time in an urban jungle to find out how to manage it.

Exploring the Czech Republic... I know, not a city.

Dealing with breaking through the Czech language barrier has definitely strengthened my navigation and communication skills, and it seems quite likely that it will be infinitely more easy to get around and get to know any and every city I may live in back in the States.

Looking intentionally depressed in the very Soviet Bratislava.

I’ve found that just finding landmarks, looking up a few key directions before going somewhere, and patiently orientating yourself with maps, street signs and metro stations is within everyone’s reach. I say this because I’m the person who, while working for The Orion, got confused on the bus system in San Francisco en route to a men’s basketball game that I was covering against the University of San Francisco. Ended up running two miles through the rain to get there, all because I couldn’t remember where I as going and just gave up.

I think, for those who are ever interested in living in a bigger urban area like myself, it’s good to intentionally get yourself lost in a city you’re in and find your way back to home or your desired destination. It’s just good ole’ fashioned self-sufficiency training.

Just think about your first few weeks in Chico. All of those one way roads and discontinued streets can give the calmest stoner a brain hemhorrage. But once you can orient the school, the Bear, Aca Taco, and the rest, you’re good to go.

Never stop exploring, Chico.

Kick It Up a Notch

Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to go to Oktoberfest 2010 in Munich, Germany, one of the best, yet hazy weekends of my life. And it got me to thinking. We need to take our game to the next level, Chico. It’s time to band together all of the scattered games of beer pong, flip cup, and the like into an annual (or quad-annual, whatever) city wide competition that rivals that of the movie “Beerfest.” Luckily for everyone in the city, especially the city council (hey, if they care about disc golf so much why wouldn’t they pay attention to a freakin’ beer competition proposal), I have a concrete plan to set up the beer games of beer games in Chico.

Taste the excitement.

Three Games for the Gods:

Our Beerfest, Beer Olympics, whatever you want to call it… could have five signature competitions that hit home to almost all college students, and all work with teams of about four or five. Firstly, there’s beer pong. Bounces, fingering, and rebuttal. Are you fired up? I am. Enough said. Secondly, there’s one of my least favorite, but the entirely necessary flip cup. It’s a great team oriented sport, and will definitely separate the sober from the NOT THAT DRUNK (Beerfest reference No. 1) in the final few flips.

Third, is the violently erotic (never thought I’d use that phrase in a published article) thumper. For those not familiar, this involves everyone drumming the table frantically with both hands, and players choosing a motion to do, to be performed after the motion of the person before them. It gets difficult quickly, and the loser/losing team has to drink.

Hallowed Ground:

The competition is to be held at Beer Can Beach along the infamous Sacramento River float. I’m severely disappointed and ashamed about what apparently happened on Labor Day this year, but I think this needs to be where this contest happens. Maybe a lightning round of rock pong if things are all knotted up? That could be dangerous… and great television. (Yes, this should be on ESPN2).

Teams of five, ala Beerfest. The tournament would be March Madness style, single elimination, and have a traditional final round of boat race with “das boots!” (Beerfest No. 2) with a grand prize of a lifetime supply of Sierra Nevada. Winners will be honored with a key to the city… and a one year slot as the actual city council.

We’re almost there Chico, we just have to get organized and create the grandest Beer Olympics in the California landscape. Who’s with me?

Land of Smiles

As Plato once said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” In America, we definitely don’t take this to heart everywhere, but most places, on the street, in restaurants and stores — the majority of us embody this sentiment. Here in the Czech Republic, a land that was within the Western realm of the Soviet Bloc only 21 years ago, they could certainly use some more smiles.

And I’m talking fake smiles. You know that waitress who wears on your nerves after asking how everything is at the table every 20 seconds? Who would keep grinning even if you punched her in the stomach repeatedly? I honestly miss that. According to my Czech language professor, Edita, a lot of customer service workers in this country seem to have sort of a hangover from Communist Czechoslovakia — where work and industrial production was the catalyst to keep communism moving. Those drearier times, she says, have created some dreary attitudes – especially at the workplace.

Just the other day, when at lunch with a few of my buddies at an Italian place, we stated “Zvlast” (pronounced – zvuh-lasht, except quickly) which is asking for a split check. The guy stood back for a second, rolled his eyes, then sighed and walked inside. Even after my roommate Paul chased him down and told him “nevermind” – they charged each and every one of us for the basked of bread we bought. Pretty much paid a dollar American for two tiny bread rolls.

At least these Czechs had some good smiles and stories for me.

Even though a lot of happy gestures and smiling in America is a result of superficial business running, you miss it after awhile. And I know, honestly, when I worked in customer service at a college bookstore (pre-Chico State) most of my smiles were real, and I wanted to help the more stressed people out have an easier experience when they spent an arm and a leg on a textbook they’d probably open twice.

Even on the street, the waves and hellos to strangers are much more few and far between. Now, the more quiet nature of the culture is a very nice break from the brutishly loud downtown nights in Chico, I’ll admit, but I miss the more unified feeling you have as a community. Well, maybe I will more in December… for now the beer-laden times with my fellow Americans and a few new friends are too good to miss.

All I can say is, never take for granted the congenial nature of our town, our state, and our country, Chico. It’s one of a kind.

Savor Every Drop

It’s that paper that’s due at noon. Or the cable bill looming on Friday. In America, all of those things that are set on tight deadline wear on us and cause us to, over time, compromise our precious time and step right over the roses rather than stop and smell them.

My roommate Nic and my friend Karl enjoying the simpler things in life.

I know because I’ve fallen into this trap of ruthlessness time and time again. Especially as a writer, deadlines can control your life, well being, and sanity. And I don’t want to come to preach, but one of the things I’ve realized since I’ve spent some time in the Czech Republic is that savoring the good times, the good beers, and most importantly, good company, will have a much more positive impact than anal retentive deadline-achievement ever will.

One of the smartest things my mom ever taught me, among myriad invaluable lessons, was that only things that could or will matter five years from now should weigh on your mind. Will you regret not spending enough time with your closest college friends years from now? Definitely. But skipping out on them far too often for reasons of business or academia (especially business) is not worth it. There are some forms and some deadlines that we have to keep just to preserve our well being in this country, and there are some times when we really must go home to get some sleep or get some work done. But how are those ends even enjoyable without the journey?

I don’t buy into the stereotype that your college years are so great, and so free, that they ultimately lead to a downward spiral of career decisions, compromise and serious issues — with only the respite of a soul mate and some charming kids. That’s just because we set ourselves up for four years of insanity and care free times. When you have only one life to live, why not stay a little longer at the pub when you can, or throw that backpack over your shoulder and explore the nearest woods whenever possible. The early socialization of deadline and responsibility into all our lives can cripple what will truly make us happy, and we can’t let it.

Chico understands what I just argued about as well as anywhere in California, or the country for that matter. But I just want to remind everyone that this college attitude, within reason, should be a lifestyle — not a brief respite from labor, monotony, and conference calls. Stay thirsty, my friends.