living in Kladno

Location, location, location...
So, I live in Kladno, Czech Republic (map below). Kladno is around a 30 minute drive from western Prague (follow the blue arrows). I live in a flat with Mechy, a girl on the team (the red dot in the lower right of the map below).












I live in the building below, on the fourth floor. The first floor isn't residential, so it doesn't count, so in the elevator I press 3 to get to my floor. The flats are labeled with people's names as well as the room number, and in some flats they've gotten rid of the numbers altogether, I think in an effort to personalize living.



















Autobus:
To get around Kladno I ride the "autobus." The bus system has many lines with many stops (on the pdf on the previous link the numbers are the bus lines, and circles and half circles are the stops. I live at the Prazka krnz (Praha station) intersection, one of the only four way right intersections on the map). They run earlier than I usually wake up and later than I stay up, so I have no problems getting around. The hockey arena (the orange dot in the yellow circle on the map above) is about a 20 minute ride away, and the Kladno centre (in the red circle on the map above) is about a 15 minute ride away.

The first day I rode the bus by myself I stayed on too long, because I thought that there was no way that I was already at the stop. (I had a similar thoughts in Prague, that the city was very dense.) In Kladno, I walked by this church and around this hospital more than I needed to:




















The church (above) and hospital (Czech, nemocnice, below).















I don't know how state of the art the hospital is, but it is beautiful.

(E.T.) Phone home
I use internet to communicate to Alaska. I have internet access for my laptop during the day using something like a router that plugs into a USB port. I have occasional wireless in the flat, most likely from a neighbor. Its nice when I have it, but intermittent wireless is almost worse than not having wireless at all, since it can't be counted on. I have a skype account, let me know if you want to add me! (Dad and Diana, you should set up your skype account.) I am also accepting donations for skype credit so that I can call American phone numbers.

the centrum

January 12, 2010
I met with Lenka and we walked around the centrum, with one main street cars cannt drive down (I think except to resupply shops), with a few side streets. There are a lot of shops in the centrum, with clothing (most are either sporty e.g. snowboarding styles, or fashionable), food, toys, electronics, cosmetics....

Some of the shops in the centrum:

Cheesy has Czech and import cheeses, available by 100 grams, a little expensive, but tasty.




















A sporting goods store. So... "brusle" is pronounced like "Bruce Lee"... imagine hearing someone encouraging you to skate harder and you hear brusle. Haha.. oh man. Many of the other hockey terms are similar to American terms, puck = pook, goal = goal, but goals = golie















At the center of the centrum, the Neo-Romanesque Church of the Assumption of the Holy Virgin:



















Next to the church is the Neo Renaissance Town Hall. (I went for a walk around the town hall this afternoon):




















Many of the apartment buildings, including the building the flat I'm living in is in, look similar. The remnants of communism (near Nam. Svobody, Nam. short for the Czech word for square, and Svobody for freedom, Nam. Svobody is near the centrum also, and Lenka's host family is accross the street and down the hill from Nam. Svobody, making Svobody a great place to meet):













Kladno is a very beautiful city.

Today I also got internet access, and had my second practice with HC Zeny (the woman's team). Practice went well, except, I didn't know where to play during the power play and penalty kill practice. I also am borrowing Lenka's parent's cell phone for nearly free texting within the Czech Republic.