It always seems impossible until it is done!

Hello again. I had such a lazy day yesterday. It was clear as day that after partying Sunday night I would not be able to get up early on Monday. But I went out anyway – foolishly. In the end I decided to stay at home on Monday and not to work at all. I had one thing to arrange at insurance company, so at least I went there. I was planning to meet Matej long time so when I knew I had a free day I tried to text him. I was surprised that he was available! Therefore we met at Flora and we went for a lemonade. We went to the one café in the last floor in the shopping mall Flora that looked quite luxurious and they offer amazing home-made lemonades. I love when they put non alcoholic drinks into preserve jars. I had a raspberry one. We were sitting on the terrace and we were just chilling. I felt happy to sit and do nothing. We were talking there quite a long time. Then, Matej started to talk about restaurants. It was not a good idea because I felt already hungry and I did not want to cook at all. Therefore, it was easy to convince me to eat out and when he suggested having dinner together I was totally in and we just had to choose where to go.

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For my birthday we went to the Italian restaurant called Coloseum. One of their competitor is called Grosseto. There are many of these Italian restaurants in Prague. We decided to compare these two and we went to the Grosseto near Budějovická. The restaurant looked great. They had a special glass-fronted garden and it was possible to open the upper part of it. Firstly, I wanted to have pasta but I did not resist having pizza instead because I always have pizza in any Italian restaurant. As a starter, we naturally ate bread with herb butter which we both love. On the one side, it is weird that they don’t even ask you if you want to have it and then you are charged for it. On the other side, even if they had asked us, we would have eaten it because it is delicious. We agreed that the starter is tastier than in the other pizzeria Coloseum. In general, prices are almost same in both. Matej took Bolognese spaghetti and I took Grosseto pizza. It was really great – with chicken meat, gorgonzola and mozzarella. Although I expected more as it is their main dish – same name of pizza and restaurant. It was a nicely spent afternoon with Matej. When I got home, I was not able to do anything and I fell asleep.

The day before, I arrived surprisingly early home from Adelitas. It was my first time opening the restaurant. If you open the restaurant, you never know what time you finish because it depends on the number of guests. This Sunday was not so busy. Therefore, they let me go home earlier than normally. It was raining the whole day but when I finished working it was over. I spent like one hour speaking with my mum about everything that happened last few days and since I had not been jogging the whole week, it was the right time to go. The weather was perfect. It was not hot and the air was fresh after raining. I just took my sporty t-shirt because every time when I take a sweatshirt, I regret because it is too hot. I did not have any plan about the distance. I just went running to the park Stromovka where I usually go.

It does not happen so often but I felt full of energy for running and I had bunch of things to think about. Since I was busy last few days I did not really have time to think about anything. Firstly, I had to figure out my plans for August. I hate how indecisive I am. I have always problems to make choices and decisions. In the beginning I have to choose between two options and when I decide to do something I want exactly opposite option. This happened with my last plan for holiday – Greece. We already agreed with David to go there for one week in August but when I saw the festival Sziget in Hungary I also considered this option. Actually, I was dying to go to the festival because I can honestly say that almost all my favourite singers and music bands are there. In the beginning it was just a dream to go to this festival. Firstly, I saw the advertisement in Paris and I was shocked. It was perfect line-up for me. Unfortunately, when I checked the prices of the tickets, it was so expensive that I decided to skip it. Until Sunday, Greece was a clear choice for us. We were checking last minute stays but nothing was so attractive to go there. I mean that even though we found a good hotel it was quite expensive and moreover, the food was not included. That´s why we always postponed the choice about hotel. I was not happy because I wanted to know exact days because of my shifts and I wanted to be sure we were going somewhere and not to take my days off for nothing.

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So when I was jogging I was like: “Okay, I have unlimited time now to think about it and I won´t finish running until I make a decision. I will be happy with my choice and I won´t change it anymore“. It can sound funny but it is always like this with me. I was asking myself: "Where do I want to go more? ". I arrived at conclusion that I would love to go to Greece but I would die to go to the festival. I went through the line-up again. Seriously, all of my favourite singers and music groups are there. Muse had such an amazing show in Prague that I could see them again and go to the festival only because of them. When I go jogging I always listen to Sum 41. I love their lyrics and music. They are at the festival also! When I was at festival Colours, I loved John Newman and Bastille. They both are there! Moreover, I miss the atmosphere of the festival - summer, beers, chilling, music and no worries. What more could I wish? It was something exceptional. In addition, it is a perfect opportunity to go there because it does not happen often that I would stay in the Czech Republic the whole summer.

