Our study abroad center is located in Vyšehrad, on a hill overlooking the Vltava River. Vyšehrad is a historical fort, and now serves as a public park that is a popular spot for recreation and celebrations. My class set out for interviews, eager to talk with the people of Vyšehrad. We asked people in the area, “If your life was a story, what is the plot, or what makes you, the protagonist, unique?” 

"I don’t know. I’m boring. I was born here... I’m still in school... I’m really quite boring..... ah! .... I drink a lot! So my character would drink a lot, I guess that’s stereotypical huh, in Czech Republic? –and he would be a writer ... well, want to be a writer.I want to be a writer, but I’m in law school. ... Right now, I’m reading American Sniper, he’s a psychopath .... I am just trying to understand him."

 

“It’s ridiculous because I’m doing exactly what my mother didn’t want me to do. She left Poland so that I could have a phenomenal education and a phenomenal job with stability. And I’m the complete opposite of that. I even studied and worked with kids with disabilities which is exactly what she did and she didn’t want me to do. I did exactly that. And now I’m in the Czech Republic teaching English, doing everything that she worked so hard for me not to do, and I’m doing it.”

 

“We came to Prague because it is beautiful. We are high school best friends from Malaysia and are both college students. I’m studying to become a dentist, while she is studying to become a pharmacist. Right now though we’re studying in Dublin. We’ve enjoyed Dublin so far but needed something more so we found ourselves in Prague. The weather here is way better than at home. At home it’s over 100 degrees and sticky and very unpredictable. But not here. Here it is cool and breezy. We just may never leave Europe!”

 

"I'm 40 years old. I was not born in Prague, I was born in the north of the Czech Republic. I don't go back to where I was born, Prague is more interesting. It has more sports. I like to play soccer, tennis and ice hockey. I have my family in Prague too. I have one boy, Simon."

 

"We're here because I have a medical conference in Budapest and we're planning our trip through Europe around that. We've been to Kraków and today we're even hopping on a train to Vienna. But, I think Prague is the most beautiful city we've seen so far. We wish we could stay!"

 

"I am originally from Slovenia but have lived now in Prague for 2 months, after recently moving from Canada. I work for Ernst & Young. Adjusting to life in a new country can be hard, but I like it here. I like to run around Vyšehrad, it is beautiful."

 

"I flew in from Paris to visit my friend. I love that the color palette of the buildings is different from any other place in Europe that I’ve been. I think it just gives the city a different character. It’s not all white marble and overwhelming. It feels like a more personal city. It’s more welcoming."