For my final days in Prague, I wanted to reflect on the culture shocks I experienced. A major one was the clean and efficient public transportation system. In the American cities I have visited and lived in, I have often been disappointed by the lack of good public transportation. Although Pittsburgh has a pretty clean and reliable bus system, cities like Philadelphia have dirty and overcrowded subways and trains. In comparison, Prague mainly uses trams, which run very often, are cleaned regularly, and stop at most neighborhoods in the city. Even though I know very little Czech, I was able to use the trams almost every day to travel to tourist destinations, guest lectures, and local restaurants, with little difficulty. These experiences made me reflect on how much American cities rely on cars as opposed to public transportation. I really appreciated how much money that Prague has invested in its tram lines because it made it easy for tourists, like me, to travel around the city quickly and at little cost.

Moving on, on one of my last nights in the city, I went to a Sparta Prague football game to experience the local culture. I am not a big soccer fan, but knowing how popular the sport is in Europe, I wanted to see what the experience of going to a European “football” game was like. Even though it was just a regular season game, the stands were completely packed and full of loud, excited fans. The intense energy in the stadium reminded me a lot of American football games. However, despite the excitement, my friends and I were shocked that as soon as we entered the tram to get back to our hotel, the loud fans immediately went silent. Although our Czech guide had taught us that Czechs are very quiet people, we were still completely shocked at how quickly they went silent after the exciting soccer game. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced at a major American sporting event.

Finally, for much of my time, I was in awe of the ornate, old churches throughout the city. They were full of beautiful colors and rich, ancient histories that most American churches lack. Even though I saw many during my time in Prague, I was still completely captivated whenever I entered, or even walked past a new church in the city.

Overall, these experiences shaped my global experience and made me curious about the Czech culture, which I plan to continue researching even after I leave.