I would like to go travelling next summer. I was almost decided for the festival. I can go to Greece whenever I want to but this festival is only now. The only thing that discouraged me was the price of the tickets. Seven day ticket costs 200 euros which is crazy and each day costs 59 euros. I calculated in my head expenses for this festival. It was a lot just for the festival if I included tickets, food, drinks and transportation! On the contrary, it would be still almost twice more cheaper than going to Greece. I don’t know how it happened but my problem was suddenly solved. I just knew I wanted to go to the festival for sure and I felt relieved. I had no more worries and no more hesitation. I think that sometimes, we just need more time to find the best option. I totally forgot I was running. I was already on my fifth kilometres and I did not feel tired at all so I continued.

The reason why I started to like running is that I have time only for myself. I can go as far as I want to with my music, with my thoughts and nobody can stop me. There is no person who would interrupt me, there is no work I have to do and no message I have to answer. By the way, that day I finished 10 kilometres!

Now I will continue with serious conversations and things I had in my mind that day. In fact, I did not do anything special lately. I don’t even know how, but I started to think about everything that changed me thanks to my Erasmus. It can sound commonplace, but I feel like a totally different person since I am back in the Czech Republic. Before going there, studying abroad and travelling seemed to me only as a dream. I remember exactly when I was sitting in my chair at high school listening stories from my classmates about their travelling plans. I was so jealous! They travelled to many countries with their parents. It was so easy for them. They just did not have anything to do so they went for a holiday with their parents to explore the world. In extreme cases, their parents just paid them summer school abroad or one month of travelling somewhere. It was not like this with me. It was exceptional that I went once abroad with my mother. My father never suggested travelling together somewhere or paying me something abroad. It made me jealous these times and I knew that if I wanted to go travelling I would have to earn money on my own.

At the moment, I feel so happy that I found a way to travel anyway. It all started three years ago. I did not have any plan for summer holidays. I tried to explore all the possibilities and I knew I wanted to experience something exceptional. I did not have any money. Therefore, I had to find a job abroad. At that time, I could not speak English. You could think that there was no way to solve it but there was one. After searching on Google, I found an awesome website called: aupairworld.com. I did not really know anybody who was an aupair (babysitter) but I wanted to try it. I created my own profile on that website and I started to look for my family. It was kind of risky. Since the website was for free there was no guarantee to find a family. It took me a lot of time to find some family only for three months in the country I wanted to go. It was impossible until it was done. I don’t remember exactly when it happened but I got a positive answer and I went to England for summer to be an aupair. It was not easy whole time but it served my purpose. Even though I did not bring much money back from England, I had an unforgettable experience. Mainly, I started to speak English fluently, I travelled a little bit, I met a lot of great people and I convinced myself that I don’t want to have kids in the near future haha. It was my first experience living independently abroad and overcome all obstacles. In fact, I was happy to be back in the Czech Republic but it broadened my horizons in general. Since this time I was sure I wanted to study abroad and participate in the Erasmus program.

Another experience that was only a dream in the beginning was Sri Lanka. I dreamed of travelling to Asia long time. I did not really plan to go there last summer and I was not looking for a part-time job but it both happened. Once, my friend Lucy came with an idea of working in the Spanish restaurant La Casa Blu because they were looking for a new waitress. It was not sure they would hire us but we both tried. I did not like it there in the beginning. As the time passed, I felt there as being at home. It was crazy. Sometimes I did not even want to go home after the shift. Same for Lucy. In addition, I earned quite a lot of money there which enabled me to undertake my travelling plans. Yes, I went to Sri Lanka for three weeks! I had such a great time there. It was definitely worth working and saving money to go there. Again, it seemed to me impossible until it was done. I started to like this quite a lot. It perfectly works for me. I have always some unachievable idea. Then, I start thinking about it. Then, I try to achieve it and then, I am amazingly surprised that it went well! There is another example:

When David left studying abroad I decided to become a workaholic. I was so depressed because I was not accepted for my Erasmus. I could not get over it. It took me a lot of time to get used to the fact that I was not going to study abroad. Therefore, I had two jobs whole semester and I did not mind working more than partying because I liked both jobs and I had motivation to earn some money. In fact, it was only three months. When I was finally all right staying in Prague, something unbelievable happened. They announced me that I could go study to France!

