Boring

Feb 12, 2013 (continued)
When I got off the tram back at the dorm, I saw two people dragging suitcases up the walkway. The one was a girl who was of Asian descent and the other a boy who looked to be from India. They both looked to be in their twenties or so.

The girl approached me and began speaking to me in Czech.

“I’m sorry, I only English,” I said.

“Oh, ok. Do you know where dorm is?” she asked.

“Yes. It’s this building right here. I can show you,” I said.

“Oh thank you,” she said and we began walking.

“Are you exchange students?” I asked.

“I am,” the boy said.

“I am his buddy,” the girl said.

We walked up the steps and I used my card to swipe them in.

“What do we need to do to register?” the girl asked.

“They are going to ask to see your passport and then you have to sign a bunch of documents. I couldn’t tell you exactly what they are but they are all required to move in,” I explained.

“Thank you,” the girl said.

“My name is Kazi,” the boy said.

“Zach,” I said. “I’m just down the hall if you need anything.”

I went to my room and logged into my laptop. I rummaged in my bag and found the koruna that I owed Ivana. At 9:30, I called her.

“Hello Zachary. Are you with Suzanna?” she asked.

“No,” I said. “Is she coming?”

“Yes, she is coming to meet you and I will see you at party.”

“Great!” I said. “I will go find Kevin and meet her soon.”

“Ok,” she said. “Bye.”

I put my jacket on and went down the hall. As I did, I passed Kazi.

“All moved in?” I asked.

“All moved in,” he said.

Kevin wasn’t in the lobby so I went upstairs. I found him and a few other students getting ready. As I went back downstairs to wait for them, I saw Kazi trying to talk to the woman at the front counter who could only yell at him in Czech.

Suzanna hadn’t shown up yet, so I tried Ivana back.

“I don’t know where she is,” Ivana said. “I will call her and call you back.”

I went back upstairs to try and find Kevin. He said he was going to go with a group a little later.

On my way down the stairs, I saw Kazi again. “Hey man! Do you know how to get into town to get food?” he asked me.

“Is your buddy not here?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “She left.”

A wave of empathy rushed over me. I remembered that first night here in the dorm. I was jet lagged and terrified as I realized I had no idea how to communicate with anyone.

I thought for a second and then said, “Follow me.”

As we came back into the lobby, I saw Suzanna, Lad’ka, and Samuel coming in through the doors.

“You ready to go?” Suzanna said.

“You know, Suzanna, I just met Kazi here,” I explained. “He just got in and needs some help finding food. I’m going to take him into town so that he can get something to eat.”

“He no has buddy?” she asked.

“She’s left already,” I said.

“Oh, well maybe you can come to party after. It goes till 5am.”

“HOLY $H*t!!!” was what went through my mind. Five AM?!?! I might have made a few changes the past few days but wandering around a strange city at 5am was going to have to wait for another revelation!

Suzanna gave me her cell phone number and the three of them went upstairs to find Kevin. “Wait Suzanna,” I said. I reached in my pocket and pulled out some koruna. “Can you give this to Ivana for me?” I asked.

She agreed she would.

“That is very nice of you,” Kazi said.

“It’s not a problem,” I said. “I can’t imagine trying to navigate this city the first night.”

“I don’t want to keep you from partying though,” he said.

“It’s okay,” I said as we left the dorm. “I’m not a huge partier anyway.”

“Do you drink?” he said.

“Not really, and not at all back home,” I said.

“Marijuana?” he asked.

“Nope, I’m boring,” I admitted.

As we walked back out to the train station, he asked me, “So what do you think of the Czech people?”

It was an interesting question. I guess I hadn’t really talked about that with anyone.

“Well first off,” I began, “a lot of them do not speak English.”

“Really?” He asked.

“Yes,” I said. “I was surprised that besides the buddies, not many other people speak it.”

“Damn,” he said. “I wish I’d known that.”

“It isn’t so bad,” I said. “You get used to it pretty fast. It just makes everything a little harder.”

“Ok,” he said, obviously not convinced by my argument. “What else?”

“They are very, very friendly,” I said, “but they don’t always make eye contact or smile. They really communicate their emotions more with what they say than with how they act.”

