Vitejte!

Hello, and welcome ("vitejte") to my Prog Blague. This delightful little piece of internet will be used to detail my various adventures and endeavors as I cross the pond (British phrase; big whoop, wanna fight about it?) and spend a semester in the lovely city of Prague in the lovely country of the Czech Republic.
I figured I'd start off with a little FAQ session so that we're all on the same page. Even though we techically are already. www.itstheprogblague.blogspot.com, tell your friends.

The Prog Blague proudly presents:

Interview With A Vampire Myself

So liek OMGz you're going to Prague?

Yes.

Are you there already?
Obviously not. I would be too busy fapping* over the city to write this sort of eloquent introduction.

*Contrary to urban dictionary's account of this word's definition, I use 'fapping' in most contexts to mean choking on one's own excitement and giddiness almost to the point of drooling. Example:


Hurr durr durr I'm in Prague!

Oh totally. So when do you leave then?
I leave Tuesday morning and will arrive in Prague around noon on Wednesday.

Holy crap, that's in like 5 days.

Right??!???!1!!?

How long are you going to be there?

A week. PSYCH. I'm gonna be living there for a little over 4 months. I leave August 23rd and I fly back home on December 30th.

Oh, cool. So. Wait. What exactly are you going to be doing in Eastern Europe for 4 months?

I'm glad you asked. I'm going as a part of a study abroad program through CIEE. I'm doing a Film Studies program at Charles University within FAMU, one of the oldest and most prestigious film schools in Europe. I am enrolled in the Production Track, which focuses on the-- you guessed it-- production of film. This includes a little bit of everything: directing, screenwriting, shooting, editing, et cetera. I'm going to be enrolled in a "film mentorship" course in which fellow classmates and myself will collaborate to create short student films.

Originally I had applied for the Screenwriting Track under the Film Studies program (if you haven't figured it out yet, writing is kinda sorta my life). This involved submitting an excerpt from an original screenplay and two proposals for other potential scripts. According to the e-mail I received: although they liked my material, they didn't have other qualified enough applicants to offer the Screenwriting Track this semester. So instead, they offered to admit me into the Production Track where they thought I might also do well. I'm gonna cross my fingers on that prophesy. While I haven't studied production as much as I've studied screenwriting, I know some editing basics and I can work my way around a camera. I'm actually quite excited to be studying the broader scope of film, although part of me is paranoid that the other program participants will be better-versed and that they'll point and laugh at me when I don't know how to create a split-screen in Final Cut.


"I don't know how to use color fill!"

That's cool I guess. But let's be real for a second. Why of all places, I mean... the Czech Republic? What the hey?
After writing a personal statement on and responding to some very incredulous acquaintances asking this very question, I'm quite used to the confusion and I'm quite used to giving this answer: EXACTLY.

My goal in studying abroad is to gain a new perspective on the world as I perceive it. Yeah, it's cliche, except I really mean it. I'm a writer. Writers create characters, minds, worlds-- how can I do that from only ONE perspective? Can't be done. Not up to my standards, anyway. So what I want to do is go somewhere that is entirely unfamiliar, completely off my radar, something I've never considered. Say, the Czech Republic falls into those categories pretty nicely! My hope is that living in a country that I have little/no previous conceptions of will foster new ideas and perspectives. And this will make me a stronger writer. Once I'm a stronger writer, hopefully somewhere down the line I'll be a successful writer. Then next stop: WORLD DOMINATION.

P.S. This is totally what I tell the infuriatingly-practical jerk wads who ask me what my plans for after college are. It usually ends with me standing on a table screaming "WORLD DOMINATION!!!" and them nervously inching out of the room.

Totes. So what language do they speak in the Czech Republic?

Czech.

I hope you feel dumb.

Just kidding, almost everybody asks me this question. Except I still hope you feel dumb.

Do you speak Czech?

Nope. I know how to say "hi," "please," "good day" and "microwave."

MIKROVLNA!
Speaking of microwaves, where will you be living during your stay in Prague?

An apartment, located on a street whose name I cannot currently pronounce.

One last thing... there aren't going to be any puns in this blog, are there?

Oh hell to the yes there will be. Because I'm the coolest kid on the blog.



That's all I've got. If you've got questions for me, by all means post 'em down there in the comment section and I'll answer if I can. I cannot promise any sort of consistent update via the Prog Blague, but I'll do my best to regularly post pictures and anecdotes and random lolcat pictures.