I spent last week in Prague with the Creative Writing Society from Kent, hard to imagine now that I'm back into the daily slog of uni work. As previously stated, I wasn't too keen on going. I was worried about socialising and about being lonely and it really seemed more hastle than it was worth.
Thankfully, these guys...
...proved me wrong! Although this is a ridiculously awkward pose of mine, this is the one photo I got of (almost) all of the gang, though I'm pretty sure no one has used the word 'gang' since the 90s! I had a really, really good week exploring Prague and getting to know people in the society.
It was good for many, many reasons, and the top ones are:
- The people. It was really nice to properly get to know people in the society that I've seen on an off for an hour or so every couple of weeks. I felt like I really did make new friends this trip, and it was nice to have that affirmed yesterday when I went to Creative Writing and could actually, genuinely talk to people!
- The group size meant that you could never really feel lonely or left out, one minute you could be hanging around one group of people and the next another without feeling like you're an outsider or you're going to miss out on anything!
- Going with a group of culturally minded people, I did way more cultured things in Prague than I would usually do! I would never have chosen to go to art galleries, but the Alfonse Mucha gallery (and his Slav epic) were really interesting!
- If you needed time on your own, no one would judge you or make you feel excluded
- Last but not least, Prague itself was a great city! We stayed in the touristy district, so I doubt we got a truly authentic taste of the place, but what we saw was really lovely. The architecture was gorgeous and the food was perfect for our January trip! I'm also really missing the drink prices now I'm back in England, £1.10 for a glass of wine!
So all in all, a very good trip!
Just goes to show that I really shouldn't let my head get in the way of these opportunities, and hopefully when I'm freaking out about America in seven months time, I can look back at this post and remember that it's not always as bad as you think its going to be.
