Casey - Prague, Czech Republic to Besalù, Spain

CHAPTER 3 – LEARNING

Prague was the final capital city of my Eastern/Central European adventure, and it didn’t disappoint. Teaming up with Claire Murphy, a friend from home, we explored the city for 4 days at a hectic pace. First it must be said that it was great to have a companion after what seemed like an eternity of being by myself. I relished the opportunity to chat about things back home, enjoy some drinks and speak non-stagnated English. It was definitely great to have her company.

In Prague, the magnificence of the structures, richness of history and vibrancy of nightlife soon made me realize that I had been travelling through Europe in the correct direction. No disrespect to the other capitals that I had visited earlier, but in my experience Prague definitely outdid them in almost every department. From the castle overlooking the city, to the history filled city centre, there was plenty going on, it was beautiful and it kept us occupied. We even managed a day trip to an incredible church decorated with the bones of those who had passed. Overall, Prague was a fantastic experience, but I was still looking forward to the next stage of my journey – The Summer Academy, upon which this chapter is based.

A couple of months prior, I had heard about the “Summer Academy on Intercultural Experience” in Karlsruhe, Germany through AFS (the organisation that I went on exchange to Italy with in 05/06 and continue to volunteer for). The course that I applied for revolved around intercultural competence - predominantly what it meant, what information was out there regarding it and how to transfer that knowledge onto others. In my opinion, a pretty good chance to solidify some of my experiences gained so far this year, and maybe put them into some sort of context. After being accepted, I had been actively looking forward to my time there as a chance to once again recharge some batteries, meet some fantastic people and maybe even learn something. My two weeks of the academy certainly ticked off the last two objectives, but recharging any batteries certainly did not happen!

Without going into the details of the course too specifically, my time was split up quite distinctly into two weeks. The first week was a quite academic look at intercultural competence, analysing models that I didn’t know existed and deconstructing everything. To be honest, I was a little out my depth for this part, having not studied anything that you can’t put a number or symbol to since year 10. Having said that though, I don’t think that I was the only one that was a bit lost, which was reassuring and I did definitely learn a lot. Week 2 was much more my style; actively engaging us with training methods, practical activities as well as giving handy feedback. I think that I also definitely gained knowledge from this and hope to bring the skills back with me when I return to AFS in Aus.

The course fortunately didn’t occupy all of our time during the couple of weeks and we had plenty of opportunity to explore Karlsruhe. This exploration included organised activities such as trips to beer gardens or was an opportunity for us to socialize amongst ourselves. On the weekend, a trip to the beautiful city of Heidelberg coincided with the 400^th wedding anniversary of some couple I didn’t really know anything about, but the fireworks at night provided a nice show. On the Sunday a group of us headed to the Black Forest in the south of Germany. It was a beautiful place made even better by the great company, but I doubt any of them really appreciated how amazed I was at how dense the forest was – it was quite the contrast to home and unlike anything I had really seen before.

This chapter would not be complete without a paragraph on what made it an unforgettable two weeks; and they are the people that made it special. The diversity of our group was undeniable; there was fantastic range in age, experience, occupation, beliefs and culture. We had students from the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and myself from Aus – so most bases were covered. I would like to think that I developed a strong relationship with many of our group and regret not being able to spend more time with all of them. From my three great roommates with whom we could laugh about Julian’s morning antics, to the people in my track who made learning such a comfortable and enjoyable experience, it was phenomenal to get to know them all. It would be too much to name names here as the list would be too long, but thanks to those that put up with my capers during the Academy – it was a lot of fun, and hopefully I will see you at some point in the future!

CHAPTER 4 – FRIENDS

This chapter describes a large part of my time in Europe where I seem to have been moving between friends – hence the title. These people range from those have known me since I was a child to those that I have met in my travels this year. Each has been a special experience to me and I find it difficult to capture in a tiny piece of text my gratitude for their hospitality and kindness. However, as I am blogging, I will have to try and so I will describe each in a single paragraph. This may be quite a long chapter…

Yannick

Its funny how, with some friends, time and absence is of no importance; when you catch up you revert back to exactly who you were previously. That is definitely the case with Yannick, my best friend from my exchange year – 7 years ago. On the Monday of the second week of the Summer Academy I took the afternoon off classes (not my style at all) and Yannick visited me in Karlsruhe for an evening of drinking, catching up and reminiscing. Despite both being a little bit more grown up and with a few more experiences under our belt, I felt like nothing had changed and conversation quickly flowed between what we had done since exchange and the shenanigans that we had got up to whilst on it. I even managed to get out a little of Italian with him which was comforting to know that I remembered some things, but still had forgotten a lot. In all it was a great day that brought back a lot of great memories. So cheers Yannick, I hope that we don’t have to wait another 7 years to catch up again. Also, I owe you a few drinks!

