Prague, Prom and "Graduation"!

I feel like the best parts of my exchange have started with a long bus ride half way across Europe. This time the destination was Prague. One of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and that without a doubt is true! I met people from all over the world, not just exchange students but also tourists.

If people come to America for vacation they go to amusement parks and see the Grand Canyon and the world’s largest ball of string. In Europe that isn’t the culture at all; you go and see cathedrals, castles and chateaus. Prague was full of all that! We got to see the Jewish corner. When Hitler took power he planned to keep just one synagogue and it would become a museum, well the one he planned to keep was in Prague, so it was very well “preserved”. WE saw famous castles, bridges, and monuments plus like always churches and catherdrals.

We didn't just stay in Prague the whole trip we also went and saw a few other towns. Due to the lack of my knowledge of the Czech Language I can’t really tell you exactly where we were, but that’s ok because it was so beautiful!!!We saw two different towns that were very cute! They looked a lot like the towns I saw in my trip to Austria, all the buildings were colorful and bright!

At the end of the trip I said a lot of goodbye’s to exchange students that are leaving with-in these next few weeks. Exchange has been a wonderful experience and sadly is coming to an end quicker then I can even imagine!

There are a lot of things I will miss about Belgium, but it wasn't until the other night when I realized how much I will miss the people! We had our “Prom” a few nights ago; here it’s called Bal Rhéto. Imagine an American prom times ten better, and that is about what you get. To all the Belgians reading this, Bal Rhéto is better than Prom, and all of us American exchange students agree! 

Then the next day was the Belgian equivalent of graduation… all the students and their families sit in a room and the name of all of the students who passed their classes had their names called and everyone claps. Then everyone drinks some champagne and talks, then you leave… it was very different, and nothing at all like I expected!

Sadly I have a bit more than a month left on Exchange, but I am sure this last month will be just as amazing as the other 10 and a half have been!