As soon as we arrived in Prague, I was apprehensive about how the experience was going to be. All of my classmates were business majors, and I am not, so I was unfamiliar with most of them. However, I quickly realized that we were going to have a good time because the ice was broken so quickly. On the first day, we went to a traditional Czech restaurant where we tried Duck, Beef Brisket, and Katowice. On Wednesday, we traveled to Berlin, Germany. Both locations are phenomenal, but my favorite part of the trip was touring a chocolate factory in Prague, Steiner and Kovarik. The owner of the company had taken over the family business at 19, and he strongly believed he was accomplishing more than just making chocolate and even showed us his TedTalk where he discussed the importance of chocolate making. Taking a class abroad includes a much higher level of experiential learning than a traditional class setting. There is 14 students on my trip and we are all from UA, so we have gone on multiple excursions. One of my favorites has been the Berlin Wall and the art that had been formed over the years. Additionally, meeting locals has been very interesting. Our group has had to really work on our demeanor due to the lack of emotions from local Czech people. We were able to learn about their past and their reasoning for being reserved, but it was an adjustment from always making small talk. The language barrier has not been as difficult as I expected, as I have found many people who speak English. We have had many people stop us and laugh at our accents, but all in good spirit. I love souvenirs, so I have multiple shirts and knick-knacks that I am excited to show my family. This trip was a very positive experience, and I would recommend it to anyone that has the opportunity to do it.