Sinja, Sebastian and Ebba

Two friends from the Summer Academy that get a special mention are Sinja and Ebba, with whom I scored a ride with out of Karlsruhe. Sinja and Sebastian (her bf) acted as tour guides in their native Germany for a great afternoon exploring the wine region surrounding the Rhine River.  It was relaxing downtime after the two weeks of the course as we discussed what was learnt and also what was next for each of us. Ebba and myself were also introduced to a local delicacy in the form of Rüdesheimer Kaffee. Finally, in continuing with their hospitality, Sebastian and Sinja organised a car-share for me for the afternoon to get to my next friend. In all honesty I think they just didn’t want me to hitchhike…

Tom and Hanna

Now Tom and Hanna have been mentioned in earlier blogs, as they are the couple that we got on exceptionally well with whilst on our Tibet tour. After Tibet they had continued their own global travels and had only just returned from around 5 months abroad. Needless to say, most of our conversations revolved around the beauty of travel, what there is to see, the experiences to be had and what can be learned. I have found that such discussions harden my resolve to continue traveling – they fill me with desire to see new places and get in amongst it whilst I am there. I stayed with Tom for 3 days in which he was a fantastic tour guide. From grabbing beers together in Cologne and Bonn, visiting Hanna and the Mainz wine festival to exploring many smaller cities along the Rhine, it was a fantastic and relaxing time. I must thank both him and Hanna once again – I hope that I see you both on the road again somewhere.

Sandrine

After Germany (and a brief stint in gorgeous Luxembourg) I made my way to one of the cultural centres of the world – Paris. I will not go on about the beauty of the city, as everyone knows that it is phenomenal, but I will say that having only 2 days to explore is definitely not enough. If you do go in the future – give yourself at least a week. 

What I will say is that the lovely family that I stayed with made my time there all the more amazing. 19 years ago Sandrine stayed with my family in Australia on something of an exchange. During the time, I daresay she acted as a nanny to me and some of my first memories are from the time that we spent together. Now all grown up, she has a husband and family herself, with 3 kids between the ages of 6 and 10. I think that I had also done a bit of growing since we last met, having been 5 at the time. As such, it was really fun to see how things had developed for both of us over the years. As I am sure was inevitable, the photo album of her time in Aus came out as well at some point. We were able to see some ridiculous fashion, crazy haircuts and laugh at some of the experiences that she remembered a little more clearly that I. Thanks to her, Boris and the kids for a memorable time in Paris – I will be back.

Timmy

This man needs no introduction; he is in fact the other earthbound astronaut. I went and found him in his cell in Lyon, France. Actually, a cell is not far from the truth in describing the tiny room that Tim had. But for the price we was paying, I wouldn’t be complaining - but I’ll let him describe that. Anyway, Tim was nice enough to put me up for a couple of nights on his rock hard floor whilst I was on my way south through France. After almost two months apart, it was great to meet up, share tales of our independent travels as well as develop new plans for the rest of the year. We will be doing a podcast together when we meet up next, so apologies for the large gap in time…

Luisa

If there is ever a place to recharge your batteries it is Besalù, in northern Spain. I made my way here to visit Luisa, an AFS volunteer who had spent a year in Melbourne a couple of years back. Besalù is a tiny medieval village in Catalonia heartland and opened my eyes to the Catalonian independence issue that is very prominent in Spain at present. I was amazed that the local school, taught in Catalonian with English as a second language, only offered Spanish as an option – it was not even a compulsory subject! Apart from this, the entire town was draped in Catalonian flags and many featured the flag as t-shirts and jewelry – making a point for sure. My visit also coincided with a medieval festival held on the weekend. It was full of people in medieval getup, makeup and countless performances – really bringing the tiny town to life. I had a fantastic time here and thank Luisa very much for her hospitality.

That pretty much wraps up my Friends chapter. It was no doubt a fantastic way for me to travel through much of Western Europe, and I cannot thank my hosts enough for looking after me so much! You have all confirmed for me that it is the people that make the place J