Ceske Budejovice

I have no idea what to say about Ceske Budejovice. So, I will start with how I got here. The company I ended up getting a job with, Wattsenglish, decided to send me to a brand new territory in Southern Bohemia. At first I was not overly thrilled about leaving my beloved Prague. I was worried about leaving the comfort zone of being able to hang out with other expats when I needed the feel of home, being able to get American breakfasts (bless you Bohemia Bagel) and at least four English bookstores. However, in true Gillian style, I started to do tons of research on my new home and fell in love before I even arrived. Ceske Budejovice reminds me a lot of Bath and Santa Cruz, both of which I love. So over the week I had to prepare to move here, I began to feel better about this change of location. Plus, it is really close to Austria, and we all know how I feel about Austrians.

Then I got here. I was swept up by the aesthetics and design of the town. There is not an over abundance of statuary, as if who ever planned the city understood the beautiful craftsmanship of the buildings spoke for themselves and didn't need to add more adornments. The architecture in Ceske Budejovice ranges from Medieval heaviness,  Renaissance perfection, Baroque grandeur, all the way to Art Nouveau cheekiness. It is amazing to walk through this town which has lived through so many times, seen so much and to it I am merely a blip, but to me it is an eternity of human existence. It is amazing to imagine all of the people who walked the same roads I am now, how they have loved, hurt, died, laughed, smiled, cried, and breathed, just lived their lives in this place. It seems to put all of the crazy I have experienced in the last month into an interesting perspective.

The last time I was in London I went to Woburn Walk and walked the in same places Yeats did.  I remember it feeling so right I thought my heart was going to burst from joy. That feeling lasted for weeks after, everytime I though of being there, I would get that same feeling and breath a deep sigh of contentedness. I have this same feeling every morning, when I walk to work, when I eat, go grocery shopping, even when I am homesick, sad about the violinist, and having one of my moments of self doubt.

When I first was told I would move out of Prague by my boss, I wanted to scream at the CEO. However, now I want to write him a thank you note. I love it when people whom I have never met seem to know what I need better than I do. When I moved to the Czech Republic I wanted to experience a different culture, a different philosophy on life, a different point of view. In Prague, while I got snips of it, in Ceske Budejovice it is all around me and to celebrate my new found Czech immersion, I start Czech lessons on Wednesday.