I was so surprised. I did not expect it after all and I was not even sure if I wanted to. Although it happened. Two months after I moved to Lille in France. It was totally spontaneous because I had to quit my two jobs and I did not really have time to say goodbye to my friends. I did not anticipate it and I was already in France. During my Erasmus, I experienced ups and downs. I had to adjust to the new country, find new friendly people (because I went there alone and there was only one Czech girl at that time), adapt to the new university and learn a new language. It was all fun. I will never regret going there. So far, it was the best semester of my life. Everything was new. Everything was excited. I had no job and no obligations. I lived for the moment and I did not care about anything. The thing is that once you start exploring new places, it becomes a drug. You can not stop. You become obsessed and normal things are too boring. Moreover, everything I experienced was so amazing that I had post-exchange depression. Not only bad mood but I spent more than two weeks of crying because I wanted to come back. Crazy.

Although I almost got over my exchange depression and instead of being sad I started to plan new things. Nevertheless, I feel like a totally different person. I learnt an important thing from one person I met in France. There is no way back. I can not spend the rest of my life remembering what happened in France because it is already in the past. The only thing that I can do is transform my experience into the way I treat people and the way I live my life. I have become a more optimistic person and nothing is impossible now. I feel like I can do whatever I want to and I feel happy because of it. For those who read this, please believe in your dreams. I believe that we can have everything in the world. Things just need time to be fulfilled and we have to be patient and the right time will come. Never stop dreaming and never stop trying. I think that sometimes it is great to think about everything we managed to do and be grateful for goals we accomplished - instead of complaining about all failures we have been through. There will be always failures in our life. Sometimes we are not ready yet for the thing we want to have at the moment. I am delighted for everything that happened in my life and I can not wait for another adventure which is Amsterdam in one month.

After coming back from France I knew I needed to plan something to stop thinking about my Erasmus. I did my hardest to be accepted to the University in Amsterdam. Lately, they told me I was accepted. I have no idea what to expect from this crazy city. I have no idea if I will like it there. The thing is that crazy unforgettable moments start when we leave our comfort zone. I am sure that everything won´t be perfect. I am sure I will always compare my exchange in Lille to studying in Amsterdam and I am sure it will be hard to be in a new environment with no friends in the first place. Although I have already decided to deal with this and I hope it will be worth it. It is another step in my life because I will spend there at least one year. I think I needed time to choose this option. In January, I did not know if I wanted to move there. At the moment I know it is a good choice. University in Amsterdam is one of the best universities in Economics in Europe and after chilling and enjoying myself in France, it's time to be more serious and to be focused on studying. Maybe, it is one of my last years of studying.

Through my life I noticed that I am a totally adaptive person. It can easily happen to me that I hate one place and after spending there more time I get to love it. That´s why I am easily influenced by people around me. It can be a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. For instance, one month ago, the only thing I wanted was leaving Prague. Nevertheless, I unexpectedly found an amazing job – Las Adelitas. So far, I feel great there. Therefore, I don’t want to leave Prague anymore. Although I am that person who needs changes all the time and hates stereotypes. That´s why I believe that I should take advantage of studying abroad and even though I don’t want to move at the moment, I will do it. Let´s see what is waiting for me.

That´s all for today. I guess you had enough of deep talks and conversation. The main message I wanted to deliver is: do whatever you want that makes you happy. It took me some time to discover that I love travelling, new challenges and meeting new people. I decided to do everything for it. That´s why I started to write this blog and I have already three amazing plans ahead. I will talk about them next time. I think I also changed my opinion about people. I decided to spend my time with people who has a great influence on me. Everybody knows who makes them happy and with who they feel great. That´s why I go home (Hradec) so often because I just love being with my mother and sister. It is all about being together and it feels great. As I said, it is enough for today. Have a nice day.

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