Intensive Czech Course, Week 2

Whew, 33% done with the course! “Intensive” is an apt descriptor for this immersion course. Thinking about it, the course is 150 hours of instruction time, plus about 50 hours of study and homework time, so ~200 hours total of Czech language focus. And yet… Czech is so difficult that even that amount of dedication […]

Strč prst skrz krk

Not all those who wander are lost in translation, but I find myself doing exactly that lately. In these past days I often catch myself traveling around in public while mumbling and whispering the dozens of easy-to-understand-but-difficult-to-pronounce words I’ve learned during 4.5 hours per day in my first week of intensive Czech language immersion at […]

Seoul Searching

Because Ben and I traveled all the way to Japan, quite a far distance from NC, we had decided to also fit in a side trip to South Korea. After visiting Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, we flew to Seoul for a four-night visit before returning to Tokyo to finish up our unforgettable multi-week East Asia […]

Background Czech

Last stop on this 7.5-week journey?: Prague! It’s been a wonderful visit because I’ve been able to spend so much time with Sofia! We’ve of course had some meals, drinks, and walks together, and we also enjoyed a classical concert and a day trip to Czechia’s second city, Brno, where some American friends of ours […]

The Hungry Eastern Bear

While traveling around any of the Baltic states, a recurring subject with unavoidable reminders everywhere is Russia. Historical occupation, awful atrocities, continued use of the Russian language, Russian foods and drinks, Orthodox churches, leftover Soviet architecture, residual communist mentalities and culture, echoes of past traumas, modern cyberattacks, online propaganda, implicit and explicit threats, military buildups, […]

Lithu-WOW-nia!

Ironically, while Lithuania has been the most frustrating, especially in terms of walking, at the same time it’s also been my favorite Baltic state! It’s the one I definitely wish to return to (in the summer), and it’s where I have the most I want to share stories about but have the least time because […]

Riga, Latvia

Riga, the largest city in the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), is not quite as polished and romantic as Tallinn, but it’s an engaging and interesting place, full of good food and drink. Lonely Planet summarizes the spirit well: “People here fancy themselves to be the least pragmatic and the most artistic of the […]

Russian to the Border

After a smooth 2.5-hour ride east through the wintery Estonian countryside on a comfortable modern train, I arrived in Narva, which currently has the EU’s busiest border crossing with Russia. I was intrigued both by Narva’s long and dynamic history and by the fact that Russia lies just across the river. The location is impressive, […]

Fortress-Hopping

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year and a half since Colleen and I previously visited Croatia’s gorgeous Dalmatian coast. This time we rented a car, and so we have much more flexibility and opportunities. We’re staying in Tisno again (about halfway between Zadar and Split, if you know Croatia), but during this […]

Bless Bless

The Icelandic language retains more of a relationship to Old Norse than do other Scandinavian languages, such as Norwegian. Modern Icelanders can even read the old medieval sagas without too much trouble. Their language hasn’t evolved as much as other Scandinavian languages which were influenced by other European languages, such as French. And even today, […]