I went to Prague and all I got was 3 Burger King burgers for future consumption.

Czech word of the day: kočka
Meaning: cat
Pronunciation: "koch-ka"

And a bonus word for the dog lovers out there:

Czech bonus word of the day: pes
Meaning: dog
Pronunciation: "pes," just like it looks.

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I was right. It did get colder here. It's back in the low 30's in Brno, it's supposed to snow later this week, and this weekend in Prague was the coldest I've ever been in my life. It snowed huge snowflakes, and it was beautiful, but for most of the time I couldn't feel my fingers.

Prague was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, with tons of awesome sights and historical buildings, but honestly? I prefer Brno. The entire city center of Prague is so full of historical sights that it's become a giant tourist trap. There will be a big, majestic, centuries-old tower in the square, but the entire square is made up of overpriced souvenir shops that all sell the exact same commercialized nonsense: T-shirts with "I ♥ Prague" and "funny" slogans about getting drunk, Russian nesting dolls (Russian! Not even Czech!), and the worst: furry hats and shirts with KGB logos on them, making light of a tragic era that my generation's parents suffered through in the Czech Republic and that was only ended in 1989 through courageous protests in that very square, now full of drunk, rowdy tourists.

And, of course, none of the shops are owned by actual Czechs. It's sad, actually, and hard to imagine that none of that stuff was there in 1989. The second the Iron Curtain fell, foreign businessmen swooped in and made a killing off this country, bought Prague and turned it into a money machine by pandering to tourists' ideas about the place. "The tourists want to see communism, but there's no communism left! No matter, we can still sell souvenirs of nonexistent communism in the stores! The tourists will never know the difference; after all, communism was just furry Russian hats and KGB jokes, right?"

There's a hilarious irony in there somewhere, but there's also - ironically - the very circumstances that gave rise to communist thought in the first place. Because, while Prague today isn't capitalism at its worst, it's nothing for capitalists to be proud of, either. It's made it nearly impossible to enjoy the history of the place, to contemplate all the life-changing events that occurred there. Prague doesn't feel like a real city. There are American restaurants and English signs everywhere, and all the people you meet are tourists, not Czechs. I'm not convinced that anyone actually lives there. I think the entire population might be made up of tourists and those who live off of tourists.

Brno isn't as exciting or as beautiful (though it could be argued that it's just as historical as Prague), and there's not as much going on here - and Lord knows I miss my American food - but Brno feels like a city. I like hearing Czech spoken on the streets and not being able to find a sign in English and being surrounded by old Czech ladies who lean on canes and but still feel young enough to walk everywhere and refuse to take a seat on the tram. Prague was nice to visit, but I'm glad I got sent to study here instead.

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My English class Wednesday went pretty well. A lot of people came, both Czech and foreign students who want to improve their English. We just talked a little bit on Wednesday, but I'm trying to come up with some ideas for activities we can do this Wednesday. So if you have any ideas for fun ways to practice English, let me know!

My only class tomorrow starts at 6 P.M., so I think I'll use the first part of the day to visit some shops around Brno that I haven't gotten around to yet. I've almost got my package of gifts for my parents and sisters put together. It's gonna be really good. I've hardly bought anything for myself here except food. Almost all my money goes towards gifts for my family.

I haven't caught the Oscars yet. I'm trying to download them, but it's gonna take a while, so nobody spoil me, please. =)