“Ok,” he said. I’m sure the English thing had really thrown him for a loop. It certainly had me, and there was probably a better way I could have broken that to him.

We went over to the station and I showed him how to purchase a ticket. The machine was all in Czech so I was very pleased with myself when I got the right ticket purchased. I looked at the tram schedule and was surprised at how much of it made sense to me. Within a few minutes, a 9 train pulled up and we headed off downtown.

On the first night in town, we had been warned not to go to Wenceslas Square alone at night. I had been propositioned and we had been told that there was a lot of drug use and potential for criminal activity. SO what did I do with Kazi? I took him to Wenceslas Square.

My logic was sound. It was the one stop I knew I could get to and get back from, and it would be busy enough that we could surely find someone who would speak English. And we did. The very first person who came up to us as we got off the tram spoke perfect English and asked if we wanted to see his women.

As we traversed the square, turning down one other man who approached us with baggies of something but didn’t speak English, we found a little stand on the side of the square. “How does that look?” I asked Kazi. It appeared to serve sausages and breads.

“You know man, I really just want a nice, clean restaurant where I can sit down and get a quick meal. Do you know one of those?”

Recalling some advice from my Dad’s business partner, I smiled and said, “I do!”

We crossed the square again. I lead Kazi under the golden arches and into the McCafe. In the back of the café the day before, I had seen a sign pointing to a staircase. While I didn’t know what it said, I had a guess. We went to the staircase and walked downstairs. As sure as I expected, the basement of the McCafe housed a full size McDonalds.

“I know it isn’t very international, but will this work?” I asked him.

“Anything will work,” he said.

The lady at the counter spoke broken English, but with the few “please” and “thank you’s” I knew how to say, we got food ordered and paid the correct amount. I checked Kazi’s change to make sure it was correct and it was.

After we got his food, we sat down and talked. Kazi was from Bangladesh. He had been back there several times in his life but now lived in Canada. He spoke English but his native language was actually from Bangladesh.

As we talked a man came up to the table and started talking to us in Czech. “Nerozumim,” I said. “English?”

“Um,” he hesitated. “Yes. The toilet needs a 5 Koruna coin to operate and all I have is a 10 Koruna. Do you have any?”

I checked my pocket and pulled out a 5 crown coin. Handing it to him, he said, “God has sent you to me. Thank you. Here,” He handed me his 10 crown coin.

“So how are the pubs?” Kazi asked.

“They are fun,” I said. “I’ve only been to a couple, and because I have asthma, the smoke really bugs my lungs, but they are neat to see.”

“They can smoke in pubs?” he asked.

“Yes, smoke and drink, and like I said, I’m boring so…” I let my voice trail off.

After he’d finished eating, we went back to the tram. We actually forgot to purchase a return ticket but fortunately no one came through to Czech.

“So are you a third year?” Kazi asked.

“I’m actually a second year,” I said, “but I am taking all my third year classes.”

“So you are not that old?” he asked.

“I’m 19,” I said.

“Nineteen? Holy shit! I thought you like 26. You act older.”

I laughed “I get that a lot.”

When we got back to the dorm, it was after 12:30. Kazi thanked me again saying, “I’m sorry you missed the big party.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’m glad I could help. Like I said, I’m boring anyway.”

“You are not boring,” he said. “You took me on tram by yourself to most dangerous part of the city. You found restaurant and helped me order and you trusted strange man with your money. You are not boring.”

I didn’t know what to say. I’d always wanted to be an adventurous person, but I always assumed I couldn’t be. I figured adventure had to be keeping up with the action; not blazing your own trail. Hearing him say this about me shattered my image of myself and absolutely made my night.

Clubbing would have to wait for now, but I was okay with that. I knew that in four months’ time, I’d get around to try it eventually. As I sat on my bed once again fighting with the Wi-Fi, I kept thinking about what Kazi said as well as what the man in the restaurant said. “God has sent you to me.”

I have absolutely felt God with me on ever step of this trip. At both the festival and meeting Kazi and I had been in the right place at the right time. In fact everything about this trip—from sitting next to Britney, to running into the girls in Heathrow, to working with Ivana—every detail has felt like a plan coming together.

I am so thankful for all the prayers and all the support from back home. This has truly been an incredible adventure and I am excited to see what comes next!