Of the many amazing experiences and opportunities we were exposed to while doing the IBS Program, one of my favorite activities was simply riding the coach bus. I found several reasons that these excursions were so appreciable. During the first couple of days of the program, I enjoyed this opportunity to have conversations with other participants. It was a relaxed atmosphere to be able to get to know some of the other participants and have one on one conversations with them. Although we often sat somewhat in the same vicinity, I ended up talking to a new person on each bus ride.
Each person I got to know made me feel more apart of the group. By the end of the program I felt that I had gotten to know at least a little about each person. Some bus rides were of short duration, while others were longer and required lunch stops; these stops were again great opportunities to create a sense of comradery with the other participants. After the first few bus trips I was grateful for the opportunities to socialize and build relationships, however I needed to remind myself that this free time may have to be balanced between socializing and completing school assignments.
It was quite challenging to stay focused on the coursework for my UNCW online class while doing the IBS program. I was taking Information Systems Management, a course that involved a lot of reading and extensive writing responses. I often worked until 2:00 AM on assignments. I often had to prioritize and turn down invitations to dinner, instead I chose to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while I did school work. At the end of the day it was well worth all the sacrifices. I would have rather been overwhelmed with school work and traveling in Europe than to have not been stressed out by school work and still in the U.S. For this reason, I enjoyed having longer rides in the coach bus. The longer rides meant there would be time to incorporate conversations with my peers as well as completing school assignments. Although at times it was difficult to end conversations and regain focus on my work, the amazing scenery we drove by was also a distraction… in the best way possible!
I also tried to take advantage of this time to make sure that I had learned how to say “hello”, “please”, “thank you” and “do you speak English?” in the language of each destination. This was recommended in our IBS program outline and proved to be very beneficial. Although the language barrier was not always a challenge, I still liked being able to say at least these key phrases in the native language. Many Europeans already know how to speak English but I felt that it was part of the experience to at least attempt the other languages. Germany and Austria (although it was just for a day) seemed to have more English speakers than I noticed in Prague.
My favorite bus ride was definitely our trip to Innsbrooke, Austria. We drove through the green rolling hills of Germany until the landscape suddenly changed. We knew we were getting close because beautiful snow capped mountains started popping up on either side of us; It was breathtaking. Getting to experience the change in landscape as we drove from Munich to Innsbrooke was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. Neither Tom or Tyler had told us to expect to see the scenery we saw on this bus ride, which made it even more exciting as it was unexpected. If we hadn’t had the experience of driving from the German hills to the Austrian mountains I don’t know that I would have appreciated Innsbrook for how beautiful it was.
The drive from Munich to Prague was still beautiful. I enjoyed the winding roads that went through the small towns along the way. Each time we drove to another country we had our passports in hand as we prepared to cross boardings. It was so interesting to me that we were never actually required to use them. There were no tolls, customs lines or entrance requirements when driving between countries. There weren’t even signs to indicate we had entered a different country! This was especially thought provoking when considering all the current controversy in the U.S. over border security. It became evident to me that it is not really a worry for the countries in Northern Europe.
Cesky Kromlov was such a romantic little town. Walking toward it you would have no idea how beautiful it is just on the other side of the stone exterior. It looked exactly like the pictures, but as with anything seeing it in real life makes the pictures seem subpar. On the bus ride down I was excited to learn that “hello” translated to “ahoy” here. This was quite entertaining as we stood on the bridge and greeted people going by in kayaks below.