Tram 5

"To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest." ~Pema Chodron 

Feb 19, 2013
I went to bed around midnight, and woke up at 10:30. It felt like it should be morning. It felt like it was Tuesday. I felt refreshed. This was the first time I’d felt any of those things since I’d left the states. Jet lag was no more.

As I made breakfast, I looked through some books to see what I was going to do today. I’d wanted to go see the old Jewish Town, but reading about it made it seem like more than a half day tour. I decided that, like the castle, I’d need to set aside some time to see the whole area. I thought that I could probably go to Tyn Church in Old Town Square, but I would have to see on that as well. While I only had one class today, it went from 12:45-2:15. Most of the sites opened at 10am and closed at 4pm so it may not be the best window of opportunity to play tourist.

Before leaving for school, I called Ivana. I needed to get my room and board figured out today and I knew that having her help me translate would be the easiest way to do it.

“Hello Zachary!” she said as she answered. I explained my problem and she said could meet me at 3pm. After we hung up, I cleaned up my breakfast and headed to school.

I caught the 9 and found my class without problem. Today, I was in the newest wing of the school called the “Paradise Building” which was where Orientation had been held. Ivana said that “Paradise” is not the best translation for the Czech word, but she didn’t think there was a different one.

My class today was on International Marketing Communications. By the time I got there, the room was mostly full so I took a seat in the back. As I arranged my things, a girl came and sat down next to me.

“I’m Zach,” I said.

“Jana,” she said. In Czech, “J” makes a “Y” sound so it sounds more like Yana. Jana was a local. We were soon joined by another Czech girl named Marita. The three of us wound up being a group for the little introductory competition. For the game, we had to identify as many logos as possible in 4 minutes. It’s an activity I’ve done several times in both High School and College, but it amazed me how international many of the brands were.

My professor—who went by Stan—didn’t look to be much older than I am. He did admit that this is his first year teaching, and that we were his first class. I was surprised when he went through his credentials though. He had a master’s degree in marketing and had interned all over Europe. He and some friends had started a company that catered snack boxes to elementary schools, and he’d only sold his shares of it in the past 6 months.

After the activity and hearing Stan’s introduction, we snaked around the room introducing ourselves. Most of the students were Czech, but there were also several from America and France, as well as a few from Germany, Kazakhstan, and New Zealand.

About midway through class my cell phone rang. It is a very basic phone and doesn’t have a volume control or vibrate setting. I immediately shut it off. No one seemed to mind. I’d actually noticed over the past two days that people seemed to text pretty openly in class. After a few seconds, the phone beeped indicating I had a new text message.

When class ended, I checked the message. It was from Ivana. It read: “Hello Zachary J I’m sorry but I can’t make it in 3pm. Do you mind meeting 30 minutes later?” I replied saying that was fine.

That meant that I had an hour and thirty-two minutes to go exploring. I decided I would just hop on the 9 and see where I wound up. After half the time was up (46 minutes) regardless of where I was, I’d turn around and head back to school.

I waited at the tram station and when it pulled up I got on. I noticed no one else did. It struck me as odd since the 9 was usually crammed. As it pulled away from the station, I looked at the sign in the tram window. I wasn’t on the 9. I was on the 5.

It was instantly exciting. I had no idea where this tram went, but I figured there would be something to see. I rode along for a few stops, looking out at more of the artfully crafted buildings that I’d become accustom to seeing. When we came to one stop, everyone got off. I wondered if I was at the end of the line, so I got off too.

I didn’t recognize anything, nor did I see anything of great interest. It seemed to be more of a business district than a tourist attraction. There was an escalator leading down to a subway. I decided that I would take the subway to get back to the center of town so I could try and make it back to school in time.

As I got on the escalator, I descended down into the subway tunnels. Once again, the area was filled with shops and stands. I found the next escalator which went down to the train platform and got on. It just as steep and fast as I remembered it being the night we arrived.

When I got down to the platform, I was surprised to find that there was no train. There weren’t even any tracks that might lead to a train. All I saw were tunnels and people walking every which way.

I looked around and saw another escalator leading down—how far down was this thing? I got on and found the platform was on the next level (probably 6 stories underground.) Looking at the signs, I remembered what Marketta had said before. “Look for the side of the station that is closest to the sign. That is the side that goes to that station.”

Mustek was the only station name I recognized. The sign was closest to the right side of the platform so I waited over there. The tram came and I got on. Sure enough, the next station was Mustek. Getting off, I realized that two subway lines (the yellow and the green) met here at this stop. That meant that the entire station was a maze of tunnels, escalators, and hallways. I tired following the crowd, but they kept breaking off to go in different directions. When I finally found an up-escalator, I took it.

As I broke out into daylight, I didn’t recognize the view ahead of me. But turning my head to the right, I saw the National Museum burst into view.

I was in Wenceslas Square!

I stopped briefly into a café called Trinity Café. I ordered a hot chocolate and the waiter asked me, “Clear or regular.”

The confused look on my face must have indicated I didn’t understand.

“Clear or with rum,” he indicated.

“Clear,” I said. When it came, I drank it down pretty quickly. The hot chocolate here is all so good; I just can’t get enough of the great flavor. The man came over to my table and gave me my receipt. I paid him and even calculated the tip correctly before he gave me all of my change.

When I left, I walked up the square to catch the tram back. Safely back on the 9, I went to meet Ivana.